Boiled Fish with Sichuan Chili Peppers

The back kitchen of the farmhouse restaurant was brightly lit.

The giant silver carp, weighing over fifty pounds, was carried in. Its massive head had already been chopped off by the head chef, Lao Wang, ready to be steamed into a dish of chopped pepper fish head.

The remaining tens of pounds of plump fish meat were placed on a wide stainless steel cutting board.

"Young Master Su, how would you like to eat the rest of this fish? Braised in soy sauce or stewed in clear broth? I'll arrange it for you right away." Head chef Lao Wang rubbed his hands together and leaned in with a face full of smiles. He had seen with his own eyes how this young master forcefully dragged this underwater behemoth ashore, and he was filled with awe.

Su Bai glanced at the ruddy, firm fish meat on the cutting board and casually rolled up his shirt sleeves.

"No need to trouble yourself. I'll personally use the remaining meat to make Sichuan boiled fish," Su Bai said calmly, walking up to the cutting board.

Lao Wang froze for a moment and quickly tried to stop him. "Oh, Young Master Su, the kitchen is full of heavy grease and smoke, and knives have no eyes. How can we let you cook yourself! Besides, Sichuan boiled fish is an extreme test of knife skills and heat control. What if..."

Before he could finish his words, his voice caught in his throat.

Because Su Bai had already casually pulled a thick-backed cleaver from the knife rack.

The moment Su Bai gripped the handle, his entire aura abruptly changed.

His Master-Level Culinary Skill was instantly activated. Combined with his terrifying physique of 160 points—which broke past human limits—the ordinary cleaver seemed to come alive in his hands.

Swish!

A flash of silver blade light swept past.

Lao Wang didn't even catch Su Bai's movements. He only saw the edge of the blade slide incredibly smoothly against the fish bones, and a perfect, whole fish fillet was separated. The cut was as smooth as a mirror!

"This..." Lao Wang gasped, his eyes bulging out. He had worked at the stove for thirty years and had never seen such fast and steady knife skills!

Immediately after, an even more scalp-numbing scene occurred.

Su Bai's wrist flicked slightly, and the cleaver turned into a blur of afterimages on the cutting board.

Accompanied by an extremely rhythmic thudding sound, the thick piece of fish was rapidly sliced into pieces as thin as cicada wings, completely uniform in size and thickness.

Every slice of fish was crystal clear. One could even see the texture of the cutting board through the meat, without a single trace of damage to the fish's natural fibers.

"Good heavens... with knife skills like this, even the state banquet masters at Diaoyutai would have to concede defeat!" Lao Wang stood dumbfounded in place, muttering to himself, completely awestruck by Su Bai's miraculous knife skills.

After slicing the fish, Su Bai skillfully added egg whites, cooking wine, starch, and a pinch of refined salt. His fingers flew as he quickly mixed and coated the slices.

Then, he heated oil in a wok.

When the oil reached a perfect 70 percent heat, Su Bai grabbed a handful of top-grade Hanyuan Sichuan peppercorns and Guizhou baby star dried chilies, decisively tossing them into the wok.

Sizzle!

The hot oil bubbled, and an extremely overbearing, rich, and dense spicy, numbing, and savory aroma instantly exploded throughout the entire kitchen!

This aroma was not only pungent but also carried a soul-striking allure, causing the dumbfounded Lao Wang beside him to swallow his saliva madly.

Su Bai's movements flowed like water. He added his secret recipe broad bean paste, stirred it until the red oil emerged, poured in the broth, and brought it to a rolling boil over high heat. Then, he evenly scattered the marinated fish slices into the boiling soup like a celestial maiden scattering flowers.

In just over ten seconds, as soon as the fish slices changed color and cooked through, Su Bai unhesitatingly poured the fish and the soup into a giant blue and white porcelain basin.

The final step was also the soul of Sichuan boiled fish.

Su Bai started another wok, heated a large ladle of boiling oil, aimed it at the dried chilies and peppercorns covering the surface of the porcelain basin, and fiercely splashed it down!

Sizzle, crackle!

The hot oil stimulated the deepest aromas of the spices. A layer of bright red oil bubbled in the basin, perfectly fusing the fresh sweetness of the fish with the fiery explosion of the chilies.

