Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 469 - 381: An Unexpected Flavor—Cold Century Egg with Pickled Chili Sauce

"How is the century egg made?"

This indeed hit the nail on the head.

He had long anticipated being asked this question one day when preparing a century egg dish, so he had done his homework in advance.

While peeling the shell off the century egg, he explained to the chefs.

"First, you need fresh duck eggs, with a clean and dry surface, without any moisture left behind."

"Then burn dry straw and pine needles into ash, crush them into powder, and mix them with the marinade to form a paste."

"The marinade is prepared by boiling star anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, and pine leaves in water. After filtering out the spices, it’s necessary to add quicklime, alkali, and salt and stir them together. The quicklime reacts with water and releases a lot of heat, so it’s important to stir thoroughly and wait until the reaction is completely finished before using it."

"Next, coat the duck eggs with the ash and marinade paste, then roll them in another layer of ash or rice husk, somewhat similar to the process of making fried chicken."

"Finally, find a relatively sealed container, let it sit in a cool place for three to four weeks, and then take it out, and it looks like this."

He casually cut open a century egg to show everyone.

The semi-transparent egg white had turned gelatinous like jelly, and the central yolk was gooey, with colors of dark ink mixed with grayish-green, extremely bizarre.

Just looking at it, before even tasting, a few people already felt slightly nauseated.

The only thing to be thankful for is that this kind of egg doesn’t seem to have any special smell; you’d only smell a hint of alkalinity if you bring it right under your nose.

Nagishiro Sho was alright, being Asian, he had strong acceptance capability.

However, Raphael and Marchello, along with the four female waitstaff, as well as the newly arrived Jonathan, Lucinda, and Helena’s family of three, had expressions of either distaste or fear on their faces upon seeing the egg’s color.

Jonathan originally intended to discuss something with Lin Chen today, but with Marchello cutting in unexpectedly, he had to temporarily abandon the idea of negotiation, planning to find another opportunity during the mid-week to talk with Lin Chen.

After all, this week’s menu had already been set, so there was no rush.

Helena was originally walking on the beach with her daughter and husband; seeing many people in the restaurant, she came over out of curiosity and was directly called by Marchello to join for a meal.

Lisa’s little face was flushed, her eyes full of excitement.

The last time she was this excited was when taking a picture with Dreya, being held in her arms.

She never expected she could hitch a ride to a dinner with several Michelin chefs, especially with authentic Great Xia cuisine, ingredients that are rare to find locally.

At the age when curiosity was at its peak, and with many Chinese dishes she recently tried suited her taste, saying she wasn’t looking forward to it would be a lie.

She just didn’t expect the first ingredient she saw would be some eggs that appeared spoiled.

Lin Chen himself hadn’t expected so many people would show up for a meal.

Counting himself, Lucas, the four beautiful waitresses, Old Chen, Xiao Zhao, the three chefs, Jonathan, Lucinda, Helena’s family of three, John Magna, Daniel, Wang Aiguo, a total of twenty people gathered.

"Wow, quite a crowd, huh?"

While calculating the number of people in his mind, Wang Ziqin and Chu Yueyue walked in through the side door, waving and greeting everyone.

Great, two more mouths.

With so many people, it was impossible for everyone to crowd into the kitchen, so Lin Chen was handling the ingredients in the middle area of the restaurant, leaving the kitchen space for Old Chen and Xiao Zhao.

Seeing President Wang and his wife enter, he nodded as if to say hello.

He was just about to continue working when Wang Ziqin walked straight toward Wang Aiguo.

"My dear brother, you finally came. What, you wouldn’t come unless a chef called you?"

"??????"

Hearing the words "brother," Lin Chen was dumbfounded, and beside him, Lucas was also dumbfounded, staring blankly in this direction.

The surname Wang is common, and the two belonged to different companies with different statuses, so he hadn’t thought in that direction at all.

Never thought these two were actually relatives??

"What are you here for, staying at a hotel?"

Wang Aiguo humphed coldly, swatting away Wang Ziqin’s extended hand.

"I’m busy with work, no time to slack off. If it weren’t for something important, I wouldn’t have come."

"Something important? You mean crashing a meal?"

Wang Ziqin smiled mischievously, his expression somewhat provoking, tempting one to throw a punch at him.

Lin Chen quickly lowered his head and looked away; gossiping wasn’t what he should be doing now.

With so many mouths to feed, he had to hasten his movements.

At this time, Old Chen happened to come out of the kitchen.

"Boss, the materials are ready."

"Alright, then come over and give me a hand first; we’ll start making the meat dishes later when it arrives."

Lin Chen placed the peeled ten century eggs aside, "You know how to make cold mixed century eggs, right?"

"Of course, of course, that’s simple, used to make it daily before, though that was with tofu."

Old Chen nodded repeatedly, his eyes sweeping over the table before finally landing on the cart filled with ingredients beside him.

