Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 49: My Skills Don’t Even Make the Cut in Great Xia
Mapo tofu tastes best when eaten hot, especially within the first five minutes of coming out of the pot.
Lucas set up the small wooden table again, and the two of them each took a plate of mapo tofu and started eating on the roadside.
The tender, snowy white tofu hid among the dark red sauce, covered with fine ground Sichuan pepper, making it look particularly tempting against the backdrop of green garlic chives.
The aroma of the broad bean paste wasn’t very strong but noticeable enough, whereas the numbing fragrance of the Sichuan pepper stood out more.
Scooping a spoonful, the tofu cubes slightly trembled at the bottom of the spoon, releasing bursts of steam.
As the saying goes, haste makes waste with hot tofu; both of them were seasoned foodies who patiently blew on it a few times, touched it with their lips, and then confidently stuffed a whole spoonful into their mouths.
Num.
The overwhelming taste of Sichuan pepper instantly occupied their entire mouths, making their tongues uncontrollably quiver, as if countless tiny pop rocks were dancing and bouncing on the tip of their tongues.
With a gentle press, the tofu broke apart, its scorching heat steaming out from the inside, forcing both of them to shake their heads left and right and keep opening their mouths to cool off.
The high temperature brought out the extra delicious flavors of the sauce and chilies, with a subtle sweet hint lingering in the tofu’s light bean aroma.
Although it had only been stewed for six or seven minutes, the tofu cubes themselves weren’t cut large, and they were completely infused with flavor, without the common issue of heavy seasoning outside and bland inside.
As they chewed, amidst such a rich composite flavor, a hint of freshness gradually seeped out, which was the aroma of the garlic chives.
The raw garlic chive leaves were pungent, no different from garlic, but when cooked, they possessed an added freshness, and any excess garlic flavor melded into the sauce, playing an elevating role.
"Ha, this tofu is unbeatable, even better than what I’ve had in Sichuan and Chongqing!"
Lucas seemed enchanted, scooping one spoonful after another without stopping, completely out of control.
Lin Chen was no better off; the scalding mapo tofu was simply too tempting, a mouthful of numbing, spicy, fresh flavor that became more addictive the more they ate.
Immersed in the deliciousness, they completely forgot about the existence of rice, devouring the dish voraciously, leaving not even a drop of sauce within two minutes.
Lucas licked the leftover ground Sichuan pepper off the bowl’s edge, staring at Lin Chen longingly.
"You did it on purpose, right? Just got the appetite going, and it’s already gone? I advise some chefs not to be too precise, the control over ingredient amounts can relax a little bit, no need to be this exact."
"Are you dumb?"
Lin Chen rolled his eyes, holding up the takeaway box in his hand: "This is a small portion takeaway box, don’t you know? I only made one portion to taste, split evenly, each person only gets half a portion, of course it’s less, let’s make more when the rice is ready."
"Huh? This is half a portion? Then never mind~"
By now, it was past meal time, a moment of idleness, with the neighboring food truck having a ’Closed’ sign hanging outside, as Lunard took an afternoon nap inside.
As he slept, his nose twitched slightly, catching a whiff of a special spicy aroma, making his nose itch and triggering an irresistible urge to sneeze.
"Achoo!!"
He jolted upright like a carp leaping out of water, eyes full of confusion.
"What is this... smell? It’s so pungent."
No need to wonder, it must be Lin next door cooking up some new dish again.
With a dazed gait, he walked off the food truck, seeing Lin Chen through the window as he was portioning out dishes, sprinkling some black powder over them.
"A... Ah-choo!!" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
That’s the smell!
The sneeze attracted the attention of Lucas and Lin Chen, and seeing Lunard walking over with curiosity, Lucas quickly hugged his portion of tofu protectively and stared at him like he was guarding against a thief.
"This is mine, if you want to eat, buy your own!"
"Look at you, being so stingy!"
Lin Chen shook his head, handing his box through the window, "Just in time, give the new dish a try. It’s a famous dish internationally from Great Xia, mapo tofu, an authentic Great Xia flavor with no Western modifications."
"What! This is mapo tofu?"
Lunard’s interest was piqued immediately, taking the meal box and sitting next to Lucas, acting as if they were old friends.
Lin Chen served two more portions of freshly cooked rice, pre-fluffing with a rice spoon to let off excess moisture, making the grains more distinct and chewy.
But that wasn’t all.
In the morning, he had made some ice jelly for the customers to see, and by now it had just about set. Concerned that Lunard might not handle the spiciness of the mapo tofu, he served an ice jelly as well.
He planned to keep this on the menu in the future, given its easy preparation steps, refreshing and thirst-quenching properties, and the ability to pair with promotional videos and other dishes, achieving multiple benefits in one go.
Most importantly, the neighboring kimchi food truck also sold it.
If they like to copy so much, let’s see which business fares better.
The customers have discerning eyes, and he had strong confidence in his skills.
"This, this peculiar sensation, is this the legendary numbing?"
Lunard scooped a spoonful of mapo tofu, and as soon as he put it in his mouth, his eyes widened instantly, filled with disbelief.
Similarly filled with spices, yet completely different from the style of Brasil’s cuisine.
Brasil cuisine spices are typically very strong, but they tend to float on the surface, unlike Great Xia cuisine, which pays attention to the blend of seasonings and ingredients, with even the heat level being critical.
Tasting it, there was a blissful sensation of ingredient and seasoning perfectly melding, and missing any component felt incomplete.
Lucas even dumped a few spoonfuls of mapo tofu over his rice box, mixed them hastily, and shoveled it into his mouth at a rapid pace.
"Whoa, the rice is delicious, each grain distinct, not mushy like some other rice, I prefer hard rice!"
The red oil sauce coated each grain of rice, making it smell even better when mixed, adding the freshness of the rice to the tofu’s bean fragrance—a perfect highlight of aroma upon aroma.
Lunard followed his lead and started mixing the rice, and after one taste was utterly captivated; the two tall and burly men sat by the roadside, eating frantically as if no one was around, their mouths glistening with oil.
Taking a big mouthful, Lunard suddenly felt he bit into something crispy and crunchy, something that seemed like meat but had soaked up the soup and was super flavorful.
He carefully sifted through the mapo tofu and quickly fished out plenty of tiny granules from the bottom.
"Are these... fried beef granules?"
Coming from a barbecue background, he quickly identified the ingredient, giving Lin Chen a thumbs up.
"Awesome, the fact you can keep the fried beef crisp in the soup, I salute you Great Xia People."
Lin Chen smiled humbly, "Don’t say that, Chinese chefs have to qualify for certifications. At my level, I’m just cooking at a roadside stall, not even having a Chinese chef qualification certificate."
