The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Liu Yunong’s question was actually quite lenient.

She gave Fu Yu the opportunity to showcase his skills freely.

And Fu Yu seized the opportunity very well.

Liu Yunong mainly listened to the substance of his words.

Not to mention the question about soy sauce, but just his response to slicing the roast duck was textbook level.

What was most surprising was that he was also very familiar with food carving and cold dish presentation.

Liu Yunong maintained a neutral expression, but her fondness for Fu Yu grew considerably.

This young man, indeed, is remarkable.

Liu Yunong looked at Fu Yu and nodded, ”Mm, not bad.”

Liu Yunpeng was dumbfounded as he looked at Liu Yunong.

Previously, after his answers, all he received was her seemingly gentle but actually disdainful smile.

The smile seemed to say, ”So naive and hoping to become a disciple? You should take a good look at yourself.”

”International Liu” can actually praise someone?

It’s truly rare to see!

The two people who were politely rejected before also exchanged surprised glances, realizing that ”International Liu” also had such a gentle side, which was indeed rare.

But though he speaks so beautifully, who knows if his actual skills are reliable.

”You’ve worked in the Qianlima kitchen for a year; you can make all the restaurant’s basic signature dishes, right?”

Liu Yunong was already very satisfied with Fu Yu. Through his responses, it was evident that he had a solid grasp of the basics.

Working in the kitchen and mastering these details of theoretical knowledge so precisely shows that he is not only dedicated and diligent but also conscientious and responsible in his work.

His description of slicing the roast duck involved a lot of tips and techniques, revealing much about Fu Yu to Liu Yunong.

The main thing was his attitude toward knife skills and cooking details, and the confidence he exuded in his explanations was truly moving.

Fu Yu answered based on his actual experience at Qianlima: ”I’ve learned all the signature dishes, but I haven’t independently completed a full large meal order yet.”

Liu Yunong nodded: ”Oh... Can you make Wenshi Tofu?”

Fu Yu indeed knew how to make Wenshi Tofu,

but he didn’t learn it at Qianlima; rather, it was included in the medium-sized banquet menu at the music restaurant.

However, because this dish tests a chef’s knife skills and cooking skills greatly, it was always entrusted to Chef Liu, who had the best knife skills, to prepare.

Later, when Fu Yu demonstrated his exceptional knife skills, whenever the restaurant took such an order again, this dish would be jointly prepared by Fu Yu and Chef Liu.

Fu Yu originally thought he should be honest and tell Liu Yunong that he was quite skilled, but then he realized it was meant to test him, so it was better to remain modest and cautious.

What if Liu Yunong thought since he could make it, she might as well assign him a more challenging dish to cook?

Fu Yu didn’t want to invite trouble for himself.

So he humbly said, ”Well, I could give it a try.”

Liu Yunong smiled, turning to the other judges, ”It’s just as well today is the official rehearsal, how about we arrange for all the competitors to try making this dish? That way, we can all have an early look at everyone’s strength and form a bit of an assessment.”

After all, in culinary arts, no matter how eloquent one speaks, the key lies in practical execution.

Dai Jinghe commented with interest, ”I think this suggestion is good. Wenshi Tofu is a classic dish. It can test knife skills and judge culinary artistry, very good!”

Once Dai Jinghe spoke up, naturally, the others had no objections.

The chief planner’s eyes brightened even further.

Great idea!

They were just worried about the competition lacking highlights, so recording the process thoroughly and editing it into a promotional video could spur some online attention!

Thinking this, the chief planner quickly agreed, ”Just in time, the kitchen stations are all set up and ready to use.”

The judges were unanimous in their agreement, echoing each other positively, ”Alright, let’s do it.”

The chief planner quickly said, ”I’ll go arrange it right away!”

He then immediately instructed his team to procure the necessary ingredients urgently.

Afterwards, he specifically called in the cameraman, whispering some instructions into his ear.

The cameraman nodded repeatedly, ”Alright, don’t worry, I’ll record this segment well, and then pass it to the studio for editing.”

The subsequent rehearsal proceeded very smoothly, given the experience from the previous session.

By the time they reached the mock competition segment, the staff had prepared all the ingredients needed for cooking.

Fu Yu stood at the kitchen station, once again reviewing the cooking methods for Wenshi Tofu from the classic old recipe book.

There’s no denying that Liu Yunong is indeed very skilled.

The dish she chose, just as Dai Jinghe said, was a great test for a chef’s knife and cooking skills.

Though the cooking steps seemed simple at first glance, without three to five years of practice, it was incredibly challenging to master.

All the competitors carefully familiarized themselves with the setup of the kitchen stations and tested the kitchenware to ensure everything was flawless. Only then did they stand ready, waiting for instructions.

At this point, however, Liu Yunong suddenly said, ”The method for making Wenshi Tofu isn’t particularly difficult; the focus is on knife skills. So why don’t we add a timing element, how does that sound?”

Dai Jinghe smiled, giving Liu Yunong a look full of admiration, ”Not bad.”

The others showed clear interest in this.

Liu Yunong then announced, ”Then I’ll trouble the staff to time the process, from the start of cooking to the finish, to see how long the fastest competitor takes.”

Besides being steady and accurate, good knife skills also depend on speed.

After saying this, Liu Yunong smiled and glanced at Fu Yu, ”Since you want to be my disciple, give it your best try. My standards for accepting students are high. If you can satisfy me, then I’ll take you on as my apprentice.”

Upon hearing this, the other competitors looked at Fu Yu with sly amusement and a touch of sympathy.

The competitors sent to the chef competition were generally the head chefs capable of handling things independently in their kitchens.

They came to win awards and bring honor to their restaurants, at the very least, with a culinary career spanning over a decade.

For a competitor like Fu Yu, who had only been working for a year and got sent to compete, to them, it seemed like he was just there for show!

Liu Yunpeng, watching Fu Yu occupy his kitchen station, even suspected that Qianlima’s owner sent Fu Yu purely based on his handsome face, perhaps purposefully to frustrate the event planners.

After all, the events of last year were still fresh in everyone’s minds.

Yao Shi was such a big shot, yet he was manipulated by the show’s producers to boost viewer numbers, twisting him from a guest performer into a competitor.

The incident was discussed within the community for quite some time, with everyone feeling that the organizers handled it in bad taste, rather off-putting.

If it was a deliberate act of revenge to send Fu Yu, Liu Yunpeng thought it made some sense.