The Urban Successor of God of Gluttony - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Receiving Free Labor

“One bowl of wonton with one egg! Gourmet, please taste it!”

Shu Yu personally brought over the wonton dish . Gu Zheng took out a small digital camera and took a few photos of the wonton . He had already taken a couple of photos, such as the one he had taken of the door .

Food reviews must have illustrations . If the writing didn’t have any pictures, the commentary would lose credibility . Furthermore, when it had picture, it looked more appealing and would attract more viewers . Since Gu Zheng knew that he was coming to Shu Yu’s shop to write a review, he had brought his camera with him .

After taking the picture, only then did Gu Zheng sit down properly . He took out a bottle of water and gave his mouth a rinse . The work of a food critic wasn’t as easy as it would seem . Since this was a serious matter, he needed to remove anything that could remain in his mouth from before . This was so he could taste it completely, and make an accurate commentary .

“These wonton are decent . These should be classified as large wonton . It has a thick skin and is packed with filling, one mouthful is just enough . My initial impression is of it being above average!”

He used a spoon to lift out a single wonton as he spoke . If it was someone else, he wouldn’t have said anything, and would’ve only written his honest feelings in the draft . Only then would he decide what to write, and what not to write . However, since Shu Yu and Hu Yue Yue were fellow students, he spoke a bit more .

“Large wonton? Does that mean there’s small wonton?” Hu Yue Yue curiously asked .

“Of course there are . There’s many different sizes of wonton . Large wontons are more common towards the south . Furthermore, they have different names depending on the region . For example, in the Sichuan Province they’re called Chaoshou(抄手), in the Jianxi Province they are called Qingtang(清汤) or Yuntun(云吞) . In some places they’re called Baomian(包面), or dumplings(bianshi or 扁食) . The north is somewhat more unified, they all call it wonton . Over there, small wonton are more common!” (T/N: When I use the word wonton, it’s referring to the north’s usage of wonton, Huntun or 馄饨 . )

In small wonton, the skin was a bit thicker, and it was a bit smaller . Using chopsticks to take a little bit of meat paste was enough to wrap a wonton . Small wonton and large wonton looked similar from the outside, however their taste was quite different . Small wonton were typically lighter, and when you placed it in your mouth the skin would immediately break apart . Of course, it was typically accompanied by a bowl of chicken soup . Eating and drinking together made it extremely delicious and satisfying .

Large huntun had a thicker skin, and it could be cooked along with noodles . It was also possible to use various fillings . Thus, large wontons were more common within the market .

“Indeed you are a gourmet, you know quite a lot!”

Hu Yue Yue praised . Gu zheng laughed . He didn’t reply, and merely lifted the wonton into his mouth and slowly tasted it .

Dumplings were somewhat similar to foods like wonton and buns . The first ingredient would be the skin, then it was the stuffing . The skin needed to be strong yet delicate . The requirements to ferment the dough were not high, the time it took to ferment was neither long nor short . One couldn’t add too much water .  This kind of wonton skin was quite strong so that when the customer bit into it, it would remain with the filling and make it even more delicious .

The wheat flour’s fermentation was decent . According to Gu Zheng’s scoring system, this wonton skin would score 70 points . Last time when he was in the Central Plains to taste the famous steamed dumpling, he had only give it 80 points .

That was half a year ago when Gu Zheng had personally sought out them out to try it . When he bit into the first Bianjing steamed dumpling, it had already lived up to it’s name . It had a thin skin with plenty of filling and =each bite exploded with flavor . Eating it was extremely satisfying . When he thought of rumors of the difference between the local steamed dumplings to the store’s, he felt they fell short .

   Bainjing’s had achieved the title of number one back then and had received the approval of the Great Ancestor .  Proper hospitality was essential for a dish to become a staple dish . According to the legends, that year, the master who made the steamed dumplings had a son and a disciple .  The disciple was equivalent to an adopted son and had received the master’s surname .

 The master of the dumpling provided equal care towards his disciple and his son . Both the front and back of their hands were made from flesh, he wanted them to eventually achieve the same kind of unity . He didn’t want the brothers to separate from each other . So he passed his craft separately towards each of them . The son would learn to make the skin, while the disciple would learn to make the filling . The meaning was to let the son be the outside, while letting the disciple handle the internal matters . 。

After the teacher became an immortal, the son and the disciple still ended up fighting . In the end, they separated from each other . (T/N: This section above was weird to translate…)

The son inherited the old master’s shop, and continued to make the number one soup dumpling . The disciple went away and opened up a shop, and kept his surname . Gu Zheng had eaten from the son’s establishment . The son had learned the skill to make the skin . Gu Zheng gave those dumplings 80 points . Shu Yu’s earned 70, this was far from just a few points .

