Quick Transmigration: The Supporting Female Lead Stays Out of It - Chapter 22: Chef 21

Lin Dan didn’t stay in the back kitchen. Instead, she had the helpers set up a simple shed at the shop entrance. Inside, they arranged a stove, pots and bowls, a chopping board, knives, and other items. She herself then cleaned her hands and face, and used a cloth to gather and tightly tie up her long hair so it wouldn’t fall into the pot and contaminate the ingredients.

After Xiao Zhu finished stirring the brine, he pleaded pitifully, “Sister Lin, can you make us a bowl of noodles to eat? We need to eat well so we can work hard!”

Lin Dan smiled and glanced at him, then cut off a piece from the well‑risen dough, quickly pulling it into thin silver noodles. She put them into the boiling spring water, and finally lined up five large bowls, each with a spoonful of milky white bone broth ready to be used. The noodles were cooked, and she then sliced the braised meat into thin pieces, neatly placing them on top of the noodles, adding a few cooked green vegetable leaves, and cutting half a braised egg to lay in the soup, and finally sprinkled with chopped green onions and coriander.

“Eat up, and then hurry up and get to work for me.” As soon as Lin Dan finished speaking, Xiao Zhu and Shaoyao and the others cheered, each carrying away a bowl of noodles and eating them with gusto.

“Master, the noodles are so chewy, and the savory aroma of the braised meat is blended into the fresh aroma of the bone broth. The two combine, and the taste is neither salty nor bland, just right! Can I have another bowl?” Shaoyao praised while eating.

“Alright, I’ll make another bowl. You and Dujuan can share it.” The children were at the age of growing, so their appetite was naturally large. One more bowl or one less bowl, Lin Dan could afford it. She turned around to continue pulling the noodles, but Xiao Zhu asked with a puzzled expression, “Shopkeeper, why did you move the kitchen outside? It’s not very convenient with people coming and going at the shop entrance!”

“It’s precisely for convenience that I moved it out. Guests can tell me what flavor noodles they want and how much, and they can tell me directly when they enter the door, and I will make it immediately. It will be served to the guests in no time. The noodles just out of the pot taste the best, smooth and chewy, each strand distinct. It’ll get clumpy if you wait a while, which affects the taste. At noon, when we stir‑fry the dishes, there’ll be a lot of oil fumes, which will choke the guests, and we will move it back then.” Lin Dan has always been meticulous about her cooking skills. The guests’ experience is what she cares most about. Naturally, she arranges things to make it convenient for the guests.

Xiao Zhu and the others nodded in agreement to be taught. But then they heard a low voice from outside the door: “Lin Dan, being your guest is perhaps the happiest thing in the world.”

“You’re here again.” Lin Dan smiled and shook her head, “You’re flattering me. What flavor noodles would you like? I’ll make them for you.”

“Anything will do, you can cook whatever you see fit.” Tang Jiu walked in, and Xiao Zhu and the others hurried to meet him and helped him wipe the table and chairs clean.

Lin Dan knew that Tang Jiu was a genuine foodie who could accept all kinds of flavors. Therefore, she cooked a bowl of noodles with thick gravy and served it to him. After greeting the first guest, she began to stir‑fry the “saozi” (meat sauce). She first took out a piece of the braised pork belly cooked to a soft texture from the brine pot, cut it into fine dices with a knife, put it in another pot, added dry firewood to make the oil fragrant on high heat, and then successively added dried tofu dices, bamboo shoot dices, and water chestnut dices, and mixed them into water to boil a pot of thick sauce.

“It smells so good, can I add some of this kind of saozi?” Tang Jiu looked at Lin Dan longingly.

“Of course you can, add a spoonful of saozi and charge one more copper coin.” Lin Dan joked.

“Even five copper coins is fine.” Tang Jiu looked at her deeply, and finally mixed the newly added saozi into the noodles and took a big mouthful. His eyes immediately lit up. Using only a half‑jin piece of braised meat, she could stir‑fry a whole pot of vegetarian vegetable dices with such a strong aroma of meat. Lin Dan’s skills were really too good.

