I'm the Culinary God

Now, Qiu Yaozu plans to take this path.

If you, Lao Gao, can teach, then I, Lao Qiu, can also teach, and I will do so under the guise of it being good for the children. Even if you have objections, you’ll have to endure them.

Soon, Lin Xu deboned a duck completely.

He pulled out the duck’s rump along with the tailbone, and Qiu Yaozu couldn’t help but exclaim:

"Excellent, even if Zhenhua were here, his speed would be no more than this. Xiao Xu’s culinary skills are truly impeccable, no wonder your mentor roams around everywhere."

"This is just from doing it often; Practice Makes Perfect."

Lin Xu chuckled, shook the domestic duck he held, at this moment the skin was inside, and the flesh was outside, but he didn’t turn it over, instead, set it aside and immediately started deboning the wild duck.

"Xiao Xu, why don’t you turn the domestic duck over?"

"Later, it needs to be blanched, can’t turn it over. Flipping it now will require flipping it back later, which might damage the skin and flesh."

Tut-tut, this is talent; he’s never mentioned the method, yet this child realized this point.

Qiu Yaozu asked curiously:

"How do you know it needs blanching, have you made Three-in-One Duck before?"

Lin Xu pulled the neck bone out of the wild duck, shook his head, and said:

"Haven’t made it before, but my mentor mentioned once: no matter the dish, don’t directly put raw meat into stock, as it will ruin the whole pot of stock."

Qiu Yaozu felt like giving Lin Xu a thumbs up.

There are many chefs who know these words, but few truly remember and practice them.

Many are aware of this saying, but they often make the mistake of placing ingredients directly into the stock pot, sometimes using the freshness of the ingredients as a counter-argument.

No matter how fresh the ingredient, it will contaminate the stock.

The best method is to blanch it quickly in boiling water, then place it into the stock.

Lin Xu got busy with deboning the wild duck, which was slightly more challenging.

Not only because the bones of the wild duck are harder, primarily there is less meat, especially on the back, where the flesh is thin to just a sheet of skin, and without caution, the skin could be punctured.

Luckily, with the Bone Removal Technique at his disposal, he successfully extracted the wild duck’s bones.

The deboned wild duck also had the skin inside, flesh outside, and Lin Xu didn’t turn it over, continuing to debone the pigeon.

After deboning all three ingredients, Lin Xu didn’t rush to make the dish. He first boiled the whole block of Jinhua Ham per Qiu Yaozu’s suggestion, then sliced winter bamboo shoots and mushrooms, blanching them in boiling water.

Finally, he sliced the softened Jinhua Ham, placing the slices along with the mushrooms and bamboo shoots on plates for later use.

"Later, when assembling, you need to consistently stuff these ingredients into the cavity of each ingredient to enhance the flavor and aroma."

With Qiu Yaozu’s guidance, Lin Xu’s understanding of this Three-in-One Duck deepened.

Learning this dish indeed requires comprehension of the concept first.

Only then can efficiency in learning be achieved.

Next comes the blanching process for the ingredients.

Lin Xu boiled a pot of water and prepared a large basin of ice water.

When the water boiled, he held the pigeon by the head and dipped it several times into the pot, ensuring the flesh inside contacted the boiling water fully, purging any blood and impurities from the pigeon meat.

The pigeon must not be simmered for too long, a few dips and it should be transferred to cold water to cool, preventing the pigeon meat from over-cooking to mush.

Lin Xu went through the whole process without using a skimmer or chopsticks, simply using his hand close to the boiling water, which impressed Qiu Yaozu, who nodded repeatedly — not fearing the heat is necessary to become a good chef.

After soaking briefly in cold water, carefully flip the pigeon over.

The pot on the stove still boiled, Lin Xu spooned out the scum left from boiling the pigeon, and again lifted the pigeon to rinse its skin.

This rinse was to cook the skin, cleansing it thoroughly so the broth wouldn’t have any off-flavor.

The blanched pigeon also needs cooling in ice water, and next, he took three slices of Jinhua Ham, two slices of bamboo shoots, and one mushroom slice, stuffing them into the pigeon’s belly.

After stuffing, he skimmed off the scum and started blanching the wild duck.

The process was the same: blanch then cool, turning it over afterward, stuffing Jinhua Ham slices, bamboo shoots, and mushroom slices into the wild duck, and then stuffing the pigeon inside, with the pigeon’s head peeking out from the neck opening of the wild duck.

During assembly, the pigeon is placed upright in the wild duck belly, meaning the pigeon back meets the wild duck’s back, and when the wild duck is stuffed into the domestic duck belly later, it’s also back-to-back with the domestic duck.

The advantage of this method is that during simmering, the more substantial parts will touch the pot bottom, enduring cooking better, while the top thinner back parts can avoid being overcooked.

With the pigeon stuffed, Lin Xu held the wild duck similarly, cooking the outer skin to remove any duck skin odor.

Next was the largest domestic duck.

Lin Xu followed through step by step, flipping the duck meat after blanching, stuffing the three kinds of fillings, carefully inserting the wild duck, and arranging the heads of the three ingredients.

The domestic duck’s head pressed on the wild duck, and the wild duck’s head pressed on the pigeon.

One body with three heads, though somewhat startling, it also possesses a unique beauty.

Similarly, he blanched the duck to clean the skin, then proceeded to the actual cooking.

According to Qiu Yaozu’s instructions, Lin Xu took out a clay pot, lined the bottom with bamboo grates blanched in boiling water, assembled the Jinhua Ham, winter bamboo shoots, and mushrooms atop the grates, and placed the prepared Three-in-One Duck on top.

He poured clear soup into the clay pot, covering the duck, placed it on the stove, first boiling rapidly and skimming away foam, then simmering on low heat, covered.

After completing these steps, Lin Xu washed his hands, ready to take some rest, when suddenly, a system prompt rang in his mind:

"Host, under the mentoring of a master chef in state banquet, has completed the Huaiyang specialty dish Three-in-One Duck for the first time, obtaining the Perfect Level recipe for the dish, and additionally gaining fifty points in Huaiyang cuisine branch task points."

Wow, is there such good fortune?

Lin Xu previously felt slightly discontent with Qiu Yaozu not stepping in, as he missed an opportunity to learn from the master stealthily.

Unexpectedly, the Cooking Technique is now in hand, an absolute joy!

Qiu Yaozu didn’t expect Lin Xu to perform each step meticulously his first time cooking this dish, growing increasingly fond of this young chap.

He rolled up his sleeves and said:

"I’ve been watching you cook, and it’s made me itch for cooking myself. While allowing the duck to stew, I’ll make a Huaiyang dish you likely haven’t seen, to broaden your horizons."

Is there a Huaiyang dish I haven’t seen?

Lin Xu asked curiously:

"What dish?"

"Furong Sea Floor Pine!"

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Thought about it, decided to continue writing despite the cough, lying down is equally uncomfortable; might as well divert attention with gastronomy. This Chapter is 5200 words; after midnight, votes double, so please hold off your voting ’til then!