Chapter 497: Chapter 405: Bridge-Crossing Rice Noodles That Shatter Expectations

All the ingredients, except the fish fillets, are blanched until they are about 40% cooked and then refrigerated.

Next, it’s time to handle the vegetables.

First, soak the tofu skins in cold water until they soften, then cut them into thin strips three fen wide. Boil them for two minutes in boiling water and then soak in cold water.

Remove the roots from the cabbage and wash it clean. Boil until cooked, rinse in cold water, then cut into strips four fen wide, and cut into sections one chi and two fen long.

There’s also pea sprouts, chives, scallions, and cilantro. All these materials need to be prepared in advance.

Not only that.

If it were just processing a pile of ingredients, that would be one thing. The key is that after handling these ingredients, the meat and vegetables need to be prepared separately and divided into small portions.

As a result...

Cheng Xiuli, who was originally supposed to shoot a video, reluctantly joined the production team.

Chen Mo was responsible for processing the ingredients and packing them into small meal boxes, while Cheng Xiuli helped to cover the boxes and arrange them neatly.

Like this, they spent an entire day busy with this task, and Chen Mo prepared five hundred platter dishes in total.

But it wasn’t over yet.

When Cheng Xiuli saw Chen Mo bring out a large basin of soaked rice, her head buzzed.

"If I’m not mistaken, are you planning to make the rice noodles yourself?"

Chen Mo didn’t deny it, "You have to know, the taste of dry rice noodles bought from the supermarket and the taste of homemade rice noodles are completely different."

The method for making rice noodles isn’t complicated.

Chen Mo decided what snacks to make the day before and started soaking the rice grains. With the temperature control function of the cupboard, they soaked for just seven or eight hours.

In fact, without special features, plain rice needs to be soaked for at least 24 hours before starting production.

The soaked rice grains need to be washed three more times, then ground into rice slurry, drained of water, and steamed in a steamer.

At this step, standing in front of the steamer, Cheng Xiuli took a deep breath, "The aroma of the rice is really good, it smells much stronger than usual steamed rice."

"Exactly, that’s why you should make it with fresh rice. That’s the biggest difference. You can’t smell this when you buy it in the supermarket."

After a pause, Chen Mo continued, "Actually, I have a suggestion about this ’Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles.’"

"Go ahead."

At this moment, Cheng Xiuli truly felt completely impressed by Chen Mo, mainly due to his meticulous dedication to food preparation, a quality she had never seen in anyone else.

Not to mention, in the past with this Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles, no matter the price, it always gave people a sense of profiteering.

Because everyone knows, those ingredients combined in the supermarket cost at most three to five yuan.

After simple processing by the producer, it transforms and sells for twenty or thirty yuan – isn’t that profiteering?

"My advice is, if conditions allow, the rice noodle stand should operate with two people."

"You’re right, just the preparation work alone is too much for one person."

You have to brew broth, prepare so many ingredients in advance, and make fresh rice noodles – for one person, it’s exhausting.

"That’s not what I mean. I mean, if conditions allow, it’s best to have someone make the noodles on-site while selling them."

"Huh?" Cheng Xiuli was slightly stunned, but quickly understood Chen Mo’s meaning, "You mean making noodles on-site to attract customers?"

Chen Mo nodded, saying no more.

Cheng Xiuli began to imagine – if she passed a stall selling Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles, she might not choose to eat.

But if she saw the boss making noodles by hand, and what she would be eating was freshly made –

She’d definitely try a bowl to see what it’s all about, and how it differs from supermarket noodles.

This is also why many restaurants now have open kitchens.

Customers can see everything happening in the kitchen while dining, which, even if not carefully watched, gives a sense that "they’re confident enough to cook in front of customers, so it must be clean and hygienic."

When the steamed rice slurry was sticky, Chen Mo took it out and kneaded it for a long time, then formed it into a cylindrical shape and inserted it into a hand-held noodle maker he previously purchased.

This device was used in Jingzhou to make Henan noodles, but came in handy now, and the rechargeable equipment was convenient.

Pressing a button, the noodle machine automatically compresses, pressing the internal rice slurry into thin strips directly into a pot of boiling water!

"You were right. Just watching this makes me want to eat."

Chen Mo smiled without speaking.

Of course, when it comes to rice noodles, not many people have seen them made fresh on-site.

This craftsmanship is just so heartwarming, genuinely made from real rice.

Of course, the boiled rice noodles need to be taken out and rinsed with cold water.

"Actually, there’s also an egg noodle method, but if you’re eating rice noodles, better not to add eggs, I always feel it’s less pure."

Cheng Xiuli said nothing, just nodded continuously in agreement, now fully compliant with whatever Chen Mo said.

"Moreover, the accessories for this noodle machine have both coarse and fine holes. Customers can choose the thickness of the noodles based on their preferred texture."

Thin rice noodles adhere better to seasoning, while thick rice noodles have a more tender mouthfeel – it’s all about personal preference.

"Boss Chen, isn’t it just about cooking the broth in a sand pot and boiling the noodles and condiments altogether?"

"Of course not!"

Chen Mo looked at Cheng Xiuli with surprise, "You’ve really never had the most authentic Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles?"

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Cheng Xiuli shook her head.

Despite previously boasting about her company running a Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles business, now it seemed their version compared to Boss Chen’s was just like packaged supermarket noodles...

Chen Mo put a table in front of the food cart, opened the umbrella above the cart’s cabinet.

He then placed the prepared platter dishes, vinegar saucer, soy sauce saucer, sesame oil, and other condiments on the table.

Then, he began preparing the broth!

Chen Mo thought for a while in front of an empty bowl. Typically, chicken or duck oil is used for Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles, but he didn’t have extra chicken or duck oil while boiling the milk broth.

And the milk broth flavor was already rich enough, so adding oil might make it overly greasy.

Thus, he added monosodium glutamate (MSG) and white pepper to the bowl, then scooped a ladle full of the high-temperature milk broth into the bowl!

Cheng Xiuli noticed a small detail.

"So Boss Chen, you can’t use disposable containers for Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles?"

"It’s possible. Let me refine that tonight; we’re preparing this for ourselves now."

This was the step Chen Mo was most concerned about.

The utensils used were ordinary ceramic bowls, kept warm in the cupboard before use. When filled with hot milk broth, the bowl could maintain a high temperature for a long time.

After slight stirring, Chen Mo began pouring the platter dishes into the broth, slowly mixing with chopsticks to prevent the meat from sticking together.

After about a minute, the ingredients initially 40% cooked were steamed through, which is why they were sliced thin and nearly translucent; otherwise, they wouldn’t cook thoroughly in such a short time.

Once the meat was cooked, it was time to cook the vegetables.

Similarly, all pre-prepared vegetables were poured into the large bowl, followed by adding the cooked rice noodles, stirring slightly with chopsticks, and Chen Mo placed two bowls of rice noodles on the table.

"There you go, like this. Give it a taste."

Taking one bowl of rice to herself, Cheng Xiuli examined it carefully.

This was different, completely different!

Previously, when eating Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles, the vendor would ask if you wanted chili?

But this Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles...

There wasn’t the slightest hint of chili.

No chili, and the seasoning was minimal, only MSG and white pepper were added to the bowl, not even salt!

What on earth does it taste like?

With curiosity, Cheng Xiuli picked up a large bunch of rice noodles with her chopsticks.

Just then, her pupils began to quake violently!