Starting from a Bankrupt Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant

Wang’s philosophical outlook made Zhou Yan’s question seem a little foolish.

"That girl from Mountain City, are you two still writing to each other?" Wang asked Zhou Yan with a smile.

"Yes, we’re still in touch. We write to each other often," Zhou Yan nodded.

"It’s good to have someone you can keep in regular contact with." Wang smiled, took another sip of his drink, and ate a piece of pig’s head meat. He leaned back leisurely in his reclining chair, his deep gaze fixed on the distance, lost in thought.

Zhou Yan didn’t disturb Wang’s peaceful moment any longer. He took the book and returned to the restaurant. He had planned to take an afternoon nap, but he opened the *Sichuan Cuisine Recipe* and became so engrossed that his sleepiness completely disappeared. His mind was filled with recipes for all kinds of cold appetizers, braised dishes, and steamed foods.

A book that should have been boring had somehow held him captive for the entire afternoon.

’If I’d had this kind of drive back when I was studying, I wouldn’t have ended up in a second-tier public school like Rongcheng University!’

’Well, recipes are really interesting.’

[DING! The Player has obtained the item *Sichuan Cuisine Recipe* and activated self-study mode. A Side Quest has been triggered: Self-study a new dish and achieve an [Extremely Good] rating!]

[Mission Reward: Unknown. Accept: Yes/No]

"Eh?" Zhou Yan’s eyes lit up. ’This quest is interesting.’

A growth quest has been triggered!

But on second thought, the ultimate Main Quest the system had set for him was to become a Kitchen God!

He wasn’t sure what level a Kitchen God was, but it definitely couldn’t be a puppet who could only cook recipes awarded by the system.

Being able to replicate a new dish from a recipe book, relying on his own experience and ability, would be a far greater boost to his culinary skills than simply being awarded a new recipe.

Zhou Yan accepted without hesitation.

His eyes began to scan the table of contents seriously, finally settling on two dishes: Fish-Flavored Tofu and Raw-Fried Salty Pork.

Fish-Flavored Tofu was also a classic of Sichuan Cuisine.

The fish-flavor profile, a top-tier flavor in Sichuan Cuisine, was extremely popular.

In the past two days, the number of orders for Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork was nearly on par with the former top-seller, Twice-Cooked Pork. It could really hold its own. Its savory, fragrant, sour, and spicy taste was especially popular with the female factory workers.

Zhou Yan wanted to learn Fish-Flavored Eggplant, but unfortunately, eggplants weren’t in season.

Fish-Flavored Tofu used soft tofu set with gypsum, and the West Bank Tofu delivered by Lai Fu was a perfect fit, making it an ideal ingredient.

Raw-Fried Salty Pork was also a classic Sichuan dish and one of Master Luo Han’s specialties. To get an [Extremely Good] rating, he could even ask for Master Luo Han’s instruction and guidance when he came to learn Snowflake Chicken Porridge.

But Zhou Yan considered a very important problem—cost!

The price of soft tofu was twenty cents a pound, while the cost of the pork belly was a whopping one yuan!

Every dish requires countless failures and constant practice to go from novice to master.

The cost of trial and error for Raw-Fried Salty Pork was too high, and Zhou Yan wasn’t confident he could practice it to the [Extremely Good] level in a short amount of time.

In comparison, since he had already mastered the fish-flavor sauce, Fish-Flavored Tofu, combined with twenty-cent-a-pound tofu, seemed much more cost-effective and feasible.

Besides, the quest required "self-study." If he received guidance from a culinary elder, he wasn’t sure if it would still meet the requirement. That was a point of doubt.

All things considered, he ultimately chose to self-study Fish-Flavored Tofu.

Zhou Yan opened the recipe book and studied it for a while. The method wasn’t complicated: cut the tofu into rectangular pieces, deep-fry them in a wok to set their shape and create a crispy outer layer.

The method for the fish-flavor base was the same as for Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork. Zhou Yan felt his own fish-flavor sauce recipe was probably more reliable than the one in the book, so he decided to stick primarily to his own method for the seasoning.

After stir-frying the fish-flavor base until fragrant and the red oil rendered, water is added. Then, the fried tofu is put in to simmer for a few minutes. This process was quite similar to the method for making Huo Xiang Carp.

This was probably what they meant by the saying, "master one thing, understand a hundred."

Sichuan Cuisine has diverse flavor profiles and cooking methods, but you can still find common principles connecting them.

"Brother, what are you looking at? You’re so focused!" Zhou Momo suddenly appeared, poking her head between Zhou Yan and the recipe book. Tilting her head, she stared at him with her big eyes and said in a childlike voice, "Mama said the worker uncles and aunties are getting off work soon, so you need to watch the time."

The little one had just come back from playing somewhere, her forehead covered in beads of sweat, her eyebrows damp.

"They’re getting off soon?" Zhou Yan lifted his wrist to check his watch. It was already past four. He looked out the door and saw a dozen elementary school students lined up to buy braised snacks, clutching small change in their hands and standing in small groups.

"You’ve been playing like a little maniac, you’re all sweaty! Go wash your face and change your clothes upstairs!" Mrs. Zhao came over with a towel, draped it right over Zhou Momo’s face, gave her face and neck a couple of vigorous wipes, and then hauled her upstairs.

"Brother... Brother, help me!" Zhou Momo yelled, reaching a hand out toward Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan could only offer his silent sympathy. He put the recipe book on the counter and turned to go into the kitchen to prep for dinner service.

The time for studying was always so wonderful and brief.

Zhao Hong followed him into the kitchen to help with the prep work.

While prepping, Zhou Yan also went ahead and made their own dinner.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The tofu was ready, and so was the fish-flavor base. Zhou Yan decided to try making a batch of Fish-Flavored Tofu.

He cut the tofu into rectangular pieces, coated them in dry cornstarch, and fried them in the wok until all six sides were golden brown and the skin was light and crispy. Then he removed them and set them aside.

He stir-fried minced pickled chilies in the wok until their red oil was released, then added scallions, ginger, and garlic and fried them until fragrant. After adding some water and simmering for a while, he had a wok full of bright red fish-flavor sauce. He added the previously fried tofu and began the seasoning process.

The seasoning method was similar to that for Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork. He added salt, soy sauce, and a little white sugar, simmered everything for about three minutes, and then began to thicken the sauce.