The Gourmet Customizer

Apparently, these old masters were really getting addicted to helping out in the kitchen.

Their intentions were written all over their faces.

Jiang Wusheng, who was normally a rather serious old man, was now trailing right behind Su Chen. "So, Boss Su, what’s on the docket for this afternoon?"

’As long as I help you work, you have to feed me!’

’We don’t need anything fancy. Just a few buns and a couple bowls of those wok-seared noodles. That’s not asking for too much, is it?’

As Su Chen walked toward the 19th floor, the expression on his face grew increasingly resigned.

The afternoon’s work involved prepping some of the ingredients. Normally, he would handle this himself, but it wasn’t out of the question for the old masters to participate if they absolutely insisted.

But he hadn’t prepared large quantities of some ingredients. If they didn’t do things exactly as he wanted, it would be a problem. He couldn’t very well criticize them, but redoing the work would be a hassle. Still, seeing the old men acting like a bunch of mischievous kids, Su Chen didn’t have the heart to refuse.

"Alright, how about this? Let’s head to the kitchen first, no matter what. If I need everyone’s help, I’ll let you know!"

As for dinner.

Sigh.

’Looks like there’s no escaping it. I’ll have to personally whip up another meal of noodles and buns!’

The first thing Su Chen did upon returning to the kitchen was to begin simmering the clear and milky stocks.

This stock needed to simmer for a full ten hours. Starting now, it likely wouldn’t be ready until late into the night.

Following the steps he had learned in the practice room, Su Chen began by scraping and washing the pork knuckles clean. He then made two cuts along the bone to expose it before breaking it with the spine of his knife.

"He’s starting the stock. Putting everything else aside, if this stock turns out well, the meal will be worth any price!" Lu Yongliang watched Su Chen’s process, so he naturally knew what he was up to.

"That’s right. Very few Lu Cuisine restaurants are willing to do this anymore. I remember in the old days, Lu Cuisine restaurants would close up for the day once their stock ran out. They would absolutely never make a dish without it!" Jiang Wusheng also greatly admired Su Chen’s meticulous nature.

"Ah Bao can help with this!"

His apprentice was well-versed in Lu Cuisine. Lu Yongliang had to admit that his own skills in Lu Cuisine might not even match Ah Bao’s. Everyone has their specialty, and he had to acknowledge that.

Liu Ahbao didn’t hesitate. "Boss Su, I’ll get the red and white meat purées ready for you."

"Alright."

Whenever there was something they could help with, Lu Yongliang and the other two old men would hurry over to lend a hand. The rest of the time, they mostly just stood to the side and watched.

But even just by watching, they were completely captivated by the extraordinary skill Su Chen was displaying!

After Su Chen placed a perforated lid on the large stockpot, Lu Yongliang stood there and said, "I can already imagine how delicious this stock is going to be in ten hours!"

"Tsk! Boss Su, today you’ve really shown me the meaning of ’one minute on stage, ten years of practice offstage’." Jiang Wusheng was filled with admiration as he watched Su Chen make the clear and milky stocks from start to finish.

Diners who tasted such exquisitely delicious food would only assume the chefs had great knife skills and perfect control over the heat. They would have no idea about this kind of meticulous, behind-the-scenes preparation.

Take, for instance, Su Chen’s method for making the clear stock.

His use of plain water alone was sublime. First, he used it to blanch the ingredients and draw out all the blood.

He would take out the ingredients when they were about sixty percent cooked, rinse them with fresh water, and then, surprisingly, pour that rinsing water back into the pot to boil again.

Simmering over a low flame and stirring with a ladle, he soon managed to draw out even more scum and oil from that very water.

This step alone was enough to make Jiang Wusheng bow down in admiration.

’This isn’t just about technique anymore. This is something you could only come up with if you have the most profound understanding of stock-making. Who else could possibly draw blood and oil out of plain water?’

’F*cking incredible!’

While the stocks simmered on low heat, Su Chen inspected the large intestines Ah Bao had cleaned. After confirming that the amount of fat left on them matched the ratio he required, he sprinkled them with alum for another round of cleaning.

With the impurities removed, he tied both ends of the intestines with hemp rope, placed them in plain water without any seasoning, and began to simmer them over a low flame.

This step alone would take at least four hours to cook the intestines until they were perfectly tender.

And so it went, with Su Chen single-handedly orchestrating the entire kitchen’s prep work.

He personally handled the ingredient processing steps he had improved upon in the practice room, while delegating the other, more standard tasks to the three National Banquet Masters and Liu Ahbao.

The complex work continued until well past ten o’clock at night, by which time nearly all the ingredients for the next day were prepped.

"Alright, the remaining ingredients need to be prepared fresh, so we can handle them tomorrow during the actual cooking."

Jiang Wusheng stretched his back. "I haven’t done this kind of work in years. I’ve gotta say, it’s pretty tiring!"

"You can say that again." Lu Yongliang, on the other hand, didn’t look tired at all; in fact, he seemed to be glowing. "Let’s go, let’s go! Xiaosu, time to make us dinner!"

Jiang Wusheng added, "Right, right, right! We were so busy all day, I didn’t even realize it got this late! If I don’t get a couple bowls of noodles in me, I don’t think I can hold on!"

Jiang Wensheng chimed in, "I agree. And if I could have, say, four more buns, I’m sure I’d sleep like a baby tonight."

Su Chen: ?.?

’Who do you think you’re hinting at...’

Su Chen was already mentally prepared for dinner. At this hour, all the employees at Delicious had gone home, leaving just the five of them, which was manageable.

Not long after, the second floor of Delicious was filled with the sound of frantic slurping.