Gourmet: Midnight Vending-Chapter 395 - 358: Whoa, He Added Evaporated Milk! (2)
At this moment, Xue Ping’s stall appeared just like this.
With the water temperature not quite boiling, cooking the lion’s head takes even longer than a slow simmer, but fortunately, a lot of time had passed. Now, the lion’s head in the large pot started to mature, gradually melding with the other seasonings and spices in the pot. The aroma of the meat broke through all barriers and wafted into the noses of the tourists.
The customers who were initially hesitating whether to queue first for buns or fried rice, now without any hesitation, ran to Xue Ping’s stall.
What’s there to hesitate about?
Of course, the lion’s head has to be bought first!
After all, based on the live broadcasts from the past few days, only one pot of lion’s head is made each night; once it’s gone, it’s really gone.
Chen Mo felt very gratified by the tourists’ reactions.
Because every time one of the four free laborers sold a dish, the customers would see the notice in front of the stall: Please scan the code at Chen Mo’s food truck and hand the dish to Boss Chen for the final processing step.
Of course... Chen Mo was only responsible for pouring a little vinegar into the lion’s head’s lunchbox, sprinkling a bit of chive on top of the fried rice, or for the steamed three-delight soup buns, he would add a complimentary mix of chili oil and vinegar as a dipping sauce.
It’s not that Huang Bo and the others couldn’t complete this process.
But only this way could the sales of these dishes be counted towards the experience value of Chen Mo’s food truck.
Not experiencing this situation for the first time, Chen Mo didn’t feel busy at all. In fact, after sprinkling a handful of chives for one customer, he even said to the next, "Please wait a moment."
"Why? Boss Chen, do you know how long I’ve craved this fried rice? Quickly sprinkle some chives so I can start eating!"
Chen Mo smiled and took out a piece of dried tofu, "Would you like to have some chives on your fried rice, or wait a few minutes and take a portion of the new dish as well?"
The customer took a closer look and saw that the menu hanging in front of the food truck had been updated at some point, with a new line added at the bottom.
[Stewed Dried Shreds: 18 yuan/portion]
"Wow! You’ve got a new dish? I’ll wait, I must wait. I came to the Ecological Garden today just for your personally made dishes!"
Only then did Chen Mo nod in satisfaction.
At the last moment before the clock struck six.
Wild! Sword Skill!
The dried tofu on the cutting board was neatly arrayed like lambs to the slaughter, while Chen Mo placed his left hand behind him, bent his legs slightly, and sank his center of gravity, breathing steadied.
With his right arm extended holding the Black Blade, he took a deep breath.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
The Black Blade was suddenly swung up and then smashed back down onto the cutting board with great force, causing the customers in front of him to instinctively take a few steps back. When they came to their senses, they yelled in disbelief, "Holy crap!"
The surrounding customers were drawn by this shout, their gazes all turning toward the commotion.
When everyone saw what was happening inside the food truck, they all gasped.
"Oh crap! What’s going on here?"
"Has Boss Xiao Chen gone crazy? What did the dried tofu do to him, being treated this way!"
"Is this cutting vegetables? Wow, this sword skill is too wild and violent!"
Old Liu, hearing the comments, was intrigued. Originally, there were a few customers in front of his stall wanting to try the renowned Huaiyang dish Stewed Dried Shreds, but upon hearing that Chen Mo’s new dish today was the same, they all ran to line up at Chen Mo’s food truck.
Since there was no business, Old Liu joined the crowd going to Chen Mo’s food truck line.
With a queue barrier in place to assist, it seemed the Ecological Garden staff had anticipated the chaotic situation, and the customers all lined up very orderly.
When Old Liu squeezed into the queue and looked up, he instinctively shouted, "Oh crap!"
Shocking!
Truly shocking!
The young man inside the food truck was swinging the vegetable knife like a madman, chopping fiercely on the cutting board.
"Really now, is he actually cutting vegetables?"
"Of course he’s cutting vegetables, didn’t you see Boss Xiao Chen’s cutting board lined with dried tofu?"
Old Liu glanced at the customer who answered him, continuing to tiptoe to get a clearer look at what was happening inside the food truck.
