"Snail noodles taster", this profession is a bit cool
He has eaten in more than 500 stores, and can keenly taste the subtle differences in the taste of different batches of chili oil
Chili oil is the finishing touch of snail noodles. It can bring oily and ruddy color to the whole bowl of noodles, filling the appetite of diners.
Tasting the spicy oil of snail noodles is Mo Tengjie's daily job. He is a snail noodles taster.
When he was first selected for this position, he went through a strict assessment: having eaten in more than 500 brick-and-mortar stores, he was able to "blindly test" at least 10 brands of products.
Recently, in an interview with a reporter from Ziniu News, Mo Tengjie said that the taste tester can keenly discover the subtle differences in the taste of different batches of snail powder, thereby ensuring the stability of the product quality.
He said that he hopes to become a "chili magician" in the future to help the R&D team adjust the ratio of chili oil, so that everyone can taste the snail noodles with richer taste.
Why is there a special position for a spicy tester?
Spicy oil has become the "unique recipe" of snail powder, and the spicy master came into being
In recent years, various new occupations have appeared continuously, but most people may not have heard of the special occupation of "spicy snail noodles taster".
26-year-old Mo Tengjie is a snail powder tester who works in a prepackaged snail powder manufacturer in Liuzhou, Guangxi.
He has been in the position for nearly a year since the company officially established the position in November last year.
Why is the position of a spicy tester specially set up?
Mo Tengjie told reporters that it starts with the characteristics of bagged snail powder products.
Because the rice noodles of snail noodles and the sour bamboo shoots that produce a unique "smelly" have achieved standardized production, the difference between enterprises is not big, and the important reason for the difference in the taste of bagged snail noodles, or Each family's "unique recipe" mainly relies on the chili oil packets and soup packets.
Especially chili oil, different pepper ratios and different production processes can stimulate different flavors.
Mo Tengjie introduced that they made "super spicy powder" and "devil powder" made of peppers with different degrees of spiciness, matched with a "red powder" made of peppers with low spiciness mainly used to enhance the color, and then added 12 kinds of spices. Mixed together, through frying, oozing and other processes, the spicy oil packet in the bagged snail powder is finally produced.
The problem is that, just like climate, soil and other factors will affect the taste of wine made from grapes, even if it is the same variety of peppers from the same origin, the taste will be affected by unstable factors such as weather, which will affect the flavor of the chili oil made.
Therefore, in previous sales, while their snail powder products were well received, they also encountered comments that the chili oil was "not spicy enough" or "too spicy".
In order to strengthen the quality control and keep the taste of the product stable, the position of snail noodles taster came into being, and Mo Tengjie became one of the five spice testers of the snail noodles brand "Only Tossing the Snail Bowl".
How to become a snail noodles taster?
He can't eat spicy food, he punched in 500 snail noodle shops and can "blind test" to distinguish more than 10 kinds of products
Perhaps contrary to many people's expectations, as a snail powder tester whose daily job is to taste chili oil, Mo Tengjie could not eat spicy before.
Mo Tengjie worked as a delivery anchor a few years ago, and snail powder was the main product sold at that time.
For the live broadcast effect, he needs to introduce the product and eat it on the spot for the audience to see.
"I couldn't eat spicy food at first, I could only eat a few bites at a time, but I got used to it, and I can eat a whole bowl without any problem." He said with a smile, because he was no longer afraid of spicy food, and could take a big bite. It tasted delicious, and it also increased the sales of live broadcasts.
It is not easy to become a snail powder tester. Yang Jiahong, the person in charge of the "Only Spicy Bowl" brand, introduced to reporters the company's requirements for a spicy tester.
First of all, you must have worked in the snail powder industry for more than 3 years; secondly, you must have eaten snail powder or bagged snail powder from at least 500 brick-and-mortar stores, and you must be able to "blindly test" more than 10 kinds of products; It is better to be a chef or related work background, so the sensitivity to taste is higher.
