Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 455: Knocking on the Head to Ask for the Formula
Taro balls...
At that moment, Zhang Shou's first reaction after hearing these words was that there was a person who loved desserts and could make desserts who traveled through time with him! After all, with Emperor Taizu in front of him, he didn't think there was anything strange about this at all.
However, thinking that "New Edition of Ge's Mathematics" is still , and that the incident of Taizu writing a plaque to measure density happened a long time ago, and that he has not seen his fellow villagers secretly spying on it or even taking the opportunity to visit, he can't help but feel a little uncertain.
Ah Liu's detailed explanation successfully brought his wandering thoughts back to normal. "Chef Song said that when he saw those overseas ingredients, he was suspicious and did not perform well in the extra test. Later, he woke up from his dream. So when he made snacks for the main test, in addition to using various fillings that he was always good at in the longevity peaches, he also used pumpkin filling and peanut filling."
"The taro balls we are making now not only use the sweet potatoes we just provided, but also the cassava flour he brought before, which has been inspected by someone. The cassava flour is from overseas. He was shocked when he saw the overseas ingredients because he had used them before."
Seeing Zhang Shou looking at him in astonishment, Ah Liu added: "I didn't change a single word. These are his original words."
Zhang Shou couldn't help laughing. "I know that your taciturn personality depends on the person and the place. It's okay if you don't explain."
He shook his head and then asked, "Then he came to his senses and served a ginseng fruit birthday dish that was quite creative? Then how did he come up with the idea of serving taro balls, and there were only two bowls? Did he think that such a small amount of food would be enough for so many people here?"
Princess Yongping thought Zhang Shou was mocking her for fighting with Zhu Ying for food, but then she heard Zhu Ying shout, "That's right, there are three birthday celebrants, he should at least give three bowls!"
Seeing Princess Yongping's indescribable expression when she looked at Zhu Ying, Chu Kuan stepped forward and took the tray from Ah Liu and handed it to the eunuch next to him. He asked with interest, "I'm also very interested. Why did you agree to send these two bowls so easily... Um, taro balls, please?"
Zhang Shou saw Ah Liu looking at him with a confused look in his eyes. Suddenly, he had an idea and thought of the biggest possibility. He was angry and amused for a moment, but then he coughed and said, "Forget it, forget it. Ah Liu sometimes does things on impulse that he may not even understand. Besides, it's already the leftover ingredients, so it's not surprising that only two bowls can be made."
He dared to guarantee that, not to mention why Ah Liu would agree to help deliver these two bowls of taro balls, why there were only these two bowls? It must be that Ah Liu insisted on trying the "poison" himself, so another bowl had already gone into the boy's stomach!
Zhu Ying said she fully understood and accepted this explanation, but her eyes told Zhang Shou that she had also thought of that possibility. Princess Yongping was a little suspicious. However, she was almost full at this time, and she was not too interested in the white or yellow taro balls floating in the red bean soup, so she was happy and generous.
"I can't eat any more. Since there are only two bowls, I'll just give them to you, Dr. Zhang, and Yingying, the two birthday boys."
This time, Zhang Shou laughed and said without waiting for Zhu Ying's consent: "I have eaten so many dishes and snacks. Even if some of them were just a little bit, I am still full. If I eat this bowl, I will feel a little overwhelmed. Even if others are celebrating our birthday, sharing the food with everyone is also a way to share the blessing and longevity, isn't it?"
Zhu Ying then remembered that she had just gone to apologize to Tuantuan for competing with Princess Yongping for food. She immediately ordered the eunuch to get bowls and plates to share the food. However, when she counted the taro balls in the bowls one by one and then divided them, the other uncles and grandfathers couldn't help laughing. Zhu Jing even wanted to pull his daughter over to tell her something.
If you really can't bear to part with it, then just eat it yourself. They are all old people and are not that interested in sweets! Besides, who would fight with a little girl like you for food?
But Zhu Jing was held back by Weinan Earl Zhang Kang, so he could only watch Zhu Ying laugh dryly as she brought the pitiful bowls with only two taro balls to them. Now, not only him, but even Zhang Chuan, Ge Yong and others felt that they could understand the scene when the two girls were fighting over the sweets.
