Click! Click!

The image and footage of Huang Tao's first appearance on the "Live Cooking Demonstration" stage were faithfully captured by a camera and a photographer on site.

Stored in memory.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

From the audience seats below, there was an immediate and continuous roar of enthusiastic applause.

As a small restaurant that just opened recently, and on the secluded West City Old Street,

Delicious Restaurant doesn't really have much fame, and not many people would even know about it.

After all, there are many such small restaurants in Wenling.

New small restaurants appear almost daily.

While old small restaurants close up shop and put up notices for transfer due to poor management.

Those that can actually rise to prominence are rare.

But unlike other restaurants,

Delicious Restaurant has quite a popularity on West City Old Street and has its own loyal fan base.

Moreover, Delicious Restaurant was invited to participate in the official food festival.

Competing alongside numerous star hotels and renowned restaurants!

And the hundreds of audience members in the audience have basically all tasted the food at the Delicious Restaurant booth, thus falling in love with its cuisine.

They've become loyal fans of Delicious Restaurant!

So.

When Huang Tao smiled and slightly bowed to the audience below,

The applause for Huang Tao was both enthusiastic and sincere.

"Boss Huang… Boss Huang…"

Someone shouted loudly.

The atmosphere on site became even more heated.

If one didn't know, they'd think that some big celebrity had come to the food festival!

Huang Tao, with a smile on his lips, spoke into the microphone Liu Qianqian handed over: "Thank you…"

"I'm very honored to be invited by the food festival organizers to come to the 'Live Cooking Demonstration' today, to share cooking techniques with fellow street folk. Honestly, I feel very excited."

Excited?

A bit excited indeed!

It's the first time in life after all!

Nervous?

Not nervous!

Because he saw his dad and mom, along with Xuanxuan, sitting right in the center of the front row.

"Daddy~"

Xuanxuan was also clapping, her eyes smiling, dimples showing.

Radiating the colors of happiness and joy!

Seeing dad looking at her, she raised her chubby little hand, waving to him while turning her head to her grandma and said, "Grandma, look, look, Daddy is going to cook, Daddy makes food that's really tasty!"

In fact, apart from those dishes awarded by the system, the other dishes Huang Tao made weren't particularly delicious.

But in Xuanxuan's mind.

She still believes that as long as Daddy made it, it's the best dish in the world!

No matter why?

Simply ask, if Daddy made it, it's the best!

With the filter of a mother, Song Cailian also nodded approvingly.

She smiled while extending her hand in front of Xuanxuan, to prevent Xuanxuan from tilting forward and falling due to excitement.

Little Xuanxuan gave Huang Tao a cheer gesture.

Huang Tao nodded with a smile, and said into the microphone seriously: "Next, the dish I'm going to present to everyone is..."

"What dish is it, Boss Huang?" Liu Qianqian asked with a charming smile.

"West Lake Vinegar Fish!"

"Wow, just hearing the name of this dish is incredibly exciting!"

Liu Qianqian, holding the microphone, faced the audience and cheerfully recounted, "Speaking of this West Lake Vinegar Fish, it reminds me of an interesting story."

"According to legend, in ancient times, there were two brothers of the Song Family who lived in seclusion by West Lake, making a living by fishing.

One day, the brother's wife was washing silk by the lake and was encountered by the local rogue touring the lake. Enchanted by her beauty and grace, the rogue harbored intentions to possess her.

To achieve his goal, the rogue not only killed the brother but also bribed officials to drive the Song Family uncle and sister-in-law away when they tried reporting the crime.

Fearing the rogue's reprisals, the sister-in-law persuaded the young uncle to flee quickly.

Before leaving, the sister-in-law seasoned a fish with sugar and vinegar to see him off.

The uncle found the fish's taste peculiar and asked her why.

She said, "There is both sourness and sweetness in this fish. It's to remind you never to forget how your brother was killed after you leave, no matter how sweet your life gets, don't forget the bitterness the people suffer nor the grief I endure."

After hearing this, the young uncle remembered her words deeply and also the taste of the fish.

Later on, the young uncle returned to Hangzhou after passing the imperial exam, punishing the rogue, avenging his brother, but couldn't find traces of the sister-in-law.

Once, the young uncle attended a banquet at the government office where he suddenly tasted a dish of sour and sweet fish, identical to the one his sister-in-law had seasoned with sugar and vinegar.

He eagerly asked who had cooked the fish, only to learn that the sister-in-law had hidden in the government office as a cook to escape the rogue.

A fish finally reunited the uncle and sister-in-law.

Later, the story of the Song Family uncle and sister-in-law defying the rogue spread as a celebrated tale, along with the sister-in-law's unique fish-cooking method.

Thus, West Lake Vinegar Fish was also known as "Uncle and Sister-in-law's Treasure," passed down through generations, becoming a famous dish in Huaxia."

One must say, Liu Qianqian does have quite a knack for hosting.

In just a short ten minutes or so, she memorized this long tale and narrated it so smoothly and engagingly.

Drawing quite a few audience members below to perk up their ears and listen.

By now, Huang Tao had already pulled a grass carp weighing less than a pound from the bucket beside him and started to cook.

