chsdbacks Chapter 480 - 392: Upgraded Desserts—Mochi and Taro Egg Tart
Chapter 480 - 392: Upgraded Desserts—Mochi and Taro Egg Tart
As soon as the jar was opened, a rich osmanthus fragrance wafted through the air.
It was intense but not overwhelming, sweet with a refreshing floral scent, a smell they had never encountered in their lives.
Chef Marchello and Raphael eagerly dripped a few drops on their spoons, ready to taste it, when they suddenly noticed Nagishiro Sho standing still beside them.
Turning to look, they saw his calm expression, as if he already knew the scent of osmanthus.
"Does Sakura Country have this as well?"
"Yes," Nagishiro Sho nodded, "Although osmanthus originated in Great Xia, over time it has spread to nearby countries, which is quite normal."
"...Then why not in your shop?"
Nagishiro Sho shrugged, "It’s been so long since I’ve encountered it, I forgot."
He truly forgot.
Although Sakura Country grows osmanthus, it is not the native land, so the quantity is limited, mostly used as ornamental plants, rarely used in cooking.
He had seen sugar osmanthus in Great Xia Supermarket before, but after going abroad and adapting to Western tastes, he had long forgotten about it.
He usually orders ingredients online directly, and this doesn’t appear on the list.
Chef Marchello and Raphael twitched their mouths, rolling their eyes wildly for a moment.
Is it really okay to say you just forgot?
And so confidently!
"Osmanthus scent is too unique; it’s fine if used alone to make a dessert, but mixed with other strong flavors, the fragrance gets diluted."
"So although this can be used to create new flavored desserts, there aren’t many suitable uses, consider that a small tip from me to save you some effort."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chef Marchello and Raphael skeptically put the spoons in their mouths, the tip of their tongues touching the honey, feeling the unique flower fragrance blossom in their mouths.
The floral scent was indeed richer than it smelled, but just as Nagishiro Sho said, it was not well suited to mix with strong-flavored ingredients.
The two mixed some sugar osmanthus into the rice wine dumpling soup, stirring quickly, and with the heat, the fragrance became increasingly strong.
Taking a sip of the hot soup now, the wine fragrance combined with the floral scent unfolded quickly, like drinking warm flower wine, a whole new experience.
Only now did they finally understand the purpose of thickening.
If they just used clear water to boil, the rice grains being too heavy would naturally settle at the bottom during stirring, unable to distribute evenly throughout the soup.
At that time, the pot of rice would be one thing, dumplings another, egg shreds another, a completely unrelated three-ingredient dish.
The thickening step serves to fuse these ingredients together, acting like an adhesive.
After half a bowl of rice wine dumpling soup, whether from warmth or remaining alcohol, everyone had little beads of sweat on their foreheads.
But that didn’t stop them from wanting another half bowl.
After eating sour, salty, spicy flavors for two hours straight, plus five desserts, it was indeed a bit overwhelming.
With a few mouthfuls of the warm, mouth-scalding rice wine, the body felt incredibly comfortable, as if all pores opened up in a joyful cheer.
The flavor of rice wine was not purely sweet, but with a faintly fermented freshness, aptly neutralizing the previous greasiness.
"Yo, enjoying the drink?"
As everyone was immersed in this magical rice wine soup, Zhao Shun came out of the kitchen again with a metal tray.
"More egg tarts?"
Seeing those golden little treats from afar, Chef Marchello raised his eyebrows, his eyes filled with anticipation.
If it was an unknown food, he might have simply been curious rather than expectant.
Only the most familiar items could break their perception, bringing new creative inspiration, which was more important than directly presenting new things.
Zhao Shun tossed the tray onto the table with great flair, dozens of peculiar egg tarts with golden crisp crust and sprinkled with pale purple powder appeared before them, seemingly filled with plenty of sauce.
"Purple powder??"
Nagishiro Sho sniffed, a knowing look flashed in his eyes, and he looked at the two bumpkins beside him with interest.
Yes, now these two were real bumpkins in his eyes, judging by their expressions, they couldn’t identify the ingredients.
"This is..."
Raphael and Chef Marchello frowned, thinking hard but couldn’t figure out what food was purple and could be dried into powder for desserts.
This purple wasn’t pure purple but leaned towards blue, making it quite confusing.
"Is it butterfly pea flower powder?"
"No, butterfly pea flowers are usually blue, turning purple only in acid, surely it can’t be lemon-flavored tarts? That would be too ordinary."
"Impossible to be lemon tarts, there’s no lemon scent, your nose just for show?"
"Don’t act like you’re so clever, then what do you say it’s made of?"
Chef Marchello and Raphael were not convinced by each other, neither touched the tarts, but instead frowned and pondered.
