Arrived ahead of schedule?
How many men did he bring?
"He only has his butler and bodyguard. But that's not important, Su Wei. What's important is that my bear meat menu isn't finalized yet. If this meal goes wrong, your preemptive right to purchase, and my reputation, will all turn to dust."
Laurent was clearly starting to panic.
Su Wei put down the knife, picked up a hand towel, and slowly wiped his fingers.
His gaze drifted out the window, where workers were driving cement mixer trucks, their engines roaring through the wind and snow.
"Don't panic, Laurent."
Su Wei's voice came through the phone, carrying a calm tone.
"Reserve that best piece of tenderloin. Tell Charles that if he wants to feel the pulse of Alaska, he'd better prepare his appetite."
Su Wei hung up the phone and put it in his pocket. He glanced down at Cotton Candy, who was swallowing venison, and a smile appeared on his lips.
"It seems we need to go meet the real patron."
Chapter 170: The entire plan is overturned; the Wild Chef's extreme micro-management.
Su Wei stuffed the hot phone into his work pants pocket, his eyes regaining their calm.
On the kitchen countertop, there were still some bloodstains in the stainless steel basin.
He walked over, opened the freezer compartment of the upright refrigerator, and a blast of cold air escaped.
He took a whole piece of venison hind leg, still covered in frost, with both hands and placed it on the cutting board.
The sharp cleaver lay flat in his hand, the blade falling vertically, slicing through the firm muscle fibers with a soft "snap".
In the blink of an eye, evenly sized, deep red meat cubes piled up into a small mountain on the cutting board.
He took the stainless steel basin, put the diced meat into it, and then walked to the water dispenser and pressed the switch for room temperature water.
Clear water flowed into the basin, just covering the meat pieces, diluting the blood on the surface.
Su Wei carried the bowl of meat into the living room.
The Cotton Candy, who had been curled up and dozing on the wool mat, suddenly perked up its ears.
It quickly got up, its four short legs tumbling rapidly across the wooden floor, and rolled to the edge of the basin.
The little guy raised his head, nudged Su Wei's trouser leg with his wet nose, and made a "whimpering" sound, before lowering his head to pick up a piece of meat and chewing it with relish.
Su Wei bent down slightly, his eyes gentle, and reached out to rub the little fox's soft ears before turning and walking towards the innermost storage room on the first floor.
Pushing open the wooden door, you'll find the interior neatly stacked with various wooden crates and shelves.
He walked straight to the second shelf, pulled open a moisture-proof drawer, and inside lay a gray waterproof canvas bag.
As he gazed at it, the [ Gathering Module LV2] instantly projected several lines of pale gold text:
[Item Identification: Wild birch polypore fragments. Age: Over seven years. High in active ingredients.]
[Product Identification: Sitka spruce needles. Rich in highly concentrated volatile pine resin essential oil.]
[Product Identification: High-acid polar blackberries. Dehydrated and air-dried to retain pure fruit acids.]
Satisfied, Su Wei grabbed the canvas bag, tightened the drawstring, and strode out of the storage room.
He walked to the coat rack, took down the black polar cold-weather suit, put it on, and zipped it up to cover his chin.
Pushing open the heavy oak door, the frigid air of minus fifteen degrees Celsius, mixed with fine snowflakes, swept into the room.
Su Wei slammed the door shut behind him, and as he heard the lock click shut, he strode quickly toward the black Raptor pickup truck parked in the yard, his footsteps crunching through the snow.
He opened the car door, sat in the chilly driver's seat, and casually tossed the canvas bag onto the leather passenger seat.
Turning the key, the engine emitted a deep roar, the tachometer needle jumped sharply, and the massive car body trembled slightly.
Engage drive and skillfully switch to high-speed four-wheel drive mode.
With its wide off-road tires crunching through the snow, the pickup truck sped out of its territory and headed straight for the Town of Kodiak.
Su Wei placed his hands firmly on the steering wheel, his gaze piercing through the white expanse of road ahead, his brain racing.
In his mind, he began to devise a cooking plan for the whole bear feast.
The original menu centerpiece was braised bear paw in red wine.
This is a dish that requires time to mature and develop.
This is because the inside of a bear's paw is densely covered with thick, tough keratin pads and a complex network of collagen.