The dish West Lake Vinegar Fish is extremely simple in terms of ingredients.

Besides live grass carp, it also uses seasonings like Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, rice vinegar, white sugar, and cornstarch.

As for the auxiliary ingredients!

Only ginger is enough!

After all, whether the dish can achieve a crab-like flavor relies greatly on the ginger!

Huang Tao pressed down the body of the grass carp with his left hand and held a kitchen knife in his right, giving a heavy slap on the fish's head.

Instantly.

The grass carp fainted.

He skillfully used the knife to scrape off all the fish scales on the body of the fish, paying special attention to the belly and around the fins, ensuring they were thoroughly cleaned.

After removing the scales.

He turned the grass carp over, pressed down on its belly, and stabbed the pointed part of the knife into the heart of the fish.

Upon stabbing...

The blood from the fish gushed out immediately.

He swiftly lifted the tail of the fish.

The purpose of this was to ensure that the blood inside the fish could be completely drained.

At the side, Liu Qianqian asked puzzledly: "Boss Huang, why are you doing this series of actions?"

"Because the fishy smell of grass carp mainly comes from the mucus on the surface of the fish, the black membrane in the abdominal cavity, and parts of the teeth and blood."

Huang Tao explained with a smile: "So, before gutting the fish, you have to bleed it. This way, the grass carp won't have a fishy smell."

"Oh~"

Liu Qianqian made a face that said "I get it now," then turned to the left side of the stage to look at Wei Mingguo and others, smiling as she asked: "Elder Wei, is that right?"

"Yes! Boss Huang is correct, and he's doing it right!" Wei Mingguo nodded.

"Great, thank you, Elder Wei."

Liu Qianqian respectfully nodded at Wei Mingguo, and then looked at the audience, with a gentle smile: "Audience friends, did you hear and learn that?"

"Heard it, learned it!" the audience below responded with smiles.

Below the stage, Wei Mingguo and the three others, along with Ma Qingxiong and other head chefs, watched Huang Tao's method of handling the fish and listened to his explanation, all nodding in agreement.

For this West Lake Vinegar Fish, to avoid any fishy taste, one should remove all these parts that could impart a fishy smell as much as possible.

Huang Tao's ideas and methods both aligned with common sense.

Once most of the blood inside the fish was drained, Huang Tao used the kitchen knife to cut along the slit made by the previous stab, slicing downwards.

He cut open the entire belly of the grass carp all the way to its anus.

Care must be taken during the cutting process.

The knife shouldn't go too deep to avoid breaking the gallbladder inside the fish.

After cutting open the fish's belly, he began to clean out the entrails, gills, blood clots inside the fish, and the black membrane.

After thoroughly washing the grass carp inside and out, he laid the fish flat on the cutting board.

Time to slice the fish!

For this dish, the slicing method is slightly different from others.

The fish needs to be divided into one large and one small piece, rather than equal sizes!

He took the kitchen knife and sliced into the flesh at a point two centimeters from the fish tail, cutting horizontally along the backbone, swiftly moving forward.

When cutting the fish's head bone, he lifted the fish head upright.

Slicing right in the middle of the head, with one clean cut...

The fish was split into two pieces.

The piece with the backbone and tail is called the male piece, the other piece the female piece.

Then onto knocking out the teeth.

He used the back of the knife to crush the dental arches of the two fish pieces, removing the teeth.

He also cleared out the entire oral cavity of the grass carp.

The blood clots in the fish's head were also cleaned thoroughly.

After handling all this, Huang Tao did not take a break but immediately continued slicing the grass carp.

If delayed, the taste of the fish would be affected.

In other words,

making West Lake Vinegar Fish is a race against time.

He washed the two sliced pieces of fish again.

With the fish skin facing up, they were placed on the cutting board.

He picked up the male piece with the backbone and tail first, at a point four centimeters behind the gill, and made slanted cuts on the fish body creating crosshatches.

The crosshatch cuts!

They were somewhat similar to peony cuts, but not as large in scale as peony cuts.

The knife must be angled downwards.

When nearing the backbone, slightly tilt the blade towards the head to make a cut.

So that the fish meat can naturally separate.

Then, with a spacing of 4.5 centimeters, make a second crosshatch cut.

The third cut is made between the pectoral fin and the dorsal fin.

It requires a strong cut, splitting the entire male piece into fish head and fish tail parts.

Two crosshatch cuts on the tail!

After finishing the male piece, he picked up the female piece to make crosshatch cuts.

The placement of crosshatch cuts on the female piece is different from the male piece, needing to be applied to the fish meat.

In the thicker area close to the fish's backbone, between the fish fillet and the rib bones, use the kitchen knife to cut a groove about two centimeters deep on the fish meat.

This is the earliest Hangzhou-style West Lake Vinegar Fish cutting method of seven and a half cuts!

Below the stage, Wei Mingguo and the three others, along with Ma Qingxiong and others, watched Huang Tao's skillful and authentic crosshatch cutting technique.

They couldn't help but step forward to observe.

Wei Mingguo even stepped onto the stage to check out Huang Tao's seven and a half cuts!

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