The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Actually, this time, Fu Yu took a bit of a shortcut in his cooking.

Because the customers were already at the restaurant waiting for a tasting, he had to rush a bit with the timing, and couldn’t cook meticulously.

The authentic Beneficial Spleen Cake should be made by tying up Atractylodes and dried ginger in gauze, boiling them with red dates for one hour, removing the medicine bag, peeling and pitting the dates, continuing to simmer over low heat, mashing the dates into a paste, and then cooling them before mixing with chicken gizzard powder and flour, adding an appropriate amount of water, and cooking as usual to form cakes.

But now, to save time, Fu Yu chose to use ready-made Atractylodes powder, dried ginger powder, and chicken gizzard powder.

Although the medicinal effect is the same, the taste might be somewhat lacking.

Knowing this well, Fu Yu focused a lot on the final presentation during cooking.

He divided the well-mixed dough into small, even-sized pieces.

Using a mold to press them into floral shapes, he chose very delicate and beautiful patterns, giving the finished product a unique and lifelike appearance.

Fu Yu’s control over the heat and timing is truly remarkable.

Even though Yao Shi had seen Fu Yu cook more than once, each time he witnessed it again, he couldn’t help but secretly admire it.

Liu Shaoxian watched Fu Yu complete the entire process and couldn’t help but smile and say, ”This Beneficial Spleen Cake looks truly beautiful.”

”So it’s called Beneficial Spleen Cake!” Xiao Jiping, who is versed in traditional Chinese medicine and has some research on medicinal cuisine, doesn’t know much about cooking.

”The name fits well with its medicinal effects,” Xiao Jiping praised somewhat amateurishly.

Red dates invigorate the spleen and boost energy, Atractylodes invigorates the spleen and stops diarrhea, dried ginger warms the stomach, and chicken gizzard aids digestion.

Combining these ingredients forms a recipe that inherently benefits the spleen.

Liu Shaoxian nodded and whispered, ”In Zhang Xichun’s ’Records of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine’, there is a recorded formula for nourishing the spleen, warming the middle, strengthening the stomach, and aiding digestion. This formula is precisely the Beneficial Spleen Cake. It is mainly used for symptoms like damp-cold in the spleen and stomach, reduced appetite, persistent diarrhea, and undigested food.”

”However, the Beneficial Spleen Cakes on the market aren’t this refined.”

At least those Liu Shaoxian had seen were mostly pastry or ordinary small round cakes.

Yet what Fu Yu created was remarkably beautiful!

It’s truly exquisite; perhaps it should be said it’s stunning.

And when Fu Yu took out the frozen loach to start cooking, Liu Shaoxian couldn’t help but exclaim in praise, ”Amazing!”

Fu Yu directly inserted the frozen loach into the tofu and began cooking.

Even though the cooking hadn’t started yet, just from the presentation, one could already anticipate the plating effect of the completed dish.

Fu Yu added cool pork ribs broth to the casserole, then placed the sculpted soft tofu inside, covering it for a slow simmer, adding salt, pepper, ginger, and monosodium glutamate, and continued steaming.

The cooked tofu in this dish is as white as snow, the taste fresh and spicy, with a fragrant and rich broth.

Even knowing the loach had been manually inserted into the tofu after freezing, seeing the end result still felt very creative, with no trace of human intervention visible.

The loach’s body was submerged in the tofu, leaving just a bit of the tail sticking out; at a glance, it looked incredibly novel.

Liu Shaoxian looked at the finished product, sighed, and shook his head with a sigh of admiration.

This kind of talent is truly a gift!

It’s not something you can learn.

Cooking medicinal cuisine is really different from ordinary cooking.

Because medicinal ingredients themselves have a slightly bitter taste, it requires careful consideration in spice ratios, ingredient combinations, and presentation styling to enhance the dish.

This places extremely strict demands on the chef’s aesthetics, understanding of ingredient flavors, cooking techniques, and attention to detail.

However, in all these aspects, Fu Yu seems to have mastered them all effortlessly!

Thinking of this, Liu Shaoxian couldn’t help but sigh again.

