Chapter 59: A Kitchen Helper? Don’t Blame Me If It Doesn’t Taste Good
Chapter 59: Chapter 59: A Kitchen Helper? Don’t Blame Me If It Doesn’t Taste Good
Su Chen and Lu Yongliang were bustling around the kitchen, having a great time.
Cooking is a creative endeavor. When you meet a well-matched rival or friend, as someone dedicated to the study of food, you can’t help but feel a thrill of excitement.
The preparation method for the Eight-Treasure Pumpkin Stuffed with Rice was slightly different from other steamed dishes.
Su Chen placed a wok over a low flame and heated some lard.
He dumped all the pre-prepared ingredients into the wok at once. A quick glance revealed there had to be at least a dozen different ingredients in the bowl!
But it was the filling Su Chen had prepared in advance that truly shocked Lu Yongliang!
The Eight-Treasure Pumpkin Stuffed with Rice is a Su Cuisine dish. The ancient method uses seven ingredients like glutinous rice, red dates, and lotus seeds for the filling. Combined with the pumpkin, it earned the name "Eight-Treasure" and is considered a sweet dish.
After this dish made its way to E Province, the locals adapted it to their own tastes.
They completely discarded the fillings used in Su Cuisine, replacing them with locally abundant and beloved ingredients.
Local specialties like ham, chicken, pork tongue, squid, magnolia, and lotus seeds, with dried shrimp added to enhance the flavor. When Su Chen poured chicken broth into the wok and began to cook it all down...
Lu Yongliang walked straight over. "Young man, where did you learn this method?"
While steamed dishes weren’t Lu Yongliang’s absolute specialty, he was still a master in his own right. Even he only dared to add six or seven ingredients to his pumpkin.
The addition of each ingredient in this dish required careful consideration. It couldn’t disrupt the pumpkin’s original "sweet and mellow" flavor profile, nor could it compromise its "many flavors in one vessel" characteristic.
That’s why, after it arrived in E Province, apart from folk recipes, many master chefs were extremely cautious about adding ingredients. They would never risk putting anything in that hadn’t been thoroughly tested.
What to add gradually became a closely guarded secret for many chefs, with only their own disciples allowed a glimpse into the mystery.
Yet Su Chen had just tossed in over a dozen ingredients all at once!
The addition of char siu and diced red and white meat, in particular, left Lu Yongliang completely baffled.
Of course, Su Chen wasn’t about to say it was a recipe from the system.
And besides...
He remembered this dish vividly. It was the first ’Orange’ grade recipe he had ever synthesized!
Back when he was testing the recipe, he had added as many as twenty-plus ingredients at once. Unfortunately, some ingredients were unusable due to the [Synthesis Function]’s one-week cooldown.
If not for that, it could have been even more incredible!
"Just something I figured out on my own," Su Chen replied casually.
Lu Yongliang sucked in a sharp breath.
’If you said your master taught you, I could understand. But to say you figured it out yourself... I just can’t wrap my head around it. Could this kid really be a one-in-a-million culinary genius?’
Of course, the finished product wasn’t ready yet, so it was too early to judge the taste.
Lu Yongliang said no more. He watched as Su Chen cooked the complex ingredients in chicken broth for three minutes, then ladled them into the hollowed-out pumpkin. He placed the pumpkin in a bowl, put the whole thing into a steamer, and began steaming it over high heat and boiling water.
’I’ll have a taste later. If it’s really that good, I’ll have to have a proper chat with this kid no matter what.’
Having made up his mind, Lu Yongliang went back to his own tasks.
Seeing Su Chen show off one skill after another, the old man’s competitive spirit was ignited.
"Are you making Braised Three Delicacies? Leave that one to me!"
Su Chen nodded. "Alright, but I’m telling you now, don’t blame me if it doesn’t turn out well."
"Hah! If it’s bad, it’s on me!" Lu Yongliang laughed out loud.
’As if I could mess up a simple Braised Three Delicacies?’
It was still fish balls made from yellowcheek carp, a meatloaf made from pork shoulder mixed with minced fish, and meatballs made from pork belly. These three ingredients, braised together and served, were the "Braised Three Delicacies."
The difficulty of this dish lay in two key steps: "poaching" and "braising."
