Chen Mo looked down at the bowl of danzai noodles in front of him, the steam enveloping the fragrance of shrimp oil and the rich aroma of minced meat came wafting towards his face.

In the bowl, the oil noodles coiled like golden threads, and bright red shrimp floated on the amber broth. He suddenly recalled the exaggerated scenes of clothes exploding in anime, and his Adam’s apple involuntarily moved.

"Can noodles made this way taste bad?"

Chen Mo knew the noodles would definitely be delicious, just from observing the process Granny used to make them.

The focus of eating noodles differs between the north and south; the north emphasizes the quality of the noodles itself, with great tolerance for the toppings and broth, but if the noodles are poorly made, the entire dish will be rejected.

In the south, however, the focus is the opposite; here, the quality of the noodles itself is not heavily considered, customers often pay more attention to the flavor of the broth and toppings. But for Chen Mo, both must be excellent!

As soon as the chopsticks picked up the noodles, the hidden umami at the bottom of the bowl surged upward like startled fish. Since these were southern-style noodles, Chen Mo stirred the noodles before drinking the broth.

The scorching shrimp oil broth exploded on the tongue upon entrance, the rich broth filled the mouth like silk, followed by the unique sweet aftertaste of sea shrimp.

The soup was very good, Chen Mo nodded slightly and continued to eat the noodles.

Granny in the kitchen tidied up and watched the young man eating noodles with interest, truly curious.

Even though he looks quite smart, why did he come up with something strange like milk tea pancakes? Moreover, Chen Mo’s manner of eating noodles was rather refined, resembling more a food critic from a gourmet magazine savoring a dish than a customer coming specifically to have breakfast.

The noodles combined with the braised meat filled his mouth, Chen Mo ate slowly, wanting to fully experience the content of the danzai noodles.

Truly unexpected!

Despite the meat filling being stewed for fifteen minutes, it was unexpectedly chewy, and the alternating layers of fatty and lean pork burst with juices between his teeth, the flavor of braised meat through the combination of thirteen spices and dark soy sauce also carried the sweet clarity of rice wine.

"White wine removes fishiness, rice wine enhances aroma..." Chen Mo murmured, Gourmet Instinct made the image of Granny tossing the skillet and sprinkling in spices automatically appear in his mind, "How did I never think of doing this before?"

This really was unexpected.

Rice wine is quite rare in the north, almost no one makes that stuff, so its use in cooking is particularly scarce.

After eating two bites of noodles, Chen Mo picked up half an egg.

The egg yolk broke and seeped into the crevices of the noodles with a gentle poke of the chopsticks, Chen Mo suddenly understood why anime described it as food "that reminds you of mom’s cooking."

Sliding the melted yolk-wrapped noodles down his throat, the taste was remarkably familiar, very much like the egg noodles made at home during childhood.

Chen Mo continued eating two more bites, only to feel the taste of noodles mixed with broth growing increasingly strange.

"No, that pot of broth seems not so simple."

If it were just broth cooked from chicken rack and pork bones, the flavor should retain the fresh taste of meat, this freshness would be considerably dulled after adding other seasonings, leaving only a rich texture.

But now it’s different, the more Chen Mo ate, the more he felt this noodle’s umami included a special flavor combining seafood and meat freshness.

"Relying solely on shrimp head oil couldn’t create this taste." Chen Mo was somewhat perplexed, looking up towards the kitchen, coincidentally meeting Granny’s gaze.

He smiled slightly and continued looking down to eat noodles.

Simultaneously, Passive Skills activated!

Each chew by Chen Mo amplified the flavors of the noodles tenfold, this intense experience gradually led him to sense the soup’s preparation method.

"Made using dried bonito and katsuobushi, boiled with kombu for Japanese dashi?"

Chen Mo couldn’t believe it, looking down at the broth in the bowl.

The noodles... were already finished.

"No..." he asked, "Granny, how much?"

"30 yuan."

Indeed.

Chen Mo was just thinking that if his skill was accurate, then this bowl of noodles couldn’t possibly be cheap.

In Taiwan Night Market, a bowl of danzai noodles should be priced around 15 yuan, Chen Mo last night noticed that even famous stores selling danzai noodles charged only 25 yuan a bowl.

And this bowl of noodles sold for 30 yuan...

"What’s wrong young man, is it expensive?"

"Not expensive, not expensive." Chen Mo shook his head with a smile, picked up the bowl, and gulped down the broth, "Aside from boiling the broth, you painstakingly make dashi too, this price isn’t expensive."

Now it was Granny’s turn to be shocked.

She looked at Chen Mo in surprise, taking a few steps towards him, "Can you taste it?"

No wonder Granny was stunned.

After all, ordinary folks at most felt her danzai noodles were delicious, those slightly sensitive to taste noticed the intensified seafood flavor, but few discovered the specific reason. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Moreover, Granny knew Chen Mo was clearly from the mainland, yet he even knew what dashi was, what does that signify?

The young man in front, definitely a genuine!

Foodie!!!

"Yes, managed to taste it, no wonder it isn’t considered expensive. By the way, Granny, how did you come up with using dashi in the broth?"

Chen Mo was indeed curious.

This bowl of danzai noodles was no longer just ordinary Taiwanese snacks, essentially it was a new creation from Japanese cuisine and Taiwanese snacks fusion.

"Hehe." Granny smiled, sitting opposite Chen Mo, "This, many years ago, a Japanese customer came to the shop to eat noodles, he told me although the danzai noodles were delicious, they still lacked depth. So I thought, what constitutes depth of taste? Then I came up with this idea."