He watched as Fu Yu steadily took down the finished Codonopsis and Lily Pork Lung Soup from the stove, not realizing that a glimpse of expectation unknowingly appeared in his eyes.

This is what people often call talent!

And what Fu Yu possesses is exactly this—someone born to excel in this line of work!

Liu Shaoxian smiled slightly, glad that this trip was not in vain, for he had learned so much!

Moreover, it had touched him.

Fu Yu’s medicinal cuisine broadened Liu Shaoxian’s horizons and provided him with a great deal of inspiration.

At this moment, thoughts raced through Liu Shaoxian’s mind.

For instance, how to better improve the customization of medicinal cuisine, enhance cooking methods, and even further promote the development of the medicinal cuisine industry in the country!

You see, although the medicinal cuisine industry is also popular, it remains somewhat niche.

Domestically, its foundation is relatively weak. To develop, it requires the efforts of successive generations to push it forward with innovation and promotion.

Fu Yu’s medicinal cooking clearly offered Liu Shaoxian a new pathway or perhaps opened a new door.

Maybe, after this inspection activity, he should discuss with several medicinal cuisine masters in the association whether it is necessary to include new members and further discuss the details of cooking operations...

Liu Shaoxian thought to himself, secretly excited.

This was clearly a feasible path!

This young chef before him was clearly a very fitting candidate for recruitment.

If they could recruit him into the association, he could provide better advice and suggestions in future discussions on medicinal cuisine.

And merely recruiting him seemed a bit of a waste of his talents. Perhaps they could apply for a consultant position for Fu Yu?

Regardless of compensation, even the title itself sounds more proper.

Liu Shaoxian pondered, determined to find an opportunity to discuss this matter with Fu Yu once the medicinal cooking was completed.

This trip truly wasn’t in vain!

...

Yao Shi was already used to Fu Yu’s culinary skills.

Seeing the three people beside him in stunned silence, he couldn’t help but relax.

It’s good to be amazed!

Fu Yu continued cooking one medicinal dish after another.

Although it was a tasting, each customer’s medicinal cuisine was still customized as a meal according to the standard of three dishes, one soup, and one staple.

For the two customers scheduled in the morning, Fu Yu cooked all the medicinal dishes one after another.

After a hasty lunch, he resumed meeting with the three customers scheduled for the afternoon.

Taking advantage of Fu Yu’s communication with the customers for customizing medicinal cuisine, Liu Shaoxian and others seized the chance to have a proper meal in the front hall’s private dining room.

After finishing their meal, none of them intended to leave, and they went back to the kitchen together.

The entire afternoon, they stood before Fu Yu, as if amazed, watching him, like a meticulously programmed machine, cook one medicinal dish after another.

He never wasted a single second from beginning to end.

He seemed to make full use of every cooking gap for all the dishes.

And, coincidentally, the sequence of serving the dishes was perfectly arranged.

The first dishes served were often those that required more time to consume, allowing the kitchen more time to prepare other dishes.

As for the dishes themselves, they all complemented soup and staple, with each dish boasting its own eye-catching features.

Some had stunning flavors, others used unique ingredients, and even at the very least, the presentation could astonish and whet one’s appetite.

Fu Yu immersed himself in cooking, not lifting his head or even glancing away, while Liu Shaoxian and the others silently observed from the side.

Watching as Fu Yu independently completed the medicinal tasting for five customers!

The more they watched, the more they were filled with admiration.

Fu Yu, are you a robot?

To be able to arrange medicinal dishes so reasonably to this extent!

This is just too impressive!

Liu Shaoxian’s eyes burned with enthusiasm as he looked at Fu Yu, then turned to Liu Yunong: ”Chef Liu, do you think Xiaofu could join our National Herbal Cuisine Research Association?”

Liu Yunong immediately looked surprised and somewhat incredulously at Liu Shaoxian.

They actually thought of inviting Fu Yu to join the National Herbal Cuisine Research Association!

This is simply a blessing from the heavens!

”Of course!”

Liu Yunong was wholeheartedly in favor of Fu Yu joining the association.

Liu Shaoxian also had a satisfied smile on his face.

That’s great!

The National Herbal Cuisine Research Association needs new generation forces like Fu Yu.