Gourmet: Midnight Vending

Chapter 545 - 428: Setting Up My Stall!

Chen Mo first picked up some of the freshly braised intestine segments and put them on a plate, then sprinkled fried shallots over them.

Just like that, a plate of "weird-looking intestines" was done. At least visually, this dish of intestine segments was overflowing with that classic Taiwan night-market vibe.

The intestines, braised to a glossy reddish-brown, each one looked plump and bulging. Anyone who didn’t know better would probably think they were stuffed full of lard, but in fact they were packed entirely with flying fish roe.

With a layer of fried shallots on top, the visual effect of the dish became even richer. Chen Mo picked up a piece to taste.

Inside the house, when Granny Chen saw Chen Mo starting to taste it, she was a bit dumbfounded.

Hey now, Xiaochen. You had this old lady of yours sample the semi-finished product and even asked me to give you feedback.

Now that you’ve made the finished dish, you’re just eating it yourself?

Are you even human?

Looking rather disgruntled, Granny Chen walked out of the house. "All done?"

"Mhm, mhm!"

Chen Mo smacked his lips as he ate the full version of the intestine segments. Every bite brought this very strange yet utterly unparalleled, ultimate mouthfeel!

Each bite made a crunchy little sound, and if he chewed faster, it turned into that magical pop-pop, crackling texture.

While enjoying the texture, the top-tier flavor of the Nine-Turned Pork Intestines itself flooded his mouth. The intestines were first boiled in plain water, with only half the fat removed.

This preserved the ingredient’s own inherent flavor to the greatest extent. The sour plum sauce drew out the aroma of the intestines while cleverly cutting the greasiness. The fried shallots added extra crispiness. Everything came together so wonderfully, so perfectly balanced.

It felt as if the intestines were always meant to be cooked this way, as if flying fish roe was destined to appear inside pork intestines. To the point that while eating, Chen Mo only felt that any previous way of cooking these two ingredients must have been completely wrong!

Only like this is their true form, the way they’re meant to exist!

It wasn’t just Chen Mo who felt this way. In fact, after tasting a piece earlier, Granny Chen’s thoughts were exactly the same as his.

This time, Granny didn’t bother to comment on the snack. She just looked at Chen Mo with a complicated expression, and only after a long pause did she slowly say, "You... for you not to set up a stall at the night market is a huge loss for the thirty million citizens of Taiwan!"

A night market stall?

Chen Mo shook his head.

Maybe when he first came to Taiwan, he really did want to set up a stall in the night market, because the foot traffic is huge there, and you can make money fast!

But now it was different.

After Chen Mo developed something this delicious, he understood one thing.

His own strength alone was ultimately limited. If he went to the night market, the crowds he’d attract might actually affect other people’s business.

Roaming the streets with a mobile stall was pretty good. Yes, there was a lot of foot traffic, but because he was always on the move, it wouldn’t cause large-scale congestion.

Plus, once he sold out, he could just hit the gas and slip away, without ever ending up stuck in one spot and unable to leave.

"Granny, try eating it like this."

Chen Mo took the remaining intestine segments from just now and stuffed them into the middle of a gua bao.

"And this is...?"

"Everything can be stuffed in bread, right? Try it."

Granny Chen took a tentative bite, chomping down hard on the outer bun slices along with the intestines inside.

Mm... it added a new texture, basically the taste and feel of the bun itself.

How to describe this feeling... relatively speaking, it reduced the greasiness of the intestines and increased that carb-induced sense of satisfaction, forming a different flavor profile from eating just the intestine segments alone.

Both versions were top-tier delicious!

"How are you planning to price this?" Granny Chen asked curiously.

Judging from Chen Mo’s method, the ingredients alone weren’t cheap, but in Granny Chen’s view, the ingredients were actually secondary.

The cooking process itself was grueling, unlike her danzai noodles—once she prepped the ingredients, serving was quick and easy.

"I’m thinking for a snack portion, six pieces of intestine per serving, I can sell it for 38 yuan. If it’s the gua bao version, then 40 yuan."

Granny Chen nodded. That price wasn’t exactly cheap, but once you knew what went into making it, it didn’t seem that expensive either. Sometimes labor and technique are worth more than the ingredients themselves.

Of course, Granny believed that after the first taste, no matter how much it cost, as long as it was within what people could afford, customers would definitely be willing to come back for a second time!

The new snack was successfully developed.

Chen Mo gave all of the intestine segments to Granny Chen. "Thank you. I’ll get going now, I have to go back and prep ingredients. I still need to set up my stall tonight."

"Alright, wish you booming business."

Chen Mo waved, then immediately hopped back into his van and headed straight for the nearest parking lot.

This stuff was amazing to eat, but honestly a bit of a hassle to make. The main problem was stuffing flying fish roe into the intestines, which was a very tedious process. On the way back, Chen Mo kept thinking about how to improve the workflow and speed it up as much as possible.

Basically, he could just stuff the flying fish roe into the whole length of intestine beforehand and then cut it into segments. The tricky part was temperature control during cooking, to keep the roe from all bursting open.

But temperature control stopped being a problem for Chen Mo a long time ago.

In the parking lot, Chen Mo first finished prepping all the cart-noodle ingredients needed to make fifty jin of dough. Thanks to the save-file function, the whole process was incredibly easy.