Cao Zhishu was very confident in the food he cooked, but having confidence and wanting to listen to other people's evaluation were two different things. Therefore, when Little Zhao went to serve the Spicy Boiled Fish, he kept watching.
When he saw Xiao Zhao and Yuan Zhou chatting for a while, he realized that the two of them knew each other.
On Yuan Zhou's side, the two chatted until the conversation died down. The atmosphere remained awkward for quite a while before Little Zhao broke the ice.
He said, "Boiled fish is a very famous Sichuan dish. It's also the signature dish of our Shu Restaurant. Ordinary boiled fish only has four flavors: numb, spicy, tender, and smooth. But our boiled fish has five flavors. Try it and see if you can tell."
Little Zhao still didn't want to admit that Yuan Zhou was now on the same level as his master, Cao Zhishu. From the way they spoke, he could tell that there was no respect. It was as if they were conversing as equals.
The spiciness referred to the seasoning of the Sichuan Cuisine, and the tenderness referred to the fish. As long as the Sichuan Cuisine could satisfy these four flavors, the Sichuan Cuisine would be delicious. Yuan Zhou had all the dishes of the Chengdu School of Sichuan Cuisine, which was actually Shanghebang cuisine. The Sichuan Cuisine, on the other hand, was Lower Hebang cuisine, which was the dish near the mountain city of Fog City.
Strictly speaking, the system did not reward him with this dish, but with Yuan Zhou's current culinary skills, he could naturally make it. In fact, Yuan Zhou knew what the fifth flavor of Boiled Fish was even without eating it.
"The signature dish should be tasted carefully," Yuan Zhou said politely.
Then, he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. Yuan Zhou kept in mind that he was here for a friendly exchange, not to cause trouble.
The Spicy Boiled Fish in front of him was placed in a yellow-brown plate that looked like a fish basket. The outside was made to look like a rattan, and the mouth of the bowl was slightly tightened. There was a layer of translucent red oil floating on the surface of the soup, and the white fish fillets were floating in it.
There were also some chopped green onions of the same size floating in the air. The three colors of red, white, and green intersected. The colors were beautiful, and there was a spicy aroma drifting over. It was very appetizing.
"Six grams of fish fillets." Yuan Zhou only used the chopsticks to pick it up lightly and then said straightforwardly.
"Indeed. Master has said that it's not easy to control the heat evenly if the fish fillets are more than 50 grams." Little Zhao nodded at the side.
"Um." Yuan Zhou nodded and didn't say much. He picked up a piece of fish and started eating.
As soon as the fish entered his mouth, a spicy taste rushed straight into his throat. It was overbearing and strong, and the spicy taste intensified the scalding feeling, making him want to open his mouth to breathe. However, Yuan Zhou didn't do that, and directly chewed.
One bite at a time, the outer layer of the fish was wrapped in a layer of slippery membrane, which clearly felt like egg white. However, Cao Zhishu was a famous chef, so there was no fishy smell at all.
There was no fishy or egg smell.
After biting open the membrane, it was the tender fish meat. The fish meat was in the shape of garlic cloves, but it contained the fragrance of fish meat. However, at this time, another strong taste directly numbed Yuan Zhou's tongue.
This kind of numbness was not the red Sichuan pepper, but the green Sichuan pepper. It carried a refreshing numbness, which directly and straightforwardly occupied the highest point of taste.
"Slurp slurp." Yuan Zhou chewed for a while and directly swallowed the fish meat. At that time, the numbness in his mouth subsided and a sweet taste quietly gushed out.
The sweet taste was very wonderful. Like a gentle beauty, it directly soothed his mouth that had just suffered a storm. It made him feel very comfortable and began to look forward to the next bite of fish meat.
The taste came up layer by layer, like climbing up stairs, with distinctly different levels.
"What's the fifth taste, Yuan Zhou?" Little Zhao weighed for a while and didn't call Yuan Zhou head chef. After all, he really couldn't bring himself to call him that.
The fifth taste was naturally sweetness. The spiciness of Sichuan Cuisine was also divided into two types. The spiciness of Xiaohebang near Yan City was spicy while the spiciness of Xiaohebang was numbness. The spiciness came first. The Spicy Boiled Fish was no exception. It was both numbness and spiciness. What was rare was that the aftertaste was not numbness but a hint of imperceptible sweetness.
