Chapter 75: Bubble Wontons. (Second update)...

Everyone's eyes stayed on the man for a moment, and then turned to Chen Yan and Tao Yingce as if nothing had happened.

"Chen Lang, Tao Lang, you are back."

"We were just discussing whether we should go look for you two!"

Everyone chatted abruptly, re-arranging their seats. After everyone was seated, Lin Zhi introduced the food on the table. "There are three wonton dishes in front of you. These are all trial wontons. I invited everyone here today to try them out and see which one is the best."

Lin Zhi also prepared a bunch of small signs in advance and handed them to everyone: "Out of 10, please rate your three wonton dishes. Please do not discuss with each other when rating."

“Okay—” “Hey, I feel like I’m the judge.”

"Did the officials and chefs sitting there during the newcomers' meeting think the same thing?"

The novel operation made everyone excited. Even some men who usually looked very rough sat up straight and looked carefully at the three wontons in front of them.

The most eye-catching thing was not the two bowls of wontons piled with toppings and fragrant aroma, but the bowl of noodle soup next to it, which had only a few chopped green onions floating on it and looked so bland that it was a bit pitiful.

“Isn’t this bowl a little too plain?”

"There is no topping at all? There is only a little bit of dried shrimp and chopped green onion!" Everyone looked at it and thought that Linzhi forgot to add the topping, otherwise why would it be so empty.

"But the others too?"

“…wontons without toppings?”

Madam Xie couldn't help but point at the bowl and asked, "Sister Zhi, is this bowl made wrong?"

"Yes, that's right." Lin Zhi gave an affirmative answer, indicating that everyone can choose the order according to their preferences.

"This bowl, then."

“Wontons must have toppings.”

"Well, I'll start with this one." Unlike everyone else, Madam Xie chose the bowl of clear soup wontons. "Those two bowls have fried eel topping on them. The flavor is a bit strong. I guess you won't be able to taste this after you finish them."

After that, Madam Xie picked up the soup spoon and scooped a spoonful of soup. The soup was crystal clear, with green onions and dried shrimps floating in it. It looked very simple.

Is there something unique about the taste?

Madam Xie put the soup into her mouth. The soup was made from pork bones and chicken racks, and was served with fragrant black onion oil. It was very delicious in one bite.

Madam Xie's eyes lit up, but soon she frowned again. The wontons sold in the market were served with various toppings and had a strong flavor. Although the soup in front of her was delicious and refreshing, it was difficult to stand out.

Then she scooped up a wonton. The wonton skin, as thin as a cicada's wing, floated on the soup like a fine silk ribbon, and you could almost see the filling inside.

Just looking at it made Madam Xie's mouth water and her appetite grow. She put the wonton into her mouth. The smooth wonton wrapper didn't need any force from her teeth. Just a slight bite and it broke apart in her mouth, and the meaty meat filling rolled into her mouth.

When you bite into the meat filling, you can feel its slight elasticity. With a little pressure, the meat filling bursts into your mouth, wrapped in gravy, and the rich aroma spreads to every inch of your mouth.

The wonderful taste of the wontons gave Mrs. Xie goosebumps. She scooped up another one without hesitation and put it into her mouth with the soup.

The next second, she exclaimed softly, "Ugh!"

The delicious soup and the wonton gravy are cleverly combined. Although the flavors of the two are similar but not exactly the same, they blend into one in the mouth, creating three huge waves that suddenly crash down like a tide.

Fortunately, Linzhi’s purpose this time was to let everyone try the food, not to stuff a group of people to death, so the portion of each bowl was relatively small. The three bowls together were probably only the size of one bowl.

After eating a bowl, Mrs. Xie still felt unsatisfied.

She changed her focus and looked at the other two bowls of wontons covered with toppings.

After observing carefully for a moment, Madam Xie was surprised to find that the toppings of the two bowls of wontons were similar, but the wontons inside looked different.

The wontons in one bowl were exactly the same as the ones we just ate, while the wontons in the other bowl were round and plump. The wonton skin was so thin that it only had a faint pink color, but it seemed that there was no filling inside?

Mrs. Xie suspected she had misread the wontons, not even suspecting they had a problem with the filling. She rubbed her eyes, looked again and again, and finally confirmed that the wontons really had no filling! ?

"Why are there no fillings on these wontons?"

"It looks round, as if it's inflated." Someone also noticed the uniqueness of this bowl of wontons and said in surprise.

“But the toppings are all the same.”

"I plan to eat the bowl without toppings first. It's refreshing." Lu San said with a smile.

After hearing what others said, Madam Xie finally confirmed that it wasn't just her imagination. She looked at the small wonton hidden in the topping, scooped one up with a spoon and put it in her mouth. The moment it held it in her mouth, the wonton wrapper, which was even thinner than the previous wonton, quietly crumbled. The faint aroma of meat lingered on the tip of her tongue for a moment, then rolled down the wonton wrapper into her throat and into her stomach.

Madam Xie was stunned, her eyes full of confusion.

If the previous bowl of wontons had a strong filling, then the filling in this bowl has zero presence?

