Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

"That’s the power of money."

John sighed while waving off a hunter carrying a gun to get ready, while the rest continued with the mountain search.

"There’s an old saying in Great Xia that money makes the mare go, meaning nothing is impossible with enough money; if it is, then the money isn’t sufficient."

"Of course, this was a conclusion drawn by people in ancient times, nowadays you also need to add social status, power, and fame, etc."

"Our President Wang’s reputation in Europe is quite something, everyone knows him and would give him some face."

John gave a thumbs up pointing to the sky, his face full of envy: "When will I become someone as capable as that..."

"Tonight could be the night," Maurice patted his arm to console him, "In dreams, you have everything."

"Tonight might be more lively than expected, the local Hunter Association folks are likely all coming over, so let’s move faster."

John wasn’t in the mood for jokes now, he slapped Maurice’s hand away and pushed through the lush bushes, walking forward.

Meanwhile, Maurice’s expression brightened even more, he rubbed his hands and secretly said ’perfect’.

The more people who come, the more can be hunted—he wished all those bad critters ruining his farmland could be caught tonight.

After breakfast’s bustle, Lin Chen called over Zhao Shun.

"I’m going out hunting with President Wang tonight, not sure when I’ll be back. I might not make it for tomorrow’s breakfast. Do you think we should continue making buns or try something simpler for breakfast?"

"Hunting?!"

Zhao Shun’s eyes lit up like floodlights, "With guns?"

"Yes," Lin Chen saw through the kid’s thoughts with a smile, "I’ve worked for years before getting the chance to handle a gun, you should save it for later and focus on the kitchen work first."

"If you do well, during the holidays I can take you to practice shooting; legally hunting with a gun requires a license, and since we’re on work visas, not local ones, it’s quite troublesome."

"Alright, alright, I promise to complete the task!"

Zhao Shun was completely filled with the imagined sight of himself holding a gun, his whole aura becoming commanding.

"Though the results aren’t out yet, based on sales, foreigners seem very satisfied with the buns."

"We could keep making buns, or change flavors; fermented flatbread won’t be ready, maybe we try lamb or beef shaomai?"

"Sure, shaomai is simple, just pinch it at the tiger mouth, no need to seal it. I’ll place the order now for Daniel to deliver in the evening. Check if anything else needs restocking afterward."

"No problem, I’m going back to help Old Chen!"

"Go ahead."

Most lunch ingredients were prepped in the morning, now it’s just about finishing off the remainder.

Lunch was large pot stir-fry, like fast-food style self-service—the busiest group were the three Great Xia chefs, constantly stir-frying to keep up with supply.

Old Chen didn’t have time to rest after the breakfast rush. He was already throwing chunks of pork belly into a big iron pot to fry.

With the tempting sound of sizzling, the air’s bun aroma gradually got replaced by the scent of meat.

Once the meat chunks were in, he didn’t even look, directly walked to the stove on the right, and repeated the process with a heavy meat bowl from the counter.

Waiting quietly for three or four minutes, as the oil sizzling sound slightly weakens, Old Chen quickly flips the chunks in the pot one by one.

By now, a thin layer of oil had collected at the bottom of the pot, which was rendered from the pork belly.

To make braised pork fatty but not greasy, rendering the fat is essential, and fried chunks help them keep shape and prevent deformation during stewing, affecting appearance.

The rendered lard doesn’t need to be discarded, it can be used for stir-frying, maximizing utilization.

The only downside is that it’s time-consuming, requiring preparation ten to twenty minutes in advance.

Zhao Shun returned hurriedly and glanced at the situation, instinctively went to help flip the meat chunks in another pot.

Though he’s a pastry chef, it doesn’t mean he can’t cook; he could do basic home-cooked dishes, just not as skilled as Old Chen.

As long as Old Chen roughly instructed the steps, he could mimic pretty well.

"Old Chen, Chef said he’s going hunting tonight—like, with a gun; he might not make it back for tomorrow morning, leaving it up to us to decide breakfast."

"A gun?" Chen Dongliang’s rugged brows jerked upward, eyes showing rare excitement.

"Decide it yourself. You’re in charge of breakfast, aren’t you?"

"I think we should stick to making buns and add some lamb shaomai. These newbies are only familiar with making buns right now, and we’re not familiar with other options either."

Old Chen nodded and was about to say something when his gaze unintentionally landed on Lucas, who was adjusting the TV screen in front of the food cart.

He seemed to be updating some promotional footage, displaying scenes of roujiamo and biangbiang noodles that had been looped countless times before.

"Hmm?" Zhao Shun glanced in the same direction and was also taken aback, then his eyes lit up, "Right, compared to making buns, making noodles seems easier, right?"

