The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Chapter 80: Chapter 79: Custom Longevity Peach

The pheasant breast meat was pre-sliced.

Fu Yu picked up a piece and placed it on the cutting board.

He had deboned meat before, so he had some experience.

But his technique was obviously not as smooth and efficient as Yao Shi’s.

However, having a clumsy technique was one thing; wielding the knife with precision and speed was another.

Fu Yu had never made this dish before; it was his first time trying.

Yao Shi, not feeling at ease, stood by closely, ready to step in if needed.

Fu Yu held the tendon with his left hand, and with his right hand, slowly cut along the chicken breast.

He couldn’t afford to be fast; the kitchen knife was extremely sharp.

Almost at the moment the knife touched the tendon, it fell off by itself.

Fu Yu felt that if he didn’t have impeccable control, with a knife this sharp, a light cut across could not only remove the tendon but also shave a flat plane off the pheasant meat.

Yao Shi watched Fu Yu’s process from the side, slightly furrowing his brows.

He had an uneasy feeling about what he was seeing.

Was it the technique?

It didn’t seem to be problematic.

Deboning wasn’t a test of culinary skills; it was purely practice makes perfect.

Fu Yu seemed to have done it before, so although his movements weren’t seamless, they were acceptable.

The angle of the knife appeared fine, and the speed was manageable.

Still, he couldn’t quite pin down what seemed off.

There was a sense that Fu Yu was exerting unnecessary tension, making a simple task appear cautious and careful.

With the tendons cleaned away, Fu Yu began slicing the pheasant meat thinly.

Now, this razor-sharp knife came into full use.

Where the blade passed, the meat was left smooth and even.

Each thin slice was neatly stacked, practically a delight for someone with perfectionist tendencies.

As Fu Yu pushed the meat with his left hand and sliced with his right, his grip became increasingly stable, and the cutting speed quickened.

Inventively, Fu Yu recalled a line from ”Seeking Relatives, Scene Seven”:

”Forged of pure steel; crafted over time; it can cut without spilling blood; slices iron like mud.”

He felt that if he were to chop down directly onto the cutting board, not only the board but possibly the entire counter would split apart.

Yao Shi’s brows slowly relaxed as he saw the thick stack of perfectly sliced pheasant, a look of approval crossing his face.

The pheasant slices were soaked in a mixture of cooking wine and water to remove any gamey odor.

Fu Yu then proceeded to prepare the magnolia petals.

He wasn’t dealing with them for the first time.

Qianlima Restaurant had a dish called ”Magnolia Flower Chicken Slices,” which was quite popular among customers.

However, the preparation method here differed from that at the music restaurant.

Following Yao Shi’s guidance, Fu Yu removed the ends of each petal, cutting the tip into four sections.

When cutting the mushrooms, Fu Yu switched to a paring knife instead of the kitchen knife.

With the switch, the incredible sharpness disappeared.

It seemed this knife, able to slice iron like mud, remained a kitchen knife and didn’t become other forms like a paring knife or boning knife.

It was a bit of a pity, as it could have saved him effort in garnishing and carving at other times.

After squeezing the water out of the marinated pheasant slices, various seasonings were added.

Then, he cleaned the wok, poured in peanut oil, and heated it to 140℃ before adding the pheasant slices and mushrooms, stir-frying until they were 80% done.

Then he added the magnolia petals, gave them a brief stir before draining the oil with a skimmer.

Fu Yu, having used the skimmer, was about to place it into the nearby wash basin.

Glancing from the corner of his eye, he saw Yao Shi reaching out, seemingly ready to assist him with the kitchenware.

Fu Yu was startled.

On any other occasion, he might have been proud.

Having someone of Chef Yao’s stature assist him would be brag-worthy to Zhao Meng for a week.

But the circumstances were unusual.

The skimmer he held had just been used for over-oiled dishes.

It should have been covered in grease.

Yet, as Fu Yu held it, the grease had already slipped off before it left the food.

If Yao Shi discovered this oddity, Fu Yu wouldn’t know how to explain it.

So, pretending not to notice Yao Shi’s gesture, Fu Yu quickly tossed the skimmer into the wash basin.

Yao Shi stepped back, not questioning further.

Fu Yu breathed a silent sigh of relief.

In the original wok, he added cooking wine, followed by chicken broth, salt, and MSG, thickened it with starch, preparing for glazing.

Though new to glazing, Fu Yu realized that cooking, like learning, becomes intuitive with the basics in hand.

The given formulas merely needed application.

He poured the pheasant slices, mushrooms, and magnolia petals into the wok, swiftly stir-frying them.

His tossing technique was both standard and elegant.

His control of heat was perfect.

