Ball of Nothing

AN: Scene is a reference from Chapter 121 - Calm Before The Storm (3). Enjoy.

Watching Grandma Moppo and Zoe cook so much, wearing themselves out just to feed an insatiable black hole called Zero, Hua Tuo decided that it might be a good time to teach Zero how to cook for himself. The boy already knew how to prepare ingredients for cooking after watching Hua Tuo and helping him out back at Endow Hill. All he needed to do was teach Zero about heat control and seasoning. Surely that wouldn't be too difficult. Zero was a bright child after all.

Mii definitely remembered a lot of recipes, definitely way more than the few simple dishes that Hua Tuo knew. If Zero wanted to eat the more complex dishes, he wouldn't stop his student from exploring. However, before Zero blew up a kitchen, Hua Tuo decided to give a basic crash course for cooking. As Zero's teacher, it was not only his duty to teach morals and values alongside medicine. It was also his duty to teach Zero self-help skills. What if there weren't any inns that they can buy food from? Surely Zero had to cook from time to time or he would suffer malnutrition from eating grilled fish and meat all the time.

"Zero, come here."

The child skipped over with a smile.

"Yes, master?"

Hua Tuo hesitated. Surely, Zero couldn't mess up something as simple as cooking. Right?

"Would you like to learn how to cook?"

Hearing that, the young doctor's eyes sparkled. Would he like to learn? Of course! Zero adored learning new things. In fact, it has been on his mind for a while now. Cooking was one of the things nobody allowed him to do. Zero read up on the basics but no adults would allow him in the kitchen. The fact that Zero could hardly reach the handle of the pots on the stove back at Hua Tuo's hut might attribute to the reason why he was never given the opportunity.

In Half Moon Village, things are different. There were people of all different heights, sizes and species so the height of the stove was something Zero could reach. Lovina wasn't very tall but because she helped around in the kitchen so much, she had her own special stove. Raj and the lab rats made it especially for her. Zero would definitely ask for permission to use Lovina's stove when he learnt how to cook.

The news about Zero learning to cook spread around the village quickly. Soon, every villager was telling Zero about their home recipes and the secret to good taste. The poor apprentice became so overwhelmed that Hua Tuo had to ban visitors. For starters, Hua Tuo was going to teach Zero how to boil water and make soup. Zero already knew how to boil water to make pill bases. He helped his teacher out on a few occasions so bringing water to a boil was simple.

The boy was positively giddy with excitement. Hua Tuo simplified the recipe for the beginner cook in the kitchen.

"While the water boils, you need to prepare these ingredients. We are making a simple fish and vegetable soup."

Zero nodded seriously and tied the apron around his tiny waist. He held the knife and got to cutting leek, cabbage and carrots. Hua Tuo didn't stop his student. Zero remembered to peel the carrot this time and the pre-training proved to be a huge success.

Zero constantly checked for the water to boil and Hua Tuo told him to add salt when it did. Zero didn't know what a pinch of salt meant but he supposed he would take that literally.

The fish was quickly removed off scales and had its gut cleaned. Zero paused. How should he cut the fish? Should he debone it first? Hua Tuo usually didn't add the head and tail in the soup so Zero cut those two parts away first. He looked at the fish and turned to his teacher for some help.

"Do I debone it first?"

Hua Tuo nodded. "You can if you want to. Do you need me to show you how?"

Zero shook his head. He saw how Hua Tuo did it a few times before and knew how it should be done. With confidence, Zero slid his knife from the side to meet the bone at the centre and slide the blade all the way down. The smooth cut successfully separated the flesh from the bone and Zero repeated the process for all sides. He laid the filleted fish out on the chopping board for Hua Tuo to inspect and the physician nodded. Zero might have a knack for cooking after all.

"Here is where it gets tricky. Most fishes have many small bones in the stomach area. We want to remove this part."

Hua Tuo made a cut on one side of the fish and sliced thinly just enough to get the section out and Zero nodded. When it was Zero's turn, the boy didn't hesitate. He approached it with confidence that made Hua Tuo consider pushing his schedule ahead. He simply couldn't wait to see Zero perform his first operation.

Although it wasn't as good as Hua Tuo's demonstration, the physician gave Zero a pass. Now that the fish has been deboned successfully, Zero cut them into smaller pieces to be added to the soup. With that, all the preparations were completed and Zero slowly added everything into the water. He also added that pinch of salt and pepper that Hua Tuo suggested and watched the water boil. The ingredients in the pot swirled in the bubbling water and Zero turned to his teacher again.

"What do we do now?"

Hua Tuo smiled. "We wait for it to cook and simmer it for about ten minutes then serve it up for eating. How's your first experience with cooking?"

Zero gave his teacher a cheeky smile. "Easy."

Hua Tuo shook his head in mock disappointment. "Don't say that so soon. Watch the fire, make sure that the water doesn't dry up or overflow. If it is too big, it's not very good either."

Zero quickly checked on the fire and reduced it so that the soup won't boil over the pot. With plenty of time to spare, Hua Tuo decided to teach Zero more basic cooking styles such as stir-frying, frying and deep-frying.

