Gan Lan had lain on the spaceship for so long that her bones felt like jelly, but they had finally arrived. If it hadn’t been for a few friends to relieve the boredom, she would probably have slept the entire way. Even looking at the vast sea of stars eventually made one numb.
After stepping off the spaceship and taking in the landscape of Banan Star, she finally understood why it earned its name. The streets and house balconies were overflowing with colorful flora. The entire planet was enveloped in vegetation like a dreamscape; the moment she stepped onto it, the scent of various plants wafted through the air. Her eyes were filled with oceans of blossoms in every color. It was truly breathtaking. This must be a deeply romantic planet.
Immersed in this world surrounded by a sea of flowers, Gan Lan felt as though her entire being had been elevated.
"Bumpkin," a senior student who was also here for the competition muttered under his breath as he walked past her.
She really was a bumpkin, so it seemed she had no way to refute his words. Forget it, she was in a good mood today and wouldn’t stoop to his level.
"Gan Lan, let’s head out for now. You all have three days of free time, so you can come out and explore properly tomorrow," Liang Cong called out to her.
Gan Lan agreed and closely followed Mr. Liang into a Flying Car.
She was not with her other two schoolmates, as their competition was taking place at a different venue. They would only meet again during the finals, or perhaps not at all. Because it was an elimination format, only the top one hundred candidates would be selected to earn the right to go to the Red Demon Star.
Gan Lan took a walk around the room she was staying in. To her surprise, it had a fully equipped kitchen. It was so luxurious that the cooking utensils from her own kitchen back home paled in comparison. Since there was a kitchen, she decided to make dinner today. Although the chefs in the spaceship’s restaurant were decent, she just wasn’t used to their food. She had even secretly gotten up in the middle of the night to make herself a bowl of instant noodles.
Opening her Light Brain, she browsed the ingredient shops to see what local specialties were sold on Banan Star. She quickly learned that Banan Star’s desserts were famous, but though delicious, they were extremely expensive.
Gan Lan scrolled down and found that even the green vegetables here were flowers—green cauliflower, blue blossoms, and more. They looked beautiful and would probably taste quite good.
"Green Tung Egg purchased successfully."
"Ice Ice Vegetable purchased successfully."
Gan Lan bought these two items. They were supposedly vegetables, but they looked as beautiful as blooming flowers. She then bought some pork ribs, planning to steam them, and a fish to make sweet and sour fish.
Two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes seemed a bit much for her alone, so she decided to invite Mr. Liang over for dinner as a thank-you for looking after her. Having bought all the necessary ingredients, she added rice to her order.
Upon receiving the ingredients, Gan Lan got to work. She washed the rice and set it to cook.
She thoroughly cleaned the ribs and applied a transparent blood-absorbing patch to quickly extract the residual blood. Mincing the ginger and garlic, she let the prepped ribs dry before placing them into a clean container. She added the minced ginger and garlic, along with appropriate amounts of cooking wine, dark soy sauce, regular soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken bouillon, and starch. After mixing everything evenly by hand, she set it aside to marinate for about half an hour.
Next, she scored the cleaned fish, rubbed an even layer of cooking wine, salt, and pepper inside and out, and let it marinate for a while. Having grown accustomed to robots helping wash vegetables and prep ingredients, she found doing it all by herself a bit tedious now, but it couldn’t be helped. She then washed the Green Tung Egg and Ice Ice Vegetable, setting them aside.
She plated the marinated ribs, placed them into the steamer, covered the lid, and let them steam for about half an hour. Mixing dry starch into a paste, she coated the marinated fish evenly.
She poured a generous amount of oil into the wok. Once the oil reached medium-high heat, she held the fish by its tail and used a ladle to pour the hot oil over its body to set its shape. She then slid the fish into the wok, periodically ladling hot oil over it and flipping it until the skin fried to a crisp.
