Chapter 430: Yuan Zhou’s First Failure (Second)
Translator: Xiong_Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
"I'll eat the goose for dinner today." Yuan Zhou looked at the roast goose with dry skin and talked to himself with satisfaction.
Speaking of which, the system had prepared a small hanging stove in the kitchen. Want to know how small it was? The size was only enough to hang one goose at a time.
Yuan Zhou habitually reached out his hand and knocked on the outer wall of the oven, which made a light sound of "Peng Peng".
"Is this an earthen jar?" Yuan Zhou had thought the oven might be something made with bricks and mud, or an underground deep well.
After all, that was how the Deep Well Roast Goose used to be prepared formerly.
Besides, Yuan Zhou wouldn't be surprised at all even if the system built a deep well to roast the goose based on its powerful capability.
The system displayed, "Yes. It's made of pottery clay mixed with quartz, feldspar, clay soil, etc. Through the traditional method of charcoal burning, the raw clay turned into an earthen jar embryo, which then turns into a pottery jar embryo with the same method. After it's glazed, the pottery jar embryo will enter the oven and be fired again until it turns into the ceramic pot."
"The ceramic jar has the characteristics of good air permeability and absorbability as well as uniform heat transfer and slow heat dissipation, etc. Therefore, it's extremely suitable to act as an oven."
"Of course, what the system has provided is the ancient sintering method. With the modern method, it will be deformed or crack easily."
"You are showing off your broad knowledge again in front of me." While ridiculing the system, Yuan Zhou read the knowledge provided by the system seriously.
Naturally, he didn't forget to whisper primly, "The system shows off his knowledge while Wu Zhou shows off his intimacy with his girlfriend in front of me. What a fulfilling life I have got!"
"The goose tail pin is also ceramic, and the goose hook was ceramic, too." Yuan Zhou picked up the tail pin made into black-iron color and said helplessly.
Originally, Yuan Zhou thought it was made of iron when he saw the metallic tail pin. Never had he expected the system was so crazy. The pig iron had an underlying smell while the processed iron didn't. Of course, it was most likely to be the alloy, but the effect would not be as good as the ceramic pin.
Yuan Zhou sealed the goose tail swiftly and then locked the fragrance inside quickly.
He picked up the meat hook and directly dug into the abdominal cavity of the goose from the lower part. Then, he turned its head around and clipped its neck between the meat hook so as to clamp the neck, avoiding air leakage. During this process, Yuan Zhou checked the goose carefully and found there wasn't any sign of the oil coming out of the skin.
That meant the goose was well processed early on. Only then did Yuan Zhou hang the whole goose at the side and start to light the fire for pre-heating.
Before lighting, Yuan Zhou hesitated for a while. After all, he wasn't holding an ordinary piece of wood in his hand.
"System, are you sure you won't be beaten to death if you roast a goose with the spear wood?" Yuan Zhou felt heartache while holding the wood.
The system displayed, "The 4-seasonal occasions and Theory of Five Elements① are to be considered prior to roasting the goose with fire. Now is the early winter and in the four season, winter belongs to black according to the Theory of Five Element. For the spear wood, it has distinct features. The sapwood is between white (with yellowish-brown or slate gray) to light reddish brown while its heartwood is black."
"The black heartwood doesn't have any special smell and hence is quite suitable for roasting the goose. Only in that way can we not violate the laws of nature and only in that way can we help people to keep fit and prevent diseases."
"Besides, it's you who is going to roast the goose with the spear wood."
"Wow!!! 4-seasonal occasions and Theory of Five Elements. What a knowledgeable system you are!" Yuan Zhou sighed with emotion and said. Then, he found the sentence that appeared in his mind at last.
"Wait, you mean I'm the one who is going to light the fire and I'm the one that will be beaten if necessary, don't you?" Yuan Zhou got surprised at once.
Regarding Yuan Zhou's questioning, the system had no response.
"System, you are terrible. You provide the materials, so you are to blame. I'm just a little chef who works for the Master Chef." While lighting the fire, Yuan Zhou tried to evade his responsibility.
