To Zhen Qing's amazement, the first batch of black pepper pork buns was ready to be sampled not long after she used the kitchen's oven instead of the usual clay oven she had.
"This particular kitchen dimensional space instance is used to quicken the pace of a chef cultivator. I believe Boss Jin had said that the instance reduced the effects of time dilation in order not to damage your body since you have not cultivated. However, the kitchen instance has also utilised the cultivation magic of time compression and this can be seen in almost all the kitchen appliances." the Kitchen Ai spoke nonchalantly about it.
"Is that why my black pepper pork buns are ready in 10 minutes?" Zhen Qing took the buns out and the aroma they emitted was already extremely different from the usual black pepper buns.
"Of course, the time compression can also be further increased but that might have some negative effects and may lead to certain unknown side effects, which are complicated for an amateur to deal with, hence we went for the fastest safe alternative of time compression for the kitchen appliances to save time." The kitchen AI spoke.
"Whatever you did, it sure is a time saver." Being a commoner, Zhen Qing did not know that being cultivation brought so much convenience. If she had known, she would have taken some time to cultivate when she was young… the only problem was that she did not have the time in the first place.
All she could remember doing was working in various part time jobs so that she could attend her dream school. She slogged through sleepless nights to try to attain the cooking school's scholarship so that she did not have to rely on her useless father.
"Focus!" Zhen Qing awoke from her thoughts as she blew the newly made bun in an effort to cool it down quicker for her to eat.
One bite.
That was all it took to make her feel like she was in a food paradise. The British Berkshire pork belly blended perfectly with the other simple yet exquisite ingredients, which in turn enriched the flavour of the bun to another level of greatness.
However, it was not the richness that concerned her when she ate it, as she realised she could taste the lack of confidence she had on herself when the end product.
Zhen Qing then remembered her mentor's teaching. "The recipe has no soul. You as the cook must not only bring the technical skills into the dish, but also the soul of the food needs to be crafted through your hands and feelings."
Zhen Qing looked at the time. Roughly an hour had passed and she figured it would take another half an hour or so for experimenting. At most, another hour. Hence, she would still have at least another four hours to prepare the rest of the ingredients.
This time round, she thought of modifying the recipe a little by adding a few herbs so that the richness of the pork belly did not overpower the rest of the ingredients. She tried her luck by asking the kitchen AI for a few bundles of sage and rosemary and the Kitchen was indeed stocked with it.
When Zhen Qing found the bundle of herbs, the fresh smell it exuded made her envy how well stocked this kitchen was. She quickly took a few bundles and tried to replace the spring onions with some sage and a hint of rosemary. Of course, she decided to make a variation of them, since she had forgotten much of her out-dated cooking knowledge.
"I guess this is really a good chance to go back and hit the cooking books once in a while." Zhen Qing asked herself whether this was really a good chance to go back to being a chef. Of course, she might do it with her new identity instead of her old one.
In less than half an hour, the experimental pork buns were ready and Zhen Qing tried asking whether the kitchen had a clay oven, similar to a tandoori oven so that it could improve the baking process too.
"Yes, the kitchen is equipped with a modern tandoori oven that has a time compression module attached to it. However, we will recommend you to personally supervise the process because it does not have a timer like the modern oven," The Kitchen AI replied to Zhen Qing concerning her queries.
"However, the kitchen will observe how and when you pick those baked buns out. Through repeated motions, the kitchen believes it will be able to serve you better by telling you when it's about time to take them out."
"You are able to do that? Wow! That is astonishing!" Zhen Qing was once again dazzled by the learning capability of the Kitchen AI. Jin was actually hiding something this amazing from the world. Was he some sort of cultivation technology whiz or was she just this unknowledgeable of the real world?
Zhen Qing prepared the tandoori oven with charcoal provided by the kitchen and she realised that even the stick-like white charcoal was not normal. "Is this Binchotan?" Zhen Qing was able to recognise the unique charcoal shape and the Kitchen AI acknowledged. "Yes, it is Binchotan, which is also known as white charcoal, a type of high quality charcoal from ubame oak that originates from the Wakayama Prefecture in Japan."
"I remember that this kind of charcoal burns longer and hotter despite using no chemical or toxic products associated with it so there aren't any unpleasant odours to it…Not to mention the price tag to it is…Oh my gosh, I am afraid of failing Boss Jin now." Zhen Qing smiled bitterly.
As the modern tandoori oven heated up, the kitchen's ventilation was able to push out most of the smoke. "I really wish I had this kind of ventilation as well…" Zhen Qing spoke to herself as she saw that the oven was more or less ready in a minute. She skilfully placed the buns into the oven and within a minute, she already saw changes taking place inside the oven.
Zhen Qing had been making black pepper pork buns for months so she knew what was the right colour the bun needed to be for it to be the perfect time to take it out of the time compressed tandoori oven. Even the slightest change of smell in the baking process would prompt her to take action. In short, this time compressed tandoori oven was a test on her ability of observation but she performed splendidly. All the experimental buns were baked to perfection. The look of the tandoori oven baked buns already gave Zhen Qing the impression that it had far surpassed the buns that were left in the modern oven since she had more control over the baking process.
Now for the tasting process! She cleaned her palate with some lemon water before trying each and every one of the buns. Since the first bite into the bun, she realised that the crispy crust and the mix of herbs, along with the British Berkshire pork belly, was simply out of this world. Each bun had its own unique taste, which was satisfying too, but eventually, she decided to go with a mix of sage and spring onions as the vegetable stuffing with the pork.
"Oh, this is sooo good." Zhen Qing closed her eyes and enjoyed that moment of bliss. It had been a long time since she had challenged herself that much in cooking and she began to relish in the joy of cooking once again. Not only that, she finally got back the 'soul' of the food, which her teacher constantly drilled her about.
"Now to prepare the batches of buns for the entire day!" Zhen Qing was all fired up. She rolled up her sleeves and started to prepare a similar amount of unbaked buns based on yesterday's sales.
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