novelslam Chapter 439 - 351: Rotating Attempts, Pumpkin Blossom Tempura
Chapter 439 - 351: Rotating Attempts, Pumpkin Blossom Tempura
Lin Chen and Lucas stopped eating, curiously scanning the faces of the four, observing their slight expressions change.
Nagishiro Sho seemed the most normal. Being Asian, he naturally had a stronger acceptance ability than Westerners. After chewing a few times, he even proactively reached out with his chopsticks to pick up a second piece.
The remaining three did not have his strong mental resilience and adaptability, their expressions grimacing, shaking their heads, occasionally shivering, looking as if they could vomit at any moment.
Even Magna, who could eat fish heads, seemingly couldn’t accept the darkness of pig brains, chewed twice and stopped, dazed, sneaking glances at the people around him.
"How is it, chef, how does it taste?"
Lin Chen once again grabbed a large piece of pig brain coated in red oil and stuffed it into his mouth, taking a few bites of fried rice, looking at Raphael with interest.
"......"
Raphael wore a difficult expression, covering his mouth as he shook his head, swallowing hard several times but unable to get it down, finally having to spit it onto the grass.
"Sorry, I really can’t accept this weird texture, along with the psychological implications and images in my brain, it’s simply too frightening."
"Putting aside these personal factors, the taste alone is actually quite okay, there’s no peculiar smell, your seasoning is really good, it tastes like spicy tofu pork."
"Unfortunately, I don’t think this brain ingredient will be accepted by diners, maybe only you Orientals can eat it."
"See!"
Lucas had already moved the entire pot of milk in front of him, fishing out the shattered brains, his chest confidently puffed upon hearing the evaluation.
"I surely must be a misplaced Great Xia person!"
"...Freak."
John and Magna also stopped pretending, spitting out the pig brain from their mouths, feeling much more relaxed.
"I thought the taste would be similar since it’s also brains; apparently, fish brains are still tastier. Really, try it, they’re just like jelly."
Magna honestly continued his conquest of the fish head in the bowl, still recommending to everyone.
Perhaps because everyone failed, John and Raphael believed the credibility of his words, immediately shifting their focus to the fish hotpot.
But upon seeing the cooked-to-white eyeballs on the fish head, the two were at a loss as to how to start.
"Just don’t look, like me, scoop it into the bowl first, then take apart the bones bit by bit, eat where there’s meat, discard where there’s none."
"This semi-transparent part is the essence, super delicious, really believe me, eating it will definitely get you hooked!"
Under Magna’s enthusiastic recommendation, Raphael and John soon tasted the delicacy of fish head.
Not sure if the shadow of pig brains was too deep for them, now they found the fish head incredibly delicious, especially the orange-red and aromatic perilla fish soup which was so great with rice.
The stir-fried rice was distinct, with a hint of green onion and egg aroma, scooping a spoonful of aromatic slightly spicy fish soup onto the rice, adding fish roe and fish bubbles, that was satisfying.
The two nodded repeatedly, their eyes shimmering with dazzling brilliance.
"Delicious, this fish soup is really incredibly delicious, didn’t expect your Great Xia fish soup to be made like this."
"I think using this soup for pasta sauce would be quite nice, or make it like a modified version of Marseille Fish Soup, paired with grilled or boiled fish fillet, it would surely be popular!"
Compared to the spicy and flavorful fish hotpot, the braised platter seemed less prominent, focusing mainly on the original flavor of the ingredients with a slight braised aroma.
The soy sauce and vinegar paired with millet spicy and garlic chive dip made Raphael’s eyes light up.
"Unexpectedly, beef shank can achieve this texture, impressive, no wonder it requires refrigeration and cooling, it’s completely different from when it’s hot."
"This part seems suitable as an appetizer, paired with other ingredients, perhaps some mushrooms or vinegar jelly would be great."
Constantly nodding while he couldn’t help but pinch a few more slices.
The unique and rich beef fragrance of braised beef shank lingered in the mouth for long, the semi-transparent tendons in the texture gave the beef a distinctly chewy yet resilient feeling, different from pure beef.
Previously when stewing, it was either too soft to have a beef texture or too hard to chew, never finding a perfect balance.
It was not until now that he realized he simply lacked the refrigeration step.
Once the meal was over.
The time was already past one in the afternoon.
Lin Chen and the two head chefs with John set out again.
This time, they did not go to the morning-visited orchards and planting areas, but to another breeding area.
The three each had their own goals, discussing different cooking methods of the same ingredient during the stroll, drawing on Lin Chen’s culinary culture of Great Xia, resulting in mutual benefits.
