Free Web NovelChapter 495: Chapter 355: About What to Eat When It’s Cold
Chen Ze rubbed his eyes and slowly opened them, then climbed out of bed. Lafra was still sleeping with no sign of getting up yet, so Chen Ze decided not to disturb her. He didn’t know why Lafra had been so sleepy lately, and when asked, Lafra wouldn’t answer, just blushing and saying it was a secret.
If pressed, Lafra might even stomp on Chen Ze’s foot, so after being stomped on dozens of times, Chen Ze gave up the idea of inquiring further about the matter.
"It’s kind of cold today." Chen Ze, having exited the warm covers, couldn’t help but shiver. The weather was indeed cold. He opened the window to take a look, and it had already started raining outside.
Chen Ze smiled. On rainy and cold days, it was usually the perfect time for hotpot. It seemed that today he could consider learning how to make hotpot, as always buying the hotpot seasoning didn’t add any experience for himself.
After a simple wash up, Chen Ze changed his clothes and then headed downstairs, unlocking the door to start preparing today’s ingredients.
"Yo, young man, you’re up early today as well." The first one to come in was Joichiro Yukihira, who had now completely replaced his son’s job and began taking charge of mentoring Chen Ze in cooking.
"After all, I’m a chef. But Mr. Yukihira, I was wondering, do you have any recommendations for ramen from your place?" Chen Ze thought about the employees from the brewery yesterday. It seemed those guests from Japan still liked eating ramen a lot.
"Ramen? Didn’t I teach you some basic ramen before?" Joichiro Yukihira raised an eyebrow and then put down his backpack.
"I still want to learn more because some customers really like eating ramen. After all, ’The more skills, the better,’" Chen Ze replied with a smile, then handed Joichiro Yukihira a mango mousse.
"This tastes good. Frankly speaking, among all the chefs I’ve encountered, you’re the best at desserts, even surpassing the Totsuki Academy’s Elite Ten." Joichiro Yukihira was satisfied with Chen Ze’s work and then began today’s rigorous instruction.
If one had to make a sports comparison, Chen Ze felt that Joichiro Yukihira’s teaching method was like making you run three thousand meters without stopping to catch your breath—a feat not everyone could endure. However, Chen Ze was already a decent chef and had good stamina, so he was able to hold up.
"Not bad, young man. Still, it’s not enough. Tomorrow, I want to properly teach you about the differences between various ingredients," Joichiro Yukihira said, patting Chen Ze’s shoulder in approval.
In his view, Chen Ze’s skill level would definitely surpass his own in the future, perhaps even reaching a higher realm. Take the astonishing Magical Mapo Tofu, for instance; at the very least, Joichiro Yukihira had never seen such a dish. freeweɓnøvel.com
"Sure." Chen Ze wiped the sweat off his brow with a towel. If it weren’t for the restaurant’s climate control that kept it warm in the winter and cool in the summer, Chen Ze felt he could soak his clothes with sweat every day.
Yet Chen Ze found himself even more eagerly anticipating tomorrow’s arrival because the differences between ingredients were indeed vast. It wasn’t just about different ingredients, but even the variations within the same ingredient could be very significant.
Take lamb, for example. The lamb from the south often has a bit of a gamey smell, making it less popular. But if the lamb comes from Inner Mongolia, that gamey smell diminishes considerably, and it tastes much better.
As a result, Chen Ze had already started ordering lamb from Inner Mongolia online. Once the lamb arrived, he could then start making dishes with lamb, such as lamb soup with bread (Yangrou Pao Mo), lamb offal soup, lamb rice noodles, and so on.
Thinking of those delicious flavors, Chen Ze couldn’t help but swallow his saliva. It seemed it was time to make himself a bowl of Er Xi’s Lanzhou beef noodles.
"Ma... Manager..." Chen Ze jumped at the sound, quickly putting down the beef he was cutting, and poked his head out to take a glance.
Then, Betty walked in, leaning weakly against the doorframe with an expression that looked as though she was about to depart this world.
"What’s wrong with you?" Chen Ze was a bit puzzled, wondering how Betty could look as if she had been drained dry just in one day.
"I... I’m hungry..." Betty collapsed onto a chair, feeling that it had been a long time since she’d experienced days like this.
Hunger, an endless hunger, she felt acid brewing in her stomach, burning uncomfortably, Betty knew this was a sign of not eating enough, although the days when she had been a slave were even more miserable.
"Tsk tsk, such a minor issue, I’ll make you a bowl of noodles, just wait." Chen Ze shook his head, then went back to the kitchen and swiftly prepared a bowl of beef noodles for Betty.
"I feel like I’ve come back to life!" Betty devoured the ramen with the ferocity of a whirlwind and looked completely content.
"Speak properly," Chen Ze said, his eyes half-closed as he looked at Betty, wondering why she always acted like this, as if she were a ghost reincarnated from starvation.
"Hehe, I’ll go change my clothes." Betty stuck out her tongue playfully, then ran upstairs.
Chen Ze shook his head; lately, Betty had been watching anime non-stop, and heaven knows where she picked up those suffocating expressions from. Sure, when two-dimensional cute girls did it, it looked attractive, but in three dimensions...
If someone is pretty and cute, then it could be endearing to see, but if someone looks like the old biddy Jobialuo, it’s rather hard to accept.
Chen Ze didn’t dwell on it for long, and turned to make himself a bowl of beef noodles, adding a heaping spoonful of hot sauce and eating it with a couple of cloves of garlic.
Then, he cut a piece of Void Ginseng and chewed on it in his mouth.
"Void Ginseng tastes like it could only be used as chewing gum... Maybe I should try Dragon Worm Soup?" Chen Ze pondered for a while and thought this was a pretty good idea, so he took out the Dragon Worm Soup and started to heat it up.
After the Dragon Worm Soup began to boil, Chen Ze cut three slices of Void Ginseng and threw them in.
"Let’s check it after half an hour." Chen Ze closed the lid and continued chopping other ingredients.
"Mr. Manager, do you serve breakfast today?" Before he had been chopping for long, Professor Moriarty walked in.
"Of course, breakfast is available, Professor. Isn’t Sherlock Holmes coming with you?" Chen Ze curiously glanced behind Moriarty, but didn’t see the great detective following him.
"Thank you, Betty... That man seems to have a considerable objection to my opinion, so he’s still giving me trouble," Moriarty said with a smile, accepting the lemon tea from Betty and leisurely taking a sip.
"That’s true, Mr. Holmes is indeed such a persistent man," Chen Ze smiled, and then took out black tea; it was time to nourish Moriarty’s body. Goji berry black tea would be perfect.
