The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Chapter 440: Chapter 434: No Regrets

Kaijiang Banquet.

It’s a very distinctive feast in Bei’an.

It’s a full fish banquet made with fresh fish caught when the river opens.

The fish in the river has succulent and tender flesh, but the premise is that it must be caught when the river begins to thaw each day.

The fish that have been preserved in the river over the winter can truly offer this authentic taste.

But now, in just a couple more days, the river water is about to freeze again. Where can we catch river fish at this time?

Even if we catch it, the taste definitely won’t be as good.

The music restaurant mainly hosts large banquets, including weddings, student banquets, celebration feasts, and annual conferences. They have a variety of set banquets available.

However, they have never prepared a Kaijiang Banquet before.

There’s never been a celebration event that required ordering a full fish banquet. If people want to eat fish, there are plenty of all-fish restaurants in Bei’an.

On Jiangbian Road, there are several long-established brands lined up.

Gao Qiming watched Zhang Zhen’s furrowed eyebrows and solemn expression, feeling a pang in his heart.

He whispered, ”Old Zhang... can the restaurant manage a Kaijiang Banquet?”

Zhang Zhen looked up at Gao Qiming.

Having been brothers for decades, they could almost understand each other’s thoughts with a single glance.

A Kaijiang Banquet is not available at the music restaurant, but if it can be made, there’s a way to figure it out.

It’s just that until everything is confirmed, nothing can be set in stone.

Zhang Zhen took a deep breath and solemnly promised Director Qian, ”I’ll immediately call back all the kitchen staff, but as for the specific dishes, we need to discuss them here first before we can finalize the customization.”

Director Qian breathed a sincere sigh of relief and hurriedly called the school leadership to report back.

Five minutes later.

Fan Xiubin, escorted by a special car, listened to the gentle male voice coming from the phone with a soft smile, saying, ”For tomorrow’s gratitude meeting, we have customized a Kaijiang Banquet here, hoping you too can taste the familiar flavors of your hometown!”

Upon hearing this, Fan Xiubin felt a warmth spread in her heart.

It was as if she was in a blazing corridor, seeing those few students in panic and without hesitation, she rushed forward.

Afterwards, countless people asked her what was on her mind when she courageously went to rescue others.

In fact, while lying on the hospital bed enduring the pain of burn treatment, she also thought about this question carefully.

The situation was extremely critical at the time, she didn’t think of anything. Seeing the students trapped in the building, she instinctively stepped forward to try to rescue them.

Perhaps it was just a sudden impulse in her mind, so she did it.

She never thought about being a hero.

Has she ever regretted it?

What’s done is done. It’s meaningless to ponder over whether to regret it or not.

Hearing the gentle voice of the school leader, with whom she had only met once during an inspection, explaining the arrangements made by the school to receive her.

Fan Xiubin looked down at the burn scars stretching across the back of her hand.

Regret it?

No regrets!

In her mind appeared the images of those students who specially came to visit her at the provincial burn hospital accompanied by their parents.

Thinking of those empathetic, tear-streaked faces from the school, Fan Xiubin broke into a smile.

She gratefully said into the phone, ”Thank you.”

...

Upon learning that the restaurant received a large order, Yao Shi, who had already driven back to his own residential area, turned around and headed to the music restaurant.

Zhang Zhen had already gathered all the kitchen staff back.

He was discussing with Chef Liu and Chef Lin the customization of the Kaijiang Banquet dishes.

The purchaser over there had also been notified to temporarily contact the seafood store owner and pre-order fresh fish.

Everything was arranged in an orderly fashion.

When Yao Shi arrived, Zhang Zhen was still in discussion with the two chefs.

How to customize the Kaijiang Banquet dishes most effectively!

What needed to be done now was to come up with the best banquet menu.

In terms of seafood preparation, Yao Shi was quite knowledgeable.

It wasn’t too difficult to assemble a banquet table with river fish.

Even though the music restaurant had never used river fish for its dishes.

The main courses for large banquets are usually cold dishes, and the hot dishes are generally those that won’t be too greatly affected in taste by serving temperature changes.

The fish flesh of river fish is tender, but it’s mostly cooked using methods like simmering.

Once the fresh fish cools, the taste will certainly be affected. River fish itself has a bit of a fishy smell, which becomes more noticeable when it’s cold.

However, at Qianlima, there are dozens of similar recipes.

But the authentic River Opening Fish has traditions passed down from the elders.

The number of dishes on the table, what fish to use, and how it should be cooked, all have their codes.

If regular customers came to the restaurant, they could casually entertain them by assembling a few river fish dishes, without worrying about being exposed as inauthentic.

After all, nowadays, not that many specifics are placed on eating River Opening Fish; as long as it’s fresh and delicious, it’s fine.

But for tomorrow’s banquet, it’s different. This is to represent the local specialty cuisine of Bei’an for promotion.

Who’s to guarantee they won’t encounter a savvy local who might raise a fuss over inauthentic preparation?

With such advanced networks, who can guarantee everything will go flawlessly?

Zhang Zhen and the two chefs were also worried about this, so the menu hadn’t been finalized.

Now that the boss is here, naturally everything should follow the boss’s command.

After listening to their opinions, Yao Shi shared his thoughts, ”As far as my understanding of the Kaijiang Banquet goes, as long as we adhere to the principles of ’Three Flowers, Five Luo, Eighteen Seeds, and Seventy-two Mixed Fish’, and select a few widely known River Opening Fish specialty dishes, it shouldn’t go too wrong.

”As for the selection of river fish, since it’s not the right season now, we’ll have to do our best with whatever fish we have and try to assemble a complete set.”

Zhang Zhen sighed, ”The boss is right. But, Building Chief Fan just called the school, saying that when she was little, she often went to eat River Opening Fish with her elders, and it’s very authentic, which is why she especially misses it. She knows quite a bit about River Opening Fish, and was even interviewed by the provincial TV station before, introducing the River Opening Fish from her hometown. Although she didn’t say much, it was clear from her words that the older generation is quite knowledgeable about the preparation of River Opening Fish. It’s really difficult for us to produce a complete and authentic Kaijiang Banquet.”

Since the city intends to use this occasion to promote the local specialty cuisine, media reporters will certainly focus on recording the banquet dishes.

To generate discussion, they’ll likely provide a detailed introduction of Kaijiang Banquet’s specific dishes and flavors.

Such a banquet will definitely catch the attention of a wide range of online viewers.

In today’s world, food enthusiasts are everywhere.

Even just watching a restaurant inspection livestream can garner plenty of online attention and discussion.

If at that time, due to preparing an inauthentic banquet, someone stirred up a topic, then what should’ve been a good thing would turn into a negative event.