The customer was right, there were indeed many dried tofu arranged in a row on Boss Chen’s cutting board. As his wild knife swung through, they seemed to lose their support and slowly fell to the side.
When Chen Mo’s knife sliced from end to end, he used his hand to press slightly on the freshly sliced tofu pieces.
The local dried tofu’s characteristic is its dense texture, and once sliced, the gaps between the slices are almost nonexistent, tightly packed together.
Applying slight pressure with his hand to tilt them slightly makes it easier for the next step of cutting.
Just as Old Liu was wondering what Chen Mo would do next.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
"Oh crap!" Old Liu shouted in disbelief, "Again? Can he really get anything by chopping so randomly?"
The customer in front of him kept his eyes on the food truck, answering, "Never mind what he’s chopping, just watching it is satisfying! Even in movies, they wouldn’t dare to shoot scenes like this. It’s impressive!"
Though dissatisfied, Old Liu didn’t say anything further.
Feeling somewhat uneasy, thinking to himself that a chef is supposed to cook, not put on a show, making such a commotion over cutting tofu, is it meaningful?
Obviously, it was meaningful.
The crowd of onlookers grew larger, with more and more people holding up their phones to record. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed watching Chen Mo’s peculiar sword skill. Even those who earlier couldn’t wait for Boss Chen to finish the final steps of their dish, and wanted to eat right away, forgot they were holding a fragrant dish in their hands, focusing intently on Boss Xiao Chen’s performance.
When the knife swept from right to left again, Old Liu fixed his eyes on the person inside the food truck.
"Cutting like this, the tofu must be minced, it’s just for show." Old Liu was convinced.
Chen Mo put on disposable gloves, gathered the sliced tofu shreds from both sides with both hands, then scooped up a handful and gently let it fall.
Sss...
Squinting for a clearer view, though the distance made it hard to see clearly, he could still discern Chen Mo was letting the finely sliced tofu shreds fall, not minced tofu!
"He actually managed to slice it into shreds?" Old Liu, shocked, made a decision, "I have to buy a portion to see. Stewed Dried Shreds requires precise knife skills; if it’s just randomly chopped, what texture can uneven tofu shreds offer?"
Initially there to join in the fun, Old Liu wholeheartedly queued up with everyone to purchase the new dish.
And Chen Mo’s cooking tonight was just beginning.
It was still that dauntingly massive black pot, which was used last night to cook Phoenix Tail Shrimp, and today had a new task.
Chen Mo added hot water directly, and in no time, the water in the pot began to boil.
The sliced tofu shreds were all added to the pot at once, with the other hand continuously stirring with a black ladle, and about thirty seconds later the shreds were removed.
"The removed shreds were placed somewhere unseen, likely a bucket underneath for cooling with cold water," Old Liu speculated as he watched.
Sure enough, the shreds disappeared for a moment, then were back on the workbench, draining in a giant colander.
This step was no different from the traditional method of preparing stewed dried shreds.
After that, the hot water in the pot was discarded, and the pot’s bottom was dried on high heat.
Heat the pot, add oil!
Lard was added to the pot, melting before ginger slices were added. The ginger, sizzling in the hot oil, instantly released an incredibly fragrant smell.
This is the wisdom of Huaxia cuisine.
Simply sautéing garlic, ginger, and scallions in hot oil makes many vegetarian dishes taste wonderful with a brief stir-fry.
Then Chen Mo poured a ladle of thick soup into the pot, followed by the hot water previously drained back into it.
With just that, the black pot inside immediately emitted a delightful fragrance that enveloped the senses.
Old Liu closed his eyes to take in the aroma, suddenly realizing.
"Oh crap! Is he using technology in his dish?"
The exclamation was loud enough for many to hear.
Thanks to a video from a certain streamer recently...
When Old Liu shouted this, hundreds of customers at the North Gate were stunned looking at the yellow food truck.
With the rich broth Chen Mo just poured into the pot, combined with the lingering savory fragrance in the air, one phrase spontaneously popped into their minds.
I bring you a ladle of three-flower evaporated milk!
