The Gourmet Customizer

Chapter 97: Chapter 75: Tea Eggs? This Is a Work of Art

Half an hour ago, Su Chen had been in his office, constantly trying to synthesize a recipe. But no matter what he added, he couldn’t break past the ’green’ tier.

Until...

Bored out of his mind, Su Chen started adding some strange and unusual things.

For instance, when Su Chen added the term [Jasmine Tea], the synthesis frame’s color suddenly turned purple!

Purple!!!

Su Chen was stunned for a moment.

’Jasmine Tea Eggs?’

’That sounds a bit... odd, doesn’t it?’

Spurred on by this unexpected discovery, Su Chen tried to specify the [Red Tea] term further, for example, by swapping it with the names of specific types of tea.

But every change caused the color to downgrade. Only the term [Pu’er Tea] allowed it to remain purple.

So, Su Chen continued adding some more strange terms.

[Blueberry] → White.

[Dried Plum] → White.

Just as Su Chen was about to head into the Gourmet Practice Room to start cooking, the last term he added out of boredom directly turned the synthesis frame orange!

[Coca-Cola!]

The last orange recipe had been the Eight-Treasure Pumpkin Stuffed with Rice, a dish that had completely won over a National Banquet Master!

An orange recipe meant an extremely high upper limit. In other words, as long as his technique wasn’t flawed, he could achieve an A Level rating just by following the recipe step-by-step.

If his technique was a bit more practiced and he could grasp the essence of the recipe, then it was basically a guaranteed S Level.

And so, tempted by the orange recipe, Su Chen once again forgot that he was supposed to take periodic breaks.

After battling it out in the Gourmet Practice Room for eighteen hours... he immediately rushed into the kitchen in a flurry.

If Liu Ahbao hadn’t been there to help with the stir-fried chicken, Su Chen really wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

After Su Chen laid all 20 washed eggs flat on the cutting board, Liu Ahbao crossed one arm and stroked his chin with the other. "Hiss... These tea eggs, how are you planning to make them?"

Su Chen took a deep breath, trying his best to relax his weary mind. "By the way, at the biggest restaurant you’ve worked at, how did they make tea eggs?"

Liu Ahbao frowned in thought. "When I used to work at Yingfeng Building, they actually had a tea egg dish. They sold three eggs for 28 yuan."

"Their method was pretty standard. They’d par-boil the eggs, crack the shells, add spices and tea leaves, and simmer them over low heat. They’d keep the yolk soft and then soak the eggs in warm water overnight."

Indeed, that method was considered quite authentic.

After all, tea eggs are found all over the country, with different methods in every province and city. There’s no definitive rule about which version is the best and which is bad; they’re all more or less the same.

"And they dared to sell those eggs for over 9 yuan each?" Zhang Li exclaimed, finding it unbelievable.

Liu Ahbao chuckled. "Well, it’s a big hotel. It wouldn’t look right if they sold them too cheap."

"Alright then. Later, you can try my tea eggs and tell me how much you think they’re worth."

Su Chen checked the time. If he wasn’t mistaken, Bai Xiaobo should be on his way back by now.

It was time!

He found two chopsticks, holding one in each hand by the slender end. Standing before the cutting board, Su Chen took another deep breath.

He looked at the eggs on the cutting board.

TAP... TAP... TAP...

He began to tap them continuously. His movements didn’t look very forceful, and the eggs on the cutting board didn’t seem to change at all.

The motion, however, made Zhang Li laugh out loud. "The boss looks like he’s playing the drums."

Su Chen was in no mood to deal with her, simply mentally lumping Zhang Li and Bai Xiaobo into the same category: ’Idiots!’

He tapped not only the top of each egg but also the sides a few times.

With the buff from his [Precise Strike] badge, the force of every tap was perfectly controlled. Only Su Chen himself knew what each strike of the chopstick signified!

As he tapped, Su Chen silently mourned for the thousands of eggs he’d wasted in the practice room!

He worked quickly, stopping after about thirty seconds.

"Done."

"And what was that? Giving the eggs a send-off?" Liu Ahbao asked curiously.

’With that little force, he couldn’t have cracked the shells. Besides, if the shells were broken, how could he boil the eggs?’

’Wouldn’t the contents just leak out as soon as you boiled them?’

’Even a grade-schooler should know that, right?’

"No." Su Chen was a bit tired, so tired he didn’t even notice Liu Ahbao was joking. "Zhang Li, bring me that small pot."

’A large pot isn’t needed for just 20 eggs.’

"Ling Shuyu, go to the break room and get me the Pu’er and Jasmine Tea."

"Do we have any?"

"We do. Xinghui bought it last time when we hosted Shang Mingke."

Zhang Li came over carrying the pot. "Boss, that Pu’er tea is really expensive!"

Su Chen was unconcerned. "We’ll buy a cheaper one tomorrow. Since we’re eating it ourselves today, we’ll use the expensive stuff."

’Besides, everyone at the company is young and none of them like drinking tea. So what if it’s expensive...’

’If I make it into tea eggs, it’ll have value. If I don’t, what damn good is it just sitting in the cabinet?’

Ling Shuyu returned with the tea leaves and noticed that Su Chen had already portioned out some spices into a bowl.

"Five-spice powder is star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and cloves." Su Chen said this to Ling Shuyu, even though he already felt she was no longer suited for the kitchen.

’But it’s still necessary for her to understand some simple basics.’

"Then what about thirteen-spice?" Zhang Li asked curiously, blinking her eyes.

Su Chen: ’Get lost!!!’

"Why don’t you go look at the ingredients list yourself and find out?"

Since they were waiting for Bai Xiaobo to return, the group was just idling in the kitchen. Su Chen, feeling a bit of interest, asked, "Liu Ahbao, do you know why ’five-spice’ refers to these five specific spices?"

"I do. It’s because these five spices are all different. If used individually, they need to be paired with different ingredients. When mixed, they’re mostly used for cooking meat and roasted foods."