Chapter 151: Rainbow-Colored Crescent Moon Dumpling? Where’s the Rainbow Colors?
Translator: OnGoingWhy Editor: Vermillion
Within the bustling Gate of Heavenly Mystery, a man whose head was sparkling under the sunlight was extremely eye-catching as he stood behind one of many cooking stoves.
Chef Jin’s expression was solemn as he skillfully kneaded a meatball with his hands. This meatball was made using different kinds of meat mixed together and its taste was definitely extraordinary. This was a dish that he was extremely proud of. For the sake of this year’s Hundred Family Banquet, he was giving his all.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, Chef Jin stopped in the middle of kneading a meatball after getting startled by a deafening noise and discovering his cooking stove was slightly shaking.
He subconsciously looked toward the direction where the sound was coming from and saw a fat person was actually fiercely hammering at a piece of meat on a cooking stove with a sledgehammer in his hands.
“Is this his idea of cooking? Is there something wrong with this fatso’s head?” Chef Jin sarcastically asked as the corners of his lips twitched. No one else ever cooked as if they were having a fight like this fatso.
Rip!
A bone-chilling sound rang out and goosebumps rose all over Chef Jin’s body. His eyes widened as he looked behind that fatso.
There, a short and thin person with a large black wok on his back was cutting open a struggling spirit beast on the ground with the dagger in his hand…
Chef Jin swallowed his saliva with a gulp. His pupils constricted as he felt a sudden chill in his heart. The madness in that person’s eyes made him feel as if he was looking at a vicious executioner instead of a chef.
“Who are all these people… This year’s Hundred Family Banquet is simply too disorganized. They didn’t even manage to filter these sort of people from the participants. This is simply nonsense.”
Chef Jin muttered with a chilly expression on his face before he focused all of his attention back on making his dish once more.
…
Clouds of steam were rising from the wok and the water inside was already close to the boiling point.
At that moment, Bu Fang had already kneaded over a dozen Rainbow-colored Crescent Moon Dumplings. This time, he did not follow the recipe provided by the system but used his own revised version instead. He only used ordinary ingredients for the fillings so that anyone would be able to eat the dish without experiencing any discomfort from consuming spirit energy.
Many of the chefs around him had already finished cooking and their dishes were already served to the emperor as well as some of the high-ranking officials.
As the ruling power of the empire, they were naturally the first to taste the dishes.
These people were nodding their heads as they ate the food. After all, these were the dishes of famous chefs. It was natural for them to taste good.
After tasting the dish in front of him, Ji Chengxue indifferently nodded and ordered someone to take it away without any change in his expression.
As each dish was taken away, the next dish would be brought forward.
Meanwhile, the commoners finally managed to have a taste of these delicious dishes as well. They were already close to their limits after having their appetites aroused by the fragrance wafting in the air. Many of their stomachs were rumbling in protest.
Chef Jin’s dish was successfully completed as well. After pouring his meticulously prepared sauce over the meatballs, the piping hot and intensely fragrant Four Happiness Meatballs were ready to be eaten.
After seeing the rather appetizing Four Happiness Meatballs, Ji Chengxue raised his eyebrows and indiscernibly nodded. He picked up one of the meatballs and gently took a bite.
The moment his teeth broke through the surface of the meatball, a thick juice gushed out from the center and instantly flowed into his mouth. The aroma was so fragrant that Ji Chengxue could not help but continue sucking the juice from the meatball. The juice contained not just the flavor of a single type of meat but tasted of several different kinds of meat combined together. After undergoing a special preparation by the bald-headed Chef Jin, there was actually no sense of conflict in the flavors and the taste was surprisingly good.
After finishing the meatball, Ji Chengxue nodded in satisfaction. After tasting so many dish up until now, this was the only dish that he thought was interesting.
“As expected of a head chef from the imperial kitchen, it’s not bad,” Ji Chengxue praised with a smile.
When Chef Jin who was still cooking in front of his stove saw the smile on the emperor’s face, he was suddenly overjoyed. He felt better than ever and was filled with confidence as if a seed had instantly grown into a plant and bore fruit upon his head.
Meanwhile, the imperial city’s bigwigs and the commoners were full of praise as well as they ate the Four Happiness Meatballs. Evidently, this dish had conquered their stomachs.