Mo Tengjie said that in order to meet these conditions, as a competent spice taster, he punched in various snail noodle shops in the streets and alleys of Liuzhou City, and tasted almost all the bags that can be bought online. product.
He believes that only by experimenting widely can the subtle differences between various spiciness be sharply captured.
It is precisely because of these "strict" requirements that although the company wants to select a few more testers internally, it has never been able to find a candidate who fully meets the requirements.
Yang Jiahong said that the current five spicy tasters are all held by senior members of the company, and even the company's CEO "went off" and took up this position.
Spicy taster is a job that requires high taste sensitivity. In order to protect taste, Mo Tengjie has been very restrained in drinking since he became a spicy taster.
How does the snail powder test work specifically?
Wearing a white coat and cooking flour in the laboratory, evaluating snail noodles from multiple dimensions
At present, Mo Tengjie has at least three days a week for spicy work.
The place where the spice tester works is located in the company's laboratory. In addition to the related utensils for the spicy test, there are also many food testing equipment and instruments. Therefore, when entering the room, you need to wear white laboratory work clothes.
At the same time, in order to perceive the taste of consumers as much as possible, the taster will use the way ordinary people eat noodles.
The first is the raw material test sample, which is relatively simple, mainly to see the color, smell, taste, and make a preliminary judgment.
The focus is on the next item, the tasting of the finished chili oil.
"It is impossible for consumers to eat chili oil alone, so the chili taster will conduct the evaluation step by step according to the actual situation of eating noodles, and this process has been continuously explored and optimized, and a standard testing process has been formed." Mo Tengjie said. .
For each test, they will cook four bowls of snail noodles in turn, put in the same weight of water, flour and ingredients, and use the same cooking power and time to ensure that the quality of each bowl is the same.
Then put 15g, 20g, 30g, 40g of finished chili oil respectively, corresponding to slightly spicy, slightly spicy, medium spicy and extra spicy respectively, then stir the whole bowl of powder evenly, and then distribute the same to each spicy taster. Lots of flour, ingredients, soup.
Next, the first trial was to drink a small sip of the soup mixed with chili oil, the second trial was to drink the soup and eat the powder, and the third trial was to drink the soup, eat the powder and eat the ingredients.
Rinse after each test to restore taste and record how you feel.
Even though the air conditioner was turned on in the laboratory, after going through these processes, under the constant stimulation of the spicy oil, beads of sweat appeared on the forehead of the spicy tester.
There was a form in the hands of the spicy tester, which Mo Tengjie showed to reporters.
The reporter saw that there are many items on this form, such as spiciness, aroma, thickness, chroma, score, and areas for improvement. Each time the spice tester conducts a taste test, he will fill in them carefully one by one.
While the spicy tester operates according to the process, he is also trying to improve the test effect.
For example, some people found that using weak tea or beer when gargling can better "zero" the spicy taste in the mouth, so that the next taste can be more accurately grasped.
Hope to become a "chili magician" to assist in the development of more flavored new products
If it is found that the taste of the taste is different from the previous batch of products, the taste tester will trace the source to find out the reason, and help the R&D team to adjust the ratio of spicy oil.
Mo Tengjie told reporters that there are actually professional instruments that can measure the degree of spiciness, but he and other spice testers believe that no matter what kind of machine is used, it cannot replace human perception and cannot reflect the true taste of human beings.
Therefore, they only use the spicy measuring instrument as an auxiliary, and mainly rely on human perception to check the product to ensure the stability of the snail powder quality.
In addition, the company has also developed and launched new flavors of snail noodles, such as the turkey sauce flavor and rattan pepper flavor that have been launched. Behind this, there are also continuous attempts by the tasters to help the R&D team find more flavors and tastes.
Mo Tengjie told reporters that after all, "spicy testing" is an emerging profession, and there are still areas that are not perfect, including a lot of room for improvement for individuals.
"In the future, I hope to grow into a 'chili magician', 'manipulating' chili peppers to blend more flavors and bring you a richer taste!" he said.
(Ziniu News reporter Wan Chengyuan)