Chapter Eighty-Three Fish and Mutton Are Fresh

  Lin Xuanmiao was not interested in cooking, and Wang Rong was even more so. As long as his second brother could cook well, why did he need to learn himself? So Wang Kuang only brought Sun Jiaying with him to follow Fat Chef into the kitchen.

  In the kitchen, there was already a fish that had been killed and was waiting to be steamed. Wang took one out and washed it again himself, carefully tearing off the membrane inside the fish's belly. He also checked the gills, which were clean. Only then did he place the fish on its back on the chopping board, making two cuts on either side of the dorsal fin down to near the tail, thus separating the two pieces of back meat from the fish bones. He had a helper who was watching the commotion squeeze some ginger juice and mix it with wine. Then, he sprinkled salt all over the fish's body and the exposed flesh, waited for a moment, and then poured the ginger juice mixture evenly over the fish to wash away the excess salt. After pouring out the excess liquid, he placed the fish on its back in a dish, topped with sliced ginger.

  "Get a clean cloth and warm some water on the stove." As soon as he touched the knife and chopping board, Wang Kuang's eyes didn't leave them, as if he had returned to Fuli Inn. He gave orders casually. Fat Chef hurriedly called out to the several assistant chefs who were still in a daze: "What are you waiting for?!"

  Fat Chef's eyes stared at Wang Kuang's movements without blinking, and with his years of experience in cooking, he didn't need Wang Kuang to say anything, he understood Wang Kuang's purpose. His heart began to beat violently, thumping loudly, and his face turned bright red: Oh my god, how come I didn't think of this simple truth? After squeezing the ginger juice, it's easier for it to penetrate into the fish meat, isn't removing the fishy smell just a natural thing?

  Wang Kuang had already taken a small half bowl of bean paste, mixed with two tablespoons of water in the pot and simmered for a while. He sniffed it and said: "This sauce is not yet ripe enough, I'm afraid it's only been dried for less than ten days? It needs to be dried for another month." Fat Chef hurriedly memorized it in his heart. Originally, when Wang Kuang said that the sauce was not ripe enough, he didn't think much of it, but when Wang Kuang said that this sauce had only been dried for less than ten days, he was shocked. Because this sauce was made by himself, neither more nor less, exactly nine days, taking the number 99, even this was detected by Wang Kuang, and he couldn't help but carefully remember every word Wang Kuang said. However, until now, he still didn't think that Wang Kuang had truly mastered the culinary art, what he did was just following the routine. The only thing that made him admire was Wang Kuang's nose and tongue, which could accurately describe his secret skills in eight or nine out of ten cases after tasting and smelling.

  The sauce was ready, and Wang Juan ladled it onto a clean cloth, washed the pot, added water, put on the steamer lid, and said to the fire worker, "High heat." Then he tightened the cloth with the sauce and squeezed out the thick black sauce, pouring it over the fish plate without touching the fish meat. This was a deliberate move, as if the sauce were poured onto the fish, it would seep into the meat during steaming, completely covering up the original flavor of the fish, making it taste bland when eaten. By placing the sauce in the steamer instead, the fish meat would absorb a hint of sauce aroma, enhancing its freshness. When eating, dipping the fish meat into the sauce would bring out the true freshness and beauty of the dish. After pouring the sauce, he added some wine to the plate. Then he warmed up a bowl of wine in hot water on the stove and waited for the water in the pot to boil.

  The big pot boiled water quickly, and in a moment, the pot was already boiling. A large amount of steam rose from it, and Wang Kuang opened the steamer basket to put the fish inside and covered it again. He then used a cloth to cover the gap on top of the steamer basket, allowing the fire to maintain its intensity and continue burning.

  About half a moment, or about seven or eight minutes later (the time is uncertain, depending on the firepower and the size of the fish), Wang Kuang had the fire worker stop the fire, but did not take out the fish. Instead, he burned some hot oil in another pot on the stove, then opened the steamer basket to reveal that the fish's eyes were already white and bulging. He ladled a spoonful of warm wine over it, added chopped scallions and garlic, and then poured a spoonful of hot oil over it, creating a sizzling sound. Suddenly, the aroma of the fish wafted up, mixed with the fragrance of wine, sauce, and garlic, making everyone feel as if they were seeing a live fish swimming in a crystal clear liquid, its tail swishing back and forth, stirring up colorful ripples. The fire worker standing in front of the stove was so entranced that he forgot what he was holding in his hand, thinking it was a fish, and was about to put it in his mouth. Luckily, Wang Kuang saw this and stretched out his foot to stop him, otherwise the fire worker's mouth would have been burned by the hot oil.

