Divorced Dad's Gourmet Shop

Chapter 397: Chapter 396: Cooking Shui Zhu Yu

Anyone who had reached their level of seniority knew exactly what not to ask and what to pretend they hadn’t noticed.

But out of Jun Xinghe’s line of sight.

Everyone was secretly exchanging knowing glances.

Tsk, tsk.

’Was there any doubt?’

’President Jun must be chatting with that precious son-in-law of his again.’

They had never seen the chairman wear such a gentle smile before.

In previous meetings, President Jun never so much as glanced at his phone. Even if a business partner messaged him, he would just look at it without replying, his expression never changing.

It was nothing like this, with a whole room of people waiting while he clutched his phone and chuckled.

’What could they say?’

’A clear double standard.’

’A classic case of double standards!’

「In the shop.」

Jiang Liu closed his eyes and flipped through the album for a moment.

Unfortunately, an illustration had yet to appear on the seventh page.

Jiang Liu was faintly expectant.

’I wonder what I’ll get on page seven.’

’How many pages does this Gourmet Album have, anyway?’

’And what other treasures will show up later?’

After resting for a bit, Jiang Liu went out to buy some black fish.

He planned to try making some Water-Boiled Fish that afternoon.

It was a classic Sichuan dish.

The Sichuan cuisine section of his album contained the most detailed and authentic recipe for it.

As for ingredients, aside from the black fish, bean sprouts, and wood ear mushrooms for the base, he already had all the necessary seasonings: scallions, ginger, egg whites, cinnamon bark, Sichuan peppercorns, cardamom, bay leaves, black cardamom, and more.

Moreover, they were all top-quality seasonings.

Combined with the detailed techniques from the Sichuan cuisine section, the resulting Water-Boiled Fish was guaranteed to be addictively delicious.

This time, Jiang Liu didn’t go to the regular wet market.

Instead, he went to the seafood market two kilometers away, a place dedicated entirely to fish and seafood.

He walked up to a stall thick with the smell of fish.

"Boss, how much for your black fish?"

"Boss Jiang?!"

The ordinary-looking young boss, clad in green rubber boots and a black apron, looked up, his jaw dropping.

He never expected Boss Jiang to actually come to his stall to buy fish.

’Holy shit!’

’I’m so flustered, what do I do?’

He felt as if his humble little stall had been graced by a celestial presence.

"Er, hello."

Jiang Liu smiled. The man looked a little familiar; he must be a customer from the shop.

He repeated, "How much for the black fish?"

"Ah? Oh, the black fish... five yuan a jin. Take a look, Boss Jiang. They were all delivered just this afternoon. Guaranteed fresh!"

The young boss, Cai Longfei, snapped out of his daze and quickly made his pitch.

In reality, his wholesale price for black fish was around twenty yuan.

But this was Boss Jiang!

If he weren’t afraid of scaring him away, he would have gladly given the fish for free. Everyone treasured Boss Jiang, and he was no exception, terrified that Boss Jiang might wake up in a bad mood one day, slam his doors shut, and run off!

’Five yuan a jin?’ Jiang Liu’s lips twitched. ’Five yuan, my ass.’

But he didn’t expose the lie. He understood this customer was just trying to look out for him. ’I’ll just treat him to some buns next time,’ he decided.

"Alright, thanks. Can I pick them out myself?"

"Of course, of course! Please, be my guest, Boss Jiang." Cai Longfei enthusiastically assisted Jiang Liu with his selection.

The preferential treatment clearly annoyed another customer who had been waiting and was now being ignored.

He’d been there for a while! The owner had been completely ignoring him, so why was he now bowing and scraping for this young guy?

’Why?’

’Just because he’s handsome?’

’It can’t be, can it?!’

"Boss, I want two grass carp. Hurry up and bag them for me!" the customer called out in a cold voice.

"You just wait!"

Cai Longfei waved his hand impatiently, not even bothering to look at him.

"Boss Jiang~ Look at this one, see how powerfully it swims? So healthy and energetic."

The customer: ...

’Are you fucking kidding me?!’

"Where are these black fish from?" Jiang Liu asked curiously.

"They’re from local ponds, free-range, sort of semi-wild. Don’t worry, Boss Jiang, the quality is great!"

"Mm."

Jiang Liu nodded.

He was satisfied. In his expert opinion, the quality of these fish met his standards. They were perfectly adequate. Of course, they couldn’t compare to the ingredients from his Gourmet Album, but they weren’t bad.