The water in the pot couldn’t be cold, nor could it be at a rolling boil; a temperature just below boiling was best. Anyone who couldn’t master the water temperature was guaranteed to fail.
On the surface, the old man and the young man were getting along harmoniously in the kitchen, giving off the feeling they were kindred spirits who’d met too late. In reality, they were secretly competing, furtively observing each other’s techniques while cooking their own dishes.
Unlike the evenly matched contest in the kitchen, someone in the conference room had already been thoroughly defeated.
Ling Shuyu stood in front of the projector, trying her best to compose herself.
"President Shang, the theme of our proposal is a perfect match for the City Construction Group’s needs. Because we were short on time, there are many details I haven’t been able to cover. Please..."
Shang Mingke raised a hand, cutting Ling Shuyu off, but then nodded. "You’re not wrong, and there’s nothing wrong with the proposal itself."
"Then, President Shang, you..."
Ling Shuyu was completely confused.
He’d said all that, so why did he still reject her in the end?
Besides, this rush was completely different from the original plan. Ling Shuyu was confident that if she had just one more hour...
No! Even with just fifteen more minutes, she could have finished explaining all the highlights of the proposal!
"That’s enough, President Ling. Thank you very much for your hospitality. Let’s call it a day. We can still explore opportunities to cooperate in the future." After speaking, Shang Mingke pushed his chair back, stood up, and straightened his suit. "Xiaozhang, go tell Mr. Lu that we’re ready to leave."
"Understood," his assistant, Xiaozhang, replied, lowering his head.
Ling Shuyu stood numbly in front of the projector. In a moment like this, she had no idea what to do.
If it had been any of the clients she’d dealt with before, she would have had a thousand ways to keep them here. But she was facing Shang Mingke!
Ling Shuyu had noticed it the moment this executive walked in the door. His mind wasn’t on the collaboration at all. He even kept glancing at his watch while she was presenting. Clearly, he had something urgent to attend to.
And his non-negotiable tone struck Ling Shuyu’s heart like a heavy hammer.
’So... a project that more than twenty people had worked on day and night for over a month, a personal connection initiated by the big boss... did it all fall apart in my hands in the end?’
Shang Mingke noticed the unconcealable disappointment on Ling Shuyu’s face.
He said nothing.
Shang Mingke negotiated countless projects every year. A three-million-yuan deal was far beneath the level that required his personal attention. Having to come as a favor to a superior was already irritating enough, but this business trip was also keeping him from a reunion with his uncle.
The assistant turned to go get Lu Yongliang but was stopped at the door by Zhang Li!
Ten minutes earlier, when Zhang Li had arrived at the conference room, she saw Ling Shuyu speaking rapidly about the project while President Shang listened with what seemed to be great concentration. She hadn’t dared to interrupt at the time.
Now the meeting was over, and she had heard what Shang Mingke just said.
Zhang Li summoned her courage and blocked the assistant’s path.
"President Shang, Elder Lu asked me to come and invite you to eat."
Shang Mingke turned his head. "Uncle Lu?"
Zhang Li nodded. "Yes, he’s already seated in the cafeteria. He asks that you please come and eat now."
Shang Mingke, somewhat skeptical, glanced back at Ling Shuyu, a hint of disgust in his eyes. Then he stood up. "Take me there."
’How is that possible?’
’We had already agreed that we’d return to E Province tonight, where Uncle Lu would personally cook some home-style dishes for me and we’d have a couple glasses of liquor.’
’Why is he suddenly asking me to eat here?’
’If it were anyone else, maybe. But this is Lu Yongliang we’re talking about!’
Shang Mingke was a steady person. Instead of asking questions, he had Zhang Li lead him over. He’d know what was going on as soon as he saw it.
Shang Mingke even suspected in his heart, ’Could this be some trick cooked up by that young woman, Ling Shuyu?’
Shang Mingke strode after Zhang Li toward the kitchen. The moment he pushed open the door!
The scene before him instantly filled Shang Mingke with rage!
The perpetually proud and arrogant Lu Yongliang was currently trailing after a young man he didn’t recognize, like a little kid.
"Choy sum? Coming right up~"
"Cured meat? Right here!"
And that young man? He was just standing casually at the stove, taking the ingredients Uncle Lu handed him and tossing them into the wok?
"Absurd!"
Shang Mingke barked in a low voice.