sjar Chapter 1602 Cook Like You, Think Like You
Chapter 1602 Cook Like You, Think Like You
The kitchen knife that Lin Yu took out at this moment was naturally the [Limit-Breaking Jade Kitchen Knife].
And the chef he considers the best in the world...
Without a doubt, it is Lin Zhao.
However, Lin Yu did not intend to use the [Limit-Breaking Jade Chef Knife] as a "medium" or to get Lin Zhao's help through the [Guest Appearance Invitation].
Although Lin Yu was quite certain that doing this should at least allow him to retrieve the 3% of Lin Zhao's soul fragments in the Gray Zone, however...
He is currently using the identity of "Zhu Ming"!
It's really strange to have Zhu Ming use the "Guest Appearance Invitation" in Chen Le's presence, isn't it?
The "guest appearance invitation" item is positioned as a "professional item" by Lin Yu, and it is even the type that cannot be "traded". Even if it is explained as "lending", it is not easy to explain.
Moreover, even if he doesn't explain how he brought in "outside help"...
How did the Ming Dynasty manage to invite Lin Zhao to serve?
From the perspective of character settings, Zhu Ming and Lin Zhao are complete strangers!
and so……
Although Lin Yu said he would ask for help, he did not actually intend to bring Lin Zhao over at this moment.
But...
He was about to begin playing the role of Lin Zhao.
After all, for a long time, he pretended that Lin Zhao was still alive.
Even disregarding that role-playing experience, Lin Zhao is the person he knows best in the world.
Lin Yu gripped the [Limit-Breaking Jade Chef's Knife], took a deep breath, and began to immerse himself in the performance.
He had to act on instinct.
After Lin Yu's mind went blank for a moment, his hand reached for the ingredients on its own and then began to process the golden shellfish.
Even without any imitation or performance, Lin Yu's own cooking skills are quite good. His long-term cooking experience, coupled with the influence of Lin Zhao during his childhood, has made Lin Yu an excellent enthusiast in the field of cooking. He is definitely a very skilled amateur.
His skill level is such that if he were an international student and his rented apartment had a kitchen, it would definitely become the most popular gathering place for local Chinese students.
Lin Yu is fully capable of cooking a large table of delicious home-style dishes by himself, enough to be considered a "family feast" during festivals, and he also has a few particularly good signature dishes.
of course……
This level of performance is definitely not enough to pass "La's" test and convince the giant octopus that he can become "Ba's" mentor.
But after adding "role-playing"...
Lin Yu's culinary skills will undergo a qualitative change.
One by one, the kitchen knife pried open the golden shellfish.
Just by handling the shellfish and tasting it briefly, Lin Yu could determine the type of meat and flavor of the shellfish and what cooking method to use.
These are not the knowledge and skills that Lin Yu has mastered, but rather... the benefits he gained from imitating Lin Zhao.
After Lin Zhao passed away, he continued to impersonate Lin Zhao and pretend that Lin Zhao was still alive. The most important part of this "self-deception" was, of course, imitating Lin Zhao's cooking and making the "taste" that originally belonged to Lin Zhao's cooking.
Therefore, Lin Yu stood in the kitchen countless times, trying to recreate and imitate Lin Zhao's cooking style by looking at the traces of Lin Zhao's existence and the figure and movements in his memory.
Every shallow chopping mark on the cutting board, the smoothed part of the iron pot handle, the slight bend in the spatula, the stains left on the stove...
Lin Yu is not good at cooking, but he is extremely good at performing.
When he is fully immersed in the role, even if it is a skill or technique that he has never mastered before, as long as he has seen it before, he can grasp about five-tenths of the essence of the other person's spirit through the metaphysical imitation of what seems to be just superficial movements.
And then there's the challenge of dealing with this octopus named "La"...
Lin Zhao's cooking skills are at least a 5 out of 10.
soon……
While Lin Yu was almost completely lost in thought, almost forgetting whether he was Lin Zhao's younger brother or Lin Zhao himself...
The cooking is complete.
He carefully arranged the prepared ingredients on the tableware, wiped his hands with a towel, then walked to the serving counter and rang the serving bell.
"Ding--!"
The crisp sound of the bell brought Lin Yu back to his senses, which was almost in a daze.
Then, Lin Yu looked outside the restaurant and spoke.
"I...done it."
Only about half an hour had passed.
As Lin Yu finished speaking, he saw a brownish-red octopus, more than half a person tall, dressed in a jet-black chef's outfit, push open the door and enter the restaurant's main entrance.
"Very well, then let me... take a look."
Lin Yu heard the voice on the other end and recognized it as "La".
What Lin Yu found somewhat strange was...
Outside this mobile restaurant, the giant octopus tentacles are still there, still "carrying" the restaurant.
