Anderson's face turned beet red, as if feeling the schadenfreude glances from the newcomers he had just scolded, making his cheeks burn.
Involuntarily, he glanced at Lin Chen.
He saw that this guy wasn't paying attention at all, his eyes tightly fixed on the sizzling meat pieces on the teppan and non-stick pan in front of him.
"What are you standing around for? Go redo it! Oh my God, do I have to teach you this? You have plenty of time, is that it? Anderson!! Wake up Anderson!!"
"Yes chef!"
Lin Chen's indifference and ease made him increasingly anxious, but he had no choice but to suppress his emotions and force himself to start frying the fish again, the pressure around him extremely low.
Finally, he managed to endure through the lunch rush, arriving at the staff's break time.
The front hall staff could enjoy a proper rest, but it wasn't as comfortable for the kitchen staff, who still had to prepare the ingredients needed for dinner.
But compared to the morning, it was definitely much more relaxed.
Everyone had a half-hour break, and Lin Chen, without hesitation, took a taxi to the supermarket, bought a few bags of ice powder seeds and various fruits and some calcium tablets to take home.
Ice powder needs time to solidify; obviously, making it after the evening shift would be inappropriate.
Luckily, the supermarket and his workplace were not far from his rented apartment. He spent fifteen minutes shopping and rushing home, eagerly starting to make ice powder.
50 grams of ice powder seeds with 1500g of clear water, multiplying the recipe by ten, wrapping the ice powder seeds with gauze, soaking them in clear water and kneading hard, just like washing clothes.
Here's a small tip: if you rub the gauze on the water surface, you'll get ice powder full of bubbles; if you rub it underwater, you'll get smooth ice powder.
The texture of ice powder is smooth, and if it's full of bubbles, it tastes odd, unrelated to authenticity, purely a case of not rubbing well, though some people enjoy this texture, purely a matter of personal preference.
After a short while, the clear water began to thicken and gel, gradually turning into a thin glue-like consistency.
Crush some calcium tablets, dissolve them in clear water, pour the kneaded ice powder paste into a dough mixer, and mix at medium-low speed while adding appropriate syrup and calcium tablet water.
Besides calcium tablets, toothpaste or limewater can also set the ice powder, but limewater has a lower tolerance rate and requires certain skills; using calcium tablets and toothpaste is more convenient.
Do not mix for too long, ten seconds is sufficient, and do not use the whisk mixer head; use the dough kneader to avoid creating excessive air bubbles from prolonged and fast mixing.
After mixing, pour into a container, shake out excess bubbles, scoop out floating bubbles on the surface with a spoon, cover with cling film, and refrigerate.
Such a large batch can't be stored in a home fridge; it has to be put in the restaurant cart's cold storage.
After finishing everything, he hurriedly returned to the restaurant, successfully clocking in within the last few seconds.
Of course, being slightly late is no big deal; the kitchen is mainly managed by the head chef, and he's been performing well these past two days, so it doesn't matter much.
"Hey kid, it's only half an hour. Why are you running around instead of taking a proper rest?"
The head chef happened to be drinking coffee at the front desk. Seeing him sweating profusely, couldn't help but tease him.
"Haha, went home for a dump~"
"?"
The head chef rolled his eyes with an expressionless face.
Not to mention being picky about restrooms?
"Hey, chef, want to taste this?"
At that moment, the front hall manager walked over with a box of food and placed it in front of the head chef.
"A friend of mine brought this to me earlier; it's food he bought from another friend. It's Great Xia Cuisine, a cold salad. I think it tastes quite good, with a unique spice flavor, and this red oil tastes great too. Do you want to try it?"
"Great Xia Cuisine? Salad?"
The head chef's eyebrows raised, immediately interested.
Ordinary people might not know, but as a seasoned culinary professional, he naturally knows the international status of Great Xia cuisine.
Lin Chen just finished clocking in, hadn't left yet. Upon hearing their conversation, his footsteps paused, and he subconsciously glanced in their direction.
"...No way?"
Upon seeing it, indeed, it was the cold dish he made!
It seemed to be freshly made, the vegetables hadn't absorbed the dressing long enough to dehydrate, very fresh.
The head chef took a few bites, his eyes wide open.
"Oh my God, this flavor… I can't figure out what it's made with, although the red oil has a very distinct scallion flavor. It's probably cooked with onions, scallions, and peppers, but surprisingly, it doesn't taste too spicy. Did they add beetroot as a coloring agent?"
In Western salads, vinaigrette typically falls into two categories.
The simplest lemon vinaigrette and various vinegar vinaigrettes as one type, the basic kind, and the other using various fruits, nuts, and vegetables to make flavorful vinaigrettes, often referred to as salad dressing.
The salad dressing that Great Xia People eat is actually mayonnaise, the highest-calorie kind.
Having grown accustomed to vinaigrette, suddenly tasting Great Xia's cold dressing, the head chef was astonished and kept eating several bites, getting increasingly engrossed.
"What's this black mushroom? And this tofu full of holes, the texture is so unique, and these slices..."
In surprise, he noticed Lin Chen hadn't left yet, remembering his origin from Great Xia, he quickly called out.
"Lin! Come here for a bit! Can you make this stuff?"
Lin Chen walked over, showing a strange expression.
He was considering whether or not to say that this was actually his creation?
After thinking about it, he decided to keep it secret first.
Mentioning a side business in front of his main job supervisor might not be good, potentially making them think he's slacking off during work, having enough energy to sell food after hours.
"I can. This is a typical seasonal dish in Great Xia, the black thing is fungus, grows on tree trunks, that's gluten, that's dried bean curd, seaweed..."
He briefly introduced the names, origins, and nutritional values of various ingredients to the head chef, who listened while eating, savoring the texture of each component.
"Great, great, Great Xia truly is the land of cuisine. All these unusual ingredients have such distinct textures; I think they could be incorporated into our menu next week, plus their color and shape are appealing."
"By the way, speaking of which, I've never seriously visited a supermarket in Asia. Lin, are you free tomorrow? Can you give me a tour?"
A bowl of cold salad seemed to open a new world for the head chef, sparking a strong interest in Great Xia cuisine.
Times are changing; recently, fusion cuisine has started gaining popularity in Western restaurants, with various Southeast Asian flavored sauces emerging, and a significant portion of diners at the restaurant having Asian appearances.
After all, it's widely acknowledged that Great Xia tourists are wealthy.
"Tomorrow?"
Lin Chen thought for a moment, he had a day off tomorrow, plenty of time to set up his stall, taking a break to tour a supermarket with the head chef could be nice, plus he'd get to show off the food from his homeland.
If he strengthens his connections and maintains his performance, it'd make promotion prospects far easier, right?
"Is tomorrow morning okay? I have something to do in the afternoon."
"Alright, then tomorrow morning at nine; I remember most supermarkets open at this time."
The head chef got increasingly excited chatting with Lin Chen about the preparation methods of Great Xia dishes, completely oblivious to the passage of time.