Among the major cuisines of Huaxia, the one that emphasizes knife skills the most is Huaiyang Cuisine.

Huaiyang Cuisine's focus on knife skills can elevate many ordinary ingredients to a high-class feel without seeming pretentious.

Take for example "Wensi Tofu Soup," which is the ultimate expression of knife skills, yet its main ingredient is just a block of tofu.

Although Xiang Cuisine doesn't pursue knife skills as extremely as Huaiyang does, it has always valued them. There are sixteen basic knife techniques, and with specific applications and evolutions, it makes the dishes varied and ever-changing.

For example, in the dish "Shredded Beef Tripe," the shredded tripe is fine as silver threads and evenly cut; "Stir-Fried Beef Tenderloin" is sliced as thin as paper, "Eel Shreds with Garlic Shoots" as fine as matchsticks.

Or the "Red Braised Eight-Treasure Chicken," where the whole chicken is skinned without losing water, and the finished product not only has a complete and beautiful shape, astonishing to behold, but also has meat that's tender, soft, and juicy, filling one's mouth with fragrance when eaten.

The notebook Jiang Yu held recorded in detail the various uses of knife techniques, key points, and how to train them.

Such valuable culinary experiences are far more effective than him fumbling and practicing blindly every day, stubbornly brushing up his culinary skills through experience.

Excited at heart, he couldn't resist practicing on the spot.

"Boss, are you... practicing knife skills?"

Lu Shuwu had just returned with a glass of water when he saw Jiang Yu leaning over the countertop, expertly slicing several cucumbers into thin slices with a jumping knife technique, then changing direction to cut the slices into fine shreds…

He was momentarily stunned, seeing that Jiang Yu seemed to intend to further cut the cucumber shreds into bits, he quickly stopped him,

"Boss, don't cut them into bits, the cucumber shreds can still be used for a cold dish, later just toss them in the spicy chicken dish, if you cut them all into bits, that would be a real waste."

"Then I won't cut them, next time buy a bag of potatoes or white radishes to cut."

Jiang Yu was only trying it out and didn't plan to practice for long. He washed the kitchen knife clean and put it back, saying to Lu Shuwu,

"By the way, once the potatoes or white radishes are bought, you should practice knife skills with me as well."

"Huh? Me, I have to practice too?"

Lu Shuwu's face turned sour upon hearing this.

"Don't want to practice?"

Jiang Yu glanced at him, half-smiling, half-skeptical, asking, "Do you still want to learn Xiang cuisine with me?"

Lu Shuwu was immediately left with no arguments, lowering his head dejectedly, he said, "I'll practice, I'll practice, okay?"

"Lao Jiang, Lao Jiang!"

While the two were talking, Hu Zhihai came in from outside with a backpack, asking as he walked,

"Lao Jiang, it's almost closing time, are you not planning to make food?"

Jiang Yu turned towards the front window, indeed seeing that the line of students outside had significantly reduced, with not many steamer baskets left on the stove.

Since the store started implementing set business hours, most students had become accustomed to the store's "rules," once they saw that business hours were ending, they'd consciously stop lining up.

Otherwise, even if they sold as many soup dumplings as people came, Jiang Yu felt that even if running for 24 hours straight, there would still be a long line outside the window.

The thought of such a scenario was terrifying.

"Alright, let's make some food then."

Jiang Yu nodded, turning to Lu Shuwu, he said,

"Steam the soup dumplings we've set aside for ourselves, once they're steamed, we'll be able to eat them."

"Hmm? What about the chili fish pieces?"

Hu Zhihai was immediately anxious upon hearing this, smiling as he said,

"Also steam the chili fish pieces, it's so hot, they'll spoil if left too long."

"What's the rush? The fish pieces will be steamed in ten odd minutes, and they're best eaten while hot. Let's steam them after the dumplings are done, no rush now, Xiaoyan and the others haven't finished their break yet."

Jiang Yu gave him a disapproving look, turning back to his seat to pick up the culinary notebook and continued reading.

Hu Zhihai's eyes shifted, and he hurried to the front to help out as well.

He's willing to put in the effort to eat something tasty!

...

Xiong Bingsheng and Niu Wenlin drank until half-past eight, both a little tipsy.

After paying the bill and coming out of the small restaurant, they didn't immediately part ways to head home but took a stroll around the campus to disperse the alcohol.

As they walked, they unknowingly found themselves at the entrance of the second dining hall.

"Lao Niu, the small store I was talking to you about this afternoon is right inside this dining hall."

Xiong Bingsheng hadn't forgotten his previous "plan," raising his hand to point at the brightly lit second dining hall, he said with a laugh,

"From what I said before, it probably seemed unbelievable to you, right? How about we go in and take a look now?"

"Sure, since we're at the entrance, let's go in and have a look."

Niu Wenlin nodded, adding,

"It's not that I don't believe what you said, but what you said does sound a bit exaggerated."

"Alright, no point in saying more, seeing is believing."

Xiong Bingsheng didn't mind, chuckling as he motioned for him to go ahead, taking the lead into the dining hall doors.

It was just past nine at night, and in the dining hall, only a few students were left sitting in rows of tables, chatting while eating.

Most of the stalls had already closed, with the staff busy packing things up, except for the "Jiang Family Soup Dumplings" store at the very edge, where two or three students still queued up to buy food.

"Look, that's the store."

Xiong Bingsheng raised his hand to point ahead, saying somewhat proudly,

"There are still people lining up at this hour, have you ever seen a stall in a dining hall with a line like this?"

"Hmm, it's indeed rare, but not unheard of. The stall selling mala tang in the third dining hall and the one selling boiled dishes in the fifth dining hall also often have people lining up..."

As he was speaking, Niu Wenlin suddenly paused, raising his hand to pat his forehead, he laughed,

"We truly drank too much, we just ate a full meal, yet somehow I think I heard my own stomach growling?"

"You didn't hear wrong."

Xiong Bingsheng turned around, seriously saying, "I heard it too, your stomach indeed growled just now."

"Liar..."

Niu Wenlin smirked, about to accuse him of lying, but he barely got a word out before a rich, savory smell mixed with a spicy aroma rushed into his nose, making him shiver involuntarily.

Immediately afterward, two clear "grrr" sounds reached his ears.

This time Niu Wenlin heard it clearly, it wasn't just his stomach grumbling, Xiong Bingsheng's stomach was also growling!

He was a bit confused:

"Could it be that what we ate with Lao Bear earlier wasn't real food?!"

Before he could figure it out, Xiong Bingsheng suddenly pulled him, urgently saying:

"What are you dazing out for? Hurry up and follow! The young boss launched a new dish, if you're any later, you won't even get to drink the soup!"

With that, he dragged Niu Wenlin towards the soup dumpling shop...

Who cares about face at a time like this, what's in your stomach is what's real!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.