The reason why it only earned eighty points, wasn’t because the old master hadn’t taught the son well . If it was the old master, or even his son who had made the dumplings, he definitely wouldn’t have given only that many points towards the skin .

He chewed on a mouthful of the skin, only after that did Gu Zheng bite into the filling .

Shu Yu had given Gu Zheng the common large amount of filling with green scallions, which was more commonly known as pork stuffing . After Gu Zheng ate a mouthful, he quietly nodded .

“The fine meat matches nicely with the Zhang Qiu leek . You used Fujian soy sauce . The only problem is that you cooked the chicken for a bit too long . If you a bit less, the flavor would be much better!”

After eating a single wonton, Gu Zheng slowly spoke, Shu Yu stared with large eyes . 。

She had bought the recipe for a high price . She was clear about the ingredients required, and Gu Zheng hadn’t made a single mistake . Zhangqiu onion and Fujian soy sauce . While there were some Gu Zheng didn’t mention, the fact that he could name those few was already extremely terrifying .

If it was another person, they wouldn’t know anything . How would they be able to taste the scallions within? How about the Fujian soy sauce?

“Impressive, Scholar Gu . You truly have abilities, you can taste all of that?”

Hu Yue Yue’s face was also filled with surprise . She didn’t know what was inside the filling, however she could read other’s expression . One look at Shu Yu’s face and she was sure that Gu Zheng hadn’t spoken incorrectly . He had spoken correctly .

Gu Zheng smiled and shook his head, before slowly drinking the soup .

Since it was necessary to write a review, he needed to write about it all . While one could eat a few less wonton,there needed to be an abundance of soup . The soup was also important, it could enhance the fragrance of the wonton as well as add nutrients .

The soup was made from chicken bones, it was somewhat average, which made Gu Zheng feel somewhat regretful .

“Gu Zheng, how’s the fried egg?”

Along with the wonton was a whole fried egg with a golden oil . It’s appearance was fairly ordinary . Gu Zheng had learned the God of Gluttony’s frie egg cooking skill . Although he had yet to practice it, just one look and he knew it wasn’t good enough . The God of Gluttony’s fried eggs were completely round . White was white, and the yellow was yellow . There weren’t any traces of oil, it looked as if it was a painting .

Looking at the traces of oil on the fried egg, no matter how he tried, he couldn’t raise his appetite . In the end, he ended up not trying it . At Shu Yu’s reminder, he picked it up with his chopsticks .

This fried egg had gone a bit cold, this was a major flaw . Foods like fried eggs must be hot when eaten . It being cold had a great impact in it’s taste .

“What!”

He took a bite, and Gu Zheng’s eye’s lit up . It gave a small sound in his mouth . The fried egg really was cold, and also had a subtle smell . However, the taste wasn’t bad . It was crisp and had a sweet taste . One bite of the egg white and his mouth was filled with a bright flavor .

The egg white was quite crisp . After chewing a few times he swallowed it . It’s subtle cold feeling made people very comfortable .

“This fried egg is average, however the taste is decent… Why?”

Gu Zheng first ate the rest of the fried egg, then raised his head to ask his question . He ate a lot of fried eggs, and now that he had learned how to cook the best fried egg . It could be said he had high understanding of fried eggs . Even then, this fried egg gave him a surprising feeling .

“There’s things even you don’t know!”

Shu Yu smiled proudly and continued: “Look at the price list . I have two kinds of fried eggs, one costs 2 dollars, the other costs 5 dollars . Both are fried by a single person, but the raw ingredients are different . The two dollar one is an ordinary eggs, but, the five dollar eggs were sent to me by someone and are special . They cost more than three dollars, so we had to sell them for five dollars, only then would we profit!”

“Alright, I didn’t understand in the beginning . Only after I taste both fried eggs will it be fine, so there really was a difference between the prices and ingredients!”

Hu Yue Yue helped from the side . Gu Zheng stood up, and walked towards the kitchen . As he walked he spoke: “Do you still have some of these five dollar eggs? Can I see them?”

“I have some . In fact I have a lot . There placed over there, come take a look!”

Shu Yu walked with Gu Zheng . The kitchen workers didn’t block Gu Zheng, thus he went directly into the kitchen and picked up the eggs Shu Yu spoke of .

“Chicken eggs, second-class ingredient!”

Holding onto the eggs, a variety of lights flashed through GU Zheng’s eyes . He had looked for two days straight and ran around breeding plantations and hadn’t found any second class eggs . Yet, he found them here . This really was the saying ‘You looked high and low till your iron shoes were worn out but still to no avail . Then you chanced upon it without ever looking’ .