Madam Xie was dazed for a moment, her eyes looking at the toppings. She picked up a piece of stir-fried eel with chopsticks, and ordered a spoonful of soup and wontons. The eel shreds were delicious, tender and smooth in the mouth, and the flavors of garlic and pepper exploded in the mouth. The light and refreshing soup was paired with a mouthful of wontons.

Madam Xie was confused and bewildered.

Madam Xie looked at the wontons in surprise and doubt, and actually thought they were delicious?

She put her doubts to the back of her mind and went on to eat the last bowl. Just like before, Madam Xie took the toppings, broth, and wontons into her mouth.

Then she froze in place.

I had three bowls of wontons in a row, and they tasted similar yet not exactly the same. The strange taste made my scalp tingle.

It is precisely because they are both so delicious that the differences between them are particularly obvious.

"It's really... incredible!" Madam Xie had heard from Lu San that Linzhiji's business was booming and that it had established a firm foothold in Bianjing City in just three months. However, the meals she had eaten along the way were limited. In addition, she had been following the Empress Dowager and had eaten countless delicacies from land and sea, so she didn't think those meals were anything special.

It was not until all three wontons were eaten that Madam Xie finally had a real feeling. In short, it was: Sister Zhi, you are awesome!

Madam Xie ate it all mouthful by mouthful, then picked up the pen and pondered over the note.

One after another, more and more people finished eating. Everyone looked at the list with the same distress: "I think all three wonton dishes are delicious."

“That’s right…”

“They even asked us to rate them.”

"This is the first time I know that grading is such a troublesome thing."

"Pay attention, you can't discuss with each other." Lin Zhi noticed the conversation between several people and reminded them.

“Yes, yes, yes—”

"It seems being a judge isn't easy."

"I've thought about it." Someone raised his hand to pick up a pen and started writing hard.

Chen Yan stared at the paper for a while, then suddenly came up with an idea: "Sister Zhi."

"Um?"

"Can those ball-like wontons be paired with a simple soup?"

"That's called bubble wontons." Lin Zhi explained, then nodded: "Of course, no problem."

"Brother Yan has a good appetite," the person next to him casually praised. "But that...the wontons have too little meat. Isn't it too boring to eat them with the clear soup?"

“It tastes pretty good, but there’s too little meat.”

"Hey, hey, hey, what Sister Zhi said can't be discussed."

"Oh oh oh, I didn't forget that."

"Hurry up and write, no one is allowed to talk." Madam Xie knocked on the table, and immediately asked everyone to stop talking. She stood up, went to the kitchen, and asked Linzhi for another bowl.

Madam Xie was a little confused, and perhaps she could get the answer through another combination.

Soon, two bowls of wonton soup were served. Chen Yan and Madam Xie took their bowls one after the other, aiming directly at the wonton soup. After they took a bite, Chen Yan's eyes lit up: "It's really delicious!"

Madam Xie was a step late: "I see."

The others looked confused, with question marks almost popping up on their foreheads.

However, both of them still remembered what Linzhi said, and they silently wrote down the scores, then folded the paper and handed it to Linzhi.

After handing in the note, the few people who had been extremely curious and uncomfortable came forward and asked, "Chen Lang, Sister Xie, why did you order a bowl of clear soup version of bubble wontons just now?"

"I wanted to compare how different wontons performed in the same broth," Madam Xie said frankly. "Even in the clear broth, the flavors of the two wontons were slightly different but still delicious. In the thick broth with toppings, the wontons' flavor was suppressed."

"Ah! I had the same feeling just now." Lu San suddenly realized and nodded repeatedly: "When I ate the clear soup, the wonton skin was smooth and the meat filling was rich and juicy, so delicious. But in the other two bowls, I didn't pay much attention to the fillings. I was busy eating the toppings."

"Yes, that fried eel is really good..."

"That's not what I mean. Wontons, wontons. Aren't wontons more important?"

"That's right." Madam Xie smiled, "When I eat wontons with toppings and soup, I think the bowl of bubble wontons is better."

"Then I ordered a bowl and found that instead of being filled with air, the wontons were more like noodle soup."

“The soup outside can also seep into it.”

"When you eat it, the inside and the outside taste the same, so there's no strong contrast like in the other bowl, and it blends in better." Madam Xie spoke eloquently, not forgetting to look at Chen Yan: "Isn't Chen Lang thinking the same?"

Chen Yan was silent for a moment: "...Yes."

The people around seemed to be thinking about something, and they started to speak one after another: "So, it seems to be like this?"

"Yes, I like that bowl best too."

"But in that case..." Madam Xie changed the subject and said, "Then just make it into noodle soup or soup pancakes. What's the point of adding wontons?"

In an instant, the room became quiet.

Madam Xie slowly looked at Lin Zhi: "I think Sister Zhi might have the same doubts?"

Several eyes fell on Lin Zhi. She looked up from the note and pursed her lips, "Indeed, I didn't expect Sister Xie and Shen Lang to think of this."

Madam Xie raised the corner of her mouth: "That's right."

Chen Yan's eyes drifted, and he replied slowly: "Yes..." No way!

He felt extremely guilty, wondering if he could say he was simply hungry and wanted another bowl? He thought the ones with more toppings were a bit greasy, so he chose the bubble wontons instead... Would he get beaten if he said this?