Chapter 95: Six Kinds of Flower Crisps. (Second Update)…
Linzhi picked up a piece of freshly baked peach cake and put it into her mouth. As the aroma of pepper and salt, sesame, flour, oil, and a hint of sweetness spread across her tongue, the unhappiness in her heart also dissipated.
So what if she was looked down upon? So what if she was just a runner-up? As long as she could take first place, she would naturally leave those people speechless.
Linzhi originally wanted to make baked three-color egg yolk pastry, but now she changed her mind and decided to make another fruit dish instead.
After eating the peach cake, she first asked for paper and pen and added a few more things, then turned around and opened the food box brought by the messenger. She poured the green beans and red beans that had been soaked in advance into the earthenware pot, added some water, and simmered them slowly over low heat.
Next, she placed the pitted dried red dates into the steamer and covered it. She then took out the cooked salted duck eggs, rinsed them with cold water, and then peeled the yolks and crushed them through a strainer to create a fine yolk paste.
Once the egg yolk paste was ready, the servant brought her the ingredients she had ordered. She opened a can of crispy pastry and poured it all into the bowl. Once she was sure it was in perfect condition, she exerted force with her wrist, stirring rapidly in one direction.
In just a few minutes, the pastry had thickened to a consistency resembling modern whipped cream. She added coconut milk, milk, and ambrosia, then mixed in freshly made egg yolk paste. Finally, she sprinkled in some rice flour to adjust the consistency. The custard filling was ready.
Following this method, she made fillings with powdered tea flavor and rose jam flavor, divided them into small pieces using round molds, and then placed them in an ice container for two hours to allow them to solidify and become better preserved.
After the three fillings were ready and the red beans, mung beans, and jujube paste in the pot were cooked thoroughly, Linzhi did not rest. Instead, he took a spoon to crush and filter the three ingredients, then added sugar and stir-fried them.
Soon, the red bean paste, mung bean paste and jujube paste fillings were prepared and filled the table.
At this point, Linzhi’s work is not over yet.
In order to make dough of different colors, she added different fruit and vegetable powders to the flour, kneaded out dough of various colors, added oil dough, and then put them in bowls and covered them to rise.
Seeing that the filling in the ice jar would have to wait a while, Linzhi took out the bamboo strips that had been reserved in advance from the box, moved a small stool to sit down, and began to weave a small basket.
It takes two days to weave a proper bamboo basket, but she wanted to make a palm-sized decorative flower basket, which was not difficult.
She used a knife to thin the bamboo strips and cut them into suitable lengths. Her fingertips flew, and the bamboo strips gradually took the shape of a flower basket in her hands.
The crackling sound of bamboo cutting was particularly conspicuous in the quiet meeting room, and many people secretly looked in her direction.
Some were puzzled, some were sarcastic, and the fish ball shop owner even curled his lips. The pastries in his hands were deformed and he was anxiously making them again. Only Linzhi was not distracted at all, and his eyes were fixed on the bamboo strips in his hands.
In the second hour, chefs came one after another to bring their works to be steamed or baked.
Those who chose steaming were fine, and their faces were relatively calm when they came out; but those who chose baking had ugly faces, and some couldn't help but curse out loud: "Damn it! The kiln temperature is totally wrong!"
The chef next to him heard the sound and looked over, only to see that the work in the man's hand had been roasted black, and then someone else came back with a work that was still fresh.
Some people wanted to redo it, but there was only one hour left, so it was too late. They could only pick out the existing works that looked slightly better and submit them, looking frustrated.
Some people did not give up and sped up their movements, intending to challenge again.
When the chef who was selecting the steamed cakes saw this, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and soon handed the steamed cakes to the servant happily.
Even so, almost every chef who walked out of Venue B would take a second look at Linzhi. She was neither steaming nor baking, so what the hell was she doing sitting there weaving bamboo baskets?
"It's not like we have to wait until the end..."
"It's really weird."
"You don't know how to do it, do you? He just went out and came back with such a thick face."
The cooks muttered among themselves and quickly gathered in the main hall. The people in Venue A and Venue B stood clearly separated. The people in Venue B looked at the well-dressed and calm cooks in Venue A, and gradually some of them noticed something was wrong: "Why are all the people in Venue A from big shops, and all the people in Venue B from small shops?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the chefs in venue B all changed their expressions, and their eyes became more and more surprised and doubtful.
Before they could raise their voices, the official in charge of maintaining order stepped forward and calmly explained, "Rest assured, everyone. The works submitted to the deputy heads of the guilds will not be divided into A and B venues. They will be reviewed in the order in which they were submitted. Furthermore, the heads of the guilds will write down their evaluations and suggestions, which will be handed to you later. You can go back and review them carefully."
When these words were spoken, some of the chefs in Venue B breathed a sigh of relief, but some others realized belatedly that they, the contestants from Venue B, were just foils for the contestants from Venue A after all.
But thinking of the surge in business they'd seen after the pre-event, they clenched their fists, suppressing their discontent. They cast complicated glances at the chefs at Venue A. The excitement they'd felt at the invitation to the restaurant gradually faded, and everyone hung their heads, even their shoulders slumping a bit. Some even hoped that a powerful figure would emerge from among them and give them a taste of their own medicine.
At the same time, Linzhi wove the last bamboo strip into the edge of the basket, and with a light press of her fingertips, a palm-sized bamboo flower basket was ready.
