Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 425 - 240 Is This Reasonable?_2

Chapter 425: Chapter 240 Is This Reasonable?_2

Today he wanted to make a type of mixed fruit filling glutinous rice ball that wouldn’t be out of place in the current era, that could at least be described as having a decent taste, and was quite unique.

The glutinous rice balls were tumbling in the pot.

They’re ready to be taken out.

Zheng Siyuan served up the rice balls, not into small bowls, but all in a big basin. Everyone watched from the side, and nobody took a bowl first. Qin Huai even pulled out his phone and started a countdown.

minutes and 50 seconds.

Although Tan Wei’an didn’t understand why it was 3 minutes and 50 seconds, he wasn’t a fool. He could roughly guess that Qin Huai was timing the cooling down period to make them edible. To appear as if he were busy, Tan Wei’an silently grabbed bowls and spoons, handing one to each person, including Guli, and then stood at the back.

This way he didn’t have to be the first to taste the rice balls.

Qin Huai watched the time.

minutes and 49 seconds.

minutes and 50 seconds.

The time was up!

"You can eat now," said Qin Huai.

During the wait, all the chefs from Zhiwei Restaurant had arrived. No one was working; they all silently gathered around to watch.

Guli stood at the front.

Guli thought for a moment, scooped one rice ball with his big spoon, blew on it twice without any hesitation, and took a bite amid all the expectant gazes. Uncertain, he said, "The taste..."

"is okay."

Tan Wei’an’s eyes widened.

Little brother, you’ve really changed! Not only do you support the wrongdoers now, but you’ve also learned to butter up!

Guli also couldn’t quite trust his own taste buds, and savored it carefully, "It’s sweet but not greasy. The winter melon candy flavor is a bit strong but not overwhelming. The nuts wrapped in syrup have a unique texture when chewed."

"Can you taste any other flavors?" Qin Huai asked.

Guli nodded, "I can taste almond and peanut, but the flavors of the other preserved fruits are indistinguishable; you can only sense a unified sweetness."

That’s exactly right!

This version of the mixed fruit filling needs to have a unified sweetness!

After yesterday’s successful experiment, Qin Huai considered whether to emphasize the nutty flavor or the flavors of the other preserved fruits. Combining Master Zhou’s recipe, Qin Huai thought the focus should be on the nuts, while the preserved fruits should mainly serve to enhance the sweetness, preventing it from being solely the sweetness of winter melon candy.

Guli is a pastry chef with normal taste; if he says it’s okay, then it certainly is okay.

Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan each scooped up a rice ball to taste.

Just as Guli said, in the current mixed fruit filling glutinous rice ball, winter melon candy is undoubtedly the main character, almonds and peanuts are the named supporting roles, and everything else is just part of the ensemble.

But almond, the supporting role A, seemed to want to overshadow the main character a bit, so its part needed to be reduced a little.

After trimming it down, the mixed fruit filling glutinous rice ball could become not just okay, but rather tasty.

As for a delicious mixed fruit filling glutinous rice ball, it would require a more precise adjustment of ingredients.

"Your idea of using winter melon candy to cover most of the ingredients is not bad, but the almond flavor is a bit strong. The sweetness is just right, though. Should we increase the amount of lard when making the syrup? I feel like the mouthfeel isn’t smooth enough," Zheng Siyuan discussed seriously.

"These things can all be gradually tried and adjusted. I think the overall approach now doesn’t have any issue. I’ve tried it a few times at home over the past few days, and this is the most successful version yet. The amount of winter melon candy should remain as it is in this version without changing." Qin Huai discussed as he ate.

Zheng Siyuan nodded, "This method, although it may seem like using too many ingredients makes it a bit redundant, is still a balanced approach."

"Actually, my dad complained to me in private, saying that it’s impossible to unify so many ingredients using normal methods. The best way is to use one or two dominant flavors to cover all the others."

"My dad tried several times with no success, and since you weren’t researching mixed fruit filling anymore, he didn’t bother trying."

"Where did you get the inspiration to use winter melon candy to cover all the other flavors?"

Silently scooping up a rice ball, having finished eating and not daring to speak, Tan Wei’an curiously peeked over.

Qin Huai knew he was about to start his performance.

"Actually, this answer was told to us by Mr. Gong, Master Huang, and Master Zheng from the very beginning."

Zheng Siyuan & Tan Wei’an: ?

"Do you remember when I first inquired about the mixed fruit filling, their most unified impression of the time Master Jing made it was that he used lots of winter melon candy, so much so that what he had stored wasn’t enough, and Master Zheng even went home to grab 5 pounds of it?"

Both nodded in unison.

Zheng Siyuan found it incredible, "You thought of this method just from that? Mixed fruit filling was always supposed to use a lot of winter melon candy, I always thought it was emphasized for exaggeration due to the scarcity of supplies back then, as my dad mentioned."

"Of course not, I actually got this inspiration from chatting with Luoluo some time ago."

Qin Huai knew that getting inspiration from Qin Luo would be the most convincing to Zheng Siyuan.

"Isn’t Luoluo about to go on winter break? This girl is such a foodie; she couldn’t wait for the vacation to feast on my grandma’s bean soup, even before her final exams."

"You may not know, but in our area, during the New Year, it is particularly popular among elders to make beans soup to symbolize prosperity and good fortune."

"Legend has it, in a village under the jurisdiction of another city, many years ago, there was a centenarian. The children from his family were very filial and endeavored to find different beans during festive times and his birthdays, cooking a soup with 100 pieces of each type to wish him longevity."