The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World-Chapter 70 - 69: Grand Harvest Stew

Yao Shi led several judges to the back kitchen.

The day shift staff had already clocked out and left.

Fu Yu and three others each stood in front of their stoves, waiting for the assessment to begin.

"Principal!"

Recognizing the middle-aged man standing beside Dong Jun Tian, Fu Yu widened his eyes in surprise.

No way did he expect his school’s principal to be here for the assessment.

Li He also recognized Fu Yu and said with a smile, "Fu Yu, do your best later! I’ve promised your boss to conduct a fair and impartial assessment."

Fu Yu smiled, "Of course."

Seeing that the participants were ready, Yao Shi invited Dong Jun Tian and the others to the adjacent corridor.

This spot allowed a clear view of all four cooking stations simultaneously.

"You may begin!"

At Yao Shi’s command, the four of them promptly sprang into action.

Prepping the ingredients was second nature for them, so they buried themselves in work.

Fu Yu skillfully washed and blanched the chopped ribs, then set the pressure cooker timer.

He peeled, washed, and diced the potatoes.

Peeled, washed, and diced the pumpkin.

Trimmed and washed the string beans.

Chopped the scallions, ginger, and garlic, and prepared the spices.

All the ingredients were ready!

Fu Yu swiftly started heating the oil in the pan.

Meanwhile, the watching judges engaged in quiet discussions as they observed the preparations.

Li He remarked, "This one on the left has quite impressive knife skills? They’re very adept, looks good!"

Yao Shi introduced, "His name is Sun Qingning, he’s been working in the back kitchen for almost a year now."

Li He nodded.

Wang Jingrui looked at the one on the right and said, "His crabs look quite decent, are they Russian crabs?"

Yao Shi nodded, "Yes, his name is Yao Yihang, he’s going to make Russian crabs."

The chef, Gao Chongbo, who came with Wang Jingrui, quietly remarked, "Hey! The handsome guy named Fu Yu over there, is he doing a stew? What’s he going to do about the plating then?"

As soon as he spoke, others immediately turned to look at Fu Yu.

The cooking station was filled with meticulously prepared ingredients.

Pre-stewed ribs, corn, string beans, potatoes, pumpkin...

Clearly, these ingredients were for a stewed ribs dish!

But thinking of Qianlima’s signature dishes.

Upon closer inspection, they realized he was preparing for a grand harvest stew.

Li He naturally noticed that Fu Yu was preparing for the stew dish for the assessment.

But although the stew tasted good, its presentation was truly lacking.

And the requirement for this assessment was to ensure the elements of color, aroma, and taste were all present.

Fu Yu’s dish was already dragging the overall score down simply in terms of "color".

Was it because he usually just did odd jobs in the back kitchen, so he hadn’t learned much and could only opt for simple dishes?

Li He, who frequently interacted with various major restaurants in the city, knew that head chefs often kept their skills secret and were reluctant to teach apprentices.

It seemed that Dong Jun Tian hadn’t originally intended to give Fu Yu a permanent position, merely putting him there to make up numbers.

This left Li He feeling a bit uncomfortable.

After all, it was a student from his school, and they specifically asked him to be a judge.

But it resulted in just making Fu Yu a runner.

What Dong Jun Tian did felt a bit unkind.

Others also curiously looked at Fu Yu, having guessed that he was going to make a grand harvest stew.

Among them, Dong Jun Tian felt the most awkward and annoyed.

After all, standing beside him was the principal of the culinary school.

Dong Jun Tian turned to signal Yao Shi with his eyes: What’s going on?

Yao Shi furrowed his brow slightly.

He hadn’t specifically asked the participants about their signature dishes earlier.

After all, it was a competition.

These things are generally kept confidential.

He also didn’t expect Fu Yu to prepare a stew.

Instinctively, Yao Shi glanced at Zhao Meng.

He saw Zhao Meng busy with the pan, entirely unconcerned with the competition around him.

Yao Shi felt reassured.

Fu Yu must have consulted Zhao Meng about making the grand harvest stew.

Since Zhao Meng was okay with it, he must be very confident.

Thinking of Fu Yu’s excellent performances with the balloon noodles and spicy crayfish before.

Yao Shi smiled at Dong Jun Tian, "Fu Yu has great talent in plating; we’ll see soon why he chose this dish."

Others, upon hearing this, uniformly furrowed their brows.

Stew for plating?

What sort of unique presentation can be made with a communal dish?

Gao Chongbo shook his head, clearly not optimistic about Fu Yu.

In the noisy kitchen, the judges, standing in the corridor, intentionally kept their voices low.

Fu Yu was unaware that he had already become the center of attention.

The oil in the pot heated up, and he casually added scallions, ginger, garlic, and spices to stir-fry them for aroma.

As he began his actions, the judges’ attention remained fixed on him, not leaving.

Everyone was curious to see the twist he would put on the grand harvest stew.

"Wow! His technique is very professional!"

Li He, having been a chef in the past,

though he hadn’t set foot in a kitchen in nearly twenty years due to running a school, the cooking techniques were still clear in his mind.

When Fu Yu tossed the scallions, ginger, and garlic into the oil, he had a noticeable shaking motion in his hand.

This was a habitual move only seasoned chefs have.

Yao Shi and Gao Chongbo noticed it as well.

Gao Chongbo agreed, "Indeed, I noticed it too."

Yao Shi mentioned, "Fu Yu is now working with Chef Zhao, who is our head chef and exceptionally skilled, treating Fu Yu like an apprentice."

Li He’s face relaxed, "That’s how it is."

Dong Jun Tian breathed a sigh of relief; it would have been bad to cause unnecessary misunderstandings.

The fragrance from the oil was already present.

Seeing the timing was right, Fu Yu added the string beans, potatoes, and pumpkin for stir-frying.

The wok, which should have been heavy due to the added ingredients, surprisingly felt light, not straining his wrist at all.

The hand holding the spatula cooperated with brain commands, starting to use the stir-frying techniques learned for flipping.

Relaxed shoulders, naturally drooping, using the curved bottom of the wok with the stove’s edge as a pivot, moving evenly.

During which the judges beside him remained silent.

Everyone quietly watched Fu Yu’s flipping motions with bated breath.

So standard!

So smooth!

It’s essential to know that flipping is the most critical and technical aspect of utilizing precise movements during small-flipping procedures.

And Fu Yu was executing it in a textbook manner.

To perform these actions so beautifully, he must have put in considerable effort.

Given the extensive wrist motion Fu Yu demonstrated, anyone who has cooked knows how tiring it can be.

Yet Fu Yu did it with ease.

Gao Chongbo jokingly said, "Principal Li, your school must have very strict requirements for students when training them to flip, right?"

This statement voiced everyone’s thoughts!

After all, flipping is a compulsory course in culinary school.

Watching Fu Yu’s technique, it’s clear his instructor had excellent skills.

Li He didn’t know what to say.

He was full of disbelief watching Fu Yu’s operations.

Because the demonstration of the teachers teaching flipping at his school wasn’t as good as Fu Yu’s performance.

But family disgrace cannot be divulged.

So Li He feigned profundity, "It’s just average."

The others watched as Li He put on such a deep act, hiding it on the surface, but internally they all mocked: Really full of himself!