Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 53 - 47 Immortal Brew

Chapter 53: Chapter 47 Immortal Brew

"Order for the 19th floor of Courtyard, 17 cups of hand-beaten lemon tea!"

"Order for Lantian, Building C, 9 cups of hand-beaten lemon tea."

"Still Lantian, Building C, 11 cups of hand-beaten lemon tea."

"Lantian, Building A, 8... one cup is for the first-floor security guard, a total of 8 cups of hand-beaten lemon tea."

"Cour..."

In the peaceful afternoon, staring at one order after another being posted, Qin Luo was pounding lemons so vigorously flames could have sparked.

Qin Luo: Seriously, have people in the big city never had hand-beaten lemon tea before???

If conditions allowed, Qin Luo would have used the big pot previously for soaking mung beans to pound lemons in a heartbeat.

While frantically working, Qin Luo looked around with a pleading gaze.

His parents weren’t there, they went back to sleep.

Huang Xi wasn’t there, she went back to rest.

An Youyou wasn’t there, she went out for deliveries.

The other... the other waitstaff sisters weren’t there either, except for one who stayed to keep track of orders; the rest went out for deliveries.

As for her brother...

Qin Huai was in the warehouse studying a video tutorial on locust flower buns.

In her heart, Qin Luo suspected her brother was using it as an excuse to slack off and play on his phone in the warehouse, but she didn’t dare say it. Because the locust flower buns sounded really tasty, and if her brother actually made them, she’d be the first to eat.

Having turned into a relentless hand-beaten lemon person, Qin Luo felt, for the first time, that work was truly tiring.

Better off cleaning toilets.

"Yo, why is there no one here today? Is Qin Huai still around? I just heard from a colleague at the neighborhood committee that today’s new hand-beaten lemon tea is especially delicious. Since we’re so close, we won’t order delivery; I’m here representing the committee to buy 9 cups," Ouyang said as he walked into the cafeteria with a bottle of iced red tea.

Seeing Ouyang was like seeing a savior for Qin Luo, she quickly shouted, "Brother Yang! Brother Yang, come help me make a few cups of lemon tea!"

Ouyang: ? Wasn’t I here as a customer? How did I end up working?

In three minutes, Ouyang changed into the Yunzhong Restaurant’s kitchen work uniform and joined the team making hand-beaten lemon tea.

Qin Huai, after carefully studying the locust flower bun tutorial again, was stunned when he came out of the warehouse.

When did Ouyang start working here?

After a second of thought, Qin Huai felt there was no need to think further and walked into the kitchen: "Get me a cup, with less ice, full sugar, and duck shit aroma tea base."

Ouyang: %*@#*!

Qin Huai returned to the culinary station and started his first attempt.

Learning from the fermented rice with steamed buns experience, Qin Huai tried not to alter any steps and made sure the ingredients matched as closely as possible when tackling the more challenging locust flower buns.

Gray flour, buckwheat flour, locust flower honey, cold water.

Yes, making locust flower buns requires cold water to mix the dough.

Normally, dough is mixed with warm water, making it suitable for most pastries. When Qin Huai made buckwheat buns, he would first use boiling water to slightly scald the buckwheat flour, as buckwheat flour is inherently hard to knead into a dough. Scalding makes it softer and easier to mold.

But using cold water to knead dough, Qin Huai had only done so when making dumpling skins before, usually using cooler warm water for buns.

It’s safe to say that from the dough mixing step, locust flower buns already take an unconventional route.

However, with the current hot weather, using cold water should be fine.

Qin Huai mixed gray and buckwheat flour in an 8:2 ratio, added a small amount of honey, following the video tutorial.

The amount of honey added should be minimal, which was the second key point Qin Huai noted from watching the video tutorial.

As for the kneading technique, honestly speaking, Qin Huai didn’t quite get it.

Jiang Chengde’s kneading process seemed casual, like a senior expert in a fantasy world casually demonstrating swordplay to new apprentices, lazily swiping the sword in the air and then sheathing it.

The mountain opposite was split in two.

Then the expert kindly asks: How was the technique, did you get it?