"Serve it up," Su Bai said indifferently, putting down the cooking ladle and pulling out a paper towel to wipe his hands.

A few minutes later, this giant basin of steaming, fragrant Sichuan boiled fish was served on the dining table in the private room.

Liu Chenhu was originally sitting in his chair drinking tea. The moment this basin of boiled fish was brought in, the teacup in his hand stopped right in mid-air.

"What a dominant aroma!" Liu Chenhu twitched his nose, his eyes instantly lighting up like lightbulbs.

As an epicure who had eaten all kinds of delicacies, just smelling this mixed scent of numbing, spicy, fresh, and savory flavors completely awakened the glutton in his stomach.

"Uncle Liu, try my cooking." Su Bai pulled out a chair and sat down, smiling as he made an inviting gesture.

"You made this?!" Liu Chenhu looked at Su Bai in utter disbelief, but he truly couldn't resist the temptation of the aroma. He immediately picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a slice of fish coated in red oil, and put it into his mouth.

The moment the fish entered his mouth, Liu Chenhu's body suddenly stiffened.

Smooth! Tender! Fresh! Savory!

The fish meat, as thin as a cicada's wing, actually melted right on the tip of his tongue! Immediately following that, an extremely pure numbing and spicy taste swept through his mouth like a volcanic eruption. Yet, this spiciness did not mask the natural fresh sweetness of the fish at all; instead, it elevated that ultimate umami flavor to its absolute peak.

"Hiss—ha!"

Liu Chenhu sharply drew in a breath of cold air, a fine layer of sweat instantly breaking out on his forehead. But he simply couldn't stop. His chopsticks reached toward the porcelain basin again like falling raindrops.

"Delicious! It's so damn delicious!" Liu Chenhu shouted indistinctly while chewing mouthfuls.

He didn't even care about his image anymore. He directly grabbed a large bowl, filled it to the brim with fish meat and red oil broth, and wolfed it down with rice.

Only after eating three full bowls of rice did Liu Chenhu put down his chopsticks in complete satisfaction. He grabbed a towel and haphazardly wiped his face, which was covered in sweat and red oil.

Leaning back in his chair, he let out a loud burp. The look in his eyes as he stared at Su Bai was filled with unhideable shock.

"Su Bai, you kid, you're really something else!" Liu Chenhu slapped his thigh, his tone full of praise and teasing. "When it comes to investments and business, you can casually throw around billions; your money-making skills are top-tier. Just now by the reservoir, you pulled up a fifty-pound fish with one hand; your physical prowess goes without saying. And now, you actually possess such absolutely superb culinary skills!"

Liu Chenhu gave a thumbs-up and laughed heartily. "I, Liu Chenhu, haven't admired many people in my life, but you count as one! It's a blessing my Chenyang cultivated over eight lifetimes to be able to follow you!"

Su Bai smiled faintly and poured Liu Chenhu a cup of digestive Puer tea. "Uncle Liu, you flatter me. It's just a little hobby."

This late-night snack was eaten with extreme delight.

After the gathering ended, because Liu Chenhu had drunk alcohol and eaten too much, he left the farmhouse restaurant first in his Rolls-Royce to go back and rest.

Su Bai stood in the courtyard of the farmhouse restaurant, enjoying the night breeze. He originally planned to just call his driver to pick him up and take him back to the East Lake Private Club.

Right at that moment, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

Su Bai took out his phone and looked. The name Chenyang was flashing on the screen.

As soon as he answered the call, Liu Chenyang's crisp voice came through the receiver, carrying a hint of lazy playfulness.

"Su Bai, is your dinner with my dad over?"

"Just finished. Uncle Liu has already taken a car home." Su Bai smiled. "Why are you still up?"

"I just can't sleep," Liu Chenyang chuckled softly on the other end of the line. "A friend of mine just opened a new club downtown, and the vibe is pretty great. I figured you'd be bored now that your dinner with my old man is over. Want to come over, have a couple of drinks with me, and unwind?"

Su Bai glanced up at the night sky, dropping his original plan to head back to the clubhouse.

"Send me the location."

Su Bai hung up the phone and pulled open the door of the multimillion-dollar Koenigsegg supercar parked nearby. With a deep, furious roar from the engine, he sped off toward the bar.