Food Intelligence King

Chapter 136 The Real Five-Nut Mooncakes, Pre-orders Sold Out Soon
When the roses arrive, the petals must first be removed from the buds.

Ms. Lin helped Chen Zhou and picked out some that were not in good condition.

Next, wash away the dust on the surface with water.

The petals feel incredibly soft to the touch, and the fine veins can even hold a few water droplets.

The entire rose petal will float on the water due to buoyancy, so you need to gently press it down with your hand.

It's very smooth when you knead it simply.

While washing the flower petals, Chen Zhou inexplicably thought of taking a flower petal bath, which he figured would feel pretty good.

After draining the petals, put them in the oven to dry off any excess moisture.

Use props when necessary, and use equipment when necessary.

The store has commercial dough kneading machines, and Chen Zhou naturally added a stand mixer to his home as well.

Place the dried rose petals into a food processor, then add honey and sugar.

Low setting, start rotating.

The gaps between the petals were compacted, and the two bowls were filled with the fluffy filling. After the food processor finished mixing, there wasn't much left.

When combined, it makes up a large jar.

Although it's called "green and red shreds," it's made entirely of roses, so you can't get the shredded texture.

Then we'll have to mix the rose petals into the nuts, like filling.

However, the candied fruit peel inside the mooncake is also in small pieces, so it doesn't matter much.

Chen Zhou didn't really intend to buy roses for Ms. Lin; he ordered them as ingredients for mooncakes.

But his wife's reaction after receiving the flowers was somewhat unexpected.

This even made Chen Zhou feel a little guilty.

He found a delicate little jar at home, filled it with a portion, and handed it to Ms. Lin:

"I'll save a small jar just for you."

"Hmm~"

Ms. Lin took the small jar of roses, tightened the screws, and put it in the refrigerator as well.

Chen Taotao also wanted to join in the fun.

The elderly father said, "You can eat it now, I'll jujube some for you."

Dad makes a lot of sense.

Chen Taotao opened her mouth and caught a small spoonful.

Strictly speaking, it's rose petal jam now, containing the sweetness of honey and the aroma of roses, the two combined in a thick consistency.

Actually, it still has a slightly astringent taste, which comes from the real ingredients of flower petals and needs to be removed by low-temperature fermentation for two days.

However, Chen Taotao didn't care too much, as this was much better than the shallots she had eaten a couple of days ago.

"It smells so good!"

Chen Zhou taught the little girl two professional terms: "This is called soft and chewy texture, sweet and delicious."

"Dad, what is tooth sensation?"

"It's the feeling of your teeth."

"Ow."

The distinct sensation experienced when chewing is the teeth coming into contact with food, grinding and squeezing it up and down.

The rose petals are not completely dried and retain a trace of moisture. When you bite into the petals, you will feel a distinct sense of crushing.

It's a thin layer, smooth and soft.

Making mooncakes by hand is not too difficult.

The shortcrust pastry comes in various patterned molds.

The various nuts in the filling, such as larger ones like walnuts, peanuts, and cashews, need to be crushed into small pieces, while ingredients like sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds and white sesame seeds can be left whole. Then they can be wrapped into the mooncakes.

Speaking of peanuts, Chen Zhou doesn't like them, but he plans to add a little bit.

This is indeed an essential ingredient in the traditional five-nut dish.

Adding less peanuts, to some extent, also represents an improvement in the quality of the mooncake, because peanuts are the cheapest type of nut among them.

In short, with experience in making steamed buns and professional-level pastry-making skills, making mooncakes won't be too difficult.

The only thing that took a bit of effort was getting the cilantro and cinnamon shreds.

Today we finished making the red silk threads, while the green plums used to make the green silk threads are mainly produced during the plum rain season from spring to summer.

In the northern regions, the fruit ripens later, and Chen Zhou was able to find fresh fruit in September.

It will arrive two days later than the roses, and the preparation method is similar to that of the red silk.

We can just do the same thing then.

...

Chen Zhou also briefly promoted the Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes in the owners' group.

