It was unclear how he moved, only that with a slight flick of his wrist, the vegetable paste in his palm was gently rolled into a round meatball.
Though it was clearly a time-consuming operation, in Fu Yu’s hands, it became effortless.
Soon, a row of neatly arranged, uniformly sized hair vegetable meatballs lay flat on the tray.
Even without obsessive-compulsive disorder, it still looked incredibly satisfying.
Zhang Jinyu kept his eyes on Fu Yu’s movements, unwittingly mimicking them in the air.
Then to his astonishment, he realized that even in a simulation, he couldn’t keep up with Fu Yu’s pace.
Seeing Fu Yu quickly finish molding all the hair vegetable meatballs, Zhang Jinyu couldn’t help but sigh.
He realized he was somewhat daydreaming.
He mockingly smiled at himself and redirected his attention to Fu Yu’s cooking process.
Fu Yu took a new pot, poured bone broth into it and brought it to a boil, adding eel gelatin and hair vegetable meatballs, simmering on low heat.
He seasoned it with rice wine, salt, and MSG, garnishing it with cilantro before serving.
The aroma of the Hairy Vegetable Braised Eel is very distinctive, even in such a complexly-scented kitchen, it can be singled out as uniquely fragrant.
Zhang Jinyu peered in, seeing the final dish in the orange-handled clay pot, the broth’s glossy color promising an incredibly smooth and tender taste.
"Let me do it!"
Concentrating intently, the moment Fu Yu finished plating, Zhang Jinyu hurriedly stepped forward, placing the clay pot on the pass.
Fu Yu paid no more attention to this, focusing instead on taking out the steamed river eel from the steamer.
The river eel was plated in the steamer, and when taken out, it only needed scallions and soaked goji berries for garnish.
The wine-braised river eel was carried away by the kitchen staff, while the millet in the steamer was not yet done.
Fu Yu instructed Zhang Jinyu to bring over the steamed crab from the fridge.
For millet river crab, the crab meat is crucial.
If the crab meat is too fragmented during the extraction, it will entirely disperse when cooked, affecting the texture.
As a chef at a seafood restaurant, he prepared crabs daily.
But generally, it involved cutting them into pieces, not extracting the meat.
Fu Yu was an exception.
It wasn’t because he ate a lot and was experienced.
Rather, it was because he ate them so rarely that he treasured each one, meticulously extracting the crab meat to avoid any waste.
This meticulousness actually granted him more patience and some experience in extracting crab meat.
The steamed crabs were placed in the fridge’s freezer for 10 minutes, making the meat firmer and easier to extract.
This tip was passed down to Fu Yu by Gu Yunwu.
Gu Yunwu’s supremacy in stewing was unmatched, not just because of technique but his thoughtful approach to cooking.
Fu Yu carefully removed the crab shell, claws, and gills, breaking off the crab legs.
While doing so, he made sure to retain the joints attached to the shell.
Crab meat grows laterally, with each leg attached to a cavity.
He scooped out the meat and crab roe from inside the shell, avoiding an indigestible white section.
By halving the crab from top to bottom, he revealed the body meat, which could be cut horizontally with scissors and extracted with a knife.
While dining ordinarily, Fu Yu would follow the trend, taking a sharp knife and using the tip to detach the soft tissue at the shell joint.
But here in the kitchen, with no outsiders present, Fu Yu simply used the chef’s knife.
The kitchen knife was exceedingly sharp and far more powerful than a small blade when wielded proficiently.
Fu Yu pinched the crab leg joint with two fingers and gently pulled out a sizable chunk of cavity meat.
After extracting the meat from the shell, he dealt with the crab legs.
Without switching to scissors, Fu Yu wielded the kitchen knife to break ground.
Using the chef’s knife, he chopped off the crab legs, then gently pushed the crab meat out with a slim knife.
