Gourmet of Another World

Chapter 1381 Three Flowers Sweet and Sour Fish

“System, I accept the test.”

After Bu Fang’s serious voice rang out, the System in his head did not say anything again. For a moment, the surroundings fell so silent that he could even hear the sound of a needle dropping onto the ground. Everything around him, including the noise of the city, disappeared.

That startled him a little. He narrowed his eyes, waiting for the System’s reply. Now that he had accepted the test, the System would not let him pass so easily.

Previously, he nearly failed to cook the Three-cup Divine Chicken, which was a dish from the God of Cooking’s Menu. If he had not used an innovative method to boost his mental force at the most critical moment, he might not have been able to finish cooking that dish.

If that were the case, he would no longer exist by now.

So he still felt nervous. He took a deep breath, and his mental force began to tense up.

Sure enough, as he began to tense up, the God of Cooking’s Menu suspended over his spirit sea immediately changed. It flipped, and the whole spirit sea rumbled.

The Phantom Spirit opened its eyes with waves of divine will spreading from it, while the Artifact Spirits watched in horror. They realized that their little host had once again encountered an ordeal. The cooking of every dish in the God of Cooking’s Menu was an ordeal, a test of a person’s body and mind. They could only hope that he survived this one.

“Little Host’s last test was chicken, wasn’t it? This time…” Divine Dragon said as he looked at the flipping golden menu.

“It should be fish this time… Fish can be cooked in many ways. I wonder what recipe the God of Cooking’s Menu provides this time. It must be very difficult as well,” Vermilion Bird said.

Then they all stopped talking, mostly because they did not know what to say.

Buzz…

The golden light of the God of Cooking’s Menu enveloped Bu Fang’s Phantom Spirit, making it glow dazzlingly like gold. In the kitchen, Bu Fang’s body was glowing as well.

The next moment, the System’s serious voice rang out. ‘The host has accepted the test, and it will begin now. Searching for the dish in the God of Cooking’s Menu…

‘Fish will be the theme of the test.’

The System’s serious voice disappeared, then Bu Fang’s mind was flooded with information about the cooking method of a dish, which was recorded in detail.

He began to read it seriously.

“Three Flowers Sweet and Sour Fish…”

Bu Fang fell silent. He knew that Sweet and Sour Fish was a very tricky dish, so he felt the pressure. He carefully read the recipe, not daring to overlook any detail. If he failed to cook the dish, he would be wiped out. Of course, he did not want to be wiped out, so his only choice was to try his best to cook the dish.

It took him a long time to study the recipe, and throughout the whole process, he stood motionlessly in the kitchen.

Time flew by. Soon, the sun rose from the horizon and sprinkled its light on the earth, making Yellow Spring City, which was in a rare quiet moment, lively again. Countless people began their new day.

Although it was still early in the morning, many people had already lined up in front of Yellow Spring Little Restaurant. They were here to taste the steaming God Doesn’t Care Buns. This time, however, they were bound to be disappointed.

They waited for a long time. When the sun was high in the sky, the restaurant door was still closed.

Even then, Tian Cang was back, and he was a little confused when he saw that the restaurant had not opened yet.

Inside the restaurant, Nethery sat in a chair with Foxy in her arms, while Flowery lay on a dining table. The atmosphere was somewhat sluggish, which was unusual. It made them all serious and not dare to do anything.

A strange aura kept coming from the kitchen. Even Lord Dog craned his head and looked on curiously.

What happened?

Lord Dog, Flowery, and Nethery were all very curious. They had a feeling that made their hearts palpitate, which was hard to describe.

…

In the kitchen, Bu Fang finally opened his eyes, which flashed with a golden light.

He had finished studying the recipe, and he had repeatedly gone through every step to make sure that he could perfectly complete the dish.

Three Flowers Sweet and Sour Fish was a famous dish. In his previous life, he had heard about it many times, and he had cooked it before. However, the recipe in the God of Cooking’s Menu was slightly different.

The ingredients had been prepared on the stove. Like the Three-cup Divine Chicken, they were all ordinary ingredients. None of them was a Demigod or Great Saint ingredient.

And the main ingredient was an ordinary fat grass carp.

“A grass carp…” Bu Fang looked at it with some nostalgia. He had not seen such a familiar fish for a long time.

It was an ordinary fish without any spiritual energy, but the dish Bu Fang cooked with it must contain spiritual energy. This was the unique character of the dishes in the God of Cooking’s Menu.

A fish, sugar, vinegar, and cornstarch… These were all the ingredients of this dish.

“It’s called Three Flowers Sweet and Sour Fish… Where do the flowers come from? How do I turn a fish into flowers?”

Bu Fang narrowed his eyes. His hand moved, and the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife fell into his grip.

Buzz…

The Artifact Spirit rushed into the kitchen knife, which seemed to turn lively at this moment. Obviously, even Artifact Spirits did not dare to be careless in this test.

In fact, this test was still too hard for Bu Fang.

