CH 7

h. 7: A Bowl of Chrysanthemum Tofu Soup[1]

“Blooming Time” tells the story of a foodie played by Zhao Ang who is looking for food that can make people happy. He meets the flower shop owner played by Sun Wangshu.

Interspersed with the interactions of the two men and women who came out to make trouble and the foodie’s terminally ill sister, at the end of the movie, the foodie finally found the food that can make people feel happy-the food made by his loved one.

In order to match the content of the movie, the program designed a new segment, allowing guests to cook a dish in groups of two. There must be a flower as an ingredient in this dish. As for what dish you want to cook, it is up to the guests to choose.

While waiting for the props on the stage, Zhong Tianyao pulled Yu Siyang and said with a worried expression: “I don’t know how to cook. If it is difficult to cook, you will be responsible for eating it.”

“I will do it.” Yu Siyang patted his chest and said, “I can’t guarantee anything else, but I am good at cooking.”

“You will?” Zhong Tianyao was very suspicious. He looked like a high school student, really good at cooking? “You won’t be, just because you know how to make omelets, just treat yourself as a good cook.”

He was really being underestimated. His goal was to become a Michelin three-star chef before the age of 30. He knows even twenty kinds of tricks of frying omelets.

“Sister Tianyao, wait and see later.” Yu Siyang’s confidence is almost overflowing.

Standing next to him, Pang Yujie, who has not spoken all the time, suddenly said: “It’s a good thing for young people to have confidence, but how capable are they to eat a big bowl of rice.” He smiled on his face and patted Yu Siyang’s shoulder. It’s okay, don’t make a swollen face to fill up a fat guy.”

His words were very unacceptable, but he assumed the appearance of predecessors teaching younger generations. However, Yu Siyang and Zhong Tianyao are both newcomers. If he refutes his words, he will lose his reputation, but it doesn’t sound good.

“Don’t worry, senior, I can cook a lot of dishes. Senior, if you don’t know how to do it, I can teach you. It is easy to guarantee that you will learn it once you learn.” Yu Siyang deliberately pretended to be silly and smiled in a sunny manner.

Pang Yujie was choked by his words, and his complexion immediately became a little bad, but it was not easy to attack in the public, and he secretly remembered the newcomer.

At this time, the props have been set up, and the host called all the guests back to the stage.

Zhong Tianyao pulled Yu Siyang to the end, and whispered to him: “Pang Yujie is a narrow-minded person. Be careful that he bears grudges, or he will make you stumble later.”

During filming of the movie, because of her unintentional words, Pang Yujie felt that he was offended. He tossed her into a miserable situation while she was shooting a rainfall scene.

Yu Siyang’s eyes widened exaggeratedly, with a look of disbelief, “No way, this will offend him?”

“Anyway, you should be a little more careful, listen to this sister, you will be alright.” Zhong Tianyao said.

Yu Siyang looked silly and sweet, and said gratefully: “Sister Tianyao, thank you, you are such a good person.”

No matter with what purpose Zhong Tianyao said such a thing, at least it is not to harm him, and Yu Siyang is not a person who does not know what is good or bad.

He has been struggling at the bottom rungs of the society for many years, and he has tasted the warmth and coldness of people, and can understand who is true and who is fake, and can say that he can understand 10% to 20%.

The guests stood in their respective positions. After Fang Yuan announced the rules, Yun Jiaojiao and Zhong Da worked together to open the two huge red velvet curtains. Behind the curtains were a dazzling array of ingredients and flowers for the guests to choose.

In fact, everyone has seen these ingredients a long time ago, but at this time, they still cooperated and surrounded them in surprise.

The protagonists of this show are naturally Zhao Ang and Sun Wangshu. The flowers they chose are roses and they took a few eggs.

When they had made their selections, the other four talents will go up and choose the ingredients.

Zhong Tianyao originally fancied peach blossoms, regardless of whether the dishes are good or not, peach blossoms at least look good.

When she was about to get it, Pang Yujie took the peach blossom first.

If she could talk privately she would have approached him, but they were recording the show at the moment, so many people were watching, she couldn’t seem to be competing with her predecessors, but she couldn’t help feeling a little frustrated, thinking that Pang Yujie was deliberate.

“Sister Tianyao, let’s choose chrysanthemum.” Yu Siyang took a piece of tofu and various fungi in his hand.

“Are you here to cook?” Zhong Tianyao chose a few golden sage daisies, still can’t believe that a teenage boy can cook, but there is no better way. She only hoped that Yu Siyang’s dishes will not be too unpalatable. She will just swallow it.

The host came to ask the three groups of people what kind of dishes they were cooking. When asked about Zhong Tianyao, she looked at Yu Siyang, who was already neatly cutting mushrooms, and asked: “What are we going to cook?”

He said he can cook, it turned out to be true! It was very difficult to make good cuisine without good knifes skills.

Yu Siyang looked up at the camera and smiled, and said, “Chrysanthemum tofu soup”.

“Wow…Yu Siyang, you have very good knife skills.” Yun Jiaojiao stood beside him watching him cut various mushrooms into filaments. “Have you learned it?”

“Sister Jiaojiao, I have learned to cook.” Yu Siyang quickly cut the fungus, let Zhong Tianyao help bring a soup pot over, hang the fungus soup, and then put the tofu on the chopping board, chose a small slicing knife, and cut the tofu quickly.

His chopping method of tofu was so fast that it was dazzling. The photographer who was shooting a close-up shot of Zhao Ang’s cooking couldn’t help but move the lens.