"I just don’t believe it; with decades of experience, I can’t identify a basic ingredient?"
"The dessert ingredients used by the Great Xia people shouldn’t be too peculiar; they are all relatively common products in daily life. But since I can’t distinguish them immediately, it indicates that they are not species commonly seen in the West."
At any rate, Raphael had been taken around the Great Xia Supermarket by Lin Chen once, and later went a few more times on his own, so he had somewhat of a concept in his mind.
He kept recalling in his mind items that were purple or blue-purple, even if they were snacks or drinks.
As he thought, he seemed to have remembered something and suddenly slapped his thigh.
"Could it be?!"
"Could it be what? I can’t think of it at all. Can you possibly be better than me?"
Marchello snorted disdainfully twice; this guy was at least brought up by his own hand, practically like half his disciple.
Still a little brat who didn’t understand anything back then, now wanting to climb over his head?
No way!
Raphael didn’t hurry but leaned in to take a careful sniff, the look in his eyes growing increasingly confident, and a victorious smile lifted at the corner of his mouth.
He didn’t choose to announce it directly but looked around, seeing Lin Chen, Nagishiro Sho, and the nearby Zhao Shun and Lucas all wearing expressions of watching a good show, grasped the general situation in his heart.
He walked to the side of Nagishiro Sho, leaned in, and whispered the word in his ear.
Under Marchello’s eager gaze, Nagishiro Sho similarly showed an expression of surprise, glanced at Raphael, and nodded slowly.
"Aha!"
"This can’t be?!"
Raphael lifted his chin, casting a provocative look toward Marchello, whose chin dropped slightly, his face full of disbelief.
Even this guy can tell, surely I can too!!
"Alright, eat while it’s hot. This thing isn’t as simple as it looks; it’s stuffed with mochi."
Anyway, no one present except the Great Xia people can understand Chinese. Zhao Shun directly announced the answer, and as for whether to translate it, that’s Chef Lin and Lucas’s business, not his concern.
After speaking, he turned around and disappeared in the direction of the kitchen again.
"What did he just say?"
Although Nagishiro Sho and Raphael didn’t understand, they sharply perceived that there might be hidden elements within; otherwise, this guy’s tone wouldn’t be like that.
"He said this egg tart is stuffed."
Lin Chen smiled slightly, evidently quite mindful of the matter of challenging the head chefs.
"What! It’s stuffed??"
Even Nagishiro Sho couldn’t sit still now, his gaze swiftly turning to the pile of purple egg tarts arranged messily.
The egg tart’s surface seemed to have a layer of cream-like unknown sauce squeezed over it, with purple powder sprinkled on the sauce surface, and the bottom was just common egg tart pastry.
Purely relying on the naked eye, there’s absolutely no way to distinguish what kind of filling is hidden inside, but from Lin Chen’s succinct words, it’s evident that the filling also contains secrets.
He and Raphael reached out and directly grabbed one, opened their mouths to eat, eagerly wanting to see the novel wonders hidden inside.
Jonathan was quite indifferent, not even trying to guess. Seeing them eating, he promptly reached out and grabbed one to stuff into his mouth.
Suddenly.
Everyone surged forward, orderly selecting the lucky egg tart that pleased their eyes the most.
Only Chef Marchello remained stubbornly rooted in place, his eyebrows knitted into a frown.
"Crunch crunch"
It’s still the sound of the crispy egg tart crust breaking.
What’s different is that this time the egg tart’s surface is filled with blue-purple cream sauce. Upon closer look, even the texture is very clear, spiraling up like fine noodles, forming a fragrant little hill.
The hot egg custard paired with the surface of icy cool taro cream and rich taro powder melts in the mouth, and the buttery cream fragrance and egg aroma not only don’t overshadow the distinctive taro fragrance, but rather blend seamlessly.
At the moment of biting down, it seems to touch something soft and sticky.
Removing the egg tart, one can visibly see a string of white, semi-transparent, cheese-like strands being pulled out.
"?"
Several people stared at this string and the remaining part of the unknown material in the egg tart, momentarily somewhat confused.
In their impression, only cheese pulls strings, but this stuff tastes entirely different from cheese, lacking any creamy taste and rather resembles a dough texture.
Nagishiro Sho seemed to sense something, leaned in and took a small bite of the semi-transparent filling, finally confirming his inner suspicion.
"You guessed it again??"
Raphael and Marchello wore expressions fit for seeing a ghost. Today’s momentum had been entirely suppressed by this guy from start to finish, leaving no room for them to struggle.
Raphael was still fairly good, at least guessed half right.
On the contrary, Marchello now wished even more for an escape.
What the hell are the purple powder and cream made from?!