Chapter 905 - Sweet, Salty, Sour (2/2)

“The average human body temperature is about 37 degrees. That is a temperature that is not too hot for it to spoil the honey’s taste and nutrition, and it’s not too cold until it wouldn’t soak nicely into the red beans,” Yuan Zhou continued his explanation.

“Um, human body temperature,” Carpenter Lian started listening to Yuan Zhou.

“Therefore, the final step involves stir-frying it to harmonize the sweetness of it,” Yuan Zhou said.

“As for the soybeans, they are easier to prepare. I only need to soak them in warm water so they swell and after stir-frying them, they are ready,” Yuan Zhou said like it was some common knowledge.

“Hoho.” If it wasn’t for the fact that Yuan Zhou was a junior and Zhou Shijie, the elder, was still around, Carpenter Lian felt like snorting at Yuan Zhou’s assumption that this was so simple.

“You make it sound so simple. If it’s really that simple, how did it become a lost dish?” Carpenter Lian roared inwardly.

In truth, even Zhou Shijie was feeling extremely distressed. Yuan Zhou had made this dish seem too simple.

“Let’s talk after trying the dish,” said Zhou Shijie. Although he cherished Yuan Zhou’s talent, he no longer felt like listening to Yuan Zhou’s explanation.

“Enjoy your meal,” Yuan Zhou said as he made an inviting gesture.

Ta. Ta. Ta. The two old men started heading towards the countertop.

And when they approached, they found the dish was even prettier than it seemed.

There was a layer of translucent syrup on top of the red beans. That should be the honey that had leaked out the beans after the beans were heated during the stir-frying. Now that the temperature had cooled again, they formed a layer atop the beans.

This gave the red beans a glossy look, extremely pretty.

As for the soybeans, they had a glossy and plump look, looking soft and mushy.

As for the peas, they had wrinkled skins while the peas were plump and round, all lying neatly on the plate.

Resting beside the plate were two sets of chopsticks and spoons, prepared for them to try the dish.

“I’ll start eating,” said Carpenter Lian as he picked up the spoon and reached for the peas.

He was very curious as to the taste of these peas.

Since the peas were right beside the red beans, Carpenter Lian had intentionally avoided the red beans while scooping up the peas.

Freshly harvest peas were green in color and were suitable to be stir-fried and eaten. When they turned yellow in color, they would be kept as seeds. Some would use them to make some pea flour, pea paste, and so on. As for peas being stir-fried like this, they would usually be eaten when one was drinking liquor or eaten as a snack.

Crack. Crack. The moment he started chewing, cracking sounds rang out from his mouth.

That was the sound of the crunchy skins of the peas that were stir-fried. At the same time, a fragrance unique to peas started filling his mouth.

The peas weren’t too hard to chew. After all, only the outer layer was crunchy while the inner layer was mushy and powdery in feeling. The peas were also extremely sour.

“Hiss, so sour,” Carpenter Lian shivered.

This sourness was comparable to a mature vinegar that had been opened after being steeped for many years. After the rotten taste dispersed, only a pleasant sourness remained.

“Ahhh, I’m salivating,” Carpenter Lian quickly slurped his saliva back and swallowed the peas.

“This sweetness is nice as well. It’s not overly sweet at all and felt like a first-tier red bean paste instead. Moreover, it’s not too heavy,” Zhou Shijie said. He had tried the red beans first.

“You’re the judge,” Carpenter Lian reminded.

“You doubt me? Feel free to give it a try,” Zhou Shijie countered confidently.

“The sourness is quite good as not a tiny bit of sweetness is mixed to it. But since the peas are so sour, won’t the sweetness of the red beans be affected since they are right beside each other?” asked Carpenter Lian as he reached for the red beans.

It was normal for there to be no sweetness to the peas since they were so sour. But the sweetness of the red beans would have a hard time remaining after coming in contact with the sour peas.

While Carpenter Lian was tasting the red beans, Zhou Shijie tasted the soybeans instead. The soybeans were of the salty flavor.