Chapter 516 - 415: Fu Yuan Crashes the Place

Chapter 516: Chapter 415: Fu Yuan Crashes the Place

"Elder Yu is definitely better than Head Chef Zeng. As for Boss Jiang... I’m not so sure. He doesn’t specialize in Sichuan cuisine, so it’d be a tough match for him."

"That makes sense."

The Jing Circle didn’t think Jiang Liu was better than the famous masters in the field of Sichuan cuisine.

They thought of Jiang Liu as more of a contestant who focused his efforts on perfecting just a few specific dishes.

Inside the kitchen.

The pot-bellied, fleshy-faced owner also came over to join the excitement.

"Old Zeng, in a bit, you’re going to put this guy in his place for me. I’ve seen plenty of people like him. Damn it, just thinking about it pisses me off."

The owner, Wang Wenhua, had been in the restaurant business for decades and hated customers who came just to stir up trouble.

He despised them from the bottom of his heart, so of course, he was going to side with Zeng Shaofan.

Although the other chefs in the kitchen were curious, they continued with their work.

They specifically cleared out two stations for them, one in front of the other.

A crowd of customers gathered at the kitchen entrance, their greedy expressions making it look like they were about to start drooling.

As soon as everyone heard they might get a chance to be judges, they all rushed over excitedly to join in on the action.

"What are we making?" Fu Yuan asked.

Zeng Shaofan said, "You just sent back the Fuqi Feipian, so let’s make that."

"Fine," Fu Yuan said. "How about this: we’ll write our ingredients down on paper. That way, we can keep them secret."

Zeng Shaofan and Wang Wenhua were amused when they heard this.

They had just been worried this guy would try to copy them.

’So he’s this confident!’

"No problem!" Zeng Shaofan agreed at once.

Wang Wenhua told a server to bring some paper.

The two of them wrote their ingredients on the paper.

Fu Yuan: Beef tripe, beef heart, beef liver, beef skin, raw beef leg bone, sesame seeds, cilantro, Sichuan peppercorns, line peppers, dried Sichuan chilies, celery.

Zeng Shaofan: Beef skin, beef liver, beef heart, beef tripe, cilantro, numbing peppers, dried Sichuan chilies, sesame seeds.

The kitchen was very large.

The two men stood back-to-back at their respective stoves, beginning their prep work.

Wang Wenhua took the papers and looked them over, a strange expression on his face.

’What’s the meaning of using beef bones for Fuqi Feipian?’

’Can you even cook with that stuff?’

Nevertheless, he went to get the ingredients.

Soon, the ingredients were ready.

The condiment table was packed to the brim with everything imaginable, so nothing special needed to be prepared.

Zeng Shaofan started by cleaning his ingredients, his movements swift and energetic.

Morse stood to the side, smiling as he took out his phone to record.

He was more than happy to build Fu Yuan up as Hua Country’s number one master of Sichuan cuisine.

He could then reap the benefits. The title of "Hua Country’s Number One Sichuan Cuisine Master" carried significant weight, and the one thing the world wasn’t short on was foodies.

Moreover, he could leverage Fu Yuan to bring many conveniences to his own business.

Fu Yuan, unhurried, tossed the beef offal, heart, and other ingredients into the water to be washed.

At first, their steps were identical.

Slowly, they began to differ.

Raw meat ingredients usually need to be blanched.

To handle the gamey smell of the beef, Fu Yuan added high-proof white liquor, pepper, and white sugar to the boiling water.

Zeng Shaofan, on the other hand, used cooking wine.

Wang Wenhua watched and couldn’t help but shake his head.

’Cooking isn’t about adding more ingredients to make something taste good.’

’Ultimately, seasonings are just supplementary; the ingredients themselves are what’s most important.’

’The correct approach is to figure out how the properties of the seasonings can complement and enhance the ingredients.’

But then, Fu Yuan’s knife work made Wang Wenhua’s pupils constrict.

He watched as...

...the gray beef tripe, under the other man’s knife, was as easily cut as tofu into strips of identical size.

In contrast, Zeng Shaofan’s handling of the ingredients wasn’t nearly as refined.

Wang Wenhua’s heart began to pound.

Suddenly,

Fu Yuan took out the raw beef bone and cracked it open with the back of his knife.

The yellowish-white marrow was viscous.

A rich, beefy aroma wafted from it.

