The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Zhao Meng has always been particularly responsible.

No matter the relationship with Gu Yunwu, upon hearing about this situation, he couldn’t sit still.

Changing clothes, he and Fu Yu jogged all the way to the kitchen.

Fortunately, the dormitory was inside the restaurant, not far from the kitchen.

Zhao Meng walked urgently, Fu Yu’s legs were quick, and the two of them arrived at the kitchen in less than two minutes.

Upon entering, they saw Gu Yunwu and Yao Yihang busy side by side with the woks.

The food runner was pacing anxiously nearby, while the dishes in the pan were not yet done.

Several night-shift assistants were quietly preparing the ingredients.

The passageway reserved for dining hall order-takers to deliver orders and seafood now stirred slightly, causing everyone’s hearts in the kitchen to skip a beat.

Gu Yunwu was sweating profusely: ”Xiao Yao, how’s it going over there?”

Yao Yihang was also somewhat anxious: ”The dish still needs a few minutes to finish; key is to plate and arrange the dipping sauce, it’s fast if we get it out in ten minutes!”

With an anxious heart, Gu Yunwu couldn’t help but start cursing!

He still had several orders to finish on his side, and the food runner was already over pushing.

No matter how urgent, he had to finish the dish in the pan, then free his hands!

Don’t know if these big eaters are naturally gifted or what, like they have two more stomachs than ordinary people!

How can each of them eat so much!

This spicy stir-fried seafood medley uses a generous amount of ingredients, and once cooked, it’s served directly in a copper basin. Although the basin is shallow, the amount of ingredients in the dish is fixed!

A normal person having a portion with some rice would barely finish, two portions is already enough if they are big eaters.

Now this group comes along, heard there were only two big eaters, and then what happened!

Ordered an extra ten portions directly!

How aren’t they bursting by now!

The spicy stir-fried seafood medley includes prepared yellow clams, which are easy to handle.

But dealing with live octopus, mantis shrimp, and crabs is quite troublesome.

All at once, several assistants were sweating their heads off.

What to do?

Yao Yihang was extremely anxious: ”Boss, didn’t you say Chef Zhao would agree to come over? The dorm’s so close, why isn’t he here yet! If he doesn’t come over soon, the customers might explode!”

Gu Yunwu was even more anxious!

He had a stack of unprocessed orders in his hands, now with a food runner on the side nagging like a monk chanting, his heart was long irritated.

Upon hearing Yao Yihang say this, he snapped in frustration: ”How the hell would I know! Situation’s like this, and he’s still not coming over!”

Both were feeling irritable; in such situations, they wished they could grow two more arms!

But they were powerless and had to call for help.

At this moment, Zhao Meng came running in with Fu Yu, panting for breath: ”What’s with all the shouting! Hurry up, where are the prepared ingredients? Bring them over!!”

Seeing Zhao Meng and Fu Yu arrive, the kitchen crew suddenly felt like seeing their savior.

”Chef Zhao, Chef Fu! You’ve arrived!!”

Gu Yunwu stopped cursing and hastily instructed: ”Old Zhao, hurry! The customers are going crazy for the dishes!”

Zhao Meng didn’t say much, quickly checked the ingredient preparations, then frowned: ”These yellow clams are just enough for about ten portions, not sure if that’s enough!”

The yellow clams had to be soaked overnight to spit sand, and the stock initially seemed sufficient, but suddenly there were these big eaters.

If this keeps going indefinitely, there won’t be enough supply.

All the prepared ingredients were gradually being brought to the kitchen table for use.

Zhao Meng and Fu Yu both started cooking on their stoves simultaneously.

Working overtime with insufficient staff, there were no assistants for the chefs at either Gu Yunwu’s or Zhao Meng’s side.

Fu Yu picked through and prepared the needed ingredients, then began cooking.

Heat the wok, add oil, and sauté onion, ginger, and garlic.

Add the store’s special base seasoning and stir-fry.

This base seasoning was made two days in advance, stored in large containers in the cold storage, used as needed.

When Fu Yu was an assistant, he also helped make this seasoning.

Measured spices were placed in trays in order, assistants took shifts to fry them.

This job wasn’t too tiring; the store had a special seasoning machine, just needed to time the additions of each spice.

And no worry of someone stealing the recipe.

Spices are not like other things, just a bit more or less can make a significant taste difference.

Without knowing the precise ratios, it’s impossible to steal the technique.

Once the base seasoning was fried, add the crabs and mantis shrimp to stir-fry.

This was tough work, with four crabs and half a pound of mantis shrimp.

During cooking, constantly had to flip the wok to ensure even heating and penetration of the base seasoning.

Once about done, add some water, cover the wok, and simmer for three minutes.

As the arm just got a break, now had to add half a pound of octopus to continue frying.

When the octopus tips curled, add half a pound of yellow clams to stir-fry.

By this time, the ingredients in the wok weighed over two pounds, plus the heavy cooking pot itself.

Flipping the wok back and forth took nearly five minutes.

Once the yellow clams opened their shells, it could be served.

Soon, two portions of spicy stir-fried seafood medley were served back-to-back.

The food runner, relieved, could finally deliver the plates.

Before leaving, they reminded: ”Chef Zhao, Chef Fu, the customers in room 313 eat really fast, better serve quickly!”

Zhao Meng agreed, then started preparing ingredients again for the next batch.

Six portions of spicy stir-fried seafood medley made their way out little by little.

Having worked hard all day, they still continued flipping the wok at night.

Fu Yu felt his right arm was beginning to ache a bit.

Feeling like this, it was even harder for Zhao Meng to hold on.

The heavy cooking pan, moving it, placed much pressure on his wrist, and as he lifted it, his joints began to faintly ache.

Zhao Meng gritted his teeth and endured.

Finally, two more portions were served.

Just a little more persistence, and the task was about to be completed.

At this moment, an order-taker suddenly came over with news: ”The customers in room 313 added another ten portions of spicy stir-fried seafood medley!”

Zhao Meng’s face changed!

If he keeps pushing like this, he might just trigger his tenosynovitis, and then tomorrow would be really tough!

The more worried he was, the more trouble came.

In the next batch, as soon as he put the octopus in the pan, lifted his hand to flip it, the first move, and his wrist felt a stabbing pain like needles, instantly losing strength.

Zhao Meng quickly turned off the heat, flipping with his left hand, and called out to Fu Yu: ”Fu Yu, quickly, finish your side and take over my pan, my wrist’s acting up, can’t exert strength!”

”Alright!”

Fu Yu was just ready to serve his own dish.

He swiftly plated, handed it off to the food runner, and rushed over to Zhao Meng to continue cooking.

Zhao Meng’s wrist issue was chronic.

Without a flare-up, he was fine, but once it did, without properly resting for a couple of days, his wrist couldn’t muster strength.

Fu Yu understood Zhao Meng’s situation and knew that Zhao Meng couldn’t continue at the stove.

As for Gu Yunwu, he just saw the food runner deliver a couple more orders, so that side couldn’t be relied on anytime soon.

Besides the current pan, he needed to handle another ten portions of spicy stir-fried seafood medley himself.

He inconspicuously flexed his wrist.

This was really pushing it!