AGN -Chapter 170 Normal Crab Roe Shaomai

At noon, Zheng Da and Huang Shengli arrived at the back kitchen of Huang Ji on time, and before arguing, each of them first ate a bowl of longevity noodles.

These were longevity noodles specially made by Qin Huai, and they had to be eaten first.

After finishing a bowl, Zheng Da forgot all the lines he had prepared for the day.

Originally, Zheng Da was determined to win today.

He had already lost for a whole week. He had watched teacher certification videos for a full week and memorized lesson materials for a week. He felt it was time to win once.

Qin Huai had already been a “crab person” for a full week!

He smelled so strongly of crab that the scent had almost been pickled into him. When walking on the street, people might even think Qin Huai was selling crabs. It was time for the real master who could actually teach skills to step in!

After finishing the last sip of noodle soup, Zheng Da’s prepared speech turned into: “You say that again! Qin Huai said he spent a week dealing with shrimp and crabs, felt that he hadn’t made enough pastries, really wanted to make pastries, so he made chicken soup noodles for lunch today???”

Huang Jia nodded firmly.

Zheng Da suddenly didn’t dare to argue anymore.

What kind of approach was this?

He had never heard of such a training method for white-case cooking.

Huang Anyao and Gong Liang, both outsiders, couldn’t taste the difference—but he, Zheng Da, a professional white-case chef, couldn’t taste it? The quality of the noodles in Qin Huai’s chicken noodle soup today had improved dramatically compared to before, achieving a small breakthrough.

As long as this breakthrough wasn’t just a flash of inspiration and could be maintained, all of Qin Huai’s future pastries would reach a higher level.

Peeling shrimp and crabs could have such an effect?

Maybe they should let Qin Huai peel for a couple more days and see if he could find that feeling again?

Not only Zheng Da was confused after finishing a bowl of noodles, even Huang Shengli was a bit puzzled.

He had originally planned to go easy today.

Although Huang Shengli sincerely felt that Zheng Da’s teaching ability was quite poor, Zheng Da’s technical skills were solid. Moreover, Zheng Da was a professional white-case pastry chef, while Huang Shengli was a red-case chef—he couldn’t teach Qin Huai crab roe shaomai.

A week of basic training on ingredients was enough for Qin Huai. The rest could be accumulated over time; there was no rush.

And Huang Shengli knew very well that at Qin Huai’s current stage, going back to grind basic skills again would be very dull and boring and might sap his motivation.

So he planned to go easy during today’s argument so that Zheng Da would win, allowing Qin Huai to stop basic training in the afternoon and focus on making a complete batch of crab roe shaomai.

After a week of basic training, his level would definitely improve. He might still make mistakes, but not as badly as before.

Huang Shengli had planned it well: letting Zheng Da teach for a day would help Qin Huai realize that basic training was very useful, while also making him understand that basic training alone wasn’t enough to make good crab roe shaomai.

With that reminder, and another week of training on ingredient combinations, the results would be twice the result with half the effort.

But now Huang Shengli was hesitating whether to deliberately let Zheng Da win.

Qin Huai’s progress was too unconventional.

Peeling crabs somehow improved pastry skills?

What kind of logic was that?

Should they keep peeling crabs?

Continuing seemed like a waste of time, but stopping might affect Qin Huai’s progress in pastries.

With the same hesitation and uncertainty, Huang Shengli and Zheng Da’s argument today was very restrained.

“You simply don’t understand white-case cooking. I’m telling you, at this stage, the most important thing is basic skills. Xiao Qin needs to familiarize himself with ingredients—peeling shrimp and crabs. Overtraining is not advisable, do you understand? Listen to me, continue practicing the basics today!” Zheng Da said.

“I may not understand white-case cooking as well as you, but I’ve trained nine apprentices—ten including Siyuan. Do you understand teaching planning? I’m telling you, Xiao Qin’s basics are already solid enough; he doesn’t need to keep practicing them.”

“Of course, I’m not saying he doesn’t need any practice. If Xiao Qin is willing to peel crabs, he should still do it. But basics are no longer the focus. What he needs today is systematic learning—making a full batch of crab roe shaomai.” Huang Shengli said.

“What systematic learning? Building foundations is the priority!”

“What foundation-building? Systematic learning is the priority!”

Fortunately, both of them deliberately kept their voices down. Qin Huai, already used to them arguing every day before starting work, didn’t pay much attention and was busy selecting crabs in the distance.

Otherwise, if Qin Huai had overheard this, he might have thought his progress was too slow and that both masters were about to expel him from their teaching.

Although technically he hadn’t formally joined any apprenticeship.

In the end, with Huang Shengli deliberately going easy, Zheng Da reluctantly “won” the argument and regained teaching authority.

After a week without it, Zheng Da was naturally excited.

He was so excited he didn’t know what to say first.

“Xiao Qin, let’s start by selecting crabs… these crabs need to be… already selected, right?”

He had already made his first mistake.

“Then let’s process the shrimp and crab meat… let me see… this is already done too, right?”

Second mistake.

