My Restaurant's Guests are All Abnormal

Chapter 573: Chapter 433: Saltwater Ramen

Chen Ze was aware that Betty, along with Alisa and Lindsay, had previously gone to watch Hastur’s Otherworld version of "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day," and they even revisited the animated version of "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day" afterward.

Therefore, Chen Ze did not plan on allowing Betty to spoil the story, such as revealing Menma’s true wish, because it wasn’t in line with his thinking. Moreover, if he did let it slip, Menma’s wish might never be fulfilled.

"Let Suki Umita cry when he feels like crying." This wish of Suki Umita’s mother became Menma’s wish as well. Even though Menma also wanted to use this opportunity to reunite her childhood friends, Chen Ze felt that it would be better to wait and let Menma reveal her wish on her own.

Shio ramen with egg drops – Chen Ze had never heard of a customer ordering this dish before, but he knew how to make this unique dish from watching "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day."

In essence, it was just about boiling noodles in saltwater, sprinkling some green onions, and then adding an egg to make egg drops. It wasn’t anything too complicated.

"Let me see...which kind of noodles would be best for this ramen," Chen Ze mused. Although it was a simple ramen dish, he still wanted to make it with care. However, that meant he had to think about how to enhance the flavor of the ramen within its simplicity.

Because it was shio ramen, there really was not much room for the broth to shine, even if Chen Ze used the world’s finest water and salt, the taste would still be just that.

Therefore, the noodles became a crucial component.

"I’ll use egg noodles then, which should pair well with the egg drops and not be too jarring," Chen Ze made his decision quickly and got started on boiling the water.

He also needed to take care of the eggs.

In Japan, eggs are a staple ingredient, used in many dishes and even eaten raw, which was something Chen Ze initially didn’t understand. Wouldn’t eating raw eggs be very unhygienic?

He later learned that in order to safely consume raw eggs, the Japanese had invested time in improving eggs, eventually breeding a type that could be safely eaten within its expiration date—a truly dedicated effort.

However, Chen Ze hadn’t managed to get eggs originally from Japan. Although the Japanese specialty store sold many items, they really didn’t sell raw eggs, so all the eggs Chen Ze had were locally sourced.

"I’ll use this one. Although I can’t improve the broth, maybe I can try something with the egg," Chen Ze encouraged himself and started working on the egg.

Egg drops are not that difficult, actually. Although they seem in the anime to be the kind that shouldn’t disperse into the broth, Chen Ze decided to make dispersed egg drops, as only in this way could he improve this shio ramen.

Chen Ze worked quickly; improving the dish wasn’t very complicated. So, he placed the prepared egg bowl aside and started working on the noodles.

The noodles needed to go in quickly, and Chen Ze also had to pay attention to controlling the water temperature and volume, as too much water might dilute the taste of the salt.

But none of this was too challenging for Chen Ze; he quickly reached the step where he could add the egg.

Chen Ze added the previously prepared egg into the pot, let it cook briefly, checked the firmness of the noodles, and then served up the improved shio ramen.

The System didn’t provide any prompts, indicating that this dish was so simple that the System didn’t even want to recognize it. But that was fine because Chen Ze could now create a great dish without relying on the System’s evaluation. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"Betty, come in and serve the dish," Chen Ze wiped his hands off. This shio ramen didn’t have much of an aroma, nor flashy features, but thanks to Chen Ze’s growing culinary skills, it still looked quite appealing.

"Sure, Manager," Betty entered with red-rimmed eyes, causing twitching at the corners of Chen Ze’s mouth.

One would wonder if Betty had caught conjunctivitis or some other odd illness.

"You could at least try to control your emotions." Chen Ze sighed, realizing that such a tear-jerking animation indeed made it easy for people to think of certain things, leading to emotional outbursts.

"It’s just... really hard for me to hold back..." Betty wiped the corner of her eyes, already recalling that scene from the animation.

"Okay, just don’t let your tears drop into it." Chen Ze was somewhat speechless but could only let Betty serve it anyway.

Suki Umita hadn’t noticed anything amiss with Betty, as he sat there, staring blankly at the table in front of him.

"Umita..." Menma sat anxiously by his side, and after Chen Ze had spoken those words and she had added her own, Suki Umita seemed to have lost his soul suddenly.

"Please enjoy your meal, sir." Betty placed the saltwater ramen on the table.

The steam rose, snapping Suki Umita back to reality a bit.

... But that made no real difference; Suki Umita just pushed the bowl of ramen toward Menma and continued to sit there, dazed.

"Umita..." Menma was very worried about Suki Umita, even ignoring her favorite saltwater ramen with egg drop, which she usually loved.

Betty stood by, feeling she understood Suki Umita’s feelings, yet seeing Menma not touching her chopsticks made Betty’s mood sink.

"If you’re a man, don’t make Menma worry about you." Betty put down a glass of lemon water and said irritably.

Suki Umita looked up and finally noticed Menma anxiously looking at him, and the bowl of steaming ramen that had started to get a bit cold.

"Menma, don’t worry about me, go ahead and eat." Suki Umita managed to force a smile, looking at Menma.

"I can’t help worrying..." Betty sighed to herself, watching the scene before her.

Menma was truly gentle.

After a lot of persuading, Menma finally agreed to eat her ramen, which by then had cooled down a bit.

"It’s so delicious!" Menma smilingly said with joy, the saltwater ramen might have been slightly cool, but it tasted exceptionally great, especially with the explosively delicious egg drop that made it impossible for Menma to stop eating.

"Hmm." Seeing Menma so happy, Suki Umita clenched his fist tightly, having made up his mind. Now was the time to fulfill Menma’s wish, no matter what, Suki Umita was determined to make it happen.

"Aren’t you eating, Umita?" Menma turned her head to look at Umita and asked.

"I’m not..." Suki Umita subconsciously shook his head, and then a bowl of ramen was placed before him.

"This is on the house," Betty shrugged, which wasn’t actually what Chen Ze had said.

"Tell that kid to learn some cooking skills, he can’t even make egg drop." That was what Chen Ze had actually said.