Feeling he did a meticulous job, Fu Yu acknowledged that since he wasn’t very practiced, he began slowly, but his pace picked up after extracting a complete piece of crab meat.
He belatedly realized that while extracting the crab meat, he surprisingly developed an indescribable tactile feeling.
It was a rhythmic method of sectioning, impossible to accurately describe with words.
Every finger seemed to be endowed with its distinct rhythm.
How to grip the shell, remove the meat; the entire process was akin to a pianist meticulously crafting a piece.
No fancy moves were shown, just the plain yet exquisite act of sectioning.
Once the last crab leg had been sectioned and the whole piece placed on the platter, Fu Yu exuded a profound sense of accomplishment.
Since acquiring time management skills, Fu Yu habitually optimizes every moment of cooking, wasting not a second.
Yet now, he unexpectedly had a thought which he was prepared to act on decisively.
Fu Yu poured concentrated soup into the pot, adding steamed millet, diced white shimeji mushrooms, and kale, seasoning with chicken broth, chicken powder, and sugar.
Then he added in the crab meat.
A typically simple step, Fu Yu totally deviated from Gu Yunwu’s instructions.
Ordinarily, the crab meat could simply be thrown in, as it would simmer scattered in the cooking liquid.
But Fu Yu did not follow that route.
He skillfully reassembled the extracted crab meat, aligning it closely to the crab’s original shape.
Just like creating latte art, he drew a crab pattern atop the millet.
As the crab meat was thoroughly separated, laid flat atop the porridge, it turned out surprisingly intricate.
Fu Yu watched cautiously as he turned on the heat, precisely maintaining the temperature just shy of a rolling boil.
Ensuring all ingredients were fully cooked and preventing the boiling water from scattering the crab meat, was a task others might find extremely difficult.
Beyond the extent of crab meat sectioning and assembly, mastery of temperature control is a skill few possess.
Yet for the present Fu Yu, it was child’s play.
Simmering over low heat for two minutes, when it felt nearly done, Fu Yu lightly glazed it with a thin layer of cornstarch slurry.
Then he turned off the stove.
Having readied bowls for serving the porridge, Fu Yu turned and cautioned, "Stay away from me, whatever you do, don’t touch me!"
Zhang Jinyu promptly obeyed, though his curiosity got the better of him, watching Fu Yu’s operations eagerly.
Fu Yu picked up the pot directly, pouring the ready porridge into the bowl with decisive speed.
Even though there seemed no large gestures while he acted, once the porridge filled the bowl, Zhang Jinyu was astonished to see the crab-shaped arrangement of meat in the pot remained intact.
This was quite impressive!
Anyone who’s poured porridge knows that the arc of the moving porridge is uncontrollable!
Usually, the last bit reaching the bowl is the thickest part from the pot bottom.
Yet Fu Yu seemed to have transferred the entire pot contents smoothly.
Zhang Jinyu was left dumbfounded, filled with admiration.
Fu Yu was completely unaware.
Throughout this procedure, he had been holding his breath, wary that a single error might ruin the porridge.
Luckily, the final outcome turned out perfect, at least to his satisfaction.
Letting out a heartfelt sigh of relief, Fu Yu shook his hand to relieve the slight numbness from the swift wrist action.
Fu Yu gazed at the millet river crab porridge in the white porcelain bowl, filled with a profound sense of accomplishment.
Though a small and seemingly negligible innovation, Fu Yu felt as if he had gained some new insight.
Precise tactile sense during handling could indeed control the flow rate and direction of ingredients through hand speed.
It was a kind of unspeakable mastery.
Zhang Jinyu, staring slack-jawed at the exquisite presentation, couldn’t help but voice his praise: "Chef Fu, you really are amazing! No wonder people say you have a gift for cooking! I’m utterly convinced!"
Hearing this, Fu Yu suddenly grasped a fleeting thought in his mind.
No, this was not a talent for cooking.
It was a talent for innovation.
Indeed, innovation itself is a kind of talent!