When Lin Dan arrived, Cook Qiu was standing by the back door, craning his neck to look out. As soon as he saw the carriage, he hurried over eagerly. “Master, be careful as you get down. Don’t jump, don’t jump! Let me help you.”

Unfortunately, he spoke too late. Lin Dan had already lifted the carriage’s curtain and swiftly jumped down, striding towards the door. “I heard Yan Family’s Restaurant has introduced a new signature dish called Stewed Boneless Fish?”

“That’s right. It’s made from a deboned silver carp and received great reviews as soon as it was launched. I originally wanted to ask a friend to pack some for me, but Yan Family’s Restaurant refused, saying that if anyone wanted to eat it, they had to go to the restaurant to dine in. No takeout allowed. They’re clearly guarding against my Qiaoyuan Restaurant. Master, I heard that the fish has no bones at all. After cooking, it’s tender and smooth, and the taste is exquisite. How do you think they did it? What kind of knife skill could remove all the bones from a fish? It’s too ingenious.” Cook Qiu marveled.

“There’s nothing ingenious about it.” Lin Dan explained simply, “There are two methods for deboning fish. One is to debone it raw, the other is to debone it after cooking. Fishes have a lot of bones so it seems impossible to do, but in reality, once they’re boiled and the bones separate from the flesh, it’s easy to remove them.”

With Lin Dan’s explanation, the puzzle that had troubled Cook Qiu for a day and a night was instantly solved. When it came to culinary skills, he had never seen anyone as knowledgeable and quick-witted as Shopkeeper Lin. Previously, Yan Family’s Restaurant had launched three new dishes, which were Squirrel Fish, Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions, and Crab Roe Lion’s Head. The Squirrel Fish had sold exceptionally well, drawing away many of Qiaoyuan Restaurant’s old customers, almost forcing Cook Qiu to close down. But ever since Lin Dan introduced Golden Lion Fish, the old customers had returned, eagerly waiting every afternoon for Lin Dan to come to the restaurant to teach, so they could enjoy a few bites of her cooking at a bargain.

To support Qiaoyuan Restaurant, Lin Dan cooked five tables’ worth of dishes every day, and those alone kept the most discerning gourmands in the capital coming back. Now, those people wouldn’t eat anywhere else, even if they were starving. They’d just sit in the restaurant and wait.

Seeing that the Squirrel Fish couldn’t sustain the Yan Family’s Restaurant’s reputation, Cook Yan then developed a new dish called Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions. The whole sea cucumber was slowly simmered in rich sauce until it was soft and tender yet still retained a slight chewiness, creating a unique flavor.

Lin Dan seemed to take it up as a challenge against the other party, as she also made a dish the next day called Stuffed Sea Cucumber. The skill involved and the delicate flavor were several levels higher than that of the Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions. The ‘stuffed’ method is a special way of preparing ingredients where the stuffing is either wrapped, inserted, or filled into another ingredient to create a dish. Common stuffed dishes include stuffed tofu, stuffed eggplant, and stuffed bitter melon, but this was the first time Cook Qiu had seen stuffed sea cucumber.

The stuffing wasn’t the usual ingredients, but prawn roe. A certain amount of it was stir-fried and then mixed with light soy sauce, cooking wine, fine salt, and other seasonings, sealed in a jar, and left to ferment. Once fermentation was complete, the mixture was shaped into strips and stuffed into the sea cucumber’s belly. The sea cucumber was first boiled in milky broth, then simmered in red broth, allowing the prawn roe’s savory taste to fully permeate the sea cucumber. Once the dish was ready, the waiter would use a small knife to cut the sea cucumber into inch-long segments for the diners to share.

The tender, fully cooked sea cucumber enveloped the prawn roe, which was rich in umami and had a smooth texture, offering a sweet and salty flavor that lingered on the palate. The stuffing could also be adjusted according to the customer’s preference, replaced with something chewier like mullet roe or fresh fish roe. This dish alone, with slight changes in cooking methods and stuffing, could produce three or even more different flavors, leaving customers thoroughly satisfied. As a result, the Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions hardly made any impact, and by the second day, it had already been overshadowed by Qiaoyuan Restaurant’s Stuffed Sea Cucumber.

Yan Langqing, being an imperial cook, wasn’t one to give up easily. Half a month later, she introduced another new dish called Crab Roe Lion’s Head, made from minced pork mixed with crab roe, producing a tender and juicy meatball with a wonderful flavor. Just as Yan Family’s Restaurant’s business began to recover thanks to this dish, Lin Dan came up with another new dish called Fortune Meatballs. Though the name sounded fancy, it was also made from minced pork, however, its flavor surpassed that of Crab Roe Lion’s Head in freshness, tenderness, and juiciness.

Lin Dan soaked the minced pork in scallion and ginger water, which had to be made from fresh yellow ginger and whole scallions to ensure a strong flavor that would mask the pork’s gamey smell. To make the meatballs more tender, she also mixed in minced fish, which added stickiness to prevent them from deforming. Finally, she smashed pork bones to extract the marrow, which was then blended into the meat, forming a fully integrated mixture that was molded into shape. After three steps, the meatballs became incredibly flavorful, juicy, and tender, whether fried, braised, or boiled in clear soup. Biting into one felt like sinking your teeth into solidified nectar, filling the mouth with rich meat juices.

