The kitchen isn't too far from the dining room, so Wang Fan could hear some of the sounds coming from there.

In the past, the harmonious environment of the dining room would have made him terribly envious, but now he only smiled faintly, without any feelings of envy.

He just missed his second uncle and his foodie girlfriend a bit, even though they had only parted ways not long ago.

He shook his head and, with a deft hand, picked up the mandarin fish that had been prepared with its cuts and powder, suspending it above the oil pan.

With a hand gripping the neck and the tail of the fish, as for why he didn't grab the mouth, it was naturally because the fish was already bewildered.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle..."

The moment the mandarin fish went into the oil pan, golden fine bubbles continuously surged along the edges of the fish, and a strong aroma of wheat and fish followed.

As the oil bubbles increased, gradually covering the entire fish, Wang Fan held a long pair of chopsticks with his right hand, occasionally nudging the tail to prevent it from sticking to the bottom, while his left hand was wrapping powder around the fish head.

When the powder was ready, the mandarin fish's body in the oil pan was flipped with a slotted spoon to continue frying, then the fish head was also put into the oil pan to fry.

Sensing a subtle change in the aroma, Wang Fan promptly scooped out the fish body and head, then once the oil temperature rose again, he put the fish body back in for a second fry.

After the second fry, the mandarin fish tail had completely perked up, and the originally white batter had turned a light golden color.

After preparing another pan, he scooped out the fish body, increased the oil temperature, and added scallions and ginger to sauté, then added tomato sauce and water, stirring continuously, and then dashed in two or three spoonfuls of sugar.

Squirrel fish is meant to be sweet, skimping on sugar won't do.

Salt, white vinegar, cooking wine, pepper were mixed in and then Wang Fan used a slotted spoon to scoop out the ginger and scallion fragments from the pan.

Fried scallions and ginger somewhat affect the aesthetics when drizzling sauce.

Dice bamboo shoots, mushrooms, carrots, and green peas were put into the pan to continue stewing, after adding a spoonful of cornstarch water, a big spoon of hot oil was scooped from the previous oil pan and poured into the pan.

"Hiss..."

The moment the hot oil met the hot soup, a sound erupted, and dense bubbles surged.

Feeling the stickiness of the sauce, Wang Fan added another spoonful of cornstarch water, mixed it evenly, then turned off the heat.

The fish head and body were already plated on a heated dish, with the high-perched fish head containing a bright red cherry tomato in its mouth.

"Squeak squeak squeak..."

When the glossy sauce was drizzled over the fried fish body, not only did the sauce wrap the fish body in orange-yellow, but the fish body kept emitting "squeak squeak squeak" sounds, as if a little squirrel was calling.

Even when it was brought to the dining table, that tiny sound could be clearly heard.

Seeing Wang Fan come out, Shen Dad and the others were somewhat embarrassed, given that it had only been three minutes, and the ginger duck on the table was almost finished.

Wang Fan was a little surprised at their speed of eating, as he had expected the first dish to be about a third gone when the second dish came out.

The bowl was nearly down to just the old ginger.

Probably they were hungry because they hadn't eaten breakfast.

Wang Fan didn't think much about it, after putting the dish on the table he said: "Squirrel fish, everyone eat it while it's hot, but do be careful not to burn yourselves."

After speaking, he quickly returned to the kitchen without waiting for anyone to respond, deciding to speed up the subsequent dishes.

The aroma of squirrel fish isn't as intense as ginger duck but stands out in its sweet and sour freshness; white vinegar combined with ketchup's fresh sour fragrance not only cuts through the greasiness but also revitalizes everyone's taste buds.

As saliva began to secrete, the stomach felt empty once again.

Squirrel fish look similar at first glance but the degree of frying and sauce blend, even the thickness can affect the final taste and flavor.

Shen Dad didn't praise the aroma and appearance, mostly because a rebellious son was eagerly eyeing him.

Shen Dad said grumpily: "No wonder you little rascal skipped breakfast today, clearly premeditated."

Shen Teng chuckled: "You underestimate me, I haven't eaten a bite since last night!"

Shen Dad laughed, pointing at Shen Teng a few times, then slowly reached for a piece of fish. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Crack..."

A light crunch sounded as Shen Dad tore off a piece of fish from the mandarin fish, the orange-yellow sauce clung tightly to the fish piece until the chopsticks left the plate by a full 5 centimeters, the sauce finally reluctantly broke off.

The sauce tying was truly perfect!

Shen Dad silently praised in his heart.

Tying sauce is absolutely a skillful task, especially when making squirrel fish, a lot of oil needs to be added, to add oil without seeing it, isn't something an average chef can handle.

Shen Dad has some chef friends and is not unfamiliar with various culinary techniques.

Tying sauce is an indispensable part of dish preparation.

Sweet, sour, savory, salty, various flavors subtly change in the mouth, yet the crispy batter after the sauce was poured became the cherry on top.

After the crispness, the tender, fresh, and fragrant fish meat melted in the mouth, coupled with the sweet and sour sauce, made it hard to put the chopsticks down.

But Shen Dad thought his speed of picking up food was already fast, yet was shocked to find that by picking up the third piece, such a large fish was already mostly gone!

Glancing at the plates of the others, there was no reserve, just their bulging mouths explained where the fish had gone.

Sweet and sour flavor has always been a ladies' favorite, whether at age 10, 20, 30, or even in their 40s or 50s, anyway, Shen Mom and Aunt Wu simply couldn't resist the flavor.

The two of them were flying their chopsticks, and their chewing speed was no less impressive than Shen Teng who hadn't eaten for almost a day.

Shen Dad felt that as a man, he shouldn't compete with women for this sweet and sour dish, so he said to Shen Teng: "A proper man shouldn't compete with your mom and Aunt Wu over this dish."

Then he picked a large bite of fish into his mouth.

Shen Teng looked blankly at his dad, "You're a proper man too, aren't you?"

Shen Dad spoke slowly while eating fish: "You're a young man, I'm already an old fool."

...

Wang Fan had cleaned the pan and was already preparing the third dish – mint spicy stir-fried lobster.

Though lobster is the most expensive, flavor-wise it's just so-so, far less tasty than smaller shrimp varieties, though those aren't even the same species.

Mint spicy stir-fried lobster doesn't strictly belong to any cuisine, but was an idea Wang Fan came up with while researching Hunan cuisine.

The dish's main characteristic is its spicy flavor combined with mint freshness, adding a slight refreshing feel on top of the spice, enriching the taste layers.

This dish counts as an innovative attempt of his, just unsure if the four diners outside would appreciate it.