The apprentices: 0.0

Now Qin Huai was in the same spot as those apprentices.

Qin Huai could only rely on his previous experience with making buckwheat buns to knead the dough.

With the buckwheat flour mixed into the dough, it’s harder to knead into shape, and unlike the lightly cozy spa treatment the dough received in Qin Wan’s fermented rice with steamed buns video tutorial, he had to be forceful.

In a way, kneading dough is like javelin throwing, both can achieve miraculous results with great force.

Qin Huai kneaded the dough with force.

Hmm, this sensation...

Wasn’t much different from when he made buckwheat buns.

Once the dough was formed, it was time for fermentation.

Locust flower buns need to ferment in a sufficiently warm environment, and Qin Huai, following the video tutorial, soaked a wet cloth in hot water, placed it for a while, then covered the dough to let it ferment.

Locust flower buns require significantly longer fermentation than regular buns, and there’s no room for observation. During this time, Qin Huai kept busy practicing kneading a normal buckwheat dough, continuing to make buckwheat buns.

Chen Huixi’s task wasn’t finished yet.

Grandma Ding’s ears also needed his guarding.

Finally catching up with a batch of big lunch orders, Ouyang sat on a small bench in the kitchen, drinking his hand-beaten lemon tea for the first time: ...

"Luoluo, why did your brother seem like a jammed robot while kneading dough earlier? It was all jerky," Ouyang mercilessly teased, "Remember to tell your brother that I made 37 cups of hand-beaten lemon tea at noon, so I need to be counted for commission."

Qin Luo nodded to show she recorded it, and asked, "Brother Yang, will you come back in the afternoon to make some more?"

Ouyang: "...Isn’t it possible that I have to work in the afternoon?"

Qin Luo thought for a moment: "Could you make it at the office? I can send Sister Youyou over to pick it up."

Ouyang: Do I really have to do this side job today?

Qin Luo: Brother Yang pumps the lemon tea with such force, even more than his own strength, and it’s super tasty (｡ì_í｡)

With a little over ten minutes before work, Qin Luo, feeling that Ouyang worked hard making hand-beaten lemon tea for her, took out some precious, maybe more than three-day-old, probably-still-edible mung bean iced cake from the fridge to share with her co-worker.

The two watched Qin Huai make buns while eating, appetizing.

"Luoluo, is your brother’s first dough different? I see the ones behind have fermented properly; how come that one hasn’t moved? Did your brother forget it?" Ouyang not only ate the mung bean iced cake but also critiqued Qin Huai’s cooking skills.

"No way, usually only my dad would do such things," Qin Luo refuted, "Grandma said, whatever my brother does, there’s a reason, we just have to wait to eat."

"But why are so many buying hand-beaten lemon tea today? There’s no shortage of milk tea shops around here, loads of places selling hand-beaten lemon tea, yet this tea," Ouyang took a big gulp of the lemon tea he made himself, though he couldn’t say it wasn’t good, "isn’t that amazing."

"No idea," Qin Luo shook her head, "the store is having a promotion today, with meals you get free cold tea, five flower tea, dried tangerine peel tea, and seven spice dampness removing tea; only the hand-beaten lemon tea isn’t free, you have to buy it."

"No idea why, but at noon, half a vat of the other cold teas were given away, yet the lemon tea just went crazy. Not only was I making it at noon, but two of the chefs were making it, and Sister Youyou and the others were making it too."

"After lunch, the orders dropped significantly, but suddenly, for some reason, there were a lot of new deliveries, and these were added on top of lunch orders that already had delivery." As she said this, Qin Luo glanced at the undelivered cold tea, "Brother Yang, do you want to try some cold tea? My mom said the seven spice dampness removing tea is especially good for the body during the summer!"

Ouyang had never had cold tea before and didn’t think much of it, so he nodded, "Then I must try it."

Qin Luo went to pour some cold tea for Ouyang.

Ouyang took a big gulp.

=͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪‧̣̥̇)

Ouyang quickly took a sip of the hand-beaten lemon tea.

Dear folks, hand-beaten lemon tea is simply an Immortal Brew!