He now really envies Niu-ge, only regretting why he doesn’t have four stomachs.

Wang Fan mainly doesn’t want that giant dragon grouper head, weighing more than twenty pounds, to go to waste, and he had only used fish heads weighing a few pounds before. Who knows if using the dragon grouper’s big fish head might feel different?

The fathead, also known as flower carp, looks quite silly with its pouting mouth and small eyes, and making fish head stew or chopped pepper fish head is excellent. However, the dragon grouper looks quite fierce, making it less suitable for the spicy chopped pepper fish head but better for fish head stew with pancakes.

Fish head stew with pancakes is one of the representative dishes of Beijing cuisine. First, the fathead is deep-fried, then stir-fried with green onions, ginger, garlic, and other seasonings for aroma, stewed with old broth, and finally, freshly baked pancakes are added. The pancake absorbing the fish head’s fresh broth is absolutely delightful.

At this moment, Wang Fan is frying the fish head.

The pot on the boat is relatively small, so he has cut the fish head into palm-sized pieces. He poured oil into the pot, added more than ten slices of old ginger, then large sections of green onions, peeled garlic cloves, chopped onions, and cilantro cleaned of dirt, all poured in at once, directly covering the oil underneath.

Under the influence of low heat, the vegetables soon started to dehydrate and dry out, with crispy golden onion sections floating on the oil, the rich aroma of onion and ginger uncontrollably wafting out.

He fished out the residue, turned off the heat, cooled the oil, put the chopped green onions, ginger, garlic, and celery on the fish head, sprinkled with yellow wine, drizzled with soy sauce, and added a pinch of salt with a wave of his hand, mixed evenly. The temperature of the freshly fried oil had also dropped a little, which he poured directly onto the fish head to seal it in oil.

Captain Wu saw Wang Fan stop again and couldn’t help but praise, "Boss Wang, I’m not just saying this to be flattering, but if you opened a live stream teaching cooking, you’d definitely earn more than fishing. I’m serious."

These are truly his heartfelt words. Not to mention how delicious the dishes he makes are, just the process of him cooking would make others addicted, and it’s definitely not just because of his looks.

Composed, elegant, meticulous, each step full of charm, even the raw fish head, which looks a bit disgusting, seems clean and spotless in his hands.

Watching the step-by-step process of transforming ingredients into delicacies, even someone who doesn’t like cooking would find it fascinating, hardly noticing the passage of time, more interesting than Ao Debiao peeling bananas.

If he really did such a live stream, those writhing little girls might even lose their jobs.

Wang Fan shook his head and said, "I better minimize my interactions with the internet; if I dive in, I’m afraid I might forget my original intent."

He knew well the temptation power of the internet. Just opening his private messages revealed offers for various endorsements and invitations from live streaming platforms. With his current popularity and heat, the initial contract’s starting figure would be in the eight digits.

Of course, high contract amounts also mean more restrictions. Expecting capital not to exploit would be as hopeful as expecting the national soccer team to win the World Cup.

Seeing that string of zeros makes Wang Fan dizzy. Saying he isn’t tempted would be a lie, but soon he firmly solidified his inner thoughts, resolutely rejecting those invitations.

Even with a system beside him, every dish he makes requires time for personal practice and adjustment. With those restrictions, he’d have little free time left. How could he improve his culinary skills? Relying solely on the system to make dishes means they lack soul.

It’s pretty good as it is now. Honestly, he’s not earning too little at all. Just take today; he sold 127 servings. With one portion per ribbonfish, the cost of ingredients is mainly the ribbonfish. Say it’s 200 yuan each. Adding other ingredients, the cost averages about 210 yuan per serving, selling for 350 yuan. Others even think it’s cheap.

All are knowledgeable. The larger the ribbonfish, the more expensive it is, and those caught by angling are priced higher than those netted. When the market is good, this kind of ribbonfish can sell for 90 yuan to 200 yuan per half kilo.

yuan per serving may seem expensive, but it’s worth it!

No diners thought it was overpriced. They even believed that considering Boss Wang’s culinary skills and the scarcity at sea, 500 yuan per portion would still be fair.

However, this also relates to the dietary differences and habits between the North and South. In the South, many people reckon spending a few hundred or even a few thousand yuan on a fish meal is quite normal, but in the North, many would find it not worthwhile.

Wang Fan figured that if he sold fish again tomorrow, he’d earn enough to share the boat fare with Shen Teng.

His mind wandered while his hands stayed busy, simmering soup, frying spices, and searing fish, until everything went into one pot, then he turned up the heat to a boil.

According to the Northern cooking knowledge Wang Fan learned, fish is unlike meat, which is best slowly simmered over low heat. Fish is better when boiled fervently. Only with the pot’s soup constantly rolling would the fish’s freshness fully be unleashed.

Without covering the pot, Wang Fan began making pancakes.

The dough used was partly cooked with hot water, and adding some lard made crispy layers, creating an aroma so rich that just eating pancakes would suffice for a meal.

Once the pancakes were done, the pot of fish had also been stewed to perfection, with timing handled impeccably.

Shen Teng was called in by Wang Fan, Captain Wu was literally pinned to the spot by the aroma, and as for Old Pi and Old Jack’s crew, they were purely lured in by the fragrance.

These guys originally intended to pay, but Wang Fan refused. Today’s mission was already accomplished, and as people who helped him complete the first day’s task, he felt treating them to a fish head meal was nothing at all.