"The flavor is a little too weak."
"This time there's a bit too much salt. It's leaning a little too far toward salty."
"The seasoning is pretty good this round, but the proportions of the ingredients are off. The soup is lacking umami, and the tofu ended up too broken and crumbly."
Bowl after bowl of soup was ladled from the pot and tasted by Erina Nakiri, who then pointed out the flaws in each attempt. Her brows gradually knitted together.
This would not do.
If they kept going like this, they were going to run out of time.
"This dish is much harder than I expected..."
Fang Ye was frowning as well. He had discovered that making a good soup was truly no easy matter.
It was not only the final seasoning that mattered. If the ratios between the ingredients were even slightly off, the flavor would suffer too. It would not be bad enough to call inedible, but it certainly could not be called good.
"Try using this."
Seeing Fang Ye pacing around the kitchen with a furrowed brow, racking his brain for a solution, Alice Nakiri held out a small electronic scale that measured down to the gram.
"This..."
Seeing Fang Ye hesitate as he looked at the scale, Alice continued, "If we can't judge the ingredient ratios properly, then let's just quantify them with a scale. Record every failed attempt carefully, and sooner or later, if we keep trying, we'll succeed."
"You're right. Using a scale to measure ingredients really is the best way to improve precision in cooking. It's just that if we do that..."
Looking at the electronic scale Alice handed him, Fang Ye felt a complicated emotion rise in him.
To be perfectly honest, for a chef, having to weigh ingredients bit by bit on a scale and calculate their ratios felt a little embarrassing.
But they were all total beginners in the culinary world, and today was the first time in their lives they had ever tried making soup. Failing to make it properly was completely normal. Under those circumstances, relying on a little technology was understandable.
"Our goal is to make the soup delicious. Since we lack experience, there's nothing wrong with using an electronic scale!"
So Fang Ye convinced himself.
"Agreed. I'll go rinse my mouth first."
Erina nodded faintly at Fang Ye's words. She had no real emotional hang-up about it. As she spoke, she stood and poured herself a cup of water to rinse her mouth.
That, too, was an essential step before tasting food.
The God Tongue was unbelievably sensitive. Even the slightest trace of lingering flavor could affect her judgment and make her evaluation inaccurate.
Of course, at this point in time the God Tongue was nowhere near as developed as it would later become in the original story. Even so, if she was going to taste, then naturally she wanted her palate in the best possible condition.
"Hah..."
Watching Erina go rinse her mouth, Fang Ye gently set the scale down and began preprocessing the vegetables, planning to weigh them only after that was done.
He washed the fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced them thinly, and placed them on a porcelain plate until the weight reached exactly one hundred grams.
Then he fried two sunny-side-up eggs with lightly crisped edges, again controlling the total weight at one hundred grams.
Carrots, white radish, tomatoes, komatsuna, and firm old tofu—Fang Ye processed each ingredient in advance, then weighed them one by one on the electronic scale.
Compared with simply throwing things into the pot and cooking straight away, this extra step made the entire process much longer. Preparation alone took half an hour.
But the results were astonishing.
Following the same cooking steps as before, Fang Ye used a timer to control everything strictly, keeping the time error within five seconds.
A rich fragrance rose from the pot.
Then, immediately afterward, the familiar system notification sounded in his mind.
[Detected that the Host has successfully created Three Delicacies, Five Flavors Vegetable Soup. Recipe unlocked: Three Delicacies, Five Flavors Vegetable Soup (Green).]
[Three Delicacies, Five Flavors Vegetable Soup (Green)]:
A soup built on mushrooms, pan-fried egg, and firm old tofu as its umami foundation, blending the tartness of tomato, the sweetness of carrot and white radish, the faint bitterness of the vegetable stems, and a salty backbone, ultimately achieving a balance of all five flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami.
[Proficiency]: Beginner (1/100)
[Note: Increasing recipe proficiency gives a higher chance of producing a high-scoring dish.]
[Detected that the Host has successfully made any one system-recognized qualified soup dish. General skill unlocked: Soup Making.]
[Soup Making (Purple)]:
Allows the Host to more quickly learn all varieties of soup dishes. When developing original soups, inspiration is more likely to strike. Also increases the rate at which proficiency in soup dishes is gained.
[Proficiency]: Beginner (1/100)
The description was plain and straightforward, but that only highlighted how powerful it really was.
Learning other soup dishes more quickly—was that not exactly the principle of drawing inferences from one example? And the fact that it could provide inspiration while developing original soups, while also doubling the rate of proficiency gain for soup dishes, made it even more absurdly valuable.
In immediate, real-time cooking, this ability might not seem to offer much of an advantage.
But in terms of long-term growth, its usefulness was enormous.
And besides Soup Making, Fang Ye had already unlocked the general skill Stir-Frying back when he practiced making hot and sour shredded potatoes at home.
The trigger condition was the same as with Soup Making—produce one system-recognized, qualified stir-fried dish.
"This one looks way better than the last few. The aroma's much richer too. I don't think it's going to fail this time!"
While Fang Ye was still immersed in the system notifications, an excited little face suddenly popped up beside him. Erina Nakiri had crept over without him noticing, twitching her small nose with eager anticipation.
She had been waiting for this for quite a while.
With the scale measuring everything so precisely, the Three Delicacies, Five Flavors Vegetable Soup they had made this time gave off an especially rich aroma. Just from the smell alone, she could feel the God Tongue inside her stirring restlessly.
"Go sit at the table. I'll serve it out for tasting."
Hearing Erina's comment, Fang Ye finally came back to himself. He picked up the bowls prepared earlier and ladled the soup from the pot into them.
Watching Fang Ye walk over and set the Three Delicacies, Five Flavors Vegetable Soup in front of them, Alice Nakiri could not help exclaiming, "What a rich aroma!"
"The dominant scent is the savory fragrance created together by the tomato, fried egg, and firm old tofu, with a hint of ginger and white pepper mixed in. After that comes the sweet aroma of the carrot and white radish, and then the faint tart fragrance of the tomato..."
After marveling at it, Alice immediately moved on to a more detailed evaluation. Instead of tasting it right away, she first twitched her nose and tried to separate the different layers of aroma, using the opportunity to train her sense of smell.
And among all those scents, those few stood out the most distinctly, delivering the strongest impact.
"Then I'm starting."
After hearing Alice's praise, Erina also picked up her spoon and quickly scooped up a mouthful of the vegetable soup.
The instant it entered her mouth, the first thing she felt was the heat. Her eyes widened slightly, and then an explosion of incredibly rich flavor burst across her tongue.
The mushroom umami of the shiitake, the rounded savoriness of the fried egg, and the bean-based freshness of the firm tofu fused together into a deep, rounded, profoundly satisfying wave of umami that formed the foundation of the entire soup.
And just as the salty umami began to take the lead, the tomato's bright and lively acidity quietly emerged.
It sliced cleanly through the heaviness of the umami, bringing with it a sense of freshness and appetite-opening clarity.
At the same time, the gentle, steady sweetness of the carrot and white radish began spreading through the broth.
Sourness and sweetness intertwined, balancing one another.
But not long after, an extremely subtle trace of clean bitterness rose quietly from deep at the back of the tongue, crisp and decisive, sweeping away all lingering杂味 from the mouth.
It was a complete cycle.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 150)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter95)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 55
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 45
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 32
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 31
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 31
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