Under normal atmospheric pressure, it takes at least six hours of slow cooking at a constant temperature for the tannins in the red wine to soften the muscle tissue.
But now the situation has suddenly changed; Charles, the banker, has arrived ahead of schedule.
There were less than six hours left until the 4 p. m. dinner.
If we continue to rigidly adhere to the slow-cooking approach at this critical juncture, what will ultimately be served is a plate of tough, foul-smelling rubber.
The original plan had to be scrapped and started all over again.
Just then, [ Cooking LV3 ] was activated.
He constantly deconstructed and reassembled various food processing methods, temperature curves, and spice ratios in his mind.
Without any hesitation, he eliminated all the milder options that required a long maturation period.
Ultimately, the focus was on two approaches: high-pressure rapid attack and extreme temperature difference.
If there isn't enough time, use physical destructive force to forcibly break down the defenses of the high-grade ingredients.
Using the sealed, high-pressure environment of a commercial pressure cooker, the bone marrow and free amino acids in the robust bones of the Kodiak brown bear are forcibly extracted within forty minutes, thus producing the original broth.
As for that thick, bone-in rib, he decided to abandon the traditional French approach of slow-cooking to infuse flavor.
The meat is grilled directly over an open flame at high temperatures, using instantaneous temperatures of over 300 degrees Celsius to create a sealed Maillard reaction layer on the surface, locking in the blood and juices within the meat.
Su Wei suddenly turned the steering wheel, deftly avoiding a snow pothole on the road.
The speedometer needle kept climbing, approaching eighty miles per hour.
The Raptor pickup truck left a black trail in the snowstorm, cutting straight into the streets of Town of Kodiak.
The back alley of the Chart Room restaurant was now crowded with trucks delivering vegetables and seafood.
Su Wei slammed on the brakes, and the pickup truck came to a steady stop at the back door, the tires leaving a charred mark on the ice.
Turn off the engine and remove the key.
He grabbed the canvas bag from the passenger seat, pushed open the door, and got out of the car.
Pushing open the fireproof door to the kitchen, the room temperature was filled with the aroma of butter, seafood, and spices.
The kitchen was a complete mess at that moment.
Three apprentices ran back and forth in the narrow aisle carrying plastic baskets piled high with side dishes. A stainless steel basin even fell to the ground with a loud crash, but no one bothered to pick it up.
Chef Laurent, dressed in a pristine white chef's uniform, moved quickly through the aisle, his leather shoes making a rapid "clack-clack" sound on the slippery floor tiles.
He was clutching a notebook in his hand, scribbling irritably on the paper with his pen, his brow furrowed in a frown.
Sous Chef Pierre was standing in front of the main worktable, raging.
His face turned ashen. He grabbed a plate of onions cut to the wrong width and swept them mercilessly into the trash can at the bottom.
"Re-cut."
Pierre roared at a young apprentice in English mixed with French.
"How many times have I told you, it's a five-millimeter-thin filament, not this coarse lump. Do you want Mr. Charles to get an onion stuck in his teeth?"
Su Wei closed the fire door behind him, shutting out the wind and snow from the outside.
He ignored the farce and walked straight to the sink in the corner.
Take off your snow-soaked winter coat and hang it on a metal hook on the wall.
Turn on the tap, press the hand sanitizer twice, and carefully rub the white foam between your fingers.
After rinsing his hands with clean water, he took out a tissue and dried them.
He walked to the control panel and casually tossed the tissue into a trash can two meters away.
Laurent.
Su Wei's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a steady strength, penetrating the roar of the exhaust fan and clearly reaching everyone's ears.
Laurent turned around abruptly and rushed over, his forehead covered in sweat.
" Su Wei. God, you've finally arrived. That old madman ruined all our plans, and I haven't even thought of a backup menu yet."
Su Wei placed the unassuming canvas bag on the table, speaking calmly.
My plan is to forgo the red wine stewed bear paw.
Upon hearing this, Pierre, who was about to launch into a tirade, immediately stopped what he was doing.
"Change to a high-pressure extracted broth, and serve with charcoal-grilled bear ribs."
Su Wei continued.
"The ' A Song of Ice and Fire' appetizers will remain. The soups will be served in a more recent order."