Gourmet: Twins' Father and Chef of the Kindergarten-Chapter 229 - 215: Eyes as Measuring Tools

In the activity room.

The cool breeze from the air conditioning brought a pleasant feeling of refreshment.

In this spacious area, long tables were neatly arranged, each surrounded by many uniquely styled small stools.

On the tables, the ingredients for making custard mooncakes were neatly placed. The golden custard filling and the pale yellow flowy center complemented each other, exuding a faint milky fragrance...

Various mooncake molds were neatly lined up on the side, with a mostly classical and elegant style.

Teachers from different classes, dressed in various styles of traditional Han clothing, looked like fairies from another time, standing in their respective class areas, smiling warmly and enthusiastically guiding parents and children to find their seats, assisting them one by one.

With hundreds of parents and children chattering away, each saying something, the whole activity room was almost overwhelmed by noise.

Luckily.

The projector was turned on by Huang Jun, projecting a mouth-watering food image on the white screen at the front.

This instantly made the children forget their noise, and their eyes all turned towards the screen, concentrating on the food image.

The parents did the same!

In the food image displayed above, the mooncakes were arranged neatly on an exquisite porcelain plate. The golden crust glowed invitingly under the gentle light, and one of the mooncakes was cut in half, revealing the pale yellow flowing custard, like a ray of gentle sunshine quietly falling onto the white plate...

Just looking at it was enough to awaken the deep-seated craving for food within everyone...

Many children, with sharp eyes, instantly recognized this tempting mooncake and excitedly shouted, "Custard mooncake with a flowy center!"

"Yes, yes, it’s the custard mooncake with a flowy center!" Those children who had tasted this mooncake before showed surprise and nodded in agreement.

"Are we going to make custard mooncakes with a flowy center today?" Xu Sijun asked curiously.

"It should be! Otherwise, Chef Huang wouldn’t show the image of this mooncake..." Qu Qing guessed, at the same time scanning the ingredients on the table, confidently stating, "Moreover, judging from the ingredients on the table, it should be the custard mooncake with a flowy center without a doubt!"

"..."

For a moment...

The entire activity room became lively again, and everyone was discussing this question.

Qingqing and Weiwei sat quietly on the small stools, their legs together, with elbows on the table, each holding their chin with their hands, watching their dad not far in front of them without blinking.

Even though they couldn’t stay by their dad’s side, they didn’t feel any sense of loss, because their dad was right in front of them, easy to see.

Wonderful!

Really wonderful!

"Good morning, parents, and children! Today, our kindergarten welcomes the first parent-child culinary activity. Here, I sincerely thank all the parents for their enthusiastic participation and strong support."

Huang Jun stepped onto the stage, and his gaze touched upon the innocent smiling faces and eyes full of anticipation.

At this moment, the focus of the entire activity room was on him.

"Good morning, Chef Uncle!"

"Good morning, Qingqing’s dad!"

"Good morning, Chef!"

As Huang Jun’s friendly greeting sounded, the children eagerly responded, their crisp and childlike voices echoing, and the parents nodded and smiled.

Qingqing and Weiwei also excitedly shouted in unison, "Good morning, Daddy!"

Hearing the voices of his two little ones, a warm smile spread across Huang Jun’s face. He turned his head, and his gentle gaze fell on Qingqing and Weiwei, sitting at the table in the audience.

The two little ones were looking up at him as well.

They exchanged glances with their dad, their cheeks showing faint dimples.

Huang Jun winked at them, gave them a warm strength, and then refocused on the upcoming activities.

He continued, "Dear parents, dear children, you are so clever! Yes, this morning we’re going to make the delicious custard mooncake with a flowy center. However, due to time constraints, I can’t demonstrate all the steps in person, but don’t worry, I’ll explain every critical step as much as possible to ensure that everyone can make their own mooncake. After the event, I’ll have the class teachers send the tutorial video to the class group, and parents can take a look back then."

Hearing this, the children and parents who guessed correctly were extremely excited!

The custard mooncake with a flowy center was among the most delicious mooncakes they had ever tasted.

That pale yellow flowy center, that sweet taste...

Hmm~

Indeed, very good!

Now, knowing that they can learn to make this delicious mooncake from Huang Jun, how could they not be excited? How could they not be happy?

After all, with Huang Jun, a master of cooking, to guide them personally, the chances of failure were certainly very low!

As for the taste...

It should not be bad either...

Pengpeng happily shouted, "Wow, that’s great! Chef Uncle is going to teach us how to make custard mooncakes with a flowy center. From now on, I want to eat custard mooncakes with a flowy center every day."

Qianqian obediently said, "Chef Uncle, I will definitely learn seriously and try to make mooncakes as delicious as yours!"

Qu Qing excitedly interjected, "Haha, that’s great! Once I learn how, I’ll make them for my relatives, let them taste my skills too!"

Lin Weilin couldn’t wait any longer and urged, "Chef Huang, let’s start quickly. I can’t wait to taste the custard mooncakes I’ve made myself!"

"..."

Seeing the scene gradually getting a bit chaotic, Huang Jun couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered inside.

Unexpectedly, the activity hadn’t even started yet, and the children and parents had already become unruly.

"Parents, children, please quiet down." Just then, Liu Suyu stood up, smiling at everyone in the audience, "Otherwise, Chef Huang won’t be able to continue teaching you how to make delicious custard mooncakes."

