Chapter 1864: Masters Among the People

Lao Litou said to his daughter, "Flip to the back, let me see if he's bragging."

He didn't believe it at all, because in his impression, rich people were all profit-driven; who would go to the trouble of using a firewood stove for the sake of true culinary skill, only to get no thanks for it?

Zichen flipped to the back, and Lao Litou believed it.

It was indeed so; not only were there firewood stoves, but there were also different stoves from the north and south, with very distinct styles.

"There really is such a kitchen now? I really want to see it."

"Sure, I'll take you there after I close the stall."

Lao Litou thought for a moment, then shook his head: "No need, it's quite troublesome."

What he said was completely insincere.

Zichen understood how much someone who loves culinary arts loves a kitchen.

He smiled without saying anything, then left.

After the father and daughter finished their work and it was time to close the stall, they found Sheng Zichen had come again.

"Why are you here again?"

"I said this morning I wanted to invite you to see my kitchen, and one must keep their word. I've come now to pick you up to go see it."

"Is it really okay?"

"Of course."

Sheng Zichen's hospitality was hard to refuse, and since the father and daughter really wanted to see it, they exchanged a few polite words and agreed.

The three of them arrived at the street side, and Zichen pulled open the door of a van: "Please."

"This is your car?"

Li Xue was a bit surprised; logically, as such a big boss, what kind of car couldn't he afford?

Even the car used to buy groceries for the restaurant wouldn't be this shabby.

Zichen smiled: "That's right, this is my car. This car saves fuel, and I usually like driving this; it's quite spacious."

After the Li father and daughter got in the car, Lao Litou's impression of Zichen improved quite a bit.

He didn't have any airs at all and looked very approachable, quite different from the rich people in their impression.

Zichen drove straight to the Phoenix Restaurant and took the Li father and daughter directly to the kitchen with the firewood stoves.

Although there were firewood stoves, the chefs at Fenghuang Lou didn't use them often... to be precise, they rarely used them.

Only when Gu Zhihao and his disciples came over would the frequency of use be a bit higher.

Lao Litou stopped in front of a strange stove; it looked similar to the stove he used when he was young.

Usually, stoves are square or round.

This stove, however, was like terraced fields, each one higher than the last; it was three stoves connected together.

When people get old, they easily become nostalgic, especially for things that left a deep impression on them.

He looked inside and out, very carefully, even with teary eyes.

He murmured in a low voice: "Old friend, is it you? I thought I would never see you again in this life. Who would have thought that in my old age, I would actually see you here."

Li Xueer was puzzled; she also examined this stove carefully, feeling that apart from its shape being different from others, there was nothing special about it.

Why would her father act so excited?

"What is this stove used for?" Li Xueer asked.

Zichen told the truth: "I heard there was a kind of stove like this, specifically for making quick-cooked dishes, so I paid a high price to have one built, but no one could use it, and it even wasted a lot of raw materials..."

Lao Litou suddenly spoke up: "It's normal that you can't use it. Let me show you a trick."

"Okay."

Zichen was overjoyed; he personally prepared the ingredients for Lao Litou and asked him what he needed.

But Lao Litou refused.

He didn't need a helper and told him to just watch.

The old man said: "Kid, I think you're a decent person, that's why I'm showing you a trick. Watch closely; I'll only do it once. To what extent you learn it is your own business. If this stove can be used a few more times in the future, it won't be a disgrace to it."

Lao Litou had Zichen and Li Xueer stand to the side and watch; they didn't need to help, just keep their eyes wide open.

He lit the firewood to heat the pot, poured hot oil into the largest pot, and then picked up a kitchen knife and walked to the fish tank.

While others used a soft net made of fishing nets to catch fish, he grabbed them directly with his hands.

Lao Litou was very fast; before a large carp weighing over three jin could react, it was already caught in his hand. The handle of the knife struck the fish's head hard, and the big fish fainted.

Lao Litou grabbed the fish tail, the blade flashed a few times, and by the time he returned to the cutting board, the process of removing scales, internal organs, and gills was already finished.

The old man's procedure for cleaning fish was different from others; usually, chefs clean and wash the fish before cutting it.

But not him; the knife in his hand moved so fast it was invisible, and the fish had already been separated into three parts—the head, bones, and tail connected together, the fish meat turned into strips, and the fish roe set aside for later use.

Now Zichen understood; this was preparing to make three dishes from one fish!

He knew how to do it too.

Zichen not only knew how to make it, but at the age of fifteen, he had already become the youngest champion at the Gourmet Conference of that year with this very dish!

Now, more than ten years later, Zichen's skills had only improved, but he could be certain that Lao Litou's skills were far, far better than his.

Lao Litou washed the cleaned fish, arranged the fish head and bones on a plate, and even carved beautiful flowers out of cucumber and carrot for the presentation.

Then he placed the second and third pots on the stove at the same time; one was for making sauce, and one was for braising the fish roe.

The oil in the first pot was hot and smoking; the old man put in the fish fillets coated in batter, fried them until golden brown, took them out, and placed them on the fish bones. At the same time, he poured the prepared sauce over them, and the dish was finished.

The fish meat was sliced into thin pieces; the first pot was taken down, passed over the high flame, and then placed on a plate filled with ice cubes. Zichen had seen raw carp for the first time.

Carp has a strong fishy smell and is not suitable for eating raw.

And passing it over the fire, because the speed was so fast, the fish meat didn't seem to have undergone any changes at all. What was the point of doing this?

You would know the difference once you tasted it.

The sashimi was fresh, fragrant, crisp, and tender; it was a very marvelous texture, hard to describe, but in any case, it tasted delicious the moment it hit the mouth!

The Sweet and Sour Live Carp had fresh and fragrant fish meat, its outer crust was as crispy as Glass Meat, while the fish meat inside was fresh, tender, and smooth; it was incredibly delicious and left people unable to stop.

By this time, the braised fish roe in sauce was also ready; the golden-red roe were each plump, and with one bite, the juices seemed to spray out, filling the mouth and teeth with fragrance.

I don't know when it started, but the area in front of the stove was already surrounded by people; almost all the chefs from Fenghuang Lou had come.

Such craftsmanship opened their eyes, and as everyone picked up their chopsticks to taste it, the expressions on their faces were ones of amazement, followed immediately by one chopstick after another, unable to stop at all.

Once the fish meat was eaten clean, another pot was set up to boil water for the fish head and fish bones, adding a piece of tender tofu inside; after it was stewed, not a single drop of the soup remained either.

Zichen admired Lao Litou immensely; originally, Li Xueer's knife skills had already amazed him, but it turned out that Lao Litou was the most formidable one after all.

He said to Lao Litou, "I have witnessed your craftsmanship; next, you should take a look at mine."