[Congratulations, you have unlocked the 35th entry in your collection.]
[Food entry unlocked: Durian Pancake]
[Food Rating: 88/100 [Good]]
[As the rating is "Good," rewards are tripled.]
[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward: 400,000]
[Congratulations, you have received a recipe reward: Durian Pancake Recipe]
[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward: 400,000]
...
[Congratulations, you have unlocked the 36th entry in your collection.]
[Food entry unlocked: Mango Pancake]
[Food Rating: 87/100 [Good]]
[As the rating is "Good," rewards are tripled.]
[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward: 400,000]
[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward: 400,000]
[Congratulations, you have received a recipe reward: Mango Pancake Recipe]
Li Xiao nodded in satisfaction.
"These two different flavors of pancakes are both quite good."
"The crepe is rich and fragrant. It must be made with whole eggs."
"The fruit inside is also relatively fresh, but the one drawback is that Manji Dessert uses a non-dairy whipped topping instead of the healthier, real dairy cream."
"But there’s not much to be done about it, since almost all of their products are prepared in a central kitchen."
"If they used real dairy cream, it wouldn’t be able to maintain its texture and freshness for long."
"More importantly, if they used real cream, it would start to soften not long after being served, and the whole pancake would become inedible."
"Although the flavor doesn’t reach an ’Excellent’ rating, it’s already better than the vast majority of pancakes on the market."
After a bit more small talk, the waitress brought over the next dessert soup.
When he saw the dessert soup placed before him, an eager look appeared on Li Xiao’s face.
As far as he knew, the very reason Manji Dessert had grown from a small, less-than-50-square-meter husband-and-wife dessert shop on Hong Kong Island into a chain with hundreds of branches was this very bowl of Mango Pomelo Sago before him.
Seeing many people in the livestream chat asking what this was, he explained,
"This is a very famous dessert soup from Hong Kong Island called Mango Pomelo Sago. The main ingredients are pomelo, mango, sago, and coconut milk. It has a sweet and sour flavor, is very tasty, and is perfect for the summer."
Li Xiao aimed the camera at the bowl of Mango Pomelo Sago in front of him.
The Mango Pomelo Sago had a vibrant color. The top layer was freshly sliced mango, the bottom was a rich sago pudding, and in between was chilled pomelo pulp. The whole thing looked both refreshing and tempting.
He stirred it gently, both to show all the ingredients in the bowl to his audience and to mix them together.
Once the various ingredients in the bowl were evenly mixed, Li Xiao scooped up a spoonful of Mango Pomelo Sago and brought it to his mouth.
The mango was diced into uniform, thumbnail-sized pieces. They had chosen mangoes that were perfectly ripe, resulting in a fresh, sweet, and juicy flavor that gave off a rich mango aroma.
Next, his taste buds were conquered by the sago. The sago pearls were cooked just right, maintaining their chewy, bouncy texture while also absorbing the surrounding sweetness.
Li Xiao continued to savor the dessert, and the next thing to hit his palate was the pomelo pulp in the Mango Pomelo Sago.
To give the Mango Pomelo Sago a richer texture and more complex layers of flavor, two different types of pomelo had been added.
They were a red pomelo with higher acidity and a golden pomelo with greater sweetness.
The two types of pomelo pulp, with their distinctly different flavors, elevated the dessert’s complexity to another level.
In the chilled dessert, the pomelo pulp released a unique freshness and a special tartness that perfectly balanced the sweetness of the mango, creating a one-of-a-kind taste experience.
The delicate pomelo pulp and the chewy, bouncy sago intertwined in his mouth, forming a complex and delightful texture.
As he continued to eat, Li Xiao gradually came to appreciate the multiple charms of this Mango Pomelo Sago.
From the fresh sweetness of the mango to the refreshing tartness of the pomelo, and then to the soft chewiness of the sago,
every single flavor was perfectly expressed in this dessert.
The sago base provided a delicate sweetness that served as the foundation for the entire dessert, offering a solid base for the other flavors.
Li Xiao ate several spoonfuls in a row before stopping.
At the same time, the system’s notification sound chimed in his ears.
[Congratulations, you have unlocked the 37th entry in your collection.]
[Food entry unlocked: Mango Pomelo Sago]
[Food Rating: 96/100 [Excellent]]
[As the rating is "Excellent," rewards are quadrupled.]
[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward: 800,000]
[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward: 800,000]
[Congratulations, you have received a recipe reward: Mango Pomelo Sago Recipe]
[Congratulations, you have received a food reward: 10,000 jin of tree-ripened Guifei Mangoes]
Seeing the rewards this time, Li Xiao’s eyes lit up.
’Guifei mangoes are great stuff. They have thin pits and thick flesh, with an edible portion of up to 90%. The flavor is rich, smooth, and fiberless, making them one of the top five premium mango varieties.’
’Many mangoes are picked before they’re fully ripe, because a ripe mango’s flesh becomes soft, making it very difficult to pick and transport.’
’That’s why most mangoes are picked while they’re still green and then artificially ripened later using various methods.’
’So, when people eat mangoes that have firm flesh but a very faint mango flavor and only a hollow sweetness, it’s because they were picked before they were mature.’
’Guifei mangoes are a bit different, though. Their flesh is naturally firmer, so even if they’re picked after ripening, the difficulty of harvesting and transportation isn’t too great.’
’Besides, Guifei mangoes are already expensive, so merchants and growers are more willing to invest more in the cost of picking and shipping them properly.’
’This means that some of the higher-quality Guifei mangoes can be left to ripen on the tree.’
’Anyone who has grown fruit trees at home should know that there’s a world of difference in flavor and texture between tree-ripened fruit and fruit that’s been picked and artificially ripened.’
’These 10,000 jin of tree-ripened Guifei mangoes are a real treasure.’
’High-quality, tree-ripened Guifei mangoes probably sell for fifty to sixty yuan per jin on the market.’
’There’s no way I can get through 10,000 jin of mangoes by myself.’
’It’s not that I’m unwilling to give them away to my viewers.’
’The 10,000 jin of mangoes are only worth a few hundred thousand yuan in total, which is nothing to me.’
’My main concern is that while tree-ripened Guifei mangoes are easier to transport, that’s only in comparison to other mango varieties.’
After a moment of thought, Li Xiao made a decision.
The staff at the Xihan’er Milk Tea Shop had been familiarizing themselves with the work for over a week now, and most of them were starting to get the hang of it.
Furthermore, with Zhang Li’s help and the constant efforts of the Wenchu People, both the government and the local community had agreed to provide appropriate assistance.
A second group, totaling ten Xihuan’Er, had already started training and living at the shop with the help of volunteers.
As soon as the second shop’s renovations were complete, these kids would be able to start working immediately, ensuring a perfect, seamless transition.
Moreover, with the help of the Enlightenment Wind Chime, Li Xiao had a faint feeling that the original group of Xihuan’Er seemed to have slightly improved in their self-discipline.
The shop had enough staff to handle more orders.
The shop happened to sell a drink like Mango Pomelo Sago, but for ease of preparation, they had been using fruit jam and canned fruit.
Even though they used high-quality jams and canned fruit, there was still a noticeable difference compared to fresh mangoes.
Now that he had such a large quantity of fresh mangoes, perhaps it was time to drive some traffic to the Xihan’er Milk Tea Shop.