Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 436 - 348: Brothers Come, Why Didn’t You Call Me Last Time You Snuck a Bite?

Raphael silently withdrew his hand and even helped him smooth out the creases on his shoulder.

"I’ve often heard Lin talk about you, so I subconsciously thought we were quite familiar, haha, my apologies."

"?" Lin Chen blinked his eyes and pointed at himself, "Me?"

Raphael widened his eyes.

"Oh right, right, it’s true. The chef’s purpose this time was to meet you and see if he could reach some business collaboration with you."

This time, it was Raphael’s turn to be bewildered.

Business collaboration?

I don’t even know what this guy does, how did collaboration come into the picture?

As soon as he heard the word "collaboration," Magna immediately smiled and raised the bag in his hand: "Perfect, I brought some good stuff along, have any of you had lunch yet?"

"Since Lin made this thing for me a couple of days ago, I’ve been savoring it in my dreams every night; I can’t sleep well, I’m just thinking about having it again."

"Lin, when do you have time, could you make a pot for me again? I brought a large amount this time, and I need to pack some to take back for those rascals under me to eat. Last time, they split all the soup clean."

"Huh? It’s not the same stuff again, is it?"

"Exactly, it’s those!"

"What secret code are you two speaking?"

Nagishiro Sho and Raphael simultaneously reached out to open the bag for a look.

After one glance, their expressions froze once more.

A dozen fish heads with eyes wide open stared directly at the two, as if conveying some form of grievance from life.

The other bag was filled with another kind of fish parts that resembled small balloons with veins, and there were countless fish eggs at the bottom.

They recognized this stuff, but what was this blood-veined balloon...

"Fish bubble?"

Nagishiro Sho recalled for a moment and finally remembered the name of the thing.

"You can cook with this stuff?"

"Of course, you can!"

Before Lin Chen could open his mouth, Magna responded eagerly, "Not only can you cook with it, but it’s super delicious! At least five bowls of rice to start! The soup can be finished clean!"

Raphael covered his forehead and sighed.

Even pig brains and pig intestines are already being stewed in the pot, adding a few fish heads doesn’t seem much, right?

Since we’re here, why not try everything in one go!

"By the way, what you guys gave me just now, what was it called? It was pretty tasty, is there any more?"

"You find it tasty?!"

Lucas rushed over with a whole piece of durian flesh in his hand.

"Yeah, do they sell this stuff in supermarkets? I’ve never seen it, ugh... but the smell is quite strong."

While gagging, Magna grabbed the flesh and stuffed it into his mouth, shaking his head as he ate, handing the bag to Lucas.

"Fish eggs, fish bubbles, fish heads?"

Seeing the contents of the bag, Lucas’s eyes lit up, nodding repeatedly.

"Good, good, good stuff! Old Ma, you really know how to eat!"

Earlier, he was busy opening the third durian, not paying attention to what was being discussed, he only heard that durian was tasty and asked if there was more.

"Yeah, when Lin made it for me a couple of days ago, I even packed the soup back, and my employees said it was tasty too, pestering me every day about when I’d bring it again."

"?"

Lucas turned to Lin Chen: "You cooked fish offal and didn’t invite me?"

"..."

Lin Chen scratched his cheek, moving his gaze to the side: "He didn’t bring a large amount last time, just enough for two, can’t blame me."

"Besides, you didn’t say you wanted to eat this stuff."

"I have this stuff too! If needed, want me to get some?"

John understood Magna’s character well; if it wasn’t genuinely tasty, he wouldn’t drive all this way to find Lin Chen to make it.

Such enthusiasm suggests it’s genuinely delicious.

He wanted to try it too!

Fish, aren’t those plentiful at my farm?

Abundant!

"Farm fish should be fine, right? If not, I have two rivers at my farm as well, with farmed fish, shrimp, and crabs."

"No rush, remember there’s still so much stuff stewing in the pot? Originally, I made plenty, now with Magna’s addition, it seems about right, with another dish added, enough for everyone to fill up."

"In case some food makes you lose your appetite and not get full, we can make something temporarily, anyhow, there’s the product selling area right next to us."

"Makes sense."

"Oh no! I forgot to bring some ice-cold beers, John, do you have any here?"

"Impossible, do you think of my place as a restaurant? I don’t even have a kitchen!"

"This won’t do, I need to go buy some drinks, or I’ll regret it later!"

Magna didn’t stay long and immediately turned to disappear from everyone’s sight.

"Needs pairing with alcohol? Lin, what exactly did you make with this waste material?"

In Raphael’s mind, snacks that pair well with beer are typically deep-fried ones, like calamari rings, chicken wings, or popcorn chicken.

Order some at a bar, with a couple of glasses of ice-cold beer, watching a game while drinking—life doesn’t get much better.

But no matter what, he couldn’t connect the waste parts of a fish with snacks.

