Chapter Eighty-two The Fish Was Not Steamed Well

  "Which family's daughter could it be? It can only be a ordinary family's daughter, our Lin family can't climb up to the aristocratic families. As they say, 'door and window match', it's just common sense." Lin Xuanmu also felt helpless, until now, he hasn't even seen his fiancée once. Who knows what she looks like? Although the matchmaker guaranteed that the girl is gentle, elegant, skilled in poetry and music, and pretty, but also obedient. However, over the years, he has seen many classmates get married and regret it, saying they shouldn't have trusted the matchmaker's sweet talk. Thinking about it, it's indeed difficult to find a woman who meets all these criteria: family background, looks, and temperament. But fortunately, his younger sister had met the girl and said she was okay. His younger sister is the closest to him among their relatives, and her words made Lin Xuanmu feel slightly more at ease.

  This time going to Chang'an, Lin Xuanmu is not only attending the usual gathering, but also getting married after the gathering. Father is busy with work and can't get away, Mother will be leaving for Chang'an in a few months too.

  Lin Xuanmu spoke for half a day but couldn't make sense of it, Wang Kuang knew he must have never seen a woman before, and looked at him with some sympathy, shaking his head: "Tsk, tsk, tsk!"

  "Do you think everyone is as lucky as you? You make your own decisions, even for your older brother. I don't know what Sun Dongjia thinks, but he's so carefree?" Lin Xuanmiao envied Wang Kuang's freedom, doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Sun Mingqian and Sun Hanshi also let him be. But it was different for him - when his family chose a wife for him, they had to consider the family's interests first, with the couple's own interests coming last; even when he wanted to do something himself, he had to think about the family's interests, after all, he was the eldest son of the main branch.

  Here, on the other side, not long after, the dishes were served. Wang Kuang was quick to grab a piece of fish lip and put it in his own plate, then he gave one fish eye each to Wang Xian and Sun Jia Ying. Only then did he say to Lin Xiang Meng: "Don't be distracted, hurry up and eat while it's hot, come on, this fish belly is for you, it's a good thing, smooth and tender, melts in your mouth." In fact, this was something Wang Kuang didn't like to eat. When eating fish, he loved to eat the fish lip and the two pieces of meat near the gills, then the back meat, and thought that the fish belly was mushy, like having a piece of lard in his mouth. It wasn't that he was being sly, Lin Xiang Meng just happened to love eating soft and smooth things like fish belly, so this was a win-win situation.

  The fish was finally distributed, and Wang Kuang brought the fish lips in his bowl to his mouth. As soon as he took a bite, he quickly spat it out: "Ptooey, ptooey, this fish is so disgusting!" Lin Xiangmu was about to pick up some fish belly, but stopped her chopsticks when she saw that. If Wang Erlang said it was disgusting, why would she still dare to eat?

  The waiter hadn't left yet and hurried forward: "Sir, is there something wrong? This steamed mandarin fish is one of our signature dishes, no one has ever said it's not delicious."

  "It's too raw, and it's been steamed for too long, but it still doesn't taste right. If the ingredients aren't wrong, then this fish has been over-steamed and not cooked through." Wang Kuang picked up his chopsticks, inserted them into the back of the fish, and flipped it over, revealing the inside with bloody bones: "Look, there's still blood on the bones, the outside is cooked through, but the inside isn't."

  "You're joking, sir. Fish is always smelly. And this fish is so thick, it's hard to steam it through without overcooking it. Unless a god from heaven comes down, there's no way to do it." The waiter replied calmly, not getting annoyed or angry. From the moment they opened their mouths and ordered dozens of dishes, including several whole Peking ducks, he knew for sure that these four were young masters from wealthy families, perhaps used to eating delicacies every day, which was why they were so picky.

  "Ah, haha, buddy, you're absolutely right, he's a god descended to earth!" Lin Xuanmu heard this and pointed with his chopsticks, laughing loudly at Wang Kuang.

  "Sir, you're making fun of me." The shop assistant smiled along with him, nodding and bowing: "Otherwise, I'll have the kitchen steam another one for you?"

  Here is the translation:

  He has a good attitude, this is what it means to truly know how to do business. He's actually grasped the idea that customers are gods, a creed that many merchants in later generations would often say but not put into practice. Regardless of the reason, the first priority is to satisfy the customer's needs. No wonder people bring themselves here to eat, it must be because this restaurant has a good reputation. Wang Kuang silently praised him and shook his head: "No need, just leave it like that. Look at your cooking method for this fish, even if you steam another one, it will still taste the same." When the fish was brought up, Wang Kuang had already taken a clear look. The whole fish hadn't been opened, nor had it been cut with a flower knife or a slanting knife. Steaming it like that would never be good, and from the first bite of the fish's lips, he could tell that no wine had been added, only salt steaming was used, without any sauce, and the scallions and garlic in the plate were already yellowed. Thinking that soy sauce hadn't appeared yet, and only his own restaurant would use it, while other restaurants still used bean paste or simply salt, Wang Kuang didn't expect to see anything new even if another dish was steamed.

