Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 126 - 107 Strike

Chapter 126: Chapter 107 Strike

Zheng Siyuan is a man of action.

Chen Yingjun is also a man of action.

The next day, the two men of action met at Yunzhong Restaurant.

The house that Zheng Da bought for Zheng Siyuan in the neighboring community was fully furnished, so he could just move in with luggage in hand. After settling into his new home, Zheng Siyuan went straight to Yunzhong Restaurant to find Qin Huai.

It wasn’t for work; he wanted to ask about the big order that Qin Huai had mentioned, which wasn’t clearly explained in their WeChat conversation. Additionally, he wanted to help Huang Shengli and Zheng Da assess Qin Huai’s skill in making soup on-site.

By the time Zheng Siyuan arrived, Chen Yingjun, Chen Huihong, and Qin Huai were gathered around a table drinking broth. The elderly workers in the restaurant had all left, knowing that Qin Huai had serious business to discuss that day.

"Si Yuan, you’re here." Qin Huai quickly stood up upon seeing Zheng Siyuan, "Shall I get you a bowl of soup?"

Zheng Siyuan nodded, and Qin Huai went into the kitchen to serve the soup, while Chen Huihong warmly greeted Zheng Siyuan.

"Master Xiao Zheng, it’s been a while. When Xiao Qin said you were coming to exchange skills, I couldn’t believe it. Everyone’s been eagerly waiting for you to visit again! This is my brother, Chen Yingjun. If you don’t mind, you can call him Brother Jun."

Chen Yingjun immediately stood up: "Master Xiao Zheng, I’m your loyal fan! I once sent my assistant to your pastry shop in Gusu to buy your pastries. I’m not sure if you remember, but I asked him to buy 40 pounds of flaky pastry at once!"

Zheng Siyuan: ...

"I remember." Zheng Siyuan nodded with difficulty.

It was hard not to remember.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Chen Huihong, acting as the intermediary, briefly introduced the specifics of the big order. Qin Huai brought the broth to the table.

Zheng Siyuan picked up the soup, stirred it with a spoon, seemingly checking for clarity, and then took a small sip.

"Your fire control has indeed improved a lot. The soup tastes even better in reality than it looks in the video." Zheng Siyuan was never stingy with compliments, "The scum has been skimmed very cleanly, but the high heat was kept a bit too long, so the soup isn’t quite clear enough. Even if it’s not a clear broth, the cleanliness of the soup is one of the key factors that determine its texture and flavor."

"But it’s still much better than the chicken soup you used to make."

Chen Yingjun looked a little confused, clearly not understanding why Master Xiao Zheng started teaching the moment he tasted the soup.

Zheng Siyuan just mentioned a couple of points before putting down the bowl and looking seriously at Chen Yingjun: "President Chen, I’ve understood your requirements, but may I ask if you have any specific requests for the snacks in the three-tiered gift box?"

"No, I fully trust the skills of Master Xiao Zheng and Master Xiao Qin." Chen Yingjun might as well have proudly said he’s the rare good client right on his face.

"Since the gift boxes are divided into three tiers, why not put basic snacks in the lowest tier, lotus cakes in the middle tier, and dumplings in the high-end tier?" suggested Zheng Siyuan.

"Dumplings?" Chen Yingjun had the same perplexed expression Chen Huihong had yesterday.

"It’s a type of pastry with many shapes. I’m coincidentally planning to make them today. If you don’t mind waiting here for a few hours, I’ll only be making the most basic kind of dumplings."

"Today... I’ll make apples then." Zheng Siyuan was already preparing to get started, proving his action-oriented nature with actions.

Chen Yingjun bewilderedly looked at Chen Huihong, who gave him a glance, indicating not to ask and just wait to taste — otherwise, why invite you here today?

Chen Yingjun understood.

They moved their chairs to the window to observe from outside as Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan changed into their kitchen outfits and started working.

Qin Huai had already prepared the ingredients; last night, Zheng Siyuan had given a list to Qin Huai.

Zheng Siyuan started kneading the dough, while Qin Huai sat on a small stool watching from the side.

"Honestly, I really wouldn’t recommend learning to make dumplings now," said Zheng Siyuan, "If Luoluo wanted to eat them, I’d make them a few times, and she’d soon find they were rather ordinary — the novelty wears off quickly."

