Food: Senior year internship, you take over the university cafeteria

Chapter 40 Yiyang Rice Cake

【Five-Star Snack Craftsmanship: Yiyang Rice Cake (Soft, Glutinous, and Chewy, the King of Versatility)】

[Redemption requires: 50000 popularity points]

[Description: This is a traditional rice cake technique originating from Yiyang, Jiangxi Province. Made with a unique type of japonica rice, it undergoes ancient processes such as "three steamings and two hundred poundings." The finished product is as white as jade, with a soft, chewy, and smooth texture, and a rich rice aroma. It can be stir-fried, boiled, baked, or pan-fried, and is suitable for all flavors, including savory, sweet, and spicy. It is highly versatile and represents a fundamental food technique with great development potential.]

Yiyang Rice Cake

Wang Sheng's heart stirred.

Soft, chewy, and versatile; it goes well with everything from salty and sweet to spicy!

Stir-fried rice cakes, rice cake soup, baked rice cakes, and brown sugar fried rice cakes—

It can be used as a main dish or a snack, with endless flavor variations!

Moreover, rice cakes are easy to store and their processing is relatively concentrated, which can alleviate the pressure of concentrated meal preparation during the breakfast period.

Although it requires 50,000 popularity points to redeem, which is almost half of what he currently has, considering its potential and five-star quality, it is definitely worth the investment!

Popularity points can be earned again, but once you miss this core skill, you don't know when it will appear again.

"Exchange for the [Five-Star Yiyang Rice Cake Technique]!" Wang Sheng no longer hesitated.

[50000 popularity points consumed!]

[Redeem successful!]

[Five-star snack craftsmanship: Yiyang rice cake (soft, chewy, and versatile) is being integrated—]

A powerful, profound sense of heritage, filled with the aroma of rice and the force of pounding, flooded my mind!

From the selection and soaking of Yiyang's unique japonica rice to the details of the ancient process of "three steamings and two hundred poundings," including the steaming temperature, the strength and rhythm of pounding, the shaping techniques, and the secrets to cooling and storage—

Even the core elements of dozens of classic and innovative dishes developed based on rice cakes are all imprinted in my mind. This is not just a skill of making rice cakes, but a rich culinary system with rice cakes at its core!

[Remaining popularity points: 50127]

[New technology integration complete!]

Cool!

With popularity exceeding 100,000, the system shop is officially open!

Consuming 50,000 popularity points, I successfully exchanged for a five-star Yiyang rice cake technique, obtaining a core product line with great potential!

Early the next morning.

The backyard behind window number 07 was brightly lit and bustling with activity.

Two hundred kilograms of carefully selected Yiyang specialty japonica rice are soaking in the huge wooden tub, each grain plump and fully saturated with water.

This is the first batch of experimental rice that Wang Sheng specially asked Suzhou and Hangzhou to urgently purchase and send from his hometown in Jiangxi, based on his newly acquired technical knowledge.

Zhao Gang, Lin Xiaowen, and the others were all taken aback by this spectacle.

"Senior, so much rice? Are you really going to make rice cakes yourself?"

"How long will this take?"

Wang Sheng smiled but didn't say much. He changed into a smart short-sleeved outfit, revealing his sleek, powerful forearms—a direct result of the [Stamina Enhancement Card].

"start."

He directed everyone to drain the soaked rice and put it into a specially made large wooden steamer in batches, which was then placed on a powerful stove to begin the first round of steaming.

Steam billowed, and the aroma of rice began to fill the air.

Wang Sheng then walked to the open space in the backyard, where two heavy stone mortars and a hard wooden mallet as thick as a bowl had already been washed and placed.

These are the "core tools" he prepared for making rice cakes.

The first batch of rice was steamed until it was translucent and fragrant. Wang Sheng and Zhao Gang worked together to pour the piping hot rice into a stone mortar.

"Zhao Gang, watch me do it once." Wang Sheng picked up a wooden mallet and took a deep breath.

With waist and stance in perfect harmony, the muscles in the arms are bulging but not brute, carrying a unique rhythm as the wooden mallet is raised high and then brought down steadily and precisely!

boom!

A dull, powerful impact echoed in the quiet backyard.

The rice was dented from being smashed.

Wang Sheng's movements were continuous, his hammer rising and falling with a steady and powerful rhythm.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! —

He didn't use force blindly; each pounding was accompanied by a slight rotation of his wrist and an adjustment of the angle, ensuring that the rice was evenly stressed.

Meanwhile, the other hand would occasionally dip in cool boiled water to prevent the rice grains from sticking too much to the mallet and mortar.

Initially, the rice grains were distinct, but as they were pounded, they gradually stuck together and blended, becoming sticky, and finally turning into a smooth, pliable, white rice ball that exuded an enticing aroma and warmth.

The entire process lasted nearly twenty minutes. Wang Sheng's movements remained perfectly straight, his breathing was steady, and there was only a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, as if the intense and skillful beating he had just endured was merely a warm-up.

"Holy crap—" Zhao Gang stared in disbelief. He considered himself strong, but even he couldn't imagine his arms being sore and numb after being rhythmically and skillfully pounded like Wang Sheng for twenty minutes straight. "Senior, your stamina—"

That's so twisted!

Lin Xiaowen and Su Weiwei, who were helping out nearby (she had come to "help" early again), were also staring wide-eyed.

Wang Sheng's focused swing of the mallet, his smooth and powerful movements, the rising steam and glistening sweat, all combined under the lights to create a picture full of power and artistic beauty.

Su Weiwei's cheeks flushed slightly, and her heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason. She quickly looked away and pretended to check the steamer.

The effects of the [Stamina Enhancement Card] are on full display at this moment! Without this 30% increase in base stamina and powerful endurance recovery, it would be impossible to independently process 200 jin of glutinous rice (which will eventually yield about 100 jin of cake).

"Come on, it's your turn. Pay attention to the rhythm and technique, don't use brute force."

Wang Sheng handed the wooden mallet to Zhao Gang, who was eager to try, while he went to process the second batch of steamed rice.

The sounds of hammering and pounding rose and fell.

Wang Sheng led most of the core hammering process, while Zhao Gang and others assisted with auxiliary tasks such as preliminary hammering, flipping, and cutting.

As the sky began to lighten, hundreds of white, smooth, and lustrous Yiyang rice cakes were neatly stacked on the long cutting board in the backyard! The rich, pure aroma of rice filled the air, making one feel refreshed and relaxed.

"Let's take a break and wait for the rice cakes to cool and set completely." Wang Sheng wiped his sweat, looked at his work, and nodded in satisfaction.

Next, we will test the texture of these rice cakes under various cooking methods and decide which flavors to launch first.

He looked at Su Weiwei, whose eyes were bright and full of curiosity, and smiled, "Weiwei, when the rice cake gets cold, can you try a few ways to eat it for me? Give me your suggestions."

"Okay, okay!" Su Weiwei agreed excitedly.

The breakfast rush is temporarily suspended in the early morning.

The aroma wafting through the kitchen was no longer that of porridge or noodles, but rather a fresher, richer fragrance of rice. On the worktable, the jade-white rice cakes had completely cooled and set, their texture dense and their surface cool and smooth to the touch.

Wang Sheng took a piece and cut it into even, thin slices.

The moment the blade slices through the rice cake, you can feel a unique resistance and smoothness—resilient yet not hard, soft yet not crumbly—this is the texture of a good rice cake.

"Senior, how should we try it? Boil it? Stir-fry it?"

Su Weiwei crept up to the side, like a kitten waiting to be fed, her eyes full of anticipation.