  When Wang saw that the customer was not being difficult, the waiter bowed and went downstairs to the kitchen. After telling the chef what had happened, the chef became unhappy. He also heard that the customer was only in his early twenties and was leading three teenagers, and that the one who had said the fish wasn't steamed well was a 16 or 17-year-old kid. However, fortunately, the customer didn't give them any more trouble, but the chef couldn't bear to lose face, so he carefully steamed another fish and had the waiter bring it up.

  Wang, Lin and the others had almost finished eating by this time. The steamed duck was not drizzled with good wine, probably just a bit of wine was sprinkled on before steaming, without bringing out the full flavor. Fortunately, the duck didn't have a strong gamey smell, apart from that, the duck tasted pretty good.

  They were just about to ask the waiter for the bill when they saw the same waiter bring up another fish, Wang Guo took a glance and slightly shook his head: "Waiter, don't bother, we've already finished eating. Just put this fish on our bill too."

  "Sir, please tell me, what's wrong with the fish I steamed?" The shop assistant was about to speak when a stout man with an apron around his waist came down from the stairs. He was the head chef of the steamed fish, and he had followed the shop assistant who brought the fish over, curious to see what kind of person would look down on his craftsmanship. Seeing Wang Kuang shake his head after just one glance at the fish, he rushed over. However, when the shop assistant repeated Wang Kuang's words earlier, he knew in his heart that Wang Kuang was telling the truth, so he didn't have any intention of arguing with him. He just wanted to know where Wang Kuang had seen better craftsmanship than his own.

  Look at this chubby chef-like person rushing over, but without any intention of getting angry, instead with an expectant look on his face. Wang thought to himself, "This store isn't bad, I'll just help them out once." He pointed at the fish and said: "You only sprinkled some salt on the fish before steaming it, added a bit of wine, then topped it with ginger shreds, garlic shreds, and scallion shreds to steam it, right? And during the steaming process, you even lifted the lid several times."

  "Have you gone to see how I steam fish?" Fat Chef was a bit surprised, the technique of steaming fish with salt and wine was a secret passed down from his grandfather's generation, and he relied on this to make his steamed fish less smelly than others. The fish also had a good flavor after being marinated in salt for half an hour, which attracted many customers to the restaurant. How did this young man know about it? He must have gone to see how I steam fish!

  "Haha, no need to look at you steaming, just looking at this fish can tell. " Wang Kuang smiled slightly and pointed to his partner: "He can testify that someone did not leave the seat for a step. Other diners present can also testify."

  "Ah, ah." The fellow nodded beside him. Fat Chef suddenly realized he had met a superior and hastily made a bow: "I have eyes but fail to recognize Mount Tai, please forgive me, sir." He thought to himself, this person must be from a family with exceptional culinary skills, having grown up in such an environment, so their taste is also exceptional, and their eye for detail is sharper than ordinary people. He wanted to ask Wang Kuang about it, but didn't dare say it out loud, as culinary skills had always been passed down from father to son, never taught to outsiders.

  Wang Kuang looked at him scratching his ears and cheeks, and knew what he was thinking in his heart. Adding to the hospitality of the wine house since entering, he had a mind to point out this chef: "Why not try steaming a fish for me to see?"

  "Who?!" Fat Chef rubbed his eyes, a bit skeptical that he had misheard, and looked at his partner again. Seeing that his partner was also shocked, he knew he hadn't misheard. It was this young master in his teens who said he wanted to steam a fish for him to see. He didn't dare believe it - what good cooking skills could a teenager possibly have? A good cook, aside from inheritance, requires at least ten or twenty years of refinement and practice. That's just unthinkable! And how would he know what Wang Kuang wants to cook in the future? Just search online and you can find it, saving a lot of time on thinking about ingredients, heat, process, etc., and directly start practicing.

  "That's right, it was indeed him, if Master Fu is to be believed." Wang Kuang nodded his head and said affirmatively.

  "Of course, of course, where's the reluctance?" Fat Chef was overjoyed, even though he had only seen the process from his father's generation and the steamed fish was extremely unpalatable. It was also very helpful to his cooking skills, so how could he not be willing? He even hoped that Wang Kuang would steam a few more fish. He looked at Wang Kuang's demeanor and estimated that Wang Kuang didn't know how to cherish his culinary skills. Since others were willing to reveal them, he was happy to learn, and it wasn't like he was forcing Wang Kuang to teach him.

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