I'm the Culinary God

"Do you need to add cold water to cooking noodles like you do with dumplings?"

Shen Jiayue waited to eat the noodles and was somewhat surprised to see this step.

Lin Xu laughed and said:

"There’s a difference. Adding cold water when cooking dumplings is to keep the dumpling skins intact and prevent them from breaking. It’s to cool the skins so they cook evenly with the filling. Adding cold water to noodles just makes the noodle surfaces contract for a smooth and slippery texture."

As he spoke, the water in the pot came to a boil again.

This is the advantage of using a professional stove to cook noodles; the firepower is strong, so you never have to worry about the noodles getting mushy or overcooked.

After about half a minute of cooking, Lin Xu again added cold water to the pot, turned off the heat, then used a strainer in one hand and chopsticks in the other to scoop the noodles out of the pot. After draining the water, he placed them in bowls.

He scooped out both bowls of noodles, sprinkled some ground chili pepper over them with a small spoon, added a spoonful of crispy cracklings, and drizzled in some of the freshly fried lard. The crispy noodles were now ready.

"Quick, mix them up before you eat, otherwise the noodles will clump together."

In the bowl, there was chili oil and lard. They needed to be mixed thoroughly so that the oils fully coated the noodles, ensuring it didn’t taste greasy. Otherwise, the oils would clump together, and one big bite would be overwhelmingly greasy.

"Oh... I’ll start right away."

Shen Jiayue picked up her chopsticks, turned the noodles over in the bowl, brought the sauce from the bottom up, and while still hot, shook the noodles to let the white noodles get completely coated in the sauce.

Soon, the noodles were covered in the color of red oil.

The heat from the noodles fully released the rich aroma of the lard, the spicy aroma of the chili oil, the scorched chili’s flavor, as well as the flavors of other seasonings like scallions, minced garlic, and light soy sauce.

Shen Jiayue was so tempted by the aroma that her mouth watered, but she didn’t eat right away. She insisted on mixing the noodles thoroughly until there was no white noodle left before she began to eat.

She picked up a chopstick-full of the oily noodles and put it into her mouth; the texture was smooth and slippery, and the taste was deliciously fragrant and spicy.

One bite and the flavor was so mesmerizing that it left one a bit dazed.

The noodles were soft yet chewy, paired with the crispy and fragrant cracklings; the sensation was utterly satisfying.

"Delicious, delicious! These crispy cracklings are just phenomenal! Lin Bao, can we have crispy crackling noodles tomorrow morning? I want to eat the sour soup crispy crackling noodles from Guizhou."

"Sure, no problem."

Lin Xu slurped his noodles, thoroughly enjoying them as well.

The noodles were chewy, the cracklings crispy, and the combination of these textures with the accompanied seasonings made you crave each subsequent bite more than the last; you just couldn’t stop.

Initially, it seemed like managing a big bowl would be a stretch, but the two of them finished it all without even leaving the kitchen.

"So satisfying, I never knew noodles and crispy cracklings could taste this amazing together."

Lin Xu said:

"This is just noodles. If you had it with rice noodles or rice strips, the texture would be even better."

Compared to noodles, rice noodles have a smoother and chewier texture. In contrast with the crispy texture of cracklings, it creates a more intense experience.

While culinary seasoning emphasizes balance and harmony, the textures do not.

The more pronounced the contrast, the more explosive the feeling in the mouth, and it stimulates the appetite more easily.

"Haha, just had crispy crackling mixed noodles. Unfortunately, ate too fast to take pictures. Yan Bao, don’t crave too much. It’s all gone now. Just focus on discussing the engagement details."

What’s called ’killing with intent’?

This is it—showing off an empty bowl after finishing noodles and saying it’s all gone.

Yet as soon as the message was sent, Chen Yan came stomping upstairs.

The elders from both sides were speaking one after another, while the couple engaged couldn’t get a word in.

Whenever they tried to express their views, the elders brushed them off with, "You kids shouldn’t interfere."

In light of this, combined with the cousin’s shameless act of sending food pictures and videos at four in the afternoon, the couple discussed and decided to drive over to Lin Ji.

Let the elders handle the engagement; what’s important is to fill our stomachs.

"Quick, make us each a bowl of crispy crackling noodles, or we’ll fill Dundun’s cat house with durians."

To get a taste of the delicious crispy crackling noodles, Chen Yan directly used Dundun as leverage.

Kids are always the parents’ Achilles’ heel.

Shen Jiayue pouted:

"You’re shameless..."

"Learned from you!"

By now, it was nearly dinnertime. Lin Xu said:

"How about this, I’ll cook a big pot of mixed noodles in the back kitchen for everyone to eat together, to avoid the hassle of cooking one bowl at a time."

Using a small pot, you can only cook one or two bowls at a time.

But with the large pot in the back kitchen specifically for cooking noodles, cooking a whole pot at once was no problem.

This is also why during peak hours, the back kitchen can produce bowl after bowl as long as the pot is big enough and there’s plenty of water; they can make twenty to thirty bowls of hand-rolled noodles at once.

Lin Xu went to the small kitchen to bring out the ground chili and crispy cracklings. He was just about to head to the large kitchen when Shen Jiayue came over with a small bowl, helping herself without asking.

"Yan Bao, hurry and try this. These crispy cracklings are tastier than any crispy delicacy you’ve ever had..."

Despite the bickering, when it comes to good food, they don’t forget their cousin.

Chen Yan came specifically for these little red bits today. She picked one up and put it in her mouth, then immediately exclaimed:

"Oh, it’s so good, both fragrant and crisp..."

Then she turned to Ren Jie and said:

"Don’t just stand there, hurry and try it before Shu Baobao, Doudou, and Qiqi come over and you end up chewing on the whole bowl."

Ren Jie had planned to eat during mealtime, but upon hearing this, he didn’t hold back.