  What a delicious smell, it can be said that the others in the kitchen have never smelled steamed fish so fragrant before. They could even smell the freshness of the fish without any hint of fishiness. In the past, the fish steamed in the kitchen always had a slightly fishy smell, and it was not as fragrant as this. As for smelling the freshness, that's something nobody dared to imagine.

  "It's done." Wang Kuang took two pieces of cloth to protect his hands and carefully lifted the fish out of the steamer: "You go ahead and steam one yourself according to my method, I'll take this one up to eat. Coming all the way to the Yangtze River and not having mullet would be a shame, who knows when we'll come again next time." After finishing speaking, he carried the fish towards the kitchen door. The servant who had been waiting on Wang Kuang and his guests was originally in a daze from the aroma, but as the fragrance grew fainter, he suddenly came to and saw that Wang Kuang had already reached the kitchen door. He hastily took a few quick steps forward: "How can we let our honored guest carry the dishes? I'll do it, I'll do it."

  Wang Juan also likes to do things with his own hands, as a chef, there are some things that must be done by oneself, such as washing pots and pans, serving dishes, etc. Only by doing these tasks personally can one grasp the nuances of each step and integrate oneself into the entire cooking process. Even many ingredients require prior processing, which is best done by oneself. For example, filleting a fish, if someone else does it for you, you won't be able to fully grasp every detail of the fish, which will affect your control over the fire. Therefore, a true chef must do everything personally, from washing and chopping vegetables to cooking, in order to master each step of the process. Take washing vegetables as an example, even with something as simple as scallions, the best way is to wash them and then dry the surface moisture, which makes them more fragrant. But if they are dried for too long, they become too dry and lose their fragrance. Only by doing it personally can one understand the freshness of the vegetables and have a sense of timing, so that you can use them at the best moment. Therefore, whenever a famous chef wants to cook for an important guest, he will definitely do every step personally. In large restaurants, where there are many customers, it's impossible for one person to do everything, which is why helper cooks exist. This is also one of the reasons why many private chefs can become famous, because they usually work alone from start to finish and rarely hire help. As a result, even with the same dish and cooking method, private chefs often do better than large hotels.

  Of course, doing dishes and serving plates has no impact on cooking, so Wang wouldn't do it if he didn't have to. Now that someone is willing to help, he let them take care of it.

  Fat Chef saw Wang Kuang take the fish away, his heart was anxious. The dish of fish, just smelling it made people dizzy, if he could eat a mouthful, wouldn't that be heavenly? But Wang Kuang didn't let him taste it, and he didn't dare to speak up. Now he realized, the young man in front of him was a master with extraordinary skills. Not to mention anything else, just talking about the use of wine, this fish used three different methods to add wine at different times. This required a grasp of cooking to what extent to achieve? Even if he himself spent his whole life eating, he would never think that wine could be used in such a way. According to his understanding, this was at least steaming tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of fish, and it's not certain that he could reach this level. Even if he steamed ten fish a day, it would take many years to achieve, but looking at the young man's demeanor, it seemed like he wasn't someone who often showed off his skills. Could it be that he started steaming fish from birth? But surely he didn't just steam fish and do nothing else? No way, looking into his eyes, that nose sharper than a Tibetan mastiff's, Fat Chef knew that Wang Kuang was capable of much more.

  Leng Leng was stunned for a while, and Fat Chef finally came back to his senses. He thought that if he didn't seize this opportunity to learn from Wang Kuang, he might as well jump off the building. He also understood the implication of Wang Kuang's words, which was to steam a fish himself and send it over to see how much he could learn. At once, he busied himself in a flurry of activity, and the fish gave him a hard time. He had to take care of the other customers' food in the restaurant while also rushing to finish steaming the fish before Wang Kuang finished eating his own fish. Fortunately, his hands and feet were quite agile, and after many years of working in the kitchen, he could find many things with his eyes closed. The kitchen helpers didn't need him to give orders; a single glance was enough for them to know what to do. So although he was busy, everything was still done in an orderly manner.

