Food: Random stalls, customers chase me all over the country

Chapter 663-You can say he is crazy, but you can't say he is bad

"Heh, they're really just a bunch of idiots who talk big."

Looking at the long queue outside the window, Umekawa Kuko finally put aside the slight uneasiness in his heart.

The craftsmanship of the Great Sakura Empire is a temptation that Chinese people can never refuse!
I have decided that I will have a stern face all day today and no one can take away a smile from me.

"Open for business."

As Umekawa Kuko was about to enter the kitchen, he said to Tomoko calmly, "Tell the waiters, no one is allowed to laugh today. If anyone laughs, I will deduct their salary."

Tomoko nodded and hurried to explain. Although the waiter felt a little strange, it would save some effort if he didn't have to smile. Fake smiles are tiring!
This ramen restaurant is much larger than Wang Fan’s small shop. There are 15 tables in the shop. Through the glass inside the shop, you can vaguely see the scene in the kitchen.

The moment the restaurant door opened, a group of people rushed into the store and quickly sat down in their desired seats.

Chen Shuipian and his girlfriend Catherine were also there. They were the couple who passed by Wang Fan’s shop yesterday.

Chen Shuipian said to Catherine with a smug look on his face, "Brother, you're awesome, aren't you? I got one of the first tickets. I can even vaguely see what's going on in the kitchen from here. Look at that guy in the white hat. He's Master Umekawa Kuko, known as the Ramen Sage of Sakura Country. We're in for a treat today."

Catherine was a little conflicted. "Actually, I really want to go to Boss Wang's place. After all, I heard he's a world-class chef, and he also makes seafood noodles. I think it should taste good."

Chen Shui-pian scoffed disdainfully, "Tsk, they're just taking advantage of the times. Only people like Master Meichuan Kuzi, who started when self-media wasn't yet popular and has persisted for thirty years, and who only makes ramen, deserve to be called masters. That little internet celebrity also makes seafood noodles, but they just knew the master was opening today and wanted to jump on the bandwagon. What good can they make?"

After hearing what he said, Catherine was a little hesitant. Nowadays, there are too many internet celebrities who have failed. She is not sure whether Boss Wang really has the real ingredients. "Okay, I'm not sure about that place, but this place is definitely delicious. Then I'll listen to you and eat here."

Chen Shuipian was even more proud. He vaguely caught a glimpse of Meichuan Kuzi's stern face through the window and said with even more admiration, "Look at him. What a serious expression he has. He loves his job with all his heart. This is the true spirit of a craftsman from the Land of Sakura."

Old Ding's brows were already wrinkled into the shape of a "mountain" character. Chen Shuipian's words really irritated him.

It's not that he hasn't eaten food from Sakura Country. He has been to Sakura Country many times. There are indeed many shops there that are opened by grandfathers and inherited by fathers, and then the sons inherit the tradition when the fathers get old. But if you insist on saying that this is the spirit of craftsmanship, then there is really no need to say. To put it bluntly, there is simply no choice.

And the most important point is that food doesn't need any stories at all. Let alone the spirit of craftsmanship, even if you have the spirit of an immortal, what you make in the end will not lie. You will know whether it tastes good or not by trying it.

Lao Ding's fingers tapped rhythmically on the receipt on the table. The numbers on the receipt were very shocking. Although it was not painful to spend, Lao Ding still felt that he had to set the highest standards.

After all, the price of a serving of sea urchin noodles at 588 yuan and a serving of Pu'er Wagyu noodles at 1188 yuan is quite amazing in China.

Lao Ding looked through the glass of the kitchen and could vaguely see the ramen chef lifting the noodle spoon, which was the kitchen utensil commonly used in Sakura-style ramen. The ramen chef's speed was not fast, even a little slow, and he seemed to not care at all about the diners in the store who were eagerly waiting for the food.

Fortunately, they could cook a lot of noodles in one pot, so Lao Ding didn’t have to wait long before he got his sea urchin noodles.

The waiter was wearing a cherry-style outfit and had no expression on his face. Lao Ding didn't think much about it, but looked at his sea urchin noodles.

The bowl is not big, and the noodles take up less than half of the space in the bowl. The amber soup base in the bowl is fresh and clear. In addition to the green chopped green onions, there is also a small area with orange-yellow sea urchin meat.

When Lao Ding saw this small piece of sea urchin, his brows furrowed deeply again.

