Chapter 393: Chapter 305: Fish Offal Instant Noodles—Why Does This Look Even Tastier?

The starch sausages, about the length of a palm, appeared particularly tiny in Turion’s hand, and seemed to shrink a size, disappearing into his gaping mouth in just two bites.

"I’ll be off now. I’ll come by again the next time I’m free~"

Turion grabbed two more starch sausages from the bag, stuffed them into his mouth, and with oil dripping from his lips, he laughed, nodded at the two, and turned towards the police car.

As he walked, he silently memorized Lin Chen’s appearance.

Nagishiro Sho, after all, is a head chef comparable to Michelin level. A chef who can converse with him normally should also be a head chef, barring any surprises.

Could it be... that Asian is the head chef of this restaurant?

Hey, that’s interesting.

While waiting earlier, Nagishiro Sho casually chatted with Turion and roughly learned the reason this police officer appeared here.

Turns out, it’s quite similar to his, just with a different focus.

His main aim was to find Lin Chen, and meeting Mr. Wang and his wife was just an excuse, social pleasantries on the surface.

"Mr. Nagishiro, back so soon, is it related to the case?"

Lin Chen, of course, was clueless about his purpose. Seeing him sitting by the wooden table, he then realized the table hadn’t been cleaned yet, so he hurriedly grabbed a cloth and disinfectant to clean up.

"Uh..."

Nagishiro Sho scratched his cheek, his gaze wandering.

"More or less, I guess. After all, I am also a Sakura Person, I can’t let those rotten ones ruin our name. Some measures have to be taken."

"This time, I also wanted to discuss Great Xia’s culinary culture with Mr. Lin. I feel that without a good understanding of Great Xia cuisine, it’s very difficult to incorporate its elements into the food of other countries."

"Before coming, this morning, I also discussed with Chef Marchello and Chef Raphael and tried some dishes, but the results weren’t very satisfactory."

Nagishiro Sho was also very straightforward, immediately bringing the topic to cooking.

He wasn’t good at interpersonal or business activities; he poured his heart into his passion for culinary arts.

If it weren’t for the strong backing of his family business, he wouldn’t have reached his current position.

Though the restaurant is his, his only task is developing dishes and controlling the quality of the output; all other matters have dedicated people to handle them.

Runaway situations like now have happened many times before, and can even be said to be the norm.

Only by stepping out of the comfort zone can a chef expand their horizons and gain new inspirations.

"Innovation?"

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow. "That’s right, the taste of Great Xia ingredients is quite unique, not very compatible with Western cooking methods and flavors, making it hard to find a balance point."

"To create a dish with Great Xia’s unique flavor, besides using distinctly styled ingredients like Sichuan pepper or doubanjiang, I believe methods of cooking and handling can also be borrowed."

"For instance, Great Xia’s meat marinating technique, if applied to Western cuisine, would absolutely provide a refreshing experience as the resulting texture is completely different."

"There are many such methods, but indeed, an understanding of Great Xia culture is needed to capture its essence; it’s not something you can achieve by casually watching a few videos."

"Yes, that’s right."

Nagishiro Sho nodded in agreement, scratching the back of his head in frustration.

"I’ve tried marinating methods too, but if you use stir-fry techniques, the result becomes an adapted Great Xia dish, completely unrelated to Western food."

"Using a pan-fry is okay, but something like steak or fish fillets aren’t suited for that method due to their thickness."

"I even tried the steamed dish you made last time. It tasted good, but it didn’t feel quite presentable for guests."

That’s his biggest dilemma. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Despite learning a lot of useful knowledge, when it came to putting it into practice, he couldn’t seem to piece it together into a complete, Great Xia-inspired fusion dish.

Using just Great Xia seasonings doesn’t work, nor does using just cooking methods, or just marinating techniques.

Using too many elements results in a Great Xia dish with a Western touch, a balance he can’t quite grasp.

Lin Chen smiled mysteriously, not at all surprised by this outcome.

If Great Xia’s culinary culture were so easily borrowed, it would have spread globally like sushi buffets.

Even himself, after working in a Western kitchen for so many years, only gradually understood some fusion cuisine techniques through osmosis.

For someone who knows nothing about Great Xia culture, it’s a fantasy to master it in just a few days!

He had no intention of guiding Nagishiro Sho either.

At their level, just observing other chefs is enlightening enough, there’s no need to say much.

Everyone has their own secret skills, not easily shared with others, especially competitors.

Earlier, he dared to demonstrate the entire cooking process openly in front of the two head chefs partly due to restaurant regulations and partly because he had already thought of this.

"Aren’t you also looking for President Wang? I won’t take up more of your time. I might have new staff arriving in the afternoon, so while there’s still time, I’m planning to take a nap."

