Chapter 8: Chapter 8 Hanging Position Spirit Chef

Translator: 549690339

“This one seems quite good, no?”

Soon, Qin Lang’s eyes lit up.

“Gurulu?”

Dan Bao quickly pressed its face against Qin Lang’s, its little eyes curiously staring at the cellphone screen.

“It’s this one.” Qin Lang pointed to the screen, “Starlight Restaurant has just opened for business and urgently needs a Hanging Position Spirit Chef with remuneration to be discussed.”

“It’s not that far from here, should we go take a look?”

“Guluru du!”

Dan Bao shook its head in agreement, up and down.

Following the navigation, the two of them soon arrived at a restaurant called Starlight Restaurant.

The place wasn’t big, but it was clean and tidy with well-arranged tables and chairs.

After looking at the situation inside through the floor-to-ceiling window, Qin Lang nodded in satisfaction.

It wasn’t business hours at the moment, so he went and knocked on the tightly closed front door.

“Coming! Coming!”

A somewhat rough voice came. Soon a middle-aged man with a goatee opened the door, glanced at Qin Lang, “Young man, we’re not open yet, if you want to order, you have to wait awhile.”

“I am here to apply for the Hanging Position Spirit Chef.” Qin Lang pointed to the job advertisement on his mobile, “Saw the vacancy on the job-hunting website.”

“I see.” The goateed man looked surprised,”Can I see your Spirit Chef Badge?”

“Here it is.” Qin Lang took it out and handed it over.

“Come in first.” The goateed man took the badge and pulled Qin Lang inside, “Take a seat anywhere. Want something to drink? Juice or tea?”

“Just water will do. Thank you.”

Soon a glass of water was brought in front of Qin Lang, the goateed man smiled, “Hang on there young man, I am going to check your Spirit Chef info.”

“Sure.” Qin Lang picked up the water glass and took a sip, watching the man with the goatee check his information on the computer at the front desk.

Not long after, the goateed man returned and handed the Spirit Chef badge back to Qin Lang. “Young man, since you don’t have any professional titles, I can only offer the standard salary of a regular Spirit Chef. A hundred and fifty a day for retainer fee, and fifty-fifty split on the profits of dish sales. What do you think?”

Qin Lang took the badge, listened to the words of the goateed man; his face showed some surprise.

This was higher than the industry average he knew.

“No problem.” Qin Lang nodded quickly.

This man’s straightforwardness made him quite likeable.

“Let’s test your dishes then.” The goateed man laughed, “Come to the kitchen with me, after cooking a dish, let’s talk about the pricing of the dishes.”

“This will affect your future income, so you have to put your best foot forward, young man~”

“I understand.” Qin Lang had a thought, “Boss, what kind of dishes does the restaurant lack at present?”

“No need to call me ‘boss’, my name is Luo Hui, just call me Uncle Luo.” Luo Hui waved his hand, hearing the subtext in Qin Lang’s words, “You are pretty confident, boy! So, whatever I lack, you can make?”

“If that’s the case, I’ll be frank. Our restaurant is currently lacking in seafood dishes, especially various kinds of fish dishes. So…” Luo Hui glanced at Qin Lang, “Can you prepare it?”

“Yes.” Qin Lang affirmed without hesitation.

“Good, we have various ingredients in our kitchen. If you can’t find what you need, I can ask the Spirit Chef Association to deliver the necessary ingredients.” Luo Hui chuckled, with his arms crossed and an expectant look on his face.

As they talked, the two had entered the kitchen and arrived in front of the ingredients storeroom.

“Oh, there’s bass.” Qin Lang, with keen eyes, spotted several large Bass in the seafood area.

“They were delivered today.” Seeing Qin Lang had already got some ideas, Luo Hui couldn’t help but laugh, “You going to use this one?”

“Alright.” Holding the lively floundering bass in his hand, Qin Lang instantly decided on the dish he was going to prepare.

“What other ingredients do you need? Just let me know.” Luo Hui generously offered, showing he didn’t mind the cost.

“The rest are just side ingredients.” Qin Lang shook his head, looking at the bass, “Having it as the main ingredient is enough.”

“Then I’m looking forward to it.” Luo Hui chuckled, “There’s a separate kitchen next door that offers great privacy. You can cook there.”

After saying that, he turned and left.

When Luo Hui left, Qin Lang knocked the bass out with the dull side of a knife and placed it on the cutting board. After preparing the side ingredients, he glanced expectantly at Dan Bao by his side.

“Let’s get started!”

“Purr purr!”

Dan Bao rolled twice in the air, its yolk-like face filled with anticipation.

Only when a Spirit Chef utilizes vacant star veins can a new Food Spirit be born from their cooking. Therefore, Qin Lang didn’t need to worry about any unexpected mishaps during the upcoming cooking process.

“The dish we’re about to make is called Steamed Bass.” He tapped on Dan Bao’s head, “First, help me restore the side ingredients to their freshest state.”

Hearing that it could also lend a hand, Dan Bao became more excited.

It flew above the ingredients and began to blow on the scallions and ginger, among other things.

Freshness to the fullest!

While Dan Bao was helping, Qin Lang expertly scaled and gutted the unconscious bass, using salt to uniformly scrub both sides of the fish.

Watching Qin Lang’s movements, Dan Bao cocked its head.

“Purr?”

“The skin of the bass secretes a slimy substance, which can amplify the fishy smell of the dish.” Qin Lang explained while washing the salt-scrubbed fish in a basin, “Scrubbing it with salt can remove the slime, thus eliminating the fishy smell.”

Seeing Dan Bao still staring blankly at the bass in mid-air, Qin Lang said in resignation, “Stop daydreaming, help me turn the steamer on.”

Following Qin Lang’s direction, Dan Bao quickly located the steamer, poking the switch with its round fluffy tail.

While Dan Bao was turning on the steamer, Qin Lang had already skillfully split the cleaned bass open from the belly, slathering melted lard evenly on the skin.

Green onions were cut into long sections, ginger into slices, spread on the bottom of the fish plate, with two crossed chopsticks under the fish.

As the excited Dan Bao flew back, the sight of Qin Lang’s actions brought a puzzled expression to its face again.

“Purr purr?”

Why were there chopsticks underneath the fish? Could they also be eaten?

“Of course, chopsticks can’t be eaten.” Qin Lang chuckled, holding the fish plate while placing it in the steamer and explaining, “The method of steaming involves heating the ingredients with steam.”

“Placing chopsticks under the fish raises it slightly, letting the steam creep in from the bottom, which speeds up the steaming process and ensures even heating.”

So that’s how it works?

Dan Bao nodded as if it vaguely understood.

Cooking sure was complex!

Back at his cutting board, Qin Lang wielded his knife like the wind, swiftly slicing scallion, ginger, and chili into shreds.

He then started a fire, mixed soy sauce with water, added onion, ginger, and green onion sections, and a few pieces of rock sugar to make a delicious soy sauce.

Shortly after, a savory fish aroma wafted from the steamer. Although it wasn’t particularly strong, the delicate aroma wound its way into one’s nostrils, stirring up an irresistible appetite.

“Mmm~”

“Purr~”

Qin Lang and Dan Bao both leaned over the steamer, their faces wearing matching contented expressions.