Chapter 493: 493

Chapter 493: The First Dish: Weaving Brocade Diligently While Wearing Winter Clothing

Translator: Xiong_Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth

“Alright . Let’s stop the small talk . I didn’t even eat lunch for the sake of this meal . ” Zhou Shijie smiled and said .

“Where are the appetizers?” Chu Xiao asked quite straightforwardly .

“Since you are treating, we just followed you here to broaden our horizons . ” Li Minghui said with a seemingly modest manner .

Nevertheless, Liu Tong just appeared relaxed and indifferent to that . He was merely waiting to tell his teacher about the defects of these dishes . It was fairly easy for him to pick on the dishes .

“Okay . The first is a cold dish, Weaving Brocade Diligently While Wearing Winter Clothing . ” Yuan Zhou nodded and reported the name of the dish directly without saying anything more .

“Is it an established practice to give the dishes a name of which people don’t actually know the meaning in our country? We definitely don’t know what this dish is . ” Chu Xiao grumbled directly .

“It’s not so for most of the dishes . This master might be rather artistic . ” Liu Tong said with a tone of sarcasm .

“Um . ” Li Minghui nodded his head with a seemingly reserved manner . Obviously, he also agreed with that .

Then, even if Chu Xiao’s word hadn’t meant to be sarcastic, they became sarcastic now . However, Chu Xiao was still thinking what kind of cold dish Yuan Zhou would carry out without realizing that .

“Is a name really worth discussing so heatedly?” Zhou Shijie interrupted them straightforwardly .

“Everybody, you’ll know the reason after you eat it . ” Without any explanations, Yuan Zhou just turned around and went back to the kitchen to prepare the dishes after he said that lightly .

Nevertheless, others customers at the side started a discussion .

“Isn’t this person the chef that often came here formerly? Besides, those few people seemed to have come here specially to eat Boss Yuan’s dishes . ” While waiting for their dishes, a customer discussed with a low voice .

“Yes, indeed . I feel that that man in the black business suit is a little familiar . ” The other customer paid more attention to Li Minghui .

“I think it’s the old man that is taking the lead . ” The first customer said seriously .

“I’m not talking about that . Oh, yeah . I remember who he is . ” Reminded by the first person, the other customer suddenly thought of Li Minghui .

“Who’s he?” The first customer asked curiously .

“Isn’t he the one that often appears on TV? That’s him, the head chef of that five-star hotel . Last time, a team of film crew went there for a meal and praised him a lot . Yes, it’s him . ” When the other customer spoke of the last sentence, his voice was very low .

“It seems that these few people are very influential socially . ” The first customer nodded and said solemnly .

“Anyway, Boss Yuan isn’t afraid of them . His craftsmanship definitely outclasses theirs and thus, they came here to spy on the situation here . ” Tang Xi stood behind them silently and interrupted their dialogue before the two people noticed her .

“Yeah, that’s true . ” The two customer jumped up in fright and then only agreed with her .

“Um . ” Only then did Tang Xi return to her own seat and sit well contentedly, waiting to eat the delicacies .

Yuan Zhou had no idea of the discussions as he was processing the fish attentively .

Frankly speaking, the name of the dish, Weaving Brocade Diligently While Wearing Winter Clothing, was no more than Cold Fish Skin . But this simple dish was quite particular concerning the processing of the fish skin .

Yuan Zhou took up a small string bag and directly scooped up a big grass carp about 1 . 5kg from the water tank . The moment he wiped the fish dry, Yuan Zhou began to process it .

In a banquet, the first dish was always a cold dish . First, it could free the customers from boredom while waiting for other main cuisines; secondly, the customers can fill their empty stomach a little bit . Therefore, the first cold dish of the banquet must have an appetizing function .

Only under the condition that the customers had a good appetite could they taste the next dish better .

“Here’s the cold dish, Weaving Brocade Diligently While Wearing Winter Clothing, for you . Please take your time and enjoy . ” Yuan Zhou carried the plate to them personally .

The plate carried to them by Yuan Zhou was a very neat and smooth square . Normally, the cold dish was served with broth and thus a flat plate couldn’t be used . However, Yuan Zhou used it .

The plate had a snow-white bottom with a few unknown leaves painted across the corners . Meanwhile, the dish was piled up like mountains on the plate with vivid and distinct colors .

