Chapter 417: Chapter 329: An Unexpected Harvest—A Food Truck Appears on the Farm

"How do you know?"

Linard blurted out instinctively, then quickly realized.

"Ah~ You have tasted Boss Lin’s cooking, right?"

"Yes, yes, that’s exactly it!"

Raphael replied with a smile: "I heard he moved away before, so I didn’t come. I didn’t expect he passed his skills to you."

"Haha, his customers are my customers. Want to try something, bro? I recommend the mixed one. Although the pure pork belly is very fragrant, it can get greasy if you eat too much, unless you personally like bacon, then you can choose the pure pork belly."

"But my wraps have a lot of vegetables that neutralize the grease, so it doesn’t really matter."

Linard’s approach was actually inspired by Lin Chen’s previous roujiamo, but he changed everything outside and just kept the method for preparing meat.

Honestly, Raphael is very tempted right now. Whether it’s Japanese or Korean, or the three kinds from Great Xia, he wants to try each flavor.

But a wrap is almost as long as a forearm, and although most of it is vegetables, a grown man eating a whole one will be about seventy percent full, and it’s just right if he has some fizzy drink.

"Can you make half of one here? I want to try the mixed and the roast duck."

"Absolutely! Of course I can, have to meet the requests of regulars!"

Linard agreed on the spot without hesitation, promptly grabbed a slice of smoked duck breast from the side and tossed it onto the griddle to heat it up while continuing to chop his meat stuffing.

Making half of a wrap is simple too, just combine two types then cut in the middle, after all, except for the meat, the other ingredients are the same.

"Thanks, I’ll come by again another day!"

"Take care~"

Raphael exuberantly ran back to his car and tore open the aluminum foil before he even settled in, eager to taste what the wrap modified by Lin would actually taste like.

"That kid is secretly running a side business out there, and even helps people improve their dishes everywhere. Should I say he’s a genius or just overly diligent?"

Breathing in the rich, sweet and savory smell, Raphael sighed and shook his head, feeling a bit of admiration for Lin Chen.

The workload in the kitchen is immense, especially during meal times, posing a dual challenge to both mind and body.

Even him, he is exhausted each day when he gets home, not to mention those employees who are hands-on cooking.

Yet Lin actually has the energy to go out and set up a stall...

The Great Xia people must all know kung fu, otherwise how do you explain it?

Gazing at the two wraps in front of him, he thought for a bit and decided to try the roast duck flavor first.

He’s more familiar with that; smoked duck breast is something bought ready-made, not much difference in taste, he’s curious how it can be adapted to Great Xia flavor.

"Crunch—"

Accompanied by the crisp sound of chips breaking, he took a huge bite, feeling the hot and cold clash in his mouth.

The familiar tomato salsa and avocado sauce weren’t surprising; he can make those himself. Linard’s version was typical street stall taste, perhaps even better.

The smoky flavor of the smoked duck breast was not strong, possibly masked by the sourness.

After chewing a few more times, gradually, a distinct sweetness started to emerge.

"Hmm?!"

Raphael paused, beginning to search diligently for the sauce within the wrap, layer by layer peeling all the ingredients until finally finding a layer of black, unknown sauce on the wrap.

He’s sure he has never tasted this kind of sauce before.

It’s not the sweetness from white sugar or honey-like processed sugars, instead resembling the taste when licorice or vanilla pods are boiled in water. Initially, the sweetness is not marked, but gradually surfaces, getting sweeter.

"Hey, this sauce tastes pretty good, it could replace syrup. I’ll ask Lin what exactly it is then."

Besides this unique sauce, there’s nothing particularly special, but the fresh taste of cucumber strips blended with this sauce and the unique flavor of duck meat creates a rather unique palate when mixed altogether.

After taking two bites, Raphael put the remaining large half of the wrap aside, preparing to try the newly introduced braised flavor to see what’s different today.

The gravy from the stewed meat had intrigued him for a long time, it was the smell that initially drew him over, the taste must surely be great!

Just from the appearance, the cross-section of this wrap already beats the previous roast duck wrap.

The minced meat alternates between fatty and lean, covered entirely with rich, reddish-brown sauce, the white fat completely chopped but still easily identifiable.

Westerners typically don’t eat pure fat on its own. Even when eating bacon, they choose crispy roasted types, which have none of the fatty texture, almost like eating chips.

As a head chef, he naturally is not picky like ordinary people and is willing to try anything.

Even fat.

And considering this is Lin’s recipe, surely there’s a hidden rationale behind it.

