The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

When frying fish, both the pot and the oil need to be heated thoroughly.

Place the fish gently and accurately. Once it’s in the pan, don’t move it immediately. When one side is almost done, shake the pan slightly; if the fish can slide off easily, use the spatula to flip it swiftly and fry the other side.

Fry the fish head and tail until golden, then take the head out, split it with a knife, and add soup.

The essence of the fish lies in the brain, so fry the whole fish head first to prevent the fish brain fluid from leaking during frying. Then put the split head back in the pot, bringing out the fish brain with high heat to make the soup rich, flavorful, and nutritious.

Fry the carp until both sides are golden and remove from the pan.

Heat oil in a wok over the flame.

Add a few star anise to the pot first.

By frying the oil with star anise, it not only removes the fishy smell but also enhances the aroma.

Add slices of ginger, garlic, and scallions, along with soaked red peppers, and stir-fry until fragrant.

Add white broth, carp, MSG, chicken powder, cooking wine, and white pepper, and bring to a boil.

Using broth instead of water to simmer fish soup is one way to ensure the soup is thick white and deliciously rich.

Another key to simmering fish soup is to boil it over high heat; try not to use low or medium heat and keep the soup always rolling.

There’s an old saying: ”Boil tofu a thousand times, fish ten thousand”—only then does the fish taste fresh.

In addition, when simmering fish soup, cold broth must be used, and the amount should be added all at once. Otherwise, adding water midway will dilute the original flavor.

Skim off all the foam and pour it into the pot.

Fu Yu got up so early that the fish soup was ready; only then did the back kitchen staff start arriving one after another.

Everything that needed to be done was done, so this last bit wasn’t going to make a difference.

Fu Yu simply watched over the pot. As someone arrived, he started cooking a serving of noodles.

The noodles were pre-soaked cold noodles.

The pastry section always makes dishes to order, so there’s never leftover pasta at night.

With so many people in the back kitchen, it’s impossible to make fresh drawn noodles quickly enough.

Using cold noodles makes things different; you can eat them any time, just heat them quickly, and they’ll be ready after a swirl in the hot soup.

These cold noodles cooked hot have a chewy texture and a wonderful taste.

Paired with the delicious fish soup, the aroma is enticing; the soup is snow-white, like milk, with a slick of yellow oil, it looks fresh.

Take a bite of noodles, then a sip of soup; the broth is truly thick and uniquely flavorful.

A year’s plan starts with a good morning.

Fu Yu’s hot, fragrant fish soup noodles, which he personally simmered, lifted the mood and spirits of everyone in the back kitchen.

Now, Fu Yu has been mixing pretty well at Qianlima Restaurant.

From the front-of-house servers to the back kitchen helpers, Fu Yu enjoys a very good relationship with everyone.

After all, Fu Yu is handsome, has a great personality, is eloquent, capable, still single, and has now been officially promoted.

Anyway, everything about him is good!

Such a person is a delight for the opposite sex to see and a person the same sex admires!

After all... in places like restaurants, the majority are female servers, especially at Qianlima, where it’s all female servers.

The back kitchen is indeed talented, with a head chef and several senior chefs; even if not, there are four lead cooks.

However, it’s such that by the time a chef stands out, they’re usually in their mid-thirties or older.

Due to the demanding nature of the work, everyone is always drenched in sweat every day.

When they get older, thinning hair is expected, but combined with greasy hair and an always grime-stained chef’s uniform...

In such a big environment, it’s not just hard to find a handsome guy; even a clean and tidy one is hard to come by!

It’s often said that when restaurant servers look for a partner, most want a reliable chef, because they know them well and the pay is good.

But in reality, even that is hard to achieve.

After all, ordinary men without many faults or shortcomings, still unmarried by their mid-thirties, are very rare.

The young helpers may be young and good-looking, but with the salary they earn, who knows when they’ll stand out?

Never mind the software skills, their hardware doesn’t qualify; no matter how young or handsome they are, it’s in vain!

And those who are on the verge of standing out, while not officially promoted yet, have already started leading stations and flipping woks, usually already have girlfriends.

This leaves the young female servers a bit regretful.

