Chapter 500: Chapter 493: There’s Clearly No Problem
Following Liu Yunong’s demonstration, Fu Yu expertly tied up the chicken.
Although it was his first attempt at using hemp thread to tie a chicken, Fu Yu did very well.
The tied-up whole chicken indeed looked like a gourd, with a rather unique shape.
As for frying, it was second nature to Fu Yu.
He put rapeseed oil in the wok, heated it on high until it was eighty percent hot, then gently slid the chicken back-down into the pot, moving it with the spatula until it was golden brown.
He handled both the heat and the timing perfectly.
At this point, Liu Zhangpeng had just put the whole chicken into a pot to simmer.
Adjusting the heat, he quickly came over to watch Liu Yunong guiding Fu Yu in frying.
To a seasoned chef like Liu Zhangpeng, frying wasn’t really a delicate task.
With years of culinary practice, he had long mastered this skill excellently.
However, since Liu Yunong was eager to guide Fu Yu, he certainly wanted to seize this great opportunity.
Teaching often requires drawing parallels; you never know which step might catch Liu Yunong’s interest and prompt her to casually offer some tips.
With the deep culinary heritage of the Liu Family, any casual mention of ancestral cooking techniques by Liu Yunong, a direct descendant, could benefit them immensely.
Being perceptive, Liu Zhangpeng noticed that Fu Yu was about to skimmer the chicken, so he proactively picked up the skimmer, saying warmly, "Chef Fu, let me do it."
He then proceeded to help take the whole chicken out of the pot to drain the oil.
It was a simple task, and Liu Zhangpeng did it with ease.
Fu Yu felt relieved, as he had been worried about being spotted using the wrong skimmer, but it was unintentionally resolved by Liu Zhangpeng.
Thinking of this, Fu Yu looked at Liu Zhangpeng with gratitude.
When Liu Zhangpeng placed the drained chicken on a platter, he noticed Fu Yu staring at him with bright eyes.
Liu Zhangpeng timely smiled at Fu Yu, showing friendliness.
Under Liu Yunong’s guidance, Fu Yu placed the fried chicken breast-up on the serving plate.
He also made a small dish of Sichuan pepper salt for dipping.
With the cooking complete, the Gourd Chicken was ready to be served.
Since the dish wasn’t on the menu today, everyone in the kitchen shared it as their dinner.
It was Fu Yu’s first time tasting Gourd Chicken.
It was crispy on the outside and tender inside, flavorful and aromatic, and boneless, making it very easy to eat.
There were many people in the kitchen, so one chicken was far from enough; everyone had just a couple of bites before it was gone.
It was nearing the end of the shift.
Everyone thought they’d be cleaning up and getting ready to close soon.
Then Liu Yunong turned and instructed an assistant, "Fetch three more hens."
Everyone was taken aback.
Liu Yunong looked at Fu Yu and said, "The Liu Family Cuisine has three styles of Gourd Chicken. The previous one was the classic Gourd Chicken. Now, I’ll teach you how to make the Eight Treasure Gourd Chicken."
The kitchen staff: "..."
It’s so late, and there’s still more to learn!
It looks like the boss really intends to groom Fu Yu as a successor.
This is really dedicated!
Everyone’s attitude towards Fu Yu became increasingly attentive and courteous.
With the new instructions, they quickly did as told.
Having previous experience with the classic Gourd Chicken, Fu Yu picked up the Eight Treasure Gourd Chicken recipe much faster.
Liu Yunong demonstrated while explaining, "The Eight Treasure Gourd Chicken involves deboning the whole chicken, stuffing the cavity with glutinous rice, fresh peas, cooked ham, coix seeds, gorgon fruit, shiitake mushrooms, lotus seeds, and lilies, forming a gourd shape. It is steamed to perfection and garnished with carrot and lettuce gourd motifs. The final dish resembles a gourd, with tender chicken and glutinous, fragrant filling."
"Have you heard of Eight Treasure Gourd Duck? It’s quite similar in preparation, but the plating and presentation are more exquisite."
"As a beginner, start with Eight Treasure Gourd Chicken. Once you’ve got it, I’ll add the Eight Treasure Gourd Duck to the menu and teach you how to make it then."
Fu Yu nodded, focusing intently on learning the Eight Treasure Gourd Chicken.
Liu Zhangpeng stood by in disbelief.
This, this, what... is the boss planning to teach everything?
When he wanted to apprentice under Wang Yulong, he had to deeply hone his basic skills and go through many challenges to earn his master’s favor.
In ten years of apprenticeship, he’d never seen a master so meticulously teach a disciple.
Watching Fu Yu earnestly learning, and the boss teaching attentively, Liu Zhangpeng’s view of Fu Yu changed.
Yet, any envy or jealousy from being surpassed by Fu Yu disappeared after continuous incidents.
Even before Liu Zhangpeng managed to complete the Eight Treasure Gourd Chicken, Fu Yu had already started learning the Crispy Gourd Chicken.
Classic Gourd Chicken, Eight Treasure Gourd Chicken, and Crispy Gourd Chicken.
These culinary methods share many similarities.
Once the quick deboning and precise tying skills are mastered, there’s not much difficulty in cooking them.
Especially for Fu Yu, when controlling the heat and timing is no longer an issue, this type of cooking becomes a breeze.
Once the final Crispy Gourd Chicken was plated,
Liu Yunong nodded in satisfaction and praised, "Not bad, very well done."
Wang Yulong sincerely chimed in, "Indeed, it’s good."
After speaking, he noticed the boss suddenly fall silent.
Wang Yulong turned to look at Liu Yunong, noticing her momentary daze, followed by a quick recovery of her usual demeanor.
Wang Yulong was puzzled, "Boss?"
Liu Yunong blinked, glanced at the perfectly crafted Crispy Gourd Chicken, and then at Wang Yulong, who looked concerned.
Strange!
After finishing her sentence, she suddenly felt as if she had forgotten something.
She said she would teach Fu Yu how to cook Gourd Chicken, and then started guiding Fu Yu in cooking.
Everything seemed fine, right?
Why did she have the nagging feeling that something was forgotten?
Liu Yunong looked at Wang Yulong and smiled, shaking her head, "Oh, it’s nothing."
Then she instructed, "This Crispy Gourd Chicken, let’s share it. Check the time, if the customers have left, clean up and call it a day."
Wang Yulong: "!"
Hadn’t the customers left ages ago?
It’s already 2:30 in the morning!
Wang Yulong thought to himself, finding his boss a bit odd, but nodded, "Alright, boss."
Hearing they could leave, everyone felt relieved.
Fu Yu quickly joined the others to the changing room.
Just as he walked out of the kitchen, an electronic voice rang in his ear again:
"Ding! The heartfelt guidance of NPC Chef Liu Yunong has been successfully completed, awarding the key to the ’Whole Chicken Cooking’ practical classroom."