Sea urchins are not expensive. A serving of sea urchin noodles costs 588 yuan, but only gives such a small amount of sea urchin. It really doesn't deserve the price.

Lao Ding picked up the chopsticks and spoon beside him, put the spoon into the bowl, rolled up some cylindrical thin noodles with the chopsticks and put them on the spoon, then used the spoon to put the noodles and soup into his mouth.

The soup is cold and the noodles are also cold. As soon as you put it in your mouth, you can feel the unique refreshing and elegant sweetness of the soup base. As for the soup base, Lao Ding thinks it is at least very good.

When you chew the noodles again, you will find that they are very chewy and moist, and there is nothing to say about the taste.

Lao Ding is quite knowledgeable about Sakura ramen. As soon as he tasted it, he knew that this noodle was Shodoshima somen, one of the three major Sakura somen. Moreover, from the texture and taste, he could tell that the noodles used were the highest-grade Kindai somen. This kind of noodles is coated with sesame oil instead of cottonseed oil during the production process, and the aroma is a bit stronger.

The production process of this kind of noodles is also very interesting. When they are hung up to dry, they look like knitted sweaters.

Lao Ding put the spoon into the bowl again. This time, while scooping up the soup base and noodles, he also scooped some sea urchin meat onto the spoon.

When you put it in your mouth, the sweet sea urchin has the same texture as ice cream, coupled with the chewy noodles, rich wheat aroma and light sesame aroma, plus the freshness of the soup base, Lao Ding thinks the overall taste is still very good.

"If you eat this noodle in the summer, it will definitely be a real treat for your taste buds. The overall flavor and texture are excellent, worthy of a master chef with 30 years of experience. If this noodle was sold for 300 or even 400 yuan, I believe I would still highly recommend it. But 588, nearly 600 yuan, with only a small amount of sea urchin and noodles, really makes me feel that the price is a bit inflated."

Lao Ding pointed the camera at the bowl and said, "Look, I've almost finished this portion, but I can only say I'm not even half full."

He would occasionally do a live broadcast, and every time he did, there would be a very large number of viewers in the live broadcast room. Seeing how little was left in Lao Ding's bowl of noodles and hearing the price Lao Ding had just quoted, the onlookers couldn't help but sigh again.

"So the Demon City really does have its own currency, right? Is it the Shanghai currency?"

"The above may sound like insults, but I also want to ask a sincere question: how many Huaxia coins are equivalent to one Shanghai coin?"

"Here, 588 is enough to get a basic New Year's Eve dinner for 12 people. We have pork elbow, chicken, lamb, beef, and everything else. In Shanghai, you can only have a bowl of noodles, and it still doesn't fill you up! Mr. Hu is really awesome."

"This seafood noodle looks a bit bland. I still think the Shacha seafood noodles that Boss Wang shared before are more to my taste. I'm drooling just looking at it."

"Di Renjie is also doing a livestream today, but he's not as efficient as Lao Ding. He's still waiting in line, so it'll probably take another half an hour."

"Just for this reason, I don't believe that Boss Wang will recharge. Besides, if Lao Di is still praising Boss Wang's food, it only means that Boss Wang's food is really delicious." In just a moment, the expressionless waiter brought another bowl of noodles. The overall size was no different from the sea urchin noodles, but the sea urchin in the noodles was replaced by two thin slices of Wagyu beef.

Pu'er Wagyu noodles may sound like a dark dish, but after seeing the real thing, I don't associate it that way.

The soup base is much darker in color than the sea urchin noodles, and two slices of pink wagyu beef cover most of the noodles.

The scallion whites and chopped green onion leaves are lightly spread on the Wagyu beef, which looks quite elegant.

This time, Lao Ding didn't rush to eat the noodles. Instead, he scooped the soup base into the cup first, then picked up the cup and savored it carefully.

This Pu'er Wagyu noodle dish is served with hot noodles and hot soup. There is a light mist rising from the bowl. Blow lightly on the teacup and take a sip, and the taste similar to French beef stock broth enters your mouth.

"Hmm? I thought this soup would be dark, but it's surprisingly delicious. The soup base has some Pu'er tea aroma, very similar to the taste of Singapore Bak Kut Teh."

Lao Ding is a professional food blogger who always expresses his true feelings. He may say that the owner of Sakura is crazy, but judging from the taste of these two bowls of noodles, he certainly would not say that the boss’s food is bad.

"The fully-ripened Wagyu beef is very tender. It's said to be native to the Land of Sakura. It even has a light milky aroma, but..."

