The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Striving to Outcompete with Confidence

Fu Yu followed Yao Shi into the changing room.

Yao Shi pointed at an empty locker and said, ”You can use this locker from now on.”

Fu Yu’s heart skipped a beat.

Does this mean he’ll have more chances to come here and help in the kitchen?

Just then, there was a knock on the door from outside.

Yao Shi responded, and the other person opened the door and came in.

It turned out to be the beautiful waitress named Xiaoqu from earlier.

”Chef Fu, your uniform has already been brought back. If it doesn’t fit, you can exchange it.”

Fu Yu quickly reached out to take it, saying politely, ”Xiaoqu, thank you so much for this.”

Xiaoqu smiled slightly, her eyes twinkling as she looked at Fu Yu: ”Chef Fu, you look about twenty-something. Just call me Sister Qu.”

Fu Yu: ...

Xiaoqu introduced herself: ”My name is Qu Jing, and I’m thirty-five this year.”

Fu Yu: ”Ah, well, you look way too young, anyone would think you’re under twenty.”

Qu Jing laughed heartily, replying playfully: ”Chef Fu, you really know how to flatter someone.”

Fu Yu: ...

There’s something off about her attitude toward me!

Is she interested in me?

Although people say a woman three years older is a golden treasure, an abundance of gold can also weigh you down, right?

But of course, in the face of beauty, age is simply not an issue.

He glanced at the [!] floating above Qu Jing’s head.

Fu Yu chose to take a look.

[Five-year experience as a front desk server. Status: Fierce and aggressive, mid-level gold-digger. Affection level: 2]

Fu Yu: ...

This is a bit awkward.

Only 2 points of affection?

Turned out I was just being self-indulgent.

But with that look in her eyes and her expression, is she really not trying to seduce me?

Uh...

He saw the Land Rover car keys casually placed next to Yao Shi.

Fu Yu snapped back to reality instantly.

With a heart that jumps every time you see a beggar shaking his bowl, thinking he’s flaunting his wealth, do you even deserve to daydream about spring?

Forget it!

Would a mid-level gold-digger be interested in you?

Stop dreaming!

...

After changing clothes, Fu Yu followed Yao Shi to the back kitchen.

After a brief introduction to the kitchen staff, Yao Shi handed an order to Fu Yu.

Fu Yu took it and looked it over carefully.

The wedding banquet order featured the current trend of 16 dishes, 8 cold and 8 hot, symbolizing fortune.

The price level for the banquet was mid to high-range: 4988 per table.

Colorful Celebration Beer Duck, Hong Kong Style Roast Meat Platter, Golden Soup Crab Roe Shark Fin, Portuguese Butter-Baked Lobster;

Charcoal-Grilled Australian Beef Ribs, Cross-Sea Big Meat Crab, Cashew Seafood Royal, Scallion Oil Bamboo Fish;

Oyster Sauce Shimeji Mushrooms, Ham-Infused Seasonal Vegetables, Rich Noble Stir-Fried Rice, East and West Dim Sum Combination;

Traditional Abalone, Sea Cucumber, Shark Fin, and Fish Maw Soup, Traditional Roast Duck, Hainan Coconut Stewed Snow Frog, Happy Union Fruit Platter;

Among the 16 dishes, three had been circled separately.

Butter-Baked Lobster, Big Meat Crab, Traditional Abalone, Sea Cucumber, Shark Fin, and Fish Maw Soup.

It seems this is the seafood Yao Shi would be preparing.

All the ingredients had already been prepped.

A kitchen assistant carried a large tub of lobsters and crabs over.

The lobsters were all Australian, large, and attractive in appearance.

The crabs were plump and full of roe, looking like quite a number, but actually quite easy to steam and cook.

The most troublesome dish would be the Traditional Abalone, Sea Cucumber, Shark Fin, and Fish Maw Soup.

Not only does it require pre-boiling chicken broth, but the Golden Yuan Abalone must also be treated appropriately.

Yao Shi carefully checked the ingredients, asking, ”Is the fish maw ready?”

The assistant quickly explained, ”President Yao, we’ve used up all the fish maw in our storage. We reported it to the purchasing, but was told it was out of stock, and the head chef only just instructed to soak some fish skin strands this morning.”

Yao Shi frowned, clearly not satisfied, but didn’t say more.

Fu Yu understood immediately.

Fish maw is different from other items as it requires complicated preparation, so most seafood restaurants simply use fish skin strands instead.

Even Qianlima’s own kitchen uses fish skin strands when preparing this dish now.

It still turns out great and is indeed much more convenient.

Especially since these fish skin strands aren’t just cheap substitutes.

They’re made from small shark skin cut into strips and dried, decent quality, without deceiving the customers.

After the assistant left, Yao Shi called out to Fu Yu: ”Have you ever prepared lobster?”

Fu Yu quickly moved closer to answer: ”No, but I’ve watched Chef Zhao do it.”

Yao Shi nodded, picking up a cleaned lobster from the basin.

He deliberately positioned himself sideways, instructing as he processed the lobster.

”See here, when processing lobster, use a small pointed knife to cut a circle along the inner shell wall from the neck, removing the shrimp body.”

Yao Shi placed the lobster on the cutting board, expertly extracting the shrimp body intact.

”When pulling it out, especially at the tail end, you must control the strength.”

He then cut off the tail with a knife and steamed the head.

While the lobster was steaming, Yao Shi began handling the crabs.

The bamboo steamer baskets in the kitchen were ready to go straight to the table.

Each steamer basket neatly held one crab.

Yao Shi picked up a crab, laying it belly-up on a plate, sprinkling salt, MSG, and Jiang Mo evenly over the crab.

”There are forty-six tables at today’s banquet. Watch how I do it now, ask if you don’t understand anything, and when you feel confident, give it a try. I’ll make time to guide you.”

Saying this, he started the water boiling, and turned to ask, ”Zhang Zhen! Is the chicken broth ready?”

The music restaurant’s head chef, Zhang Zhen, was a burly middle-aged man in his forties.

Hearing the question, he replied in a loud voice: ”It’s ready, Xiaozheng, go serve it up and bring it over.”

The kitchen assistant quickly responded, going to get the chicken broth.

Zhang Zhen, busy but taking a moment, glanced at Fu Yu, who was assisting Yao Shi, and asked: ”President Yao, are you taking on another apprentice?”

Yao Shi opened the canned Golden Yuan Abalone with a can opener, smiling: ”No, I’m helping someone else train their apprentice.”

He then turned to Fu Yu: ”Chef Zhang here was hired back on a high salary as our head chef, his culinary skills are remarkable.”

Zhang Zhen chuckled: ”I’m not that great, only got my senior certificate two years ago. I wouldn’t dare brag about my cooking skills in front of you; that’d be like showing off in front of an expert!”

The two chefs, both with top-level national professional qualification certificates, were having a light rivalry.

Fu Yu felt a bit inadequate just listening to them.

Foundation determines destiny, culture determines depth.

Only with a solid foundation will you have the confidence to outshine others in the future.

Fu Yu was eager, keeping close to Yao Shi, observing his exact procedures, ready to ask questions wherever he didn’t understand, and learn diligently wherever needed.

After Yao Shi demonstrated the three dishes one by one, he pointed to the crabs and said, ”You steam two trays of crabs first, making sure not to damage the crab legs while placing them.”

Fu Yu agreed, reaching into the basin to take a crab.

At the moment he touched the crab, he was surprised to find the dialog box in front of him had changed.