Upon hearing Liu Suyu’s words, the originally noisy children and parents gradually quieted down.

Seeing this, Huang Jun couldn’t help but throw a grateful glance at Liu Suyu, thanking her for stepping in to maintain order.

He looked at the parents and children in the audience and said, "Alright, parents and children, next I’m going to explain in detail the method for making custard mooncakes."

"First, the initial step in making custard mooncakes is to prepare salted egg yolks. Here, I strongly recommend that you choose salted eggs marinated over charcoal, as this type has the richest aroma. For 12 mooncakes, you’ll need 4 salted egg yolks, so you can calculate accordingly."

"Next, we need to lightly soak the salted egg yolks in corn oil to prevent them from drying out; then soak them again in white rice wine to remove the fishy taste of the yolks. After that, place the treated yolks in a baking tray. Please pay attention here: preheat the oven to 160 degrees for 10 minutes, then place the tray in the middle layer of the oven, turning on both the top and bottom heat, but be sure not to turn on the convection function..."

Before he finished speaking.

The projection screen behind Huang Jun quietly transformed, and a sequence of detailed operational steps unfolded like a scroll, clearly presented before everyone.

Everyone raised their heads, focusing their gaze on the screen, wanting to deeply imprint the steps in their minds.

To avoid forgetting later, some parents even took out their phones to take pictures of the steps.

As Huang Jun explained step by step, all the preliminary preparations were explained.

Everyone listened attentively, absorbing the knowledge completely, and was filled with anticipation for the mooncake wrapping coming soon.

Huang Jun continued, "Parents, children, now we are entering the final stage — wrapping the mooncakes. Please operate carefully, dividing the custard filling in front of you into twelve parts, each weighing approximately 20 grams and rolling them into balls. Also, take the flow filling carefully out of the mold and gently place it in a bowl for later use. Remember, please be gentle during the operation to avoid damaging the perfect shape of the flow filling."

Speaking, he picked up a small tool, skillfully and precisely divided the block of custard filling on the table into twelve parts, then rolled them one by one into uniformly sized custard balls.

Seeing those nearly identical custard balls in size and shape, the parents in attendance showed expressions of surprise.

"Chef Huang, are each of these custard balls 20 grams?" Qu Qing asked curiously.

Huang Jun smiled slightly, confidently replying, "I believe so."

"If anyone has questions, we can weigh them and check!"

Liu Suyu considerately brought over a digital scale to help weigh each custard ball carefully, and the results showed that each ball weighed exactly 20 grams.

At this point.

Parents were amazed and felt profound admiration for Huang Jun’s outstanding control skills.

"Chef Huang, how did you do that?" Li Xiuxian asked curiously.

Huang Jun replied with a smile, "It’s nothing special, just experience accumulated over many years. My eyes are like rulers, able to accurately judge the size of each piece; my hands are like scales, able to sense the weight of each one. Just dedicate yourself to doing it, and you can achieve this level."

Eyes like rulers, hands like scales — this saying is really deep...

Parents were completely impressed by Huang Jun’s craftsmanship.

The children also thought Huang Jun was super amazing, some secretly deciding that when they grow up, they want to be outstanding chefs like Huang Jun.

Unaware of the children’s thoughts, Huang Jun proceeded to take the flow filling out of the mold and placed it in a prepared bowl.

Then he picked up a portion of custard filling, rubbed a small hole in the center with his fingertip, and placed a ball of flow filling inside.

"Now, gently close the opening with the base of your thumb, ensuring the custard filling completely wraps around the flow filling, then roll it until the surface is smooth and seamless. This can prevent leakage during baking."

He skillfully completed this action and then repeated the operation until all the custard fillings perfectly enveloped the flow fillings.

"Next, we handle the pastry." He picked up a piece of pastry dough, "We divide the pastry into twelve parts as well, each about 25 grams, and roll them into balls. When wrapping the pastry, use the same technique as wrapping the custard filling, ensuring each layer fits tightly."

He demonstrated how to wrap the pastry around the custard filling, ensuring the mooncake had distinct internal layers with no air entering.

"Finally, we need to press out a beautiful shape using the mold." He picked up a mooncake mold and gently pressed it onto the wrapped cake, "Look, a beautiful mooncake is made!"

The children and parents were eager to try, quickly getting hands-on in attempts.

However...

During the first step of dividing the filling, many parents found it difficult.

They had no direct concept of what 20 grams really looked like...

They wore expressions of "I can’t do it" and looked at Huang Jun with confusion, "Chef Huang, how much is 20 grams, 25 grams, really?"

Huang Jun gently reassured them, "No worries, if you’re unsure about the weight, don’t worry. The electronic scale will be your most reliable helper, accurately weighing the necessary 20 grams of filling, 25 grams of pastry."

As he spoke, he thoughtfully handed them the electronic scale.

To ensure the mediocre-skilled parents and children could create mooncakes that were both edible and delicious!

Huang Jun could only come up with this makeshift solution, which was to standardize and normalize all operational steps as much as possible.

Use a fixed number of salted egg yolks, measure all materials with measuring cups, use an electronic scale for precise filling and pastry weights.

Sigh!

Teaching isn’t easy, let’s cherish it as we go!