The colloidal matter of the fish skin was transparent and had a clear distinction between black and white . Even other colored vegetables by the side couldn’t steal the spotlight from it .

“Is it Cold Fish Skin?” Zhou Shijie asked straightforwardly .

“Yes . Please take your time and enjoy . ” Yuan Zhou nodded .

“What fun! He actually gave the Cold Fish Skin such a name . ” Liu Tong mocked at Yuan Zhou in the heart, but didn’t speak it out .

Nevertheless, Li Minghui knitted his brows tight, fearing that the broth would flow everywhere on the table .

“Please, Chairman Zhou . ” Chu Xiao took up the chopsticks and said to Zhou Shijia first .

As Yuan Zhou served only one plate, they could not separately eat the dishes .

“This old man is going to start now . ” Zhou Shijie directly took up the chopsticks and started to eat .

“Please . ” Yuan Zhou nodded .

Chu Xiao followed suit right away and picked a piece of fish skin up with the chopsticks .

“Fish skin? I am looking forward to it . ” Chu Xiao looked at the beautiful fish skin similar to crystal and then stuffed it into his mouth .

“Um?” Chu Xiao and Zhou Shijie took a look at each other and picked up some fish skin again to eat without calling Li Minghui and Liu Tong together .

However, the two disciples didn’t care about that at all . Liu Tong even asked something else, “Since you are treating, is there any tea water? I like drinking tea . “

“Sorry, there isn’t . ” Yuan Zhou answered directly without any hesitation .

What a joke! There was only 400g of Pre-Ching Ming Tea provided by the system and he had drunk 50g yesterday . How was it possible that would he give it to others to drink now?

“Tsk-tsk . ” Without saying anything, Liu Tong just made such sound with an unknown meaning for the others . Nonetheless, Yuan Zhou didn’t feel like chatting with them . As long as they didn’t ask for the tea leaves, he didn’t care .

“Let’s have a taste . ” Li MInghui stopped Liu Tong from picking on Yuan Zhou .

“Okay . ” Liu Tong answered cleanly .

Only then did they reach out the chopsticks and start to pick the dish . They weren’t actually hopeful about the taste, even if many customers crowded and lined up here . They had seen such situations more than once and thus didn’t think Yuan Zhou could withstand their professional examination .

At the same time, Chu Xiao didn’t have time to speak with them . He just concentrated on savoring the taste in his mouth .

Normally, it was difficult for the fish skin to absorb any particular taste . So people usually made a thick sauce to eat along with the fish skin so that it would have the taste of the sauce . However, Yuan Zhou didn’t prepare the dish in that way .

They didn’t really know how Yuan Zhou processed the fish skin, but Chu Xiao obviously felt a slight saline and sour taste as well as strange fragrance from a mouthful of fish skin full of colloidal matter and elasticity . Apart from that, as a stimulus, a hint of spiciness suddenly magnified the taste of the fish skin .

With the sound of “Ca Ca”, Chu Xiao chewed the fish skin . There seemed to be something soft, sticky and chewy in his mouth . When he chewed it, however, it became crisp . With the slightly sour and spicy taste of the sauce, it made Chu Xiao spirit’s rise up instantly .

“Interesting . ” When Chu Xiao picked the dish with the chopsticks again, he couldn’t help saying that .

“It’s indeed interesting . The taste is really appetizing . ” Zhou Shijie said straightforwardly . Of course, he didn’t stop picking up more of the dish .

“It tastes different . ” Chu Xiao took a look at Yuan Zhou and then said .

That’s right . For the second mouthful of the dish, Chu Xiao obviously felt that the taste had slightly changed .

While he was chewing, there was broth bursting out from the fish skin as if he were eating a jelly . It obviously contained the colloidal matter, but meanwhile, there was plenty of juice . Besides that, the taste of the juice was fresh and natural with a slight sweetness, which made the freshness and crispness melt well with the mouthfeel of vermicelli made from bean starch .

With such a fresh and delicate taste, it was like a fish in the mouth . It was simply fresh and delicious .

“Isn’t it fish skin?” Chu Xiao thought about that ceaselessly with a frown .

“It’s truly like the brocade . The taste of the fish skin is as fine and smooth as the brocade . ” Zhou Shijie didn’t have any reservations, thus he said admiringly . However, he couldn’t help but pick some more of the dish with his chopsticks .

. . .