The Gourmet Customizer

The pleasant afternoon passed quickly.

Su Chen had mostly finalized the menu for Cui Yufen’s reception. With twenty guests, they would need at least two tables, so there was no need to make too many different kinds of dishes.

Besides, a birthday banquet was different from a grand feast. The dishes could aim for refinement rather than just being a parade of heavy, hearty fare.

The tentative plan was four cold appetizers, four small snacks, eight hot dishes, two soups, and two staples.

Twenty dishes for ten people per table was more than enough to justify the 20,000 yuan standard she had set.

And, frankly, Su Chen felt that Cui Yufen setting a 40,000 yuan budget had a hint of a personal grudge to it.

If the dishes weren’t up to par, it would give people something to talk about.

’Fang Chang’s Huaiyang Cuisine is a known quantity...’

’Since the old masters want to see me cook, I can just reuse those S Level dishes from before. That saves a lot of trouble.’

’I’ll just need to add a few more dishes.’

With the initial preparations roughly complete, the next step was to get the ingredients.

He listed all the necessary ingredients. He would buy whatever he could locally, but for anything unavailable or of poor quality, he would have to purchase it on-site at the destination.

Besides these preparations, he also had to take the menu for the kids on the second floor seriously.

In the evening, Su Chen returned to the practice room.

"Tuesday’s menu is still four dishes and a soup."

"The two meat dishes are Longjing Shrimp and Mirror Box Tofu. The two vegetable dishes are Tiger Skin Peppers and Shiitake Mushroom with Bok Choy."

As for the soup, Su Chen wasn’t worried about it. Any soup a senior-level chef threw together would taste great.

For the staple, they could choose freely between rice and steamed buns. They could eat whichever they liked, and that was that!

First, he used the system’s synthesis function to create the recipes for these four dishes. After practicing them all to A Level in the practice room, Su Chen went to bed, satisfied.

For now, Su Chen still had to cook the dishes first, with Ah Bao following his lead. There was no other way around it.

They had tried a few times before. Unless it was Hubei Cuisine or Lu Cuisine, Liu Ahbao could at best produce A Level dishes, and even that wasn’t stable. He would occasionally turn out a B Level dish.

Therefore, Su Chen had to learn them in the practice room first, identify the key points of making each dish, and then teach them to Ah Bao.

This method was basically foolproof.

「The next day.」

At six o’clock sharp, Su Chen appeared in the second-floor kitchen.

"There isn’t much to say about Longjing Shrimp. There are many ways to make it, and I’ve chosen one method by taking the best parts of several."

Although this dish has some history, Zhejiang Cuisine itself isn’t widely popular in the country. Plus, with ’Longjing’ in the name, people easily associate it with being expensive.

But that’s not actually the case.

You don’t have to use Longjing tea. All you need is the subtle, fresh fragrance of green tea. Using the tea’s aroma to remove the fishiness is the key to this dish.

Su Chen and Ah Bao sat together in the kitchen, shelling and deveining shrimp.

"Boss!"

A crisp, clear voice called from the kitchen doorway. He looked up. Why was it Zhang Li?

’Our company’s hours start at ten. What are you doing here at six-thirty?’

’Trying to scam some overtime pay out of me?’

"Whatcha doin’? I’m here to help!"

Su Chen stopped Zhang Li. "Why are you here so early? Let me tell you, volunteering for overtime doesn’t count for overtime pay. We don’t have a culture of working overtime here!"

The few times they had worked overtime, it was only because there was absolutely no other choice.

"No, no!" Zhang Li waved her little hands frantically. "Boss, I know you teach Brother Ah Bao how to cook in the morning. And when you cook, you get to taste-test, right? So I came early, hehe!"

Su Chen didn’t quite understand, but he was utterly shocked!

’To give up sleeping in for a bite of food... just what level of foodie had she reached?!’

Zhang Li continued, "I’m so unlucky! The food I buy always disappears. I don’t know who keeps stealing it, sigh..."

"Disappears?" Su Chen was a little surprised.

"Yeah. Every time I buy something, someone eats it."

"Should I check the security footage?" Su Chen felt this was a rather serious matter.

’That’s good food we’re talking about!’

’The little shorty must be heartbroken, right?’

But Zhang Li just shook her head. "No need. We’re all colleagues. They must have been hungry when they ate my food. Colleagues should help each other out, right?"

Su Chen nodded helplessly. "Alright then. You’re in for a treat today. I’ll cook a few dishes myself, and we’ll have them for breakfast." Seeing Zhang Li’s pitiful expression, he added, "It’s on the house! The early bird gets the worm, as they say."

"Really? That’s great!" Zhang Li quickly started washing her hands. "Can I not shell the shrimp? I’m a little scared of them!"

"Fine. Go wash the shiitake mushrooms, bok choy, and chili peppers."

Su Chen gave her a simple task and went back to shelling shrimp with Ah Bao.

Unbeknownst to them, this entire scene was overheard by Ling Shuyu, who had also arrived at the company early.

Waking up early had been Ling Shuyu’s habit for many years, as was coming into the office early. Just now, Ling Shuyu had been about to enter the kitchen to see what was going on.

But at the doorway, she heard Zhang Li’s aggrieved voice.

’I’m so sorry, Lili...’

Ling Shuyu lowered her head and let out a breath. ’I’ll never steal your food again...’

’Damn it!’

’It’s all because of my stupid pride! Just to pretend I wasn’t eating that much, I made my former little assistant feel so wronged!’

Ling Shuyu didn’t enter the kitchen. Instead, she turned and left the company.