Suggestions

Huo Yuhao continued, "This dish should be made by stuffing rice into White Jade Shrimp and steaming it, allowing the shrimp's flavor to naturally seep into the rice. Then, juice is extracted from Thousand-Year Abalone and slowly stir-fried together with the nest of a Thousand-Year Golden Silk Swift."

"A seemingly ordinary plate of fried rice is actually exquisitely crafted and unfathomably profound!"

Huo Yuhao could not help but praise it.

Tang Ya, Wang Dong, and Jiang Nannan stared dumbfoundedly at the fried rice, then at Huo Yuhao, their gazes shifting back and forth between the two. They had only thought the fried rice was delicious. They had never expected its preparation to be so refined and complicated, let alone that Huo Yuhao could taste all that?

Of course, Huo Yuhao could not actually taste it. He had never even seen these ingredients before, so how could he possibly taste them? But he had Mental Detection. Once he scanned them, all their data would appear.

The middle-aged chef gave Huo Yuhao a deep look. He had not expected this young boy to be able to discern even the method of preparation. This was a Recipe jointly developed by several Food-Type Soul Masters at their restaurant, yet someone had actually tasted through it.

He had to report this to the boss immediately.

The middle-aged chef said, "You truly are impressive, but you called me over to point out shortcomings, not to praise us, right? Please tell me what shortcomings there are. If there are none, I shall take my leave first."

He did not believe Huo Yuhao could taste any flaws. Even that Taotie Douluo had endlessly praised this fried rice. Well, although that person praised every dish in the restaurant without exception.

Still, without a doubt, this dish had been certified by a level ninety-eight Super Douluo.

Huo Yuhao said, "Don't be in such a hurry. Of course I'll point out this dish's flaws."

"The ingredients for this dish were all freshly prepared, weren't they?" Huo Yuhao asked.

"Of course. Our restaurant uses only the freshest ingredients."

"That's the problem. Don't you know fried rice is best made with overnight rice? It's a shame—such a fine plate of fried rice has too much moisture because of this, making the grains too soft and affecting the texture."

The middle-aged chef pondered for a while before saying, "Our boss has mentioned the excess moisture before. Later, we used a low flame to remove the extra moisture through stir-frying. Unfortunately, stir-frying for too long also affects the texture, so we could only fry it a little longer. Still, that improved the texture considerably. I never expected you to be able to taste it."

"We will try your suggestion of using overnight rice. If it truly leads to an improvement, we will give you appropriate compensation."

The middle-aged chef spoke with complete sincerity.

Huo Yuhao could tell that regardless of what kind of person this middle-aged chef was otherwise, he was extremely earnest and grounded when it came to cooking. The chef had noted down every suggestion Huo Yuhao made.

Most importantly, he was even offering compensation for improvement methods. Huo Yuhao almost felt embarrassed to keep acting so arrogantly.

Huo Yuhao continued evaluating the next dish. "This Embroidered Multi-Flavored Fish is actually reconstructed into a single fish using the head of a Thousand-Year Yellow Croaker, the back of a Star Grouper, the belly of a Golden Turtle Perch, the body of a tuna, and the tail of a Butterfly Fish. It gathers the essence of various fish, then is steamed and fried at the same time, allowing each fish to offer two flavors. One dish gives you ten flavors."

"However, a dish must still be judged by its color, aroma, and taste. In shape, this patched-together fish looks like some bizarre deformed thing that suffered nuclear contamination. One look is enough to ruin anyone's appetite. And as for its flavor, while it may let people taste ten flavors, none of the fish has actually been prepared well. Even different parts of the same fish require different cooking methods because of their different textures. Yet you cooked five kinds of fish together without combining their strengths. What were you thinking? Wouldn't it be better to cook the five fish separately?"

"Flashy but impractical!"

Sweat had already appeared on the middle-aged chef's forehead. Although he did not know what nuclear contamination was, that did not stop him from carefully writing everything down.

"This Universe Roasted Goose truly contains a universe within. A Thousand-Year White Jade Goose is wrapped around a Chestnut Bunting, then put through three processes—baking, roasting, and steaming—allowing the Chestnut Bunting to completely absorb the White Jade Goose's fragrance while preserving its own tender, smooth texture. It truly is delicious."