Yun Jiaojiao and Zhong Tianyao, who were standing by and watching, were already dumbfounded, and the audience also exclaimed one after another.

Suddenly, Yu Siyang had already cut a piece of tofu.

Yun Jiaojiao twisted a hair-thin tofu, and her eyes and mouth turned into three O’s, “Oh my god, my god, so thin, is this tofu really cut? It’s a fake tofu.” She pushed hard, and the tofu shreds in her hand broke into two immediately.

“Where do you just know how to cook, you are clearly at the level of a chef.” Zhong Tianyao has already become a fan.

Yu Siyang smiled shyly, and embarrassed continued to stir the pot of the fungus soup.

Sun Wangshu, who was supposed to cook with Zhao Ang, also ran over to join in the fun, saying that he was waiting to eat Yu Siyang’s tofu.

Zhao Ang stretched his head and looked towards Yu Siyang while cooking, beckoning to Yu Siyang, “Xiaoyu, come and help Ang Ge cut the vegetables.”

“Okay.” Yu Siyang finally had the chance to not to pretend to stir his pot of soup and quickly ran to Zhao Ang, “Brother Ang, what do you want to cut?”

Zhao Ang also politely instructed him: “Cut all the scallions, ginger, and garlic into pieces.”

Yu Siyang chose a relatively easy knife, without a word, quickly cut all the vegetables.

“Xiaoyu, you go cook your team’s food and ignore Zhao Ang.” Fang Yuan said with a smile: “He is making trouble for you so that he can win himself.”

“Brother Fang, you know it, just don’t say it out loud. Come on, I won’t have any face left.” Zhao Ang approached Fang Yuan’s microphone and said.

The audience laughed wildly with “hahaha”.

Yu Siyang chopped all the green onion, ginger and garlic, and then ran back to his team, strained the hanging fungus soup, put it in a soup bowl, and carefully put the sliced tofu into the soup bowl. He shook the soup bowl slowly.

“What are you doing?” Zhong Tianyao asked puzzledly.

“You’ll know by watching carefully.” Yu Siyang shook it again.

The shredded tofu in the soup slowly dispersed with the slowly shaking soup, and gradually, it formed the appearance of a chrysanthemum.

“Wow…” The onlookers exclaimed.

Even the camera kept shooting close-ups.

When the chrysanthemum tofu in the soup was formed, he added a little salt to taste. Yu Siyang quickly washed the golden sage chrysanthemum brought by Zhong Tianyao and puts it in the soup. Put the soup in a pot and steam it for about five minutes before serving. Then the bowl of chrysanthemum tofu soup was ready.

At this time, Zhao Ang’s scrambled eggs with rose flowers were also prepared, and Pang Yujie and Li Yongwen cooked dishes that were completely unrecognisable.

The three dishes were displayed together, and Zhao Ang cried and said, “I thought I would win, but I didn’t expect that the newcomer learnt so well, that he even learnt cooking.”

“Brother Ang, my acting skills are a hundred thousand miles worse than yours. Do you always have to have a talent that can be mastered?” Yu Siyang smiled shyly.

“Xiaoyu, who told you that cooking is also a talent?!” Fang Yuan made an expression of “Don’t be fooled”.

Yu Siyang scratched his cheek, and said embarrassedly: “This…cooking is also an art.”

Both on and off stage people burst into laughter. Some female audience members took their mobile phone and took pictures of Yu Siyang wildly, thinking that this newcomer was really fun and talked interestingly, and also looks pretty, so handsome.

The dishes were ready, and they gave them to the host to try them one by one. Fang Yuan scooped a spoonful of chrysanthemum tofu soup into his mouth, his eyes widened, the expression on his face was extremely exaggerated, and he sighed with satisfaction: “It’s so delicious- “

The taste of the clear soup was very weak. It only used a little salt to taste. There is no other taste to disturb. The freshness of the mushrooms is unreserved. It is mixed with the fragrance and sweetness of the chrysanthemum. It is extremely delicious. The tofu is very finely chopped. There is almost no need to chew in the mouth, sip, and then slide along the soup into the oesophagus, and there is still sweetness of chrysanthemum in the mouth.

The others couldn’t wait to grab a spoon and rushed to eat. Yun Jiaojiao was deliberately blocked by Zhong Da, holding the spoon and unable to eat, she hurriedly dragged Zhong Da out, “You have eaten it, let go.”

The audience sitting below couldn’t hold back, and shouted, “Take him down, take him down…”

With a contented smile on Yu Siyang’s face, he stood with his hands behind his back and watched as Zhao Ang carried the remaining chrysanthemum tofu soup for the audience to eat. The tofu soup was served to the audience.

He likes to watch others eat his own dishes with a satisfied expression on his face. That is the best commendation for a chef.

“Sneer—” Pang Yujie turned his back to the audience and the camera, squinted at Yu Siyang, smiled disdainfully, and said in a low voice: “Popularity seeker.”

He deliberately walked over to Yu Siyang and said this. After speaking, he smiled in front of the audience. The audience showed their signature sunny smiles.

Yu Siyang looked over and evaluated in his heart: naive!

The shooting lasted more than four hours and finally ended. The audience gradually left the stage. Yu Siyang found Luo Peng who had not been seen for a day in the audience, and he was suddenly relieved.

Fortunately, this person did not leave him alone on the TV station, to which he was unfamiliar.

“Xiaoyu, you did very well today.” Luo Peng gave him a thumbs up.

“Thank you.” Yu Siyang felt relieved, and it didn’t seem that difficult to record a show.