「Five minutes later.」

Jiang Liu used his Strong Sense of Taste to select three fresh black fish.

It was best to choose smaller black fish. A large size indicated an older fish, and the meat of an old fish was never as tender and smooth as that of a young one.

"Boss Jiang, look, nine jin total. I wiped them dry for you, so that’s all fish, no water weight."

Cai Longfei was acting like a servant boy, a sycophantic look on his face.

"Alright, how much is that? Go ahead and bag them up for me," Jiang Liu said with a smile.

"That’s forty-five in total. I’ll round it down for you, just give me forty."

Cai Longfei scratched his head sheepishly.

Jiang Liu took forty yuan in cash from his wallet.

"Next time you come by my shop, I’ll treat you to something delicious." He gave Cai Longfei a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Cai Longfei’s face flushed bright red.

His heart hammered with excitement.

This was Boss Jiang, a man so many big shots were desperate to get close to, but couldn’t!

"Okay, I... I understand, Boss Jiang. I’ll come by when I have time," Cai Longfei stammered in response.

"I’m off. See you."

"Goodbye, Boss Jiang."

He watched Jiang Liu leave, then ran back to his seat in excitement.

"Boss, are you finished yet?" the other customer asked again.

"Just wait a minute."

"??!"

Cai Longfei had no time to deal with him.

He pulled out his phone to flex in the group chat.

FishyBusiness: "Boss Jiang just came to my stall to buy fish. Holy shit, my hands were actually shaking (smug emoji)."

The thousand-member group chat instantly burst into activity.

Lurkers started popping up one after another.

AlwaysSleepy: "For real? What kind of fish did Boss Jiang buy? Don’t tell me he’s making a new dish??"

NoMore: "Damn, your luck is insane. What did you and Boss Jiang talk about? Tell us, tell us!"

Group_Owner: "Did you give Brother Jiang a discount? Don’t you fucking tell me you didn’t! We have to protect Boss Jiang, understand!?" ...

Having said his piece, Cai Longfei went silent again.

That did it.

The whole group was going crazy, anxiously pinging @FishyBusiness over and over.

*

After parking his car, he returned to the shop in a good mood.

Jiang Liu got the buns and yak meat ready. Preparing the tuna and ham was even faster.

By the time he finished everything, it was a little past 2:30.

Jiang Liu started preparing the black fish.

First, he gave the fish a sharp blow to the head to stop them from thrashing. Then he gutted them, discarding all the entrails.

Black fish have very small scales, so they needed to be scraped several times with a knife.

He sliced off the heads just behind the fins and tossed them in the trash; he had no use for them, wanting only the fillets.

The fillets filled two large basins. Jiang Liu brought a pot of water to a boil, poured in some unfiltered beer, and blanched the raw fish slices for a mere thirty seconds. This would not only remove any fishiness but also preserve the meat’s tenderness.

After preparing the fish, Jiang Liu put bean sprouts, tofu skin, wood ear mushrooms, and several types of fungi into water to soak.

The fungi were also from the Gourmet Album, the same type used for the Yak, Potato, and Mushroom Soup.

He minced ginger, scallions, garlic, and dried chilies, setting them aside with some dried fermented black beans.

The dried chilies were the ones from his Five-Spice Chili ingredient.

They were both fragrant and intensely spicy.

He heated three scoops of oil in a wok until it was smoking.

First, he flash-fried over ten kinds of spices to release their aroma, then tossed in the scallion, ginger, garlic, and chili mixture.

Jiang Liu mixed the blanched fish with egg white and cornstarch. He then added mountain spring water to the wok of aromatic oil.

Then, into the wok went the fish... followed by the bean sprouts and other side ingredients... He scattered the previously fried spices over the top, garnished with segments of red and green chili peppers, and for the final touch, drizzled on a ladleful of fragrant, spicy, and numbing chili oil.

A pot of fragrant, spicy, tender, and smooth Water-Boiled Fish was complete!

Jiang Liu had cooked a full six jin of fish fillets.

It filled a massive pot.

He had used up all three black fish.

Jiang Liu tasted a piece of the tender, white fillet.

It hit his tongue with a scorching heat and numbing spice.

The meat was incredibly smooth. A gentle bite revealed an incomparable tenderness and fragrance, with a slight, pleasant springiness.

There was no fishy aftertaste, only a savory aroma and the lingering heat of the spices.

"Not bad. I didn’t expect it to turn out so well on my first try. This dish deserves at least an eight out of ten."

Satisfied, Jiang Liu placed the lid on the pot.

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