Chapter 296 - 136: Good Figure? Too Bad You Met Boss Su

Chapter 296: Chapter 136: Good Figure? Too Bad You Met Boss Su

This was Su Chen’s newfound conviction.

He also believed that with this conviction, the nineteenth floor of Delicious would thrive.

"You can wait over there." Su Chen gestured with his eyes toward Shen Ning. There were plenty of small stools to sit on.

"That’s alright, I want to watch you cook." Shen Ning stood her ground.

’I’d like to see just how this boss is going to make a low-oil, low-salt stir-fry!’

’If it doesn’t taste good, he shouldn’t blame me for being ruthless with my critique!’

’Hmm... even if it tastes decent, I’ll have to say it’s bad on purpose!’

Su Chen paid her no mind.

As he prepped the ingredients, he started to strategize.

’If it were just a change in seasoning, it would be easy. I’d just need to adjust the quantities.’

’Besides, Stir-Fried Yellow Beef doesn’t use salt in the first place!’

’I’d only need to use a little less light soy sauce.’

’But low-oil is a different story...’

While he was thinking, Su Chen had already finished prepping the vegetables. Just like a normal stir-fry, he sliced the green and red long peppers into small rings and cut the celery into short, thin pieces.

He followed the same initial steps as before, only this time, Su Chen set the burner to low heat.

After letting it heat for a moment, he held his hand over the wok, testing the temperature of the base from a short distance.

’Now’s the time...’

He placed the marinated beef directly into the wok. Since he hadn’t added any vegetable oil and the wok’s temperature wasn’t very high, the beef slices didn’t seem to change much after hitting the pan.

But Su Chen knew.

’I already added some vegetable oil during the marinade. Now I just need to use low heat to let the temperature slowly penetrate the slices of beef.’

This cooking process was vastly different from a typical "stir-fry."

Su Chen had Max Level proficiency, but he rarely used this technique in his daily cooking: the soft stir-fry.

What is a soft stir-fry?

It involves using a low or gentle flame to slowly cook the ingredients. This process demands that the chef’s control over the heat reach a sublime, almost magical level.

A major characteristic of the soft stir-fry method is its ability to make ingredients exceptionally tender and more flavorful.

One very famous dish made with this technique is called *Sanbuzhan*.

A top-tier chef’s *Sanbuzhan* must achieve the "three non-sticks": it mustn’t stick to the wok, the spoon, or the spatula.

Therefore, after the beef went into the wok, Su Chen wasn’t in a hurry to toss it with his spatula.

This went against the conventional technique for a soft stir-fry, but only Su Chen knew exactly what he was doing.

’The surface of the beef is coated in cornstarch and oil.’

’I have to set the surface of the beef with low heat first before I can begin the slow stir-fry.’

After about thirty seconds, Su Chen gripped the wok handle with his left hand and, with a gentle toss, flipped all the beef slices over in unison.

Another thirty seconds passed.

Both sides of the beef were now basically set. At this moment, he added the long peppers, celery, and cilantro stems all at once.

’With a low-heat soft stir-fry, the ingredients cook much more slowly.’

After adding all the vegetables, Su Chen began to slowly move them around with his spatula. His movements were small, and on the surface, they didn’t look particularly skillful.

Shen Ning stood there, watching Su Chen’s every move.

’He really didn’t add any oil?’

’And... no salt either? Can this really taste good?’

Shen Ning even began to feel a sense of anticipation. She hoped the boss’s dish would be horribly unpalatable so she could proceed with her plan as a matter of course.

As the marinated beef was slowly stir-fried over low heat, its internal moisture began to render out, and a faint layer of liquid started to pool at the bottom of the wok.

’Now!’

Su Chen abruptly cranked the heat to high. The rapidly rising temperature brought the layer of meat juice at the bottom of the wok to an instant, roaring boil.

And at that exact moment!

He dripped some light soy sauce onto his spatula and sprinkled it evenly around the rim of the wok, almost like flicking water!

WHOOSH!

The sudden eruption of flames made Shen Ning instinctively stumble back a few steps. The other customers who were eating all turned to look.

"What the heck is that? How come I can’t smell anything from this ’flaming beef’?" Fang Chang asked curiously.

Zhan Yang was too busy shoveling rice into his mouth to even think about talking.

At a small table nearby, Liu Shengnan said, "Haven’t you guys noticed? Boss Su is a little different today."

She was referring to the fact that Boss Su was actually accommodating all sorts of customer requests.

Back on the nineteenth floor, whatever Boss Su said, went.

At this, Zhang Li nodded emphatically. "I noticed too!"

Everyone looked at her.

"Boss Su is extra handsome today!"

Ling Shuyu: ???

Liu Shengnan was stunned. ’Is that what I meant?’

’And how can you even tell he’s more handsome than usual?’

Zhang Li’s comment made Fang Chang and Zhan Yang nearly choke on a mouthful of chili.

’No wonder Boss Su keeps this shorty around,’ Fang Chang thought. ’If I had such a goofy employee by my side, my mood would probably improve a lot, even if she didn’t do a thing.’

’Hmm...’ Fang Chang silently mused, ’should I try to poach this shorty for myself?’

’She wouldn’t even have to do any work. Just having her around to talk would be enough.’

Of course, they had no idea that the reason Su Chen’s Stir-Fried Yellow Beef wasn’t emitting the same rich aroma as before was because of the soft stir-fry technique.

The soft stir-fry technique had a distinct characteristic: by slowly cooking the food over a low flame, it seals the flavor inside the ingredients. As a result, it might smell ordinary, but when you ate it...

Because some soy sauce and pepper had been added during the marination, even though it looked like it had very few seasonings, the taste would be in no way inferior to the regular version!