The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

That’s what he thought at the time.

So he replaced one piece of tofu after another.

Fu Yu’s persistence in trying to make the loach burrow into the tofu stemmed from his understanding of the dish’s presentation and name.

He speculated that if he placed live loach in a pot of clear water and then gradually heated it, the loach would slowly feel the rising temperature and thus wiggle its way into the tofu.

The loach lives in mud, so naturally, it could burrow into the tofu to escape the heat. However, as the tofu also heated up slowly, the loach would end up dying inside the tofu, resulting in the appearance of loach burrowing into the tofu as we see it.

However, this idea slowly wavered with one cooking failure after another.

Because he found that if the loach and tofu were heated simultaneously, the loach wouldn’t burrow into the tofu but would struggle hard enough to break the tofu apart.

That’s when he finally realized that this method might not work; the dish required some other secret to achieve the finished effect.

Fu Yu was always smart and quick to respond.

When he realized he might have gone astray, he immediately changed his mindset.

He started to ponder that the loach wouldn’t easily burrow into the tofu because it was alive and uncooperative. What if the loach was dead?

Instead of being soft, it would be firm, which could be inserted directly into the tofu before cooking...

He even used a spoon to scoop open the tofu from the demonstration dish to closely observe how the loach was positioned inside and the condition of the damaged tofu.

Some things aren’t as complex or difficult as imagined.

It’s just a matter of not grasping the key trick.

When he saw the opened tofu, exactly as he had imagined, with only regular holes where the loach had burrowed in and no other significant damage, Fu Yu felt a sudden realization.

The feeling at that moment was indescribable in words.

Perhaps only a chef can understand this exhilarating excitement and indescribable sense of achievement.

And because he figured out the key to cooking this dish, Fu Yu was able to produce a successful dish effortlessly in his subsequent attempts.

Actually, the difficulty of this dish lies in making the loach burrow into the tofu smoothly; the cooking steps are straightforward.

...

Watching Fu Yu start handling the loach fish, Liu Shaoxian couldn’t help exchanging a glance with Xiao Jiping.

Loach fish!

This can actually be used for medicinal purposes.

It has benefits for strengthening the spleen and kidneys, promoting urination, and detoxifying. It’s often used for symptoms like spleen deficiency diarrhea, thirst from febrile disease, and diabetes.

However, in making medicinal dishes, Liu Shaoxian hasn’t really used this ingredient much.

In contrast, Xiao Jiping’s eyes lit up at seeing Fu Yu choose to cook with loach fish, and he instinctively stepped forward to get a clearer view.

As a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, he was well aware of the medicinal benefits of loach.

During his practice, he had encountered patients swayed by folk remedies who believed in swallowing live loach to treat icteric hepatitis.

A small child, only six or seven years old, was forced by the family to swallow clean-market loach whole.

Such a small child, with a narrow throat, was in severe discomfort until a nurse noticed and quickly sought a doctor, eventually alerting Xiao Jiping, who came to examine the situation himself.

The family’s desperate attempts to find any means of curing the child, Xiao Jiping could understand after years in medicine, but such actions were sheer folly.

Thanks to Xiao Jiping’s renowned status, the family was willing to heed advice after hearing he had come.

Xiao Jiping took the opportunity to inform them:

Indeed, loach can treat diseases and count as a medicinal herb.

However, the method of consumption isn’t to swallow them whole but to cleanse them in fresh water for 24 hours before rinsing thoroughly.

Dry the loach and grind it into powder, adding appropriate mint and spices as flavoring agents. Consume three times daily, 10g each time after meals, to treat acute infectious icteric hepatitis.

Generally, swallowing live loach isn’t recommended due to potential parasitic infections.

Seeing Fu Yu use loach in a medicinal dish now sparked Xiao Jiping’s curiosity.

He was quite curious, how would loach be cooked into a medicinal dish?

Knowing that loach, unlike other ingredients, repels many people with its unsightly and slippery appearance, making it seem rather unappetizing.

Liu Shaoxian, a longtime friend of Xiao Jiping, was well aware of his preferences.

Seeing his usually calm friend, always tranquil due to work, now intently watching Fu Yu cook with great interest, Liu Shaoxian also became intrigued.

Glancing again at the composed and nimble Fu Yu handling the loach effortlessly, it seemed as if he was watching a professionally edited cooking tutorial video.

No doubt, it was quite a spectacle.

Liu Shaoxian silently moved closer, too, watching Fu Yu’s actions with hidden astonishment:

Could it be that the loach really could be turned into something beautiful?

However, this thought quickly turned to amazement upon seeing Fu Yu’s operations.

Wow!

This, this can work too...

In fact, Fu Yu didn’t overthink while handling the loach. He simply wanted to pick out a few suitably sized ones for cooking after cleaning them.

During the process, he instinctively reached for a pair of chopsticks and deftly picked up a loach, placing it into a pre-prepared storage box.

Since receiving the ”Universal Chopsticks” reward, Fu Yu gradually became accustomed to this.

The Universal Chopsticks were incredibly useful; no matter what food he picked up, it wouldn’t slip or fall. It was precise, like pointing and shooting, making it extremely convenient.

With increasing use, Fu Yu discovered that his operations felt more adept than when he first started using them.

Maybe this had something to do with his finger dexterity?

Although his finger dexterity only improved by 10%, it was noticeably better than before.

Finger usage plays a significant role while operating various kitchen utensils; many cooking tasks heavily test finger agility.

Being close up and observant, Liu Yunong was the first to notice Fu Yu’s chopstick placement on the loach’s body was consistently at the one-third mark.

This spot was where the loach’s organs were, providing internal support to prevent damaging the fish’s skin when pressure was applied with the chopsticks.

Putting aside Fu Yu’s impressive skill in picking up the loach, which left everyone astounded, what was more surprising was his accuracy in consistently placing the chopsticks at the same spot on the fish every time.

This was loach fish, slippery as can be, and most people would struggle even to catch them with their hands, let alone with chopsticks.

Watching Fu Yu place loach after loach into the storage box, one might almost think the fish were dead and specially treated for smoothness if not for their frantic wriggling when picked up.

Fu Yu relied entirely on feel, his eyes darting over the loach in the basin to quickly assess the best choice, then swiftly caught it with the chopsticks.

The more he practiced, the more skilled he became, speeding up his actions.

In terms of absolute tactile ability, Fu Yu had long perfected this technique.