75: Chapter 75: Xingping Chuangzhen’s Dishes 75: Chapter 75: Xingping Chuangzhen’s Dishes Xingping Chuangzhen was well aware of the dreadful “aftertaste” and its serious impact on Feng Zhizi’s upcoming food tasting.
If it were a formal culinary battle, the sa-aged chef who finished his dish first and let Feng Zhizi taste it would score much lower when Xingping served his own dish.
The domineering dish had taken over Feng Zhizi’s taste system; any subsequent dishes, no matter how exceptional, would taste several quality levels lower in her mouth, bland as wax.
At this mont, the absurd belief that serving first guaranteed a loss was about to crumble.
What stunned Xingping Chuangzhen was that Feng Zhizi had dined the day before, yet her palate was still dominated by yesterday’s dish; how overpowering had that al been?
At that mont, curiosity filled Xingping Chuangzhen’s heart towards the unseen chef his own age.
Yet Xingping Chuangzhen had no intention of admitting defeat.
He took away the Mapo Tofu that had just been served and returned with the white cloth tied again around his head.
“Your dish didn’t satisfy …” Feng Zhizi said leisurely, watching the red-haired youth brimming with fighting spirit, smiling, “What about it, do you want to try again?
This was your first dish, I’ll give you the chance to showcase your skill with a second one.”
“What would you like to eat?” Xingping Chuangzhen asked.
“Hmm…”
Finger on her tempting lips, Feng Zhizi pondered for a while before saying, “I love steak, especially the sirloin from a high-end Western restaurant in Roppongi, thinking about the rich, delicious juice spreading in my mouth…”
Feng Zhizi truly craved steak, quietly swallowing her saliva.
It was almost evening, and she had not truly savored any food all day.
“Can you make a tender, juicy at dish, young man?
It doesn’t have to be steak, just impress with your skills,” Feng Zhizi said earnestly.
“A at dish?”
“Leave it to —”
Xingping Chuangzhen responded loudly, without a trace of the dejection from his recent defeat, and quickly went to prepare the ingredients.
Feng Zhizi watched him leave in astonishnt.
“Quite interesting,” she whispered, then turning to the red-haired middle-aged man with a smile, “Boss Xingping, your son seems to have a rather unusual quality.”
“He’s not afraid of strong opponents, nor does he give up,” Xingping Cheng Yilang said contentedly.
After a while, Xingping Chuangzhen had all the ingredients ready.
Several cleanly peeled potatoes.
A large piece of breakfast bacon.
A few king oyster mushrooms, onions, and seasonings like rosemary and black pepper.
“I asked for a at dish!” Seeing this, Feng Zhizi couldn’t help but emphasize.
“Of course, I’m making a juicy at dish.
It’s a new recipe I’ve recently discovered, and you’ll definitely be satisfied!” Xingping Chuangzhen replied, his back to her as he chopped potatoes on the counter.
Bang, bang, bang, bang…
He chopped the potatoes quickly into equal pieces and then tossed them into a stear; next, he dealt with the king oyster mushrooms and onions, chopping these ingredients finely to enhance their flavor.
Sizzle, sizzle.
The skillet on the stove was already hot, Xingping Chuangzhen added a small amount of oil and tossed in the chopped onions, stirring them until they turned light brown.
He then removed the onions and tossed in a piece of thick bacon without adding oil, letting the bacon release its own fat before mixing in the chopped king oyster mushrooms.
The third step was to add the previously sautéed onions, seasoned with a suitable amount of black pepper and cheese.
When this step was completed, Xingping Chuangzhen opened the stear; the potato pieces inside were thoroughly cooked, emitting a tantalizing aroma.
He took a stainless steel bowl to hold the potato pieces, using a wooden mallet similar to a rolling pin to mash them, and then mixed in the freshly sautéed onions, king oyster mushrooms, and a bit of diced bacon, stirring everything together.
The final step involved wrapping the mashed potatoes with a large, uncooked slice of thick bacon and tying it tightly with string to hold its shape.
Thus, Xingping Chuangzhen placed the semi-finished dish on a baking tray lined with foil, sprinkled it with butter and rosemary, and slid it into the preheated oven.
About a quarter hour later, the dish was ready!
Yet there was one more easily overlooked process.
Xingping Chuangzhen rummaged through the cupboard for a bottle of red wine and poured it into the pot along with butter, peppercorns, soy sauce, and honey, among other things.
The ingredients in the sauce were actually quite complex.
He plated the well-roasted dish and drizzled it with the steaming hot red wine sauce, and the rich roasted at aroma had already taken over the entire restaurant!
“Gurgle~”
The two black-clad bodyguards behind Feng Zhizi stared at the dish on the table, their throats bobbing.
The dish was complete with color, aroma, and taste.
It was enticing.
“What, what kind of dish is this?” Feng Zhizi was sowhat agitated as she sniffed the air, feeling a sense of collapse in her mouth’s defenses.
Although she could detect a hint of aroma, this scent couldn’t continue to tear through her defenses, driving her crazy.
“This is a dish primarily made of potatoes and breakfast bacon…imitating crispy roast!” Xingping Chuangzhen proclaid with strong confidence.
“This is my creation, not a dish from Xingping Restaurant’s nu!”
He emphasized.
“Your own creation?”
Feng Zhizi squinted slightly, “I feel a bit of anticipation.”
She then sighed.
“I hope your dish can shatter the cage he’s left within.” Feng Zhizi’s gaze was earnest as she watched Xingping Chuangzhen use a sharp knife to slice the roast on the plate into rings.
“Please—” Xingping Chuangzhen gestured.
She nodded slightly and picked up a fork to spear a ring of the roast.
Slling the increasingly rich aroma, Feng Zhizi’s expression was no longer the indifferent one she had when tasting the mapo tofu before.
Hmm!
A large chunk of roast entered her mouth, and as her teeth lightly bit down, the bacon ring sprang open like a spring, with the mashed potatoes instantly invading her palate.
Feng Zhizi chewed back and forth, realizing that with each chew, the rich, well-roasted bacon juice would launch wave after wave of attacks on the fortress in her mouth.
“Not enough!
Not enough!”
“Just a little more!”
Feeling the fortress about to crumble, Feng Zhizi swallowed the food in her mouth and forked another piece of roast, her cheeks puffing out.
Unknowingly, Feng Zhizi devoured the entire plate of the dish.
However, the expression on Feng Zhizi’s face at the end was not one of enjoynt, nor was there any hint of seduction from being drugged; she sat dejectedly in her chair, “I definitely tasted sothing, but why couldn’t that flavor completely tear through his defenses?”
Feng Zhizi sat with her head buried and her shoulders shaking, as if she was crying.
What she didn’t know was that Xingping Chuangzhen was also stunned.
As he had said before, this ‘imitation roast dish’ was sothing he had developed and refined countless tis, and it could be considered the pinnacle of his culinary skills.
Yet, even this masterpiece couldn’t breach the barriers of taste!
“I lost…” Xingping Chuangzhen’s spirit was sowhat dazed.
“The gap is so big.
If my dish had been served right after she tasted that Chinese cuisine, it probably would’ve been completely tasteless.”
A large, tily hand landed on his shoulder.
“That’s enough, Chuangzhen.”
“Let do it.”
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