Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 38 - 36: Two Recipes

Chapter 38: Chapter 36: Two Recipes

After leaving the dream, Qin Huai immediately opened the game interface to check the illustration.

Surname: Chen Huihong

Species: ??? (to be unlocked)

Dream: 2/3

Recipe: Tree Bark, Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns, locust flower buns (click to view details)

Gift: None

Although the species is still three question marks, two recipes have been obtained!

[Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns B-level]

Maker: Qin Wan

Dish details: The signature delicacy of the well-known bakery Qin’s Steamed Bun Shop beyond the border, a century-old brand’s essence. As the child with the highest talent for pastries in the Qin Family, Qin Wan had never been personally taught by her father due to the family rule of passing on skills to sons and not daughters. She learned to make this fermented rice with steamed buns through her own secret study and exploration, unexpectedly preventing the family heirloom from being lost. For Chen Huihong, this was the first time after coming to this world that she tasted what could be truly considered delicious food, and also the first time she felt the unconditional kindness from others. Consuming it allows one to experience the happiness of being cared for by others.

Friendly reminder: This dish is moderately difficult, and players have a certain chance of failing to make it.

Times it can be made in a day: (0/3 trays) [no more than 24 per tray]

[Locust Flower Bun Level S]

Maker: Jiang Chengde

Dish details: An innovative creation by Master Jiang Chengde to let his sister eat breakfast quietly. Locust flower honey mixed with white flour and a small amount of buckwheat flour, using honey as a natural fermentation agent for buns, gives ordinary ingredients extraordinary texture and flavor. It was the most delicious food Hui Niang had tasted in her lifetime and had the magical effect of making children aged 3-12 eat quietly and obediently.

Warm reminder: The difficulty of this dish is too high, and players have a 100% chance of failure when making it.

Times it can be made in a day: (0/9 trays) [no more than 24 per tray]

Qin Huai: ...?

Who is Qin Wan?

And who is Jiang Chengde?

Why do these two people seem so impressive? Especially that Jiang Chengde, the dish description directly labels him as a Master, and the game gives a friendly reminder that the level S locust flower bun has a 100% failure rate.

Does this game have such poor balance? Facing a boss immediately after leaving the newbie village.

Qin Huai scratched his head and seriously analyzed it.

Qin Wan... presumably should be the woman who gave Chen Huihong the buns; her debut dish was the fermented rice with steamed buns he previously messed up, and it’s B-level. Truly, she has beauty, kindness, and high skills.

As for Jiang Chengde... could he be her husband?

He is a Master, so he should somewhat have some fame, right?

Qin Huai directly took out his phone to search for the three words Jiang Chengde and surprisingly found results. He was a master of Shandong cuisine during the period of the Republic of China, the head chef of Taifeng Building in Beiping, who disappeared without a trace due to wartime chaos later. Due to the era, there isn’t much information to find. Qin Huai also conveniently searched for Taifeng Building and discovered that the restaurant had been closed for more than half a century, but the original site still remained inside the second ring of Beiping City, almost becoming a tourist spot.

It seems quite interesting, and Qin Huai decided to visit it when he had time.

Now... the characters match, the timeframe matches, the location matches.

Chen Huihong being a reincarnated monster is well-established.

So now the question arises, was Chen Huihong’s brother, who lost 200,000 because he believed in past and present lives, encountering a true scammer or a true master?

Qin Huai only felt his mind was in a churn, with all sorts of mixed-up thoughts popping out, and even opened a browser to search if there was a legend of a crazy lady in Beiping City from the last century.

To no avail, but he did find quite a few ghost stories.

Qin Huai sighed, thinking Chen Huihong didn’t make much of a name for herself in her last life, not even leaving behind a legend.

Hesitating between the two seemingly ordinary but actually glittering recipes, Qin Huai eventually double-clicked on the locust flower bun and poked out a video tutorial.

Very well, there’s a tutorial, not too deceptive.

Qin Huai expressed that he must study this legendary S-level bun’s making tutorial thoroughly.

With a 100% failure chance, he had to see what was going on.

In the video, a pair of standard chef’s hands, clear-jointed, appeared on a simple chopping board. Next to the board were the ingredients needed for making the locust flower buns: dusty gray flour, dark buckwheat flour, steaming hot water, and a small jar of seemingly good-quality locust flower honey.

Although the environment was simple, the chef was highly skilled at making buns. Every action looked casual, but upon closer thought, there was nothing to pick apart.

Gray flour and buckwheat flour were mixed, and the hot water scalded the flour for better mixing.

Warm water made the dough easier to form.

When the dough was somewhere between a dough and a batter, locust flower honey was added. The honey quickly disappeared into the dough, leading to rapid kneading, adding water, more honey, and continued quick kneading.

A theoretically impossibly smooth dough miraculously formed.

Cover with a linen cloth, allowing the dough to ferment.

The instructional video didn’t stop due to the dough fermenting; the chef temporarily left the video frame, seemingly attending to other matters.

A creaking sound came as if an old wooden door was being pushed open.

"Bohe." A gentle and familiar female voice.

It’s Qin Wan!

Qin Huai, who had just left the dream not long ago, immediately recognized it.

"Why did you get up so early, not sleeping a bit longer."

"Got up early to make buns for Hui Qin, she’s been fussing about not wanting porridge in the morning these days, taking Wei Jin with her to cause trouble, tiring you out, I’m sure." A deep male voice said apologetically.

The chef’s identity naturally went without saying.

"It’s normal for Hui Qin to be unsettled in a new place. Thankfully, you wisely brought her tiger-head cap along, otherwise, I’d worry about her crying her voice hoarse." Qin Wan said with a smile, touching the dough through the cloth, "What made you think of making buns?"

"Saw you feed Hui Qin and Wei Jin water with honey the other day, suddenly got the idea. I remember your family used a secret technique apart from using brewer’s yeast for bun fermentation, using honey for fermentation, and thought to give it a try."

Qin Wan was taken aback: "Seems so, but it was lost by my dad’s generation, never heard about it in my childhood, you think it can work?"

"Just a try. Hui Qin loves honey water, she might love honey buns too. It’ll quieten her during meals, saving you some effort." Jiang Chengde sighed as he spoke, "Really a lot of work for you."

"It’s not about being easy or hard." Qin Wan’s voice gradually faded away, "Hui Qin and Wei Jin might have awakened by now, I should go over, they’ll fuss if they don’t see anyone around."

The kitchen returned to quiet.

The subsequent video content remained simple, just incredibly genius fermentation, astounding kneading, miraculous steaming, leading to the entirely impossible locust flower buns.

Watching the entire video, Qin Huai scratched his head saying: Is this really a bun humans can make?

This skill, this level, this fermentation, this finished product, you tell me it’s casually made just to entertain children?

Do you master chefs entertain kids with such high standards?