Food: Starting with Wonton Noodles

It's mainly related to the consumption habits of Chinese people.

People who prefer fresh food by the sea still consider live seafood—that is, fresh and lively seafood—as the standard for gourmet food.

The consumption of sashimi is based on deep-sea fish from the open ocean, such as salmon and tuna.

This has resulted in only sashimi restaurants in China purchasing live, bled chubby chub.

Traditional restaurants, in addition to buying live seafood, also choose chub because of its better appearance, and they don't care whether the fish has been bled.

Simply put, there is no unified industry standard for seafood in China.

After a moment of contemplation, Zhou Yu suddenly asked, "Do you think there would be a market for fish caught using higher and more standardized fishing methods?"

Before Lin Wenhui could refute, Zhou Yu continued to explain: "We all know that live seafood does not necessarily mean delicious seafood. Many kinds of seafood cannot be brought ashore alive without proper treatment. For example, today's yellowfin tuna, once it is caught, as long as the blood is drained, even if it is not used for sashimi, it will taste better than ordinary live yellowfin tuna just by steaming."

Thanks to increasingly convenient transportation and technology, seafood can now be enjoyed not only at the seaside.

However, anyone who has ever been to the beach knows that seafood at the pier tastes better than seafood bought in the city.

This is not because the animals sold in the city are not alive or wild.

It is related to the water source.

To ensure better transportation, seafood is transported using only oxygenated artificial seawater mixed with sea salt after it is unloaded at the dock.

Sometimes, various technologies are used to increase the survival rate during transportation.

So in reality, fresh seafood doesn't necessarily mean delicious seafood.

Water pollution during transportation can be extremely damaging to the freshness of seafood.

For most sea fish that are difficult to transport, the most scientific approach is to bleed them as soon as they are caught, then chill them and consume them within a day.

But this will present two challenges.

First, the public's perception that only fresh and lively animals are good; second, the establishment of industry standards.

After Zhou Yu explained his thoughts one by one, Lin Wenhui smiled and said:

"Unless another culinary genius emerges, like Mr. Cai said, that the yellowtail amberjack is the best-tasting fish in the world, and sets that standard, it'll be difficult!"

Zhou Yu: "Then tell me, if this standard comes out, wouldn't it be a good thing for you?"

"Well, if we can make it, the industry will become more segmented. For example, we can supply local restaurants with higher-end quality products, which would be a good thing for me."

Lin Wenhui reluctantly nodded in agreement with Zhou Yu's point of view. "But, the premise is that diners all agree with this; otherwise, what restaurant would deliberately raise its standards?"

Zhou Yu: "You always have to fantasize first. Besides, who knows if there isn't such a person? Just like Mr. Cai probably doesn't know that a casual remark he made back then has driven up the price of yellow-footed wax for so many years."

Lin Wenhui laughed heartily: "Then I'll be waiting for you, brother. I believe you'll become the new God of Cookery."

......

Lin Wenhui's home is in the suburbs.

It consists of two separate three-story buildings connected by a courtyard in the middle.

Since it wasn't too far from the city center, Lin Wenhui never considered buying a house there.

Since Xu Haiqing and Lin Wenhui's mother had a falling out, they have been living in separate buildings, which is still relatively harmonious.

As soon as Zhou Yu got off Lin Wenhui's bread cart, he heard deafening cries coming from inside the courtyard.

Upon opening the courtyard gate, one could see Lin Wenhui's youngest son nestled in Xu Haiqing's arms.

Xu Haiqing used iodine to wipe the wound on the child's leg, and the child cried even louder due to the irritation from the iodine.

Xu Haiqing patted his little bottom and said, "Don't cry, who told you to be so naughty?"

Lin Wenhui casually tossed the keys into the living room and asked, "What happened to Haotian again? Did he fall again?"

Xu Haiqing didn't even look up, and said, "Your son just went out for a bike ride, went down that big hill behind, and fell. Oh, Zhou Yu's here?"

Just then, the little boy who was studying in the living room also saw Lin Wenhui and Zhou Yu. He first called out "Dad" to Lin Wenhui, and then greeted Zhou Yu, "Hello, Uncle Zhou Yu!"

The little boy Haotian, who was crying loudly, saw Lin Wenhui return and cried out with snot and tears streaming down his face, "Daddy, it hurts."

Lin Wenhui, however, showed no concern, saying, "Did you ride too fast again? Tell me yourself, how many times have you fallen? Will you ride that fast next time?"

Haotian said with a long face, "No, I won't ride that fast next time."

Lin Wenhui ignored him and instead turned to Zhou Yu and said, "My youngest son is getting more and more naughty. I wanted him to learn to ride a bicycle a while ago, so I bought him a balance bike. But as soon as he learned how to ride it, he would rush towards any hill. I don't know how many times he has fallen down recently."

Zhou Yu could only smile at this. He had experienced firsthand how mischievous Lin Wenhui's youngest son was; he dared to think and do anything.

So, these injuries weren't just something Lin Wenhui and his wife were used to; Zhou Yu was used to them too.

Lin Wenhui's eldest son, Lin Haoren, is very well-behaved and is currently in the first grade of elementary school. Whenever Zhou Yu comes, he is either being urged by Xu Haiqing to study math or memorizing English words.

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "Then I'll go to the kitchen and prepare the fish."

This sentence startled all three people and the dog in the room except for Lin Wenhui.

Wangcai, the Chinese rural dog who was lying under the lychee tree in the yard, was so frightened that he jumped up.

Haotian stopped crying—until Xu Haiqing, looking up at Zhou Yu, pressed the cotton swabs and iodine directly onto his wound.

He then burst into tears again.

Ouch! This time, he truly regretted riding so fast!

Although Lin Haoren remained calm, his eyes were somewhat unfocused.

Lin Wenhui laughed and said, "What are you afraid of? Didn't I tell you? Zhou Yu's cooking skills have improved. Besides, he wants to cut sashimi today. If his knife skills aren't up to par, we'll just make fish porridge."

Xu Haiqing was relieved, but still looked at Zhou Yu with suspicion.

Zhou Yu: ......

You eat Xu Haiqing's cooking every day and you're not afraid, so why are you afraid of mine?

However, he didn't argue, but instead went into the kitchen.

"Do you need any help?"

Zhou Yu turned around and saw that Lin Wenhui had also come in.

"No need, you can just wait to eat."

However, before he could turn his head back, Zhou Yu saw Xu Haiqing walk in as well.

Lin Haotian, his face still covered in snot and tears, was also peeking furtively through the doorway.

Zhou Yu: ......

After calming down his inner complaints, Zhou Yu started by cutting the side dishes for the SD sashimi.

Unlike sashimi in Japanese cuisine, SD Yusai places great emphasis on side dishes.

However, due to time constraints, Zhou Yu did not buy too many side dishes.

He only bought ginger, garlic, onions, and scallions.