This translation is by Pocketrobbin at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m

The two princes were already enjoying a plate of golden lion fish, so it was clearly unnecessary to prepare the same dish. Lin Dan paid no attention to the waiter’s persistent urging and instead selected a few pieces of fresh lamb kidneys. She carefully made intricate wheat ear cuts on them, quickly stir-fried them in the pan to form a floral shape, and then mixed a thick sesame sauce using sesame paste, peanut paste, chili oil, fragrant vinegar, and sugar. She poured the sauce over the kidneys and slowly explained, “When preparing the sauce, you must mix the water, oil, sesame paste, and peanut paste with enough force. Only then will the sauce adhere to the kidneys without dripping. Look.”

She picked up a piece of kidney and motioned for everyone to observe closely. The kidneys were coated in a thick, rich sauce, and without even tasting it, one could imagine its deliciousness just by looking at it. Despite the sauce’s heaviness, it clung firmly to the kidneys without a single drop falling, preserving the kidneys’ texture and flavor.

Cook Qiu carefully observed and quickly jotted down the recipe for this dish.

“Serve it.” Lin Dan said as she cleaned the pot and prepared for the next dish. The two princes held high status and they were already dining. Making them wait for each dish was clearly impractical, so she had to select a few simple, quick-to-stir-fry dishes to fill the table as quickly as possible, ensuring it looked abundant and the guests ate comfortably.

Since many dried ingredients hadn’t been fully soaked and couldn’t be used, Lin Dan checked the water tank and found several live sea cucumbers and a few abalones inside. She quickly retrieved them and cleaned them thoroughly.

“I’m going to prepare a cold dish with fresh sea cucumbers. Do you have any ice? If you do, please bring some over.” Lin Dan said as she swiftly processed the sea cucumbers.

“Yes, yes, we do! Zhou Fu, hurry and get some ice from the cellar!” Cook Qiu turned and instructed one of the kitchen helpers. Since Lin Dan started soaking the black sea cucumbers, these helpers had stopped their work and were watching her intently. Learning some secret techniques from a top cook was a rare opportunity.

Zhou Fu bolted to the cellar, afraid that if he missed any moment, Lin Dan might teach another invaluable skill and he wouldn’t be able to learn it.

Lin Dan cut open the sea cucumber’s belly, removed the innards, cleaned it thoroughly, and then cut it into long strips. She explained slowly, “Processing fresh sea cucumber is also quite tricky. The challenge lies in controlling the cooking time. If overcooked, the sea cucumber’s texture becomes tough and unchewable. If undercooked, it remains raw and fishy. Here’s a trick, when the water is about to boil, dip a finger in. If you can only keep your finger in the water for a moment before the heat becomes unbearable, the cooking time is just right. The cooked sea cucumber will soften when placed in cold water, affecting the texture. At this point, boil it again and then shock it in ice water to tighten the texture, creating a unique contrast of softness on the outside and firmness on the inside, perfect for cold dishes.”

She placed the boiled sea cucumber into the ice water and set it aside, then prepared a cold dressing sauce by mixing fresh chili peppers, chopped scallions, minced garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar with sesame oil to create a glossy brown sauce, which she poured over the chilled sea cucumbers. The dish was ready.

Cook Qiu quickly picked up a pair of chopsticks and tasted it. Ninth Brother Tang also tried a bit under the stern gaze of the old shopkeeper, and his narrow phoenix eyes immediately lit up. The cold sea cucumber dish was simply extraordinary. The original fishy and astringent flavors were completely gone, replaced by a fresh and crisp taste with a hint of softness. The soft outer layer absorbed the tangy and spicy sauce, creating an indescribably delicious flavor.

Cook Qiu regretted it instantly. He regretted tasting that bite. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have known how delicious the dish was, and if he didn’t know how delicious it was, he wouldn’t feel so heartbroken watching the waiter take it away.

Ninth Brother Tang’s sharp eyes were fixed on the waiter, making the man shiver in fear, wishing he could stick to the wall as he walked.

Lin Dan took out the abalones and continued to explain, “Fresh abalone doesn’t have the same chewy texture as dried abalone, but I have a method to make fresh abalone taste like dried abalone. It’s called the sugar water method. First, freeze the fresh abalone in ice to set its shape, then soak it in sugar water. After soaking, the black membrane on the abalone can be easily brushed off.”

She held up a sugar-soaked abalone, gently brushed it, and the usually stubborn black membrane peeled off completely, revealing the tender white abalone meat, which looked surprisingly good.

“After cleaning, cook the abalone with its shell on, then remove the shell and prepare it for the dish. The fresh abalone prepared this way has a tender yet chewy texture, almost comparable to dried abalone. The dish I’m making now is braised fresh abalone. Add a little salt, sugar, cooking wine, and stock, simmer over low heat for a while, and finally, add dark soy sauce to give it a bright red color, then thicken the sauce over high heat. Alright, I’ll fish one out for you to try.”

Lin Dan scooped out one abalone, placed it on a small plate, and had the rest taken out by the waiter. The group rushed forward to taste it, but Ninth Brother Tang pushed them all aside. Relying on his superior skills, he nearly monopolized half of the abalone, his face full of satisfaction.

