Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 136 - 117: Who Can’t Handle Spicy Food? Today, We’ll Prove Our Spice Tolerance! (Part 2)

"Is this food truck being used for market research? Gathering tourists' taste preferences in advance?"

"Head Chef, is what you're making fried dumplings? They don't look quite the same as what I've seen on TV."

Lin Chen began making more potstickers, but each batch could only fit about thirty, and he was barely keeping up with demand.

Without looking up, he replied to the inquiries, "Yes, they're fried dumplings, but there are many types. These are called potstickers; just think of them as different flavored and shaped fried dumplings."

Lucas stood off to the side, not knowing how he could help.

Making dumplings is quite a skillful job, and jumping in without experience would only result in misshapen dumplings, so it's better not to mess things up.

Today, we're out of fruit tea and his specialty ice jelly. The soy milk is pre-made, and no one's buying potstickers yet as they're still cooking.

Feeling quite idle, he decided to take out his camera to film Lin Chen's process of making potstickers.

"Huh?"

A curious diner let out a sound of intrigue.

"Hey buddy, I've noticed you were filming yesterday and the day before too. Are you vlogging?"

"That's right!"

Suddenly, Lucas realized these diners were potential fans just waiting to be tapped!

Why not promote directly to them!

"I've registered accounts on several platforms, posting about food stalls and cooking. Occasionally, I'll explore other shops. If you're interested, check me out under the name 'Old Lu in Northern Europe.'"

"Northern Europe?"

Some alert diners immediately noticed something amiss: "But we're not in Northern Europe; this is Western Europe."

"Haha, yes, of course, I know this is Western Europe."

Lucas grinned and said, "Because we're making primarily Great Xia Cuisine, the Head Chef is from Great Xia, and we're mainly posting on Great Xia social media."

"Compared to Southern and Western Europe, keywords like Eastern and Northern Europe are more popular; Northern Europe is particularly famous. It's just a click-bait title to gain traction, and it increases viewership."

"Besides, most people don't care which Europe you're in; they don't even know Europe is divided into four regions. So, even if I say Northern Europe, they'll just think I'm somewhere in Europe."

"When the channel gets popular, we might even tour all of Europe, or expand to other countries. So, the channel name is just a label, no need to stress, haha."

The explanation flustered the foreigners.

Heat rankings, audience engagement—terms they've never heard before; they vaguely understood 'keywords.'

The way he spoke made him sound very professional. They watched Lin Chen's skillful dumpling making, the sizzling, beautifully shaped dumplings in the pan, and couldn't help but feel deeply curious about what other culinary delights this Head Chef could create and gain insight into Great Xia's food culture.

"Can I find it on Instagram? I'll follow."

"For Great Xia software, it's probably TikTok, right? Let me check."

Before long, all six present had become followers of Lucas's channel, scrolling through previous videos on their phones.

"Wow, this handmade noodle video looks similar to something I've seen on TV! It's like a mysterious skill even Gou Dan couldn't master."

"Oh! I've seen that too. Gou Dan is the world's most famous chef, and when he went to a roadside Great Xia noodle shop, he couldn't even pull the noodles after trying forever, swearing out of frustration, cracked me up."

"This bubbling crimson tofu looks so appetizing, definitely spicy. I really want to try it, but I'm worried about the aftermath..."

"Oh, there's dessert too? Handmade natural jelly made from seeds? Sounds interesting."

"Shit! Look at this barbecue video, I'm drooling—this is how skewers should be done!"

The foreigners' eyes widened as they watched, their gaze locked onto the screen, swallowing hungrily.

They never imagined that real Great Xia Cuisine would look like this, completely different from their prior knowledge.

"I always thought Great Xia Cuisine was just various fried rice, General Tso's Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken—looks like what I've had before was fake?"

While filming, Lucas explained to the foreigners beside him: "Can't exactly call them fake, those dishes do exist, particularly fried rice and Kung Pao Chicken are among the most renowned Great Xia dishes."

"It's just the taste... you know, they've been adapted to suit the sweet and sour preference of foreign palates to sell better."

"After all, restaurants are businesses here to make money."

"Then the seafood you sold the past two days, was it an adapted taste too? Because it was exactly to my liking, I couldn't get enough of it."

"It wasn't; it was authentic Great Xia flavor. Garlic with seafood is a universally recognized pairing. As for yesterday's hand-held seafood seasoning, it was actually toned down; the normal spiciness you couldn't handle."

"?"

Just those words stirred the foreigners' competitive spirit.

"Hey! What do you mean, couldn't handle? Yesterday's seafood wasn't spicy at all!"

"Right, I even added extra spice, and it was just okay."

"Can these fried dumplings be made spicier? I want to try the normal spiciness."

Spicy fried dumplings?

Even Lin Chen was taken aback to hear this.

He hadn't prepared any spicy sauce.

For his palate, fried dumplings must have pickled spicy sauce and vinegar to be satisfying, but the pickled spicy sauce eaten in the southern regions of Great Xia is homemade by vendors, not available in supermarkets, while the northern regions prefer chili oil or mustard, which he also didn't have.

There was no homemade pickled spicy sauce, but there was a lot of spicy beef tallow broth left from yesterday.

Using fried dumplings dipped in hotpot broth... sounds explosive.

But given that in Mountain City, beef tallow hotpot is now serving noodles, dumplings, and buns, dipping potstickers in the broth isn't that extreme.

He quietly retrieved the spicy beef tallow broth from the cooler. Even though the cooler was at room temperature, the beef tallow showed no signs of melting and needed reheating.

The stove needed to be free for frying dumplings, and the food truck didn't have a microwave, so the fastest way was to boil a kettle and submerge the metal bowl in hot water for a bain-marie effect.

Seeing the familiar spicy sauce, the foreigners' eyes lit up.

"Yes, yes, this is the delicious chili!"

"Tasty dumplings with tasty chili, doubling the flavor. Today, I'm going to prove my spice-eating prowess!"

The bottom of the dumplings in the pan gradually changed from golden to a crispy brown, and Lin Chen swirled the pan, letting the excess canola oil roll uniformly across the bottom, setting down his work to scoop a few spoonfuls of white starch from a canister, diluting it in water.

First, he poured broth into the skillet, a simple stock he made with kombu and bouillon before starting the dough, simmering all this while.

The rich broth sizzled and crackled fervently as it hit the hot pan, absorbing the heat as it bubbled and popped with large bubbles.

The broth didn't need to be much, just enough to cover less than half of the dumplings, then evenly dribble a circle of starchy water over them, cover with a lid, and let it fry on medium heat for eight to ten minutes more.

This potsticker method left the foreigners totally bewildered.

"Isn't it frying? Why pour broth?"

"Won't this just turn into boiled dumplings?"

Elise hadn't said a word, quietly watching Lin Chen's every move with focused eyes, as though she was trying to learn it all, potentially to try once she gets home.

After finishing the first batch, he continued making more for the next round.

This can't stop. If it pauses, it's disastrous; just the six customers present might need more than two batches.

The problem was not finding a Chinese kitchenware store, and even if he did, they might not have the large skillets specifically for frying dumplings as in Great Xia, forcing him to use whatever was available, making it rather inefficient.

"Beep beep—"

In the misty drizzle, a pickup truck with its headlights on approached and steadily parked by the roadside.

From the truck leaped a familiar figure, turning to climb into the truck bed, apparently searching for something.