Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Does He Actually Know How to Cook?
In the Gourmet Practice Room, Su Chen had focused his attention on the cooking and scoring.
So, he only prepped the ingredients once; the eighty-plus practice runs that followed just used replicas of them.
At the moment, Su Chen’s movements weren’t very fast as he held a cleaver to slice the potatoes.
"Oh, dear. It’s making me so anxious watching him cut those potatoes. I hope he doesn’t cut his hand," Aunt Fang said, her gaze drifting through the glass window on the kitchen door.
Bai Xiaobo’s phone went CLICK-CLICK-CLICK as he quickly posted a few pictures to his social media feed.
[The boss is cooking for his employees himself. Love it, love it!]
He hit send, then looked up. "It’s totally normal. How many guys in their mid-twenties know how to cook these days? Especially a rich guy like the boss. But as long as he’s following a food blogger on TikTok, it probably won’t taste too bad."
"Exactly," Liu Shengnan said. "I’ve tried cooking myself. It’s just a few basic seasonings. If you just throw a little of everything in, it can’t turn out that bad."
"Gasp! Look! What is Brother Chen doing?!"
All eyes snapped in his direction.
They saw Su Chen holding an eggplant with both hands. Without even using the cleaver, he snapped it in half!
Then, he began tearing the eggplant into chunks with his bare hands.
The motion was so aggressive it looked like he wanted to grind the eggplant’s bones to dust!
Bai Xiaobo silently lowered his head, deleted the social media post he had just published, and then wrote a new one.
[Is there a risk of getting food poisoning from eggplant? Waiting for an answer online, it’s urgent!]
Liu Shengnan touched her forehead. Her earlier nonchalance had vanished, replaced by a growing sense of unease.
Just then, Aunt Fang clicked her tongue. "Xiaosu has some skills, you know. You kids don’t cook often, so you wouldn’t know."
Hearing this, everyone turned to look at her.
"It’s true that some ingredients taste better when they’re torn by hand instead of sliced with a knife. Just like how julienned potatoes taste better than grated ones, and torn cabbage tastes better than chopped. Maybe it’s the same for eggplant."
The university graduates at the table might not have known much about cooking...
...but when it came to eating, that was another story!
"That makes sense! That makes sense! I’ve always thought hand-chopped dumpling filling tastes better than the machine-ground stuff. I can even taste the difference!"
"You know, that might be true. Smashed cucumbers taste better than sliced ones. What’s the principle behind that?"
"Could it be that the iron from the knife reacts with the vegetable cells, which makes it less tasty?"
"I don’t think so. It’s more likely that tearing it by hand ruptures the vegetable’s cell walls, allowing the flavor to be released more effectively!"
"..."
Aunt Fang watched as the group of college graduates seriously debated the topic. Their conversation even started to include some technical terms she didn’t understand, and for a moment, she was lost in thought.
’Can these people really tutor my son who’s in high school?’
Unlike the lively scene outside...
...inside the kitchen, Su Chen let out a heavy sigh and stretched his arms.
Tearing over a dozen raw eggplants into chunks by hand was surprisingly tiring work.
Eggplant and Potato Stew wasn’t a difficult dish, but in the practice room, when Su Chen had finished making it for the first time, the system had given it a mere D Level rating!
According to the system’s introduction, the ratings ranged across five levels, from D to S.
D Level: Disgustingly bad!
C Level: Edible, but not tasty.
B Level: Tastes pretty good.
A Level: An unforgettable, Delicious flavor!
S Level: So good it leaves you speechless!
After that, Su Chen began experimenting like a madman, recalling the many Delicious dishes he had eaten as a food vlogger and trying out endless combinations of seasonings.
Finally.
On his eighty-third attempt, Su Chen finally found the perfect recipe for the dish!
For Eggplant and Potato Stew, the key was to have more eggplant and less potato. Otherwise, it would just be Potato and Eggplant Stew.
The truly critical step for this dish had nothing to do with what seasonings were added.
It was the timing and order for adding the different ingredients!
For example, when Su Chen adjusted the order in which he added the eggplant and potatoes to the pot, the rating immediately jumped up a Level!
When he changed from adding minced garlic during the stir-fry to adding it just before plating, the rating went up another Level.
With over eighty practice runs under his belt, as long as he skipped the chopping part, Su Chen’s movements became smooth and efficient.
He lit the stove, heated the wok, and added some peanut oil. Once the oil was slightly shimmering, he poured all the hand-torn eggplant into the wok.
He began to stir-fry the eggplant constantly with his metal spatula. Before long, the once-plump chunks started to soften and wilt.
’This is it!’
Su Chen dumped a bowl of potatoes, which had been cut into large, irregular chunks, into the wok as well. After a few simple stirs, he added a spoonful of soybean paste, plus a splash of dark and light soy sauce.
As he stir-fried, the eggplant and potatoes began to take on a deep, saucy brown color.
Figuring the time was about right, Su Chen added enough water to just cover the ingredients, then put the lid on the wok.
"That’s it?" Bai Xiaobo watched Su Chen cover the wok, his voice filled with disbelief. "He just pushes it around a few times, adds water, puts a lid on, and that’s it?"
Even Aunt Fang, who had initially thought Su Chen knew what he was doing, was starting to have doubts. "I’ve never made this dish before, but... that did seem a little hasty, didn’t it..."
Liu Shengnan pinched her chin. As the only person present who had ever eaten this dish, she undoubtedly had the most right to speak.
"I’ve had the most authentic version of this dish in the Northeast. The potatoes are supposed to be soft and starchy, the eggplant tender and full of flavor, and the sauce thick and rich. It’s perfect over rice. But the boss..."
Liu Shengnan analyzed, using her limited cooking knowledge, "Potatoes take longer to cook. If he cooks them together like that, won’t the eggplant turn to mush before the potatoes are even done?"
The group looked at one another.
Distrust was clear in their eyes.
Without a doubt, if one person claimed they had something to do, the others would immediately follow suit.
"Maybe we should..." Liu Shengnan had just started to speak when Li Mingtao’s voice came from the cafeteria entrance.
"Whoa! Everyone’s waiting for the meal, huh? Come, let me make some introductions!"
Standing next to Li Mingtao was a woman with long hair, wearing a light beige trench coat and holding the hand of a small boy.
"This is my wife, Zhang Yali, and this is my son, Li Zihan. Come on, Zihan, say hi to the uncles and aunties!"
"What ’uncles and aunties’? It’s ’brothers and sisters’!" Zhang Yali gave Li Mingtao a light shove before turning to the people at the table. "Hi, everyone. We were just in the neighborhood, so I thought we’d pop in and see how things are."
Bai Xiaobo and Liu Shengnan exchanged a look. They both had a tacit understanding about this kind of excuse, and neither of them said a word.
The atmosphere instantly became a little awkward.
The others just smiled awkwardly, and a few gave small waves.
For the young people of today, they could talk endlessly with people they knew well, but when they ran into acquaintances on the street, they’d rather cover their faces and pretend not to see them.
Fortunately, a voice from the kitchen doorway broke the awkward atmosphere in the cafeteria at just the right moment.
"Aunt Fang? How much water am I supposed to add for the rice again?"
"Add..." Aunt Fang turned her head, about to answer casually. But after getting just that one word out, she stopped, feeling like something was off.
Hearing this, the others were also dumbfounded!
