I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

Shen Heting's comments hit the nail on the head, and everyone present looked thoughtful after hearing them.

Even Li Zhibai, after hearing his words, began to seriously consider them, realizing that this old man was quite something.

No, it's that it's incredibly rich in content!

He possesses god-like culinary skills, and his tongue is more discerning than a dog's. When he ate this dish just now, although he could taste that the foie gras flavor was slightly abrupt, his understanding of the problem remained more at the purely technical level. For example, he could improve the dish by suggesting that the proportion of foie gras was too high, the sweetness of the caramelized figs was not fully suppressed, or the acidity of the balsamic vinegar could be increased by a bit.

To put it bluntly, all he could think about was how to adjust the parameters of the food.

But Old Master Shen's evaluation taught him a valuable lesson.

He wasn't looking at what was wrong with the dish itself, but rather at the overall combination of ingredients. For example, why did you put foie gras in it? Is your desire to express yourself being hijacked by high-end ingredients?

This perspective on issues is completely different from his; it strikes at the very core of my being.

Li Zhibai couldn't help but glance again at the information box displayed by the "Category A" skill above Old Master Shen's head.

[Occupation: Former chef for state banquets]

Former national team player!

No wonder.

No wonder the old man has such a profound understanding of the dishes; even a casual comment from him can make someone as gifted as him feel incredibly enlightened.

A true master is a true master; his background is truly impressive.

Li Zhibai suddenly understood why he was only able to create dishes that reached a god-like level after drawing on the stories and emotions of his customers.

Because he was missing something.

His god-like culinary skills are like an invincible cheat code, enabling him to perfect every technical detail of any dish, such as the control of heat, knife skills, and seasoning.

But good food is not just about technique.

It must contain emotion, a story, an understanding of life, and a resonance that diners feel when they eat the dish. These are things that even the most divine culinary skills cannot provide.

So when he tries to cook a new dish, no matter how hard he tries, he can only achieve a perfect score of 99%, almost like a god, but he can never break through that last point.

Only when he truly understands the emotions behind the dish, such as Gao Siqi's fantasy about fried rice, or Grandpa Huo's eleven years of longing for his wife, can he break through that barrier, fill in the last bit, and create a truly divine dish.

After thinking it through, Li Zhibai clasped his hands in a fist salute to Shen Heting: "Grandpa, your words are more valuable than cooking for ten years. Your comments were spot on."

Shen Heting waved his hand: "I was just saying it casually."

"I've been pondering your casual remark for a long time, and I'm only just now figuring it out."

"Oh? Tell me then, what have you figured out?"

"I used to think that cooking was just about preparing the ingredients, controlling the heat, and seasoning. As long as the technique was right, the food would naturally taste good. But after listening to what you just said, I realized that I've been neglecting one thing all along: food is made for people to eat."

"People not only eat with their tongues, but also with their hearts and with their memories. If you only use your skills but there is no warmth or human touch in the food, then it is just a pretty dish, but not a delicious one."

Upon hearing his particularly profound words, a glint of light flashed in Shen Heting's aged eyes.

He looked the young man in front of him over again and said, "When Xiao Su said you were her master, I wondered if this girl had been deceived."

"Now it seems she had good judgment; you must be truly capable."

Li Zhibai chuckled, unusually modest: "Grandpa, you flatter me. I'm just a Shaxian snack shop owner."

"What's wrong with Shaxian?" Shen Heting retorted. "Do you know that there was a dish called Buddha Jumps Over the Wall at the state banquet back then? Its predecessor was a home-style stew from a small restaurant in Fuzhou. Truly good dishes never look at their origins."

"Although Shaxian Snacks may seem like a small fast food restaurant on the street, it has spread all over the country and even the world, becoming the first choice for countless people. This in itself is a kind of culinary philosophy."

Li Zhibai nodded repeatedly: "What you said makes perfect sense."

"Oh, by the way, sir, do you have any research on vegetarian mock meat?"

"To be honest, I've been researching a purely vegetarian braised pork recipe lately. Although I've managed to replicate the taste and appearance to a great extent, I still feel like something's missing."

When Shen Heting heard that he was researching vegetarian dishes, he immediately became interested: "Oh? You're actually researching this? These days, young chefs are all focused on high-end ingredients, and very few are willing to put their heart into researching vegetarian dishes. It's rare to see someone willing to put in the effort for this."