Zero had no problems with stir-frying mushrooms. He did relatively well for frying even if the bottom of his egg looked charred. Zero added a lot of oil to the wok as Hua Tuo instructed and waited for it to bubble for the deep-frying of shrimps. However, when the hot oil started to splatter, the boy panicked.

"Don't run! Steadily release the batter-coated shrimp into it. You cannot throw it either. Watch for the thing to turn golden brown and quickly remove it to drain the oil or it will be burned!"

Hua Tuo had already demonstrated it twice and each time the physician put it in, oil would jump out of the wok. Zero felt one of the oil splatters hitting him and yelped in surprise. It scalded for a moment but quickly disappeared. Although the damage wasn't critical, Zero found himself unable to approach the wok from fear of oil splatters going into his eyes. Hua Tuo didn't allow him to close his eyes while putting it in so Zero was stuck in between reaching to dip the shrimp into hot oil and preparing to run for his life.

Hua Tuo groaned. Zero did it again. Why was it so difficult for Zero to stay in the same spot to deep-fry the shrimps? Sure, the oil splatter might hurt a little but it was nothing life-threatening. Besides, good food will be worth the pain of making it. Couldn't Zero persevere a little?

Zero jumped when the oil crackled. He watched carefully for the shrimp to turn golden brown on the batter surface and fished it out quickly, putting it aside to let the oil drip dry.

"How was it?" he asked Hua Tuo who didn't look pleased.

"You ran again."

The answer made Zero's happiness deflate. He managed to cook the shrimp but it wasn't good enough for Hua Tuo. Why was it necessary to stand so close to the wok? It's not as if the shrimps will cook automatically that he had to take it out the moment he put it in... The oil splatters were terrifying.

Then, Zero had a brilliant idea. He discreetly covered himself with a shield of mana before trying again. Hua Tuo watched closely at how his student attempted it again. He was surprised that Zero didn't run this time. Instead, he looked very calm and added shrimps in one after another. Zero was also getting better at judging the temperature and colour changes. He removed the cooked shrimps just on time without Hua Tuo reminding him and left the Sage God feeling puzzled.

"All done!" Zero announced proudly and dismissed the mana shield. Having magic surely was handy. Now that they've covered all of Hua Tuo's basic cooking training, Zero went back to check on the soup that was simmering. The pot gave off a very good smell and Zero salivated.

"That's done now. You can extinguish the fire and plate everything."

Zero cheered and did as he was told. Plating everything in an artistic manner, Hua Tuo and Zero took out their communicators. It was important to commemorate Zero's very first homemade meal. More importantly, it was to make certain individuals feel jealous.

They sent the photos out and dug into the food.

The first taste of the soup made Hua Tuo's smile disappear. The soup was a little too bland. Zero noticed this as well and frowned. He followed everything perfectly. Why was it still so bad?

"How much salt and pepper did you add?" Hua Tuo asked.

Zero demonstrated a pinch to the physician and Hua Tuo sighed. He forgot that Zero sometimes took things very literally. If it were someone like Hua Tuo who had bigger hands, a pinch might just be right for taste. However, Zero had very small hands and even smaller fingers. That amount of seasoning wouldn't be enough.

"Let me redo the seasoning. Did you do the same for everything else?" Hua Tuo asked and Zero nodded.

The physician didn't know if he should be thankful that Zero didn't have Zenobia's talent of making everything poisonous and deadly when cooking. However, he couldn't imagine eating something as bad as this on a daily basis during the travels.

"Come here," he called to Zero and told the boy to add more seasoning, tasting it every few stirs until it was good.

Zero ended up adding five additional pinches of salt and three more pinches of pepper for the soup.

"Remember the taste. Adjust the seasoning accordingly, not all pots have the same amount so the seasoning proportion must change accordingly. If there is too little seasoning, you can always add some more later. However, if you add too much from the beginning, there's no way to save it.

Zero remembered the words and applied that to the stir-fried mushrooms. Nothing could be done for the egg and deep-fried shrimps so the duo ate in silence at the tasteless dishes. Zero didn't mind the tastelessness of the egg. He actually did enjoy the faint sweetness of the shrimps and thought that deep-fried food was delicious.

"It really traps the flavour in," he mused.

Hua Tuo nodded. "But deep-fried food is unhealthy so you shouldn't eat it too often. In comparison, steaming and boiling are healthier."

"Steaming?"

Hua Tuo paused. "Oh, we don't have what is needed here. Remember the wooden basket I have in the kitchen back home? The small one that you once used to wear as a hat..."

Zero nodded. He knew that basket. It was very handy for catching fish and sieving for small rocks in the river.

"That's a basket for steaming. You fill the pot with a little water, turn on medium heat, put this wooden basket on top of the pot so that it sits on the edge nicely and then add fish or buns inside. Then you cover the pot with a lid and wait for about fifteen minutes. It should cook the thing nicely using steam so that the food becomes soft and tender but does not lose its flavour."

Zero nodded and decided that he wanted to try steamed fish when they returned to Hua Tuo's hut. The physician agreed. However, when Zero started discussing ideas for new recipes with his newly acquired cooking knowledge, Hua Tuo had to stop Zero. He didn't want to eat steamed river snails even if Zero claimed that it was a delicacy.