Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Chen Ran's view that "customers will grow out of the ground themselves" was something Lu Jingrong had yet to experience.

However, this kind of confident joy and love for cooking was indeed contagious.

Especially for the customers standing right in front of Chen Ran.

From chopping vegetables to stir-frying, from flipping the wok to seasoning, watching Chen Ran cook face-to-face always gave a particularly enjoyable feeling.

Whether it was watching her chop meat and vegetables or watching her skillfully flip the wok and even show off some tricks, it was clear that this chef’s skills were undoubtedly profound.

Not only was she making chili stir-fried pork, but even when a customer asked for a fried egg, the chef was very serious about it. While frying the egg into a perfect oval shape, she also explained it to the waiting customer.

"To make the shape of the fried egg perfect, without using molds, the pan must be heated extremely hot. This also prevents the egg from sticking. When cooking at home, you can use a drop of water to test; if the water rolls around like this, you’re good to go."

She slowly cracked the egg, her hands steady and patient. The egg whites and yolk slowly fell, rapidly setting in the hot oil.

"Look! It sets really quickly, and the fried egg will be very round."

Having worked and traveled for various cooking jobs in the past, Chen Ran rarely had opportunities to communicate face-to-face with customers at a stall. She was happy to talk to them a bit more.

Not only did she ask customers about their taste preferences during the cooking process to make sure they were satisfied, but after finishing, she would always ask if the food was to their liking.

"How’s it? You said you didn’t want it too spicy, so I made sure to remove the chili veins and seeds. Is this okay?"

When she heard the customer's accent, it sounded like Minnan dialect, but the person was stubborn and still wanted to eat spicy food, so she made extra effort to adjust the spice level.

"Hiss... It's okay..."

The customer's nose turned red, but they were still trying to speak.

Lu Jingrong couldn't help but laugh: "We have so many dishes; why is everyone just focusing on chili stir-fried pork? Just order whatever!"

The Chinese burger strategy that he and Chen Ran had agreed on wasn’t just chili stir-fried pork in a steamed bun!

Their understanding of the Chinese burger was inspired by those street vendors with small stoves, quickly frying up food and running around town.

"Can you make anything?"

The customer in the back seemed to be struggling with choices, staring at the fresh vegetables on display, wanting to eat everything.

After thinking for a long time, she picked an eggplant and a tomato: "I want minced meat eggplant in a bun, and I want a bit of sourness... Can you do both together?"

"Sure."

Lu Jingrong continued to fry the steamed bun slices while Chen Ran cut the cleaned eggplant and tomato into chunks and quickly diced the meat.

She lightly dusted the eggplant with starch and fried it first. The diced meat went into the pan, frying until each piece was separate, then the tomatoes were tossed in to release their juice, and the eggplant was added with a high flame to reduce the sauce.

This time, when frying the bun slices, Lu Jingrong didn’t add egg wash but pressed down on the ingredients after assembling the bun and handed it to the customer.

The juice from the tomatoes soaked into the steamed bun immediately. The flavor of the minced meat eggplant was already rich, and with the added sour fragrance from the tomatoes... it paired perfectly with the steamed bun slices!

"Anything’s fine, right? I want a chicken leg with potatoes!"

Chen Ran effortlessly deboned a fresh chicken leg, neatly stripping it into a whole piece of meat with the skin side down to fry. At the same time, she peeled and diced the potatoes. Once the chicken leg was cooked, she quickly sliced it in the pan and threw the potatoes in, stir-frying them over high heat and adding water to slightly reduce the sauce.

This dish took a bit longer, but the flavor made the wait feel worthwhile!To save time, the potatoes were diced and braised together with the fried chicken legs. The yellow-fleshed potatoes prepared by the show’s crew were of excellent quality, and the starchy potatoes were mashed into a paste, tightly adhering to the steamed bun and fried chicken leg.

Biting into it with force, the surprise of the double carbs was revealed—despite being fried, the chicken leg had a barbecue-like smokiness and crispiness!

"My turn! My turn! I want sweet and sour tofu in a steamed bun!"

This one was even simpler. The tofu was cut into thick triangular slices and fried until crispy on the outside. Feeling inspired, Chen Ran used a method from her braised pork to make a saucy tofu.

"Can you make chicken wings? I like sweet flavors..."

Chen Ran was getting more and more excited; this freedom of letting people order whatever they want and mix and match was much more fun than following a recipe!

"Sweet chicken wings? How about I make cola chicken wings for you?"

Perfect. Ever since her taste buds recovered, she always carried two bottles of cola with her, but for health reasons, she’d restrained herself from drinking too much.

And now, it was the perfect opportunity!

She grabbed a cleaver, even performing a flashy move, and after a flurry of motions, she skillfully removed the bones from the chicken wings.

—After all, they were meant to go in a steamed bun, and having bones would make them hard to eat.

She briefly blanched the chicken wings, then added oil to the pan, followed by cola and the chicken wings. Chen Ran casually threw in two preserved plums.

"When making cola chicken wings at home, adding two preserved plums makes the flavor even more fragrant."

The crew’s stove had a strong fire, and the cola chicken wings were ready quickly. The thick, glossy sauce looked incredibly tempting. Lu Jingrong placed the chicken wings into the steamed bun slices, then topped them with some peanuts and crispy chili oil from earlier.

Taking a bite, the savory-sweet chicken wings paired with the steamed bun were simply delicious! The crispy peanuts and chili added the perfect finishing touch.

