Chapter 417: The Wok and the Ladle
If this question weren't so rude, Zhang Heng would've really liked to reach out and touch Qi Han's head to check whether he'd gotten it caught in a door when they closed for lunch.
"Boss Qi… are you planning to make money by charging tuition fees?" Zhang Heng asked, holding onto his last bit of hope.
"No, I plan to teach for free," Qi Han replied earnestly, completely shattering that last sliver of hope.
As expected—Boss Qi's head must have been caught in a door.
"Alright then… Boss Qi, may I ask why you're doing this?" Zhang Heng couldn't help his curiosity.
He knew that among all the restaurants in Shrek City, Han Shi's dishes had an overwhelming advantage. Egg Fried Rice might not be the most delicious dish on the menu, but it was undeniably one of Han Shi's most iconic items—practically their golden signature.
And yet Qi Han wanted to publicly and freely teach this dish? Zhang Heng really couldn't understand.
"Well…" Qi Han pondered for a moment before speaking slowly. "To promote innovation in Shrek City's culinary industry?"
Zhang Heng: "???"
Mu Liufeng, who was listening on the side: "???"
Wasn't that goal a little too lofty?
Seeing their blank, disbelieving expressions, Qi Han didn't bother to explain further.
Until they personally witnessed how the Egg Fried Rice was made, they wouldn't understand how important the stir-fry method of cooking really was.
Saying it would revolutionize the culinary world was no exaggeration.
Zhang Heng rubbed his temples, reluctantly accepting Qi Han's explanation. "Alright then. If Boss Qi is willing to publicly teach how to make Egg Fried Rice, that's a great thing for all cooking enthusiasts in Shrek City. The Culinary Association will fully support you. If there's anything you need, just tell us."
"Well… for the teaching venue, I'd like to borrow the plaza in front of the Culinary Association—"
"No problem," Zhang Heng agreed readily. "We can also arrange staff to help maintain order when the time comes."
Although the plaza was technically assigned to the Culinary Association, they didn't really use it for anything. Loaning it to Qi Han temporarily was no issue.
Seeing Zhang Heng agree so quickly, Qi Han let out a breath of relief. "My second request is to use the Association's channels to quickly spread the news so more people who want to learn Egg Fried Rice can find out."
"Hmm?" Zhang Heng raised a brow. "Boss Qi, let me ask first—how many people do you plan to teach?"
"At least a thousand," Qi Han answered without much hesitation. "And if possible, I'd like the students to come from all over the continent."
That way, the influence of stir-frying could spread even farther.
"At least a thousand? And from all over the continent?" Zhang Heng's expression grew serious.
This was no small matter anymore.
Seeing how methodically Qi Han arranged everything, it was obvious that this wasn't a momentary impulse—he had planned this long beforehand.
"In that case, it might take about ten days," Zhang Heng said after thinking for a moment and making some estimates. "The Culinary Association can use its publicity channels to help you spread the word, but it will still take time for people from other regions to travel here."
"The Food Critique Magazine can help too!" Mu Liufeng, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke up. "Since it's centered on Star Luo City, the magazine still has some distribution channels throughout the Star Luo Empire."
The more he listened, the more shocked Mu Liufeng felt.
Although he didn't take Qi Han's so-called goal of "promoting culinary reform" very seriously, he had never heard of a large-scale public culinary class like this. Clearly, this would be a major event.
And if Food Critique Magazine participated, its influence would undoubtedly grow as well.
"Thank you both," Qi Han said gratefully. "I'm troubling you."
"No, no!" Zhang Heng waved his hand quickly. "Boss Qi, you're sharing your own livelihood—your personal craft—with everyone. People should be thanking you. We're only helping a little; it's nothing."
Mu Liufeng nodded in agreement. Compared to Qi Han's contribution, what they had to do was nothing more than a small favor.
The three of them discussed the details thoroughly and soon settled on the date: ten days later, in the afternoon, during the break between Han Shi's lunch and dinner service.
Before leaving, Qi Han pulled out two sheets of blueprints from his coat and handed them to Mu Liufeng and Zhang Heng. "Please also help spread the word about these."
"What are these?" Zhang Heng took one and examined it. First, he was impressed by how precise and detailed the drawings were. Then his attention moved to the two objects illustrated on the paper.
One was a wok—unlike the large, heavy pots fixed onto the fire stoves normally used in Douluo Continent, this wok had thinner walls, a much smaller body, and looked like a single person could lift it with ease. It also had a wooden handle attached to the rim.
The second object was a large ladle—bigger than the largest soup ladle he'd ever seen. Its long handle was about the length of a forearm. Other than its size and length, there wasn't anything particularly unusual about it.
"These are the cooking tools used for making Egg Fried Rice. They're a bit special, so please inform those who want to come learn to prepare these two tools in advance. There's also a list next to it—all the ingredients needed for Egg Fried Rice. They'll need to prepare those themselves as well."
Since he was teaching for free, Qi Han wouldn't be providing cookware and ingredients for everyone. They would have to bring their own supplies. But forging a wok and a ladle at a blacksmith's, and buying the needed ingredients, wouldn't cost much.
"I see," Zhang Heng and Mu Liufeng said in sudden understanding. "No problem."
Making slight adjustments to cookware for the sake of a dish was not unheard of. And while they had never seen the two tools depicted on Qi Han's blueprints before, they still looked reasonable, so they weren't too surprised.
Neither of them realized what it meant to modify a stove-fixed cooking pot into a smaller, handheld iron wok that could be tossed and maneuvered freely.
What did catch their attention, though, was the ingredient list beside it.
They were curious too, what exactly went into Han Shi's Egg Fried Rice?
But when they looked at it, both of their expressions instantly turned strange.
On the ingredient list, it read:
Eggs from a Five-Colored Brocade Chicken (ordinary chicken eggs are also acceptable), Day-old rice, Fresh scallions, Salt, and Peanut oil
That was all.
That was all?!
Among all these ingredients, only the Five-Colored Brocade Chicken eggs were slightly difficult to obtain, and even those could be replaced with regular eggs. Everything else was as common as it could possibly be.
With such simple ingredients… one could make Han Shi's Egg Fried Rice?
The two men exchanged a look, both wearing expressions of surprise.
Naturally, they believed Qi Han wouldn't deceive people on something like this, so these truly must be all the ingredients required to make Egg Fried Rice.
However…
The two who originally planned only to help with organizing suddenly found themselves growing interested in participating.
The ingredients and cookware didn't seem hard to acquire at all.
Since everything was so simple, if they followed Boss Qi's instructions, wouldn't they be able to learn it too?
They didn't expect to reach the same level of flavor as Boss Qi, but if they could manage even thirty or forty percent of his skill… it would probably still taste amazing.
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