Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 474 386: Surpassing Imagination—Handmade Liangpi

Taking a bite, the soft yet chewy rice grains blend with the crispy hard crust. With every chew, the rich rice aroma and the special flavors of cured meats and sausages unfold.

Raphael still had the sweet and sour pot-roast in his mouth, yet eagerly grabbed two generous servings of the aromatic cured meat clay pot rice, not caring at all about rinsing his mouth.

The mere existence of iced cola was solely for joy.

From the head chef's perspective, he knew this behavior was irresponsible. Each dish has its own unique flavor, and one must taste them individually to fully experience all the nuances.

But the magic of Chinese cuisine is here, urging you to mix various dishes and staple foods to eat, and the more you eat, the more appetizing it becomes.

Especially after so many bombards of side dishes before, yet without any rice to pair with, nearly suffocating everyone.

Plus, the super appetizing sweet and sour taste of pot-roast meat made even a chef of his caliber unable to resist, automatically grabbing a bite the instant he smelled the rice aroma.

With these two or three chopsticks full of clay pot rice, the situation became even more uncontrollable.

"Delicious! Damn, how can this rice taste so good??"

"It feels somewhat like the method of cooking seafood rice, but with sausage and cured meat, equivalent to the land version."

"But this sausage… the taste is so peculiar!"

"The overall taste is sweet, the presence of fatty meat is quite noticeable but not greasy, plus a faint aroma of wine can be tasted."

He was already completely unbothered by the non-greasy feature of fatty meat in Great Xia Cuisine.

Those in the sausage aren't much, the Dongpo pork and braised pork eaten before were the real classic examples.

Although both overall flavors were quite similar, noticeable differences could still be tasted, and they each had unique appearances.

Initially, at the sight of the few obvious fat layers on the surface of both, he worried if eating fatty meat in big bites would cause nausea.

The result was no such thing, almost not even tasting the fatty meat, instead they felt like a layer of sauce with rich meat aroma.

With just a gentle press from the tongue, the fatty meat melted instantly, without any of the imagined nausea or greasy feeling.

The seasoning sauce also carried a faint aroma of wine, primarily salty-sweet, perfectly covering that little bit of grease.

The only flaw was that there was no rice to pair at that time.

According to Lucas, if a spoonful of meat juice could be mixed into rice and then a piece of braised pork stuffed into the mouth, they would experience what's called heavenly bliss.

So with this premise, a curious seed was planted in everyone's hearts.

Seeing the fragrant clay pot rice now, none could be restrained, all picking up small bowls and burying their heads in rice.

Especially those just getting pot-roast meat, only taking a bite before fragrant bowls of rice dishes arrived, hitting themselves directly on the loaded gun. They simply picked up to pair and eat, enjoying the transformation of sour, sweet, salty, fresh, soft, and crunchy flavors ceaselessly in the mouth.

"Ah~ done for, how can Great Xia food taste so good, it feels like I'm addicted, the more I eat the less I can stop."

"I feel the same way, going back to eat ordinary fast food, I doubt I can swallow now."

"Why don't those Chinese restaurants make such delicious things? Looking at the process, it doesn't seem hard."

"Could it be our tastes are quite international, so we can accept these flavors while others cannot?"

"International, my ass. Before Lin came over, I almost never ate Chinese food, just fried rice and pineapple meat at most."

"Same here! Before Lin came, I once thought sushi and curry were Asia's most popular foods."

"I'm different. I used to love going to Chinatown to find restaurants with lots of locals, then go in to see what dishes they order, following suit. Only this way can one taste real Great Xia Cuisine."

"Exactly, I've heard those restaurants' foreign menus are traps designed to deal with foreign guests, only Chinese menus are real."

Lin Chen continued hustling around the stove, occasionally glancing across the room. Seeing everyone eating so happily, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pride.

Among the twenty people present, except for several Great Xia People, the rest were real foreigners.

Gradually, through about a month's subtle influence, he finally nurtured them into having a Great Xia stomach.

Now, no matter what food he made, their first reaction was to taste it first.

The look and taste feel completely different, truly a unique culture of Great Xia Cuisine.

Previously, if he presented a dish of Dongpo pork, not many would touch it.

That thing looks like a large piece of fatty meat, which foreigners usually won't choose voluntarily after going back.

But now…

He glanced sideways at the nearby table, the basin was spotless clean, the juices inside scraped away by somebody, not a trace of oil seen.