The ingredients soared in the wok, flipping evenly.

After a few back-and-forths, he directly served the dish on a plate.

Next, Fu Yu found the plating process more manageable.

The knife was accustomed to his hand, especially handy, sharp blade, saving effort while also improving the speed of cutting vegetables.

Fu Yu quickly sliced the cucumber into thin strands and carefully spread them out on the plate.

He plated the dish according to Yao Shi’s method.

A slice of pheasant meat, stacked with a slice of yulan flower.

All the ingredients were completely laid out.

A beautifully plated dish of Yulan Pheasant Slices was finished.

Fu Yu’s work was impressive, making Yao Shi feel completely at ease, so he delegated the dish to Fu Yu and focused on the more complex dishes himself.

When a master teaches an apprentice, there is always some risk involved.

If the apprentice messes up, the master is responsible for tidying up.

If the dish is ruined, it requires redoing the work.

The hassle is minor, but the main issue is the time wasted.

The first dish was successfully completed, greatly encouraging Fu Yu.

Then he began repeatedly making one dish after another of Yulan Pheasant Slices.

When he finished plating the fifth dish of Yulan Pheasant Slices,

the next second, a digital notification sounded in his ear:

[Ding! Daily task: Successfully complete the preparation of five sautéed dishes. Reward: 50 RMB, Sautéing Experience +10, Task Experience +10]

His phone vibrated.

Fu Yu was quite pleased.

Great, not only did he receive an extra income, but also gained experience in sautéing.

Preparing the table setup for 120 tables wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

It took the entire team in the kitchen a whole day’s effort.

The music restaurant was not like Qianlima, having only one head chef and two senior chefs, the others were just assistants.

Here, aside from Zhang Zhen being the head chef, there were two senior chefs, three junior chefs, and six assistants.

Now with Yao Shi and Fu Yu added, the team diligently worked the woks, barely managing to prepare all dishes before the banquet opening, ready for the servers to bring to the hall.

With the work done, the kitchen staff, though not off duty yet, finally had some downtime.

Zhang Zhen and the two senior chefs gathered around and chatted with Yao Shi.

The few assistants were busy with aftercare tasks.

Ren Mingqing on the dough station had all the main courses prepared and took his subordinates to clean up and get ready to leave.

The dough and the main courses were different.

As long as the main courses were sufficient, customers at these banquet tables usually wouldn’t complain.

The main courses were different, however.

In case customers requested additional dishes midway, or if something unexpected happened, the kitchen would definitely need to respond promptly.

Before leaving, Ren Mingqing specifically came over to greet Yao Shi.

Fu Yu had a good impression of Ren Mingqing, and they exchanged a few polite words.

Once Ren Mingqing left,

Yao Shi discussed with Zhang Zhen about fixing something to eat for everyone in the kitchen later.

While chatting, suddenly a server rushed in urgently.

”Boss! There’s trouble!”

The few in the kitchen turned around in unison and looked over.

Yao Shi frowned and asked, ”What happened?”

The server, somewhat panicked, hastily said, ”A customer is making a fuss in the front hall, the supervisor has stopped them and asked me to find you!”

Upon hearing this, Yao Shi quickly headed to the front hall.

Zhang Zhen closely followed, chasing after him.

Fu Yu also ran over to the front hall.

Upon arriving at the front hall, even before getting close, he heard someone loudly scolding from afar: ”Is this how you do business!!”

Yao Shi hurriedly ran over.

Seeing him, the supervisor immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

”Dear customer, let’s calm down and talk it out. Look, our boss has come over as soon as he heard about the issue to address it.”

Yao Shi looked up and saw that the customer causing the scene was a middle-aged couple.

The husband was visibly agitated.

The wife was tightly holding onto his arm, softly trying to persuade him.

Yao Shi approached and instructed the supervisor, ”Please take these customers to the VIP room and treat them well.”

He then said to the middle-aged couple, ”Please don’t be upset. We will definitely resolve any issues appropriately.”

The husband snorted coldly, ”Resolve? How?!?”

He pointed directly to a large gift box placed on the floor beside him and said, ”This is the Longevity Peach I custom ordered from your restaurant! It cost me 888! But when we took it back for the elderly to taste, it was nothing like the one we ordered!!”

After speaking, the husband kicked the gift box.

The box was already somewhat loose, and with the kick, the contents spilt out immediately.

It was a half-meter large Longevity Peach, cut open, with its filling scattered all over the floor.

The husband said, ”Is this your restaurant’s Signature Longevity Peach? Ridiculous!”

”I’m telling you! If you can’t make a satisfactory Longevity Peach for me to take back to honor the elderly, I won’t let this go today!”