Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 1058 - 515: Two Varieties

Zhao Cheng'an ate all eight plates of potato dumplings through tears—not because every plate exceeded his stomach's capacity, but because it reached his taste limit.

Qin Huai asked him if there was room for improvement in the recipe, to which Zhao Cheng'an replied that the recipe was a good one, and indeed there was room for improvement. However, one shouldn't be constrained by the recipe; why must we modify according to this recipe? Can't we just improvise and... be creative? He believed in Qin Huai's ability; Qin Huai could do it.

A stubborn mouth, but not overly so.

As for what cured Zhao Cheng'an's stubbornness...

If he insisted stubbornly that his recipe had no issues, then he should modify and extend on the basis of the original recipe, and all subsequent potato dumpling tasting would be done by himself.

Zhao Cheng'an believed Qin Huai would definitely do this, because he realized that Qin Huai didn't really like eating these potato dumplings.

Zhao Cheng'an tried eight plates, while Qin Huai only ate one, and that was the B-level one.

Despite Zhao Cheng'an relenting, Qin Huai still faced unresolved issues.

How should the potato dumplings be made?

Clueless Qin Huai decided to search online, where one could find all sorts of things like potato cheese dumplings, diced potato dumplings, spicy potato dumplings, shredded potato dumplings, green pepper shredded potato dumplings—they had it all. Not limited to dumplings with potatoes as the main ingredient, there were also dumplings with the three delicacies.

This only proves how extensive human creativity truly is.

Seeing this, Qin Huai didn't dare look further; he feared he might truly attempt making them.

After fruitless online searching, Qin Huai sent messages to Cao Guixiang, Zheng Da, and Master Zhou. Master Zhou rarely looked at his phone during work, and hadn't replied.

Cao Guixiang replied quickly, saying she had also eaten potato dumplings when she was young, homemade, and not too tasty.

Those were made by steaming potatoes and mashing them into a paste to wrap in dumpling skin. The only difference was Cao Guixiang's potato dumplings had no meat and were mixed with cabbage, which made the recipe even worse than Zhao Cheng'an's, lacking reference value.

Zheng Da's message came at 11 a.m.; Qin Huai guessed his dear Master Zheng had just woken up from a nap.

As a pastry chef, Zheng Da understood potato dumplings better than Cao Guixiang. Zheng Da stated that the normal way to make potato dumplings was to season mashed potatoes and wrap them in dumplings; the main point was filling up, not terrible tasting but not good either. This method was something Zheng Da heard from Master Jing when he first learned cooking.

According to Master Jing, this was something from when he was young, when poor families wanted to eat dumplings during festivals but couldn't afford meat or fresh tasty vegetables, so they made an alternative version. Dumplings filled with wild vegetables without oil tasted even worse than potato filling; potato-filled dumplings were cheap, hearty, and filling, with minimal oil and less salt.

However, this was just a version Zheng Da had heard; Zheng Da was born and raised in Gusu, where they didn't eat dumplings during festivals, and Zheng Da didn't even know what dumplings were before apprenticing under Master Jing.

Based on Zheng Da's account, Qin Huai could be sure Wang Gen Sheng wanted nothing like this kind of potato dumpling.

Even if potato dumplings were viewed through the lens of nostalgia, dumplings sounding like a D-level wouldn't linger in Wang Gen Sheng's memory.

After reading Zheng Da's reply, Qin Huai asked further if Zheng Da had ever eaten a relatively tasty potato dumpling.

It turned out he really had.

Zheng Da indeed had tried them.

This part of the story connects with the previous; Master Jing taught his disciples through encouragement and reward-based teaching, believing that just punishing and belittling would diminish their culinary interest and drive, yet excessive encouragement would overly pamper and blur their self-assessment.

Hence, Master Jing would implement a little punishment amidst the encouragement.

Zheng Da remembered the potato dumplings so clearly because they were once part of a punishment. When Zheng Da first began learning cooking, being young too, he occasionally slacked off and cut corners, thinking he was clever enough to skimp on practicing basic skills.

Such minor slyness was soon uncovered by Master Jing, who didn't punish Zheng Da with beating but instead made him eat only potato dumplings for dinner on New Year's Eve, excluding everything else.

That was the second year Zheng Da apprenticed.

On New Year's Eve, a day when the dining table of a normal family was at its most bountiful in the year. Zheng Da watched the table full of dishes, the chicken, duck, fish, fresh vegetables, and saw the plump pork and cabbage dumplings in Huang Shengli's bowl, yet he could only eat tasteless yet filling potato dumplings.

The potato dumplings Zheng Da ate on that day were actually upgraded; Master Jing used fine white flour to wrap his dumplings. If it was intended to be a nostalgic bitter-and-sweet edition, effort could be made in the dough to make them even less appetizing.

Though it was New Year, Master Jing didn't truly want his disciple to eat nothing good at all.

White flour dumplings were actually not bad.

Yet comparison brought hurt.

Zheng Da said he'd never forget that night's potato dumplings for his entire life.

Seeing the text in the chat box, Qin Huai sensed those words were soaked in Zheng Da's tears.

So now the question arises, has Zheng Da eaten tasty potato dumplings?

He has.

