Yuan Zhou nodded his head to indicate that he got it. He sat on the rostrum and originally intended to let Grandpa Chen sit there. However, the old man glared at him and said straightforwardly, "I'm here to attend the meeting. I will never do something like overtaking the host."
It was Xu Ban's turn to host the meeting this time. He and Wan Li took turns to host the meeting. It happened to be his turn this year.
"The Third Masterchef Communication Conference officially begins now. First of all, let's welcome the initiator, Yuan Zhou, to give an opening speech," said Xu Ban.
"Clap Clap Clap Clap"
A burst of warm applause broke out. With the support of many Yuan Chasers on the scene, the applause lasted for a long time. Even Grandpa Chen also clapped several times to match the scene.
Yuan Zhou stood up and pressed his hands down. Then, an invisible aura spread out and the applause gradually quieted down.
"Everybody comes to attend the meeting to ask questions about culinary skills. So the opening speech ends here. Let's get started." Yuan Zhou said concisely. After that, he sat down straightforwardly.
"According to the usual practice, we will start from the question with the highest requirement. The first question is how to distinguish whether the white of the fish and the white flesh are poisonous when processing the Inflating Drum Fish." Xu Ban knew Yuan Zhou's habit and immediately began to read the first question.
As soon as he said that, Grandpa Chen beside Yuan Zhou straightened his back subconsciously. It was obvious that it was him who raised the question.
The Inflating Drum Fish was a pufferfish. Grandpa Chen was from Zhejiang Province and pufferfish had different names in different places. Grandpa Chen was an old-fashioned person and was used to the old name. Some chefs might not even know what the question referred to if they were not reminded.
"I have studied this question for dozens of years, but there is no effective way. Although I can guarantee that the fish is 99% non-poisonous, the method can't be widely used. It's really a pity for a top chef like me. It's too heavy to sacrifice my life for a delicacy. I hope I can eat delicacies like the Inflating Drum Fish freely in the future." Grandpa Chen said quite seriously.
"Everybody, you can talk about your own ideas first," said Yuan Zhou.
This was the usual procedure of the High Groove Meeting. First, everyone would express their own opinions. If there were no problems from the discussion, Yuan Zhou would speak at the end. If there were any problems from the discussion, Yuan Zhou would perfect it at the end. It was always like this. Anyway, there were so many problems from the previous two meetings, and there were no unsatisfactory situations.
From this, one could see how deep Yuan Zhou's culinary knowledge was. This was also one of the reasons why everyone was so eager to attend the conference.
But today, Grandfather Chen's question stumped everyone. For a long time, no one spoke. How could a problem that had been around for so long be solved so easily? It wasn't like they were playing house.
"I don't think there's an answer to this question. Although it does depend on the chef's skills, it doesn't mean it's completely safe," a tall chef said.
"If it can be solved, it will indeed be a blessing to the customers. Every year, many people die because of street fish." It was obvious that the person who said that had to be a chef from Min Province. In Min Province, pufferfish were called street fish.
"I think it's mostly related to the chef's skills. With high culinary skills, there won't be a problem," a short and fat chef said in a serious manner.
"Don't you know who the old man sitting up there is? Do you know the Fish King? Apart from Head Chef Yuan, who else dares to compete with the old man in cooking fish? You better keep your voice down," Bai Lang, who was sitting beside the chef, couldn't help but say in a low voice.
The short and fat chef's expression changed. He carefully looked at the two people at the head of the table and did not say anything else. Although the other chefs more or less said something, none of their words were constructive. Thinking about it, if it was so easy to be discussed, it wouldn't be worth the Fish King, who had retired for 20 to 30 years, to come and ask.
After waiting for another 10 minutes, when no one else spoke, Yuan Zhou finally spoke.
When he spoke, Grandfather Chen stared at Yuan Zhou with a burning gaze. His main target this time was Yuan Zhou.
Grandfather Chen felt that ordinary methods wouldn't be able to solve this problem. Therefore, some strange ideas were needed. Many famous dishes that were passed down were the whims of genius chefs.
Ever since he learned about some of Yuan Zhou's experiences, Grandfather Chen felt that he could come to the High Groove Meeting.
Grandfather Chen was a stubborn person. He had originally planned to come and ask for advice personally. But after receiving the news that Yuan Zhou was going to hold the High Groove Meeting, he began to enthusiastically speak at the meeting. The first two times, he didn't reach the standard. But this time, he finally reached the standard.
"Actually, everybody is right. This is indeed related to the craftsmanship of the chef. Practice makes perfect. When you cook many dishes, you can feel the difference between poisonous and non-poisonous when you cut open the fish, take out the meat and hold it in your hands." Yuan Zhou brought out something that seemed to be a basic operation but was actually a fantasy story.
When he said that, even Grandfather Chen was dumbfounded. Whether the fish was poisonous or not, he could feel it just by holding it in his hands? Grandfather Chen felt that the fish he had been cooking for so many years might be fake.
Even Grandfather Chen had such a reaction, let alone the other chefs here. Every single one of them was a fool. How could they feel whether the fish was poisonous or not? There was a mouth on their hands?
"I've checked before. The toxin of the pufferfish is called tetrodotoxin, or TTX for short. It's a non-protein neurotoxin. Pufferfish meat is very tender, and pufferfish meat with the toxin is more tender than pufferfish meat with the toxin removed. At least, it's like that in terms of touch. As for the taste, I haven't tasted it.
"Therefore, if you handle pufferfish for a long time, you can set a benchmark for the pufferfish meat quality in your heart. If you encounter a situation that exceeds this benchmark, it's worth paying attention," Yuan Zhou said. "Although this method is very simple, it's still not universal."
The chefs here were very silent. Universal? They believed what Yuan Zhou said was true, but how small was the difference between the meat with and without poison?
However, looking at the serious expression on Yuan Zhou's face, they couldn't say a word. Even Grandfather Chen was the same.
"It's actually much easier to remove the toxin from artificially farmed pufferfish. I've also found the simplest method. Using seaweed to bathe in warm water will remove the remaining toxin to a certain extent. Of course, this is only limited to artificially farmed pufferfish. I will announce the specific method of using the seaweed and other ingredients after the meeting. Although it's not perfect, it can still be used." This method was indeed figured out by Yuan Zhou himself in his spare time.
Although it was a very simple thing for him to deal with pufferfish, he still thought of some simple methods in order to teach some disciples who weren't suitable for his method.
"Really?" Grandfather Chen was a little excited and directly stood up.
Even the chefs present were in an uproar. They didn't expect that Yuan Zhou would actually come up with such a method.
It sounded very simple. It was just seaweed and warm water. Even if there were other ingredients, it would be used to complement the seaweed. However, to really implement it, it would take a long time to try it out.
"Follow my method. It works." Yuan Zhou nodded his head.
"That's great. I can eat the Inflaming Drum Fish with ease in the future." Grandfather Chen spoke quickly.
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