Chapter 416: Chapter 328: Devious Raphael, Has He Stirred Up Great Xia Recently?

"Today is the first time making it, so I’m a bit unsure. Therefore, I’ve only prepared two kinds: beef shank and pork belly."

"Beef shank is the muscle from the lower leg, lean with a bit of tendon, while pork belly is the kind of meat used for bacon, fresh before salt curing or smoking, with layers of fat and lean meat. It tastes much more flavorful than beef shank."

To help the diners better understand, Old Lunard took a piece of beef shank and pork belly from the pot, sliced them in half, and showed everyone.

"Don’t be fooled by the fatty appearance of pork belly; it doesn’t taste greasy at all. Think carefully, does bacon feel fatty when you eat it? No, right? Isn’t bacon the most aromatic type of meat?"

"That’s indeed true."

Diners gathered at the window stretched their necks, wanting to get a closer look at the new meats.

After listening to Old Lunard’s explanation, everyone’s last bit of concern was dispelled, and they eagerly raised their hands.

"They look cooked already; are they ready to be sold?"

"How are they sold, individually or mixed?"

"Not yet."

Seeing their mouths almost watering onto the meat, Old Lunard quickly pulled his hand back and tossed the two pieces of meat back into the pot.

"The meat is cooked, but not tender enough, and the broth isn’t rich enough. According to Lin’s recipe, it needs to simmer for another half hour. If we don’t follow the recipe, what if it turns out bad?"

"What!?"

"Another half hour??"

"You might as well kill me now!"

"So what’s the point of asking you all to come at seven, and then starting earlier by half an hour?"

"...Seems to make some sense?"

"Fine, fine, I’ll wait. I’ll go play a game first."

These old customers came exclusively for the new items and have no interest in the older flavors, which they’ve long grown tired of.

It’s Saturday today, most people aren’t working, the streets are nearly empty, and public buses are noticeably less frequent than usual.

A full thirty minutes passed, and few people emerged from the subway exit, except for some old customers who received a text notification from Old Lunard to come try the new food.

Raphael was in the restaurant’s back kitchen office sending emails to team members, as he planned to skip work today and surprise Lin, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, to see how he’s doing at work there.

Being his previous direct supervisor, this makes sense, right?

Since Lin left the kitchen, the daily output has been very stressful, and mistakes frequently occur, making the difficulty at least one notch higher than before.

If it weren’t for Raphael maintaining order, who knows what kind of mess would unfold.

But today, he’s prepared to take a gamble.

These brats can’t stay immature forever; to become a qualified chef, one must endure countless hardships and challenges.

He’s curious to see if Anderson and Jolian can lead the team to perfectly complete lunch and dinner service without someone managing the entire operation once he leaves the kitchen.

After sending the messages, he quickly walked out of the restaurant and drove his small car away before any employees clocked in.

"Hehe, can’t wait to see how those two will perform. It’ll be great if they screw up!"

Driving, he chuckled maliciously to himself, the corners of his mouth lifting in an evil grin.

Although a failed service would affect the restaurant’s reputation, that’s not his concern; the front desk manager will handle any repercussions.

However, all the pressure will fall on the person who made the mistake, and under such mountainous, hopeless pressure, a person’s emotions are prone to collapse.

If they can withstand it, they’ll be one step closer to becoming a Head Chef.

If they can’t and fall apart, then sorry, there’s no chance for advancement, and they might even face termination.

He sees no issue with such a harsh system; this place is Michelin Level, and no useless members are tolerated in the team.

As he quietly rejoiced, he passed a corner and suddenly noticed a crowd gathered on the empty roadside.

Upon closer inspection, there was a food truck!

"Food truck?"

Caught off guard and without breakfast, he quickly parked his car and turned on the hazard lights, ready to grab some long-awaited street food to change his palate.

Anyway, street food won’t fill him up, a little snack before driving to Dieppe for over an hour—he didn’t want to drive long distances on an empty stomach.

As he approached the food truck, the air was filled with a strong aroma of meat.

It wasn’t the scent of spices, nor charcoal; it was unlike any aroma he was familiar with.

"?!"

Raphael was taken aback and rushed to the front of the food truck.

He hadn’t expected to find a treasure before even setting off on the trip!

From seven or eight meters away, he saw inside the window two figures working busily inside the truck.

A young man, evidently an employee, and another older man with a scruffy beard and bald head, likely the food truck owner.

At this moment, the bald man is holding a tray, and his right hand keeps taking out steaming chunks of meat from the pot. The enchanting aroma in the air is wafting from these pieces of meat and the pot itself!

The chunks of meat come in two different shapes, with a brown hue all over. It’s unclear what seasoning was added to the broth to achieve this color.