Lin Dan seemed to see his surprise and explained: “People who get up before dawn to work are mostly not wealthy. They can only eat a mouthful of meat during the New Year and holidays. The braised meat noodles here sell for four copper coins a bowl, which some people certainly can’t afford. It’s better to use this piece of braised meat to make a pot of half‑vegetarian saozi with meat flavor for everyone to share. Both the meat flavor and the price are cheap. The dried tofu, bamboo shoot dices, and water chestnut are all foods with a porous texture that easily absorb oil and sauce. Slightly boiling them in the braised meat sauce will make the vegetarian dishes taste like meat dishes. This is the “different flavor method” in the seasoning method.”

Tang Jiu unknowingly put down his bowl and listened with rapt attention.

When Lin Dan was talking about her gourmet experience, many people nearby had already followed the smell. Such a strong braised flavor should be coming from a restaurant making breakfast and preparing to sell it. Although most people couldn’t afford the braised meat, it was possible to go and buy a bowl of plain noodles. The chef of this restaurant must have good skills to make the braised meat so fragrant.

Thinking like this, many people turned into the secluded alley. Without the guidance of others, they accurately found the location of the Hometown Cuisine restaurant. Even if some people took the wrong path, they would soon turn back. The food fragrance in the shop was the best sign.

In a moment, the shop entrance was filled with people. Seeing the simmering hot earthenware pot with the braised sauce, they couldn’t help but swallow their saliva, feeling the food cravings in their stomachs beginning to rebel. Especially Tang Jiu, who was eating with gusto, the sweat all over his face and his satisfied expression made them even more envious.

“Boss, how much are the noodles?” a burly man asked with a slurp.

“Plain noodles cost one copper coin, saozi noodles two copper coins, saozi noodles with extra meat three copper coins, braised meat noodles four copper coins. I also sell white porridge, all for two copper coins.” Lin Dan said slowly.

Xiao Zhu and the others hurried out, enthusiastically greeting the guests: “Guests, please come in if you want to eat.”

“Saozi noodles are only two copper coins, this kind of saozi?” The burly man pointed to the big pot, his eyes shining. The braised meat in the pot had already melted completely. The bamboo shoot dices, dried tofu dices, and water chestnut dices had been dyed with the color of the braised meat sauce, and they had also absorbed the savory aroma and meat flavor, looking exactly the same as the braised meat, and tasting no different. But there was more of a fresh and sweet flavor that the braised meat didn’t have.

The burly man, not knowing what was going on, thought that this pot of half‑vegetarian saozi was pure braised meat saozi, so he was surprised. You should know that meat saozi noodles like this sell for more than five copper coins on the street.

“That’s right, it’s only two copper coins. My saozi is made of vegetarian vegetables, so it doesn’t cost anything.” Lin Dan explained patiently.

“Then give me a bowl!” The burly man no longer hesitated, immediately walked into the shop, and secretly rejoiced in his heart: No matter if it’s vegetarian saozi or meat saozi, as long as it can taste like meat, it’s fine.

He seemed to be the leader of the group. When he came in, the others also came in and each ordered a bowl of saozi noodles. Their accents were the same, so they should be from the same place.

Lin Dan said gently, “From your accents, it seems that you are Shaanxi people, how about I season the saozi to Shaanxi flavor for you?”

“Saozi can still be seasoned with different flavors? Good, good, naturally good!” The group of people nodded quickly.

Lin Dan set a pot on the unoccupied stove, poured in some oil, and waited for the oil to heat to seven‑tenths, then put in the chili powder and stir‑fried to make red oil for later use. A total of nine diners came, so she scooped nine spoons of saozi, stir‑fried them with the red oil for a moment, added starch to thicken the sauce, and when the soup boiled, she put in some finely chopped pickled Chinese cabbage and boiled them with the saozi. In this way, the original braised savory saozi became a pot of red, hot, spicy, and sour Shaanxi saozi.

