Chapter 101: Flower-Breaking Goose Cake. (Second update)...
Jiang Wan's dodging was so obvious that Chef Wang caught it immediately. His face darkened and he said coldly, "Of course, the three of you too."
Chef Wei rolled his eyes and couldn't help but say, "Chef Wang, what are you talking about? You just tried to learn how to make pastries at the last minute, but after just one day of copying, you think you can win first place?"
Chef Wei was afraid Lin Zhi didn't know the inside story, so he turned around and explained, "Chef Lin doesn't know yet, but this guy asked several elders in the family for help to figure out the recipe for your flower pastry. He's not ashamed of it."
There were only a few famous chefs in Bianjing City, and any little noise would spread quickly. Everyone knew about Chef Wang's actions long ago.
Even the quiet and reserved Jiang Xianjie, Chef Jiang, came over and grumbled quietly, "I heard from my mother that the order in which the officials reported the votes in the last competition was the order in which we received votes. Besides me, Chef Jiang and Chef Wei were also ahead of Chef Wang. And he's acting like he only lost to you, Chef Lin. It's really..."
Chef Jiang took a long time to organize his words before uttering four words: "Shameless."
Linzhi couldn't help laughing out loud.
First, Chef Jiang avoided him, then Chef Wei sabotaged him and Chef Jiang mocked him. Chef Wang's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. Finally, he glared at Lin Zhi fiercely before leaving.
"He was the one who provoked me first, wasn't he?" Lin Zhi opened her eyes wide, feeling that Chef Wang's anger came out of nowhere. She almost began to suspect that she had suddenly lost her memory and had lost the memory of provoking him.
Chef Jiang couldn't help but laugh. Chef Wei said, "Don't pay attention to that guy. How good can you make by cramming at the last minute? It's better to stay on your own path and improve."
"I understand this principle very well."
"That's good." Chef Wei had just put his mind at ease, but within half a cup of tea his expression twisted again.
Just after the official announced that today's selection event would be limited to twelve hours and that each person had to make fruit for thirty people, Lin Zhi raised her hand and asked, "How about making two types of fruit?"
The official was slightly startled: "Of course there is no problem."
The smile on Chef Wei's face froze. He turned sideways and saw Lin Zhi, who had just been so calm and looked like a good kid, facing Chef Wang with her mouth opening and closing.
Chef Wei didn't see the first half, he only understood the last few lip movements: "...If you don't have the guts, get out."
Chef Wei was silent and shocked. Who had just said it was clear? Is this what you understood clearly?
Not to mention the shock at first, when the news reached the warm room, the deputy chief and today's guests also fell silent for a moment.
The official in charge of the Lantern Festival banquet was surprised: "This chef Lin has quite a hot temper?"
Everyone was unsure for a moment, but Cook Cui smiled and said, "Chef Lin comes from a humble background. If he doesn't show any patience when provoked, he probably won't be able to gain a foothold in the market."
The official was startled, then smiled and said, "Chef Cui is right, that's the truth."
Everyone says that we should be kind to others and be honest and kind, but no one has ever said that honest people are the most likely to suffer losses.
If people who came to Bian Jing from other places to make a living had a weak character, they would probably have been taken advantage of long ago.
Regardless of what others say, the disputes between chefs ultimately come down to their cooking skills.
Chef Wang was furious at this moment, and he looked at Lin Zhi with eyes that were almost burning with anger, but Lin Zhi acted as if nothing had happened. After saying some harsh words, he followed the leading official to the competition venue.
This time, everyone was in the same meeting room, and each was followed by two officers, but they were far apart and could not see each other's operations clearly.
Linzhi glanced at the attendant beside her; it was an old acquaintance she had met last time. She picked up a pen and paper and quickly wrote down the ingredients. Besides the ingredients she'd used to make the flower cakes, she also added winter melon, carrots, bean sprouts, winter melon, bamboo shoots, walnuts, lotus seeds, yellow croaker maw, and goose. If she were to make a broth, the latter two ingredients would seem out of place.
When the list was delivered to the warm room, the deputy chief and the officials were stunned. The bald chef hesitated for a long time before finally blurting out a guess: "Is she planning to make flower-shaped goose cake?"
The officials were unaware of the situation, but the leaders all gasped. The bearded old cook frowned deeply, puzzled. "Could it be that she has figured out a way to get the broth into the goose?"
"But it's only been two days!" exclaimed the bald chef.
"It's not necessarily that they've figured it out." Everyone was silent for a moment before someone spoke up: "Maybe they're deliberately trying to scare Chef Wang so he'll lose his composure."
That does make some sense.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the bearded old cook was also happy to watch the show. He waved his hand and said to the servant, "Give her whatever ingredients she wants. No need to ask."
Soon, all the ingredients were delivered.
The scene was more grand than that of the others, which inevitably attracted people's attention. Especially Chef Wang, he stared at the big goose, and then looked at Lin Zhi in disbelief.
Linzhi looked calm and steamed the yellow fish maw, green onion, ginger and garlic together, then poured the rest of the ingredients into the pot, brought them to a boil, and then simmered them on low heat.
After the fish maw has fermented, put it into the vegetarian soup and stew it together. Then, ignore the soup and kill the chicken and goose. After taking out the chicken and goose meat to be used, put the goose and chicken frames into the pot and stew them together with the pork bones to make the soup.
Then, mung bean, red bean, and jujube paste were stewed as in the previous day, and then Linzhi began to concentrate on making flower pastry.