While earning more, having a stable position, and a substantial background, the already forty-year-old, slightly chubby, and average-looking Gu Yunwu, did make a move on a newly recruited female server a while ago.

In a legitimate yet slick manner, he flirted for a while. But as the female server saw his true nature, she gradually stopped giving him any attention.

As an old hand, even with Gu Yunwu’s unquenchable desires, he has to calm down.

Today, although it’s a small festive day, it’s not very busy in the morning.

The back kitchen seized the time to prepare ingredients, trying to complete all the preparations within this short period.

Zhao Meng was inspecting the pickling status of side dishes with Fu Yu by his side.

Sun Qingning and Zhang Jinyu teamed up, assisting the helpers with the initial over-oiling work.

Other helpers focused on cutting ingredients; with the many customers coming to dine today, a large quantity of prepared ingredients is needed.

In the front hall, servers came over to the back kitchen from time to time to deliver dining orders.

Besides takeout orders, there were orders for temporarily added dining seats.

Wang Yuxuan, entrusted by the front desk, helped deliver the dining orders to the back kitchen and was about to return to the front hall when Gu Yunwu quickly called her.

Wang Yuxuan turned around curiously: ”Chef Gu, do you need me for something?”

Gu Yunwu quickly put on what he thought was a charming smile, saying, ”Yuxuan, can you help me get today’s order list from Sun Wei? I feel like the amount of swai fish is off!”

For preparing for the festive supplies, the purchaser had started bulk buying three days earlier.

With much seafood and fresh produce needing to be stocked daily, the morning’s inventory had surged, making today’s ingredient preparation even more hectic. Only after Gu Yunwu managed to finish the counting did he realize discrepancies in the order amounts.

Wang Yuxuan was a seasoned employee, having worked there for five or six years and was very familiar with everyone in the back kitchen.

At his words, she snorted: ”Chef Gu, we’re just about overwhelmed in the front hall, who has time to find Brother Sun for you! Go yourself!”

Gu Yunwu had no choice; indeed, Wang Yuxuan was a tough one to boss around.

Today was a special case, with both front and back kitchens being terribly busy.

If it weren’t for the helpers all focused on ingredient preparation, Gu Yunwu would have casually asked someone to do the errand.

Right then, Fu Yu was holding a clearly incorrect takeout order, intending to head to the front hall.

Seeing Fu Yu walking out, Gu Yunwu hurriedly called out: ”Xiaofu, where are you going?”

Fu Yu replied casually: ”Heading to the front hall.”

Gu Yunwu was pleased: ”That’s perfect. Could you help me call Sun Wei and ask him for the order list? There’s something off with today’s deliveries, and I need the list to check the inventory.”

Fu Yu was almost at the kitchen door. Upon hearing Gu Yunwu’s words, he turned back.

Seeing this, Wang Yuxuan asked curiously: ”Chef Fu, why are you going to the front hall?”

Fu Yu explained: ”There was a mistake with the order that was just delivered; I need to exchange it for a correct one.”

Wang Yuxuan immediately said: ”Really? Then you better hurry!”

Turning to Gu Yunwu, she complained: ”Chef Gu, there’s really nothing for you to do; just go yourself! Chef Fu needs to exchange an order, don’t delay the important stuff!”

”Alright, I’ll go do it for you then!”

Wang Yuxuan, always tough, was familiar with everyone in the back kitchen. Even Zhao Meng and Yao Shi didn’t bother her, much less Gu Yunwu.

After her chiding, all Gu Yunwu could do was sigh helplessly, half-jokingly, and earnestly saying: ”Sigh... I’ve realized, I have no status in our store whatsoever. Forget about Old Zhao, now I’m not even up to little Fu’s level!”

Wang Yuxuan was heading out, but hearing this, she couldn’t help but turn back and reply: ”Chef Gu, don’t underestimate yourself too much!”

”Though you’re not as handsome as Chef Fu, not as tall, not as well-built, not as young,”

”you’re still really outstanding!”

Gu Yunwu found himself between laughter and tears, but since joking with the female servers was common, he was used to it.

He pricked up his ears, expecting to hear more afterward, only to see Wang Yuxuan turn and walk off.

Hey!

Wait...

Is that it?

Can’t you compliment me a bit more?!

Just one word, ”outstanding,” covers it all?