Chapter 493: Chapter 486: Struck Gold
Since that day, whenever Fu Yu gets off work in the evening, he rushes to the Shangshi Private Kitchen to learn cooking.
Except for the first few days when she occasionally had social engagements, Liu Yunong now basically arrives at the restaurant before Fu Yu every day.
In the kitchen, Liu Yunong handles the cooking, while Fu Yu follows alongside as her assistant.
After a few days, Fu Yu had great respect for Liu Yunong’s cooking techniques.
As a successor of Liu Family Cuisine, Liu Yunong specializes in preparing dishes that are unheard of and unseen in everyday life.
Even if there’s one or two local Bei’an home-style dishes, the cooking methods are vastly different.
Fu Yu studied diligently, relying on a few top-notch personal skills, and progressed quickly in his learning.
This greatly delighted Liu Yunong, making her feel like she had truly found a treasure.
Intending to train Fu Yu, Liu Yunong held him to very high standards, first evaluating his various cooking skills.
Then, for the coming week, he needed to undergo training to learn the basic skills of Liu Family Cuisine’s special dishes.
Including skills Fu Yu was not proficient in, such as steaming and stewing.
Once these basic skills were mastered, he would begin to handle the cooking himself.
Seeing how seriously Liu Yunong was taking him, Fu Yu dared not slack off. Given the convenience of the internet, Fu Yu made a point to set aside an hour every night after returning from Shangshi Private Kitchen to his dormitory to research and study information about Liu Family Cuisine.
He even bought a membership to download videos of all the cooking competitions and variety shows Liu Yunong had participated in over the years, studying the various techniques and cooking nuances she displayed.
The menu at Shangshi Private Kitchen was planned a week in advance.
Every week, for two days, some of the popular dishes were pre-cooked so that they only needed to be reheated when served, for convenience.
The head chefs, Wang Yulong and Liu Zhangpeng, could take shifts to rest on those two days.
On this particular day, when Fu Yu arrived, only Liu Zhangpeng was cooking in the kitchen.
Knowing that Wang Yulong was off today, Fu Yu promptly and nimbly assisted in reheating and serving the dishes without being asked.
After the rush, Liu Zhangpeng let out a sigh of relief, turned to Fu Yu, and couldn’t help but say, "Chef Fu, thankfully you’re here. When my master takes a rest, I’m left alone in the kitchen. There’s no way I could serve dishes this quickly alone!"
Fu Yu smiled: "I didn’t do much, just lent a helping hand."
After exchanging a few words, Liu Zhangpeng remembered something and curiously asked: "By the way, I heard you participated in the chef contest at the Sanjiang Tourism Festival before and made a dish called Three Stuffed Duck on-site. Is that true?"
Fu Yu nodded: "Yes, I did... that’s where I met Chef Liu."
Liu Zhangpeng gave a sound of acknowledgment: "I heard about that. You’re really lucky. The boss never takes on apprentices. People like us, outsiders, can only learn Liu Family Cuisine by following the master chefs in the restaurant’s kitchen."
The founder of Liu Family Cuisine, Lady Liu, was herself a woman, so there was never a practice of not passing the skills to females.
However, by the time of the Liu Sisters’ generation,
Elder sister Liu Yunong was busy expanding the family business and had no time for taking on apprentices.
The younger sister had hardly ever entered the kitchen, as she was more interested in studying theoretical knowledge related to cooking than actual cooking.
For someone like Liu Zhangpeng, who was hired into Shangshi Private Kitchen later, the only opportunity to learn Liu Family Cuisine was to perform well and win the favor of the head chefs, and then learn cooking under their guidance.
The idea of being directly apprenticed to a Liu Family direct descendant like Wang Yulong was out of the question.
Liu Zhangpeng enviously said: "When I first heard the boss took you as an apprentice, everyone was shocked and couldn’t believe it. But now it seems, the boss really wants to train you well, Chef Fu, you’re really lucky."
Fu Yu nodded. Through his time working there, he also realized just how incredible Liu Yunong was in the culinary arts as a successor of Liu Family Cuisine.
Especially in the mastery of various cooking techniques, Liu Yunong’s skills were not much lesser than Yao Shi.
With numerous ancient culinary books as her reference, her knowledge was extensive, and due to her upbringing environment, her culinary foundation was very solid, with every cooking skill mastered to a high level.
Currently, the only thing she was somewhat lacking in was cooking experience.
As time passes and she gains more experience, it’s likely it won’t be long before she surpasses Yao Shi, possibly reaching the status of Elder Dai Jinghe at an even younger age.
If in the beginning, Fu Yu only considered his title master casually as a formality and didn’t take it seriously,
Now, he deeply understands what a significant opportunity had come his way.
Fu Yu was determined to seize this opportunity firmly.
On one hand, diligently building a good rapport with Liu Yunong, while on the other hand, earnestly learning the cooking techniques of Liu Family Cuisine.
After all, the better the rapport, the more earnest Liu Yunong would be about teaching him.
Fu Yu understood this, and he worked ever more diligently and earnestly at Shangshi Private Kitchen.
Everyone, from the front hall to the kitchen, had a very good impression of Fu Yu.
Liu Yunong also felt increasingly satisfied with Fu Yu.
After work, Fu Yu once again caught a ride with Liu Yunong.
In the car, Liu Yunong suddenly said, "Xiaofu, there’s something I want to discuss with you."
Fu Yu was surprised and quickly responded: "What is it, Teacher Liu, please tell me."
Liu Yunong asked: "During the competition last time, didn’t you make Three Stuffed Duck? I noticed your techniques were very proficient. You must have practiced specifically, right?"
Fu Yu nodded, giving a vague answer: "Hmm, I practiced for a while."
Liu Yunong said: "Our restaurant has a specialty dish called Hulu Chicken. Have you heard of it? It’s somewhat similar to Three Stuffed Duck. It involves first deboning, then tying it into a gourd shape, and using an oil pour technique to fry it."
"All the old chefs in the restaurant can make it. Once you master the deboning technique, making this dish won’t be a problem. Can you make this dish?"
Fu Yu didn’t pretend to know and honestly replied: "I’ve heard of it, but have never actually made it."
Liu Yunong said: "Coincidentally, Chef Wang and Chef Liu finished their rest days, and the restaurant should manage the business well. Starting tomorrow, how about you study this dish with Chef Liu? I only sent the two of them here to Bei’an. Chef Liu is still a bit lacking in the deboning technique, and making this dish currently relies entirely on Master Wang himself. I plan to have Chef Liu practice this dish well, and you can learn alongside."
"Xiaofu, what do you think?"
Fu Yu nodded: "No problem, Teacher Liu, I’ll follow your arrangement!"
Liu Yunong nodded in satisfaction: "Then it’s settled."
