Free Web NovelChapter 678: Chapter 607: Every Flavor Is Just Right
Wang Fan was naturally making his own dessert.
Based on the information provided by Zhuo Qianqian and the others, Wang Fan had already devised a detailed strategy against each opponent of the France Team.
For example, this Abraham, according to big data calculations, had an 85% chance of making an Opera Cake, so Wang Fan naturally would prepare a dessert targeting this cake.
This square cake does not win by appearance, but by its unique texture. Wang Fan felt that he had already put enough effort into the appearance the day before, so the judges might experience aesthetic fatigue. Thus, when facing Abraham, he did not make those uniquely shaped desserts but chose a similarly square-shaped dessert.
The early winter in the South and the early winter in the North are completely different. In the North, at this time, you can hardly see any green leaves, let alone flowers; whereas in Sichuan, the trees are lush and everywhere is filled with the fragrance of flowers and fruits.
At the end of October in Sichuan, there is a kind of flower that blooms splendidly, its unique fragrance is said to carry for ten miles — it is the osmanthus flower.
And the dessert Wang Fan made, aside from incorporating the flavor of osmanthus, also directly used the name of the flower.
Osmanthus Cake has a history of more than 300 years and was invented by a vendor named Liu Jixiang from Xindu County.
Liu Jixiang was inspired by the study of Yang Sheng’an, gathered fresh osmanthus, squeezed out the bitterness, infused it with honey, and mixed it with steamed rice flour, glutinous rice flour, cooked oil, and rock sugar, shaped it in a box to sell, and named it Osmanthus Cake.
Wang Fan boiled water and added rock sugar, then took a plate and poured half of the measured dried osmanthus into the pot, gently stirring. Once the rock sugar completely dissolved, he turned to low heat to simmer slowly.
He took a white porcelain bowl, poured in granulated sugar, and then added water to mix well. He didn’t use much sugar; the taste of Chinese desserts emphasizes subtlety, with a hint of sweetness being the ultimate goal.
Mixed the rice flour and glutinous rice flour in the right proportion, pouring in the sugar water from the bowl while stirring. It was the same simple steps, done meticulously, exuding an unmistakable aura of a formidable presence.
In the judge’s seat, Allen alternated his gaze between Wang Fan and Abraham, feeling that although the desserts they were making were different, their overall actions seemed almost like copy-pasted from each other.
If you haven’t studied and researched our team, I’ll gouge out my eyeballs and let you step on them!
Allen felt distressed. Your opponent can study your team members, but you have no way to study your opponent. This feeling was just terrible.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about researching Wang Fan’s study of Chinese desserts. He even specially hired some people for it, but after much investigation, he found it wasn’t useful at all!
First of all, this opponent was originally a chef!
What could you study about him? Study whether his chicken dishes were tasty?
They had a detailed understanding of the few desserts Wang Fan made before, but the problem was that he never repeated them in these competitions!
As for studying Chinese desserts, that was even more absurd. Damn it, they alone had over a hundred types of desserts older than a thousand years, each rigorously selected by the nine clans. How could they know what Wang Fan was going to make!
Though they didn’t know who the nine clans were, it seemed this person must have had a very high status in Huaxia, or else they wouldn’t have the authority to convince everyone, could it be some Emperor?
Wang Fan naturally didn’t know about Allen’s wild thoughts. By now, he had started to knead the rice flour with his hands.
Picking up a handful of rice flour, he gently squeezed it into a shape similar to that of a dumpling.
The good balance of dryness and moisture allowed this lump of rice flour to neither fall apart nor stick to Wang Fan’s hand.
The pot was already emitting a rich osmanthus fragrance, mingling with the sweetness of rock sugar, filling the air around him with a sweet aroma.
After boiling another pot of water, he sifted the rice flour through a sieve, which fell like snowflakes, quickly forming a layer at the bottom of the wooden mold.
The rice flour piled up more and more, gradually forming a little mound. Only after all the rice flour was sifted did he use a wooden spatula to spread the rice flour evenly.
After smoothing out the rice flour, he gently sprinkled some dried osmanthus on top and covered it with a layer of plastic wrap, his movements so gentle as if fearing to disturb the lightly resting rice flour.
By this time, the water in the pot was already boiling, and the osmanthus honey nearby was thick enough. After turning off the heat for the osmanthus honey, he gently placed the rice flour on top of the steamer in the boiling water pot.
Placed the lid on, the next transformation could only be completed by time.
While Abraham was still bustling with heat and enthusiasm, Wang Fan had already stopped. By this time, he had nothing else to prepare and only needed to wait for the rice flour to complete its magnificent transformation in the steam, then tweak the shape a bit and drizzle a little osmanthus syrup.
His leisurely demeanor made the audience anxious.
"Boss Wang, do something, don’t just stand there. Your opponent is still earnestly working away."
"There must be some detail overlooked, Boss Wang quickly think, don’t miss any detail."
"Is this step really so simple? It feels like even I could do it?"
"Although I want to scold you, I feel like I could actually do it too..."
"With such simple steps, could it really taste good?"
The confidence Wang Fan had built in the audience yesterday completely vanished the moment he relaxed.
Just because something is simple to make doesn’t necessarily mean it will taste bad, but something complex to make will definitely taste good!
If it seems anyone could do it, who’s going to believe it will be delicious?