Removing the fried fish, she plated it and left a little base oil in the wok to sauté the minced scallions, ginger, and garlic until fragrant, followed by a dollop of ketchup which she stir-fried. She added the right amount of water, salt, pepper, sugar, mature vinegar, and MSG into the wok. Bringing it to a boil over high heat, she drizzled in some starch slurry and oil. Once the sauce became bright and thick, she poured it directly over the fried fish. A bright red, translucent sweet and sour fish was complete.
The aroma of the steamed ribs also began to permeate the air.
Gan Lan planned to turn the Green Tung Egg into a Green Tung Egg Drop Soup and make a cold salad with the Ice Ice Vegetable. She kept the little green flowers of the Green Tung Egg intact while chopping its leaves and stems into sections. Then, she cracked two eggs and whisked them evenly.
Slicing the ginger into small pieces, she heated oil in a pan and quickly stir-fried the Green Tung Egg until it softened. She poured boiling water into the pot, added salt and the ginger slices, and then stirred in the egg mixture. Once it boiled, she ladled it directly into a soup bowl. A beautiful bowl of Green Tung Egg Drop Soup was ready!
The cold-tossed Ice Ice Vegetable was even easier to make. She snapped the washed Ice Ice Vegetable into sections, added the right amount of soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, and minced garlic, mixed it well, and transferred it to a serving plate.
While washing the Ice Ice Vegetable earlier, Gan Lan had tasted a piece. It tasted similar to the ice plant from her past life, bearing a slight saltiness. It was just much prettier than an ice plant because it was shaped like a flower bud. The outside looked as if it were coated in a layer of ice, resembling frost flowers. Its color was green with a hint of blue, and encased in its outer icy shell, it looked exceptionally beautiful.
By the time she finished all this, the ribs were also done steaming.
Gan Lan called Mr. Liang on her communicator. "Mr. Liang, I made some food to thank you for taking care of me these past two days. Do you have time?"
"I was just waiting for your call! I knew you’d cook the moment we settled in. After eating so much of your food, whatever anyone else makes always feels like it’s missing something. I’ll be right over," Mr. Liang’s cheerful voice came through the communicator.
Gan Lan voiced her agreement. She had originally wanted to invite the dean as well, but she had overheard on the spaceship that he had other arrangements upon arriving at Banan Star, so she had decided against it.
"Smells amazing!" The moment Mr. Liang walked through the door, his eyes darted straight to the dining table.
Gan Lan served Mr. Liang a bowl of rice and smiled at his remark. "I just whipped up a few things, so there isn’t much variety. Please make do with it, Mr. Liang."
Gan Lan also served herself a bowl of rice and sat down. She liked drizzling the sweet and sour fish sauce over her rice. The white rice coated in the tangy and sweet broth was exceptionally delicious.
Liang Cong picked up a piece of the sweet and sour fish with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth. The sweet and tangy sauce coated the fish; the skin was slightly crispy while the meat was tender. The flavor was truly captivating.
"What is this called? I didn’t know fish could be cooked like this. It’s really delicious!" Liang Cong gave Gan Lan a thumbs-up and praised.
"Sweet and sour fish," Gan Lan replied.
Liang Cong nodded. He then picked up a piece of rib and put the whole thing in his mouth. The meat on the rib was incredibly tender, and even the broth was extraordinarily savory.
"The method for making these ribs must be quite simple. I can basically guess what seasonings were used. But preparing them like this is surprisingly delicious." Liang Cong spit out the bone, somewhat pleasantly surprised. He made a mental note to try this recipe when he got back.
Gan Lan ran through all the ingredients and seasonings she had used with Mr. Liang, recounting the cooking method as well. She even planned to get up and show him the video she had recorded while cooking.
"Let’s eat first. Also, don’t casually share recipes that haven’t been patented. Otherwise, the moment you bring them out, they might not be yours anymore within a matter of minutes," Liang Cong reminded her. He naturally knew that Gan Lan trusted him, which was why she was ready to fetch it for him to see.
"I understand, Mr. Liang. I’ll be more careful in the future." Gan Lan nodded. Taking a sip of the soup, her whole heart warmed up.
She was truly lucky to have been able to come to this school and meet so many wonderful teachers and friends.