Lin Chen’s main reason for visiting was to see the farm firsthand and check if there were any ingredients overlooked by John.
The flowers and leaves he picked in the morning hadn’t been cooked yet, and he planned to digest everything after the farm tour before returning to the hotel for a leisurely demonstration for the two.
He was even considering whether it was necessary to do it personally, maybe just verbally explaining, letting them handle it.
Everyone here is a chef, right? Whatever should be known is known.
Still, it’s necessary to slack off when one can.
After all, he still needs to welcome dinner guests.
Thinking of this, he suddenly realized that there were two newcomers on his team still over at the restaurant.
He’s completely in the dark about how breakfast and lunch service went today.
Logically speaking, shouldn’t there be some kind of review meeting or something?
Glancing at Raphael beside him, he remembered his own experience of figuring things out by himself and decided against asking.
This guy isn’t very reliable either.
Great Xia People should adhere to their own professional methods, it’s more fitting.
A bit past three.
When Lin Chen drove the catering truck back to the restaurant, following behind him were Raphael’s vehicle and a small farm bus.
Dais Elsa and Lucas hitched a ride with Raphael, while Nagishiro Sho returned on the bus.
Apart from some returning tourists, the bus also had two pairs of guests who had reserved dinner.
These two pairs of guests were encountered in the afternoon while wandering around the pond and stream area. At that time, they were fretting over what ingredients to bring back for dinner.
Seeing the head chef team making rounds, they immediately consulted them on their thoughts.
Taking advantage of the fact that they were already there, Raphael and Nagishiro Sho were persuaded by Lin Chen into being marketing tools, and before they knew what was happening, each of the three ended up providing a dish suggestion and personally preparing it for the guests.
For such a delightful surprise that fell from the sky, the guests certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to refuse.
"No, Lin, why do I feel something’s off?"
Raphael got off the car and quickly approached Lin Chen.
"I clearly came here for a vacation, and this is your kitchen, so why am I making food?"
"Tuition fees?"
"Tuition fees for what? You’ve worked under me for five years, and I’ve never asked you for fees, but now..."
"Oh? Chef, did you ever personally demonstrate and teach step-by-step like I do?"
"Surely, I have, right? Haven’t I? Emmmm I can’t remember, you know my memory isn’t so good sometimes given my age, haha."
"Playing dumb won’t work, chef. Learn from Mr. Nagishiro, he knows how to seize every opportunity. Isn’t it good to have one more chance to promote the restaurant for you?"
"Seems like that makes some sense?"
Raphael scratched his head and inexplicably found himself convinced once again.
"Strange, was Lin always this articulate? I have no memory of that whatsoever."
"Could he really be a natural talent in this line of work?"
Entering the restaurant.
Old Chen and Xiao Jiang were taking a nap on lounge chairs next to the sand area entrance, snoring loudly with faces full of fatigue, clearly exhausted.
Lin Chen had no intention of disturbing them, given that it was their rest time.
He headed directly to the kitchen, casually tossing the ingredients he was carrying onto the metal counter.
"Guys, the reservation times for the guests’ dinners are six o’clock and seven o’clock. There are over two hours left. Do you want to prepare now, or should we start processing these things first?"
Besides the two pairs of guests from the farm, there was also a couple from Ocean Fishery who sent a reservation message via the backend app.
"There’s nothing to prepare. The purpose of this system is to cook in front of guests. Preparing in advance is cheating and can’t offer guests the perfect dining experience."
"Indeed, making a finished dish from scratch in the shortest time is the best test of a chef’s basic skills. I haven’t tried this challenge in a long time, let’s all cook together and see whose dish is faster and better."
Even though Nagishiro Sho had seen Lin Chen cook many times, he showed no signs of fear, and even had a burning determination in his eyes.
"Alright, then let’s handle these things first."
Lin Chen was naturally unfazed, since cooking dinner was part of his daily routine, it wasn’t anything to get nervous about.
Besides, the two pairs of guests’ requirements were already well known from the farm, allowing him to plan dishes mentally ahead of time. It wasn’t challenging at all.
The truly challenging part was the unknown visitors from Ocean Fishery, whose caught ingredients and preferences were unclear.
That was the true test of culinary skill.
The three of them poured all sorts of vegetables from the bags into the sink, washing them clean and arranging them by type for easy identification.
"Tempura and cold salads are Mr. Nagishiro’s specialty dishes. I’ll leave the pumpkin flowers and cucumber flowers to you. Try your tempura method first, alright?"