Old Ding's praise suddenly stopped, and he immediately changed the subject and began to talk about the shortcomings of the noodles: "However, I have to say that there is one thing about this bowl of noodles that I find very hard to accept, and that is the texture of the noodles."

Lao Ding picked up a handful of noodles with chopsticks and held them in front of the camera, continuing, "As you can see, these noodles are very thin, so there are inherent flaws in the taste. These flaws aren't obvious when making cold noodles, but they become completely apparent when making hot noodles."

Hearing Lao Ding's complaints, the barrage of comments in the live broadcast room immediately started to explode, especially those from the north, each one more vehement than the other: "Your noodles are just instant noodles after all, which are at the bottom of the food chain in our northern part of the country. If I wasn't starving or dying of laziness, I would never cook instant noodles and waste a bowl of soup."

"That's right! I won't accept anything that isn't hand-rolled noodles. Any toppings that don't adhere to the principle of hand-rolled noodles are a waste of food."

"Just a piece of shabby instant noodles with such a good soup base, it makes me feel uncomfortable."

"I have to say this about Boss Wang. He makes the noodles right on the spot, and they're so chewy."

Northerners love to eat noodles. Noodles are only divided into dried noodles and hand-rolled noodles. Noodles that are not made on the spot are classified as dried noodles. If you are lucky enough to see a northerner cooking and eating dried noodles, there is a high probability that this northerner will starve to death in the next second.

Just having an egg on these noodles is already a high-standard treatment, who would want to add any toppings to it?
Old Ding was already eating and shaking his head. "I think the noodles taste pretty good, but the texture of the hot noodles is hard to describe. I can only say that an 80-year-old lady could eat them effortlessly, even though she doesn't have a single tooth. And the taste, in my opinion, is no different from any other high-rated ramen restaurant in Sakura Country. But the price is over five times higher. Unless you're a wealthy owner, I don't recommend coming here specifically to try it."

Lao Ding is also famous for his boldness. He even started to attack people while he was still in their store.

Chen Shui listened from the side with his face flushed, but he really couldn't think of any reason to refute Lao Ding.

After all, the texture of the curry noodles he ordered was exactly the same as what Lao Ding described. The noodles tasted soft and mushy, as if they had been soaked in water for most of the day.

The noodle soup didn't have much of a curry flavor, but it did have a strong beef flavor. What struck him as most absurd was that the two shrimps in the bowl were actually fried in breadcrumbs instead of the showy, light tempura batter.

The shrimp were cooked like the fried shrimp you get at a 100 dollar buffet, so tough it would make your teeth scream for help.

But can I admit that this noodle is not delicious? Of course not! Can I say that the ramen master’s skills are not good? Of course not!

Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone stumbles. The Ramen Immortal must have been too excited last night and didn’t get enough rest, so today’s ramen was not up to standard. After all, he must be very excited to open such a big store!
"This noodle tastes good, doesn't it? This is the power of the Ramen Sage. Lanzhou Ramen is simply incomparable."

Chen Shuipian said to Catherine with an intoxicated look on his face, "I just ordered another 200 yuan fried chicken and ate it to my heart's content. This kind of delicacy can't be found in ordinary places."

Catherine frowned and looked at Chen Shuipian: "Are you serious?"

……

Different from Meichuan Kuzi's expressionless face, Wang Fan always smiles unconsciously when making delicious food. He really likes the process of making this delicious food from his own hands from the bottom of his heart.

There were pieces of dough on his chopping board, and the big pot on the right was filled with fried seafood toppings.

The small noodles in the big pot were still on low heat, and the rich aroma of seafood was constantly released.

His noodle-making skills have captured the essence of Lanzhou beef noodles, and he even looks more skilled and beautiful than the average chef.

In his hands, the small dough is quickly pulled into noodles of various widths to meet the different needs of each diner.

Di Renjie finally got to the front of the line at this moment, and he said without hesitation that he liked the wide chive leaves the best.

The width of leek leaves is about 5 mm, and the thickness, width and length are very uniform, with a very unique taste.

"You've kept me waiting for over half an hour. I'm going to find something to complain about today no matter what. Just wait."

Di Renjie and Wang Fan were already very familiar with each other, and he was joking with Wang Fan while waiting for the noodles.

Wang Fan laughed and said, "If you can point out one flaw, your bowl of noodles today will be for nothing."

(End of this chapter)