The saozi was seasoned, and the noodles were also cooked. Lin Dan quickly scooped them up and put them in nine bowls, then sprinkled them with ginger, chopped green onions, and coriander, and had Xiao Zhu and the others take them away.

The burly men had originally come with the attitude of trying something new, but they showed a moved expression until they saw the familiar Hometown noodles. They couldn’t wait to pick up their chopsticks and start eating. As soon as they took a bite, tears welled up in their eyes. The noodles were thin and chewy, the saozi was sour and spicy, very flavorful. Eating it, the hot taste spread through their bodies, and those long‑lost homesickness, and the childhood memories that they dared not think about in their quiet moments, all flashed in their minds, evoking the longing for home while also dissolving the longing.

“It’s delicious, it’s the taste I ate when I was a child!” The burly man ate a few mouthfuls of noodles, and his voice was a little hoarse when he spoke again. His compatriots nodded frequently, their expressions satisfied. After eating such a bowl of Hometown noodles, they felt full of strength, and they would certainly be able to carry more cargo and earn more money later.

“Delicious, I’ll come again tomorrow.” The burly man began to murmur with reluctance before he finished eating the noodles, and the originally most difficult life seemed to have hope.

“Me too.” Everyone nodded in response. The most delicious and never‑tiring thing was only the Hometown cuisine.

After a while, a few more people came to the shop entrance. Their heights were a little short, and their accents were also very strong, which was difficult for ordinary people to understand what they were saying. However, Lin Dan had traveled north and south, and her knowledge was extensive, so she was naturally able to communicate without any problems, detailing the prices of noodles and white porridge.

The few people stared at the braised sauce earthenware pot for a while, and finally couldn’t resist the temptation to come in.

“From your accents, it seems that you are Baiyue people, how about I season the saozi to Baiyue flavor?” Lin Dan politely inquired.

The few people showed a half‑believing expression, but they also nodded slightly. Lin Dan scooped out a few spoons of saozi, added clear water to dilute the taste, and then seasoned it with white sugar, and then took a small jar from the stove and scooped out a few spoons of black sauce, pouring it into the seasoned saozi. A hard‑to‑describe fishy and pungent smell spread in the air. After merging with the savory aroma of the braised sauce saozi, it became exceptionally fresh and fragrant, and there was also a hint of the taste of the sea.

The skeptical expressions of the few men were immediately replaced with surprise. They jabbered for a long time, and also frequently gave thumbs up.

Lin Dan nodded and said: “That’s right, this is the sand crab sauce, I made it myself. You brothers should taste if it’s authentic.”

The Baiyue people from the west especially loved sand crab sauce. Whether making meat dishes or vegetarian dishes, they loved to add a little sand crab juice to season them. When making noodles, they also liked to use sand crab sauce, sweet sauce, broad bean sauce, and other things to boil into saozi. Lin Dan had stayed in West Yue for a few months and made authentic West Yue mixed sauce noodles. The flavor was fishy with freshness, which was very unique.

The saozi was seasoned, and the noodles were also put into the bowls. Lin Dan scooped a spoonful of rich milky soup to pour over them, and then sprinkled pink shrimp roe and emerald green chopped green onions. The appearance was simply too pleasing.

Several men didn’t need Xiao Zhu and the others to call them; they didn’t bother to find seats either, and just stood at the door watching Lin Dan cook the noodles. They took them away immediately after they were cooked and ate them quickly. Eat after eat, and the hometown taste was still the best.

The aroma was still spreading, and the diners who came in search were coming in batches. Lin Dan would adjust the flavors according to the requests of each diner. For the people from Shu Prefecture, she would add Sichuan peppercorns, broad bean sauce, and other things, and season them into a spicy flavor; for the people from Hunan and Hubei, she would season them into a fragrant and spicy flavor; there were also sour and spicy flavors, and onion flavors, and so on. Those who didn’t like to drink soup, she would make them into dry mixed noodles, oil-splashed noodles. There were all kinds of flavors available.

It was said that it was difficult to please everyone, but at her place, it didn’t seem to be such a difficult thing.