The Gourmet Customizer

After huffing and puffing through the lunch rush—which in reality only lasted half an hour—Su Chen quickly slurped down a bowl of noodles and slipped back into his office.

"This money is way too hard to earn!"

The first wave of customers had just finished when another arrived. Although he had made over four thousand during the lunch service, Su Chen wasn’t happy at all.

Because... after practicing for over twenty hours in the Gourmet Practice Room, a simple dish like Steamed Wuchang Fish was still stuck at A Level.

A Level was the minimum he was aiming for at this banquet, but it was frustrating that the very first dish he practiced couldn’t even break through to S Level.

After a short lunch break.

Su Chen opened his eyes and, without even bothering to get out of bed, went straight into the Gourmet Practice Room.

"One Wuchang Fish! And duplicate the ingredients!"

A live Wuchang Fish appeared in the tank. At the same time, all the other ingredients Su Chen had used before also appeared, already prepped.

There were several ounces of cooked ham, some rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, and some cleaned winter bamboo shoots, all thinly sliced.

Su Chen tossed the flopping fish onto the cutting board.

Fifteen seconds!

Thanks to a badge bonus and his countless hours of practice, Su Chen dispatched and cleaned the live fish in a mere fifteen seconds.

Following the recipe’s instructions.

He first sprinkled the fish with fine salt, then arranged alternating slices of shiitake mushroom and ham on top. He then meticulously inlaid thin, cypress-leaf-shaped slices of winter bamboo shoot into both sides of the fish.

He added scallion knots, chunks of ginger, and Shaoxing wine, leaving nothing out.

After bringing water to a rolling boil over high heat, he placed the entire plate with the fish on it into a steamer basket.

’If it weren’t for my Max Level Steaming proficiency, the timing would be really difficult to get right.’

After practicing for a full day, Su Chen had discovered that different-sized fish required different steaming times. A Wuchang Fish weighing about two pounds, for example, could be steamed for a maximum of fifteen minutes.

With his Max Level proficiency, controlling the timing became second nature.

A moment later, Su Chen took out the steamed fish and removed all the scallion knots and ginger chunks from the plate.

’Could this be the step where I’m going wrong?’

Su Chen had always been a bit confused about this.

’Based on what I’ve always known, once a fish is steamed, shouldn’t you just drizzle on some seasoned soy sauce for seafood and start eating?’

But this recipe was different. The sauce wasn’t some store-bought condiment; it had to be made from scratch.

He placed a wok over high heat, added a small, snow-white cube of lard to heat, then decanted in the juices rendered from the steamed fish. Finally, he added a prepared chicken stock and brought the mixture to a boil.

This process of mixing lard, fish broth, and chicken stock created a truly magical flavor.

’With a sauce this good, even a shoe sole would taste delicious!’

Ever since he’d gained the ability to smell in the Gourmet Practice Room, Su Chen’s perception of each step in the cooking process had become much more distinct.

Once the sauce in the wok boiled, he added a pinch of MSG and some chicken fat, and then it was ready.

With one hand, he drizzled the sauce over the fish while evenly sprinkling a dash of pepper with the other.

’Time for a taste!’

Su Chen used his chopsticks to pick up a piece from the belly near the head. The meat there, rich in fat, was succulent and tender. It required practically no chewing, melting away with just a gentle press in his mouth.

It left behind only a delicate, clean, and savory aroma.

[Steamed Wuchang Fish: A Level]

"Why?"

Su Chen stood before the cutting board, lost in thought.

He had to admit, this was the best Steamed Wuchang Fish he had made in all his time practicing. The Level rating hadn’t increased, but his taste buds didn’t lie.

The dispatch time was short, the steaming was timed precisely, and the seasoning was perfectly measured.

And by his own standards, this was, without a doubt, the most delicious fish he had ever eaten!

And it was still only A Level?

Just where did it go wrong...

As he pondered, Su Chen subconsciously continued to pick at the fish with his chopsticks.