Thus, the customers Yan Family’s Restaurant had barely managed to win back once again flocked to Qiaoyuan Restaurant, resulting in a dramatic rise and fall in their business.

After two rounds of competition, the customers noticed a pattern. When Imperial Cook Yan introduced a new dish called Stewed Boneless Fish, they tasted it and then headed straight to Qiaoyuan Restaurant, their intentions clear. Bored while waiting, the old shopkeeper hired some street performers to tell stories in the hall, offering sunflower seeds and fresh fruits to keep the customers entertained.

Lin Dan only prepared five tables of dishes each day at Qiaoyuan Restaurant. If one didn’t arrive early to secure a spot, there was no telling when they might get a chance to taste her cooking. For gourmets with particularly discerning palates, this was more torturous than punishment. As the hour approached, Prince Cheng, growing impatient, urged, “Shopkeeper, has the cook not arrived yet? Look at Yan Family’s Restaurant over there— they’ve been serving their Stewed Boneless Fish all day. Isn’t it time she unveils her signature dish too?”

“Yes, yes, I’ve been waiting since last night until this afternoon. My stomach’s completely empty from waiting.” Prince Gong chimed in without hesitation, patting his belly and making everyone burst into laughter.

Although the new dish at Yan Family’s Restaurant was delicious, it had clearly become the barometer for Qiaoyuan Restaurant. The moment Yan family’s Restaurant introduced something new, customers would flock to Qiaoyuan Restaurant, a habit formed after two months of rivalry between the two establishments.

Even though Yan Langqing was an imperial cook favored by the emperor, her status was far below that of these princes, nobles, and first-rank officials. Their visit to her restaurant was an honor. There was no need for them to curry favor with her. As the saying goes— good food is simply good food, and anything less is just inferior. There was no fooling a discerning customer’s palate.

Just as Lin Dan entered the kitchen to teach Cook Qiu the method behind Stewed Boneless Fish, the old shopkeeper hurried in and respectfully said, “Cook Lin, the guests are getting impatient. Will you be making a new dish today?”

“Of course, I’ll be making a new dish.” Lin Dan replied calmly, rolling up her sleeves. “It was agreed upon from the start that whenever Yan family’s Restaurant introduces a new dish, I’ll teach you a new one. Unless Yan family’s Restaurant closes down, this agreement will always hold.”

You’re trying to put Yan family’s Restaurant out of business! Cook Qiu bowed his head in silent mourning for the Yan family but quickly looked up at his master, his eyes shining with admiration.

The old shopkeeper, now fully reassured, hurried out to share the good news with the waiting customers.

Lin Dan washed her hands thoroughly, picked out a four-pound bass, stunned it, and laid it on the cutting board. “As I just mentioned, there are two methods for removing fish bones— one is cooked, the other raw. Today, I’m going to teach you a dish called Immortal Boneless Fish. It’s a boneless dish that combines both methods. Watch closely.” She sliced along the fish’s back, severing the upper and lower bones while leaving the belly meat intact. The fish opened up into a beautiful butterfly shape. She then held the tail and removed the entire spine in one smooth motion, followed by two thin cuts to separate the lower bones.

She continued on and the bass was left completely boneless after Lin Dan’s four more precise cuts, leaving perfect, intact meat from head to tail.

“This is the raw bone removal method, which requires clean and delicate knife skills.” Lin Dan explained, pressing the two halves together and tying them with a scallion to form the fish back into its original shape. This prevented the fish from falling apart during cooking.

“This dish borrows techniques from Huaiyang cuisine and can be cooked in a variety of broths.” She continued, placing the boneless fish into the pot. “You can stew it in a milky broth for a three-flavor dish, in a red broth for a braised flavor, or in a spicy broth for a numbing and sour taste. It all depends on the customer’s preference. The beauty of ‘Immortal Boneless Fish’ is that it can be prepared in a hundred different flavors to suit a hundred different tastes, each rich and distinctive. That’s what makes it special.”

Cook Qiu listened intently, his eyes glued to Lin Dan’s skillful hands, his ears absorbing her vivid explanations. He was so mesmerized that he couldn’t help but sigh in admiration, “Master, how do you know so much? My father and grandfather were imperial cooks in the palace, but they don’t seem to know as much as you do.”

Lin Dan chuckled softly. “If you follow tradition, cuisine can be categorized into palace cuisine, official cuisine, and folk cuisine. But did you know? Palace and official cuisines originally stemmed from folk cuisine. True culinary excellence comes from the people. The more you eat, observe, and cook, the more you naturally understand. To hone my skills, I worked as a traveling cook, preparing feasts for weddings and funerals wherever I went. Folk banquets are diverse. There are eight-course meals, nine-course meals, and thirteen specialty dishes. Some banquets even feature fifty-two dishes, rivaling palace banquets. Just think about it— fifty-two dishes, each unique. How much effort does that take? And because weddings and funerals must be grand and solemn, you can’t afford to ruin the guests’ appetite. How much knowledge does that require? Once you’ve mastered those skills and knowledge, your culinary expertise will naturally grow.”

Cook Qiu remained silent for a long time. Only when the Immortal Boneless Fish was ready did he finally say, “Master, compared to you, Yan Langqing is really far behind!”

Lin Dan shook her head with a gentle smile but didn’t respond. She had the waiter bring the dish out to the guests and then immediately began preparing another bass for deboning.