The tastier potato dumplings were also made by Master Jing.

After being harshly taught a lesson by the potato dumplings on New Year's Eve, Zheng Da deeply realized the importance of diligently practicing basic skills, and since then, he never slacked off.

On New Year's Eve of the following year, which was also Zheng Da's third year of culinary training, Master Jing prepared him another serving of potato dumplings.

This time, they were the delicious version, not the low-budget kind where the potatoes are steamed, mashed, and mixed with a little salt inside the dumpling skin. Instead, the potatoes were diced and mixed with diced pork belly, beef, celery, and winter bamboo shoots, seasoned with sesame oil, lightly sautéed to bring out the aroma, and then wrapped in the dumpling skin.

Delicious.

This was Zheng Da's entire evaluation of this version of the potato dumplings.

That was all because Zheng Da had never made potato dumplings. As Master Jing's direct disciple, Zheng Da had many snacks to learn. Whether it was potato dumplings, chive dumplings, or pork dumplings, at its core, they were just simple dumplings and didn't require special attention in teaching.

The reason Master Jing made potato dumplings for Zheng Da again in the second year was to prevent his disciple from bearing a grudge against potato dumplings due to the previous punishment. To become an excellent snack master, one must not view any snack with prejudice, as bias would hinder good snack-making.

Zheng Da provided Qin Huai with two different approaches to potato dumplings, one minimalist and the other extremely rich.

Qin Huai chose the latter without hesitation and produced the first batch of rich-version potato dumplings at 1:37 PM.

Due to the season's lack of winter bamboo shoots and no preparation of bamboo shoots at Yunzhong Restaurant today, Qin Huai temporarily used lotus root dice to substitute for the bamboo shoot dice.

Since it was an experiment, as long as the idea was correct, the ingredients could always be adjusted.

Sitting in the kitchen all morning, drinking a bellyful of tea, Wang Gen Sheng, who hadn't dared to eat snacks to keep his stomach empty for the potato dumplings tasting, finally got to taste the first bite of potato dumplings at 1:40 PM.

Uncle Wang was so dedicated to the tasting that he skipped lunch, and his tasting spirit was truly moving.

Zhao Cheng'an watched Wang Gen Sheng eat the potato dumplings and was visibly envious.

If those are potato dumplings, then what on earth were the eight plates he ate this morning?

Zhao Cheng'an screamed internally and murmured softly.

"It's your recipe that was the issue." Qin Huai said with an expressionless face, "I asked if you had any other potato dumpling recipes and you didn't say anything—what else could I do?"

"I really didn't have any! I didn't like eating dumplings back then. Although I was a snack maker, I didn't eat my own snacks. I'm not stupid; with Master Jiang and Master Chen at Taifeng Building, why would I eat my own snacks over theirs? That would be crazy."

"And just like Master Zheng said, potato dumplings were just the economical option when money was tight. When we had the means, we'd eat meat dumplings. No matter how stingy Boss Lu was, Taifeng Building was still the top restaurant in Beiping, and we kitchen hands would eat meat dumplings during festivals—who would eat potato dumplings?"

"Unless they were the potato dumplings made by Master Jiang, and even then, those would be eaten at home during New Year's. Even if Master Jiang made dumplings, they were for his family, and I wouldn't get to eat them. I did want to eat them at Master Jiang's house, but Master Chen wouldn't allow it."

"You've seen my memories, and I didn't have the means back then. If there were even two pieces of preserved meat in the kitchen, I'd wrap them in dumplings even if it choked me to death."

Qin Huai was convinced by Zhao Cheng'an and felt sorry for him having eaten so many awful potato dumplings today. He asked, "How about I cook you a plate of this version of potato dumplings?"

"No, thanks." Zhao Cheng'an refused decisively, "I don't want to eat potato dumplings anytime soon."

"I want to eat yam cake, Qin Huai, could you make me some yam cake?"

"Or sticky rice cake would do, why can't I have sticky rice cake? I didn't initially like rice cake, but now that you've denied me, I suddenly want it so much."

Qin Huai: "…you really can't eat it. If you eat it, you'll definitely slack off."

"How could that be? Am I someone who wouldn't persist without slacking off?"

"You are."

"Qin Huai, you're too much. You made me eat eight plates of potato dumplings and now you're scolding me."

"Actions speak louder than words." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"No way, just let me eat first."

"Don't even think about it. Do you think reverse psychology works? My sister wore that trick out ten years ago. You can eat it when you have a day off."

Zhao Cheng'an: QAQ

Sitting at the small table, eating potato dumplings with Wang Gen Sheng, Shi Dadan curiously looked over to Qin Huai and asked Gong Liang, "What's Qin Huai and Xiao Zhao talking about?"

Gong Liang calmly sipping tea answered, "Discussing when to take a day off."

Shi Dadan realized, "Indeed, ever since Qin Huai returned, he hasn't rested yet. We haven't visited Luo Jun's house for a tea party for a while; let's plan one when Qin Huai takes a break. Old Wang, you must come to the tea party then."

Wang Gen Sheng murmured to himself: Aren't we holding tea parties in the kitchen every day? But Wang Gen Sheng stayed silent, only nodding quietly.

As long as there's food, count me in.