The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

After preparing the batter, Fu Yu followed Liu Yunong’s instructions and dipped the lotus root stuffed with meat filling into the batter.

At this moment, Liu Yunong specifically emphasized: ”The thickness of the crispy skin is not determined by the consistency of the batter, but controlled when coating it. If we’re frying eggplant, a thin coating would be more flavorful. However, in our restaurant, the batter for lotus root is made with a secret blend of seasonings, and it tastes great, so it can be coated thicker. A thicker crispy skin will result in a crunchy yet sticky texture.”

Fu Yu nodded and made the coating a bit thicker.

In the kitchen, they used a small pot with a small diameter but some height to fry the lotus root.

Using such a pot is more economical on oil.

Liu Yunong advised: ”The oil temperature shouldn’t be too high because there’s a meat filling. If the oil is too hot, the meat filling won’t be fully cooked while the outer skin has already burned.”

This is the key trick when frying.

Fu Yu carefully took notes and skillfully began frying.

The fried lotus root had a crispy outer skin with a crunchy yet sticky lotus root inside, and the lotus root was stuffed with fragrant meat filling.

With one bite, you could experience a variety of flavors and textures, a truly great pleasure.

After frying on low heat until the skin turned golden brown, it was drained of excess oil, and the fried lotus root was considered complete.

For plating, a plate would contain 8 pieces stacked orderly, with a handcrafted fruit and vegetable flower in the center.

Fu Yu finished frying this batch of lotus root, which was just enough for four plates.

However, Liu Yunong instructed to serve only three plates, leaving one for the kitchen staff to taste while it was still hot.

The fried lotus root had a crispy outer skin with a crunchy yet sticky lotus root inside, and the lotus root was stuffed with fragrant meat filling. With one bite, you could experience a variety of flavors and textures, a truly great pleasure.

Everyone tasted a piece, wanting more.

Fu Yu turned to Liu Yunong and smiled slightly: ”Chef Liu, how is it?”

Liu Yunong, wiping her hands with a tissue, said: ”Everything else is fine, the taste is good too, but you are too slow at stuffing. You need to practice this well when you go back.”

Fu Yu: ”...”

He was a bit overconfident.

Moreover, apart from here, thinking about it carefully, there really isn’t much opportunity to practice stuffing usually.

Mainly because there aren’t too many dishes that require this operation.

Fu Yu sighed helplessly.

Just as he was sighing, a digital notification suddenly sounded in his ear:

[Ding! NPC renowned chef Liu Yunong’s task: Increase your stuffing speed, complete three stuffing procedures in one minute. Task completion reward: One key to the Stuffing Practice Classroom.]

Fu Yu’s eyes immediately lit up.

What does it mean when someone delivers a pillow just as you’re about to fall asleep?

This is it!

Fu Yu couldn’t wait to enter the classroom to study.

However, the conditions didn’t allow it.

He didn’t have his own resting room at Shangshi Private Kitchen.

Fu Yu sighed helplessly.

He could only wait until he went back to Qianlima in the evening.

During this period, Fu Yu had been eating dinner at Shangshi Private Kitchen every day.

Although he had to handle the busy dining hours, Fu Yu still felt fulfilled, not only learning to cook Liu Family Cuisine but also tasting delicious dishes.

Especially thinking that after tonight, he could impress everyone, Fu Yu felt filled with energy.

By the end of the evening, Fu Yu couldn’t remember how many batches of fried lotus root he had made.

At first, Liu Yunong would occasionally come to check his technique, but later, she completely left the cooking of this dish to him.

Fu Yu felt he was progressing quickly, but the system never alerted task completion, indicating that his stuffing was still far from perfect.

However, his speed was getting faster.

Seeing the orders from the front starting to decrease significantly, Fu Yu was sweating.

Even though he was fast, he still couldn’t complete three stuffings within a minute.

Unlike other ingredients, lotus root has many holes, making it challenging to avoid all the holes while stuffing the meat and ensuring the lotus root’s flatness. This was very difficult.

The business in the restaurant was quite good today, with Liu Yunong and Liu Zhangpeng each busy and truly pushing themselves!

Except for taking a brief moment to eat dinner, they mostly stayed at their cooking stations.

The busiest was Wang Yulong.

Not only was he busy cooking, but he was also keeping an eye on Fu Yu’s actions from time to time.

Wang Yulong unknowingly began to notice Fu Yu’s every move.

He increasingly liked this young and talented chef.

Initially, he respected Fu Yu purely for Liu Yunong’s sake.

But now, he genuinely thought Fu Yu was excellent.

As he observed more, Wang Yulong slowly realized that Fu Yu had a strong perseverance when working.

This unyielding determination to achieve his goals was particularly moving.

However, while watching, Wang Yulong noticed that Fu Yu seemed to be in a bottleneck. His actions were steady as always, but his temples were covered in sweat from anxiety, and his expression was one of urgency.

Wang Yulong took a couple more glances.

When his dish was ready and plated, Wang Yulong used the opportunity to serve dishes to loop around to Fu Yu’s cooking station.

”What’s going on?”

Wang Yulong approached, carefully inspecting the finished stuffed lotus roots Fu Yu had made.

The finished products looked good, with the meat filling of appropriate thickness and clean, flat lotus roots.

Fu Yu was genuinely anxious.

From his experience with tasks recently, he had long noticed that every task the system issued was not baseless but precisely targeted towards whatever skill he needed to improve, applying a certain amount of pressure.

They pushed him to put his heart into completing the tasks while learning the respective skills.

And for every task issued, as long as he worked hard, he would definitely be able to complete it and smoothly receive the reward.

But this time, Fu Yu was genuinely a bit frustrated and anxious.

Seeing that there were almost no customers ordering from the front anymore.

If he really ended his shift without completing this task, then the idea of entering the practice classroom to study tonight would be in vain.

Moreover, there were a limited number of dishes that required stuffing.

If he missed this opportunity today, imagining how long it would take to find another chance to practice wasn’t easy.

If it were a usual day, Fu Yu might have been better at handling one or two.

But now, anxiety filled his heart, and when Wang Yulong’s concerned inquiry reached him, he found himself inexplicably speaking up about his difficulties.

”I want to improve my hand speed, to try if I can complete three stuffing operations within a minute, but every time I just fall short of reaching the goal.”

Wang Yulong clearly didn’t quite understand his idea, habitually advising: ”To improve hand speed, there are no shortcuts other than doing it more and practicing hard. What you’ve done now is already quite good; don’t be overly eager for success. Haste makes waste, and regardless of what it is, you still need to take it step by step and progress gradually.”

Fu Yu felt a bit disappointed, but more so a sense of indescribable frustration.