"Ah, are dumplings not tasty?" Qin Huai was shocked.

"Not that they aren’t tasty, but my father and I aren’t very good at making them," replied Zheng Siyuan.

The dough quickly formed under his hands as he skillfully kneaded and rolled it more than he kneaded, showing a clear step-wise procedure.

"Dumplings require imagination," said Zheng Siyuan.

"I understand; you mentioned that yesterday," Qin Huai nodded, "Their shapes are varied, and how exquisite and beautiful they turn out primarily depends on the chef’s imagination and artistic aesthetic."

"It’s not just about the shape," Zheng Siyuan shook his head, "The taste is also crucial. Whether a dumpling can amaze people also tests the chef’s imagination."

Qin Huai: ?

"Take this simple apple, for instance. A successful dumpling should look like an apple when seen, look like an apple when cut open, taste like an apple, and have the fresh scent of an apple to be qualified."

"But while shapes can be replicated, and scents can be achieved, ensuring the taste is trickier."

"To impart an apple flavor to dumplings, you need to mix apple puree or juice into the dough. But does the apple puree still taste like apple after steaming?"

"Simply mixing apple into the dough to make a filling — does it resemble an apple’s color when cut open?"

"If one uses traditional jujube paste filling, what relation does that have with apples?"

"What’s true for apples is true for bananas and walnuts as well. Then there’s kiwi, peaches, lychees..."

"The flavor is the hard part for traditional fruit and vegetable dumplings."

"Even more challenging are themes like ’Bamboo Heralds Spring,’ ’Phoenix Soars,’ or ’Fish Leap over the Dragon Gate.’ How to make pastries with a fish flavor? And what flavor should a phoenix have? To make dumplings that feel logical and stunning to the diners requires the chef’s imagination and creativity."

"That’s why I said my father and I aren’t good at making dumplings. We just follow the formula left by our grandmaster. My father did it as he saw, and I do it as my father did."

"In the words of Master Huang, if a school of thought can only pass down skills in such a manner from one generation to the next, it will definitely decline generation after generation. Lost skills will become more common, ultimately leading to the school’s downfall."

Qin Huai was a little lost.

This was way beyond his scope, completely beyond it.

Profound matters like these weren’t meant for someone with a rugged approach like his to consider.

"Even with mastery of the formulas, controlling the expansion of the dumplings during the steaming process poses a challenge for a chef. Furthermore, the dough must be kneaded a bit firmer for better shaping, which affects the texture. Correcting this during subsequent processes also tests a chef’s imagination."

"According to our grandmaster’s formula, our apple dumplings use jujube paste mixed with yam paste and blended with apple juice to maintain the apple flavor without affecting the overall feel."

Zheng Siyuan began mixing the filling.

"Usually, recreating the taste of jujube in dumplings is easiest; you just use jujube paste for the filling."

Qin Huai acknowledged that he had learned something new.

With the filling complete, Zheng Siyuan pinched the dough into small portions, rolled them into thick skins, and started wrapping the filling.

He not only did it himself but also shared half the dough with Qin Huai.

"Wrap it into a round apple shape. You can imagine for yourself what you think an apple looks like, and make it into that shape," stated Zheng Siyuan, "Even if you just want to practice technique, simply wrapping them is quite useful."

Holding the dough, Qin Huai realized for the first time that he indeed had little imagination.

Hey, what does an apple look like again?

Round.

Is it round?

Seeing Qin Huai hold the dough slightly confused, Zheng Siyuan smiled and demonstrated in front of him.

Without using any extra tools, he simply used his right hand to wrap, knead, and roll, then poked two dots with his little finger, slightly shaping it, creating a small dough ball that didn’t quite look like an apple.

"Whether the dough before steaming can resemble the intended shape after steaming doesn’t take imagination; it’s down to experience."

Qin Huai mimicked the steps — wrapping, kneading, rolling, poking two dots with his little finger, slightly shaping it.

A dough ball, not resembling an apple but very much like the small dough ball that Zheng Siyuan just made, appeared.

Zheng Siyuan: ?

They continued wrapping.

In between wrapping, Zheng Siyuan also took some time to shape the apple stems, refining them with great detail.