He poured oil into his wok, added scallions, ginger, garlic, and dried chilies, and stir-fried them until fragrant.

He then scooped out these aromatics and discarded them before adding the beef marrow to the oil, stirring it with a SIZZLE.

In an instant, the aroma of beef marrow mixed with a spicy fragrance filled the entire kitchen.

All the chefs couldn’t help but turn their heads to look.

The customers outside the kitchen had expressions of pure bliss.

"That smells incredible!"

"Head Chef Zeng must be pulling out all the stops, right?"

"Huh? Is that Fuqi Feipian? I heard Boss Jiang has made it too. His can’t be bad, right?"

A young woman nearby shot him a sideways glance. "Have you ever had it?"

"In your dreams. It’s too hard to get a taste of Boss Jiang’s private dishes. I’ve been so many times, but the competition from the locals is so fierce it made me question my existence."

Speaking of which, the middle-aged man sighed wistfully.

Boss Jiang’s food was the best he had ever eaten.

It was a shame he didn’t have a restaurant in Jing City. Otherwise, why would he even come to the Four Little Chefs Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant?

Zeng Shaofan, who was in the middle of tossing his wok, was already drenched in sweat.

When he smelled the aroma coming from behind him, he knew something was wrong.

A thought popped into his head.

’This guy is an expert! He’s here to crash the place.’

Wang Wenhua wiped the sweat from his forehead.

’Something’s not right!’

’Something is seriously not right!’

Soon.

The two Fuqi Feipian dishes were finished, one after the other.

Fu Yuan turned around, his expression blank, and asked, "Should we taste each other’s?"

"Hmph..."

Zeng Shaofan didn’t say much. He picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of Fu Yuan’s Fuqi Feipian.

After one bite, his expression darkened.

The tripe was crisp and refreshing. The flavor was numbing, spicy, savory, and aromatic, with a rich, beefy fragrance.

If he were to make a serious comparison.

The other man’s ingredient preparation was superior to his. In terms of texture, there was less of a gamey taste, and the savory aroma was much richer.

The other man had elevated Fuqi Feipian to a whole new level.

Zeng Shaofan was already mentally prepared. As a chef with many years of experience, the moment he had smelled the aroma.

...he already knew he had probably lost.

Fu Yuan tasted Zeng Shaofan’s Fuqi Feipian and commented, "It’s acceptable. While not that great, it’s edible. I can see you tried your best. Heh."

Wang Wenhua also came over with a grim face and took a couple of bites.

After tasting it, he frowned in thought.

’Since when did Hua Country have a Sichuan cuisine master like this?’

’His style is unorthodox, yet he perfectly fuses the characteristics of the ingredients and seasonings.’

’If Zeng Shaofan’s Fuqi Feipian is an eight out of ten, then this man’s is a perfect ten!’

Morse, still filming, walked over with a smile and asked, "So, gentlemen, how does Mr. Fu’s Fuqi Feipian taste?"

Wang Wenhua said nothing.

He was in a terrible mood.

He never imagined Hua Country was hiding such a "monster."

Zeng Shaofan was silent for a few seconds before speaking. "I am slightly inferior."

His pride had been shattered.

And this was with his opponent just following his lead on the dish.

Morse raised an eyebrow. "I didn’t expect Chef Zeng to be so frank. In that case, you won’t go back on what you promised us before, will you?"

Fu Yuan also cast his gaze over.

His goal was to make a name for himself in Hua Country.

Zeng Shaofan felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

He understood now that he had been set up and played for a fool.

It wasn’t that he was stupid, just that he had been too confident.

"I will naturally do as I promised you."

Zeng Shaofan turned to Wang Wenhua and said, "President Wang, please take the dishes out for the customers to evaluate."

...

News of the event quickly spread throughout the Jing Circle.

Yang Zhenwu: "Have you guys heard? Even the Sichuan cuisine master, Head Chef Zeng, lost to that Fu Yuan guy."

Liu Dong: "...What’s going on? Hasn’t he been abroad this whole time? Can Sichuan cuisine from overseas really be better than our own?"

Jia Feiwen (Electric Power Company): "This feels so embarrassing... Aren’t there any masters who will step up to challenge him?"

Zhou Yan: "Didn’t he already challenge Master Jiang? Let’s have Master Jiang take him down a peg when the time comes!"