I See through Everything

What is vanillin?

Vanillin can be either synthetic or natural. It was originally a natural flavoring extracted from vanilla beans.

The vanilla ice cream we often eat was originally made with vanilla beans, but later, synthetic vanillin was used as a substitute.

However, natural vanilla beans are still a crucial ingredient in high-end desserts because their flavor profile is incredibly complex and cannot be replicated by simple vanillin.

When Jiang Miao was cultivating vanilla strawberries, he specifically selected varieties that contained vanillin components, which is how the vanilla strawberry came to be.

However, he never expected the variety to mutate into this type of strawberry.

The flavor compounds of the strawberry plant before him had a 96% overlap with those of vanilla beans, and the concentration was about 3.7 times higher.

This also caused the strawberry’s aroma to be overpowering, to the point that it seemed to have a rotten smell.

Jiang Miao placed this strawberry plant in a special cultivation area and plucked the three ripe strawberries from it.

He took the strawberries to the lab, where he used a freeze-drying machine to dehydrate them before grinding them into a powder.

He took a small amount of the powder and added it to a tub of plain ice cream base he had prepared earlier. After thorough mixing, the "stinky strawberry" powder was completely incorporated into the ice cream.

Jiang Miao scooped up a spoonful, put it in his mouth, and savored it carefully.

A strong vanilla flavor spread across his tongue, followed by a faint strawberry aftertaste.

He compared the flavors of the three ice creams: one made with regular synthetic vanillin, one with natural vanilla beans, and his "stinky strawberry" creation. The flavor of the strawberry version was 90% similar to that of the natural vanilla bean ice cream. The remaining 10% discrepancy, he realized, was due to the hint of strawberry flavor.

「At lunchtime.」

Jiang Miao wheeled a cart with three large tubs of ice cream into the cafeteria.

He clapped his hands. "Come on, everyone, have a taste."

"Ice cream?" Shuya was puzzled. "What are you doing with ice cream?"

As he scooped three balls of ice cream for Shuya, Jiang Miao explained, "These are three types of ice cream made with different flavorings. After you taste them, I want you all to write down your specific feedback, especially about the flavor."

"Oh, I see! Okay." Shuya took the container and a feedback form.

The others also came over to get their ice cream and feedback forms.

Shuya took a bite. "Isn’t this just regular vanilla ice cream?"

After rinsing her mouth with mineral water, she tried another scoop. "Huh? This number two ice cream has a much stronger vanilla flavor, and it’s richer, too."

"Sister Ya, this number two must be made with natural vanilla. I’ve had Haagen-Dazs’s vanilla ice cream before, and the taste is very similar—intense yet smooth, with a rich complexity," Li Wenna said as she used her spoon to cut into the third scoop of ice cream.

"I see." Shuya didn’t usually eat much ice cream, so she didn’t know much about the nuances of vanilla.

"Huh? This number three tastes almost the same as number two!" Li Wenna closed her eyes to focus on the flavor. As the aftertaste emerged, she detected a faint hint of strawberry. "Is this made with natural vanilla and strawberries together?"

Shuya had the same experience as Li Wenna. She first tasted a vanilla flavor similar to the second ice cream, but then a faint strawberry note emerged in the aftertaste.

If it weren’t for that hint of strawberry, she would have thought that the number three and number two ice creams were the exact same natural vanilla ice cream.

As the others gradually finished their tasting, Jiang Miao smiled and asked, "Which of the three ice creams do you think tastes the best?"

"Number two."

"I’d say number three! The flavor is more complex."

"I think number three, too."

"Number one. There are no other distracting flavors."

"Number two is better. I don’t really like the strawberry aftertaste in number three. It makes it hard to tell if it’s vanilla or strawberry ice cream."

"I like the rich complexity of number three."

Jiang Haibo smiled and asked, "Boss, is number three related to a new company product?"

Jiang Miao nodded. "A few months ago, I discovered a mutated ’stinky strawberry.’ After a second round of breeding, I selected this particular plant. Its flavor is 90% similar to natural vanilla. The number three ice cream you just ate was made by substituting the ’stinky strawberry’ powder for natural vanilla."

"This was made from strawberry powder?" Shuya was surprised.

Qin Hanming from the Market Research Department immediately thought about development potential. "If that’s the case, maybe we should consider cultivating this strawberry as a substitute for vanilla beans. There could be a huge market for it."

"Could you breed another variety that removes the strawberry flavor? Then it could truly imitate natural vanilla beans," Jiang Haibo suggested.

Jiang Miao shook his head. "I’m afraid that would be difficult. After all, that’s the inherent flavor of a strawberry. However, we could use this strawberry powder as a unique signature, to differentiate its vanilla flavor from that of actual vanilla beans."

Qin Hanming, who was already looking up related information on his phone, said while reading, "Currently, the world’s largest producer of natural vanilla beans is Madagascar, with an annual output of around 1,200 to 3,500 tons. As for price, it varies by origin. The most expensive comes from the Gaul region, at around 220,000 dollars per ton, while the cheapest is from Java in Southeast Asia, at 40,000 dollars per ton."

"That’s a pretty low output! And the price is way too high, isn’t it?" Jiang Haibo mused, thinking about the market situation.