’Good thing eating in the Gourmet Practice Room doesn’t actually fill me up. Otherwise, I’d get fat just from mastering one dish.’

After finishing one side, Su Chen flipped the fish over.

He took another bite.

"Hmm?"

With the first bite from the other side, Su Chen suddenly tasted something off.

Uncertain, he took another bite.

’The meat on top was fresh, tender, and succulent, but the meat on the bottom is...’

Although the difference was subtle, Su Chen could still detect that something was off. He’d only ever taken a single bite each time he’d made the dish before, so he had never actually tasted the underside.

’The texture is no different, so what is it...?’

The different sensation was subtle and fleeting. Su Chen repeatedly placed pieces of fish in his mouth, savoring each one carefully.

But every time, he could sense that little something different, yet he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

’Tsk! This feeling of knowing where the difference lies but not being able to grasp what it is... it’s agonizing!’

Annoyed, Su Chen put down his chopsticks and stared at the fish.

The entire fish had been eaten, leaving only the skeleton soaking in the sauce on the plate.

"Soaking?" Su Chen stared at the sauce on the plate, a look of sudden realization dawning on his face. "That’s it! It’s the soaking!"

The difference wasn’t in the texture, nor in the taste.

Flavor!

After thinking for a moment, Su Chen found the perfect word to describe the difference: flavor!

’Could it be because...’

At this thought, Su Chen immediately summoned two more live fish.

’If that’s the reason, then I have to minimize the contact area between the fish and the plate during steaming!’

After dispatching the fish in the same way, he didn’t immediately place the shiitake and ham slices on top this time.

Su Chen tried scoring one side of the fish decoratively. On the other side, he made a cut across its middle, then sliced downward along the bone on either side of the initial cut.

He pulled the cut sections of flesh apart from the middle and arranged the fish back on the plate. Positioned like this, the fish, which had been lying flat, now looked as if it were standing up!

The decoratively scored flesh on top bloomed open as the fish’s body arched, giving it the appearance of a peacock spreading its tail.

"One more try!"

After finishing the knife work, he started steaming the two fish, staggering them by three minutes.

When the first fish was cooked, Su Chen quickly used the rendered juices to make a batch of the sauce.

When the second fish finished steaming, he drained away its rendered juices and poured the prepared sauce over it instead.

’This is really the last time. If this doesn’t work...’

Su Chen gritted his teeth and shut his eyes. ’If this doesn’t work, I’m really going to give up!’

Without tasting it, he submitted it directly to the system.

Taking a deep, nervous breath, Su Chen slowly opened his eyes.

[Steamed Wuchang Fish: S Level]

"Holy shit!" Su Chen couldn’t help but roar. "I’ve gotta taste for myself just how big the gap is between S Level and A Level!!!"

This time, his chopsticks shot straight toward the underside of the fish—still the most delicious part.

As it entered his mouth, that familiar, exquisitely tender and smooth sensation spread across his tongue. The rich, Delicious taste from the special broth made his mouth water uncontrollably.

Before he could even fully savor the unparalleled texture, the fresh, fragrant taste of the fish itself rushed in.

"So that’s how it was!"

Su Chen swallowed. In truth, this S Level Steamed Wuchang Fish wasn’t that much tastier than the last A Level version he had made.

But it was precisely that minuscule difference that separated one Level from the next.

’So, when steaming a fish normally, the juices it renders mean that for the last few minutes, the part touching the plate is not only being steamed but also slightly boiled.’

’Steaming preserves the fish’s original flavor to the maximum, while boiling causes that flavor to leech into the liquid.’

’And that’s why that little bit of flavor was lost.’

It wasn’t about texture or taste, but that hard-to-describe essence that belonged only to the fish—its flavor!

Thinking about this, Su Chen couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh.

Perhaps this was the nature of ultimate culinary perfection: finding the slightest possibility for improvement through constant trial and error.

First dish, trial complete!

With this first success under his belt, Su Chen’s confidence surged.