A century-old brand, it is not easy to keep the right innovation and retain the classic taste.
To this end, the Louwailou on Gushan Road will call young chefs together every year to conduct a strict skill "big competition".
This morning, the cooking skills competition with the theme of "Setting an Example by Practicing Economy, Improving Quality and Efficiency and Strengthening Service" was held in the outer building.
Knife work, cold dishes, hot dishes, famous dishes, dim sum, all have to be tested, the chefs in the back kitchen to finish, unified out, in turn pasted the serial number on the table, the judges outside "blind taste", no one knows which dish who made it, the real fair competition.
The cuisine of Hangzhou is light and elegant, but it also needs to be carefully cooked and creatively plated. At the scene of the competition, the participating chefs either spelled out beautiful shapes with shrimp meat and pork; or changed vegetables such as yams, lettuce and radish to make exquisite pagodas and gourds, all of which are like works of art.
Vegetarian themes have also been presented this year, such as a row of vegetarian hams on a small bamboo stick, as well as buckled three silk and vegetarian abalone. Each dish is something that makes guests happy to take photos and send them to the circle of friends.
In addition, there are also five groups of West Lake vinegar fish group, cut group, cold dish group, hot dish group and noodle dish, and a single PK competition to compete in cooking skills.
The West Lake vinegar fish group is one of the most concerned. Holidays can sell more than 1500 West Lake vinegar fish in the building, for this famous dish has its own set of standards, choose what fish, where to choose the fish, how much fish to be, how to cut a fish, how to adjust the sweet and sour sauce, how to sprinkle ginger, there are strict processes.
Advocating the theme of "disc" saving, the vinegar fish participating in the selection this year has changed from the whole to "half a part", the staff of the outer building said that now if you go to the outside building to eat, not only the West Lake vinegar fish can only order half a piece, and many dishes can be ordered "small portion" or "half portion".
In the end, the highest comprehensive score of "color, aroma, taste, shape, creativity" and other West Lake vinegar fish came from Chef No. 1, named Li Jidong, who worked in the outer building for 10 years.
Master Li said that the back kitchen of the outer building is divided into different levels of stoves: vegetarian soup noodle stove, meat dish stove, famous dish stove, West Lake vinegar fish stove, special personnel. Just like "fighting monsters and upgrading" all the way, every chef must start from the most basic cutting work, first take charge of vegetarian dishes, step by step to famous dishes or vinegar fish. He is now a full-time roasted West Lake vinegar fish, mainly responsible for the West Lake vinegar fish on the first floor, and has to burn 200-300 West Lake vinegar fish every day. Like him, the "West Lake Vinegar Fish Stove" master, there are a total of 7 people in the outer building.
The competition of "West Lake Vinegar Fish" was very interesting, and the judges only tasted the juice and did not eat fish. How do you distinguish who makes the fish better? Wu Shunchu, an expert in the jury group and the former executive chef of Louwailou, said: "The chef of Louwailou, how to choose fish, to cook to a few points, are basic skills, quality is guaranteed, the only difference is to hook the sauce, this is the place to see the power, good juice, vinegar is the first, and then there is the sweet and sour aftertaste."
In order to bring out this delicious sweet and sour sauce, Li Jidong, who won the first place in a single item, practiced for 5 years. Master Li said that many masters of roasted vinegar fish have studied such a dish all their lives, there is no secret recipe, only intentions.
The targets of this "big contest" include the first floor kitchen, the second floor kitchen, the third floor kitchen, the east building kitchen, the cold vegetable room, the kitchen of the TianwaiTian Restaurant, the kitchen of Yuquan Mountain Villa, the kitchen of Huagang Tea House, and the kitchen of Jiuxi Donghang Yunyi Store.
In addition to the competition of cooking skills, there are also table layouts that combine the characteristics of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the standard table setting of restaurant banquets, the design of tabletops, the folding of napkins, and the arrangement of themed flowers.