“I am still a head chef from the imperial kitchen after all!” Chef Jin’s bald head became even brighter as he resisted the urge to hum a tune. He thought, “Owner Bu? The brothers from Qingyangzhen? They’re nothing!”
As Bu Fang’s slender hands rapidly kneaded the Rainbow-colored Crescent Moon Dumplings, the amount of crescent moon dumplings in front of him grew more and more.
When the water in the wok had completely reached boiling point and the heat was enough to make him slightly narrow his eyes, Bu Fang started dropping the dumplings into the boiling water.
Plop, plop.
One after another, the Rainbow-colored Crescent Moon Dumplings were dropped into the bubbling water. They floated on the surface for a while before sinking to the bottom of the wok.
Bu Fang gave the water dumplings in the wok a glance before he went back and started kneading dumplings again. He prepared quite an amount of fillings which should be enough for a few hundred dumplings. Bu Fang’s kneading speed was extremely fast and he could knead a crescent moon dumpling within a few breaths.
“Keep feeding the fire, don’t let it get smaller,” Bu Fang reminded the young eunuch stoking the fire.
The young eunuch hurriedly nodded and added a few more pieces of wood into the fire.
The dumplings soon started rising toward the surface of the water. Bu Fang’s eyes were sharp and his hands were quick. The instant a dumpling reached the surface, he scooped it up and dropped it into a blue and white porcelain bowl.
A single bowl was only large enough to contain three of the Rainbow-colored Crescent Moon Dumplings.
The white and glossy Rainbow-colored Crescent Moon Dumplings was not radiating rainbow colors despite its name. These dumplings were smooth and translucent, and the fillings inside could almost be seen.
From the outside, there seemed to be a faint amount of fragrance enveloping the fillings and made the dumpling appear extremely tantalizing.
After pouring a ladle of the soup into the bowl and then sprinkling some chopped up green onion, the Rainbow-colored Crescent Moon Dumplings was completed.
The young eunuch approached Bu Fang and was slightly surprised as he looked at the exquisite crescent moon dumplings. The aroma of the dumplings were not as fragrant compared to the dishes of the other chefs.
However, the young eunuch did not say anything either as he picked up the dish and walked in Ji Chengxue’s direction.
“This is Owner Bu’s… dish?”
Ji Chengxue was filled with anticipation as he looked at the dish being presented by the young eunuch. However, when he saw the ordinary-looking crescent moon dumplings whose fragrance was not that strong either, the expectation in his heart rapidly declined and he became somewhat disappointed.
There were no dumplings in the Light Wind Empire, so Ji Chengxue did not recognize the dish. However, Ji Chengxue had tasted Bu Fang’s Golden Shumai before and its rich fragrance and glistening appearance were still lingering in his memory even till now. In contrast, the adorable-looking water dumplings in the blue and white porcelain bowl in front of him were not as fragrant as he expected. Ji Chengxue let out a sigh.
“What did Owner Bu call this dish?” Even though he was somewhat disappointed, Ji Chengxue still asked the young eunuch.
“Owner Bu said this dish is called Rainbow-colored Crescent Moon Dumplings,” the young eunuch respectfully said.
“Hmm? Rainbow-colored? How is this rainbow-colored? Aren’t these crescent moon dumplings entirely white in color?” Ji Chengxue was bewildered. He was somewhat confused as he gave the white dumplings another glance. Rainbow-colored was naturally seven colors. Why was the dish called rainbow-colored when there was only a single color?
Was there something else special about this dish? Ji Chengxue’s eyes suddenly lit up. He suddenly remembered that with Bu Fang’s capability in cooking, it was impossible for him to bring out such an ordinary dish…
The expectation in his heart, which had already fallen before, rose up once more. Ji Chengxue was now eager to have a taste of these Rainbow-colored Crescent Moon Dumplings.
Using a soup spoon to scoop up a steaming crescent moon dumpling, Ji Chengxue blew on the dumpling before gently taking a bite.
After biting through the tender skin of the dumpling with a single bite, Ji Chengxue’s eyes instantly widened and became filled with incredulity.
A rich aromatic explosion suddenly occurred in Ji Chengxue’s mouth and the surging waves of flavor made him feel a sense of satisfaction.
As a rich fragrance wafted out from the bite he took from the dumpling, Ji Chengxue’s nostrils widened when he saw the fragrance…
What the hell, this fragrance actually caused a rainbow!