Not that one, wasn't he supposed to save him a piece??

Oh wait, Lucas's table still has display plating for photos.

"Phew… Survived, almost thought I'd be starving after all this work, that would be too much."

With empty bowls and basins piling up on the table, Dais couldn't resist anymore. She took the initiative to pull over a cart and load the bowls and basins.

Elsa, Lucinda, and Helena had good sense and came to help too. In just five or six seconds, they cleaned the table, pushing the cart towards the kitchen.

Su and Nicole were busy poaching rice, just digging a few bites, yet hadn't realized the tasks were swept clean by them over here.

The two awkwardly exchanged glances, somehow feeling a bit embarrassed.

"It's here, it's here, the liangpi is here!"

Just as Dais stepped into the back kitchen, Zhao Shun came out carrying a bowl briskly.

"Liangpi?!"

Lucas's eyes lit up, and he immediately picked up the bowl he had just put down.

"What is liangpi?"

The three chefs were in a similar state, having just polished off a bowl of clay pot rice. Before they could catch their breath, another bowl of new food was brought out.

They couldn't keep up with the eating, simply couldn't keep up!

Curiously, they peeked into the bowl and saw wide, semi-transparent noodles covered in sticky sauce, accompanied by carrots and cucumbers. It looked quite refreshing overall.

The noodles' color seemed a bit off, though, being semi-transparent like that.

Remembering the semi-transparent starch layer in the sweet and sour pork they just had, the three almost simultaneously guessed the answer.

"Noodles made from starch?"

"That's right!"

Lucas was thrilled, after playing the role of a food guide all evening for the three head chefs, he was at ease.

He even felt a sense of accomplishment from working tirelessly for so long.

"Though you can make it by mixing starch with water directly, the texture is different from liangpi made in the traditional way."

"The method of making liangpi..."

Just as he was about to explain, Zhao Shun raised his hand abruptly: "Wait a moment!"

"Hmm? What's up?"

"I specifically saved a piece of dough to demonstrate it to these foreigners on the spot, and besides, we'll also be grilling gluten later. Seeing it in action is more impressive than just explaining it."

"Ha?" Lucas chuckled, swallowing back the words he was about to say. "Then hurry up, I'm very impatient!"

At the thought of these foreigners being dumbfounded by the liangpi-making process, he couldn't contain his excitement and kept urging them on.

Zhao Shun felt similarly; otherwise, he wouldn't have saved a piece of dough for this purpose.

After putting down the liangpi, he turned and ran into the kitchen, returning with another bowl.

The three head chefs, unable to contain their curiosity, had already tasted two bites of the liangpi and were marveling at its slippery, chewy texture. Seeing him run out so eagerly with a boastful expression, they couldn't help but shake their heads in amusement.

Zhao Shun glanced at the three, tilted the bowl slightly to show them.

If only he could speak French, he'd be all for showing off.

"A simple dough ball."

Lucas aimed his camera at them, narrating automatically.

"A dough ball?"

The three showed signs of confusion.

Didn't they say the noodles were made from starch? Why was the raw material dough then?

Wouldn't that end up as regular noodles?

Something's not right, there must be a special secret in the production process!

Indeed.

Zhao Shun glanced at them, a smile at the corner of his mouth, and moved the bowl to the sink, turning on the faucet to let the cold water rinse the dough freely.

"?????"

The three head chefs were bewildered, as were John, Magna, and the waitresses drawn in by curiosity. Apart from the Great Xia people, everyone else wore a stumped expression.

In their understanding, the dough's water content was fixed and measured in advance based on what's being made. During the making process, contact with additional water was an absolute no-no.

So what on earth did they just witness?

Just soaking the dough in cold water??

"Oh, my God! Damn!"

Marchello instinctively grabbed his hair, feeling the urge to rush over and stop Zhao Shun.

As a seasoned head chef and baking master, wasting dough was something he couldn't stand!

But he knew clearly there must be a reason for doing this, so he had to suppress his impulse to see what other outrageous actions might follow.

Raphael wasn't any better off, though Nagishiro Sho seemed to have guessed something, displaying a hint of surprise.

Under the curious and puzzled gazes of everyone, Zhao Shun placed the bowl back on the table, grabbing the dough with both hands and kneading it vigorously in all directions.

The dough deformed rapidly under his kneading, as milky white liquid spread out around it.