Chapter 16: Top Cook

Under Shi Qing’s trepidation gaze, Zhou Xian opened the lid and revealed the whole plate of steamed barracuda.

The Barracuda was cut into pieces, neatly arranged in a circle, like a peacock’s opening screen, with green vegetables as a backdrop. It looks good.

Zhou Xian picked up a piece of Barracuda meat, put it into his mouth and chewed it.

“Huh?” Zhou Xian suddenly stared and almost stood up with his hands on the table.

“Don’t be angry, Mr. Zhou. It’s not a great restaurant. It’s just a small seafood store. And this Barracuda is not a high-end seafood. Anyway, Barracuda is nutritious and good for your health.” Shi Qing tried to persuade him.

“How do you make this steamed barracuda?” Zhou Xian ignored Shi Qing and looked at Su Jing in shock.

“Why?” Looking at Zhou Xian’s reaction, Shi-Qing was stunned. Why did she feel that Zhou Xian didn’t seem angry? On the contrary, he seemed a little exciting as if he had found a treasure. Am I hallucinating?

Ma Teng and Lin Cai’er, who knew Zhou Xian well, glanced at the disgraceful Barracuda in astonishment and wondered what the fish really tasted like, which made the master show a long-lost excitement.

“Don’t tell me, let me guess.” Suddenly, Zhou Xian interrupted Su Jing, who was about to speak. He picked up the second Barracuda meat and put it in his mouth. Then he picked up the third one. He seemed to be unable to stop completely and ate the whole steamed Barracuda meat in twos and threes.

This made Shi Qing, Ma Teng, and Lin Cai’er all dumbfounded, especially Ma Teng and Lin Cai’er. They know that their master has reached a point of anorexia because of his food choices. Every meal is only compulsory and he hasn’t eaten as fast as this for a long time.

“Should this be called open-screen barracuda?” After Zhou Xian finished eating, he slowly tunneled, “It’s a simple way to cut barracuda’s gills, head, and tail with one knife, pull out the viscera from the side and slice it in the middle with a knife. Place the fish skin in a large bowl. Add ginger slices, salt, white pepper, cooking wine and vinegar. Mix well and marinate for 5-10 minutes. Fish head up on the plate, fish fillets in the plate into a peacock fan-shaped, sprinkled with ginger and garlic. Put in the steamer that has been steamed and steam for about 8-10 minutes. Cut small red pepper into a circle obliquely and chop small scallions into small pieces. Decorate the tail with red pepper rings, sprinkle with onions, and sprinkle with steamed fish drum oil and sesame oil.

“However, the same approach is different from different people. Steamed fish has several key points:

1. The fish should be fresh and live, the live fish is steamed the most beautiful and Steamed fish emphasizes on the original flavor, strives to be fresh and tastes the best.

2, before the fish is steamed, the curing time should not be too long, 10 minutes is better because the salt has the effect of penetrating and coagulating protein, the long time will make the meat hard and affect the taste;

3, Steamed fish should be cooked in a pot. There are three taboos: first taboo is not boiling the water before putting fish in it, the second taboo is to not open the lid halfway to let the gas off and the third taboo is not boiling the fish for a long time after steaming.

“This steamed barracuda, apparently, has perfected all the steps and all the key points. It can be called a magical skill. It has made the simplest dishes the most extreme. It is a top-level cooking skill.”

Shi Qing was stunned. How could Zhou Xian praise this? Is this the Venomous Tongue Gourmand?

“…” Su Jing was also stunned, thinking that the steamed fish require so much attention, it seems that he still has to learn a lot. However, looking at Zhou Xian’s sincere talk, it’s hard to avoid some amusement. He thought that if the old man knows that he has only four simple steps to make fish: cut the fish, pickle it, put it in the hot shell, add seasoning, he wouldn’t know how the old man would feel.

“Mr. Zhou is really smart. As you said, this dish is made in this way.” Su Jing coughed slightly, boasting shamelessly.

“Who is your chef, can you please ask him to come out and meet me?” Zhou Xian asked and Ma Teng and Lin Cai’er were also curious, who was so skillful in cooking that they satisfied their master with a simply steamed barracuda. They also wanted to eat it as they had not eaten a single piece of the fish just now. Shi Qing took a look at the kitchen. She guessed that Su Jing’s uncle was in the kitchen. She had heard that Su Jing’s uncle was good at cooking, but it was unexpected that he was better than the great restaurant cook and admired by Zhou Xian.

“Oh, this old gentleman, this is the cook of this steamed Barracuda in front of you.” Zhao Mengxiang just walked by and pointed to Su Jing.

“He?” Shi Qing, Zhou Xian, Ma Teng, and Lin Cai’er also questioned and they didn’t believe it. Zhou Xian and the others thought that Su Jing was too young and he wouldn’t have much experience in cooking. Shi Qing has tasted Su Jing’s cooking before. It was more difficult to eat than anything she had eaten before. How could he make a clean steamed fish that makes Zhou Xian satisfied?

“Mr. Zhou, the signature dish here is made by this young man.” One of the guests who recognized Zhou Xian said, he ordered several signature dishes. His wife thought he was wasting money and he dared not answer back, but now even Zhou Xian liked it. He was happy.

“I’ll order a steamed barracuda, a steamed lobster, and a steamed Portunidae.” Zhou Xian squinted at Su Jing for a moment, wondering if he believed it was made by Su Jing, but ordered another dish.

“Okay, wait a moment.” Su Jing ran home again, saying that it was really laborious to run around. He had been tired before and he had eaten the Magical Beast Meat. Now Instead of feeling tired, he had a pleasure of sweating.

After a while, Su Jing pulled several dishes over on a tray and served three dishes ordered by Zhou Xian. Zhou Xian, Ma Teng, and Lin Cai’er began to eat them with a passion unknown to them, especially Lin Cai’er, who was totally ignorant of her image and ate with a greasy mouth. She also grabbed a plier of lobster with her hand and delivered it to her mouth.

Su Jing put an extra plate of lobster in front of Shi Qing.

“I didn’t order it.” Shi Qing looked at Su Jing.

“My treat as well as an apology.” Su Jing smiled. In fact, he still didn’t know why Shi Qing was angry with him, but a good man didn’t fight with a woman. First, he apologized and let her forgive him.

“Well, a lobster is not enough to make amends.” Shi Qing gave Su Jing a look, but there was a sweet smile on her lips. She is looking forward to tearing off the lobster and putting it in her mouth. Her saliva could not be controlled and flowed out quickly. She quickly wiped it off with her hands.

Su Jing couldn’t help laughing at her awkward appearance. She stared at Su Jing with a red face and continued to eat the lobster. Her view of Su Jing’s cooking had made a 180-degree turn and she admired his cooking. She felt that this lobster was the best food she had ever eaten in her life.

By the time Shi Qing recovered, the whole lobster had already entered her stomach. She could not help loving and hating Su Jing at the same time. It was a great enjoyment to eat such delicious food, but now she was going to get fat again.

After eating and drinking, Zhou Xian wrote an article on Weibo, praising the Vibrant Great Seafood Restaurant, which spread all over the world. Zhou Xian, with a high reputation in the food industry, had not given any praise for a long time. Suddenly, he highly praised a small seafood restaurant, which made people curious.