The Gourmet Customizer

SNIFF SNIFF~

Zhang Li followed furtively behind Ling Shuyu, taking a deep breath through her nose the moment she walked in the door.

’Smells amazing!’

It was a fragrance she had never encountered before. It wasn’t the smell of meat, nor was it any other kind of seasoning. It was a toasty, smoky aroma!

The smell reminded Zhang Li of a slightly strange fondness she had.

Whenever her family ate, Zhang Li especially loved to eat the burnt parts of the meal.

For example, she loved the burnt rice at the bottom of the rice cooker and the scorched potatoes at the bottom of the stew pot. Her family thought the burnt smell was awful, but Zhang Li disagreed. It was just delicious!

The scent she was smelling now hit her right in her weak spot!

"Boss! What are you making~"

Su Chen’s head shot up.

’What the hell!’

’Why is Zhang Li back? And why is Ling Shuyu up here too?’

"Making..." Su Chen stared at the short-legged girl in disbelief. "Wait, why are you back at the office? Didn’t you go home a long time ago?"

"I did go home, but I forgot my keys! Hehe, good thing I forgot them."

Su Chen was once again defeated by Zhang Li’s logic.

"Ah Bao, it looks like two dishes won’t be enough."

Now that they were here, he couldn’t very well tell them he hadn’t prepared anything for them and that they should just go home. That just wasn’t how people did things.

"Yikes! Then let’s just fry up a couple more," Liu Ahbao said, also a bit bewildered.

He lived on the second floor, and Ling Shuyu had been working overtime on the second floor. It was one thing if she didn’t come, but now that she was here, it would seem like he’d deliberately not invited her. How awkward!

Su Chen nodded silently. It was the only way.

"The two of us don’t eat much, and we already had dinner. You can make a little less," Ling Shuyu said, pursing her lips.

"Mhm, that’s right. Not only do we eat very little, but I also brought something!" Zhang Li lifted a plastic bag, shaking the braised duck parts inside.

She had originally brought them for Ling Shuyu, but since everyone was eating together, of course she had to share!

’Well, I’ll be.’

Su Chen said, "Duck parts are good with beer. Do you two drink? If you do, go grab some from the storeroom yourselves."

It was beer that had been stored there a long time ago, and it was now covered in dust.

"I’ll drink milk!" Zhang Li said, clutching a Yakult.

"I can have a little. Zhang Li can drive, right? Then I can have some," Ling Shuyu said. She wasn’t usually a drinker, but the last time she’d had a few beers with Su Chen, she’d found it quite relaxing.

She was starting to like that slightly tipsy feeling.

Since that was the case, Su Chen didn’t hesitate.

His hands moved even faster. Zhang Li came over to watch curiously. "Boss, what dish is this? What are you doing? It smells so good!"

’Doesn’t she realize she talks way too much!’

Su Chen said patiently, "This is a Sichuan dish called Sizzling Rice with Pork Slices."

"Huh?" Zhang Li placed a finger on her chin. "I can’t really handle spicy food. What if I can’t eat it! Boss, can you use a little less chili? What if I..."

"Zhang Li." Su Chen stopped the spatula in his hand and said in an earnest tone, "I believe I still have some good tea in my office. Why don’t you go get it and brew some for everyone to drink later."

"Okay!"

He had finally managed to send Zhang Li away. Say what you will, that girl really had a screw loose sometimes.

Su Chen breathed a sigh of relief and continued to focus on making the rice crackers from scratch.

It was a simple process. All you had to do was take leftover cooked rice, add salt, five-spice powder, and two eggs, and mix them evenly. While mixing, you also needed to sprinkle in some flour until it formed something like a ball of dough.

Then, you rolled the dough into a thin sheet. As you rolled, you sprinkled a layer of black sesame seeds on top, which made it look good and smell fragrant.

Finally, you used a knife to cut it into your desired shapes, brought the oil to about seventy percent heat, and started deep-frying. Simple as that!

"Boss, are you sure these rice crackers won’t be too hard to chew later?"

Seeing Su Chen’s unorthodox method for making the crackers, Liu Ahbao couldn’t help but worry.

If any one of those steps was off, the resulting crackers would be tooth-breakingly hard. Human teeth would be no match for them!

It was obvious that the crackers Su Chen was frying weren’t fully cooked; they were probably sixty percent done at most.

’What’s the difference between this and concrete?’

"Don’t worry, there are other steps," Su Chen said. Although he hadn’t practiced this dish in the training room beforehand, he was still somewhat confident in the basic flavor.

He took a pork tenderloin from the freezer, a cut from just below the loin, near the kidney.

He used his knife to trim the white sinew, then sliced against the grain into thin pieces about an inch and a half long and a third of an inch wide.

Ah Bao, while cooking his own dish, couldn’t help but watch Su Chen’s technique. Seeing him slice the meat, he was astonished. "Isn’t that too thin?"

"For this dish, the thinner the better."

Liu Ahbao was even more confused. Since it was Sizzling Rice with Pork Slices, it was most likely a stir-fry. Stir-fried dishes had certain requirements for the thickness of the meat. If it was too thin, it could easily get overcooked and tough due to the high heat.

That wouldn’t be delicious at all.

But since the boss said so, Ah Bao chose to trust him unconditionally.

The pork was sliced, and the rice crackers were fried.

Su Chen began to mix various seasonings in a bowl. It was often said that Sichuan cuisine was the king of seasonings, but this referred not only to its signature numbing spice but also to the powerful flavoring of its other dishes.

The seasoning for this dish had a very particular point: you only used the white parts of the scallions.

He diagonally cut the scallion whites into inch-long sections, then peeled and cut the ginger and garlic into small, squarish slices, setting them aside for later.

In the bowl, he added some of the clear broth left over from daytime, a spoonful of sugar, a spoonful of vinegar, a little cooking wine, a cornstarch slurry, and a few drops of soy sauce.