NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88 - The Little Master Chef's Cooking Guide
Chapter 88: The Little Master Chef’s Cooking Guide
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In Uncle Bull’s career as a sharp-tongued commentator, it was the first time for him to fail. After the live-stream ended, he edited the video properly and uploaded it online.
In just two days, the number of views had exceeded a million.
Turning on the video, there were dishes that looked, smelled, and tasted good. They were delicious and cheap. It made people salivate and there were so many praises on the bullet screen. Even in the comments section, it was rare that no one had picked on a fault.
The people who had visited the “Eight-year-old cafeteria” were all recommending their favorite dishes in the comments section. Initially, during the past few months when it was non-peak season, the entire food street’s business was not very good.
However, before the “Eight-year-old cafeteria” had even opened, there was already a long queue at the entrance. There were no empty seats every day, and business was very good.
Xu Le was excited every night as he calculated the net profit after accounting for the cost.
That morning, the system beeped twice and issued a mission: “Please record a food tutorial video. The number of likes needs to exceed 3 million for you to receive 600 gourmet points and a new opportunity.”
Xu Le brushed his teeth and asked in doubt, “3 million?”
There weren’t many fans on the platform for short videos. Even if he had already more than five million fans, the previous “Boiled Beef Slices” that he posted had only a million likes.
“That’s right. Please complete it as soon as possible.”
“Oh,” Xu Le answered. He spat out the foam, wiped the toothpaste stains on his mouth, and went to wake Xu Tian up.
“Tian Tian, it’s time for school, you’re going to be late!”
“I’m not getting up… sleepy,” Xu Tian muttered. “Just ten more minutes of sleep.”
She closed her eyes and pulled the blanket over her head.
Xu Le didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He said seriously, “You’re really going to be late. Otherwise, we won’t have time for breakfast later.”
Xu Tian was still dawdling when she suddenly smelled a fragrance. She sat up from the bed and said, “Brother, what are you cooking? It smells so good!”
She jumped off the bed and ran to the kitchen without putting on her shoes. Through the glass, she saw the stew in the casserole.
Xu Le chased after her with her shoes and said helplessly, “I’ve made chicken sauce rice noodles for you. I’m cooking the sauce now. Go wash up and sit down. Otherwise, you won’t have time to eat later.”
“Alright!”
Xu Tian ran off to wash up while Lu Yuxi came out of the room with sleepy eyes. She yawned and said, “As expected, gluttony is the greatest source of motivation.”
Xu Le teased her on purpose. “Didn’t you wake up from your cravings too?”
“Hmph.”
Lu Yuxi followed him to the kitchen to help. She saw the bright golden chicken soup in the casserole, where the fragrance was overflowing.
She saw Xu Le bringing out the vermicelli that had been bought and said, “I want to eat noodles. Do you have potato noodles or rice noodles?”
“There’s rice noodles.” Xu Le said, “Then I’ll change it for you.”
Lu Yuxi’s eyes lit up. “Okay! Thank you, Boss. Boss is so nice!”
The chicken soup was stewed with black chicken with ginger slices and scallions. When it was almost ready, he just needed to add some salt and pepper.
That would preserve the original flavor.
Xu Le took the vegetables and bean skins, washed them and cut them. Then, he found the beefballs that he had not finished previously.
The cooking method of the vermicelli was very fast and simple. The vermicelli that were curled into a ball would be softened in boiling water. The same applied to the rice noodles.
There were scallions, dried shrimp, seaweed, and a small piece of lard placed at the bottom of the bowl. The vegetables, bean skin, and beef balls could be boiled in the chicken soup before serving. The vermicelli were poured in, and a bowl of simple breakfast was ready.
According to one’s personal preference, one could choose to add in soya sauce and vinegar. The salt had already been added into the chicken soup. It was tender and delicious, and he didn’t even need to add MSG.
“You only made one bowl?”
“There’s no chili in this bowl. Wait a minute.”
As Xu Le spoke, he took out a piece of hotpot soup base and placed it in the pot to stir-fry. After he saw the red oil being produced, he added chicken soup, vermicelli that had been cooked and side ingredients.
In about three minutes, all the rice noodles and vermicelli were ready.
After washing up and changing her clothes, Xu Tian sat at the dining table and sniffed the fragrant rice noodles. She mumbled, “Brother, why didn’t you add chili for me?”
Xu Le knew his sister’s temper. He scooped a spoonful of soup from his bowl and fed it to her. “Try it.”
Xu Tian opened her mouth and smacked her lips. Her face turned red as she said stubbornly, “It’s alright. It’s not that spicy.”
Lu Yuxi deliberately made things difficult for her. “Then do you want another two mouthfuls?”
Xu Tian couldn’t hold it in any longer. She lowered her head and drank the soup in her bowl. “There’s no need for that. Wow, it smells so good!”
The rice noodles were soft and smooth. They were wrapped in the fragrant chicken soup and tasted so good that Xu Tian stomped her feet twice. “This soup is so delicious!”
Xu Le said calmly, “The chicken soup has been simmering for three to four hours. It must be very thick.”
Lu Yuxi looked at the vermicelli in their bowls and said, “Give me some. I want to try too.”
As she said that, she poured some of her rice noodles into their bowls. Xu Le also picked up two chopsticks of vermicelli for her and said, “You’re more picky than Tian Tian.”
Lu Yuxi pretended to be deaf.
The hot and fragrant soup slid into her stomach, warming her up. Lu Yuxi asked, “What do you think of Auntie Liu?”
“She’s quite efficient, not bad.”
“Her probation period was over yesterday. Why don’t we officially hire her?”
Xu Le said, “Sure.”
“Oh yeah, let’s record a short food tutorial video tonight. I think the response previously was pretty good.”
“What ingredients do you want to use?”
Xu Le was stunned. He said with a serious expression, “Let me think about it.”
Lu Yuxi nodded. She understood his concerns. “The audience is just ordinary people. It’s definitely better to make home-cooked dishes. However, it’s difficult to come up with a tutorial that everyone likes and is easy to learn.”
After one day of work, when Xu Le was closing for the night, he took out the leftover pork belly from the fridge and said, “I’ve decided on the theme.”
“Yeah?”
“Braised pork.”
Braised pork was a home-cooked dish. Braised pork had both sweet and salty flavors. It was especially appetizing and definitely suited the taste of the masses. Furthermore, it was also a dish that he had promised his fans beforehand.
“Yay! Remember to steam rice!”
Seeing her gluttonous expression, Xu Le reminded her, “I am recording a tutorial.”
“Anyway, I’m the one who will finish them all after the recording.”
Lu Yuxi rubbed her hands and looked excited. When she got home, she immediately took out the tripod that she had bought online. After setting up her phone, she asked in puzzlement, “Your video has at least ten million views. Why don’t you buy a video camera?”
Xu Le looked up. “Do you know how to use it?”
“…I think cell phones are pretty good. After all, we’re taking the route of home-cooked food.”
“I’ll count to three, two, and one. You can take out that quail egg. Aren’t you using the whole braised pork? Are you adding quail eggs into it?”
“Yeah, fried eggs.”
On the screen, the white and tender quail eggs were peeled and placed into the sieve before being fried at low temperature.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Xu Le. Today, I’ll teach everyone how to make a very homely and delicious braised pork.. The method is simple. Even a novice can learn it!”