I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 718 - 323: Another dish to go with rice! What to do with leftover dough? Try making Doodle Cakes! [Subscribe please]

Chapter 718: Chapter 323: Another dish to go with rice! What to do with leftover dough? Try making Doodle Cakes! [Subscribe please]

"The famous lotus cake! I can’t believe I’m seeing it in real life!"

"Seeing it isn’t that special; the key is its incredible visual appeal. You’d be hard-pressed to find many others like it online."

"Exactly! The lotus cakes the boss makes have petals that are perfectly unfolded, far better than those online that look like blooming steamed buns."

In front of the booth on the second floor, everyone gathered around the table, gazing at the lotus cakes, yet no one reached out to taste them.

It was too beautiful, so beautiful that it felt wrong to take a bite.

So, everyone just kept taking pictures, posting on their social feeds, and sharing status updates to show off the lotus cake made by their boss.

Shen Baobao sat among the crowd, initially wanting Lin Xu to teach her how to make it. But considering the difficulty of this delicacy, she soon thought better of it. Even though Yan Bao, that unhelpful assistant, isn’t around this time, this lotus cake looks really challenging. Ugh, forget it. I’d rather just be a quiet, pretty face.

「Downstairs.」

Lin Xu, holding Dundun in his arms, stood before the aquarium, watching the various fresh fish swim about. He quietly asked, "Son, want some fish? If you do, I’ll steam one for you tonight. But you have to help me draw a better prize; otherwise, it’s Chicken Breast for dinner."

On any other day, he would have definitely played with Dundun for a while before casually drawing a prize. But today he was busy upstairs, and the little guy seemed a bit worn out too, so he cut to the chase.

Dundun stretched out his paw and laid it in Lin Xu’s palm.

Clearly, father and son had reached an agreement.

Lin Xu gripped Dundun’s paw and silently commanded in his mind, Draw prize!

Soon, a prize wheel appeared in his mind.

After the wheel started spinning, a new button appeared next to the draw button: [Draw All Prizes]

All prizes? Lin Xu thought. Today’s draw is for three dishes and one Cooking Technique. Drawing them all at once would indeed be much more convenient than one by one. In that case, let’s just do it all in one go. It’ll save time for both me and Dundun.

After selecting "Draw All Prizes," the wheel slowly came to a stop.

Soon, the system’s notification chimed in his mind again: "Congratulations to the host for acquiring: Perfect Level lost dish — Silver Shrimp Soup; Perfect Level Dry Pot dish — Dry Pot Cauliflower; Perfect Level raw marinated dish — Drunken Crab; Perfect Level Cooking Technique — Dry Burning."

This... Is that all? Lin Xu mused. This draw feels pretty ordinary. I have no idea what Silver Shrimp Soup is; it seems like some kind of soup. And Drunken Crab... apart from people in the Yangtze River Delta region, anyone else eating it would probably get an upset stomach, right?

He looked at Dundun cradled in his arms and asked, "Son? Have you been too tired from filming videos these past few days?"

Dundun flashed his claws, giving Lin Xu a look that clearly threatened a scratching if he wasn’t taken back to sleep immediately. Lin Xu couldn’t help but sigh. It seems the little guy really is exhausted. But that’s fine. At least I got Dry Pot Cauliflower, one of the restaurant’s top five bestsellers, to count on. It’s not a total loss. The Lin Ji Rice Annihilator squad gains another new member! As for Silver Shrimp Soup and Drunken Crab, I’ll just set them aside for now. Who knows, they might come in handy someday. That Dry Burning Technique, though... Although it’s a niche technique, it’s also a rising star among dishes that pair exceptionally well with rice. Take Dry Burning Fish, for example, found in both braised dishes and Sichuan cuisine. Aside from the bones, it’s amazing for pairing with rice. When I have time, I’ll go to Fishing Platform to spar a bit with Chef Song or Chef Dai. They both excel at Dry Burning Fish. I want to see how my Perfect Level technique stacks up against those two State Banquet chefs, and if there are any flaws or areas for improvement.

After taking Dundun back to the service counter, the little guy immediately lifted his tail, dove into his little house, flipped onto his small blanket, exposed his belly, and started snoring loudly.

Back upstairs, just as he exited the stairwell, Lin Xu saw Shen Baobao and the others, each holding a small plate, delicately tasting the lotus cakes.

They didn’t commit sacrilege by biting off a whole piece; instead, they carefully worked from the base, tearing off the petals one by one.

Each torn-off petal was popped into their mouths, and with every chew, a delightful CRUNCH could be heard.

"Wow, it’s so incredibly crispy! Eating it is even more fragrant and satisfyingly crisp than those fried dough twists or other light pastries."

"And these petals are so, so thin, like cicada wings."

"If the petals alone are this delicious, I can only imagine how tasty the filling must be."

"I need to savor this slowly, eat the petals one by one, and then the filling."

"Mhm, save the best for last, right?"

"..."

Listening to their discussion, Lin Xu couldn’t help but give a wry smile. You’re supposed to eat lotus cake with the filling to truly experience the layered, crispy, fragrant deliciousness of the petals. Eating it petal by petal actually makes it rather bland. It’s just ordinary low-gluten flour mixed with a bit of powdered sugar and lard. All you get is crispiness and a hint of sweetness, completely missing the essence of the lotus cake.

"Don’t eat it like that!" Lin Xu said as he walked over. "Eating it that way is a complete waste of my skills. You might as well just be munching on plain fried crisps."

He picked up a lotus cake and bit off half the flower in one go. The layers of crispy petals contrasted sharply with the soft, fragrant, and sweet Coconut Shreds and custard filling.

The richness of the filling was perfectly balanced by the crispiness of the petals, and the petals themselves were no longer monotonous.

One delicacy, two textures, perfectly combined.

If eaten separately, one would completely miss out on this delightful contrast and exquisite sensation.

Watching Lin Xu’s "destructive" way of eating, an expression of "How could he be so heartless?" flickered across everyone’s faces.

Such a beautiful flower, devoured so crudely, like an ox trampling peonies!