Food Intelligence King

Chapter 163 Legendary Information, Master Tao Tao

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【The True Essence of Culinary Arts (Legend)】: Wang Shen, a master chef of Guangfulou, was most praised not for any particular dish, but for his miraculous skill in creating the "wok hei" (wok aroma) that transformed the ordinary into the extraordinary.

The foreign company ABC even filmed a special episode about his cooking techniques. "Breath of the wok" is translated into Chinese as "锅之呼吸" (Guo Zhi Hu Xi) – the mysterious Chinese cuisine: his fried rice smells so good it fills the whole street, and even his vegetables taste like meat.

Before his death, Wang Shen elevated his personal understanding of heat control and wok hei (the smoky aroma imparted by a wok) into an almost metaphysical technique, and recorded it in two parts.

The first part is relatively scientific.

It describes how to combine heat control with the pot temperature to allow ingredients to reach the Maillard reaction peak instantly, locking in moisture and stimulating aroma.

The second part is even more mysterious.
It describes how to develop a tacit understanding with the wok, using a specific stir-frying rhythm to guide the flow of steam and hot oil inside the wok to create an vortex. This ensures that the flavors penetrate evenly while producing a rich wok hei (wok aroma).

nowadays,
The first part, written in his notebook, will appear at the recycling station on Hexie Road tomorrow afternoon.

The second piece, engraved on the iron pot used by Wang Shen during his lifetime, was listed on the luxury secondhand website Zhuanzhuan by his grand-nephew. Due to its high price, it attracted no buyers.

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The intelligence report was quite long. Chen Zhou carefully reviewed it.

First, the key figure is Wang Shen.

I'd heard Grandpa Yu mention Chen Zhou before. He's the chef at Guangfulou, a legendary figure who started with boxed lunches. He's even been on foreign television programs.

Chen Zhou had originally intended to visit this senior, but the person had already passed away.

Secondly, the master-level wok hei (wok aroma) technique.

The previous part was close to science, which means it's a technique that can be mastered through practice.

The system's points redemption can help shorten the practice process; however, due to the special restrictions of the Master level, only by increasing knowledge can the upper limit of the experience bar be raised.

Chen Zhou had previously improved his ingredient handling skills from the fishmonger and his pastry-making skills from Aunt Zheng. His skills were professional, but not yet those of a master.

This time, the improvement should be in the control of the heat.

The second part, which Chen Zhou prefers to call the art of cooking, though its practical effects are unknown. It will likely also involve master chef techniques.

Of course, the most important thing is the method of acquisition.

The diary entry from the previous entry was treated as waste paper and will appear at the recycling station on Hexie Road tomorrow afternoon.

The location is not far from Chen Zhou, to-do list +1.

It might take some effort.

The iron pot mentioned in the second part of the story is listed on a luxury secondhand platform.

The intelligence report also mentioned that because of the high price, no one is interested in buying it. There's no need to worry about it being bought by someone in the short term, but we still need to contact the seller first.

After obtaining the legendary intelligence, Chen Zhou felt a sense of alienation from his current life.

Perhaps it's because legends always seem so far removed from people's lives, yet they're so vividly hidden in such a real place. It's somewhat absurd.

It's also possible that the time spent reviewing intelligence was simply too long.

Staring blankly for too long caused Chen Zhou to become somewhat detached from the world around him.

He was a mix of excitement and curiosity, after all, he didn't want to miss out on master-level cooking techniques.

However, seeing Aunt Zheng, who was engrossed in her work across from him, quickly brought Chen Zhou back to reality.

He also made a few steamed buns to calm himself down.

Putting everything else aside, this intelligence was quite useful.

Whether you're cooking at home or running a restaurant, your cooking skills will come in handy.

"Yes, it's a rather useful piece of intelligence."

On the other side, the three employees in the store sensed that the boss was in a very good mood today.

They thought it might be because business was good.

The newly launched smaller portion sizes are quite popular. The owner's efforts have paid off.

As a result, they were all in a good mood, just like Chen Zhou.

The entire community canteen was enveloped in a harmonious and joyful atmosphere.

Customers felt that this restaurant not only had good food, but also a good dining environment.

Whether it was the auntie serving food in the kitchen or the waitresses in the front of the house, everyone was smiling.

It makes you feel very comfortable to eat here.

The morning's business ended happily.

In the afternoon, Chen Zhou first searched for the iron pot that Master Wang Shen had used on a second-hand luxury goods website.

You can find it with a simple search.

The price tag of 209,800 is really not cheap.

Chen Zhou thought that it would be much easier if the text could be deciphered from the pictures.

But the bottom of the pot was completely black. The picture wasn't very clear either.

Judging from the date, it was only recently put up.

Moreover, Wang Shen's reputation is not very useful nowadays.

Several well-meaning comments below showed that no one knew who Wang Shen was.

"A black pot costs 209,800? I wish my boss had that kind of awareness."

"50 is the minimum requirement for a hand."

"Let's start from the 50th floor."

Chen Zhou's thoughts were pretty much the same as those in the comments section.

The master's technique is excellent, but it's really too expensive.

Chen Zhou then clicked on the seller's homepage.

Besides this pot, there are also some toy dolls that sell for thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan.

These items actually did sell.

Chen Zhou quickly contacted the seller, who was also the grand-nephew of the senior Wang Shen.

The descendants of Wang Shen really treat his pots and pans like treasures.

During a private chat, I sent Chen Zhou a long message.