So what's the deal with this "La" that's more than half a person tall?
From the perspective of spiritual power and soul perception... this one in front of me is also the real La.
At the same time, there were actually two real "La"s, one large and one small!
This made Lin Yu extremely curious.
Seeing the confusion on Lin Yu's face, La said, "I know you're curious about why I have two bodies... but that's a trade secret."
As she spoke, La walked to a seat in the restaurant, sat down, and twisted her two tentacles together in front of her body, like a human crossing his arms.
"In short, this is the form I take when I taste dishes made by others. Hurry up and serve it—don't disappoint me."
As La spoke, Lin Yu nodded in agreement.
"Then... let's serve the food."
As soon as Lin Yu finished speaking, Hannah cheerfully chimed in, "Quack! Yes, ma'am!"
The little octopus swam swiftly to the serving area, picked up the tray with a wide white bowl on it, and quickly placed the dish Lin Yu had just prepared in front of La.
La looked at the dishes laid out in front of her and nodded slightly.
"You've got guts... You actually made a 'Golden Scallop Chowder' right in front of me, which is our restaurant's signature dish."
"what are you thinking?"
Hearing La's question, Lin Yu could only smile and vaguely reply, "In my opinion, the best solution for this kind of shellfish is indeed to make soup... Great minds think alike."
He gave a somewhat "safe" answer.
After all, Lin Yu had no idea why he made this dish.
If I had to put it into words... just now I was playing the role of Lin Zhao in a kind of "unconscious" and almost "flow" state.
Every action he takes is based on judgment and decision-making according to the behavioral patterns of "Lin Zhao" that he has been subconsciously imitating for a long time.
and so……
Choosing to make thick soup can also be seen as the result of Lin Yu's "thinking about what Lin Zhao would do".
And thinking about this...
Lin Yu seemed to understand why the last dish served was "scallop soup," a signature dish that the other party was known to be very good at.
Because Lin Zhao... might do that.
But no matter what...
These reasons, which Lin Yu himself was not entirely sure about and which could not be verified, certainly could not be given to La as a direct answer.
He could only give ambiguous answers.
Fortunately, La wasn't asking the question sincerely; she was just going through the motions.
She picked up a spoon, gently stirred the thick soup in the bowl, and spoke thoughtfully.
"Judging from the current color, viscosity and aroma, there is indeed no problem. It seems that you are not a novice who does not know how to cook. I just sensed the aura of an 'amateur' from you. It seems that my judgment was wrong."
Even before they had officially started tasting, La could already tell that Lin Yu was indeed a skilled cook.
This also reflects La's professionalism—she can judge the approximate lower limit of Lin Yu's level just from some details.
“But… even if you’re not an ‘amateur’ novice, but a professional, it doesn’t mean you’re qualified to have ‘Ba’ follow you. There are many professional chefs in this world, and there are experts in cooking from all walks of life,” La paused here, “but I believe that only the most outstanding experts can lead Ba to travel and adventure within the Ten Realms.”
“Although I can tell from the details of the soup you served that you are definitely not some unknown, ordinary, weak chef, that doesn’t mean… you’ve reached the ‘top’ level.”
"Whether you can reach that level or not, I'll have to try it myself to know."
As she spoke, La lifted her spoon and put a spoonful of hot, thick soup into her mouth.
La didn't just take a sip; she continued drinking, even taking a moment to pick out the meat from a few golden scallops with her fork and put them in her mouth to chew.
This is also a unique way of tasting food in Jingxu when judging the winner of a food competition—in a sense, this tasting method is more scientific.
After all, many dishes may be amazing at first bite, but become boring or cloying the more you eat them.
Some dishes may seem simple in flavor at first taste, but they become more and more mellow over time.
Even more so, the most important dining experience of some dishes is not on the taste buds, but rather the experience of truly enjoying the whole dish and experiencing a great deal of "satisfaction".
These differences lead to... if La were to taste the food as a "judge" or "diner," she would definitely choose to finish the entire dish served to her.
Soon, La silently finished the entire bowl of scallop soup.
but……
After finishing her drink, La put down her cutlery and sat down at the table, but instead of expressing her opinion as is customary in a tasting process, she did not follow the expected procedure.
After a long time...
La then spoke.
"Do you know that this 'Golden Scallop Soup' is my proudest and most skillful dish? The way I prepare the golden scallops, the cooking time, the added ingredients and seasonings... every step is the result of my long-term deduction and is almost the optimal solution in my opinion."
"It also helped me achieve a runner-up finish in the Salt Bay Chef Competition not long ago."
"But now I know... why I only came in second place back then."
She looked at the large bowl and sighed softly, "My version is still quite far from the perfect state of this soup."