pjbooks Chapter 485 - 397: A Wondrous Combination—Orléans Chicken Cutlet and Pork Floss Sandwich
Chapter 485 - 397: A Wondrous Combination—Orléans Chicken Cutlet and Pork Floss Sandwich
"Orléans?"
Upon hearing this term, the three of them simultaneously froze, frantically searching their minds for information related to it.
To be honest, after being abroad for several years, he had not seen this flavor at any Western restaurant, nor even at Japanese, Korean, or Thai places.
Thai cuisine often favors curry or masala, Japanese cuisine generally sticks to the original flavor, perhaps sweet soy sauce or black pepper at most, and as for Korean fried chicken — let’s not even go there — the flavors are countless, from sweet chili sauce to cheese powder and spicy turkey sauce, yet none involving Orléans.
He even wondered if the person who invented this marinade powder might be named Orléans.
Just like how Chicken Hot Pot is not a Mountain City specialty but named after its inventor, purely an accidental same-name situation.
But Great Xia people... would not likely have the surname Orléans?
"No way, I remember Orléans flavor being different."
"It must be an improved recipe; that’s normal, just like how their Great Xia Cuisine turns into sweet and sour abroad."
"There’s a difference; Western-style Great Xia Cuisine completely changes the method and flavor, bearing only seasoning similarities with the original Great Xia Cuisine, but this seasoning powder formula is still quite close to the original."
The three of them briefly discussed, then moved aside to wash and sanitize their hands. After drying off, they each dipped a bit of seasoning powder to taste, nodding as they did so, with a look of sudden realization.
While preparing Great Xia Cuisine, they were mostly onlookers, feeling entirely uninvolved, but now with the sandwiches — they were finally in their comfort zone.
Many things just require a glance for analysis; for ambiguous items like powder or sauce, a taste is sufficient. Next, they only needed to patiently wait for the finished product.
Just after six o’clock.
The entire kitchen was already filled with the rich aroma of butter and flour — the enticing scent of fresh toast right out of the oven.
"Knock, knock, knock"
The open door of the kitchen was knocked on.
A few women crowded around the entrance, Dais and Helena leading the way, with Lisa, looking like a doll, in front of them.
"Chef, can I bring Lisa inside to have a look?"
"Of course, but be careful not to touch the baking tray."
With the main characters here, it was about time to start wrapping things up.
Zhao Shun received a look, understood, and immediately fetched a box full of marinated orange-red chicken thighs from the fridge, piling them onto baking trays lined with parchment paper.
Lin Chen, meanwhile, took a pan of nearly cooled toast, picked up a serrated bread knife, and swiftly sliced it into evenly thick pieces.
As for Old Chen, he was busy stirring the sauce with a whisk, gradually pouring in extra virgin olive oil as he mixed.
Even though it was his first time making mayonnaise by hand, it was actually quite simple; as long as he controlled the initial pouring speed, it wouldn’t go wrong.
"Mayonnaise is made like this?"
Seeing the process firsthand, Lisa was utterly shocked, her face turning pale. She tightly clutched Helena’s sleeve: "Mommy, I never want to eat mayonnaise again. Will I become as fat as a pig?"
"Haha, don’t worry, dear."
Marchello walked over, gently tapping her little head to comfort her: "This is extra virgin olive oil, eating it in moderation is good for your health; as long as you control the intake, it can even aid in weight loss. Everyone needs to consume high-quality fats daily."
"As long as you don’t smear two whole layers on your sandwich and eat several a day, feel free to eat without concern."
"Really? I won’t get fat for sure?"
"If you do, just come find me; I’ll make you a fat-loss meal plan. I also have an advanced nutritionist certificate, you know~"
Lisa nodded as though she understood, even though she didn’t grasp the reasoning, she knew the person in front of her was a Michelin three-star chef; whatever he said couldn’t be wrong.
"Well, then I’ll just have a little bit."
She gestured with her fingers to show a small amount, adorably endearing, making the women around her wish they could cuddle her tight and shower her with kisses.
As their maternal instincts overflowed.
Outside the restaurant, a figure wearing a black mask was stealthily peering inside.
"Strange, isn’t this the hotel’s restaurant? Why is Su here early in the morning?"
To prevent his girlfriend from suspecting, he even intentionally stayed up playing games until midnight yesterday; only after she fell asleep did he go to bed himself.
It turned out waking up early was exceedingly difficult for him; if his ears hadn’t been secretly stuffed with headphones and alarms set, he wouldn’t have possibly woken up before five o’clock.
While waiting for his girlfriend to do her makeup, he even continued to set ten-plus alarms, one every three minutes, fearing dozing off and missing the perfect opportunity.
Following her for half a day, it was surprising to end up at this place, leaving him somewhat baffled.
"It’s strange. I clearly saw the sign indicating the restaurant opens at seven in the morning, but isn’t it barely six o’clock?"