  That fellow held the fish as if he were holding the emperor's dragon robe, being extremely careful yet strutting with an air of pride as he walked up to the second floor. On one hand, he was afraid that with a slight carelessness, he would spill a single drop of soup, which would be heartbreaking; on the other hand, he enjoyed the envious and longing gazes from the diners at the tables they passed by, who followed the movement of the fish with their eyes, hoping it would stay in front of them for a while so they could savor the aroma, or better yet, have the fish placed on their own table to devour. They envied the fellow for being able to bring the fragrant dish all the way from the kitchen to upstairs.

  "Waiter, waiter!" The quickest customer to wake up immediately shouted: "Bring a fish to this table, just like the one that was just served." The customers next to him were also awakened by this shout, and the entire first floor became noisy and chaotic. New customers who had just entered didn't know what was happening, saw the commotion and thought a fight had broken out, so they quickly slipped away. It wasn't until several days later that they heard it was actually someone who cooked exceptionally well, like a god, who had made an unprecedentedly beautiful steamed fish dish at the restaurant. They were filled with regret, slapping their thighs in pain and wailing. This is a story for another time.

  The fellow hastily put down the fish and said, "Sir, what you said is really true, it's indeed a divine being who has come down to earth. Smell this aroma, no ordinary person can make something like this!"

  Lin Xuanmo sniffled: "Alas, I've smelled it out. Your wine house is still missing a few seasonings, otherwise this fish would be even more fragrant." After finishing speaking, he lightly patted the table and shook his head in front of Wang Kuang who came up afterwards, saying: "Second Brother is really having a hard time for you. Lacking a few ingredients can also produce such flavor, from now on I'll call you Erlang Star Gentleman."

  "What?! This is still lacking a few flavors?" The shopkeeper's jaw almost dropped, in his opinion, it was already impossible to have a better flavor than the fish in front of him. But after hearing Lin Xuanmu say so and seeing his expression, it was clear that he had eaten something even better. Without caring about politeness, he quickly rolled down and ran away, he had to hurry and inform the master, perhaps this would be a great achievement.

  "Xiao Miao, you've gotten me into trouble again, why did you come? This flavor is already enough to make them prosperous." Wang Kuang sighed bitterly, not that he didn't want to teach, but indeed as Lin Xuanmiao said, this wine shop lacked a few seasonings, fresh chili peppers were definitely not available, and sheep oil was also definitely not available. Others used sesame oil when cooking, only Wang Kuang had an epiphany one day after seeing the character for "fresh" was composed of the characters for fish and sheep, using sheep oil to cook fish would have a remarkable effect (this is a fabrication by Grey Sparrow, who hadn't even tried it himself, but wrote it down after reading about the origin of the character for "fresh").

  Wang Kuang, having made up his mind to pass on the art, calmly ate the fish as usual, with Wang Xiao and Sun Jia Ying eating the fish eyes, and Lin Quanmiao eating the belly.

  At this time, the staff and boss of the wine house also knew that Wang Kuang had passed on the ultimate skill to Fat Master Chef. The boss specially came over to ask for a peace, instructing the staff to be careful in serving, and then ran to the back yard under the tree, dug up a jar of wine that had been buried for more than a decade, brought the whole jar to Wang Kuang's table, and even let someone specially light a small stove beside it, warming the water. Whenever Wang Kuang wanted to drink, they would warm it up at any time.

  In about a moment, Fat Chef personally brought up the plate of fish, lightly and respectfully placed it in front of Wang Kuang, then stood aside with his hands hanging down, holding his breath without daring to utter a word, waiting for the verdict.

  At this time, the owner of the wine house also rushed over. Generally speaking, those who do food business live close to their stores, and some even live in the backyard, just in case there is a sudden situation that needs to be grasped at the first time. The owner also walked quietly to the edge of the table, standing with Fat Chef, not daring to breathe heavily, for fear of offending such a godly figure, who would leave in anger and cause great loss. All high-ranking people are somewhat eccentric and difficult to serve. After opening the wine house for decades, it's not easy to meet such a master, and judging from his tone, he seems to be intentionally trying to give some guidance. If they don't grasp this opportunity well, others in the industry will laugh at them, and even they themselves will look down on themselves.

  Division -

  Sorry, these days have been unstable.

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