The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Zhang Zhen fell silent.

At times like this, he knew it was best to gently dissuade.

But Fu Yu was clearly at a crucial moment in the preparation.

What a bothersome feeling.

He wanted to intervene, but feared it would be annoying.

The words stuck in his throat, neither coming out nor going down!

He looked up at Fu Yu and was surprised to find the young man looking rather satisfied?

Zhang Zhen couldn’t help but take a curious look at the Shaoxing wine bowl: Has he really come up with an improved way to mix it?

Fu Yu didn’t notice the people around him, his eyes were only on the Shaoxing wine bowl he was mixing.

Finally, he added a bit of sugar, took a spoon, and stirred delicately.

Round and round...

From start to finish, he didn’t taste the seasoning.

Zhang Zhen watched for a while and couldn’t help but say to himself: Just looking with your eyes, can you find out something?

Chef Liu and Chef Lin saw Zhang Zhen’s focused gaze on Fu Yu’s cooking, their faces full of admiration and appreciation.

The second time in the oil tests one’s culinary skills, as you need to watch the tenderness of the fish, and carefully observe the color of the fish skin after frying.

But for Fu Yu, it was not a big deal.

The fried timpani fish is placed into the mixed Shaoxing wine bowl to soak briefly before being plated.

Afterwards, Fu Yu moved on to charcoal-grilled silver mojarra.

At this moment, Zhang Zhen perked up.

Recently, he had been very interested in Fu Yu’s grilling skills, keen on studying the unique grilling methods.

Seeing Fu Yu preparing to grill, as they approached the grilling area, Zhang Zhen made it a point to walk a bit faster, unobtrusively standing beside Fu Yu, offering him the grilling rack.

The silver mojarra is actually a very common white fish spotted around Bei’an City.

This fish is particularly beautiful, streamlined in shape, shimmering with silver scales, and has wide, glaring eyes, making it quite striking among the ”earthy-looking” finned fish, red-eye trout, and others.

Moreover, once grilled, the fish becomes crispy on the outside and tender inside, and as long as the gills are removed and cleaned, the head can be eaten whole, crispy and fragrant without a hint of fishiness.

The silver mojarra is small and grills quickly.

But this doesn’t mean it’s easy to handle.

Because the skin of the silver mojarra is somewhat tough, yet to ensure the bones are crispy when grilling, you need to raise the charcoal fire’s temperature and grill the fish while clamped.

Therefore, ensuring its aesthetic appeal and controlling the degree of grilling isn’t easy!

Fu Yu’s grilling is a specialty, something Zhang Zhen knew well.

He was curious about how Fu Yu planned to grill this time.

Would the sauce be the existing mix or would there be more innovation, or perhaps served plainly?

Fu Yu took the silver mojarra from Zhang Zhen and skillfully began placing it into the clamp.

The clamp was already oiled, and upon encountering the charcoal fire, the fish immediately started sizzling.

Fu Yu expertly grilled both sides, brushing oil as he went.

Zhang Zhen cooperated smoothly, always timely handing over tools as Fu Yu needed them.

Fu Yu focused on the grilling.

Zhang Zhen watched intently, not wanting to miss a single detail.

Fu Yu’s grilling technique seemed very ordinary, but upon closer observation, one would find that his timing in flipping the fish was exceptionally precise.

Each time he brushed oil, one could see the grilled fish in the clamp, the outer layer perfectly golden, except for the scored incisions made for flavor, with no other damage visible on the entire fish.

Chef Lin and Chef Liu exchanged a glance, each inwardly curious.

What kind of trick is this?

How can there be no apparent pattern?

How does Fu Yu manage to grasp the timing so well, oiling precisely before the fish skin starts sticking to the clamp?

How does he do it?

At this moment, Zhang Zhen’s pupils suddenly constricted, and he abruptly noticed Fu Yu’s technique in brushing oil was particularly unique!

This made Zhang Zhen even more intrigued, watching even more closely.

Fu Yu brushed the oil so quickly.

It was impossible to see how many times he brushed or the angle at which the brush fell, yet somehow he managed to coat every part of the fish in contact with the clamp with a thin layer of oil.

Even the amount of oil applied was just right, it wouldn’t slide or drip off.

Luckily the silver mojarra needed to be grilled until the bones were crispy and the flesh was tender, Fu Yu flipped and grilled it several times.

But the more Zhang Zhen watched, the more confused he became, the more dumbfounded he looked.

Until, eventually, he was almost bewildered!

Although he didn’t know what kind of technique this was, it was really impressive!

The more he watched, the more he was amazed, feeling Fu Yu’s method was extremely intricate.

Yet, he just couldn’t figure out how to start learning it.

Because... he was surprised to find that this time, compared to last time, when Fu Yu cooked, it was different again.

Fu Yu had visibly changed, improving even more.

Improved to the point where even though Zhang Zhen stood so close, he couldn’t learn by observing, nor could he find a way to start learning.

Even though it was just grilling fish, something he had done before.

But... he was sure he couldn’t achieve the perfect result Fu Yu grilled.

He simply couldn’t do it.

Realizing this, Zhang Zhen couldn’t help but furrow his brows and start thinking.

If last time, when watching Fu Yu cook, the feeling was one of easy familiarity in his actions.

Whether ingredients or spices, all were used with ease by him.

This time, it was: effortless mastery!

He could even casually adjust the dipping sauce ratio amidst the busy action.

And the result was very good!

This made Zhang Zhen oddly recall a saying: No move beats all moves.

When culinary skills reach a certain level, it becomes like Fu Yu, with no fixed cooking method.

It’s entirely adaptable, acting instinctively according to the level of food doneness, the strength of the fire, and the desired result of the cooking.

So impressive?

If initially, Fu Yu still referred to the recipe word by word when cooking.

Later, it was emulating the master’s teaching by imitation.

A while back, Fu Yu was still striving to catch up with his master’s culinary skills, studying hard and diligently honing his craft.

By now, Fu Yu obviously exerted excessive force, and just surpassed it!

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhen couldn’t help but mutter to himself: Is this evolution?

This is unbelievable!

They say if you part with someone for three days, you should re-evaluate them!

How does Fu Yu manage to make people change their impression every time they see him?

Shouldn’t the improvement in culinary skills at least somewhat respect the laws of nature?

While Zhang Zhen’s thoughts were racing, he heard Chef Lin beside him curiously ask: ”Chef Fu, your grilling technique is quite distinctive, did you learn from your master?”

Fu Yu gave a humble smile: ”Oh, no, I figured it out myself.”

Chef Lin took a deep breath: Wow, is it really this amazing?