Here's a brief introduction to this pot:

"Have you heard of the breath of a wok? It's also known as the 'wok hei' (wok aroma). My great-uncle was the head chef at Guangfulou Restaurant. His skill was featured in a foreign documentary back in the 1990s."

The instructions for achieving the desired wok hei (wok aroma/wok smokiness) are written on the pot itself. I wouldn't be selling it if I weren't short of money.

After Chen Zhou sent "cheaper," the other party never replied.

It wasn't until evening that the other party agreed to lower the price a bit:

"Seeing that you're sincere, I'll give you a discount of 100,000." Chen Zhou saw the other party's message and felt that he was really short of money, but even after the discount of 100,000, Chen Zhou still had to ask Ms. Lin for some money.

Chen Zhou is also short of money.

This price has exceeded Chen Zhou's desire for master-level skills.

Therefore, Chen Zhou hoped that he could offer a discount of a decimal point.

Just consider it as spending ten or twenty thousand to become an apprentice.

This price is acceptable.

But the seller wouldn't budge, saying, "Don't talk to me anymore. I've realized that nobody on this platform knows anything about the products."

Chen Zhou considered himself to be someone who knew his stuff, but 109,800 was really a bit expensive.

Therefore, the two negotiations between the two sides were not pleasant.

This left Chen Zhou feeling somewhat at a loss.

However, both the intelligence sources and the sellers repeatedly mentioned the issue of the documentary.

This reminded Chen Zhou of the wonderful old man he had befriended, Grandpa Yu.

I wonder if Grandpa Yu is interested in this old friend's belongings.

Chen Zhou sent him the product link.

"Uncle Yu, take a look at this. I saw it on a luxury goods secondhand platform. Isn't this the chef friend from Guangfulou that you mentioned?"

Although Yu Shaochun is old.

But he also surfs the internet frequently and replies to messages quite promptly.

[Thumbs up]

"Thank you for your trouble, Xiao Chen!"

Seeing this, Chen Zhou felt he was starting to understand. Grandpa Yu seemed quite interested in the pot.

It's probably just a matter of personal taste.

People can buy those dolls that cost several thousand yuan, so spending a little money to buy a pot is probably no big deal for Grandpa Yu.

However, Chen Zhou also sent over his previous chat history with the seller.

“Uncle Yu, when he talked to me, he was willing to lower the price to 109,800. You can try to negotiate with him at that price.”

Yu Shaochun replied:
“I understand, Xiao Chen. This seller’s kid should call me grandpa according to seniority. He must have run into trouble.”

Chen Zhou: "I feel like he's a bit short of money; he's been selling a lot of secondhand items lately."

Yu Shaochun: "Don't worry about it. When I get this pot, I'll call you over to take a look."

Chen Zhou felt a little more at ease after seeing the message from Grandpa Yu.

He and that descendant of Wang Shen were somewhat related by blood.

For Chen Zhou, all he wanted to do was observe this iron pot that recorded the "breathing of the pot".

Grandpa Yu has his own way of handling things.

The next part ends here, so this should be the end of it. Waiting for news from Grandpa Yu.

"I'm a bit like an information broker," Chen Zhou thought to himself.

Meanwhile, not far from Chen Zhou, Ms. Lin was teaching Chen Tao Tao to recognize and practice characters.

The little girl has actually developed a curiosity about words.

Whether it's a sign on the street or a menu in a restaurant, she often asks her parents to read it to her.

Tonight, she is learning to write her own name.

Chen Zhou, who was the one who originally named the child, also walked over to the mother and daughter and carefully observed them.

The surname Chen has few strokes, but the radical for "ear" or "knife" is a bit difficult to write well.

The expectations for the children are a bit too high.

"桃桃" is a reduplicated word. Once you've mastered the first one, you can use the same method for the remaining word.

Although the little girl's stroke order was wrong, she could still make out what she was writing by copying the strokes.

It's the same as drawing on paper.

Ms. Lin glanced at her husband and smiled faintly.

You seem to be quite busy today.

Chen Zhou replied, "Uncle Yu told me about a senior chef from Guangfulou Restaurant. I found some related old items and sent them to him."

"Yes." Ms. Lin nodded.

There are some things she doesn't pay much attention to.

I chatted casually with my husband.

At this moment, Chen Taotao took out the pine cones she had received from the children a few days ago.

I want to write my name on it.

The pine cone is too small, with only a few thin brown flakes on it, making it a bit difficult to write on.

Chen Taotao tried several times but gave up.

"Mom, can you write this for me? Write about Chen Taotao."

Ms. Lin took it and wrote a few small words on it.

The pencil marks gleamed on the pine cone shell.

“And Liu Tianyu,” Chen Taotao continued, “that is, Tiantian.”

Her best friend.

"Which 'yu' is it, Tao Tao?" Ms. Lin asked her with a smile.

"It's the 'fish' in 'goldfish'!"

Ms. Lin found three more pine cone shells nearby and wrote Liu Tianyu's name on them as well.

The little girl was overjoyed since she couldn't recognize them all anyway.

Chen Zhou had been wondering why that master would record the technique of wok hei (wok aroma) on a wok.

Looking at Chen Taotao now, he can understand his thoughts to some extent.

This may have stemmed from the very day humans developed the ability to write, creating a need to record information on surrounding objects and walls.

Chen Zhou laughed and said, "You have the air of a master. Masters all like to write on things."

Chen Taotao nodded: "I am Master Taotao!"

(End of this chapter)