Sergy was tempted to dash inside to see what was actually happening, but feared creating a messy situation and losing face, so he stayed outside silently, deciding to observe a bit longer before acting.
Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder, startling him so much he nearly screamed.
"Hello, sir, is there anything you need?"
Meng Qi, dressed in a security guard uniform with a baton at his waist, scanned him up and down with a puzzled expression.
He had seen a sneaky figure leaning outside the restaurant from the front. He initially thought it was a diner waiting for a meal, but then realized the person was actually peeping inside.
"Uh."
Sergy glanced at the hand Mong Qi had placed on the baton and started sweating. He quickly waved his hands.
"Don’t misunderstand, don’t misunderstand! My girlfriend is inside, I just want to give her a surprise."
"Girlfriend? What’s her name?"
"Su."
Meng Qi breathed a sigh of relief; there indeed was a new waitress by that name.
However, he didn’t completely let down his guard. What if this guy was a stalker creep?
"Sir, if you’re planning to surprise her, I suggest you queue up at the entrance. Around six-thirty, when more people come, you might have to wait a long time."
"Queue? Queue for what?"
"For breakfast service, of course."
"Isn’t this a buffet? Why would I need to queue?"
Sergy was a bit baffled. Was business this good in the hotel’s restaurant?
Wait, something wasn’t right.
If they’re queuing for breakfast at six-thirty, wouldn’t they be prepping food inside now?
Did Su find a job??
This fact was even more incredible than her secretly seeing another man outside.
Weren’t we supposed to just enjoy this year and absolutely not work at all!
There’s definitely something fishy!
Could it be she’s flirtatious with some male staff here?
Thinking of this, Sergy’s eyes lit up, feeling more and more that it was possible.
"So can I just queue at the entrance?"
"Yes, normally you need to provide proof of hotel stay to dine, but if you’re a family member of staff, you can enjoy the privilege to buy."
"I’m here for a surprise, wouldn’t lining up expose me quickly? No, I might as well come later and blend in with the crowd, right?"
After speaking, Sergy once again thanked Meng Qi, furtively glanced into the restaurant, confirmed no one was coming out, then dashed off, quickly vanishing down the road.
Meng Qi scratched his cheek, feeling something was off, but couldn’t pinpoint what.
"Forget it. I’ll be here maintaining security until my shift ends at eight anyway, I’ll just keep an eye on things."
In the kitchen.
In a rush to avoid Lisa being late, Lin Chen only sliced an entire loaf of toast, put down the knife, and then grabbed a frying pan, asking Zhao Shun to toss in four pieces of chicken thigh to start frying on high heat.
Although using an oven is convenient, it’s relatively slower compared to pan-frying. The benefit is efficiency, as you can roast a whole tray at once.
If the oven is large enough, it’s not impossible to fit two to four trays in at once. That would be truly fast efficiency.
As two trays of chicken thighs went into the oven, Zhao Shun changed his gloves, quickly ran to the cold storage, and brought out another box of differently marinated chicken thighs, grabbing a few to the fryer side to start coating for frying.
Fried chicken wasn’t a first-time thing for those present. Everyone knew just how tender and juicy the Great Xia-style fried chicken was. If used for sandwiches, it would definitely taste excellent as well.
Helena squatted down and whispered in her daughter’s ear, describing how delicious the fried chicken was, nearly making the little one drool onto her shoes.
Fried chicken is a staple in Western diets. To maintain her figure, Lisa usually didn’t dare eat much, only watching her classmates enjoy. Saying she wasn’t tempted would certainly be a lie.
At this moment, she couldn’t care less about gaining weight, quietly comforting herself, ’If worse comes to worst, I’ll just eat less tomorrow to make up for it. Why not just enjoy today?’
With everyone working together, the progress bar instantly reached the end, and plates of ingredients quickly piled up together.
Neatly laid out on the table were several sheets of sandwich wrapping paper, with three slices of white toast on each, as well as uniquely shaped burger buns that looked plump as if they were inflated.
Lin Chen casually took a piping bag filled with mayonnaise and squeezed it back and forth over one slice of toast, then the next one beside it.
Layering crisp iceberg lettuce and purple cabbage shreds soaked in sweet vinegar, squeezed some ketchup, then added a slice of tomato and a medium-cooked runny yolk fried egg, followed by four halved volcanic stone sausages, then gently placed the second slice of toast on top.
On the surface of the second toast slice wasn’t mayonnaise, but cucumber mustard sauce.
This is a somewhat Western-style sauce made from Dijon mustard with chopped pickles, onion bits, fennel leaves, and some seasonings, but it’s also at a level acceptable to Great Xia People.
Up to this point, everything seemed normal, with nothing particularly special, just some improvements in presentation.
The next second, Lin Chen picked up a transparent bag beside him, tore it open, grabbed a handful of the orange-red meat floss, and smeared it evenly on top of the cucumber mustard sauce until the entire toast surface was covered with meat floss.