Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 68: Cantonese Rice Porridge with Slippery Mushrooms and Beef
Anderson has always had a short temper; he’s usually stable, but when busy, he easily loses control, leading to a vicious cycle.
Under the deliberate pressure from the chef, his face instantly turned gloomy, as dark as a storm.
He knew the chef was intentionally trying to hone him, so he said nothing, silently turned around, and went to count the ingredients.
Lin Chen, however, was quite at ease.
Not having to serve dishes meant he could slack off, just needing to use his brain a bit.
Although he hadn’t done much in terms of development, he’d watched a lot, whether it was Chef Raphael’s previous development sessions or some cooking competition videos, having watched them for at least several years.
Inspirations are rare and elusive; the chef asked him to provide input and even produce a finished product, but there’s no strict timeline. Technically speaking, it only needs to be completed within the week. There’s over three days left.
He didn’t want to stand out too much; while capability is important, fitting in also matters.
Today, he planned to finalize his ideas roughly, practice tomorrow, and get it done before Saturday.
Standing out too much makes one easily isolated.
Thinking about recipes certainly couldn’t be done in the kitchen, plus it was nearing lunchtime, so he hurriedly grabbed some papers and headed to the office.
He first scanned several recipes roughly to have a general idea, then thought of some adjustments in cooking methods and sauce pairings according to Great Xia’s cooking style, listing them simply on paper. Then he began planning for the evening’s food stall.
Most foreigners love meat, especially beef and seafood, the kind without bones or spines. If you’re doing barbecue, bigger skewers are definitely more suitable.
He didn’t have the United States’ time to skewer small pieces.
Speaking of large meat skewers, the first idea that popped into his head were the recently popular Qiqihar-style barbecue and grassland barbecue.
Grassland barbecue requires local cattle and sheep, which evidently can’t be bought here, so it’s ruled out.
From the kitchen afar came the chef’s roaring, clearly the unlucky Anderson was at it again.
Lin Chen shook his head, crossed his legs, pulled out his phone, and started scrolling through food review videos.
You gotta admit, northern barbecue looks mighty appetizing; in a few minutes, his drool almost flooded the small room.
"Wait a minute! No, how am I supposed to grill?"
Suddenly, he realized a problem.
There’s no grill on the food truck either.
He currently didn’t have a Food Truck Upgrade Card to add equipment and couldn’t just buy a grill and barbecue casually on the street, lest he risk a sure fine.
"Well, it seems like grilling skewers will have to wait, such a hassle."
With resignation, he could only delay the plan until after the breakfast challenge is completed and he gets the upgrade card.
"So here’s the question: what should I make for breakfast?"
"Must have mushroom elements and be seasonal ingredients; it’s summer now, let me think..."
Foreigners hardly have any concept of breakfast, usually just brewing a cup of coffee or milk with oats at home, or getting a small hamburger or egg roll from a fast-food chain like McDonald’s.
"Can’t make anything too greasy; they can’t stomach it. Making delicate breakfasts like steamed dumplings takes too much time, waking early ruins the whole day..."
He sat in the office scratching his head for half a day, struggling to come up with anything good, eventually resorting to opening supermarket websites to seek inspiration from ingredients.
"Mushrooms... Mushrooms... Shiitake? White mushrooms? Baby Bella mushrooms?"
"Hey, wait, there’s black truffle; is it truffle season now?"
Making mushroom dishes isn’t hard, but it’s difficult to make it breakfast, catering to local tastes, and be quick and easy to prepare and sell.
"If worse comes to worst, how about making porridge?"
After much thought, he finally decided to ride the wave.
Cantonese restaurants account for at least eighty percent of Great Xia cuisine overseas; even without Great Xia friends leading the way, foreigners can eat well there.
Just need to pre-cook two pots of porridge, slice the ingredients, dunk them in boiling water on-site; it’s ready in seconds, tasty and convenient.
"It’s decided, I’ll make live-cooked porridge!"
He sent a message to Lucas beforehand, asking if he’d be interested in coming, given it’s the first time the food stall would be serving breakfast, it should be a good topic.
"What, you’re making breakfast tomorrow? Live-cooked porridge? Of course, I’ll come!"
Lucas was instantly intrigued as soon as he heard Lin Chen was venturing into Cantonese cuisine.
Shaanbei is quite far from southern coastal cities, so he’d never been, but he’d watched enough food review videos to know that saying you’re not tempted would be a lie.
Cantonese cuisine might be the most diverse in kinds and one of the most skill-demanding in testing culinary skills.
Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of a bowl of porridge; anyone who can cook can make it, but making it delicious is not a simple task.
Lin Chen himself had tried before, but even following recipes, he couldn’t replicate the aroma of Cantonese restaurant porridge; he realized then the recipe must be off.
The secret formulas restaurants have thrived on for decades aren’t publicly disclosed for free.
He’s got two Recipe Exchange Vouchers now; he’d casually swap one first and adjust the ingredients himself. After all, the key is the brewing of the porridge base.
[Ding! You’ve obtained the recipe: Live-Cooked Slippery Mushroom Beef Porridge]
The moment he obtained the recipe, he understood exactly where the error had been.
"The rice should be soaked in salt and oil first to open up easily, and the porridge base itself should have basic saline taste, add fish bone and pork bone broth?"
"No wonder; I was wondering why the water-cooked version lacked flavor, but using vegetable broth brings out too distinct celery and carrot taste. Turns out it’s a bone broth blend."
In Cantonese cuisine, porridge accounts for a significant portion. Each uses slightly different recipes, so there’s no real authentic or inauthentic concept; as long as it’s tasty, it’s a success.
"The porridge base needs to brew for three hours? Wait, damn, then I have to get up at three or four in the morning? If I go out tonight, returning home would be past midnight, no sleep, and tomorrow still— oh, hang on, tomorrow I don’t need to work."
Thinking about the burden he’s carrying now, he immediately felt relieved.
As long as he’s not involved in serving dishes, work is quite relaxed — just sitting in an office, relaxing with air conditioning, playing on the computer and phone, it’s simply delightful.
"Alright, it’s settled then. I’ll continue making boxed meals tonight. Tomato scrambled eggs remain, swap three dishes for a balanced mix of meat and vegetables."
He’s quite cautious by nature, likes to act according to plan, and isn’t planning to use up the last Recipe Exchange Voucher just yet, holding it as a last-minute trump card.
If a surprise challenge task pops up, having a Recipe Exchange Voucher could come in handy.
If there’s a choice, he definitely wouldn’t want to labor this hard, but thinking of his mother far away, lying alone in a hospital bed awaiting surgery, he must grit his molars.
"Got to earn that money, endure for a bit longer, save up for surgery fees, and life will be easier thereafter."
