Food Stall: Customers Chase Me across the Country-Chapter 257 - 258: Replica—Sauced Crispy Rice Ball That Spins!
A little past 5 PM, Zhuo Qianqian led Li Jing and a few others to the second science cafeteria. After entering a small private room, Wang Fan started serving dish after dish, filling the table in just ten minutes.
Li Jing and the others looked at the dishes on the table, their eyes widening in disbelief.
"Goodness, I just have to say, wow! Is our brother-in-law really this capable? Did he make all these himself?"
"Impressive, it’s such a lavish spread. We’re definitely going to feast tonight!"
"Are all of these hearty dishes? Can we even finish them?"
Wang Fan made quite a variety of dishes, with portions totally inspired by those in the Northeast.
In the Northeast, if you say the owner’s cooking skills are lacking, the owner might just smile indifferently, perhaps even retorting that if you don’t like it, don’t eat it. But if you say their portion sizes are lacking and you didn’t get full, that owner might have to run out of the Northeast overnight carrying a trainload.
Each plate is bigger than a basketball, piled high with food, fearing they wouldn’t have enough to eat.
Jiang Chenchen stared at a plate of braised pork, her eyes almost turning into the shape of the pork.
It’s not that the school and nearby places don’t sell it, but the appearance and taste are disappointingly unpalatable, far from what one imagines.
But the plate in front of her perfectly aligns with her expectations.
The square pieces of pork stacked, their color bright red, glistening and translucent, wisps of white smoke rising, bringing out an enticing aroma.
Each piece is cooked to perfection, presenting a vibrant red, the surface coated with a thin layer of caramel, glossy and tempting. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
The pork is interspersed with fat and lean parts, showing clear textures; the fatty portion is semi-transparent, shimmering with oils; the lean part is red, tender, and neat, looking thoroughly appetizing.
"Wow, Qianqian, brother-in-law’s braised pork is just phenomenal. I could eat this whole plate myself, none of you better fight me for it!"
Jiang Chenchen was almost ready to dive across the table and scoop the braised pork into her arms.
Li Jing looked at her crispy rice with a tiny bit of disappointment but felt it wasn’t right to say anything.
It’s mainly because this dish is called ’rice with sauce,’ but where’s the sauce for this crispy rice? You can’t just pull some from fried buns, can you?
Hmm? Maybe that’s not impossible, huh?
Zhuo Qianqian chuckled at Li Jing: "Jing looks like she’s disappointed, thinks the crispy rice is not what she imagined it would be, huh?"
Li Jing hurriedly denied it: "No way, can’t say that without reason, look at this crispy rice, fried perfectly crisp on the outside and tender inside, absolutely delicious, none of you better steal it from me."
Zhuo Qianqian exposed her: "Stop being stubborn, we all know you well. But you’re disappointed a bit too early this time; wait a little longer, and you’ll witness the magic."
"Hmm?"
Li Jing was momentarily puzzled and looked again at the crispy rice.
The golden crispy rice was indeed aesthetically pleasing, forming a ball shape which made one curious about how it was fried so round.
But where’s the sauce?
Jiang Chenchen, quick to realize, said incredulously: "You’re not telling me the sauce is inside this ball, are you? Playing Chinese Little Masterchef on me?"
Li Jing caught on too, the shape of this crispy rice ball did resemble one from Little Masterchef.
"But isn’t that something only in anime? Can it be made in reality?"
Zhang Ya found it hard to believe too: "Yeah, this shouldn’t be something you can make with just technique, right? Many techniques can’t accomplish it."
Zhuo Qianqian looked at her three skeptical roommates without explaining, just boasted: "Get ready; you’re about to witness a miracle."
As if in response to her words, hardly had she finished speaking when a clear "crack" sound reached everyone’s ears.
"What the heck?"
"Mother of mine?"
"Oh my god?"
The three looked in shock towards the source of the sound, the quietly sitting crispy rice ball.
"Crack..."
Another clear cracking sound came, and it was noticeable that a crack had opened at the top of the crispy rice ball.
"Crack" "Crack"
Increasingly frequent sounds were heard, and the crack on the crispy rice ball grew wider, accompanied by a rich fragrance wafting out.
Then pure white mist rose from the crispy rice ball, and shortly after—the crispy rice ball started to spin on the plate!
"What the heck?!!"
"Oh my god?!!"
"Oh my creator god?!!"
Li Jing, Zhang Ya, Jiang Chenchen, and even Zhuo Qianqian stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the slowly spinning crispy rice ball.
Though it wasn’t spinning as exaggeratedly fast as in anime, it was genuinely spinning!
"Is brother-in-law pretending to be cooking while performing magic?"
"So terrifying, it’s terrifying!"
The crispy rice ball spun a few more times, and when the escaping steam became less intense, it stopped, followed by a "crack" sound, splitting the crispy rice into two halves. Inside, the sauce quickly soaked into the crispy rice, causing it to further crumble into smaller pieces.
The rolling sauce, upon touching the crispy rice, constantly produced sizzling sounds, making everyone’s mouth water.
The pink shrimp curled, translucent and gleaming, exuding a faint ocean aroma; the wood ears, like black gems embedded within, added steadiness and texture.
Calamari rolls, full of flesh, coated with rich sauce, brought a touch of impulsive emotion.
The green peas, like jade green gems, scattered among them, emitted a fresh field fragrance.
Moreover, other ingredients also boasted their colors, enhancing the dish’s rich sense of layer. The vibrant dish was visually delightful, just the appearance had people exclaiming as if witnessing a rarity of life.
Jiang Chenchen praised enthusiastically: "I originally thought that whoever managed to win Qianqian was fortunate, but now I think Qianqian found herself a bargain!"
"+1."
"Agreed."
Contrary to being upset by her roommates’ remarks, Zhuo Qianqian seemed quite proud.
"You just keep envying, but envying is useless—boss doesn’t have any brothers or sisters, haha!"
"Alright, hurry and taste it. It won’t be as good if it gets cold."
Everyone’s chopsticks simultaneously reached for the crispy rice, even Jiang Chenchen who initially wanted the braised pork.
After all, the ball-shaped crispy rice had utterly captivated them.
Jiang Chenchen picked up a piece drenched in sauce, appearing tender and glossy.
Li Jing grabbed a shrimp, with a little green pea nestled on it, its steamy appearance was simply mouthwatering.
Zhuo Qianqian and Zhang Ya each picked up a calamari roll still dripping sauce, from the thick sauce it was clear, this little calamari roll must be bursting with flavor.
The four exchanged a look, saying in unison: "Let’s devour!"
