I Am A Gourmet: Just Eight And You Want Me To Start A Roadside Stall Novel! - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Cooking The Main Dish – Tomato Egg Soup
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Hello, Teacher Li,” Xu Le greeted politely.
“Hello, Xu Le.”
Ms. Li smiled warmly.
“How is my sister doing in school? Did she cause any trouble for the teachers?”
Like other parents, Xu Le asked about Xu Tian’s performance in school.
“Xu Tian performed very well and listened to her teacher well.”
At the mention of Xu Tian, Ms. Li first praised her. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she added.
“Except that… she’s not very well-behaved when it comes to eating. But it’s inevitable. After all, with her brother’s superb culinary skills, I’m sure our kindergarten food will be considerably less tasty.”
Xu Le blushed when he heard what Teacher Li said.
“I’m really sorry. My sister, Xu Tian, has caused trouble for the teachers. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s alright. This is our responsibility as teachers.”
After a casual chat.
Xu Le suddenly asked, “Teacher Li, have you had lunch?”
Upon hearing this question, Ms. Lin was first stunned.
Then, she thought of the bowl of oil doused noodles that she had eaten in the morning.
It could be said that this was the most delicious bowl of noodles she had eaten in her life.
Even at the thought of it now, Teacher Li still felt a slight craving for it.
“Not… yet.”
Ms. Lee shook her head.
According to her weight-loss plan, she could only eat a bowl of vegetable salad for lunch.
“Ms. Li, I have just studied about a new dish. If it’s alright with you, you can try it first!”
Xu Le said with a smile.
After setting up the stall in the morning, Xu Le received a new mission from the system—[The stall cannot be missing a staple food!]
[Mission Details: Make a main dish and get the approval of the customers.]
[Mission Reward: “Tomato Egg Soup Recipe”]
At this moment, Xu Le met Teacher Li. It was just the right time for her to taste the new main dish.
Otherwise, he could only wait for Xu Tian to taste it after school.
“Sure!”
Upon hearing this, Ms. Li’s eyes lit up.
She had long forgotten about her diet.
Dieting?
What diet?
Was it more important than tasting Xu Le’s new dish?
Obviously not.
“I have all the kitchenware at home. What ingredients do you need? I’ll take you to the supermarket to buy them now.”
Teacher Li could not wait any longer. She patted Xu Le’s little head and asked.
Although Xu Le was not a kindergarten student, he appeared to be only eight years old. Standing in front of Teacher Li, he had only reached the height of her waist.
The two of them walked together like a young mother leading her child to a supermarket.
“Five chicken legs, two eggs, two vegetables…”
It was obvious that Ms. Li did not cook much.
Standing next to the food rack, she seemed especially restrained, like a child who had made a mistake and didn’t know what to do.
In the end, Xu Le was like a little adult who bought all the ingredients needed to prepare lunch.
When it was time to pay the bill, Ms. Li finally found an opportunity to take action. She hurriedly took out her phone and paid the bill.
Xu Le was here to help her cook, and he was only a child.
Of course, Teacher Li should be the one paying for this.
According to Xu Le, although Ms. Li had just graduated, she was already married. Her husband seemed to be an architect of a nearby property company.
Her house was located in a nearby neighborhood and they could reach it in ten minutes.
“Welcome to my home.”
Xu Le looked around as he arrived at Ms. Li’s house.
The property prices in Shanghai were too high, so Ms. Li’s house wasn’t big. It was only about 60 square meters.
But it felt very homely. Ms. Li’s wedding photo was hung on the wall, and there were many pots of flowers on the cabinet.
“Then I’ll go prepare the food first.”
Xu Le informed her before walking into the kitchen.
There was not much time for lunch anyway. He still needed to knead the dough and spread it. All these steps were very time-consuming.
After entering the kitchen, Xu Le could clearly feel that his mood had improved a lot.
He didn’t know when it started.
Xu Le seemed to be enjoying the feeling of cooking. With his superb culinary skills, he was able to turn some ordinary ingredients into something magical. After being stir-fried, deep fried, braised, boiled, or cooked, he was able to turn them into exquisite dishes that were both fragrant and delicious.
This was… the charm of cooking.
It was like magic.
Or rather, cooking itself was the magic of delicious food!
First, he started from kneading the dough.
Xu Le took out a small basin and added two kilograms of medium bran flour and six grams of salt.
The purpose of adding salt was to fully stimulate the toughness of the dough and make the final product more elastic.
After stirring it evenly, he added 460 grams of water.
The water had to be added in a few times. While adding water, the flour had to be beaten into a cylindrical shape and then pressed into a ball.
From beginning to end, Xu Le’s eyes were fixed on the flour.
The amount of water couldn’t be too much or too little. Otherwise, it would affect the taste of the finished product.
As Xu Le added the water for the last time, he squinted his eyes. He could tell that the ratio between the flour and water was near perfect.
Xu Le had carried out this process countless times in the system space.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this step was carved into his DNA.
At this moment, Ms. Li walked into the kitchen, wanting to see how Xu Le could make such delicious dishes.
Seeing the jade white dough in the small basin, Ms. Li opened her mouth wide in shock.
She really didn’t cook much.
The few times she cooked, she has caused the kitchen to become a war zone that was full of mess.
Hence, when she saw Xu Le’s movements, her eyes were filled with envy.
“Xu Le, how did you knead the dough? Why can’t I knead it properly every time?”
Ms. Li finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and asked.
If she could learn a few tricks from Xu Le, she could cook a bowl of noodles to fill her stomach in the future.
“You must be patient when kneading the dough. You have to make the dough clean, hand clean, and basin clean!”
As Xu Le spoke, he kneaded the dough in the small basin with his clean hands. He kept pressing, turning, rubbing…
“By dough clean, it means that the dough must be as smooth as jade. It must be a complete ball without any flour falling out.”
“By hand and basin clean, it means that after kneading the dough, your hand should not be stained with flour and within the basin, other than the dough, there should be no remains left.”
“If these three points are not achieved, it means that the dough kneading is not good enough.”
“Either the ratio of the noodles is wrong or there is a problem with the kneading technique.”
After Xu Le finished speaking, he looked up at Ms. Li.
He realized that Ms. Li’s face was full of blankness and confusion.
It was as if she had just heard a… historical essay or a non-understandable book.
Xu Le sighed and said.
“Ms. Li, if you want to eat noodles in the future, you should buy a kneading machine.”
“Let’s forget about kneading the dough yourself…”