They placed the dumplings in the steamer.

Qin Huai remained by the steamer, closely observing the dumpling’s actions inside.

Standing by with a complex expression, Zheng Siyuan watched Qin Huai.

"Have you... really never learned before?" Zheng Siyuan was almost questioning his own understanding.

"No, I didn’t even know what dumplings were; it’s something I learned from a novel during university."

Zheng Siyuan felt a little dejected.

He thought about booking a flight back since the pastry shop hadn’t yet begun renovation.

"Do you know how long it usually takes a normal chef to master techniques, even just imitating others, before they can graduate?"

"How long?" Qin Huai curiously asked.

"2-3 years."

Looking at Qin Huai, there was something Zheng Siyuan left unsaid.

But you seemed to only take 2-3 minutes.

Though not yet a master, you didn’t look like a complete novice at all.

It’s no wonder his father was eager to take Qin Huai as a disciple, even buying a house in the neighboring community despite knowing hope was slim.

He felt the same inclination.

Qin Huai didn’t possess enormous creativity, but his mimicry skills were uncommonly strong — perhaps too strong.

The dumplings were coming out of the steamer.

The steamed dumplings expanded a full circle; what barely resembled an apple before now bore some resemblance.

"The last step left is coloring," Zheng Siyuan continued with explaining as he set aside the thought of accepting a disciple.

"Natural colorings are used for coloring dumplings. Normally, cocoa powder for brown, beets for red, spinach juice for green — of course, purple yams, purple sweet potatoes, carrots, and yellow fruits can also be used."

"Again, it depends entirely on the chef’s imagination."

"As for whether you can mix the right color, that takes a lot of trial and error. Though, I have a fixed formula left by the grandmaster."

Zheng Siyuan prepared a bowl of fixed-color formula using beet juice, sharing half with Qin Huai, picking up a brush: "There are many ways to color. Brush strokes give a delicate finish, applying by hand works too, and if necessary, you can dunk or roll the entire dumpling to comply."

Starting to color one dumpling, Qin Huai knew this was fundamentally testing a fine arts background.

Does Qin Huai have such a fine arts foundation?

No, if he did, he could have earned that $10,000 himself.

Holding a dumpling in one hand and a brush in the other, with half a bowl of beet juice in front of him,

after a moment’s pondering, Qin Huai quietly inched closer to Zheng Siyuan, watching how he brushed.

Zheng Siyuan: ...

Qin Huai mirrored Zheng Siyuan’s moves, brush for brush.

He dabbed beet juice as Zheng Siyuan did.

Chen Yingjun, observing from outside, noticed: "Why is Master Xiao Qin copying Master Xiao Zheng? Whatever Master Xiao Zheng does, he does."

"Don’t meddle in matters of chefs," Chen Huihong advised.

Some time later, what could have passed as a genuine apple emerged from Zheng Siyuan’s hands.

Two seconds later, another convincingly real-looking apple appeared from Qin Huai’s hands.

Zheng Siyuan: ...?

Qin Huai: !

Although the shapes differed, the outcome was satisfactory.

Looking at Qin Huai, Zheng Siyuan asked, "You really haven’t learned before?"

"No," Qin Huai shook his head, "but somehow, this just felt particularly smooth. I seldom feel this fluid when learning a new dish."

Putting down his dumpling, Zheng Siyuan washed his hands and glanced at his phone.

His father, Zheng Da, had sent him a WeChat message an hour ago.

Dad: Si Yuan, how’s it going? Did you manage to knock some sense into Xiao Qin with a harsh lesson? Just make the apple dumpling you’re best at and have him learn as you do it, creating a contrast so he understands Finger Skill can’t be polished overnight. Right now, mastering fire control should be the priority.

Dad: Don’t overreach, don’t rush into everything immediately; mastering fire control is more important than anything, and Finger Skill can be practiced gradually later on.

Dad: So, did he get a harsh lesson or not?

Zheng Siyuan quietly responded.

Zheng Siyuan: No, he’s rather happy.

Zheng Siyuan: I feel slightly knocked off balance myself.

Zheng Siyuan: [Picture]

Zheng Siyuan: Dad, can you guess which of these two apples is his, and which is mine?

Dad: ???

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