Chapter 522: Chapter 417: So Delicious! So Delicious! So Delicious! (Part 2)

Chen Mo watched the water in the pot boil vigorously and retrieved the dough that had been refrigerated for a moment from the cabinet.

When he had kneaded the dough, Chen Mo shaped it into a long cylindrical form, roughly twenty centimeters long, and placed it on a rectangular wooden board.

He then placed the board carrying the dough onto his left arm, held his arm straight, and stood tall and upright.

Granny Chen noticed this, and her eyes showed some surprise, "When I lived in Fujian as a child, I heard about Jingzhou’s knife-cut noodles, but such noodles are rarely seen in the south."

Chen Mo thought to himself, not only rarely seen, but this dish had barely left Jingzhou. Even if some businesses went to other regions, they often made it quite carelessly.

For the same bowl of noodles, if made carelessly, Jingzhou people wouldn’t accept it. They wouldn’t return after trying it once.

But outsiders, they don’t know... they are clueless about the standard for good or bad noodles.

But what I’m making today isn’t knife-cut noodles.

Chen Mo fetched a tool with a plastic handle and a metal head from the cabinet and, seeing the water boiling strongly, took a small step back.

He then placed the tool at the top of the dough on his left arm and sliced down along the dough!

The metal hook of the tool easily drew long noodles from the dough, falling precisely like a silver dragon into the pot of boiling water.

As the hook slid down, resisting the dough, he pulled back, then continued slicing downward.

Repeating this action, Chen Mo’s movement became faster and soon the noodles fell into the pot almost simultaneously, culminating in less than a minute with a thin layer left on the dough.

Chen Mo took down the board and kneaded the remaining dough into a small ball, which couldn’t be hooked further.

The noodles churned vigorously in boiling water, leaving Granny Chen dumbfounded. Mainly, Chen Mo’s swift movements were indeed impressive, as from a distance, it didn’t even seem like hooking noodles, but playing the violin!

Hooked noodle’s cooking time was fast, yet Chen Mo quickly prepared a few tea eggs with cola within about three minutes while the noodles boiled.

"Prepared like this, the eggs won’t absorb enough flavor," Granny Chen pointed out.

"It’s alright, you’ll taste it soon enough."

Confidently, Chen Mo peeled the eggs and began to scoop the noodles.

The difference between hooked noodles and oily noodles is that hooked noodles are served directly into the bowl without needing to be chilled in cold water. For the noodle soup, Chen Mo directly used the water used for boiling noodles instead of other broths.

Granny Chen watched these actions with a hint of surprise.

Because water boiled with noodles becomes less clear, taking on a slightly white hue—a state that deepens with the amount and duration of noodles boiled.

Drinking it straight carries a strong flour taste.

This was at odds with her previous noodle-making approaches.

Chen Mo arranged three bowls of hooked noodles, ladling the noodle soup accordingly, then added diced pork shoulder from a small pot on the induction cooker.

Along with the meat came some broth infused with Japanese dashi, taking on a sauce color after soaking with the diced meat over time.

Next, he placed a stalk of Chinese cabbage into each bowl and cut open the tea eggs to arrange them inside.

Granny Chen now looked at the tea eggs with distinctively different expressions.

Surprisingly, when cut open, the tea eggs revealed sauce-colored patterns, indicating that the broth had completely permeated them during cooking.

And finally.

Chen Mo added a bunch of cilantro to each bowl, "Want to try it?"

Surely these noodles wouldn’t taste bad, that’s for certain.

Especially since, even in Jingzhou, ordinary hooked noodles combined with braised meat have already tasted quite good.

Chen Mo had innovatively merged various flavors into these noodles, mostly in invisible ways.

For instance, while kneading the dough, he used Lu Cuisine’s clear soup instead of plain water.

Another example is the diced pork which was first stewed tender, then stir-fried with scallions, ginger, and garlic, and finally soaked in Japanese dashi.

Thus, Chen Mo wasn’t entirely sure how the noodles would taste.

"Shall we eat indoors?"

"Alright."