After savoring the sweet, savory, and crispy flavor, the preserved plum taste slowly appeared in the mouth, leaving no greasiness, just making you want to take another big bite!

"I want chicken wings too! But cola is too sweet..."

"Too sweet? Then how about making it savory? How about salted egg yolk?"

For the boneless chicken wings, she briefly fried them in oil, then lightly stir-fried the crushed salted egg yolks until they began to foam. She quickly added the chicken wings and tossed them together.

These salted egg yolk chicken wings, paired with the steamed bun, were simply perfect!

"I’ve always loved steamed buns with salted duck eggs, and this is even better!"

"Can you make something spicy?"

Chen Ran chuckled: "Isn’t that just spicy chicken cubes?"

She boneless and chopped the chicken into chunks, marinated and dusted them with flour, then fried them in oil. After adding Sichuan peppercorns and dried chili to release their fragrance, she scooped out the base ingredients and fried the chicken cubes in the spicy oil.

The crispy, spicy chicken cubes, removed from the chili and peppercorns, went into the steamed bun, and with one bite, it was like a flavor explosion!

Chen Ran was getting more and more excited, frying, sautéing, braising, and effortlessly working with all sorts of vegetables. The customers in line were so captivated that they wouldn’t leave after finishing their food and were enthusiastically filming videos.

"Can you make these little fish?"

Of course!

The small fish prepared by the crew was incredibly fresh. Chen Ran didn’t fry them but instead took the two fillets, discarding the large bones.

The white fish fillets were briefly marinated and then cooked in a pan with eggs, forming a pancake. While the egg still hadn’t fully set, she pressed the steamed bun slices onto it. With one bite, there was no fishy taste at all, and the customers kept praising it, saying it tasted just like a shrimp burger!Bai Jing turned around and returned to Chen Ran's group, unable to resist summarizing: "It seems that the essence of Chinese cuisine that the third group has grasped is to cook everything fresh and on the spot, with all kinds of creative dishes."

However, the creative stir-fried hamburger dishes were making the customers especially happy, and the fans who hadn't arrived yet started to get anxious.

"Did you see it? Although she’s wearing a mask, with that figure and the way she flips the pan, it's definitely Chen Ran, right?"

"Definitely. I'm taking a cab to the People's Square food street... oh my god, it's so crowded! Forget it, I'll get out and run over there."

"I’ve seen several posts! Not a single one is the same. Chen Ran is going crazy today, all new recipes!"

"I protest, boo-hoo, I haven't eaten any of these dishes I've seen today. I want to try the cola chicken wings made by Chef Chen herself! She even told us that adding preserved plums is the secret..."

"If Chef Chen opens a restaurant, I’d definitely visit a burger joint like this!"

"She even made a special wish to the customers, saying 'may the New Year be prosperous!' I want Chef Chen to give me that kind of blessing!"

The first to arrive was Zhu Chenchen, who had certainly not been slacking off during her martial arts training. Although she didn't know much about martial arts yet, her physical fitness was excellent. She ran all the way here and was overjoyed to see that there weren't too many people yet.

Right behind her were Zhu Nan and the photographer, not only getting to taste good food but also to shoot another video. He couldn't miss such a good opportunity.

But Wang Zhaoshan, who hadn’t said a word in the group chat, arrived very late.

"Why did Old Wang take so long to get here? Is he getting old or something?"

Wang Zhaoshan sneered at such light teasing: "Who was it back then who got mocked for not being able to enter the martial arts academy because their body wasn’t good enough? At least I made it in, right?"

He raised the pork belly and chicken gizzards in his hand: "I went to buy the ingredients! It’s rare that Chen Ran is cooking so wildly today. Double-crisp oil explosion, this dish in a bun will definitely be delicious!"

As soon as the fan group arrived, a long line immediately formed outside Chen Ran’s small burger shop, which was located in a remote area.

People tend to follow the crowd. Seeing the long line outside this shop, some customers who hadn’t planned on going in came over from afar.

This previously remote shop instantly became the busiest one.

However, since everything was cooked fresh and stir-fried on the spot, the production efficiency was certainly a bit slower than the other two shops. Fortunately, Chen Ran and Lu Jingrong had set a slightly higher price from the start, so they wouldn't lose out too much on profit.

Chen Ran even showed off the same skill she demonstrated in the group competition—stir-frying three pans at once!

This time, not only did the fans recognize her, even passersby noticed.

That tall, handsome female chef was the one from the two capitals group competition!

The line quickly grew longer and longer, and Bai Jing tried to interview her for the third time. He squeezed for a long time but couldn’t get through. He had to take the risk of exposing his identity and enter through the back door of the shop.

But even though he entered through the back door, the interview was still hard to carry out.

—Chen Ran was so busy, she was stir-frying three pans at once, and there was no time for an interview.

Looking at the glistening beads of sweat on her face as they dripped down her mask, her eyes still sparkling with a smile, Bai Jing couldn’t help but help wash two chilies in the meantime.

"May the New Year be prosperous!"

Even though she was so busy, she still tried her best to adjust the flames for every pan, carefully asking each customer about their dietary preferences while cooking each dish.

Bai Jing vaguely remembered that among all the chefs participating in this competition, only Chen Ran didn’t belong to any restaurant.

The other chefs had their names followed by their restaurant or brand, but Chen Ran’s name was followed by things like "kindergarten," "haunted house," and "hope primary school."

But... from today on, things would be different, right? He had a feeling that after the show airs, Chen Ran would definitely become the target of major restaurants vying for her!