"Buns require preparing the filling, mixing it, wrapping each one, and then steaming them. With noodles, all you need to do is knead the dough and stir-fry some ingredients. We can make mixed noodles, which will save us at least two to three hours of work!"

Speaking of noodles, Old Chen instinctively swallowed. As a Northerner, he grew up eating noodles, which were not only cheap but also filling. Most importantly, there were so many ways to prepare them, you could eat them however you liked.

Soup noodles, fried noodles, steamed noodles, mixed noodles, spicy noodles, baked noodles...

Images of noodle dishes flashed through his mind, and he nodded vigorously, "I think it’s a good idea!"

"But won’t just doing mixed noodles be a bit dry? These foreigners seem to eat pretty lightly for breakfast, should we add a seafood noodle soup? The kind you stir-fry fresh, using this big pot, we could make dozens of bowls at a time, and it wouldn’t take long."

"Seafood noodle soup? What kind of seafood, shrimp?"

"Crab, shrimp, clams, abalone, squid, stir-fry with onions, ginger, garlic, and green onions, then throw in the seafood to bring out the flavor, and pour in some hot water. That soup is guaranteed to be incredibly fresh!"

"Sounds good, but since we’re using crab and abalone, why not add some lobster? The lobster heads and shells can make a great broth, much better than just water."

"We’ve got the noodle soup covered, but what type of mixed noodles should we make? Don’t foreigners love peanut butter? How about hot dry noodles?"

"Sure, I think we can prepare various flavors for the mixed noodles. With so many people working, hot dry noodles can be one option, and let’s include the biangbiang noodles that Old Big made before, with triple-flavored oil spill, as a limited-time comeback—what else could we make..."

"Oh right, I almost forgot to mention earlier, have you ever had Ban Chuan?"

"Ban Chuan?"

"You’ve heard ’heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below,’ right? Although Yuhang City is famous, it’s even more known for its culinary desert reputation. In my opinion, Ban Chuan is one of the few local delicacies, along with Dragon Well Shrimp, which is great except for being expensive."

Old Chen nodded with a hint of understanding, "I’ve never had Ban Chuan, how’s it made?"

"It’s very simple, just cook the noodles, mix with a base soy sauce, and depending on the customer’s request, stir-fry some toppings. The base is made of red onion, green onion, garlic, and green/red pepper, also with a soy sauce flavor, and the choice of meat is left to the customers."

"But Ban Chuan’s soul is the pickled white radish, the sweet and sour kind, along with pickled green and red chili sauce, which makes eating Ban Chuan a sheer delight."

While talking, Zhao Shun couldn’t help but swallow.

"I can make pickled radish, but I’ve never tried that chili sauce, can’t make it."

"No problem, foreigners typically don’t eat a lot of spicy food anyway, so we can skip it. So shall we finalize this? I’ll call the boss."

"You decide, I’ll follow your lead."

Old Chen said this, but his discreetly moving throat betrayed his true feelings inside.

"This guy truly is a taciturn type." Zhao Shun shook his head with a chuckle, flipped the last piece of meat in the pot, then took out his phone and walked to the side to make a call.

"Making noodles?"

Lin Chen, who was browsing ingredients on the supplier platform, paused in surprise when he received the call, not expecting this guy to change his mind so quickly.

There’s no denying that making noodles is indeed simpler than making buns, with fewer steps involved, and there’s a crucial point: noodles are an essential part of a foreigner’s diet, too.

Arguably, pasta is just another form of mixed or saucy noodles. Maybe making Ban Chuan and noodle soup might be more popular than buns?

"Alright, there won’t be any more changes, right? I’ll place the order then."

The ingredients needed for Ban Chuan are all very basic, and John could send them directly, but Lin Chen still had to place an order with Shunfu Supermarket this time.

Setting aside the relationship another President Wang has with Daniel and Lin, Lin Chen had to make a symbolic gesture due to Wang Ziqin’s family connection, trying to contribute at least one order each day.

Moreover, placing an order could give Daniel a chance to stop by and check on his sister’s work, achieving two goals at once.

Oh, wait, it should be three goals.

If we’re not making buns, we won’t need to prepare ingredients in advance tonight. It allows these newbie chefs to get enough rest.

After all, it’s the first official day of business, with a workload at least fifty percent greater than previous days. If they continued working at night, it might lead to excessive fatigue, affecting their work the next day.

That’s something he hadn’t considered.

Ever since his physique was enhanced, he found that he often overlooked the fact that others weren’t as physically tough, always assuming his level of tiredness as the average.

Are these guys secretly rolling their eyes at me?