Chapter 224: Hitting Landmines in a Row

The Cantonese-style black pepper sauce coating the short ribs was very smooth on the palate.

It wasn’t too spicy, nor was it bland. It also had a slight sweetness, and the balance was just right.

The quality of the short ribs was also quite good, despite being coated in a layer of black pepper sauce.

Through the sauce, you could still faintly see the white lines of fat on the ribs.

While the fat ratio didn’t quite qualify it as premium marbled “snowflake” beef, it was still excellent for what it was.

The short ribs had a faint astringent taste in his mouth. Li Xiao immediately realized that baking soda must have been used in the marinade to tenderize the meat.

Li Xiao never objected to the reasonable use of small amounts of legal and compliant food additives.

After all, getting high quality for a low price was a rare find.

“You get what you pay for” is a much more common reality.

Take these short ribs, for example. Their quality was decent, but without adding a small amount of baking soda to loosen the meat fibers, the texture would be very tough for customers, and the tight meat would prevent the seasonings from penetrating deep inside.

Every restaurant needs to strike a good balance between ingredients, cost, and final product.

Using better ingredients and hiring better chefs can certainly yield a better product, but that means a much higher price.

And not every market can accept such high prices, even if the food is genuinely good.

If the audience willing to pay that price is too small, it’s very easy for expenses to exceed revenue.

After all, the cost of good chefs, rent, utilities, and the loss from wasted high-end ingredients are all significant expenses.

That level of spending can’t be sustained by just a small group of diners.

So, when Li Xiao detected that they had used baking soda in the marinade, he didn’t call them out for it.

The amount used was clearly very small. If the System hadn’t enhanced his sense of taste by several points, he probably wouldn’t have even noticed it. For the average person, an amount this small would have no noticeable effect.

So, all in all, the black pepper short ribs were quite good.

A system notification sounded in his mind.

[Congratulations, you have lit up the 89th entry in your Illustrated Collection.]

[The food you have collected is: Black Pepper Short Ribs]

[Food Rating: 85 Points [Good]]

[As the rating is [Good], you receive a 3x reward.]

[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward: 400,000]

[Congratulations, you have received a recipe reward: Recipe for Cantonese-Style Black Pepper Sauce]

[Congratulations, you have received a recipe reward: Recipe for Black Pepper Short Ribs]

Li Xiao swallowed the beef and nodded in satisfaction.

“The meat is very tender. Although they used baking soda, the amount was controlled very carefully.”

“Besides, consuming a small amount of alkaline baking soda isn’t harmful to the human body; it can even help balance the body’s pH levels.”

“The black pepper sauce is also well-made—not too spicy, with a rich flavor. It was simmered with a beef bone broth.”

“Overall, it deserves 85 points.”

So far, Li Xiao was quite satisfied with Taotaoju overall.

While not every dim sum dish was “Excellent,” achieving “Good” or higher for most was already quite impressive.

He turned his gaze to the steamed buns. A dim sum meal would always feel incomplete without some buns.

Li Xiao deftly picked up a custard bun with his chopsticks and placed it in his bowl.

The custard bun in his hand was warm and light, its softness transferring through his fingertips.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, sensing the bun’s unusual lightness.

Tearing it open gently, he immediately saw its loose, honeycombed internal structure, which made him realize the reason for its excessive lightness: too much baking powder.

Although baking powder can make pastries soft and springy, maintain that softness for longer, and prevent the inside from drying out, it also creates another drawback: the texture becomes equally loose and crumbly.

Furthermore, if too much baking powder is used, you can taste a faint bitterness on your tongue.

If you eat too much of it, you might even feel a slight numbing sensation on the tip of your tongue.

Because baking powder is, after all, a chemical agent. Even the compliant, aluminum-free kind is not good in excess.

He took a small bite. Just as he expected, the texture was loose.

At the same time, a system notification sounded in his mind.

[Congratulations, you have lit up the 90th entry in your Illustrated Collection.]

[The food you have collected is: Custard Bun]

[Food Rating: 65 Points [Pass]]

[As the rating is [Pass], you receive a 1x reward.]

[Congratulations, you have received a recipe reward: Recipe for Bun Dough]

“I have to give this custard bun a poor review. I can only give it 65 points.”

Li Xiao said, “If it weren’t for the decent custard filling, I wouldn’t even be willing to give it 65 points.”

“The bun is overly loose, a result of too much baking powder. In its excessive pursuit of a fluffy texture, it has lost all substance.”

“The way this dough was made is nothing to write home about.”

“It seems soft, but in reality, it’s a far cry from true softness. Relying on chemical additives to prop up the bun’s structure is hardly a superior technique.”

“However, the custard filling is decent, with a good balance of milky and eggy flavors.”

“I don’t recommend that you all try this custard bun.”

After reviewing the custard bun, Li Xiao’s gaze fell upon the char siu bun. He hesitated for a moment before picking it up.

The feel of it in his hand told him it had a similar soft texture to the custard bun.

Sure enough, when he gently tore it apart, it revealed the same loose, honeycomb-like structure.

He let out a self-deprecating chuckle. ‘How could buns from the same restaurant possibly have two different kinds of dough?’

He had chosen the char siu bun because its filling was different from the custard bun’s.

However, the disappointment after trying it exceeded his expectations.

The texture of the char siu filling was also terrible. If the custard in the previous bun had some commendable qualities, then the char siu filling in this bun had no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Sure enough, a system notification immediately sounded, but this time it wasn’t for lighting up the collection.

[The food you have tasted is: Char Siu Bun]

[Food Rating: 50 Points [Fail]]

[As this food did not score 60 points, it cannot be added to the Illustrated Collection.]

Li Xiao shook his head with a bitter smile. For such a famous Cantonese dim sum restaurant, this quality was unexpected. A mere 50 points—it was unbelievably bad.

Putting down the remaining half of the char siu bun, he griped to the camera:

“Two disappointing dim sum dishes in a row. The custard bun at least got 65 points, but the char siu bun only deserves 50.”

“The char siu is too salty, too tough, and greasy.”

“The bun dough is just as unsatisfactory—extremely loose and flimsy.”

“It’s hard to imagine how a time-honored brand like this could serve something like that.”

Li Xiao lamented, “With its huge customer flow, Taotaoju has no need to resort to these cheap tricks.”

He analyzed, “Flour isn’t expensive. Even if they used fully imported high-end flour, the cost distributed to each bun would be negligible.”

“Plus, nowadays, kitchens mostly use large dough mixers to make the dough, so the amount of hands-on work required from the chefs is pitifully small.”

“There’s no reason to use this much baking powder unless the kitchen staff is simply too lazy to put in the effort.”