novelraw Chapter 277 189: Performance Art, Knife-Cut Noodle Demonstration
Chapter 277 189: Performance Art, Knife-Cut Noodle Demonstration
"Indeed, noodle soup is a wonderful thing, similar to the principle we use when thickening pasta sauce with noodle water."
Western cuisine doesn't use chicken powder or MSG as seasonings; it solely relies on the natural flavor of the food, making the process quite complicated, and a rich stock is indispensable.
Even if they don't use it, he certainly knows that chicken powder and MSG exist, but it's his first time tasting noodle soup made purely from them, mixed with flavors of seaweed, dried shrimp, and scallions, and it's quite captivating.
He scooped up a plump little wonton, and before he tasted it, he watched helplessly as it deflated.
So it's all soup inside?
How thin must the wrapper be to puff up so full?
He gently sucked it tentatively, barely exerting any effort, and the little wonton vanished entirely from the spoon.
His tongue pressed down, and the noodle wrapper instantly dissolved into a mush, a faint wheat fragrance wafting out, followed by the chewy meat filling.
The meat filling made of pure lean beef is more springy than pork, without any greasy feeling, like eating miniature meatballs. The overall taste is held by the noodle soup, with only traces of flour aroma and meaty scent.
While he was savoring the wonderful taste of the little wonton, Lin Chen started serving more dishes.
"Beef and scallion buns, beef shumai, beef roast buns."
Three different foods were served in succession.
The white, plump, and fluffy-looking white steamed bun is the normal size seen in restaurants or supermarkets, but the shumai and roast buns were unlike anything he'd seen before.
He had eaten shumai at Cantonese restaurants before, but they didn't look like this. Those had a layer resembling egg skin wrapping solid minced meat, and weren't bad in taste.
The shumai before him now displayed a delicate, thin exterior that was almost translucent, with some grease subtly seeping through, sparkling under the lights.
The thickness of the wrapper seemed between a soup dumpling and wonton skin, not breaking at a single touch but unable to hold much weight.
The adjacent roast bun looked quite plain, square-shaped, with golden-brown roasted skin, quite similar to Ah San's curry bun.
He didn't underestimate these foods because of their ordinary appearance; having been proven wrong too many times in the past, only tasting it rendered him qualified to judge them.
"Start with the shumai, it cools down quickly and can become greasy when cold."
Wang Ziqin pointed to the shumai to introduce it to them first, explaining that because of the thin wrapper, it needs to be eaten hot for the best texture.
"Eat it like soup dumplings, but pair it with some spicy oil for extra flavor. Those who can't handle spice can still enjoy it; it's red but not spicy."
In front of them was a dish with remaining Chen vinegar; just scoop some spicy oil in and mix it up.
This vivid spicy oil had been brewed by Lin Chen beforehand as a kitchen reserve, brewing a large pot each time to last long, so there was no need for on-the-spot preparation.
While stirring, the obvious aroma of scallion oil blended with the chili fragrance, gently diffusing without irritation, a purely pleasant aroma.
As he was savoring the spicy oil fragrance, Nagishiro Sho had already picked up steaming shumai and took a bite.
The shumai wrapper appeared thin but had a slight chewiness typical of noodle skins when eaten.
Biting in revealed a filling quite different from his expectations, not the little meatballs found in buns but experienced as stir-fried minced meat with ample juice.
A few careful chews unveiled the sweetness of a considerable amount of onion within the mince, thoroughly steamed into a naturally sweet juice that dissolved with the mince in his mouth.
The mince carried a strong beefy aroma, seemingly mixed with a lot of fat, while the onion harmonized perfectly to alleviate some of the fat's greasiness.
This was just the original flavor.
He nodded, dipping the shumai into the sauce and stuffing it back into his mouth.
Indeed, aided by the tangy Chen vinegar, the slight greasiness of the shumai entirely vanished, even the surface's layer of red oil tasted not greasy at all, just purely fragrant.
Having lived for 32 years, he'd eaten plenty of dumplings and buns but never encountered such a filling resembling minced meat.
The flavor was flawless, making one insufficiently satisfying, triggering a desire to indulge in more.
Considering many unserved delicacies ahead, he suppressed his urge and turned his attention to the nearby large buns and roast buns.
Compared to the beef and onion shumai, these two seemed quite ordinary, at least in his opinion, given his East Asian background.
Bowing his head to rinse his mouth with wonton soup, he sneakily glanced at Chef Marchello, curious about his reaction.
As expected, Chef Marchello's gaze was fixed on the dim sum basket with the remaining shumai, looking unsatisfied.
Not many were left in the basket; among the seven diners present, each could have one doing leaving only three.
The ladies had smaller appetites, satisfied with just tasting the flavors, allowing the three men here to have an extra one each.