The same thing with Chef Song. They only served a small amount of food. How can it be enough to eat?
Zhang Shou watched Zhu Ying bring the small bowl with two taro balls to Princess Yongping, and then secretly bring the bowl with four taro balls to himself. He didn't know whether to be touched or helpless. However, when he saw that Zhu Ying's own bowl also had four taro balls, he felt that the eldest lady's fair distribution was simply blatant cheating.
When the white taro balls entered his mouth, Zhang Shou narrowed his eyes slightly, and his memory could not help but drift back to the familiar taste that his mother brought him in his previous life. When he first arrived here four years ago, he went from being confused and uneasy to gradually accepting numbness, and then actively familiarizing himself with the surroundings and actively integrating. In fact, he always knew that he could not find his previous life again, but he still tried to find something.
Even those familiar flavors were a kind of comfort. And now, he has found enough things and encountered a wonderful fate.
"Oh, this is better than the glutinous rice dumplings made in my kitchen! The taste is really special!" Zhu Ying smiled happily after taking only one bite, and then punched the table, not caring about other people's expressions. "I have decided, if this chef Song is selected as the imperial chef, I will go to the palace to eat every day! If he is not selected, I will hire him back as a chef!"
Princess Yongping also thought that the sweet and sticky taste of the taro balls and the rich flavor of the red bean soup were all very unique - and of course very delicious. Even though she always thought that three meals a day were just a routine, she gradually began to understand why her father had to make such a fuss to attack the imperial kitchen.
The imperial chefs in the past were simply wasted on this title! Aren’t imperial chefs there to bring people delicious food?
However, she was not as simple and direct as Zhu Ying. She just smiled reservedly and said calmly: "Since such a talent has come to take the examination for the imperial chef, if he can pass all the tests, he will naturally have a place." Whenever she competed with Zhu Ying for something, she always won less and lost more, but this time she would not give in!
Seeing the two girls' eyes full of passion, Zhang Shou shook his head and ate all the taro balls in his bowl. Seeing that several uncles had also finished their meals, some looked normal, some nodded slightly, but they were not as enthusiastic as the two girls, he smiled and said to Ah Liu at the side: "Go ask Chef Song if he sells the recipe for taro balls. If you have any..."
He paused, then said thoughtfully: "Although he said that the raw materials of the taro balls include taro, sweet potatoes, and cassava flour, which are the overseas ingredients I provided to them this time, but where exactly does the cassava flour come from? I also hope he can tell me a little bit, and by the way, how the taro balls are made . Of course, if it is a secret, he doesn't want to tell it. A gentleman does not take away what others like."
A gentleman does not take away what others like, but I am not a gentleman! When Ah Liu thought about this, he nodded again and went downstairs. He saw another waiter busy delivering the finished dim sum to the Xinglong Tea House, while Lu Sanlang upstairs had already begun to announce the scores of the first five dim sum. Unsurprisingly, the ginseng fruit birthday dish was the best among all and ranked first.
Although Ah Liu didn't understand these twists and turns, he felt that even if Chef Song couldn't stand out from today's preliminary round, he would not be mediocre in the future just based on the attitudes of Zhu Ying and Princess Yongping. Of course, even if he was qualified to participate in today's preliminary round, Chef Song would never be an ordinary chef.
Because Lu Sanlang, who is in charge of the selection, is not easy to fool. All the chefs who registered have been selected by this little fat man.
With this in mind, Ah Liu quietly slipped into the makeshift kitchen again. Although there were guards inside and outside the kitchen, the guards were from the Ruiqi Battalion, and as someone who had been allowed by the emperor to often go to the Ruiqi Battalion to "learn skills" and beat up a bunch of people, naturally no one dared to stop him.
After walking around, he came to the stove in the corner where he met the person before, but he still couldn't find the overly young Chef Song, and he couldn't help but feel confused. When he went out the back door, he found that the person was sitting on a bench and dozing off, with his hands in his sleeves, his head leaning forward little by little, like a chicken pecking at rice, and there was only a bubble coming out of his nose.