"Not bad. The proportion of salt is very well grasped," Yuan Zhou commented after putting down the chopsticks.
The fifth taste of the Spicy Boiled Fish was actually brought out by the salt. Therefore, Yuan Zhou's comment hit the nail on the head. Little Zhao, however, didn't think too much about it due to his first impression. He just laughed inwardly at Yuan Zhou for not even being able to taste it and even giving an irrelevant answer.
As a waiter, Little Zhao couldn't stay any longer. After chatting for a while more, he left the private room.
Yuan Zhou actually didn't say that the Spicy Boiled Fish actually had six tastes. It was just that he was here to have a friendly exchange today and didn't want to nitpick.
After returning to the kitchen, Little Zhao told Cao Zhishu about Yuan Zhou's comment verbatim and added, "Master, what do you think …"
Little Zhao was about to say that Yuan Zhou couldn't taste the fifth taste at all, but he was interrupted by Cao Zhishu before he could finish.
"Head Chef Yuan, your taste buds are really sensitive. You really hit the nail on the head," Cao Zhishu lamented.
"Master?" Little Zhao was puzzled.
"You came late, so it's normal that you don't know. The fifth taste depends on the salt," Cao Zhishu explained in detail with more patience towards the sensible Little Zhao.
Seeing Little Zhao's confused expression, Cao Zhishu reminded him, "If there's too much salt, what do you use to adjust the taste?"
"Of course it's candy," Little Zhao answered without thinking.
Indeed, if one accidentally added too much salt, the taste wouldn't be so salty. Little Zhao naturally knew this.
"The two tastes of salt and sugar affect and destroy each other. Therefore, we naturally won't add sugar directly in the Spicy Boiled Fish. In the later stages, we will add an appropriate amount of salt to bring out the sweetness," Cao Zhishu took off his chef's hat and said while stroking his bald head.
"The sweetness you are talking about, is it that pickled pepper?" Little Zhao was rather talented, so he made a bold guess.
Even if he had yet to learn the signature dish of Shu Restaurant, the daily work in the kitchen had given him some ideas. However, this was indeed a bold idea. The sweetness of the best quality Sky Chili was something that couldn't be related no matter how he looked at it.
"Yes, that's the one. You are not bad yourself," Cao Zhishu praised with a smile and nodded.
"You have taught me well. I check the ingredients every day," Little Zhao first said modestly before speaking of his hard work.
"A chef needs to understand his own ingredients to be able to cook good dishes," Cao Zhishu nodded in satisfaction.
"Yes, master," Little Zhao lowered his head and listened attentively.
Every day, Shu Restaurant would prepare a certain amount of pickled pepper. However, the pickled pepper here was different from other restaurants.
Apart from the best quality Sky Chili, they would also add some cane sugar when they were soaked every day. That's right, cane sugar that wasn't refined was added. With a special ratio, the Sky Chili would be infused with a sweet taste. Moreover, this sweetness would also make the fish taste better.
Little Zhao had once added some cane sugar himself. Because the amount of cane sugar was more than normal, the sugar looked different as well. Therefore, Little Zhao could clearly remember that the signature dish of Shu Restaurant had its own secret recipe.
Cao Zhishu concluded, "If there is too much salt, the taste won't be salty, but the fifth taste won't be there. If there is too little salt, not only will it not be salty, it will also not be able to bring out the sweetness. It will easily create a strange sweet and salty taste. It takes a lot of skill to control salt. Therefore, Head Chef Yuan really hit the nail on the head."
Little Zhao nodded, indicating that he understood. Shu Restaurant's Spicy Boiled Fish was indeed so troublesome. But could Yuan Zhou really hit the nail on the head?
"By the way, how did you get to know Head Chef Yuan?" Cao Zhishu asked casually.
"We used to work in the same restaurant," Little Zhao lowered his head and paused before answering.
"No wonder you already had a good foundation in cooking when you came to become my disciple. You must have learned a lot from Head Chef Yuan," Cao Zhishu said.
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