Food Stall: Customers Chase Me across the Country

Chapter 451 - 449: Dragon Beard-Grade Lanzhou Beef Noodles

Next to the stall, there’s a pot of beef soup that Wang Fan has pre-cooked, and another pot is for boiling noodles.

Setting up a huge chopping board, he opens a bag of flour and pours the snow-white powder directly onto it.

By this time, the foreigners on the plaza and street had noticed him and, driven by curiosity, started to gather around.

Wang Fan chose Lanzhou Beef Noodles as the first dish for his own reasons.

The essence of Lanzhou Beef Noodles lies in its clarity, whiteness, redness, greenness, and yellowness. The soup is supposed to be crystal clear. Didn’t you say my hygiene was not good? I’ll make you a dish where you can see the bottom of the bowl, surely it’s clean enough, right?

Not only that, but Wang Fan also insisted on making authentic Lanzhou Beef Noodles, without adjusting for the taste of the French.

It’s about serving you with the original taste!

The bag of flour is 20 jin, and Wang Fan empties the entire bag onto the board.

He scoops out a well in the middle of the flour heap with a spatula, then slaps the board hard.

With a loud "bang," the chopping board shakes, sending up some flour.

The many foreigners looked on bewildered at Wang Fan, not knowing what he was doing, but watching intently.

Gossiping isn’t exclusive to Huaxians; these foreigners also enjoy checking out new and interesting things.

Cautiously, he pours 10 jin of purified water mixed with 80 grams of salt into the well, and uses a spoon to keep pushing flour from the sides into the water.

The slap from Wang Fan has leveled out most of the gaps underneath the flour, allowing almost no water to seep out from beneath.

The water in the well was completely absorbed by the flour. Wang Fan washes his hands, wipes them dry, and holds them up for a brief show.

His hands are fair, slender, and strong — more like a pianist’s than a chef’s hands.

In his spotless white chef’s uniform and with his clean white hands, he gives off an especially neat image.

Beauty and handsomeness are often interchangeable; Wang Fan’s features are quite deep-set, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, which cater to Western aesthetics. Several Parisian girls have already taken out their phones to snap photos of him.

Wang Fan ignores them, his hands already pressing into the dough.

Holding a lump of dough, he moves his hands to knead it directly on the board.

This step is called "lase" in Lanzhou; its purpose is to ensure there is no dry flour left in the dough.

Kneading 20 jin of flour isn’t something just anyone can handle; it requires not only skill but also physical strength, and these 20 jin only amount to about 40 bowls of beef noodles.

Fortunately, Wang Fan exercises often and has quite a bit of strength in his arms. His tall stature makes these movements look vigorous and powerful, with an intense appeal. The Parisian girls are wearing what are known as ’auntie smiles’ on their faces, and occasionally they scream to cheer him on.

After kneading the dough till smooth, he presses it into a large ball and wraps it up with cling film.

He turns on the gas stove, fills a large pot with plenty of oil, and throws in some prepped ingredients that Zhuo Qianqian had washed and dried.

As the oil boils, it quickly fries the ingredients to a golden brown.

Ginger, onions, white radish, and green onion pieces float in a layer over the oil.

After scooping out the residue and turning off the heat, he pours in a whole container of fresh red chili powder as the oil slightly rises in temperature.

The intense aroma of chili immediately wafts in all directions.

The chilies are a mix of Gangu Peppers and Er Jingtiao, where Gangu Peppers have a bright color, thick flesh, and rich flavor, while Er Jingtiao has an unmatched fragrance among all chilies. This is truly a powerful combination.

The aroma of spices is universally appreciated, and many spice lovers have already started sniffing intently.

And as the chili aroma mixes with the other ingredients, the overall fragrance becomes not only richer but also more layered.

"It looks like he’s cooking?"

"Wow, it’s my first time seeing this kind of cooking. Where’s it from?"

"I know, I know! I’ve been to Japan before. This should be Japanese noodles. It smells really good!"

"Is he planning to sell noodles here?"

Wang Fan couldn’t understand these murmurs, but Gu Zhengchao could. When he heard someone say it was Japanese, he immediately objected.

"Nonono, this isn’t Japanese noodles. It’s Huaxia’s Lanzhou Noodles, which Japan learned from us, actually," Gu Zhengchao corrected earnestly.

The French guy looked puzzled: "Isn’t Japan a province of Huaxia? Why make such a distinction?"

"Uh..."

Gu Zhengchao looked blankly at the French guy: "Who told you Japan is a province of Huaxia?"

The guy was quite pleased with himself: "Japan, Korea, Taiwan, aren’t they all Huaxian people with different passports? I’ve learned a lot about Eastern culture, I’m smart."

The guy’s words completely fried Gu Zhengchao’s brain. He thought for a long time but didn’t know how to continue, feeling suffocated.

"Wow!"

"Wow, that’s amazing!"

"Oh my God, is this a magic show? Or some kind of Eastern magic?"

"This is amazing! Wasn’t it just a big ball of dough?"

While the guy and Gu Zhengchao were talking, Wang Fan had already moved on to the next step.

He dissolved 50g of penghui into warm water, and while Wang Fan kneaded the dough, Zhuo Qianqian evenly sprinkled the penghui water on it.

The action that amazed everyone was naturally Wang Fan’s operation after mixing the penghui water into the dough.

He pinched off a small piece of dough, rolled it into a long strip, pinched both ends, and stretched it swiftly, pulling the dough obediently longer.

Holding both ends, he snapped it down onto the board with a "thwack," and it bounced back quickly. Wang Fan clasped his hands together, twisting the dough strands like a pretzel.

Stretch, bounce, twist again — the motions continued with the dough endlessly elongating, forming into more strands.

The fluidity of his movements made it look like a performance.

This step is called "pantiao," meant to stretch the gluten in one direction, enabling the noodles to be pulled uniformly when stretched.

And this was just pantiao; when Wang Fan actually began stretching the noodles, the crowd of foreigners couldn’t suppress their exclamations.

His hands moved quickly while the thick strand of dough was rapidly pulled thinner, longer, and into multiple strands.

Very soon, one strand turned into a handful of noodles, then quickly into a large bundle of thin noodles.

"Wow! How do they do that?"

"Oh my God, is this some kind of magic?"

"These noodles look delicious; are they better than spaghetti?"

"I really want to taste them!"

"This is actually made right in front of us, and it looks very clean. I’d love to try some."