Chapter 554: Chapter 547: Who Would Believe That?
The kitchen staff was fully engaged in their work.
At this time, Zhang Conglin had organized the front of the house and finally had time to come to the kitchen to check the order of serving dishes for the evening.
Upon entering the kitchen, he saw Wang Yulong and Liu Zhangpeng busy at their respective counters.
Meanwhile, a fire had been lit in the small traditional stove.
The person standing in front of the stove in a chef’s uniform, ready to cook, was Fu Yu.
Liu Yunong stood beside him, ready to offer guidance at any moment.
Fu Yu was actually the one taking charge of the cooking?
Zhang Conglin was immediately intrigued, as this was the man favored by the boss!
Liu Yunong was a typical strong woman.
Not only was she beautiful, but she also had great poise. With her age and status, finding a boyfriend would be a breeze.
However, she was able to devote her heart entirely to her career, never once considering personal relationship issues.
The only people around her were the staff and a few business partners, and no other men had ever been seen.
Now, just two months after the branch opened, she brought back a young, handsome guy and even publicly announced she had taken him as an apprentice.
Once the news broke, everyone who knew Liu Yunong was curious about this mysterious apprentice.
Zhang Conglin was also curious about Fu Yu.
He rarely had free time to visit the kitchen for a closer look, so he nonchalantly walked in.
He was keen to see how Fu Yu’s culinary skills measured up.
Being personally chosen by Liu Yunong as an apprentice suggested he must be quite talented.
But... what level were Fu Yu’s cooking skills actually at now?
Zhang Conglin was a front-of-house staff member, but having worked at the restaurant for many years, he had picked up a fair understanding of the kitchen’s cooking activities.
He slowly walked over.
As Fu Yu stood before the kitchen counter, his mind settled.
Although he had never heard of this dish before, the learning habits he had developed from practical classes made him an undisputed theoretical master.
He clearly remembered every step in the cooking process as explained by Liu Yunong, as well as all the little details and cautions during the cooking process.
He skillfully integrated the cooking techniques from classic recipes, combining them together.
He had a clear understanding of every upcoming step.
A kitchen hand helped light the traditional stove.
It was Fu Yu’s first time using a traditional stove, so he had earlier tried placing a log inside the hearth.
When the flames spread to the log, Fu Yu was delighted to discover that his skill in controlling the heat could also be applied to using a traditional stove.
He added more logs to the fire as needed before starting to cook.
When the iron pan was hot, Fu Yu placed the pork belly, skin side down, into the pan.
The heat was used to remove the pig bristles on the surface, and also to eliminate the pork skin’s raw odor.
Once the skin was charred, Fu Yu removed the pork belly.
By now, the pork skin had become very hard and impressively taut.
He carefully scraped away anything inedible from the pork skin and rinsed it with clean water.
After the first step, Fu Yu gave himself a perfect score!
It was just about removing pig bristles, a fundamental skill for kitchen hands, and his control over the heat was at an advanced level—no sweat!
His initial actions already amazed Wang Yulong and Liu Zhangpeng, who were paying close attention.
Liu Zhangpeng originally planned to get on Fu Yu’s good side to indirectly curry favor with the boss.
But at that moment, he couldn’t help but admire Fu Yu!
This guy was definitely pretending to be a fool to catch the tiger unaware!
He claimed he couldn’t cook this dish, yet even the simple tasks like heating the pan and removing bristles were done with such finesse.
Especially his manner when adding logs to the fire—could anyone really believe it was his first time using a traditional stove?
Liu Zhangpeng had been busy carving mushrooms, but now he abandoned it to join Zhang Conglin, peeking over to watch Fu Yu cook.
Fu Yu cleaned the pork belly, added water to the iron pan, and put the pork into cold water in the pot.
He added some green onions, ginger, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorns to the pot and stirred.
A little cooking wine was added to remove any raw odor.
When the water boiled and the pork began to change color, he turned down the heat.
The pork would be boiled for half an hour over medium heat.
During this time, Liu Yunong personally cooked one of the evening’s special dishes, tender fried beef.
She sliced the beef into thin pieces and repeatedly rinsed away the blood.
After washing, she squeezed out the water and marinated the beef for 20 minutes with soy sauce, salt, and pepper.
While marinating, Liu Yunong instructed Fu Yu, "Authentic fried beef doesn’t use meat tenderizer. Good beef is all about that unique chewy aroma. It should be chewy but not tough on the teeth—that’s the essence of the dish."
Fu Yu nodded appreciatively.
When the time was right, he quickly returned to take the pork belly out of the iron pan.
While it was hot, he had to apply the secret braising sauce to the skin.
Speaking of the secret sauce, Liu Yunong boasted, "The recipe for this secret sauce has been passed down in the Liu Family. The sauce used in this branch is personally mixed by me at the main store and then sent over."
"This recipe is known only to our family and has never been shared with others."
Fu Yu, applying the sauce by hand, glanced at the precise recipe details that flashed before his eyes: [12 grams cooking wine, 14 grams soy sauce, 18 grams sugar...]
He nodded, sounding slightly guilty, "That’s incredible!"
In high spirits, Liu Yunong said, "This dish has become a signature in our restaurant mainly because of the secret sauce. Other than being made with our unique family formula, no one else can replicate this flavor."
Fu Yu nodded.
Alright, as long as you’re happy.
Fu Yu first spread a layer of sauce on the pork skin and poked some small holes on the surface with a toothpick. This allowed the flavors to penetrate the meat more deeply.
Then, he applied another layer of sauce.
Instead of using a brush, he used his fingers to apply it, enhancing the skin’s appearance.
Once the surface sauce dried, it needed to be fried briefly in oil.
This not only set the form but made the skin crispier.
Most importantly, frying made the meat less greasy and improved its refreshing taste.
The broth left after boiling the meat was to be kept for cooking dried plum vegetables.
After applying the sauce to the pork belly, Fu Yu used the time while it dried to start cooking the dried plum vegetables.
Liu Yunong went over to the counter to check the marinated beef, and seeing it was ready, she specifically called Fu Yu over to guide him on how to fry it.
Fu Yu placed the dried plum vegetables in the pot, added water, then hurried over to prepare the fried beef.
He mixed the marinated beef with starch.
When the oil reached seventy percent heat, he dropped the beef in and spread it apart.
After a few minutes of frying, the beef changed color and was thoroughly cooked, so he took it out.
The key to this dish was the length of frying time and precise control over the heat.
