The Gourmet Customizer

No matter how you looked at it, Cui Yufen came out ahead.

Zhang Heping wiped the crumbs and grease from his mouth. "Boss Su, please."

Su Chen didn’t bother arguing with Cui Yufen over her behavior. He simply turned and went back to the kitchen. Since the topic of heritage had come up, Su Chen actually had something to say.

"Brother Zhang, are you aware of an old master in Jinan who shares your surname, by the name of Jixing?"

"Zhang Jixing?" The second apprentice stood in the kitchen, wracking his brain for a long time. "I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone by that name."

Su Chen gave a dry laugh. He took out the pork intestines, which had already been boiled tender in clear water, and rinsed them clean in cold water before dicing them into small, two-centimeter pieces.

As Zhang Heping watched Su Chen cut the ingredients, he couldn’t help but feel that the intestines seemed to have too little fat.

According to his understanding of the dish, the intestines had to be fatty enough, with plenty of oil. That’s what made them so fragrant and delicious!

But Su Chen only placed the wok over a high flame. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry to add oil and start cooking. Instead, he spoke to Zhang Heping in a light, casual tone, as if chatting with an old friend.

"You’ve heard of the Donglu Restaurant, right?"

Zhang Heping thought for a moment. "I know of it. A hundred years ago, it was considered the largest restaurant in Lixia City. I’ve even been to the original site."

Mentioning this really got Zhang Heping going!

"It was magnificent! A two-courtyard estate with additional wings on the east and west—it was the largest compound on our Furong Street. The VIP building in the back courtyard was right next to the Prince’s Pool. I even heard that the Donglu Restaurant raised its carp in the Prince’s Pool.

"Back in the day, when a distinguished guest ordered fish, a boatman from the Great Ming Lake Shore would tie a line to his fish spear, stand at a second-floor window, and spear a fish right through the head. It was incredible!"

These were all stories the old masters had told him when he was an apprentice in Jinan. Back then, he’d only thought about how amazing the restaurant must have been.

But he had no idea why Boss Su was bringing it up.

Su Chen nodded. "Back then, the Donglu Restaurant specialized in Jiaodong seafood and Lixia-style cuisine. They also catered banquets and weddings. Their head banquet chef at the time was named Zhang Jixing. The two most famous dishes in his repertoire were Hibiscus Chicken Slices and Nine-Turned Pork Intestines. The Nine-Turned Pork Intestines I’m making today is inspired by Master Zhang’s method."

Zhang Heping suddenly drew a sharp breath. "Are you... related to this Master Zhang’s family?"

"Not at all," Su Chen said with a smile. "Like I said, I just happened upon it."

With that, Su Chen added some boiling water to the wok. Once it was bubbling, he blanched the prepared intestines again.

Then he added about 25 grams of lard and 25 grams of white sugar to the wok, stir-frying them slowly over a low flame while continuing to chat with Zhang Heping.

"Master Zhang’s Nine-Turned Pork Intestines is different from the traditional Lu Cuisine version. It’s not finished with a gloss of hot oil, giving it a fresh, vibrant color, and it perfectly balances all five flavors. Back in the day, the warlord Han Fuju specifically chose this dish when he hosted a running banquet for his son at the Donglu Restaurant."

’There’s a story like that behind it?’

Zhang Heping felt his repository of strange new knowledge expand once more.

"After Jinan fell in ’37, the Donglu Restaurant was renamed the New East Asia Restaurant. After the war ended, it was confiscated by the government, and the restaurant never reopened. Elder Zhang’s whereabouts became unknown."

Su Chen was saying all this, on the one hand, because he genuinely wanted to discuss the issue of heritage with these chefs.

On the other hand...

The truth was, whenever Su Chen learned a dish from his famous cookbook, if it had a historical anecdote attached, the past events and images would play out in his mind like a movie.

Given the opportunity, Su Chen felt it was necessary to promote the legacy left behind by Elder Zhang Jixing. It was his way of doing his small part.

If, one day in the future, this method of preparing the intestines became widely recognized, he would much rather see the creator listed as "Zhang Jixing" than "Su Chen."

Hearing this story, Zhang Heping gasped repeatedly. It was incredible!

To think the Nine-Turned Pork Intestines had such a history! The Donglu Restaurant was already a century-old legend, with what little memory of it remained sealed away in the minds of the older generation.

Now, hearing Boss Su recount its tale, Zhang Heping was filled with emotion. As he looked at the young man before him, his perspective underwent a seismic shift.

’To have inherited such a legacy, Boss Su is no ordinary person!’

’He claims to have no school or style, but that must be a front! He’s definitely lying!’

’Boss Su’s master must be some kind of reclusive expert, right? Mm, when I have some free time, I’ve got to do some digging!’

While they were talking, the mixture of lard and white sugar in the wok slowly cooked over the low flame until it turned a deep, blood-red color.

Only then did Su Chen add the cleaned and cut intestines, stirring them gently with the ladle to ensure every piece was coated in the red color.

Though the force was light, Zhang Heping could feel the deft power coming from Su Chen’s arm. His movements were incredibly fast!

Su Chen didn’t seem to care at all about revealing the secrets of the dish, continuing to chat casually. "If you move too slowly, the sugar caramel will turn dark."

Once every piece of intestine was coated, he quickly added the prepared minced scallion, ginger, and garlic—about 10 grams—along with an equal amount of soy sauce and cooking wine to the wok.

At the same time, he also added a ladle of clear stock and another hundred grams of white sugar.

The added stock just barely covered the surface of the intestines.

’Is he going to reduce the sauce over high heat?’

Zhang Heping silently wondered.

Although the method was indeed very different from what he knew—starting with Boss Su’s claim of not finishing with hot oil—the seasonings were more or less the same.

However...

Not only did Su Chen not turn up the heat, he actually turned it down to a low simmer!

He kept the stock in the wok at a state where it was just barely boiling, with only tiny bubbles forming.

"This..."

Su Chen set down his ladle. At this point, his improved version of Nine-Turned Pork Intestines was more than halfway done.

"A slow braise over a low flame. What, Brother Zhang, did Master Cui not teach you to do it this way?"

Zhang Heping: ???

’Boss Su, you’re just trying to start something, aren’t you...’