CHAPTER 510: CHAPTER 280: BRAISED SHARK FIN (PART 2)

Upon hearing this, question marks began to appear over Zhang Chu’s head.

Zhang Zhiyun quietly asked Qin Luo: "Does your brother not like eating shark fins? What could be missing from such a delicious dish? My grandmother never makes this dish, not even this New Year."

Qin Luo agreed with this sentiment, but she wanted to protect her brother’s dignity: "My brother must have a good reason for asking this."

"Yes, it lacks something: warm rice wine," Cao Guixiang laughed, "Braised shark fin is the main dish of the Yan Chi Banquet. The best way to enjoy this dish is with wine."

"At a Yan Banquet, six appetizers are served before the main course. Two ounces of warm rice wine are enjoyed with these snacks before serving the braised shark fin, so the rich taste won’t be overwhelming, leaving a lingering flavor instead."

"Actually, there were appetizers today too, like the braised duck liver. Even without drinking wine, having appetizers before the braised shark fin improves the taste."

"But at home, there’s no need to be so particular. If we truly followed the Yan Chi Banquet standards, each dish would have to be served one by one, with palate cleansing between each."

"To truly follow through, a complete Yan Chi Banquet would require six plates of appetizers, ten main courses, including a dessert, then four dried fruits, four fresh fruits, and finally a cup of hot tea. Completing such a banquet would be exhausting for me," said Cao Guixiang, laughing to herself. "So at home, there’s no need to worry about all these formalities; eat however you like. Yunyun mixing braised shark fin with rice might seem wasteful, but she’s been eating like this since childhood."

Upon hearing Cao Guixiang’s words, Zhang Zhiyun raised her head, her expression filled with longing: "Grandma, when can we have a meal with the banquet you mentioned?"

Clearly, Zhang Zhiyun hadn’t even remembered the name Yan Chi Banquet, only that it had lots of delicious dishes.

Hearing his son say this, Zhang Chiyuan hurriedly scolded: "Didn’t you hear your grandma say that the banquet has too many courses and is tiring? How thoughtless you are."

Even Zhang Chiyuan hadn’t remembered.

Cao Guixiang said with a smile: "It’s not tiring. When Yunyun gets into a prestigious university, and the acceptance letter arrives at home, I’ll make a full Yan Chi Banquet for you."

After speaking, Cao Guixiang looked at Chang Qingqing: "Qingqing too."

Zhang Zhiyun & Chang Qingqing:!

Excited to hear of such good fortune, Qin Luo nearly felt like recognizing Cao Guixiang as her own grandma and glanced at Qin Huai.

Qin Huai: ...

Your Zhang family’s motivation method... is quite effective.

"Don’t even think about it," Qin Huai said, smiling in a way that wasn’t friendly, looking at his sister, "Your brother here can’t make it."

Moreover, with Qin Luo’s grades, unless their ancestors’ tomb emits blue smoke, dreaming of a top university is out of the question.

If Qin Luo isn’t planning to attend an international high school, even if she gets into the poorest bachelor program out there, Zhao Rong will have to visit a temple to thank the deities for their blessings.

Qin Luo: QAQ

Qin Huai picked up a chopstick of water bamboo and put it in Qin Luo’s bowl: "Eat some vegetables."

Today’s table is filled with rich broth dishes, with calories through the roof. The child needs to balance nutrition with vegetables, especially during the growing period.

Reluctantly, Qin Luo stuffed the water bamboo into her mouth, chewed twice, and then showed a surprised expression: "Brother, this water bamboo is delicious too, could you learn how to make it!"

Qin Huai: ? Do you take your brother for a deity?

No exaggeration, every dish on today’s table is no lower than Grade A, except for the plain rice.

The white rice of Qin Luo, Qin Huai, and Zhang Zhiyun was mixed with the sauce of braised shark fin, making it hard to define its grade.

Luoluo, do you know what this meal represents?

Every dish on today’s table could feature in the New Year’s edition of "Taste", enough for Xu Cheng to write for years.

Thinking this way, Qin Huai suddenly felt his guo’er wasn’t very valuable.

Truly, masters hide among the common folk; just a small Qiu County has so many hidden talents, who knows how many understated retired masters lie in other places!

No wonder the village gossip group is the strongest intelligence unit!

Without Old Secretary’s bridge-building, Qin Huai wouldn’t have known Zhang Chu and Cao Guixiang.

