Chapter 42: A Bowl of Clear Broth Noodle Soup (Part Two)
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
Yuan Zhou picked up the large coarse porcelain bowl, then prepared to add the final seasonings. He opened the salt box, then put some in according to his liking, and also added some seafood sauce that would bring out the flavor. Afterwards, he set the bowl down and started to put in the noodles.
Yuan Zhou deftly used a special colander ladle and long bamboo chopsticks to scoop up all the noodles at once, then dipped them into ice-cold water quickly. Next, the noodles were thrown into the bowl filled with seasonings.
“Swish”
A spoonful of boiling broth was poured onto the noodles. He could instantly feel the rising heat and smell the fragrance that rushed into his nose. With a few drops of sesame oil, the fragrance became even stronger and lingered around the kitchen.
The word ‘delicious’ could hardly do justice to this bowl of noodles.
Yuan Zhou took a seat on his private chair with the bowl in his hands and raised his chopsticks, preparing to enjoy the meal.
The broth in the brown porcelain bowl was not clear like water. 80% of the bowl was filled with broth along with the barely sufficient noodles. It emitted a smell stimulated one's appetite.
“Slurp......”
Yuan Zhou may be an authentic southwesterner. However, he preferred rice over noodles. As an adult man, he would only consume 50 grams of noodles. Whenever he went out and ordered 50 grams of noodles for a meal, he would receive strange glances from the bosses.
Of course, at the beginning, eating 100 grams of noodles wasn’t a problem for him, but that was when his parents were still alive and running the noodle restaurant.
Yet, now, Yuan Zhou was holding the bowl and eating noodles blissfully. One could have never thought he disliked noodles just by looking at this scene.
“It’s awfully tasty”, Yuan Zhou muttered.
There were actually very few seasonings added to the noodles. A mere pinch of salt, seafood sauce and a few drops of sesame oil. Nevertheless, this bowl of noodles could be said to have gone beyond the limits of ordinary noodles.
The wheat can be used as a decoration and also has medicinal purpose. It has high nutrition value which only the system can provide.
The system read, “The wheat grains can only mature under strict sunlight conditions. Only the best wheat grains that mature at the same time will be selected and roughly peeled before entering the grinding process.”
“The wheat grains are ground using a traditional stone mill. This low-temperature process is used in order to avoid ruining the nutrition in the wheat grains.”
“The flour made from the stone mill is able to preserve the nutrition of the wheat grains. These include protein, gluten, carotene, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B1 and B2, etc. Of all these, the carotene and vitamin E in the stone mill flour is 18 times higher than those found in other kinds of flour. Furthermore, the slow grinding characteristic maintains the molecular structure of the wheat grains, thus no additives are required.”
“The reason why the primary color appears to be yellow is because the flour retains abundant vitamin B, which is really good for the human nervous system and skin tissues.”
“The stone mill uses two stone disks that have been repeatedly hammered and ground by traditional tools. These two stone disks are carved by hand into flat cylinders from thick stone blocks. After that, rows of diagonal lines are carved over the two stone disks, to act as grinding gears.”
“The creation of the grinding gears requires a demanding and complicated technique. Manual modifications are essential to perfect its reasonable, natural and scientific designs. This is because the modifications for the angle, size and gap cannot be achieved by modern tools.”
The noodles that were in Yuan Zhou’s mouth now had gone through numerous cycles of grinding. With a bite, one could tell how different the texture of the noodles was from its chewiness. The fragrance that was trapped within the noodles during the kneading of the dough now burst out instantly. Once could see the golden wheat swaying about in the wheat field after one bite.
“Boom Boom Pow”
This was the explosion that could only be created from a delicacy.
The main ingredient was the noodles while all other seasonings merely complemented it. Even the specially supplied well salt and the amazing broth became seasonings that were used to bring out the taste of the main ingredient.
The chewy noodles were smooth and easy to swallow. It was almost impossible to choke on it and it kept sliding down his gullet. The reason was because the stomach was demanding him to swallow more, to swallow more and more.
“Slurp....”
The sound of Yuan Zhou gulping down noodles echoed throughout the whole restaurant. If the dish was delicious enough, who would care about image?
“Guluk”
Having swallowed up the last mouthful of the noodles, Yuan Zhou directly brought the bowl up and drank the remaining broth without any hesitation.
“Burp.....”
A resounding burp burst out from Yuan Zhou.
“It was so tasty.” Yuan Zhou touched his belly unconsciously. While looking at the empty bowl and the cooking pot for the noodles, he heaved a sigh.
“I am much too full that I can’t eat anymore,” Yuan Zhou said with a regretful tone.
Now that he had eaten his fill, Yuan Zhou tapped to open the mission status and checked the message he received.
Target: The system will help you to get a thorough knowledge of both western and traditional Chinese foods so you can become the top Master Chef in the world.
Host: Yuan Zhou (Ordinary Chinese Han, Nationality: human)
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Physical quality: C (overall evaluations of neutral responding speed, strength, coordination and sensibility, etc.)
Culinary talent: Unknown
Skill: None
Tool: None
5 Dimensions Cooking evaluation: Novice
(A novice that had just mastered how to cook the Egg Fried Rice and Clear Broth Noodle Soup).
Level: 2
Title: Master of Cooked Wheaten Food
(As a Master of Cooked Wheaten Food, how could you be so busy in the kitchen? You need some time of your own to improve your culinary skills. Therefore, business hours must be less than 6 hours every day.)
[Mission 2]: Since host has gotten some fame in the neighborhood, please obtain more than 1000 recognition points on the internet within 20 days. (Completed)
(Mission Tips: Advertising by yourself or with money is not allowed. As a future Master Chef, how could you advertise your restaurant by yourself? It must be advertised by word of mouth voluntarily.)
[Mission reward]: Clear Broth Noodle Soup (Received)
After a careful check, Yuan Zhou found that his level had increased to Level 2. “System, what is the reward for obtaining a higher level?”
The system read, “A set of table and chairs for two people has been unlocked.”
“Lottery system downloading. Download complete. The host has a chance to draw a lottery. Please take the chance.”
“A lottery?! It seems to be something new.” Yuan Zhou rubbed his lower jaw.
The flower racks beside the entrance had disappeared. They were replaced with some dim lights enveloping that area. It seemed the system was creating a set of table and chairs.
“Shall I draw a lottery now or later?” Yuan Zhou hesitated.
“Let me first check what the reward is.” Yuan Zhou mouth couldn't help twitching when he tapped open the lottery page.
Only two rewards were shown in his mind. Yuan Zhou could draw a lottery once to get 2 sauces among 222 sauces.
To his surprise, the tool used in the lottery was a dice. Moreover, it was a row of dice. A row!!! What kind of lottery is this? Was he supposed to throw all of them?”
“How do I draw the lottery?” Yuan Zhou asked as he rolled his eyes speechlessly.
He had barely finished asking, when Yuan Zhou found one of the dice had left the row and moved to one side quietly, waiting for someone to fling it.
“Nice, it’s very systematic.”
“Fling it.” The dice automatically began to rotate at a uniform speed.
After 10 seconds...
“Stop.
The reason why Yuan Zhou called out so late was merely because he thought that the dice was controlled automatically by the system. However, after he carefully stared at the dice for over 10 seconds, he found that the dice was still rotating blissfully. Yuan Zhou then realized he was wrong.
The dice stopped instantly when he called out. It was only then did Yuan Zhou see the words on it clearly.