Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 248 - 173: Isn’t It Reasonable for Me to Buy More for Food Safety? (2)

"Holy crap? That's amazing?"

"Congratulations, you've successfully grasped the essence of popular Great Xia slang."

The two acted as if they discovered a new land, endlessly exclaiming "Holy crap" over there, like they were experimenting with different tones, looking like two fools.

"Holy crap!"

Meng Qi exclaimed and suddenly remembered he was holding food in his hands. He quickly ran to get two mismatched sizes of plastic bags to sit down and spread out the meal boxes.

Curious, Medron leaned in. Although he had seen what the seafood looked like from the boxes of neighboring diners, he hadn't had the chance to admire them up close, so he was still quite curious.

When the three boxes were opened, various neatly arranged seafood greeted their eyes, sprinkled with white sesame seeds and bits of green and red peppers, looking incredibly tempting.

The three square boxes perfectly occupied two-thirds of the bench area, leaving no space for the porridge bowl, which had to be held in the palm. Luckily, the bottom of the takeout box extended with an insulating layer, so it wasn't too hot to handle.

He had arrived in the morning, initially planning to score a free lunch, but ended up being sent for basic training, not released until the afternoon.

For this meal, he even skipped both breakfast and lunch, starving himself until now.

Seeing so many types of seafood, with complete color, aroma, and taste, he could already feel saliva pooling on both sides of his mouth, instinctively picking up the porridge bowl to take a small sip.

As a security guard, food safety is also one of the necessary knowledge systems, knowing that after being hungry for a long time, it's not advisable to eat raw and cold stimulating foods first, better to have some warm milk or soup as a buffer.

Two sips of white porridge went down, not too hot, just at the limit that the mouth could handle, with a noticeable warm current flowing down the esophagus into the stomach, making the whole body feel warm.

The white porridge wasn't particularly thick, but not too thin either, somewhat like the consistency of thick soup. The semi-transparent rice grains were mostly broken down from simmering, with hardly any presence in the mouth, dissolving at the slightest press of the tongue.

Ginger shreds as thick as hair were hidden in the porridge, perfectly adding a hint of refreshing umami to the white porridge.

He didn't expect that such a simple bowl of plain porridge could taste so good.

After whetting his appetite, he eagerly picked up a small abalone and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Holy crap?!"

It was chewy, crisp, and smooth, completely different from the abalone texture he imagined. He'd never eaten such a crunchy and bouncy abalone in his life!

Every bite burst with juice. Although the sauce was slightly salty, it was just tolerable—any more would be too salty, any less would be bland. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Instinctively, he took another sip of white porridge to dilute the saltiness of the sauce.

The savory abalone paired with the salty and spicy sauce and the hot, rich white porridge, multiple textures interweaving in the mouth, elevating the entire flavor profile.

"Ahhh... Satisfying!"

"Gulp."

Seeing him eat with such delight, Medron couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

He really wanted to ask for a taste, but as a senior employee, mooching off a newcomer's food seemed a bit...

"Is it that exaggerated? It's just abalone, which is everywhere."

"You don't understand."

Meng Qi shook his head and picked up another scallop.

The texture of the scallop meat was different from the abalone, not too overcooked, just at the right doneness. The outer layer had a bit of chewiness, and biting into it felt like soft sashimi, sweet and tender.

Another sip of white porridge, he felt a bit addicted to eating.

Although the sauce tasted the same, each seafood had its unique texture and flavor, like opening a blind box, with no idea what the next bite would taste like.

This incredibly exciting sensation drove him to grab the next piece of food.

It looked like an irregular piece of some type of whelk meat.

"Huh?!"

Again, it was completely different from the expected texture.

Most whelks, once cooked, have a chewy texture, like gummy bears, but this whelk meat was surprisingly similar to abalone in texture, crisp and bouncy with a slight toughness, not at all hard on the teeth.

Juicy clams, plump and succulent salmon, sticky tender marinated shrimp, jelly-like melt-in-the-mouth crabs...

Before he knew it, he'd swept through all the food in front of him, and the white porridge bowl was empty, still licking his lips with relish, clearly not yet satisfied.

"Are you sure this was about checking food safety?"

Speechless, Medron looked down at the guy, and although he was embarrassed to ask for a taste, he hadn't expected this guy to not even think of sharing any, just gobbling it up shamelessly.

Meng Qi nodded without hesitation: "Yeah!"

"If there's a problem with the food, aren't you afraid of eating this much?"

"Eating less is the problem, right?"

He raised his head confidently: "This is the Head Chef's food, it's unlikely to have safety issues, and even if there are, it might be very minor. Eating less wouldn't detect any, you have to eat more to potentially encounter issues."

"...Holy crap?"

Medron opened his mouth but couldn't think of a suitable rebuttal.

Could it be he actually had a point?

Inside the restaurant.

Having just finished all the dishes, Philip and Roderick contentedly scraped the leftover sauce off their plates and turned to look at the couple gathered around watching the Head Chef cook.

Excitement and curiosity were written all over their faces, much like how they were not long ago.

"Huh? Why are there so many people outside?"

It wasn't until then that Roderick noticed a long queue forming near the corner outside the restaurant, with many people sitting on the ground, holding something and eating.

Philip turned and curiously glanced a few times: "Is it a food truck? We did see a few parked by the roadside when we came."

"It should be, but doesn't it feel odd?"

Roderick tilted his head in confusion: "The food trucks we saw were parked by the roadside near the parking lot, close to the hotel entrance, but this is the restaurant's territory. No one would dare park a food truck here, right?"

"This seems to make sense?"

Having finished their dinner, the two got up immediately to see what was going on outside.

"Wait a minute!"

Philip seemed to have figured something out: "Wasn't there a red food truck parked at the restaurant entrance?"

"Wasn't that just decoration?"

"I thought so too, but it doesn't seem like it!"

The two quickly walked out of the restaurant, only to see that the area outside was packed with guests, a sea of blue plastic stools lined up on the ground, each with someone sitting and eating.

"What are they eating... seafood? Rice porridge?"

"Hey, isn't that the chef who was watering the plants earlier?"

Only then did they realize the person selling food in the food truck was that overlooked guy.

Was he running a stall because no one picked him to cook?

"So that's what's going on, makes sense now."

"After all, he's the Head Chef, his skills must surpass regular restaurant chefs. Him setting up a stall at the restaurant's entrance could definitely attract this many tourists thanks to the restaurant's reputation."

"How come there's crab too, can you eat that raw? Isn't there a risk of parasites?"

They glanced a few times but didn't feel like buying anything, mainly because they weren't hungry, maybe even a bit full.

Having just eaten a fancy meal, who'd want street food right after?

Just as they were about to leave, the sharp-eyed Philip inadvertently noticed two beauties sitting under an umbrella near the beach boundary, dressed in sexy bikinis.

Upon closer inspection, realizing one of the curly-haired beauties was someone he recognized, he was taken aback, full of disbelief.

"Hey bro, look, see who that is!"

"Who?"

Roderick followed his gaze: "Two bikini-clad beauties? What, you want to hit on them?"

"Come on, open your eyes wide and look carefully, that's celebrity model Dreya, isn't it? The big poster at the Victoria's Secret entrance is her!"