Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The meat of the Otoro part of the bluefin tuna had always been the treasure to the gourmands. Furthermore, there was only one piece. Therefore, many people scrambled for it.
However, there were too many people milling around, not just those people that paid money, but also the people that were discussing.
“Did you see the fish body being moved into the carton just now? He’s really awesome!” The two white-collar workers that had spoken just now started to discuss again in Japanese.
“Indeed. The fish bones are all complete and each one can be clearly seen. Surprisingly, there isn’t any flesh left on it. How exactly did he do that?” Another taller white-collar worker also nodded his head continuously and said.
“The flesh of that half of the fish was cleanly removed from the fish bones just now. This person is really good.”
“Exactly. I also saw that. The fish is definitely excellent. Sashimi does not require anything but superb knife skills. The taste seems to be wonderful.”
“Wait. That person said it’s not the so-called sashimi but is actually a dish passed down from ancient China. Understand?”
“Yeah. But it looks more or less the same with the sashimi.”
“That makes sense. But I really want to eat it.”
“If you wanna eat, just buy it. Hardly do we have a chance to eat the bluefin tuna.”
“Oh, forget it. It’s way too expensive.”
Though the discussion was loud and continuous, Yuan Zhou wasn’t affected by that. He took the new kitchen knife and prepared to cut the fish.
Theoretically, the raw fish slice was supposed to be cut into slices as thick as 5mm and the thickness should be uniform. Only in that way can the taste be guaranteed to be smooth and tender as well as non-greasy. If it’s thinner, it will not have a smooth taste nor the chewiness while if it was thicker, it would feel greasy.”
However, things were different for Yuan Zhou.
First of all, the definition of the ancient Chinese name of the raw fish slice was cutting thin slices of meat, that was to say, the meat must be very thin. Coincidentally, the meat of the Otoro part was suited to be sliced into thin pieces.
Caozhi, one of the greatest literati in Three Kingdom Period, had once said in his literary work Qi Qi with flowery language that the raw fish slice had to be sliced as thinly as the cicada’s wings. For that kind of superb craftsmanship, none of the people on site could achieve that level besides Yuan Zhou.
The pink meat was straightforwardly cut into thin slices while Yuan Zhou was waving the kitchen knife. As he used the ice blade, the fish slices naturally slid down after being cut off.
As he was in a foreign country, the plates used were quite simple.
“Mine. The first is mine.” Wu Hai immediately reached out his hand and took a plate once he saw it was filled up.
The thin fish slices were laid out in the shape of a flower. As the fish slices were pink, the flower was like a big pink peony flower which was extremely beautiful.
Of course, a small plate of dipping sauce was also placed at the side. It was just some simple mustard.
After Wu Hai started to eat, Wu Jun followed right after him.
“Mine, it’s mine. Aha, I’m sorry. I managed to buy this fish, so I must eat it first.” Wu Jun also started to grab his portion of the fish quickly.
After both of them got their own share, Wu Hai still remained calm while Wu Jun felt a little embarrassed at the beginning. Having gulped down the fish flesh, however, he forgot everything related to the embarrassment.
He couldn’t think of anything else except to order another plate of the sashimi, even if he had to grab some by all means. He was totally conquered by the oily fragrance and the intrinsic sweetness of the fish flesh as well as the icy taste.
The onlookers at the side naturally became excited when they found somebody had started to eat and revealed an intoxicated look.
Those who stayed behind and couldn’t see the scene only had to listen to the others sending word to them. They heard the people ahead exclaim, gasp in admiration, praise the chef and say that they wanted to gulp down their own tongues from time to time.
That made the people behind become more anxious, frantically scratching their heads for ideas. However, once started becoming anxious, they would enjoy passing that feeling around.
After all, it wasn’t good to feel anxious alone. Only those who felt anxious together were true friends.
Suddenly, in the outer zone of Tsukiji Market, many people started to discussed something.
“Did you hear that Chinese-style sashimi appeared at the market in front? The person who prepares it is said to be one on the same level as a chef of the Great Emperor Palace.” Some people discussed while walking towards Yuan Zhou’s direction.
“Yeah, I did. My friend even sent me a message just now. Let’s go to have a look. Besides that, I heard the fish served is the bluefin tuna.” Another girl also nodded her head and said while holding the phone in her hand.
“Hey. Somebody is preparing some super large sashimi over there, more specifically, the Chinese-style sashimi during ancient times. Let’s go have a look.” At the other side, a couple was also talking about the matter of Yuan Zhou preparing the sashimi.
“Why not? If it’s not very expensive, we can taste it.” The boyfriend immediately agreed.
“Chinese-style sashimi? What’s that?” The conversation between the lovers was coincidentally heard by Xiaojing, the girl had encountered Yuan Zhou in the Izakaya.
“Let me check.” Dressed in a black jacket, a wool hat, and a pair of black-framed glasses, the man appeared cultured.
It was naturally Xiaojing’s boyfriend, Dahe, who was with her at this time. After all, Wu Jun had inquired about their schedule that day and knew they would come to Tsukiji Market today.
“Got it. It’s said to be an eating method of raw fish in ancient China. Well, it seems to be quite interesting. The main point is that it requires very high knife skills and techniques.” Dahe took the phone and summarized the main points.
“This is good. Let’s go over there and have a look. I heard from others just now that the chef is a Chinese.” Xiaojing revealed an inconceivable look on her face.
“Okay. He’s actually Chinese? Is there anybody that has such high knife skills in China? Just now, the girl said he’s on the same level as the chef from the Great Emperor Palace.” Dahe knitted his brows and feared that it was an erroneous report.
“If he’s really so awesome, we can also taste it.” Xiaojing looked forward to that very much.
After all, the Great Emperor Palace was an honorific title given to the people who had mastered the best craftsmanship.
The outer zone of the Tsukiji Market was fairly large. Therefore, Yuan Zhou had started to process the Akami part when the two people arrived at the market. And this part was just the flesh on the back of the bluefin tuna.
The flesh of this part appeared to be bright red and was less oily. Its price was the lowest among the others, 800 RMB for a plate of the flesh.
However, Yuan Zhou didn’t slice it this time. Moreover, he changed another ice blade again.
“Damn it. How many ice blades did this guy make? It seems it is true that he didn’t sleep all night long.” Wu Jun was greatly astounded by Yuan Zhou.
“Of course. Boss Yuan’s requirements on his culinary skills are simply perfect just like my drawing skills.” Wu Hai stroked his own mustaches at the side and appeared quite proud.
He looked as if Wu Jun were praising him.
Nevertheless, Wu Jun appeared rather speechless and decided not to answer him. It was more reliable to wait to eat the meat.
When Dahe and Xiaojing arrived at the market, there were already crowds of people surrounding Yuan Zhou’s booth.
Xiaojing pouted and appeared slightly dissatisfied. Seeing the scene, Dahe took hold of Xiaojing’s hand and started to push into the crowd without any explanation.
“Sorry, I’m sorry. Please make way for us. Please.” Dahe apologized while he was moving forward, but he didn’t stop moving at all.
When they got to the front, Yuan Zhou had just started cutting the first piece of the fish meat. A beam of shining light flashed right in front of them.
“Holy sh*t. It’s surprisingly the ice blade. It’s the ice blade.” Xiaojing and Dahe couldn’t help exclaiming in Chinese before they even caught their breath.
On hearing the loud shout in Chinese and the familiar voice, Wu Jun turned his head and took a look at them.
“Huh, here are the ones we want today.” Wu Jun revealed a sneer at the corner of his mouth while staring at them.
…