Making thirty servings of flower cakes seemed like a piece of cake to her. She methodically fried them, finishing them in just two quarters of an hour longer than last time, and had the servant deliver them first.
Without stopping, she chopped the goose meat and pork into small pieces and mixed them evenly, slightly adjusted the taste, kneaded them into just the right shape, and steamed them.
Next, Linzhi took a piece of chicken breast and chopped it into a paste. However, this was not to be used as the main ingredient, but would be put into the broth later.
When both broths were almost cooked, she fished out the unwanted ingredients, mixed them together, and added the chicken puree.
The chicken paste slowly absorbed the debris in the soup, and the vegetarian soup gradually turned a light golden color, so clear that you could see a person's reflection in it.
Linzhi let the broth continue to boil, then scooped out a spoonful and poured it on the petals. Because the broth was rich in fish glue, it solidified when it cooled, just enough to fix the shape of the petals. As long as she tore it off piece by piece and stacked them up, a newly bloomed flower appeared before her eyes.
She boiled the remaining soup for a while, spread it on a flat plate, and solidified it into thin slices that were almost like bean curd skin. She gently rolled it on the cut goose meat, brushed it with broth, and then stuck all the petals on it.
Finally, a part of it needs to be condensed into thin slices like bean curd skin, gently rolled up on the goose meat, and finally brushed with soup, and then the petals are glued on it one by one.
In less than half a cup of tea, a plump peony flower fell into the bowl. It was crystal clear and looked more delicate and beautiful than a real flower.
The officer standing behind Linzhi's face was almost frozen with laughter, and he held the tray tightly in his hand to keep from losing his composure.
The shock he felt when he saw Hua Su two days ago had not yet subsided. Just two days later, he was shocked again and his mind went blank. He couldn't even think of how to describe this fruit.
It took him a while to come back to his senses, and he began to wonder about the reactions of the head of the troupe and the officials after seeing this.
After making the first flower-shaped goose cake, Linzhi felt more confident and the subsequent production speed became faster and faster.
The first bowl took three cups of tea, the second bowl only took one cup of tea, and by the time of the last cup of tea, three bowls were ready.
Even so, it took her two and a half hours to complete everything. Not only was Lin Zhi sweating profusely, even the attendants were exhausted. As for the venue, it was already empty; the remaining few people had all left.
"Please send someone over." Lin Zhi placed the finished flower-folded goose cakes one by one on a tray and set a pot of soup aside. "If the head of the troupe and the officials want some soup, they can pour a spoonful of it over them. If not, they can just drink it directly."
The officer nodded hurriedly and took note, then walked towards the warm room with one foot heavy and one foot light.
Lin Zhi wiped the sweat off his face with a towel and was about to head to the main hall when he was stopped by an official who led him to a side hall in the warm courtyard. "Chef Lin, please wait here."
When she opened the door, the room was quiet. Chef Jiang, Chef Jiang, Chef Wei and Chef Wang were sitting in different corners. The room became lively only when she came in.
Chef Jiang stood up and came forward enthusiastically: "Chef Lin is here?"
Chef Wei also came over, his face full of complexities: "You actually made two fruit dishes..."
After a pause, Chef Wei added, "Chef Wang also made two dishes."
Lin Zhi raised an eyebrow and met Chef Wang's gaze. He was in no better condition than Lin Zhi, visibly exhausted. But seeing Lin Zhi, he immediately stiffened his neck and acted as if it was no big deal.
Before the two could say anything more, an official pushed the door open and walked in: "Cooks, please follow me."
The man immediately stopped talking and followed him to the warm room.
As soon as they entered the door, everyone's eyes fell on the table. The most eye-catching thing was the twin flower baskets. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that one was Lin Zhi's work and the other was Chef Wang's work.
Chef Wei was observing carefully, trying to discern the difference between the two, when he suddenly heard Chef Jiang whisper, "What is that?"
He looked in the direction Jiang Chu was looking at suspiciously, and his pupils widened slightly: In the tea bowl, there was a glass hibiscus flower?
Chef Wei calmed himself, biting the meat in his mouth, his gaze sliding over the food one by one, and finally closing his eyes. His mouth felt dry, and after a while, he trembled and said, "Lin, Chef Lin, is that another one of your creations?"
Linzhi nodded.
Just as Chef Wei was about to speak, an incredible guess suddenly popped up in his mind. His Adam's apple rolled and he swallowed his saliva: "Well, the name of this fruit is--"
Linzhi smiled and said, "It's Huazhe Goose Cake."
Flower-folded goose cake, flower-folded goose cake… flower-folded goose cake! ?
When the four words "Huazhe Goose Cake" exploded in Wei Chef's ears like thunder, he froze in place instantly, staring at the glazed peony flower.
But his reaction could even be considered calm. After all, when Chef Wang pricked up his ears to hear the answer, his expression instantly twisted and he exclaimed in shock, "Impossible, absolutely impossible—!"
This thing, this thing.
How could this thing be Huazhe Goose Cake! ?
The flower-folded goose cake that he had painstakingly improved looked like a crudely made thing compared to the crystal clear, even distinctly patterned glass peony flower before him!
Chef Jiang and Chef Jiang both gasped, not even caring about the deputy chief and officials present, and stepped forward to carefully examine this exquisitely carved jade flower.
They looked left and right, up and down, and after a while they couldn't help but ask, "Is this really made of goose meat?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