After preparing the seafood dishes, Lin Dan placed a cleaned monkey head mushroom into a pot of creamy soy milk to simmer. When it was half-cooked, she took it out and transferred it to a bone broth, adding different seasonings at different stages, and gradually turning the white soup into a red one. When the monkey head mushroom was thoroughly cooked, its surface collapsed into irregular grooves resembling brain matter. Lin Dan carefully scooped it out with a slotted spoon and thickened the broth.

When the waiter came to serve the dish, he was dumbfounded and asked in confusion, “Our restaurant hasn’t had monkey brains in stock for a long time. Where did this braised monkey brain come from?”

“This dish is called Braised Monkey Head, made from monkey head mushroom. First, soybean milk was used to infuse it with a fishy essence, then bone broth was added to infuse it with marrow flavor, and finally, red broth was introduced to give it a meaty essence. The mushroom carefully passed through three different broths, preserving its fresh taste while adding the unique fishiness and meatiness of brain marrow, and making it almost indistinguishable from the real thing.”

Although Lin Dan described it simply, the process was incredibly difficult. Knowing when to add which ingredient, what flavors to infuse into which broth, when to change the broth, and when to take the dish off the heat, all required expertise. A single misstep could cause the flavors to clash and applying too much force would shatter the delicate mushroom. Every tiny detail demanded immense skill.

Even if those present had seen Lin Dan prepare the dish from start to finish, they wouldn’t be able to grasp its secrets. This was the mark of a top-tier cook. If she didn’t explain it, no amount of watching, even a hundred times, would teach them the slightest bit. This was what they called ‘mastering the art in the ladle, refining gold in the fire.’

Ninth Brother Tang, as usual, picked up his chopsticks, intending to take a piece of the monkey head mushroom, but was blocked by Lin Dan’s long ladle. She helplessly said, “Big Brother, please take it easy. I’ve painstakingly shaped this to resemble monkey brain. If you dig in with your chopsticks, it’ll leave a gap, and how are the guests supposed to eat that?”

Ninth Brother Tang put down his chopsticks, feeling frustrated, but the aroma of the braised monkey head lingered, making it hard for him to resist. So, he sneaked into the front hall, thinking that if he couldn’t eat it, at least he could watch others enjoy it. But he quickly realized that watching others eat was even more torturous than not eating it himself.

The once-empty front hall was now packed with diners, all drawn by the delicacies served at the tables of the two princes. When the waiter asked what they wanted to order, they pointed to the side and urged, “Just bring us the same dishes as Prince Cheng’s table, exactly the same, and hurry!”

Various mouth-watering aromas filled the air, making everyone drool.

And that wasn’t all. Prince Cheng, while eating, began to comment loudly, “Oh my, this cold sea cucumber salad is incredibly fresh, with a crisp and smooth texture, absolutely top-notch! Achieving this texture is no easy feat. Too much heat and it turns tough. Too little and it’s fishy, making it inedible. This is just right, just right!” He raised his thumb as he spoke.

Prince Gong took advantage of Prince Cheng talking to quickly grab some food, eating so fast that oil dripped from his mouth.

“Hmm, is this dried abalone or fresh abalone? The flavor is so intense, it must be fresh, but the texture is so soft and chewy, it must be dried. I can’t tell!” Prince Cheng exclaimed, smacking his lips as he ate.

The waiter respectfully replied, “Your Highness, this dish is made with fresh abalone, but the preparation method is quite special, so the texture is unique.”

Prince Cheng waved his hand repeatedly. “This is more than just unique. It’s incredibly unique! I’ve eaten so much abalone but this flavor is the most to my taste, perfectly combining the best qualities of both dried and fresh abalone!”

Prince Gong still didn’t speak, just focused on devouring the food.

“Braised Monkey Brain?” As Prince Cheng saw the final dish, he was thoroughly satisfied. “Ever since the famine in the south, I haven’t had braised monkey brain for over half a year. The flavor has fully penetrated and the red oil has seeped into the brain marrow. A single bite releases juice between the teeth and the faint fishiness blended with the freshness. It’s absolutely sublime!”

He smacked away Prince Gong’s spoon as he tried to grab some and pulled the whole dish toward himself.

The waiter cautiously explained, “Your Highness, this isn’t monkey brain but monkey head mushroom. Please have another taste?”

“What, it’s made from monkey head mushroom?” Prince Cheng was stunned. He tasted it repeatedly, but couldn’t tell the difference. “No, I’ve eaten dozens, if not hundreds, of monkey brains— how could I not recognize it? This is definitely monkey brain, the freshest kind, just taken from the skull. Don’t try to trick me!”

“I’m not tricking you, it really is made from monkey head mushroom.” The waiter said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Prince Cheng didn’t say another word. He dodged his younger brother’s attempts to snatch the food again, quickly devoured the entire dish, and then wiped his mouth with a sigh. “Monkey brain or monkey head mushroom, I don’t care— I just love this flavor! To make a vegetarian dish taste like meat with such a strong and unique flavor, this cook’s skill is……”

Prince Cheng raised his left thumb, then his right, and pressed them together to indicate ‘peerless excellence’.

“Not much different from the imperial cooks at the palace!” Prince Gong sincerely praised.

The growing crowd of diners drawn by this feast filled the restaurant, making it bustling and lively, as if it had returned to its most glorious days. The old shopkeeper was nearly moved to tears, vowing to himself that he would do whatever it took to keep Shopkeeper Lin. She was a shop’s true treasure!