But one thing is certain: soy sauce was definitely added inside!

For him, who’s recently been studying Great Xia cuisine, the smell of soy sauce is almost a daily encounter and has become an instinctive reaction.

But the question is, why does this bald guy, who looks South American, use soy sauce?

Isn’t that stuff a specialty of Asia?

"Finally, we can eat!"

"I’ve never felt thirty minutes so long before. Hurry up, Old Lunard, quote the menu prices!"

"Why does it smell even more delicious than before? Does cooking for an extra half hour really make such a difference?"

Lunard wasn’t surprised because he had already tasted it last week at Lin Chen’s place. It was only his first time making it himself, so to be safe, he wanted to stew it for enough time before selling.

"It’s simple: pure beef shank, pure pork belly, or a combo. The flavor is original; no other options are provided. However, it’s suggested to try adding chili oil. You can add it yourself in the seasoning area. No need for me to remind you, right?"

"Small portion 8 euros, large portion 12 euros. No option to add extra meat because it really can’t fit."

Don’t be fooled by the reasonable price; the amount of meat isn’t much.

From the finished product, this roasted meat burrito and Shawarma don’t look much different. The difference is merely in the way the meat is cooked.

Shawarma involves stringing all the meat together and rotating it for roasting. This one is directly grilled on a rack and an iron plate. The other ingredients are pretty much the same.

Raphael listened intently for a while and finally understood the gist.

"Beef shank? Pork belly? Interesting."

This was his first time encountering a food truck that uses these two cuts to make roasted meat burritos. Moreover, the meat is first cooked in a broth and then grilled, which can be considered a brand new attempt.

Lunard moved quickly, directly throwing two large pieces of beef shank onto the oiled iron plate, using a spatula to quickly dice them into minced meat. After stir-frying to release the aroma, he drizzled a spoonful of braised sauce from the pot.

The minced beef shank looked shiny, with lean meat and semi-transparent tendons mixed together, soaked in the brown-red sauce sizzling on the iron plate, emanating an extremely strong braised aroma.

Neo, standing nearby, swallowed hard, hurriedly spreading the stir-fried minced meat onto the butter-fried flatbread, then layering shredded lettuce, onion strands, pickled cucumber slices, original-flavored potato chips, tomato salsa, and avocado sauce. Finally, he drizzled a little braised sauce, rolled it up, and wrapped it in foil.

He worked swiftly, rolling up five burritos in just one minute, then again picked up butter to smear on the iron plate and laid down five flatbreads anew.

Meanwhile, Lunard had already begun chopping the pork belly.

As he previously mentioned, the visual impact of the chopped pork belly far exceeds that of the beef shank.

The white fat further melted on the iron plate, mixing with the rich sauce, releasing an irresistible aroma of meat.

The lean part didn’t appear as tough as traditional roasted meat; instead, it was extremely moist, shattering with a gentle touch, giving a bit of the impression reminiscent of pulled pork.

The queue wasn’t long, just a dozen or so people, and it was quickly Raphael’s turn.

Seeing him, Lunard paused for a moment.

New face?

Early morning, around seven?

Saturday?

It wouldn’t be surprising on a regular day, but today being Saturday made it a little unusual.

"Hello, sir. What flavor would you like? I’ve got Brasil-style grilled meat, Japanese teriyaki, Korean kimchi, Great Xia roast duck, and these newly launched two flavors: Great Xia braised beef and pork belly."

Six flavors, three are from Great Xia!?

Raphael was dumbfounded. Recently, it felt like he bumped into Great Xia influence wherever he went; why is there Great Xia influence everywhere?

"Which one sells the best?"

Lunard chuckled: "Hard to say."

"Huh?"

"Originally, Brasil grilled meat was the most popular. I’ve been selling it for over ten years, but customers got tired, and so did I."

"Just recently, a Great Xia food truck came nearby. That guy has real skills, instantly snatching all business from other food trucks in the area, including that Dragon’s Roar sushi truck that couldn’t even compete."

"Then, I got some recipes from that Great Xia guy and developed these three new flavors from China, Japan, and Korea, with roast duck being the bestseller last week."

"I later... created the two flavors you see now, launched today. Not sure if they’ll be popular yet."

Initially, Raphael was a bit impatient, wondering why the owner started sharing his experience just for asking about flavors, but the more he listened, the more things didn’t feel right, almost oddly familiar.

Food truck? Great Xia guy? Dragon’s Roar sushi truck?

Nagishiro Sho from Dragon’s Roar?

Suddenly, a stroke of inspiration hit him, and he slammed his hand on the windowsill.

"Is the owner of that Great Xia food truck named Lin?"