Faced with this inexplicable confidence, the girls present made a point of looking away.
Just then!
"Oh, everyone’s here."
Su Chen walked in, wearing yet another of the countless suits from his wardrobe.
He wasn’t wearing the jacket, however, and had the top button of his dress shirt undone, giving him a slightly casual air.
The girls glanced at their boss, then back at Brother Fang Chang.
Tsk tsk...
Even Zhan Yang had to admit it. Brother Fang Chang looked decent enough on his own, but the moment Boss Su stood beside him... well, one looked like a TV star, and the other suddenly gave off a vibe of being from the sticks.
"Alright, everyone get back to what you were doing. And can someone get Ah Bao for me? It’s time to start prepping."
"Okay!" Ling Shuyu trotted off to the second floor.
She hadn’t really noticed before. But now that the topic of clothes had come up and she’d taken a proper look, she realized... ’Does the boss really have such a great physique?’
’What am I even thinking...’
Shuyu clenched her fists and quickly ran up to the second floor.
Zhan Yang felt a little awkward. "Brother Fang Chang, just... pretend I didn’t say anything, okay?"
"Damn it!" Brother Fang Chang slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. "Why?!"
"What are you all talking about?" Su Chen looked at the group in confusion. It was like they were all speaking in code.
"It’s nothing, nothing..." Brother Fang Chang also took off his suit jacket. It was too hot to be wearing one in the middle of summer anyway. And after seeing Boss Su, he felt even hotter.
The moment Ah Bao heard Boss Su was looking for him to prep something, he came running over eagerly.
’I get to learn something new again!’
He had to admit, Boss Su’s massive pork bun dish had been a real eye-opener for Liu Ahbao. The way the pork knuckle meat was perfectly integrated with the other ingredients in the wok—that process alone had been an invaluable lesson!
When Ah Bao had free time, he would even daydream about how that technique could be adapted for many other dishes.
While his stewing technique was still no match for Boss Su’s, the thermometer was like a real-world cheat code, allowing him to just barely keep up with the boss’s pace.
"Boss, what are we preparing?"
Su Chen answered immediately. "At five o’clock, prepare a batch of marinated pork loin. Here’s exactly how you’ll do it..."
The pork slices for the flash-fried pork needed to be marinated ahead of time, but for no more than an hour.
For the Squirrel Fish, Su Chen planned to handle everything himself, starting from dispatching the fish, to ensure maximum freshness.
As for the Lion’s Head Meatballs, he had already shown Ah Bao how to make them once, so Ah Bao knew what to prepare. Beyond that, they urgently needed to simmer a pot of chicken broth and another pot of superior stock.
Su Chen had grown to prefer using real chicken broth instead of bouillon powder.
Then, following Su Chen’s recipe, they needed to make a pot of pork rib soup and a pot of lamb soup. These were the broths for the oat noodles. Su Chen had basically given up on this dish; he estimated it would reach B Level at best.
The Black Pork Stew was also on the chopping block. If it really came down to it, he would just have to add another dish to the menu.
After giving these instructions, Su Chen immediately returned to his office.
Time was too tight!
He had already perfected the S Level Squirrel Fish. Paired with the S Level Lion’s Head Meatballs and the A Level Flash-Fried Pork...
With these three dishes, he could at least put up a respectable front. As for the oat noodle main course, it would be a B Level at worst. Su Chen was confident of that much.
’I still have 48 hours to practice. I need to focus on the shredded tofu dish.’
After some consideration, Su Chen finally decided to make Braised Dried Tofu, a quintessential Huaiyang Cuisine classic.
Since his opponent was a master from the Huaiyang Restaurant, he would use Huaiyang Cuisine to beat Huaiyang Cuisine. The Jingzhou Cuisine dishes would just be icing on the cake!
This was because, compared to shredded tofu braised in chicken broth, this particular dish was a much better test of a chef’s culinary skill.
’Sigh... I just don’t know if this "Famous Dish Recipe" is the real deal or just a dud...’
Before heading back to the practice room, Su Chen leaned back leisurely in his chair, opened TikTok, and searched for an account that was incredibly popular among food lovers.
Old Rice Bone!
The chefs on this account were mostly National Banquet Masters, including several experts in Huaiyang Cuisine. Braised Dried Tofu was one of the dishes an old master had made on the channel before.
One couldn’t speak for everyone, but when this master made the dish, his version carried absolute authority.
After spending seven or eight minutes watching the video, Su Chen tossed his phone aside and rubbed his forehead.
’The master’s version of the shredded tofu, logically, has no major flaws. The only issue is that he didn’t have good superior stock on hand at home, so he added some dark soy sauce for color.’
’He explained that in the video, so it’s not a big deal... But the method in my "Famous Dish Recipe" is completely different from the master’s version...’
According to the video, their version was called Shrimp Fire Braised Dried Tofu. The "Braised" part of the name came from the technique of cooking it over a high flame from start to finish.
But Su Chen’s recipe was, to put it mildly, rather unconventional.
’Worst comes to worst, I’ll make both versions and see what the system scores them!’
With that decided, Su Chen quickly entered the practice room and summoned two blocks of dried tofu from Yangzhou.
This type of dried tofu was known for its firmness, and it was the only kind suitable for Braised Dried Tofu. Many restaurants nowadays used pre-packaged, machine-cut shreds, which was a downright insult to their customers’ palates!
’Time to play with some knife work again...’
He placed the block of dried tofu on the cutting board. After a moment’s thought, he decided to use his ’Wild Blade Technique!’
An ordinary Huaiyang Cuisine chef could get 22 slices out of a block this size. A master could manage 28.
It wasn’t just a matter of "the thinner, the better," either; the dimensions had to be precise. According to the Famous Dish Recipe, each slice couldn’t be thicker than about 1.5 millimeters. Su Chen opted for exactly one millimeter.
The principle was the same as for cutting Wen Si Tofu; to reduce the impact from the spine of the knife, he had to use a blade that was thin from edge to back.
HSSSS... HAAAA...
Su Chen centered his breathing, placed his left hand behind his back, and gripped the knife in his right. With the [Precise Strike] buff active, he raised his arm and began to slash at the cutting board in a mad flurry!
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!
After a rapid series of impacts, the block of dried tofu on the board seemed to go limp and collapse.
’Thirty-five cuts, meaning exactly thirty-six slices. Passable, I guess!’
He adjusted his stance and, with another flurry of thwacks, cross-cut the thin slices, turning each one into shreds the width of a matchstick.
He then placed the shreds in a bowl and set them aside.
Before summoning the next ingredients, Su Chen returned to the real world for a moment to pour himself a glass of water.
’Famous Dish Recipe, I hope you’re not leading me astray...’
’After all, once I present this method, if it doesn’t taste good, people can just say my skills are lacking and that I was just making things up as I went.’
’But if it *is* delicious...’
Su Chen downed the glass of water in one gulp.
If it was delicious, then every chef in the entire school of Huaiyang Cuisine would be utterly stunned.