Fish roe is fine, but how do you eat fish heads?

Aren’t those things used to make broth?

Nagishiro Sho didn’t seem to have any emotional reaction; after all, fish heads are a specialty in Japanese cuisine.

Cut in half, marinated in miso, and pan-fried—a typical Japanese snack.

However, he prefers pairing them with sake rather than beer.

With Chinese preparations turning fish heads into drinking snacks, he couldn’t imagine it, but was starting to feel a vague anticipation.

Anyway, he’s sure it tastes better than pig brains and pig intestines.

As time ticked away.

The scent of stewed meat wafting from the stove grew increasingly rich.

If they didn’t mention it, no one would know what abstract ingredients were simmering in the pot.

Other than the long-simmering ones, like yellow throat which only needs about ten seconds, Lin Chen hadn’t hurriedly added them to the pot, just cut them to the right size and left them soaking in clear water.

The intestines, which required the longest cooking time, had already been pre-pressured in a cooker, and this stewing step was just to infuse more flavor.

The condiments on the food truck were limited, for now he could only make the most basic soy flavor.

Though there were a few hotpot base ingredients he could use, he didn’t want to ruin the whole pot of stew, planning to fish them out and process them a second time after stewing.

"How long does it need to cook?"

Raphael was tantalized by the stew fragrance, and with the durian he ate earlier working its sugary magic, his stomach growled noisily.

"It’s ready to eat already, but the longer it stews, the softer the texture and more intense the flavor. How about I fish a bit out for you to try now?"

"Sure, sampling the different textures of the same ingredient is important, but are you sure there won’t be any strange flavors?"

"That depends on how you define strange."

Lin Chen’s mouth curved into a mysterious smile, glancing at the durian husk on the table outside, then lifted the pot lid, letting great swathes of steam rise up, carrying even richer stew fragrance.

He stirred the stew a few times, skillfully fishing out a chunk of intestine, placed it on a cutting board and chopped it into knuckle-sized pieces, putting them in a food container to hand out.

"Here, eat. This is the original flavor; we commonly cook intestines before further processing, so you can first taste the unaltered flavor."

"The thin pieces here are the middle and tail ends of the intestines, while the thick pieces are the front end; each has a different texture."

After waiting for quite a while, the few remaining curious tourists finally saw what the food in the pot looked like; but hearing the word ’intestine’, their expressions instantly changed.

"You can eat intestines too?"

"Isn’t that the intestine that holds poop?"

Raphael’s mouth twitched; he inhaled deeply and nodded.

"Yes, it’s that part. Please, can you avoid saying ’poop’ when we’re about to eat?"

"Uh... sorry, sorry, that’s the only descriptor that comes to mind right now; but go ahead, eat."

"You’ve waited so long. Come, try it together."

"No, no!"

"We’re just curious, not hungry—not hungry at all!"

Failing to convince anyone, Raphael felt quite upset, already missing his newly-met good brothers.

"Where’s Mr. Magna?"

"Oh, here’s the thing," Lin Chen seemed to recall, "he brought fish scraps as side dishes, but there’s no rice on the food truck, so I asked him to bring some from the restaurant kitchen. It’s just meal time, so there should be ready-made rice."

"He might be back ten minutes late."

"Stop dawdling, Raphael; if you’re afraid to eat it, just say so."

Nagishiro Sho didn’t hesitate, picking up a steaming piece of intestine and chewing it nonchalantly, his expression unchanged, even occasionally nodding, as if he were munching on ordinary meat.

"Who’s afraid to eat?"

Raphael also considered himself straightforward; after all, he came here to try new things, mentally prepared long ago. But as the moment arrived, he realized a psychological burden much greater than anticipated.

Especially with his mind persistently reminding him that this part holds pig poop, the nausea welled up again, making his throat itch.

"Damn it, what the hell!"

Without much hesitation—aware that more hesitation would increase the likelihood of failure—

he mimicked Nagishiro Sho’s gesture, picking up a piece of intestine, opted not to smell it, and tossed it into his mouth to chew with determination, eyes shut.

While chewing, visibly, his whole body grew tense, his expression extremely stiff.

But as he chewed on, his facial expression softened gradually, replaced by an indescribable sense of bewilderment.

"How is it, not bad, right?"

The faintly aromatic stewed intestine reminded Nagishiro Sho of flavors quite familiar to him; after all, it’s cooked in a soy sauce base, quite akin to their Sakura Char Siu flavor.

With the soy sauce’s enhancement, he felt that its flavor wasn’t bad, considering a Japanese-style inventiveness with miso and sake.

But such lacked novelty, so he passed.

Moreover, they likely wouldn’t have many customers willing to try it.

"Indeed, better than expected, no peculiar taste at all."

Raphael nodded, then shook his head: "But the texture..."