Li Zhibai humbly asked for advice: "Grandpa, could you please give me some pointers? I've been stuck on this dish for several days and can't find a breakthrough."

Shen Heting stroked his graying beard, thought for a moment, and said, "What you're lacking is probably your soul, isn't it?"

Li Zhibai nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, yes, that's the soul! I always felt that the dish looked like meat, smelled like meat, and tasted like meat, but it just didn't have the soul of meat. It was always missing that one thing."

Shen Heting laughed: "The most difficult part of imitating meat in vegetarian dishes has never been the shape or the taste. The shape is easy to obtain, and the taste can be adjusted, but these are not the key points. The real difficulty lies in the soul. And I have given this soul a name: meaty aroma."

"Hunxiang?" This was the first time Li Zhibai had ever heard this name.

"Yes!" Shen Heting nodded: "It's the aroma produced when animal fat is roasted at high temperatures, which can directly stimulate the most primal desires of humans. The reason you feel that something is missing is because you haven't grasped its essence. Using winter melon to make imitation meat is indeed the mainstream method for imitation meat dishes on the market, but if you want it to have a soul, you can't treat it as just a piece of winter melon."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhibai began to think seriously.

It smells like meat.

Animal fats and oils.

The most primal desires...

He seems to have grasped something, but it also seems like he's still a little bit missing.

"Sir, could you describe the flavor of this meat dish in a few more details?"

Shen Heting didn't answer directly, but instead asked him a question: "Have you ever eaten roasted mushrooms?"

Li Zhibai nodded: "I've eaten!"

"Have you ever noticed that roasted mushrooms, especially when they're slightly browned, give off a smell that's very similar to cooked meat?"

Li Zhibai thought about it carefully, and it really was true.

The aroma is very similar to that of roasted meat. Although not exactly the same, it still awakens the primal urge to eat meat.

"When fungi are exposed to high temperatures, they produce a compound called mushroom alcohol, whose molecular structure is very similar to some components in meat flavor. The ancients discovered this secret long ago, which is why many temples use fungi to make soup or as the main ingredient in vegetarian dishes that imitate meat."

Shen Heting continued, "Since you're researching vegetarianism, fungi are something you have to consider, and you have to treat them like meat. Just like when a chef makes braised pork, why do they always pan-fry it first? Besides removing the fishy smell, it's also to allow the oil to undergo the Maillard reaction at high temperatures, giving the meat a slightly charred aroma."

"So if you want vegetarian ingredients to have a meaty aroma, first, you need to find a vegetarian oil that can provide an aroma similar to animal fat as a base. Second, you need to create a sufficiently obvious Maillard reaction during the cooking process. Third, and most importantly, can you make the winter melon grow pores on its own?"

"Grows pores?" Li Zhibai was stunned. This was really novel. A winter melon can grow pores?

According to the rules of the world.

"That's right!" Shen Heting patiently explained, "The reason why animal meat can absorb seasonings and lock in juices is because it has muscle fibers and a layer of fat, creating a porous structure. Winter melon is purely plant tissue; its cell walls are closed. No matter how long you stew it, unless you cook it until it's completely soft, it will still have a distinct winter melon flavor. Am I right?"

Li Zhibai nodded: "That's right, that's how it is."

To make vegetarian braised pork, you can't cook the winter melon completely until it's mushy, otherwise it will lose its texture. But if you don't cook it until it's mushy, the vegetarian pork will always retain some winter melon flavor.

"Then how do we make it grow pores?" he quickly asked.

Shen Heting smiled and asked calmly, "You can think about how some soup dumplings are made to be so juicy after steaming."

Li Zhibai immediately realized: "Use ice?"

Shen Heting nodded approvingly: "A promising young man."

"Freezing can cause the cell walls inside food to break down and form a natural porous structure. You can try this principle in vegetarian meat imitations. Put the prepared winter melon in the freezer and freeze it thoroughly, then take it out and thaw it. Repeat this several times, and the inside of the winter melon will form dense pores, just like the fibrous structure of meat."

"With this structure, if you put it in a broth made with mushrooms that has a flavor close to that of meat and simmer it at a low temperature, the flavor will seep from the surface all the way to the inside. Finally, you can cook it like you would braise pork, and wouldn't that solve the problem?"

Li Zhibai's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Wonderful!

That's great!

That old man is truly amazing!

He explained it all in just a few words!