Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 238 - 168: Even Casually Smashed Cucumbers Taste Amazing—Great Xia’s Chefs Are Like Magicians! (Part 2)

Upon hearing the shout, the two simultaneously stood up and walked over.

"Welcome."

"Good evening, two chefs. I'm very happy to meet you tonight, I've been looking forward to this all day!"

The man proactively extended his hand: "Edward, agent for Chanel Romantic Area, and this is my secretary." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He made no attempt to conceal his intentions, his other hand still wrapped around the woman's waist, as if declaring his sovereignty.

"Good evening, Mr. Edward. Should we start cooking now, or wait a bit?"

"Let's start now. I didn't even have lunch for this meal."

Neither of them brought any luggage or bags, they came empty-handed, opting not to find a seat, but instead leaning over the table, eager to watch the chefs' cooking process.

Lin Chen glanced at his watch, it was just past four, still quite early. The other two reserved guests wouldn't arrive until after five thirty, allowing plenty of time.

Jonathan immediately began preparing the appetizers: a starter made from scallop skirts, mushrooms, and fresh fruits, along with a salad using some vegetables picked by the two of them, paired with fresh squid rings and fruits.

Unlike the complexity of creating a vinaigrette on Jonathan's side, Lin Chen's steps appeared supremely simple.

The live abalones were cleaned of teeth and innards, cross-hatched on the surface, blanched in boiling water for three minutes, then soaked in ice water, removed and patted dry.

A total of six abalones were arranged in a circle on a small plate, lightly drizzled with a sauce made of a secret spicy oil and soy sauce, sprinkled with sesame seeds and scallions as garnish.

"Please enjoy the spicy cold marinated abalone."

The entire process took no more than five minutes, even the plating was extremely simple, yet it was still exquisite.

Especially the cross-hatched cuts on the abalone surface, which twisted and deformed after blanching, presenting a pattern of small grids similar to a chessboard, each grid precisely identical in size and shape, filled with bright red chili oil, making one's mouth uncontrollably water.

The two did not expect the dish to come out so quickly. They looked at the table a few meters away, thought about it, and decided to settle it right there, saving the trouble of walking back and forth.

The texture of the fresh abalone was immensely springy and tenacious, perfectly timed during blanching, requiring just a slight effort of the teeth to cut through the tender abalone meat.

That crispness mixed with a trace of toughness, tasted like a meaty king oyster mushroom, but without the silky tenderness of an actual king oyster mushroom.

The sauce appeared fiery red, but tasted moderate in spiciness, only gently trembling on the tip of the tongue.

After a few chews, the obvious salty and fresh flavors burst forth. Edward instantly tasted the freshness of soy sauce, but it was not simply soy sauce alone.

"Chef Lin is from Great Xia?"

He looked up in surprise, never expecting to encounter a chef from Great Xia in such a high-end hotel restaurant.

But recalling the fact that Radisson's executive was actually a Great Xia person, he quickly felt relieved and found it quite reasonable.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!"

The secretary, after tasting the abalone, widened her eyes, repeatedly exclaimed the same sentence, nodding her head while chewing, and even gave a thumbs up.

"Why is the abalone so delicious, it looks so simple, and the sauce is also delightful; it looks very spicy, but is actually not very spicy, rather refreshing, just making the lips slightly numb, so strange."

The chilled abalone, combined with the fragrant, spicy, numbing sauce, took only one bite to awaken the diners' taste buds.

Before they realized it, the six abalones on the plate had been devoured, leaving only a shallow pool of sauce at the bottom.

Edward licked the remaining red oil on his lips, reluctantly resting his fork.

"This is probably the best abalone appetizer I've ever tasted. This red sauce is also quite stunning. I wonder if it could be mixed with something, it seems wasteful to pour it away?"

"??"

The secretary raised her head in shock, never expecting to hear the word 'waste' from her boss's mouth.

Normally, when this guy had lunch, it was typical to throw away half of his sandwich; even at outside restaurants, he rarely finished his main course, often leaving pasta, and only completely consuming meat.

He was a typical carnivore, advocating the principle that money is meant to be enjoyed, and naturally, it should be spent comfortably.

But now, he was actually lamenting over a plate of leftover sauce, suggesting for the chef to mix something into it??

"I must be hearing things..."

Lin Chen didn't expect him to say something like this either, momentarily stunned, his gaze sweeping over the various ingredients on the countertop, locking onto a fresh cucumber.

"Jonathan! Do you need this cucumber?"

"Leave me a third for the salad!"

Glancing at the guy's progress and the already combined ingredients in his bowl, he roughly understood the shapes needed, casually slicing the middle section of the cucumber, tossing it over, keeping the two ends for himself, and then cutting off the two cucumber tips.

Edward raised his eyebrows slightly.

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be vegetables; he thought it would be another seafood.

Lin Chen placed the two pieces of cucumber flat on the cutting board, wielding the knife horizontally and slammed it down.

"Smack—"

"Smack—"

"Smack—"

Three crisp and urgent sounds, the cucumber instantly shattered into pieces, swiftly chopped several more times, smashed two cloves of garlic into fine powder, all thrown into the sauce for a simple stir, then additional fresh sauce added to prevent it from being too bland.

"Here, enjoy."

"..."

Edward and Lamia stared at the dish in front of them with unevenly cut cucumber chunks, momentarily unsure what to do.

Why did it look like they were being given scraps? Not even sliced properly, just randomly smashed a few times?

If this dish was served first, he would certainly flip the table in dissatisfaction, but with the delicious abalone appetizer as a buffer, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

A head chef surely wouldn't casually brush off guests, even if it did seem casual.

What if?

"Lamia, you like salads, you go ahead and try it first."

The secretary didn't mind, believing the sauce was tasty and cucumber was tasty, surely the combination wouldn't be bad, despite its poor appearance.

Casually, she picked up a piece of cucumber with her fork, rolled it around in the sauce, and flipped it into her mouth to chew.

"Crunch"

"Crunch"

The cucumber's crisp surface absorbed the salty, fresh, mildly spicy sauce, with a faint garlic aroma vaguely present, even a little sourness.

Against the sauce's backdrop, the usually bland cucumber surprisingly became refreshing and appetizing, making her unconsciously grab another piece to chew.

Perhaps it was psychological, but she felt that the broken cucumber tasted crisper and more refreshing than normal cucumber.

Edward seeing her like that got the gist, asked no questions, picked up his fork and tried a piece of cucumber.

"?!"

Is this cucumber???

Obviously, the same sauce used for the abalone, just with added garlic, tasted completely different.

The inherent freshness of the cucumber appropriately neutralized the excess salty flavor in the sauce, simultaneously amplifying the barely-there sourness, becoming extraordinarily appetizing.

The presence of red oil also became more pronounced, yet couldn't burn, as the cucumber promptly balanced it out, leaving only pure fragrance and the lips continually twitching from numbness.

He never expected such simple cucumber could produce such flavors, the most absurd part was the minimal preparation involved, just casually smashed a few times and mixed, yet tasted completely different.

Do chefs from Great Xia perform magic??

Suddenly, he seemed to understand why Jonathan would say he was the leftover one last night, not even given a chance to cook.

Glancing at Jonathan, who was tossing salad, the bowl filled with familiar vegetables and fruits, perhaps the sauce might be slightly novel, but overall still the same taste.

Unaccountably, he felt a bit disinclined to eat it.