"No wonder it's called hardwood. It's really difficult to light a fire using it." Yuan Zhou murmured.
Luckily, Yuan Zhou lit the hardwood quickly after the initial ignition stage. After that, the temperature began to rise.
Because the stove was small and the heating speed was slow, it reached the optimum temperature of 250 degrees very soon. At that time, Yuan Zhou put on heatproof gloves and quickly hung the raw goose into the oven.
Then, he shut the furnace cover with a "Peng" sound and began to roast it.
The continuous series of actions were done by Yuan Zhou attentively. His actions were both concise and swift.
Because the oven was very small, it was very easy to hang the goose to the middle line of the oven. As a result, Yuan Zhou also got relieved.
"Fortunately, it's at a constant temperature in my restaurant. Otherwise, I'll have to increase the temperature by two degrees to roast the goose well on such a cold day." Yuan Zhou felt the difference between the temperature in and out of the restaurant at the back door.
"Hua Hua", Yuan Zhou turned on the tap and began to wash his hands carefully.
Meanwhile, he began to check the time carefully from time to time, even if the time he had predicted was actually the same as the time on the clock. Every time Yuan Zhou cooked a new dish for the first time, however, he followed the prescribed order step by step like a beginner.
Innovation is one thing, but Yuan Zhou followed the established plan strictly for every step of the process.
"Huh? Is the picture askew?" After Yuan Zhou checked the time, he suddenly noticed the painting hanging on the ceiling.
Yuan Zhou tried to ignore it but in the end, he still couldn't help running up the stairs.
He took out an extremely long ruler from the second floor and came down.
"Pa", Yuan Zhou pressed the switch of the ladder used to pick the Jinling grass and then directly rose to the ceiling.
He swung the long ruler from one side to the other until the four lines of the painting were parallel to the four lines of the ceiling. Only then did Yuan Zhou stop.
"It looks better and more comfortable now." Yuan Zhou looked up at the picture that returned to the correct position with satisfaction.
If Wu Hai were here, however, he would probably ridicule Yuan Zhou directly, "Boss Yuan is really a damned OCD victim."
After all, Wu Hai was ordered around by Yuan Zhou when he was hanging the painting.
With Yuan Zhou's extraordinarily sharp eyes, even a deviation of 1cm or 0.5cm was enormous. Therefore, Wu Hai disliked Yuan Zhou's OCD, even if he himself was a perfectionist that wasn't any better than Yuan Zhou.
"Dong Dong Dong", Yuan Zhou ran upstairs again, put away the ruler, and then returned to the water tank.
"It's really perfect timing. There are still five minutes left for me to wash my hands." Yuan Zhou breathed out and smiled contentedly.
Then, Yuan Zhou demonstrated the most standard method of hand washing. He washed for no less than five minutes and then wiped them dry.
"Ding", the alarm clock set by Yuan Zhou rang, too.
Yuan Zhou immediately put on the heatproof gloves and took out the roast goose directly and gently removed the tail pin. An opening about an egg size was revealed in the end.
"The inside of the goose is so tender that it might be damaged by sharp objects, so it can only be done by hand." Yuan Zhou took a deep breath and directly reached out his hand.
Yuan Zhou had been a mature chef that mastered extraordinary culinary skills. Even a senior chef like Master Cheng also tried to study the craftsmanship from him.
The youngest Michelin Three-Star Chef, Chu Xiao, also felt pressure after he witnessed the talent and craftsmanship of Yuanzhou. But now, Yuan Zhou had misjudged one thing.
Having just been roasted well, the goose was unbearably hot for people to touch, especially the inside of its belly.
"Sh*t!" The rude word immediately rushed out of his face mask.
Yuan Zhou was burned just when he reached his fingers into the belly of the goose and tried to get the green plum out.
There appeared two bright and eye-catching blisters on Yuan Zhou's hands.
① Five Elements are metal, wood, water, fire and earth held by the Chinese ancients to compose the physical universe and later used in physiological and pathological phenomena.