She held the bamboo basket in her palm, looked at it again and again, and felt very satisfied. Then Linzhi put the bamboo basket aside and opened the ice container. The custard filling, powdered tea filling, and rose cheese filling inside had already solidified into shape.
Add the previously prepared red bean paste, mung bean paste and candied date paste, and the remaining salted egg yolks, and the rest is just assembly.
Linzhi wraps the two kinds of dough together, then rolls them out and folds them like making egg yolk pastry, rolls them out again, and folds them again. After repeating this several times, they make the perfect dough.
She first made magnolia cakes with custard filling. Linzhi put the custard filling into the dough, pressed it inward with her thumb and toes, shaping it into the shape of a brush head, and then placed a flower holder made of dark brown dough. Finally, she cut the dough with a sharp knife.
Linzhi's technique is light and neat. With the flying of her fingertips, the dough in her hand takes the shape of a flower.
The two officers standing behind him were stunned, their mouths opened so wide that an egg could be stuffed in. Even the inspector sitting on a high place looked sideways from time to time.
Soon, peach blossom pastries, daffodil pastries, and camellia pastries were formed one by one. Each type of flower pastry had a corresponding color and was placed on a silver plate, like clusters of freshly bloomed flowers.
The supervisor had been supervising the competition at Venue B for many years, but had never seen such exquisite food. His eyes were glued to the flower pastry and he couldn't take his eyes off it.
He struggled for a while before pulling his eyes away. He caught a glimpse of the hourglass with little time left and quickly reminded, "There are only two cups of tea left."
These words made the chef who was making pastries next to him turn pale instantly. The fruit he made would take at least a quarter of an hour to bake, so he kneaded the dough in a hurry, made the shape as simple as possible, and then ran to the kiln room with it in his hands. He almost tripped over the threshold when he went out.
Lin Zhi's reaction was completely opposite to his. After the six kinds of flower pastries were ready, she not only did not go to the kiln room, but also put an iron pot on the stove, poured some oil into the pot, and started to heat the oil: after all, perfect flower pastries must be fried!
At the same time, Chef Wei in the kiln room was waiting for his fruit to come out of the oven when he suddenly heard a hurried sound of footsteps approaching. He felt a little moved and turned to look: "Madam Lin...Huh?
I never thought that it was a strange cook.
The cook didn't bother to reply. He hurriedly put the pancake into the kiln and adjusted the charcoal fire based on his vague memory, muttering to himself, "I must succeed..."
Chef Wei heard his whisper, glanced at the fire in the kiln, and rolled his eyes secretly. There was no way it could succeed at this temperature.
Chef Wei complained in his heart, but he still smiled. He walked up to the man and said, "Brother, is Madam Lin still here?"
"What Madam Lin? You mean the one from Linzhiji?" The man replied, then came to his senses. "I don't know what she's going on. She just spent a lot of time weaving flower baskets over there. When I came here, she was still making those fancy things. I guess she's too late to bake them."
"Too late?" Chef Wei was stunned. He couldn't believe that Lin Zhi would make such a low-level mistake. "How could it be..."
"How could I lie to you?" The cook raised his voice. "She didn't even get up when I left. Look at her now... Hey!"
Chef Wei narrowed his eyes: "Is that so..."
The smile on his face gradually disappeared, and he took his work out of the kiln and handed it to the servant.
The rich, overpowering aroma froze the cook in his tracks. It was Chef Wei, who came to the door and reminded him, that brought him back to his senses: "Brother, your fruit is about to burn."
The cook finally came to his senses, and a burning smell instantly lingered at his nose. He rushed to the kiln, and before he even opened it, he saw his blackened work and screamed, "Ahhh!!!"
Chef Wei left without looking back, and walked straight into the main hall with a sullen look on his face. Just like that, Chef Tang suffered a loss to this extent, and even made a mistake?
His eyes were dark and he looked listless.
Lin Zhi in the meeting room B didn't know that someone was thinking about her. After the oil temperature came up, she put down a piece of extra puff pastry to check the situation, and then started frying one by one.
Golden oil bubbles billowed, and the crispy pastry inside quietly blossomed like flowers. The lively appearance made the two officers hold their breath, and the inspector stood up directly, walked to Linzhi, his eyes wide open, staring at the crispy pastry in the pot.
Oh my God, is this true?
This fruit...it is blooming!
The inspector felt that everything before him did not look like fruit, but rather like a miracle. He even felt that he should report this to the deputy leaders and ask them to come over and see what was going on.
When the flower crisps are fried until golden brown, Linzhi picks them up gently with long chopsticks, places them on the chopping board to control the oil, adjusts the oil temperature, and continues to fry the next one.
Soon, all six kinds of flower cakes were fried. Each one had petals spread out, bright colors, and exuded an enticing aroma.
She put the flower cakes one by one into the bamboo basket she had woven earlier. There were pink peach blossoms, white daffodils, red camellias... Although it was the coldest time of the year, this basket of flower cakes seemed to have pulled spring into the house early.
Linzhi breathed a sigh of relief, moved the flower basket onto a tray, and handed it to the officer. Then she placed the remaining flower cakes on a silver plate and handed it to another officer.
When the officer took it, he was so careful that he dared not breathe, fearing that he would accidentally destroy this work of art.
The inspector was so wide-eyed that he asked someone to lead Lin Zhi to the main hall, and then he quickly followed the officer, insisting that he would personally deliver the food to the deputy leaders.
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