Without much hesitation, he directly aimed at the meatiest central part and took a big bite.

"Pshoo"

A gush of salty and sweet meat juice burst forth, accompanied by an incredibly rich aroma that spread throughout the mouth.

After chewing a few times, Raphael’s eyes became increasingly bright, and his sense of curiosity grew stronger.

"Why is this happening? I can’t taste any greasiness at all. It’s nothing like eating fatty meat. No, it’s not right — I can’t even detect any fatty meat mixed in with the filling!"

"If I hadn’t seen the entire piece of five-spice pork with alternating fat and lean parts being chopped up, just eating this wrap would make one believe it’s a shredded pork wrap filled with rich flavor and juices!"

For many years in the industry, he’s never thought from the angle of fatty meat being able to be used in dishes.

On one hand, the western culinary world has no demand for this, as diners don’t wish to eat fatty meat. On the other hand, it’s due to adherence to tradition leading to a rigidity in thought, restricting divergent thinking with rigid frameworks.

Because of this issue, the Western food market has begun to internationalize in recent years to introduce the concept of fusion cuisine, thus breaking this traditional mindset and inspiring chefs to explore more possibilities.

Refusing to accept this, Raphael quickly swallowed his food and took another bite of the wrap.

This time, he didn’t take too much but focused on the meaty section without any vegetables to see if eating it alone would bring a greasy taste.

The result was quite unexpected for him.

Eating the chopped, stewed meat alone was not greasy at all. In fact, the meat’s aroma seemed even richer than when it was mixed with vegetables, making it even tastier!

He couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

"No, no, if eating just the meat was better, Lin would surely recommend making a pure meat wrap. There must be a reason for adding so many vegetables — they must serve a purpose."

"I see, now I understand!"

With this doubt in mind, he continued to take a few bites of the braised meat, thoughtfully tasting it until he finally discovered the issue.

"Chopping in the fatty meat indeed enhances the aroma and texture, serving as a substitute for some of the meat juices. However, it’s still fatty meat, and eating too much of it will eventually feel nauseating and greasy."

"The sole purpose of the vegetables is to neutralize the greasiness of the fatty meat, ensuring guests don’t feel uncomfortable from start to finish."

"So that’s it, when used correctly, fatty meat can be the secret to enhancing the flavor of ingredients, and both the quantity and pairing are critical."

Having grasped this key point, he put aside eating and swiftly took out his phone to jot down the information in his notes.

"Excellent, today must be my lucky day; there’ll surely be more valuable findings to come!"

Filled with anticipation, he eagerly looked forward to his upcoming meeting with Lin Chen after having such insights before even setting off.

Who knows what surprises that fellow might bring him!

...

Radison Farm.

Around seven, with no sign of guests yet, only employees clocking in and yawning as they moved around.

"Pa!"

"Pa!"

A rhythmic sound of slapping emerged from a certain direction, quickly capturing their attention.

"What’s that noise?"

"I heard it too. It sounds like something being slapped. Grain? No, that’s not it; it sounds somewhat liquid."

As there were no guests yet, several curious employees started searching for the source of the strange sound.

After looking around, they discovered the sound was coming from behind a wooden wall.

Inside the farm??

They quickly exited from a nearby outlet and upon turning, spotted a big red food truck.

In front of the truck were various plastic stools of different heights, resembling impromptu seating, along with a folding plastic table, topped with metal basins and takeaway boxes.

Two women in uniforms were busy at the plastic table, while a young man in a chef’s coat with black and gold trim stood at the window of the food truck, repeatedly slapping a mysterious white object in his hand.

The strange sound they heard before was exactly coming from here!

"Hey, boss?!"

An astute employee immediately recognized the back of someone sitting on a plastic stool eating something and shouted in surprise.

John held a bamboo skewer, with a snow-white dumpling ready to be stuffed into his mouth. Upon hearing the call, he turned to glance at them, then checked his watch.

"You’re here?"

"Have you had breakfast? If not, come and buy some. We’ll be busy soon, and there’ll be no time for meals."

"This is the Head Chef of the hotel’s restaurant from Great Xia, wanting to host an event with our farm. He’s here to try this handmade dumplings — you can’t find them elsewhere."

As he spoke, he rolled the white dumpling on the bamboo skewer in a nearby sauce dish, coating it with a red sauce of unknown origin, and then popped it into his mouth, showing a happy smile and nodding repeatedly, before sipping warm soup from the bowl.

"Ah... Having this in the morning feels so comfortable; it feels like I’m coming alive!"