"However, first, this dish wastes such excellent White Jade Goose. After baking, roasting, and steaming, its meat has long since been damaged. Its texture is soft and mushy, making it unpleasant to eat. Second, regarding the Chestnut Bunting inside the White Jade Goose—not every part of a Chestnut Bunting is suitable for this kind of cooking. The wings, breast meat, and legs are more suitable than the other parts."

"Perhaps you could wrap another layer of material around the outside of the White Jade Goose to protect its texture, such as lotus leaves or bamboo leaves."

"This Golden Thread Buddha's Robe..."

Huo Yuhao went on at length, critiquing every dish he had ordered and offering several methods for improvement. The middle-aged chef recorded every one of them.

"All right, I'm done." Huo Yuhao's mouth was dry after speaking so much. After criticizing every dish one by one, he let out a long breath.

"Thank you for pointing out these issues. We will improve them carefully." The middle-aged chef bowed slightly. "Could I trouble you to wait for a while? As compensation, your meal today will be on the house."

"It's on the house? Just like that?" Huo Yuhao asked in surprise. He had originally wanted to cook another dish himself.

"Yes. Your evaluations and suggestions were all well-founded. We have always treated guests who can help us make better food with the utmost sincerity," the middle-aged chef said calmly. What he did not say was that they would not be polite toward those deliberately looking for trouble, either.

Huo Yuhao now felt that this ordinary-looking chef was unexpectedly approachable. Huo Yuhao smiled and asked, "Why does your restaurant want us to wait for a while?"

"I have already had someone pass your suggestions on to the boss. Our boss may wish to meet you, so I must trouble you all to wait a little."

Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow. Their boss wanted to see him? Perfect. He wanted to meet the owner of this restaurant as well.

The group did not wait long before they saw a man in his thirties push open the door and enter.

The man was dressed as a chef, neat and clean from head to toe, carrying a faint scent of food about him.

With a gentle smile that made others feel like a spring breeze had brushed over them, the man said warmly, "Hello, I am the owner of this restaurant. My name is Zhi Wei. Some of you may have heard my name before."

"Zhi Wei?" Tang Ya cried out. "So you're the owner of this restaurant!"

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong looked at Tang Ya. Neither of them had heard this name before.

Jiang Nannan thoughtfully explained, "Teacher Zhi Wei is an Inner Court teacher at our academy, responsible for the nutrition and meals of Inner Court students. Moreover, Teacher Zhi Wei is also a Food-Type Soul Douluo."

Zhi Wei smiled. "What Student Jiang Nannan said is correct. If you can enter the Inner Court, you will see me often. With Student Jiang's strength, there is a high chance that she will be admitted to the Inner Court."

Zhi Wei then looked at Tang Ya and said, "Tang Sect Leader Tang Ya, I have long admired your name." He truly had long admired her name, because this little girl before him had stolen the Eldest Sister Zhang Le Xuan's man.

Back then, after the Sea God Pavilion's master Mu En saved Zhang Le Xuan, he used that favor to make Zhang Le Xuan become Bei Bei's child bride. Then Mu En sent Bei Bei to help Tang Sect Leader Tang Ya, who had just suffered the destruction of her sect. Who would have thought that Bei Bei would fall for Tang Ya instead? Thus, Inner Court Eldest Sister Zhang Le Xuan became a child bride whom no one would marry. Most Inner Court disciples had heard of this matter.

Therefore, Tang Ya was rather well-known in the Inner Court.

Zhi Wei then looked at Wang Dong. "You're the new student Wang Dong, aren't you? You're very talented! I hope you work hard and enter the Inner Court."

Finally, Zhi Wei turned his gaze to Huo Yuhao. After sizing him up for a while, he said, "You are Huo Yuhao, right? I obtained your information from Director Du. Your Martial Soul is the Body Martial Soul Spirit Eye, and Director Du's evaluation of your First Soul Skill was that it is a divine skill of the auxiliary type. I never expected you to be so knowledgeable about the Culinary Dao as well."

"You are very impressive."

Zhi Wei nodded in approval. This young man was the main reason he had come today.