I am a Chef in the Modern Era

Wontons in Sesame Sauce were obviously the last dish. After Shen Fu carried it out, Lin ShuYi turned the stove off and unfastened his apron. He washed his hands and told Chen Fang, “Go and eat. There’s nothing here anymore.”

Chen Fang went to the dining hall while drooling. Then his hunger was stimulated further by the exquisite, appetizing and fragrant breakfast on the dining table.

In the middle was a white casserole dish containing congee. On both sides were various kinds of small side dishes. Though there were many types, each portion was rather small. It seemed very painstaking and time-consuming to prepare.

This was the first meal Lin ShuYi cooked at the Shen Family’s house. Although it was only breakfast, he also wanted to put all his heart and soul and do a good job.

Chen Fang and Lin ShuYi both sat down before the Auntie started to serve the congee in for everyone. While she was serving the congee, she said, “This congee was made really well, there are even several eggs in it.”

Old Master Shen was obviously very happy. He could not wait to taste it as soon as the Auntie handed him the first bowl of porridge.

The rice had been boiled until the individual grains had lost their shapes and almost melted into the soup. There were slices of shiitake mushroom and tiny grains of minced meat, and a smooth and plump free-range raw egg yolk nested underneath.

The fresh fragrance of bone stock had been absorbed by the congee. The mince meat were smooth and tender, carrying the fragrance of mushrooms. The egg split apart with a light poke, revealing the orange yellow center which just happened to have completely solidified, with only a tiny bit of soft yolk in the middle.

It could be seen that the heat of the fire was controlled perfectly. Old Master Shen began to eat with incomparable happiness.

In actual fact, the taste of everyone from Shen family was almost the same. All of them did not like to eat the sweet western-style breakfast very much. On the contrary, it was the chinese-style breakfast that more welcomed by Old Master Shen. Shen Fu had mentioned these to Lin ShuYi before. Fortunately, it just happened that Lin ShuYi was also an expert in chinese-style breakfast.

There were two different styles of dumplings which made with the same stuffing. One was golden colored potstickers that were fried with onions and sesame seeds, the other was boiled wontons formed into an ingot shape and drizzled with sesame paste. One could not even tell that both dumplings had the same stuffing inside when eating them.

Mother Shen, Father Shen and Chen Fang, who were eating Lin ShuYi’s cooking for the first time, were struck dumb with amazement.

Mother Shen herself was a very good cook, but she was actually better at western-style cakes and desserts because she studied abroad when young. Thus, she was really fond of Lin ShuYi’s pure Chinese style, especially that wontons in sesame sauce. The fragrance of the sesame sauce and the slight acidity of vinegar really whetted one’s appetite.

Mother Shen involuntarily felt an overwhelming pride in the fusion of Chinese and Western cooking. Her actions of placing the wontons in her bowl quickened.

Father Shen gazed at the empty wonton dish which he had only been able to eat one piece of. Then he looked at his own wife’s bowl which had several pieces of wonton inside and swallowed. Before he could open his mouth, he heard his wife who knew him inside out say, “Be good, eat the potstickers.”

Father Shen: “…”

Shen Fu dipped a potsticker in vinegar and put it into Lin ShuYi’s bowl. It was better if both husband and wife’s preferences in food were not too similar. Otherwise, what could be done if they could not complement each other? !

…