From their facial expressions, Wang Ziqin had long discerned their desire, promptly picking up a shumai and presenting the basket to them.
"Come on, have some, don't waste it, you two."
"Ah, then I'll help myself."
Chef Marchello didn't bother with pleasantries, picking up his chopsticks to grab one, while Nagishiro Sho remained still.
"The lady needs nourishment right now, let her eat more?"
"?"
This little life sure knows how to push and pull.
Wang Ziqin turned to look at his wife, who understood and waved her hand with a smile: "No, no, we often eat this kind of steamed bun at home, it's nothing special, and there are other delicious things coming up later, I want to save some room, Mr. Nagishiro, you eat it."
"Then thank you, I won't hold back."
From the food being served to it being completely devoured, it only took about a minute.
Lin Chen returned to the stove, reached out to uncover the gauze, and took out another shiny dough.
He kneaded it a few times to expel the excess air and then formed it into an oval shape like a hot dog bun, placing it near his left shoulder.
Seeing his movement, Wang Ziqin's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly signaled the others to look over.
"Knife shaving noodles!! This is a unique skill from the northwest of Great Xia, originating from the same place as Lanzhou noodles, and it's very entertaining to watch."
Although the others didn't understand the name, seeing Lin Chen's stance, they both showed expressions of anticipation.
Lanzhou Noodles are also popular abroad, known for their unique craftwork and spectacle, and even if someone wanted to replicate it, they couldn't, they could only go to a specialized store to eat it.
Knife shaving noodles are as famous as Lanzhou Noodles, and both of them have had it before, as there are specialized Lanzhou Noodles stores in Paris where business is booming every day.
Feeling everyone's gaze focused on him, Lin Chen was so nervous his palms were sweating, yet he had to put on a nonchalant face.
He had tried making knife shaving noodles at home before; it wasn't difficult, the key was having the right tools.
When he was placing the order, he saw that Shunfu's inventory included tools for it, so he casually bought it for emergencies, not expecting to use it so soon.
It was his first time using professional knife shaving tools, and doing it in front of two head chefs made it impossible not to be nervous.
The soup pot in front of him was bubbling, releasing waves of heat.
He adjusted the dough in his palm to the right position, gently gripping the curved blade with his right hand and making a few tentative cuts on the surface of the dough to get a feel for it.
In a certain moment he felt that his force and angle were just right, and without much hesitation, he decisively sliced into the dough.
"Swoosh"
A faint sound only he could hear.
A long noodle strip was sheared off from the dough, drawing an elegant arc before landing steadily into the boiling water.
"Phew..."
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, at least he wasn't embarrassed.
Once confidence was established, his next actions became increasingly fluid.
His right hand moved mechanically over the surface of the dough, with uniform strips of noodles consecutively flying into the pot.
In the eyes of others, Lin Chen stared expressionlessly at the pot, while his arm swung, leaving trails like afterimages, each motion sending a noodle precisely into the pot.
It looked less like cooking and more like performing some kind of art.
Chef Marchello and Nagishiro Sho weren't watching knife-shaving noodles for the first time, yet they were still amazed.
The craftsmen specializing in this might have practiced for over a decade, and Lin Chen was a bona fide Western cuisine chef; even if he knew Chinese cuisine, surely he hadn't had much time for systematic training.
Seeing him display such a skillful technique proved he must have practiced diligently in private.
Perhaps he hadn't come out with his cart before because he felt his skills weren't up to par, not wanting to embarrass the Great Xia people.
Lin Chen was unaware that simply shaving noodles could spark such imagination in them.
It's true he practiced, but only two or three times at most.
The reason he was able to slice so successfully this time was mainly thanks to the effects of the Sensory Potion, enhancing his physical senses to perfectly control all aspects of the process.
The sound of slicing the noodles, the feel of cutting through the dough, the air flow, the control of distance, the angle of the wrist, the force of each swing.
All these meticulous details came together to make this incredibly successful knife-shaving noodle performance.
Jonathan, standing nearby, watched wide-eyed as Lin Chen sliced the dough as if performing magic, sending noodles flying into the pot a meter away, jaw dropping in amazement, almost letting the beef stew overcook.
He was making Thai green curry beef, which, unlike the more common red curry, used green chili peppers, offering a heavier umami flavor and a milder spiciness.
Faced with head chefs, he couldn't use premade curry blocks for sure.
A qualified Western chef must know how to use different spices to create different curry flavors.
In essence, the main flavors come from kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass, and then there's the chili peppers, with other spices freely combined to create different tastes.
Of course, other essential ingredients include coconut milk, as curry lacking its fragrance wouldn't be true Southeast Asian-style curry.