Free Web NovelChapter 429: Chapter 289 Argentina BBQ
"Manager, you look really tired today," Flemea said with a mischievous smile, clearly picking up on Chen Ze’s exhausted demeanor.
"It’s been okay, just that today’s been a bit busy." Chen Ze yawned. Today Flemea and her group hadn’t made any special requests for food, so after some thought, he decided to prepare a Sichuan hotpot for them.
When it comes to Sichuan hotpot, it’s a very famous local hotpot in the Huaxia hotpot scene, characterized mainly by its spiciness. But for those who don’t enjoy spicy food, Sichuan hotpot might not be so friendly.
Chen Ze suddenly remembered a news story he had read some time ago. A tourist visiting Sichuan had ordered double-cooked pork and specifically asked for no spicy peppers, but the restaurant still added them. The tourist ended up calling the police.
When the media arrived, the restaurant owner seriously claimed that making Sichuan double-cooked pork without chili was non-negotiable, it being their bottom line. The incident was shared online, sparking a flurry of hilarious comments from netizens that made Chen Ze laugh every time he saw them.
Chen Ze thought such incidents were quite normal after all, as many Huaxia dishes have extremely strict requirements for seasonings. Sometimes, the use of different seasonings can even divide a dish into two schools, like the division between Beijing-style and Sichuan-style cuisine.
Of course, Chen Ze had no intention of explaining to Flemea and the others what culinary schools were, seeing as it would be rather boring. He felt it was a better use of his time to go to the basement and check on his paper-making progress rather than lecturing his customers on the history of Huaxia cuisine.
Down in the basement, Chen Ze touched the molds on the ground. The paper had hardened and seemed to have taken shape. He gently picked it up—an extremely rough sheet of paper with a faint citrus scent.
"Can this really be used to make paper-wrapped fried chicken?" Chen Ze wondered, but he knew he had to give it a try regardless. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
He took the freshly made citrus paper upstairs and began preparing the first paper-wrapped fried chicken. However, while wrapping it, he noticed another issue—the citrus paper didn’t seem very flexible.
As he wrapped the chicken, the citrus paper tore just from the action, causing the corner of Chen Ze’s mouth to twitch. Nonetheless, he stuck to the recipe and put the chicken into the fryer.
As he watched the citrus paper disintegrate, Chen Ze sighed; it was clear that this attempt to recreate the lost dish had failed. This seemed more like just tossing paper into the fryer along with chicken, not at all the type of paper-wrapped fried chicken he was aiming for.
[You have made an ordinary marinated fried chicken. Homemade cooking experience has increased by 3 points.]
The System’s evaluation was not the paper-wrapped fried chicken Chen Ze had in mind. It seems he still hadn’t grasped the essence of the dish, but he wasn’t discouraged. If necessary, he could just start over, especially since he had a secret weapon at his disposal—the omniscient and omnipotent Yog-Sothoth, Pao Pao.
"Manager, two more Thunderbrew Lagers, chilled as always!" Reinhardt’s booming voice brought Chen Ze back to the present.
"Coming right up! Anything else?" Chen Ze glanced around the restaurant.
"Well, I’d like some grilled meat, the best kind, the sort that werewolves would relish," the masked Destiny spoke up again.
"Grilled meat, huh? And werewolf-friendly?" Chen Ze stroked his chin, deep in thought.
To be honest, Chen Ze had made grilled meat before. The Storm Grill he once prepared was one of them. However, making a grilled meat dish that werewolves would particularly enjoy was slightly beyond his area of expertise.
It was from Western fantasy novels that Chen Ze had learned about werewolves’ aversion to silver, though that was just fiction, and he was not sure if real werewolves shared the same dislike.
"Forget it, I might as well look up some of the more famous barbecues in the world." Chen Ze shook his head, deciding to abandon the idea of understanding werewolves from a fantasy perspective.
Chen Ze thought it was better to stick to making dishes he was good at rather than trying to cater to imaginary creatures. After all, the world’s renowned barbecues had been certified over many years by humans, so Chen Ze was quite confident about it.
When it came to barbecue, the first thing that came to mind was Turkish barbecue, which was purely because, during his college days, Chen Ze often ordered Turkish barbecue rice in the dormitory. Though the barbecue rice tasted fairly good, it felt more like a rice bowl dish rather than authentic barbecue. Thus, Chen Ze decided to choose a different style.
After some thought, Chen Ze decided to prepare a barbecue in the style of Argentina, hoping it might satisfy the werewolf customer.
Argentine barbecue was also well-known worldwide, but since Chen Ze had not purchased beef from Argentina in advance, he would have to make do with Belle beef.
"This beef has quite a few bones in it; how about this piece?" Chen Ze looked at the beef in front of him, nodded, and thought it was a good idea.
A good barbecue isn’t about having more meat; without bones, there’s always something lacking in the flavor. Moreover, the meat next to the bones tends to be more tender and fragrant when grilled.
Soon, the alluring aroma of barbecue started to permeate the kitchen, and Flemea couldn’t help but swallow several times, drawn in by the strong scent of meat.
For a Dragon who loved meat, the smell was simply too tempting.
"Damn you, Lawrence, you’ve awakened the glutton in my belly," Flemea grumbled as she rubbed her stomach, suddenly finding the hot pot in front of her less appetizing.
"Manager! I’ll have five portions of that barbecue!" Flemea shouted loudly.
"Alright," Chen Ze nodded, and then immediately got busy again.
In no time, Chen Ze brought out five servings of grilled beef. Calling it Argentine barbecue might be a stretch; it was more Chen Ze’s improved version of Argentine barbecue. Having never been to Argentina, let alone the simplicity of the recipe—mentioning only the special barbecue sauce and seasonings of Argentina.
Heh, just a mention of "special" was all the detail given, so Chen Ze had no idea what to use. Therefore, this barbecue was something Chen Ze came up with based on his research of Argentine barbecue.
[You have made an exquisite Argentine Barbecue (Modified), gaining 15 points of Western-style culinary experience]
[You have improved a dish, gaining 2000 points of Western-style culinary experience]
[You have acquired the Western-style Plating passive skill]
[Western-style Plating: Your plating looks even more pleasing to the eye]
Chen Ze rubbed his nose, cursing that damned System.