This time, he did not spin the knife. He picked up the grass carp, which was still alive with its mouth opening and closing as if breathing, then began to remove its scales, internal organs, and gills. He performed every step calmly, his hands steady and heart beating normally.

Buzz…

As Bu Fang began to take the test, a special feeling seemed to spread. At this moment, the whole of Yellow Spring City fell silent. Everyone seemed to be able to feel the difference in the little restaurant. It was cold and serious, so much so that even Great Saints dared not to make any noise.

Tian Cang and Er Ha stood outside the door, looking at the restaurant with a serious look in their eyes.

At this moment, Realm Lord Di Tai tore through the void and came to Earth Prison. Hovering in midair, he glanced at Yellow Spring Little Restaurant from a distance and saw countless light beams burst out of it.

Bu Fang was concentrating on cooking in the kitchen. His whole mind was on this.

The most important step in cooking Sweet and Sour Fish was the preparation of the fish. The grass carp was placed on the chopping board. After cleaning it, Bu Fang washed it with water to remove all the bloodstain. Then, he began to prepare the fish.

He cut off the fish’s head and filleted the fish, but he kept the skin and the tail. By turning the knife smoothly, he removed the whole bone in one clean movement. After that, he plucked all the remaining bones in the flesh.

The next step was the most important one. Bu Fang needed to make criss-cross patterns on the fish by scoring the surface diagonally. It was a knife technique. The fish cut in this way would curl up beautifully like a wheat flower when cooked.

It was a test of his knife technique.

Bu Fang held the Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife firmly. He had already rehearsed this step countless times in his mind. He had only one set of ingredients, so once he failed in this step, it meant that his cooking failed.

It was not that the knife technique was difficult, but the requirement of the God of Cooking’s Menu was too strict. Even the gap between the cuts was strictly regulated, and no margin of error was allowed, not even one millimeter. It meant Bu Fang had to highly concentrate his divine will. Otherwise, all his previous effort would be wasted.

Bu Fang placed the fish on the chopping board and wrapped it with his divine will. He needed to focus on the gap between cuts. Pressing the fish with one hand, he held the knife at a forty-five-degree angle and inserted the sharp edge into the flesh, making a clean cut. In total, he made eighteen cuts, and the gap between cuts was two-tenths of a millimeter. That was considered very precise.

Besides, the cuts must be perfectly diagonal and two-thirds the thickness of the fish, no more and no less. The most important thing was not to cut the fish all the way through. The thickness of the fish varied from part to part, but no matter what the thickness was, Bu Fang had to make sure that every cut was two-thirds of the thickness.

When that was done, he turned the fish and scored it again. This time, the gap between cuts was also two-tenths of a millimeter. The gap was very tiny. Chefs must be very accurate in their grasp of distance. If one of the gaps was more than or less than that, the test would fail.

Therefore, Bu Fang’s divine will was so focused that it almost condensed into a physical form. His spirit sea was also circulating at high speed, and his divine will lingered around him like a fog. His eyes were fixed at the knife and the fish, while tiny beads of sweat already dotted his forehead.

One cut… another cut… When he made every cut, the blade could not shake, so he had to hold the knife firmly. Besides, he had to be sure about the gap between cuts.

When he was done with one side of the fish, he repeated the same process on the other side. After he made the last cut, Bu Fang pulled the kitchen knife back with a jerk, took a few steps back, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

The corners of his mouth curved upward as he looked at the criss-cross pattern on the fish, with the gaps between cuts all identical. Just the knife technique alone had consumed a lot of his divine will.

Bu Fang soon became serious again. He washed the scored fish, patted it dry, and wrapped it in cornstarch. Then, he began to heat the oil, which was golden and of premium grade. As the temperature rose, it began to boil.

Holding the fish coated with cornstarch by the tail, he put it into the oil. A sizzling sound rang out in an instant, and the fish began to change. Because the gaps between the cuts were identical, when the fish was heated, it expanded and curled up. At the same time, the color of the flesh began to gradually turn golden.

The frying process was rather relaxed, but Bu Fang still had to send out his divine will to check the doneness of the fish in the oil. Overcooked or undercooked would affect the taste!

When, at last, the fish was done frying, he grabbed it by the tail and removed it from the wok. The sizzling sound of oil splashing rang incessantly. He took a white plate he had prepared in advance and placed the fish on it. The next moment, his divine will rushed out and began to condense into golden flowers, and he placed them around the plate.

Bu Fang focused his eyes. A large amount of his divine will was consumed, but the following step was the most important one… He was going to cook the sauce, which was the essence of the dish and the single thing that would affect the taste!

The so-called three flowers were the three flowers condensed with divine will. They were placed on the plate. If they bloomed when the sauce was poured over them, the dish was completed. However, if they did not bloom… It meant that the sauce was below standard, and he would fail!

The look in Bu Fang’s eyes grew serious. He lit the fire and heated the wok. A violent plume of fire immediately rose into the sky!