He posted a picture of roses in the group chat and indicated that orders were being accepted. There was no complicated gift box packaging; they were simply traditional snacks for the occasion. Because the quantity was truly limited, there was a purchase limit. As for the price, the mooncakes were about 2.5 ounces each, but only the flour, sesame seeds, and peanuts were inexpensive.

But other nuts such as cashews, walnuts, and candied fruit are quite expensive.

This doesn't even take into account human labor.

Therefore, the price was set at 15 yuan per piece.

Chen Zhou edited a long message, even including the ingredients.

#FiveNutsMooncake

When everyone first saw that it was a five-nut mooncake, their reaction was actually similar to Tony's.

This stuff doesn't taste good.

Although the steamed buns at the community canteen are famously delicious, and the recent snacks are quite unique, the five-nut mooncakes are really just so-so.

After seeing the price, which is of most concern, people hesitated. At 15 yuan a piece, it was a bit expensive compared to the few yuan a piece sold in the market.

This must be the price of a mid-range gift box of mooncakes.

But some of the older neighbors like it.

For example, the aunt across the hall is very supportive of Chen Zhou's business and has a generous pension.

So without considering anything else, and recognizing that it was Chen Zhou who sent the message, I quickly ordered two pieces to try them out.

"I trust Xiao Chen quite a bit."

Because she often smelled various fragrances wafting from Chen Zhou's house.

Two five-nut mooncakes in the chain
The text from the neighbor's aunt was typed by hand, and Chen Zhou officially put it into the word chain for her.

After Zihan's mother joined the chain of words, she delivered a solid performance: "The things from Mr. Chen's shop have always been made with high-quality ingredients. Look at the ingredient list! This is red candied fruit made with roses! And green candied fruit made with plums!"

She had some inside information. After all, the old lady worked at the store.

After hearing what Zihan's mother said, the others also realized what was going on.

This year's five-nut mooncake is quite different.

With the community canteen having built up a good reputation over time, the number of people ordering has gradually increased.

"So the red threads are made of roses? What have I been eating before? No wonder they didn't taste good. Holy crap (д。)"

"Looking at the ingredient list, it seems worth the price."

"I only eat two mooncakes a year, so I'd rather have the real deal."

"I choose to trust."

#FiveNutsMooncake +4
#FiveNutsMooncake +2
#FiveNutsMooncake +3
I'm not a foodie: "Boss Chen's text was a bit long, I didn't read it carefully, at first I thought it was a holiday greeting he sent."

He added "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival" to Chen Zhou's picture of roses, and it actually looked quite convincing.

Unique holiday emojis appeared in the residents' group chat.

As the mooncake relay continued, they appeared alternately in the chat group.

Ms. Lin, who had been lurking in the group, helped to tally the number of entries, and found that the chain had already reached over a hundred yuan.

Chen Zhou didn't plan to do much more than 200 yuan.

This is only for holidays; for now, our main business remains the small shop we have.

Perhaps by next Mid-Autumn Festival, we will be able to produce it on a slightly larger scale.

Ms. Lin looked at the group chat and saw that 200 orders had been placed very quickly, and she was slightly surprised: "Two hundred orders have already been placed."

Chen Zhou: "Luckily it wasn't steamed buns. If it were steamed buns, we wouldn't be able to keep track of the numbers manually."

The shop makes thousands of steamed buns every day.

While the couple was chatting, Chen Zhou received a message from Tony.

Tony is also a resident of the community.

He has Chen Zhou's private messages:
"Brother, I think what I said yesterday was a bit presumptuous. I might actually quite like five-nut mooncakes too. Let me give you a little insider information."

Tony served as supplementary intelligence for Chen Zhou.

It also plays an irreplaceable role.

Although today's rose-red silk was made at home.

Surprisingly, Ms. Lin did not take any videos or photos to post on her WeChat Moments.

She received the roses and later the rose jam, and her heart truly felt warm; it was the kind of pure joy that comes from being remembered.

Rose jam is more practical than rose petals.

However, she considers posting roses on social media to be a very private matter.

It's nothing earth-shattering, and there's no need to show it off.

As for how to respond to her husband, Lin Yifan finds it difficult to give a warm response or say anything embarrassing.

She planned to cook two of her husband's favorite dishes.

　That's all for today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)