Even when Ah Liu came in front of him and gently shook his palm, he didn't react at all. The boy withdrew his hand in confusion, and saw the cook who had also finished two questions at the door of the big kitchen looking towards him. He thought for a moment, and finally knocked on Chef Song's head with his fingers, knocking like knocking on a door, and the curious cook was stunned.
Chef Song, who was originally sleeping soundly, was also awakened by the knock on his head like knocking on the door. He almost jumped up, covering his head and screamed, "What's going on? Is it hail?"
After he finished yelling, he saw clearly the big face of Ah Liu who was so close to him. He was slightly stunned and then quickly smiled and said, "Hey, it turns out to be you, little brother! If the taro balls are not delicious, it's not my fault. After all, it's the first time for me to make sweet potato taro balls..."
Even though he usually doesn't have a very expressive expression, the corners of Ah Liu's mouth drooped slightly at this moment. That's right, those two bowls of taro balls were not made with leftover ingredients and given to the three birthday celebrants as a treat, but they were made by someone who was starving and planned to eat them himself, relying on the stove at the edge where no one could see them, but he bumped into them!
When Chef Song, who was eating secretly, saw him, his first reaction was not to ask who he was or why he came, but he pushed a bowl over to him and said to him with a smile: "It's delicious, brother, you want to try it?"
As for why he sent it to Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou, it was because after he finished a bowl in one breath, he stared at them and asked if they had any more. So, under his persistent gaze, Chef Song obediently cooked the remaining taro balls in red bean soup and then served them two bowls.
This is why there were only two bowls of taro balls just now.
At this moment, Ah Liu once again stared at Chef Song for a long time with that look that would make others feel disgusted, and then he asked directly: "Where did you get the tapioca flour for making taro balls? Do you have the recipe?"
Such a straightforward question would have immediately angered another chef, but Chef Song was stunned for a moment, then scratched his head and laughed dryly, "Ha, ha, I didn't expect that a grown man likes sweet food. Well, actually I made the taro balls after reading it in a book. There's no need to keep it secret, it's very simple."
"It's steaming sticky foods like taro with water and mashing them into a paste. Then add tapioca flour and knead it into a dough like noodles. Of course, the ratio must be mastered. I can't tell you the exact ratio because I rely purely on gestures and mostly on habit. You have to try it yourself. As for tapioca flour..."
At this point, Chef Song smiled mysteriously and said, "It's something I brought from overseas. I think it looks like yam. I had a large area of it planted in the backyard of my hometown. The yield is very high, but the person who brought it to me said it's poisonous. It's best not to eat it directly like yam. After grinding it into powder, it's best to soak it in lime water. It's said that Emperor Taizu said so..."
Ah Liu listened attentively to the other party's explanation, silently taking note of every word, and when Chef Song finished his long-winded speech, he suddenly smiled at him. This was a rare gesture of kindness for him, but Chef Song was shocked!
Because unless he smiled involuntarily, Liu's smile... was really stiff!
However, the boy himself was not aware of this. Chef Song could not help but take a step back, then quickly bowed and said, "Brother, please stop laughing, it makes me feel cold all over. Anyway, if you have anything to say, just ask me, I promise to tell you everything. Well, you see, it was not easy for me to get this spot in the preliminary round, and I also failed the extra test. I am unlucky enough!"
"But I didn't expect that I won first place in the main competition. Even though I was only first among five people, I am almost dying of joy! So, I can't tell you the recipe of the filling of the ginseng fruit birthday dish. I am counting on this reputation to open a shop in the future!"
"Oh." Ah Liu's reaction to Chef Song's words was simple and direct. He nodded and turned away.
As he left, Chef Song couldn't help but stare at his back in confusion for a long time, and finally slapped his face hard. He seemed to think that this was not enough, so he simply went back to his stove, scooped a bucket of water from the water tank, and splashed it directly on his face. As the cold water drops hit his face and then dripped onto the ground, he finally cheered up a little.
He thought that the lifelike ginseng fruit would be taboo, after all, the temper of some dignitaries is hard to predict, but he didn't expect the evaluation to be good. Now it seems that the result of this impromptu competition will be unexpected? But the problem is that except for carving and making sweets, he is not good at other things. If he advances, how will he fool through the semi-finals? Ah, it's really worrying!
