The Gourmet Customizer

’Is *this* the boss’s knife work?’

’This just looks like a pile of mush!’

’If this is Wen Si Tofu, then I could do it too!’

’You just go BANG BANG BANG on some tofu with a cleaver, right?’

But when Su Chen placed that pile of mashed tofu into a bowl of clear water,

Liu Shengnan’s expression went from unimpressed

to one of wide-eyed shock.

’What the heck?!’

’It was just a pile of mush, so why did it turn into... this... after hitting the water?’

The mush bloomed like a flower, its fine threads floating and drifting in the water. It was an incredible sight!

Su Chen wasted no time. He immediately gave the wood ear mushrooms, vegetable leaves, and carrots the same treatment with his ’awkward knife technique,’ mincing them into hair-thin threads and placing them in a strainer.

"Incredible skill, simply incredible!"

Liu Shengnan retorted, "Can you come up with a new line?"

Liu Ahbao clapped his hands. "There are no words left in this world to describe this scene. Boss Su’s knife skills are absolutely one of a kind in the entire country!"

Su Chen just snorted.

’My way of using the knife might be unique,’ he thought, ’but in terms of true knife skills, I know I still have a long way to go.’

Although Wen Si Tofu was indeed one of the most difficult dishes when it came to knife work, it only required cutting, which happened to be a perfect match for Su Chen’s [Precise Strike].

If he had to make something that required ’carving,’ Su Chen wouldn’t have been able to do it.

To put it bluntly, he was taking a bit of a shortcut. He was well aware of his own limitations.

He blanched the shredded vegetables in the strainer and set them aside.

Then, he mixed a bowl of starch slurry. "You have to use potato starch to thicken the soup for this dish. This kind of starch makes it clear and glossy."

He returned the previously strained chicken broth to the pot, heating it over a low flame until it was just about to boil but not quite. He poured in a quarter of the starch slurry and stirred continuously with a ladle.

"You need to thicken it in several stages. This is the difficult part of the dish."

Even Su Chen himself was extremely careful during this step.

The thickened broth had to achieve a specific effect: when the tofu and vegetable threads were added, they had to float suspended in the middle of the soup.

If it was too thin, the threads would sink to the bottom. If it was too thick, they would clump together or just sit on the surface, unable to sink.

That would look terrible.

After adding the slurry twice, the chicken broth in the pot didn’t look any different, but Su Chen, the one holding the ladle, knew in his heart it was perfect.

He immediately added the blanched vegetable threads and the tofu threads that had been soaking in water into the pot.

Throughout this process, the chicken broth didn’t even bubble once!

"Use the bottom of the ladle and swirl it in the pot like this! It has to be the bottom, or you’ll tear everything apart."

The spherical bottom of the ladle spun continuously across the surface of the soup. The broth, carrying the delicate threads of ingredients, began to rotate with it. The tangled mass of threads gradually started to become orderly!

Concentric patterns began to form, white interspersed with red, red with black, and flecks of green dotted throughout. It was a beautiful sight!

Once the threads were completely separated, Su Chen pointed at Liu Shengnan. "Bring me a clear glass bowl."

This dish had to be served in a transparent bowl, so you could clearly see everything inside through the glass.

Every single thread floated in the soup, layered from bottom to top, separate and undisturbed.

Watching the Wen Si Tofu, Liu Shengnan and Aunt Fang couldn’t help but swallow.

They could almost imagine taking a sip, feeling the piping hot broth slide from their mouths, down their throats, and into their stomachs, warming their entire bodies!

And those tofu threads wouldn’t require any chewing; a gentle press of the tongue and they would melt in your mouth.

As for the few vegetable threads, chewing them would surely release their own unique aromas.

’Oh my god!’

’I want to eat it so badly!’

Liu Shengnan counted on her fingers. "This block of soft tofu only costs five yuan, but a bowl of soup made from it costs several hundred. Tsk!"

Liu Ahbao laughed. "But look how much effort Boss Su put into this dish. Are those knife skills even something a human can train to achieve? And that pot of chicken broth—you can’t make that without stewing it for an entire afternoon. When you add it all up, two or three hundred really isn’t expensive."

What’s the most expensive thing these days?

Skilled labor, of course!

Especially a technique that so few people have mastered. You could charge any price for something like this and it wouldn’t be excessive. Those who appreciate it will naturally be willing to pay, while those who don’t will just think it’s not worth it.

It’s just a matter of different clientele.

"I wouldn’t eat it anyway," Aunt Fang said, not meaning it. "Unless someone else is paying."

The four of them chatted idly in the kitchen, waiting for customers to arrive for dinner.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yi finished his stir-fried chicken and eggs and left Delicious, completely satisfied.

This part was actually quite nice. He had already paid the bill before coming, so he could just leave right after eating.

As he was getting on the elevator, he came face to face with a couple walking in, but Zhang Yi didn’t think much of it.

He had only joined the Gourmet Squad’s group chat and didn’t know the people in it very well. Only Zhan Yang was his old classmate.

In the elevator.

"This place? Uh..."

Brother Fang Chang put his arm around his girlfriend. "Don’t judge a book by its cover. The food here is absolutely delicious! I brought you here because I have faith in the boss’s skills!"

The girl nudged Brother Fang Chang with her elbow. "Give me a break. My family owns a restaurant. I’ve been eating Huaiyang Cuisine my whole life. If you’re planning to treat my parents here, I think you’re going to embarrass yourself!"

Fang Chang didn’t say anything, just grinned foolishly.