The three carried steaming hot noodles back to Chen’s and gathered around the doorway’s dining table. Chen Mo couldn’t wait any longer and began stirring the noodles enthusiastically.

The aroma hidden in the noodles seemed to burst forth as he stirred, with the drenching meat scent and noodle aromas rushing to his nose, making even Chen Mo, who had just eaten a bowl of dandan noodles, drool.

Chen Kexin across from him just picked up the noodles with her chopsticks and let out an annoyed "Huh."

The noodles slipped down from the chopstick tips as if oiled, splashing a few drops of amber noodle soup in the bowl.

She stubbornly tried again, finally managing to lift a noodle, "Why is it so slippery, just like rice noodles."

"These noodles..." Granny Chen’s chopsticks were suspended mid-air.

She observed the noodles carefully, noting their color was not white but slightly yellowish, exuding a rich wheat aroma mixed with a seafood-like sweet freshness, sucking the noodles into her mouth.

"Ah..."

Granny chewed slowly, and as her teeth sank into the noodles, the expected tenderness did not appear. Instead, it felt like sinking into a mire, every bite inducing immersion, the teeth parting with a "pop" feeling upon release.

Interestingly, the seafood flavor was discernible from the first bite, likely the effect of the Japanese dashi contributing some of its sweetness.

As she chewed, the clear soup flavor within the noodle core gradually released. Only then did Granny Chen realize the noodle’s allure—increasingly aromatic with each chew!

Chen Kexin’s chopstick posture was visibly awkward. Eating other foods posed no issue, yet today’s noodles seemed to challenge her.

As she lifted them, the noodles slipped away like loaches between the chopsticks, splashing soup on her clothes several times. Frustrated, Chen Kexin bent down, bringing her mouth to the large bowl edge, and began shoveling noodles directly into her mouth.

There, she achieved success.

Noodles, diced meat, soup, and cilantro all landed in her mouth, as Chen Kexin seemingly flipped a whimsical switch.

The diced meat compressed beneath the tongue transforms into a meat paste, with fatty parts long cooked into gelatinous consistency, bonding the Japanese dashi’s sweet flavor and the braised broth’s salty aroma stickily to the tongue’s root. The noodle soup, mixed with wheat, meat, and seafood aroma, rushes smoothly over taste buds into the belly.

As she bit into the remaining noodles, she encountered an alt of differing texture that tasted even better with each bite.

"How’s it better than Granny’s dandan noodles..."

Chen Mo was quite satisfied with the bowl of noodles, and the best way to enjoy it was to stuff his mouth full and chew heartily.

Oh, wait!

Chen Mo had eaten half of the noodles before he realized he forgot to peel garlic.

Eating noodles without garlic diminishes the flavor significantly.

Hastily, he stood to retrieve three cloves of garlic from the trolley, returning to divide them among the other two.

Granny Chen and Chen Kexin glanced at the garlic and ignored it, not accustomed to eating garlic with their noodles. Furthermore, with Chen Kexin heading to work that morning, reeking of garlic wouldn’t be appropriate.

As for the tea eggs, Granny Chen and Chen Kexin ate half, immediately wanting to eat the other half.

This item needed no further explanation; it had garnered tremendous market feedback even back in Dongyang.

Though slightly cumbersome to prepare, if setting up a noodle stall, Chen Mo felt he might not use this type of tea egg.

While braising meat, placing boiled peeled eggs into the sauce to soak seemed more convenient.

Granny Chen cleaned her bowl thoroughly, finally swallowing the remaining meat bits with the soup.

The soup slid down her throat into her stomach, leaving many meat bits behind.

Slowly chewing, savoring.

"One must have diced meat, to feel the taste of eating meat."

Compared to the minced meat she usually made, diced meat distinctly stepped up a notch.

Moreover, what piqued Granny’s curiosity.

How could ordinary diced pork shoulder deliver such diversified flavors?

Only now did Granny Chen gaze at Chen Mo with a subtly altered expression.

Clearly, this young man’s claims about setting up a stall weren’t just fooling around!