Because of the earlier delay from eating noodles and the prolonged argument, Qin Huai had already completed the preparatory work on his own.

Zheng Da swallowed nervously.

“Then let’s begin making the filling. The key to crab roe shaomai lies in the filling’s composition and seasoning.”

He then began explaining culinary theory, citing classical references, discussing how crab is best eaten on its own, how strong-flavored ingredients should not be overcomplicated, and how cooking sometimes requires subtraction rather than addition.

He also explained how crab roe has both freshness and a certain fishy odor, and that the chef’s task is to preserve the freshness while eliminating the fishy taste through careful ingredient pairing.

After this long introduction, Qin Huai looked at him with newfound respect.

This was Zheng Da?

Such solid theoretical knowledge, such eloquence, such structured reasoning?

Watching those online teaching videos really paid off.

It was actually useful!

As Qin Huai admired him, Zheng Da proudly straightened his posture and glanced at Huang Shengli with satisfaction.

Then he began silently making crab roe shaomai.

His hand movements were flawless, but his silence made people sigh.

Qin Huai & Huang Shengli: …

You spent a week preparing… and this is all you came up with?

Still, at least the speech was decent—an improvement.

Qin Huai watched Zheng Da closely.

He had been watching Zheng Da make crab roe shaomai every day during this period while practicing basic skills himself.

Zheng Da made two baskets a day, enough for the kitchen staff to each have one. He also ate them himself, often glaring at Qin Huai while doing so.

But today was different—today Qin Huai was learning from him.

Zheng Da worked with more energy than usual.

Having made them many times, his preparation and seasoning were smooth and decisive, without hesitation or experimentation.

After a batch was wrapped and steamed, it was Qin Huai’s turn to make his own.

He had only made crab roe shaomai twice before, and neither experience was pleasant.

Pastries require muscle memory built over time. Great pastries are made through daily repetition.

Qin Huai’s hands were slightly unfamiliar after a week of not practicing, but his mind remembered Zheng Da’s method.

He remembered the ratios, techniques, and sequence of seasoning.

But he knew mere imitation wasn’t enough for something as complex as crab roe shaomai.

He needed understanding.

“Those who imitate me survive; those who resemble me perish.”

He recalled what Huang Shengli had told him about the nature of crab and shrimp.

He remembered the flavor of crab meat and roe he had handled over the past week.

The strong fishy smell lingered on his fingers no matter how much he washed them, and his goal was to preserve the freshness while suppressing the fishiness.

He couldn’t use strong spices, and he had to strictly control salt and soy sauce to maintain the natural sweetness.

He needed cooking wine and ginger slices.

He needed to understand the ingredients, then transform them.

Step by step, Qin Huai worked.

While processing shrimp and crab meat, he wasn’t thinking about Zheng Da’s methods or copying them consciously, yet his actions were very similar.

His mind was focused entirely on understanding the ingredients.

He thought about their strengths and weaknesses, imagining himself as a “walking crab” and how to make that crab smell fresh instead of fishy while tasting delicious.

He considered how to let shrimp serve as a subtle supporting ingredient rather than the dominant one.

At that moment, imitation no longer mattered.

What mattered was making the dish well.

Qin Huai seasoned carefully.

Zheng Da watched, stunned. He could clearly see that Qin Huai had grasped the key to making crab roe shaomai.

He understood how to balance crab meat, crab roe, and shrimp, and how to control proportions and seasoning.

He might still make mistakes, but not as severely as before.

This progress was astonishing.

Could it be that Zheng Da himself was a teaching genius?

Huang Shengli watched with satisfaction and said to Huang Jia, “Xiao Qin is truly the kind of student every teacher dreams of.”

Meanwhile, at 3:30 PM, Qin Huai’s crab roe shaomai came out of the steamer.

As usual, the chefs tasted first.

Qin Huai took a bite.

No fishy smell.

The previous failures had been due to poor ingredient ratios, resulting in an overpowering fishy taste.

This time, that problem was gone.

As he chewed, he could taste shrimp—subtle sweetness. Crab meat—more pronounced. Crab roe—dominant and rich, spreading quickly and balancing the flavors.

Freshness? Yes. Sweetness? Yes. Fishiness? None.

Pass.

A qualified product.

But just that—qualified.

Nothing outstanding, just a decent, standard crab roe shaomai.

If graded like a game, Qin Huai would give it a C-.

He could say he knew how to make it, but wouldn’t make it often.

Basic training had indeed been useful.

Everyone else tasted the shaomai.

At the doorway, Gong Liang took a bite.

“…Holy crap, Xiao Qin’s crab roe shaomai is actually this good!” he blurted out.

Others were surprised at his reaction, but to him, it was genuine.

People around began discussing how much it had improved, how it was now a normal crab roe shaomai, and how hard Qin Huai must have been working.

Hearing this, Gong Liang messaged his assistant:

“Secure the property next to Qin Huai within this week. Also secure the house he lives in by next week. I want both.”

Assistant Xiao Wang replied: “Received, Mr. Gong!”