Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 948 - 465: The Charm of Garnishes

"Serve it a bit later, but not last. He likes something filling," Qin Huai was completely captivated by the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix, almost blurting out, "Why bother with something filling at this point?" After mentioning it once, he realized that it must be served, so he changed his statement.

He could skip the filling dishes, but Zhao Cheng'an needed them. Without them, how could he complete the side quest?

As soon as Zhang Guanghang left, Zhao Cheng'an exclaimed, "Whoa, Qin Huai, what's the name of this dish again? I didn't catch it. Hundred Birds something? It doesn't have a hundred birds, just a peacock fanning its tail. This dish should be called Peacock Fanning Its Tail."

"The presentation is just awesome. This bird head carved from a carrot standing upright, I don't think I could carve it in a day. And these pieces, where do we actually start eating? Is the bird's head edible?"

Even as Zhao Cheng'an talked, his chopsticks moved swiftly, eating while he spoke, and he quickly provided feedback: "Wow, this piece is chicken, this one is pork, and it's drizzled with a thickening sauce. Qin Huai, hurry up and eat, it's actually a hot dish!"

Qin Huai: ...

You tell me to hurry up, but your chopsticks aren't slowing down at all.

So "hurry up" wasn't out of concern, but as a warning?

Qin Huai realized that under these circumstances there was no time to complain, even though his competitor was only one person, and his appetite wasn't huge, not like Ouyang and Shi Dadan, but his appetite wasn't big either.

Zhao Cheng'an ate incredibly fast when hungry, his chopstick skills were better than when he made snacks, anyone watching might think he practiced pastry for years just to show off during meals.

Without hesitation, Qin Huai quickly joined this smokeless war, with them competing chopstick by chopstick.

When Zhang Guanghang entered the private room with the third dish, the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix was already gone, leaving only a lone, exquisite carrot bird head standing on the plate.

Zhang Guanghang: ...

Did these two even listen to what I just said?

"Su-styled Braised Pork, please enjoy." Zhang Guanghang said while preparing to clear the plate, but Zhao Cheng'an stopped him.

"Um… Master Zhang, we wanted to ask, is this carrot edible?" Zhao Cheng'an sincerely asked, his face showing the bewilderment of two pastry chefs seeing such grand dishes for the first time and not knowing what can or can't be eaten.

Zhang Guanghang: "... This is mainly for decoration, but it can be eaten. The carrot is blanched and seasoned with sesame oil, sugar, and is edible. But there are many dishes today, so it's not recommended to eat it."

Zhao Cheng'an suddenly understood, excitedly saying to Qin Huai, "See, I told you, it's edible. I could smell the fragrant carrot earlier!"

As he spoke, Zhao Cheng'an swiftly picked up the carrot with quick hands, biting off the bird's head with a crisp crunch that echoed the sound of chewing carrots: "Hmm, it's a bit like a cold dish."

After he finished, Zhao Cheng'an also shared a few slices of thinly cut cucumber meant for decoration with Qin Huai. Qin Huai tasted it and found the cucumber very tasty, not seasoned but incredibly crisp and refreshing.

Both pastry chefs, who hadn't experienced truly top-tier banquets, expressed the awe of seeing such sophistication for the first time.

Zhang Guanghang remained silent, quietly clearing the empty plate and heading back to the kitchen.

Upon returning to the kitchen, Zhang Guanghang found Xia Mubing smiling gleefully at the surveillance monitor, quite literally upbeat.

Xia Mubing was smiling.

On the monitor, Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an finished the decorative part of the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix and started studying the decorative dishes of Su-styled Braised Pork. A cherry tomato here, a broccoli there, expressing amazement repeatedly.

The cherry tomatoes were candied, and a special sauce topped the broccoli, even the decorative dishes on the Su-styled Braised Pork tasted excellent.

Unable to hold back, Zhang Guanghang asked, "Master, did you spend so much time making these side dishes this morning just to let them discover them?"

Xia Mubing put away the smile, with a hint of pride in his tone, "These are all imperial dishes. Back in the day when my master was a second chef at the Taifeng Building, he specialized in these imperial dishes."

"The royal and noble families might not care about these decorative dishes or even the main course, which is just taste-tested by servants. But just because the nobles don't eat them, doesn't mean the chefs can be lazy. If a noble suddenly takes a fancy and wants to try one, only to find it's all for show with a terrible taste, it would spell trouble for the chefs."

"Back then, the old prince loved having Taifeng Building's chefs prepare banquets at the Prince Mansion. My master and Master Jiang were in charge of the main courses, and we apprentices handled the side dishes. The leftovers from those banquets were mostly taken by the servants at the Mansion, and we apprentices didn't even get the scraps."

"After each banquet, my junior disciple was always terribly hungry, and since he's not too bright, my master worried he might do something like steal leftovers from the Mansion and dig through trash bins, so he'd arrange with the mansion's manager to bring home the unused scraps. They'd mix them with simple seasonings to make decorative dishes to satisfy my junior disciple's cravings." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Later, when we moved to the Li Mansion, the people there were more approachable, and the banquet leftovers were shared with the staff. The best parts naturally went to our kitchen. My junior disciple probably developed a habit of eating scraps, preferring to get more scraps than even a bit of elbow pork when dividing the leftovers."