Next year, he’ll have to make more snacks for Old Secretary, maybe introduce someone new next year.

As the satisfying lunch concluded, everyone was so full they couldn’t move, overwhelmed by the food.

Lying back, Qin Luo quietly asked Zhang Zhiyun and Chang Qingqing: "Why are you just like me?"

With your grandma/grandmother being so amazing, how are you still so inexperienced like me?

Zhang Zhiyun cautiously opened her mouth, avoiding hiccupping food out as soon as speaking, and slowly said, "How could it be the same?"

"Normally, Qingqing and I don’t get to eat so well."

"My grandma doesn’t even make braised shark fin once a year, and the dishes for my 10th birthday weren’t as abundant as today."

Zhang Zhiyun almost made herself feel sentimental, looking at Qin Huai with jealousy, her eyes implying that her grandma might love him more than her own grandson.

Cao Guixiang:...

My dear grandson, you don’t understand, this is the Tan Family Cuisine’s way of deception.

Unless we bring out our best dishes, we can’t fool anyone.

Cao Guixiang stood up: "Alright, Yunyun and Qingqing should go watch TV since you’ve eaten so much today; you probably won’t sleep at noon. Don’t take up space and stop your grandpa from cleaning the dishes."

Zhang Chu and his children began tidying up, Qin Huai intended to help but was called aside by Cao Guixiang.

"Xiao Qin, I picked out a few kitchen knives for you to test the feel. See which one feels best in your hands," Cao Guixiang said, leading Qin Huai to another room.

"Feel?" Qin Huai was somewhat confused, "Master Cao, I actually have a set of kitchen knives, a friend of mine gave me. It’s quite pricey."

The set of kitchen knives from Gong Liang wasn’t used much before, and Qin Huai had asked Chen Huihong to take them back to Shan City before the New Year’s.

Qin Huai knew there could be significant price differences with kitchen knives; some chefs have custom-made knives, and others prefer specific brand ones.

However, regarding feel, it was a new concept for Qin Huai.

"It’s about the sensation when using them," Cao Guixiang entered a small room, which was previously Qingqing’s room, and took out six kitchen knives.

"This room was Qingqing’s when she was little; both she and Yunyun were cared for by me. Once they started school, Old Zhang and I couldn’t help them with studies, so we sent them back to their parents.’

"For beginners, the feeling of utensils is important; I believe you too have fitting molds, accustomed rolling pins."

Qin Huai nodded.

"Knives are similar. When you reach a certain level, you can select knives based on their performance, which you prefer more. But when you’re just a novice, no matter how great a knife is, they feel nearly the same to you, and so the sensation matters."

"A knife that’s too expensive and sharp might not suit you yet; all six are ordinary knives, I picked them over the past two days, try how they feel."

Without quite understanding, Qin Huai held each knife and tested the feel.

He didn’t find anything particular.

They all felt similar; he didn’t experience the kind of resonance as if finding his legendary weapon.

"They all feel... the same," Qin Huai whispered.

"If they all feel the same, that’s good; I wanted you to see if any felt especially uncomfortable," Cao Guixiang said. "I asked Old Zhang to make six cutting boards for you, but the wood isn’t yet ready, it’ll take a few days."

"He mentioned during lunch that the timber dealer mixed up the wood, so it’ll be resent."

"You use my cutting board first and chop vegetables. Once your details are refined and no issues arise, I can confidently let you join online courses while using those boards."

"When that time comes, with each board broken, you’ll noticeably improve in your knife skills."

Though Qin Huai had only just started handling the kitchen knife, he was already looking forward.

Looking forward to the transformation of his knife skills, aiming toward master level, reaching the pinnacle of life.

"Master Cao, what shall we practice first?" Qin Huai asked eagerly.

"Cut radishes, white radishes," Cao Guixiang replied, "You must have seen the white radishes on the vegetable rack in the kitchen earlier?"

Qin Huai nodded, he noticed them; when looking at the vegetable rack, he wondered why there were so many white radishes. They piled up the whole rack, almost like a supermarket shelf.

At that time, he even marveled at how much the Zhang Family eats white radishes.

"These radishes were just bought this morning, they’re what you need to finish cutting this afternoon."

Qin Huai: (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

Cao Guixiang showed a profound smile: "In the days to come, you might end up cutting many white radishes."