After a brief chat with him, he didn’t stay long. After cleaning the table, he immediately headed towards the hotel.

"Hey!"

Nagishiro Sho seemed to want to call out to him, but the words got stuck in his mouth, leaving him unsure of how to start the conversation.

He couldn’t just brazenly ask someone to teach him how to make fusion dishes with a Great Xia flavor, could he?

"I definitely can’t get a dinner slot today. How about tomorrow? But can I at least watch today?"

"Looks like I still need to find Mr. Wang."

He planned to secure a slot first, then stay up all night reviewing the previous episodes of the ’Taste’ series, and watch some Great Xia food broadcasts, surely he would gain new inspiration.

On the other side.

Returning to the stall with the leftover fish soup, Boss Magna saw there were few customers. He mysteriously called over the two employees who were lounging around playing on their phones.

"Stop sleeping, come here, let me show you what delicious food I’ve brought!"

"Delicious food?!"

His employees were mostly aware that their boss often went to Radisson for a culinary feast. They had been secretly following Lucas’s social platforms, drooling over those seemingly delicious foods for days.

Upon hearing the boss say he packed some food to bring back, the two of them suddenly jumped off the deckchairs, instantly wide awake.

"There are still some unprocessed fish, right? Pick a few with roe!"

Magna placed the two boxes filled with fish soup on the table and confidently brought out a small milk pan to start adding water.

He had attentively watched Lin Chen’s cooking process earlier.

Not knowing the complex steps didn’t matter, after all, the fish soup was ready-made. He was confident he could handle the simple task of blanching.

"Boss, can fish roe really be made delicious?"

The two employees were initially a bit skeptical, but when they grabbed four plump-bellied sea fish from the crushed ice and saw the enticing golden-red soup in the box, their doubts instantly vanished.

"Marseille Fish Soup?!"

"Nonsense!"

Magna rolled his eyes with clear annoyance.

"This is way tastier than Marseille Fish Soup. Stop talking nonsense and quickly clean the fish roe and bladders. Today I want to show you what true Great Xia Cuisine is!"

Hearing it was even better than Marseille Fish Soup, the two employees immediately became more interested. They picked up sharp knives and swiftly sliced open the fish bellies, extracting the intact innards.

"Rinse them clean, then puncture the fish bladders and cut them in half. Scrape off any blood from the roe surface and cut them into pieces two knuckles long."

Of course, the stall didn’t have a stove, so he used a portable burner, usually used for frying eggs, sausages, and toast, or reheating takeout like pizza and curry.

"Boss, is this what you eat too?"

The two clearly remembered the boss leaving with a few bags of fish scraps, only to bring back two boxes of rich soup.

"Exactly! This soup is a super-rich broth boiled and concentrated from over ten pounds of fish bones, tails, and heads, with plenty of roe and bladders added. It’s guaranteed to taste excellent!"

As Magna spoke, he began to drool again, thinking of the unique texture of the fish roe and bladders.

Originally, he planned to keep these two bowls of essence for a midnight snack, but later thought, rather than eating leftovers, why not take fresh ingredients to Lin Chen for a fresh dish?

After all, that guy was busy running his stall and didn’t have time to prepare staff meals. Providing fresh seafood for free and getting a meal in return seemed reasonable, right?

He didn’t want to waste these two delicious bowls of rich fish soup, so he decided to use them for goodwill, offering his subordinates a rare treat. This way, they would be more motivated the next time he needed their help.

As the fish roe and bladders gradually changed color in the boiling water, the faint fishy smell unique to sea fish wafted out.

For the three of them, who had spent years in this environment, this scent was nothing, hardly noticeable.

But.

As he scooped out the fish scraps and began heating the spicy fish soup, the two subordinates’ noses began to twitch.

"Hiss... Ha, it seems a bit fragrant, huh?"

"What’s this smell? It has a sort of herbal scent like basil or oregano. No, no, it’s not quite them either."

"It’s perilla."

"Perilla? What’s that?"

"Don’t ask, it’s a kind of herb leaf, similar to basil, that’s all you need to know. Look it up online if you want."

Magna waved his hand impatiently.

He didn’t want to explain because today was the first time he’d heard of this thing and couldn’t explain it at all.

In no time, in just about seven or eight minutes, a pot full of fish roe and bladder fish soup noodles was ready.

He followed Lin Chen’s instructions precisely, cooking the fish roe and bladders for three minutes first, then adding the noodles to cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

And indeed, the fish soup noodles cooked according to Lin Chen’s method had a broth thicker than what he’d originally eaten. It was so thick it clung to each noodle strand like a sauce.

Plus, with the broken fish roe and some leftover bits of fish meat mixed in the soup, it smelled absolutely delicious.

"How does this... seem even more delicious than the pot I had?"