He picked up a glass jar filled with crushed chili peppers, twisted it open, and a refreshing aroma of pickled chilies burst out.

He scooped a bit to taste, nodded in satisfaction, then switched to a clean spoon and ladled three large scoops into the metal bowl, added a few cloves of garlic, and poured in some soy sauce and aged vinegar, stirring it all together evenly.

His movements were swift, and in just a dozen seconds, he had prepared a bowl of sauce.

With a swift chop, he divided ten century eggs into quarters, drizzled the freshly prepared sauce over them, and sprinkled a handful of chopped green onions on top as garnish.

"Try some appetizers first, everyone will have just a bite or two, today’s focus is on tasting something new."

During Old Chen’s cooking process, Lin Chen kept sneaking glances.

This was his first time witnessing Old Chen’s entire cooking process firsthand, and judging by both the speed and the result, he was indeed an experienced cook.

That’s how it is with these small local eateries; they cater mostly to the neighborhood, and the menu hardly ever changes, but it’s always bustling at meal times.

If you can’t cook fast enough, you can’t keep up with the pace. Over time, these simple home-cooked recipes become muscle memory, requiring no thought, and the body completes the operations instinctively.

For him to nod at the pickled chili means the flavor is at least acceptable.

This pickled chili was something Lin Chen hadn’t had time to taste yet, so he didn’t know how it was, but it seemed quite similar to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang pickled pepper sauce he remembered.

"Don’t move!"

Just as the cold century egg dish was laid on the table, Lucas shouted, startling everyone.

At some point, he had already grabbed his precious camera, squeezing to the front from the side, and started finding angles to shoot the dish with his lens.

He had developed a habit of photographing anything that looked like it might be useful for later editing.

It might not be used, but it can’t be absent.

Especially as the number of fans following his channel continued to grow, many foodies’ curiosity about Great Xia food also gradually increased, and there were often many people discussing food in the comments section.

It was a perfect opportunity; if he could produce an educational food video, he suspected it would also stir a lively discussion among food lovers.

But just filming the food wasn’t enough; Jiang Shuqi taught him the core theory that each video must have a highlight or a gimmick.

If not, it was suggested not to post it.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of this video was centered around the three chefs.

He had even thought of a few video titles, centered around Michelin chefs and Great Xia cuisine to create some eye-catching headlines.

After he finished filming and confirmed there were no issues with the photos, he didn’t hold back. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks, picked up a quarter of a century egg, rolled it in the sauce a few times, and swallowed it along with the pickled chilies and green onions.

"How is it?"

Lin Chen was still peeling century eggs and, seeing that he shamelessly started eating, asked casually.

"Awesome!"

Lucas gave a thumbs up, nodding repeatedly, and licked the sauce residue from the corner of his mouth. He, still unsatisfied, picked up another piece and stuffed it into his mouth before stepping aside to make space.

He then raised his camera again, aiming in this direction.

To make him give a thumbs up, it definitely had to be an authentic Great Xia flavor.

Marchello, Raphael, and Nagishiro Sho all stepped forward simultaneously, each picking up a piece of the black century egg, rolling it in the sauce like Lucas did, and swallowing it together with the crushed pickled chilies on top.

The moment they tasted it, their eyes lit up simultaneously, filled with surprise on their faces.

Unlike the tangy pickled chilies found in Western cuisine, this local pickled chili from Great Xia primarily had a slightly sour flavor, with the spicy taste not being very strong, and instead, the aroma of ginger was more pronounced.

Chewing it plain didn’t feel spicy, as if they were using bell peppers like lantern peppers, but it wasn’t as sweet.

The sauce underneath was the simplest soy sauce and vinegar flavor, a taste that the three of them had tried many times before and wasn’t unfamiliar.

But when paired with this pickled chili sauce, the overall flavor underwent a peculiar change.

Originally, the soy sauce’s saltiness was quite moderate, and after being neutralized by the vinegar, it became somewhat milder, and logically, when combined with the pickled chili sauce, it should become saltier.

But the fact proved otherwise.

Not only did it not get saltier, but it also had a very distinct aroma of chili and ginger.

The next moment, they tasted the flavor of the century egg.

The egg white part, as it appeared, had a gelatinous texture similar to jelly, but it was firmer.

The taste of the egg yolk in the center completely exceeded their expectations.

The soft-boiled egg yolk had a relatively moist texture, without any of the dry, choking sensation of regular egg yolk, instead giving a sense of eating cream filling.

The egg yolk had a noticeable alkaline taste, and even a very faint hint of bitterness.

But if you tasted it carefully, that hint of bitterness vanished into thin air, replaced instead with the natural sweetness of the egg yolk.

Combined with the umami of the soy sauce and the acidity of the vinegar, along with the freshness of the pickled chilies, the mix created an indescribable sense of harmony when chewing together.

If one were to disregard the appearance and focus solely on the taste, it seemed like a very typical duck egg dish with Great Xia flavors.