Chapter 516: Chapter 509: Master and Apprentice

And the dish "Fairy Fish" is because Fu Yu once watched "The X-Files."

There was an episode that specifically introduced this dish.

After watching, Fu Yu was deeply impressed.

Recently, he suddenly remembered this dish and out of curiosity, specifically searched for it in classic old recipes.

Sure enough, he found it there and took the time to study the cooking method carefully.

Fu Yu looked at Zhou Yesheng and nodded: "Heard of it."

Zhou Yesheng got excited and asked curiously: "Chef Fu, is this dish really that amazing? Has it been lost?"

Since it’s recorded in classic old tastes, it shouldn’t be considered a lost dish, right?

After all, he can cook it by following the methods.

Fu Yu said truthfully: "It’s not that exaggerated, it’s just that not many people know how to make it."

Zhou Yesheng said with amazement: "Wow, then it must be a non-heritage thing, right?"

Fu Yu smiled: "Not really, I just know how to make this dish."

Hearing this, Zhou Yesheng looked at Fu Yu in surprise: "Chef Fu, you actually know how to make Fairy Fish? You’re amazing! How do you know everything!"

Having been around him for so long, if there’s anyone Zhou Yesheng admires the most among the people he knows, aside from his boss Yao Shi, it’s Fu Yu.

In his eyes, Fu Yu is simply a rising star in the world of culinary arts.

A jack-of-all-trades.

If he says he’ll try, then it’s pretty much a done deal.

If Fu Yu says he knows how to make it, then it’s definitely a signature skill!

Zhou Yesheng’s surprised voice caught Chef Liu’s attention.

And after hearing what Zhou Yesheng said, Chef Liu couldn’t help but look at Fu Yu.

If Fu Yu says he can make it, then he probably really can.

Actually, this matter shouldn’t be interfered with in any case, since Feng Hai is new and they’re not familiar with each other yet.

Besides, this order is Feng Hai’s duty, so it has nothing to do with him.

However, it’s an old customer of the restaurant, and if the customer walks out, it would not only be a loss for the restaurant but also for their commission.

It’s unclear how Feng Hai is handling the situation, but it’s best to give the front hall manager a heads-up, so they can be prepared.

In case Feng Hai can’t handle it, at least with Fu Yu in the kitchen, the order won’t be lost.

Chef Liu, who had worked with Li Xintong for two years, knew that she could handle it well with just a hint, so he had no concerns.

Now wasn’t the time to hesitate.

As a back-of-the-house worker, Chef Liu also had his duties and responsibilities, such as collaborating with the front house staff to maintain customer relationships and finding ways to secure their commissions.

Understanding this clearly, Chef Liu took the order form, tore off the order for the Fairy Fish, and handed it to Fu Yu: "Chef Fu, you should cook this dish."

Fu Yu took the form and casually stuck it to the kitchen wall.

While Zhou Yesheng was busy preparing ingredients, Fu Yu quickly reviewed the classic old recipes to familiarize himself with the cooking process of Fairy Fish.

At this moment, Feng Hai also returned from the front hall.

He had been in the VIP room, carefully questioned by the customers about the details of the other dishes on the order list.

For the dishes he was good at, he was quite skilled and patiently introduced them to the customers, working together with Li Xintong to finalize the order, and then hurried back to the kitchen.

By the time Feng Hai got there, Zhou Yesheng, following Fu Yu’s instructions, had already brought over the chicken soup that the restaurant had pre-cooked.

The music restaurant mainly caters to large banquets, so various soups, like chicken soup, are essential.

In addition, the music restaurant has very strict requirements for stewing chicken soup. It must use old hens over three years old so that the resulting soup would be rich and flavorful, enhancing any dish during secondary cooking to improve taste and texture.

Fu Yu glanced at the chicken soup, poured a bowl separately, and tasted it.

Not bad, very authentic, perfectly stewed.

Though the fresh soup lacked some flavor.

Fu Yu casually pinched a bit of salt and sprinkled it into the small bowl, savoring it sip by sip.

Having worked all morning, he was somewhat hungry.

After drinking most of the warm chicken soup, he not only felt full but also in a better mood.

After two bowls of chicken soup, Fu Yu turned and instructed Zhou Yesheng: "Go prepare an old hen, the kind used for soup here is fine."

Zhou Yesheng executed the order promptly and quickly brought out a cleanly prepared hen.

Fu Yu placed the whole hen into a pot, added green onions and ginger, and brought it to a boil on high heat before reducing it to a slow simmer.

Zhou Yesheng watched with some confusion and couldn’t help but ask: "Chef Fu, are you preparing to stew soup?"

Fu Yu nodded: "Yes, to make this dish, you need freshly stewed chicken soup."

Zhou Yesheng silently closed his mouth.

It seemed that having asked him to fetch the chicken soup earlier was simply to soothe hunger.

Although slightly speechless, well, health is the revolution’s capital!

And anyway, as long as the cooking is good, whatever you do is right!

When Feng Hai returned to the kitchen, he saw Fu Yu stewing chicken soup and walked over to ask directly: "Chef Fu, do you know how to make Fairy Fish?"

Fu Yu nodded: "Yes."

He was carefully tying the cleaned carp with linen strings.

For this dish, live carp is used.

Because of Fu Yu’s requirements, the carp was handled very cleanly.

Not only was the slime on the fish scraped off, but the black membrane in the fish’s belly was also completely removed.

This way, the fish meat wouldn’t have any fishy taste.

Feng Hai was a bit surprised, not expecting Fu Yu to really know how to make this dish.

Feng Hai slightly frowned: "Chef Fu, can I ask, who was your cooking mentor?"

Fu Yu’s work at Qianlima wasn’t a secret around there.

Fu Yu casually said: "Oh, my master is Zhao Meng."

Feng Hai froze and asked in surprise: "Master? Do you have a junior mentor too?"

Fu Yu nodded: "Yes, my junior mentor is Liu Yunong."

Feng Hai was momentarily speechless.

While he didn’t immediately recall Zhao Meng, he knew Liu Yunong was a fairly well-known chef and a descendant of Lady Liu.

Recently, he heard that she had opened a branch of her private kitchen restaurant in Bei’an.

He didn’t expect Fu Yu to be a disciple of Liu Yunong!

Feng Hai thought to himself: Does the Liu Family Cuisine include Fairy Fish too? Isn’t their specialty mainly soups and stews?

Thinking about it this way, it didn’t seem impossible.

After all, the Liu Family is a clan with a long culinary tradition, and at some point, they might have incorporated this dish’s cooking method.

However, cooking Fairy Fish is a particularly complex task.

Can Fu Yu really make this dish well?

Without seeing the finished product, Feng Hai still had some skepticism deep inside.