Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 97: Why Aren’t You Drinking? Do You Not Like It?

His moves were quick.

After the second pot of salted egg yolk was stir-fried, he poured in the broth, took a cut piece of dried kombu from a bag behind him and tossed it into the adjacent pot of broth, refilled it with water, and soon had a new pot of broth.

While the salted egg yolk soup base was still coming to a boil, he finally took a stack of takeout bowls and arranged them in a circle around the pot.

No choices in taste, so nothing to ask about, just fill them up directly, and the diners can take them and go.

Lucas wisely started collecting payments with a card reader ahead of time in the queue.

A bowl of salted egg yolk tofu soup sells for four euros, which is not cheap for vegetarian food, even a bit expensive, but these foreigners have no concept and only find the price quite fair.

Next to it, sushi starts at thirty euros for six pieces, Brasil kebab wraps range from six, eight, to twelve euros, hot dogs sell for above five or six euros, not to mention the place with bad hygiene selling kimchi food where fish cake skewers are dared to sell at three euros each.

By comparison, this stall sells a big bowl for just four euros, really cheap!

The whole pot of tofu soup looks like a lot, but in reality, it only serves into five bowls, each approximately four to five hundred milliliters in capacity.

Old Hei and his friend were unlucky, just when it was their turn, it was gone, only got one bowl, had to wait for the next pot.

Old Hei held the golden tofu soup up to his face and took a deep breath, full of the savory fragrant of salted egg yolk, with a hint of the kombu seaweed aroma.

"Sss... Ah, that's the flavor, exactly like the one I often smelled in Great Xia, I've missed it so much."

"Is it that exaggerated? Let me smell it."

The white friend curiously leaned in to sniff, looking puzzled: "This smell, why does it seem a bit like seafood?"

"What nonsense, what is the seaweed boiled if not a seafood flavor?"

"... Makes sense, but I've never seen soup cooked with egg yolk before."

"There's a lot you haven't seen, when I first went to Great Xia I was just like you now, like a country bumpkin entering the city, hadn't seen anything." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Alright, alright, stop bragging, who hasn't eaten egg yolk, no flavor, boiled as a color enhancer, I see many Western chefs add colored ingredients in sauce."

"Oh?"

Old Hei grinned, stuffed the takeout box into his hand, gestured for him to taste it.

"Be careful, it's hot, this isn't the same level of temperature as Western style soups."

The white friend casually nodded, grabbed a spoon and stirred the soup in the bowl to let some of the hot steam escape, then randomly scooped up a spoonful with tofu and blew on it.

"Phew~ phew~"

Seeing the soup no longer steaming, he just sent it into his mouth.

As it entered, it wasn't the clear sweetness of kombu soup imagined, but rather a dominant savory flavor.

Not salty like salt, really a bit like crab soup taste.

The seemingly smooth thick soup felt somewhat gritty in the mouth, he couldn't figure out what ingredient it was, because there seemed to be no such particles visible in the soup.

His tongue touched the smooth tofu, gently prodding.

"Ah!!"

Before he could taste it, the burning temperature hit his tongue like an electric shock, making him scream, his body instinctively leaning forward.

"Hey hey hey!"

Old Hei swiftly snatched the soup bowl from his hand, afraid he'd spill it.

"I told you it's hot, why don't you listen, haven't you heard 'eager to eat hot tofu'? Oh, forgot, you're a foreigner, my mistake."

He leisurely took another spoon, scooped up a spoonful and blew on it twice, first sipping the soup cautiously, then nibbling the tofu carefully, nudging with his lips, finally daring to drink it.

The other few regulars who got the tofu soup, though coming daily, hadn't experienced the test of mapo tofu, didn't know how hot freshly cooked tofu could be.

Just ready to drink, hearing someone scream, they immediately put down the spoons, moved aside to place the plastic bowls on plastic stools, intending to wait a while until it cooled before eating, to avoid falling into the trap.

The diners still in line without their meals kept their eyes fixed on these few, clearly having witnessed the whole process, already knowing the proper way to handle the tofu soup.

A young lad even deliberately shouted loudly: "Drink it, why aren't you drinking, quickly taste it to see if it's flavorful, if it isn't, I won't bother lining up!"

With his lead, other diners who hadn't paid started nodding.

"Indeed, one pot only serves five portions, it'll take at least ten minutes to wait for my turn, if it doesn't taste good I'll just buy something else."

"Don't just stand there you guys, bought food but not eating, what's going on, not hungry?"

"Why not sell it to me, I'm absolutely starving, looks good, shouldn't taste bad."

These diners who got the food were anxious too.

"What are you yelling about, it's not like we don't want to drink?"

"If you have the guts, wait for your turn and don't hesitate, drink straight away!"

Old Hei drank mouthful after mouthful, mumbling: "Hot? It's alright, see, I've drunk a fifth already."

"Really??"

Turned to look, indeed, the tofu soup bowl in his hand had visibly dropped by the height of a knuckle.

The white friend, not believing it: "Hey, how can you drink so fast, I'll try again."

"... Ah! Hot hot hot!!"

Seeing this, the few regulars who had picked up their spoons silently put their hands down again.

Clearly, it was because Old Hei had thick skin! Heat resistant!

"Lucas! Is there any secret to not being afraid of the heat, tell me quick!"

Lucas dared not collect too much, fearing someone might reconsider not wanting to line up at the end, then have to refund, too troublesome, so he collected the next five customers' payments.

Upon hearing the regular's question, he shrugged: "Secret? There is none, just eat more, in Great Xia lots of food is scorching, like porridge, hotpot, same principle as gaming, you get better with practice."

"Moreover, soups like this are best enjoyed piping hot, if cooled the taste changes, now you don't practice, similar food in the future still can't eat, can only watch others."

"By then, others can eat two or three servings while you only have one, that's a loss~"

"Seems... That's quite true?"

They all turned to look at Old Hei, in just a dozen seconds, the soup in his bowl visibly decreased again, almost half the bowl gone, their competitive spirits suddenly fired up.

If Old Hei can do it, they definitely can too!

"Sss!!"

"Ah ah ah..."

"Hot hot hot!"

"No way, did you install a heat-insulating layer on your tongue, drinking it expressionlessly even when it's scorching??"

While these few were yelling, the second pot of tofu soup was ready.

Including Old Hei's white friend, the five who got the tofu soup quietly found a spot to place their bowls down, started staring blankly, not a hint of wanting to drink.

"Hey! What are you guys standing around for?"

"Drink it, weren't you just shouting pretty loud, come on and drink~"

"Why aren't you drinking, don't you like it?"