IUILBRC Chapter 47: Eating Tonkotsu Ramen

Chapter 47: Eating Tonkotsu Ramen

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo also loves Capital Star’s Vinegar King

 

“Adding half a box of fresh cream will make the soup more mellow. If you have a lactose-intolerant family member, you can use lactose-free synthetic milk. I’m adding synthetic cream this time.” Gu YuMian, holding a long spoon and stirring, explained. He used to eat Ramen in his last life, but couldn’t make the same taste and color at home. He asked the manager of a Japanese restaurant before he understood this part of the process.

The milky, thick soup was boiled in the pot with a gentle fire, and sometimes a small bubble popped on the surface. The flavors of the ham and pork bone were immersed in it. The weak milk flavor further purified the fresh thick bone broth, and a small sip of it made people want to swallow their tongue. ¹

The soup was almost finished at this stage. It was time to prepare the noodles and side dishes.

But Gu YuMian couldn’t help but give the three children, and the audience, a spoonful for each child to taste. The mouthful of the emulsified bone soup flowed into the throat from the lips and teeth, leaving a long aftertaste

The little fox and baby panda looked at each other, and at the same time, their eyes went round! The baby panda arched his round head into Gu YuMian’s arms and asked for another taste. The little snow leopard was still reserved. He only raised his chin and rubbed his head against Gu YuMian’s palm.

[User 1467: Aaaaah!!!!! ]

[Liang Chen Yue: WTF, so good to drink, strong and not greasy! It is too great! Aaaaaah!]

If one used such a fresh soup to cook noodles, it would be a bit outrageous!

Anyone who knows a little bit about cooking knows that noodles will puff up the soup and destroy the original taste of the soup. Most people also acquiesced that the soup and noodles didn’t need to be perfect. It was a bit outrageous to cook noodles with such fresh and mellow soup.

“Don’t worry,” Gu YuMian said, shaking his head with a smile. “It will taste better after you try the ramen.”

The three elements of Japanese Ramen were the soup base, noodles, and side dishes. Next, he would prepare the noodles and side dishes.

The way the Japanese made noodles was basically the same as that in China. Gu YuMian put high gluten flour and salt into the bowl according to the proportions he remembered. Poured hot water into the bowl several times in one hand, and then mixed in the flour with the other hand. After the flour absorbed the clean water, it could be kneaded into a dough that had a smooth surface, and then saved off to the side. ²

“Let’s cover it up with a wet towel and let it rest for a while.”

After letting it rest, Gu YuMian divided the dough into several parts and quickly rubbed one of them into strips with dexterous fingers. After the dough had become a long strip, he cut it in half and applied oil. He pressed the dough with his fingers using the strength of his abdomen. He gathered his strength from the middle of the dough to both sides and rubbed it into a finer round strip one by one.

Oil was applied to both the board and the plate on which the noodles were to be placed. After the fine round noodles were piled on the plate, a layer of oil was added. After the noodles were dried, the two ends of the surface were grasped to evenly elongate the surface, and the surface was twisted from time to time on the board.

This series of movements seemed to be a little fun. The little snow leopard lowered his eyes from Gu YuMian’s shoulder, and from time to time stretched out his claws to pull Gu YuMian’s hand. The little fox and the baby panda also kept their eyes on him. The two front paws of the little fox were clasped and he looked as if he was bowing.

The little fox was shy and introverted, while the baby panda was charming and naive. But the two children’s movements were very synchronous. The little snow leopard looked like he didn’t care to be with them but was very curious and focused.

Gu YuMian thought they were so cute and he couldn’t help looking at them. His heart was tickled by a cat’s paw. If there was no flour on his hand, he really wanted to hold each one now. The young man’s fingers were slender, white, and beautiful. He kneaded and made noodles by slowing down his movements, but the audience’s focus obviously deviated.

[A good look at both hands]

[MianMian kneads the dough as if he is kneading a work of art]

[Want to hold anchor’s hand.]

The little snow leopard was unhappy and circled Gu YuMian’s wrist with his long tail.

“Okay,” Gu YuMian washed his hands and wiped them. He shook the three children’s paws in turn, rubbed their heads and hugged them again. “Can’t wait? It’ll be ready in a little while.”

At this time, Gu YuMian’s live studio had climbed to the top five of the homepage’s real-time popularity list, with no stagnant trend. Moreover, this was the day with the most traffic, Friday night, and almost all the anchors that could broadcast live were doing so — this was totally different from the previous Academy of Sciences live broadcasting, which reached the top in real-time on a weekday.

The number of spectators had exceeded 40 million, and all kinds of shrapnel and gifts were flying!

“You don’t have to give a lot of presents,” Gu YuMian said helplessly. “It’s better to save money and go out with your family… Well, let’s make the side dishes.”

[There’s a family in the mine: Why are you so frank?!]

There were different opinions on the side dishes of Tonkotsu ramen. Gu YuMian liked the combination of beef, shrimp, bamboo shoots, green onions, seaweed, and soft boiled eggs.

It was not hard to deal with the beef and shrimp. He cut the beef tendon meat into large pieces, marinated them with cooking wine and soy sauce, scallions, ginger, and garlic, boiled it over high heat. Then he simmered it over low heat before cooling, refrigerating and slicing it. He washed the bamboo shoots, cut them into pieces, and blanched them, then coated them in vinegar.

The shrimp was more simple. He cut open the back, took out the vein, coated them with raw eggs, panko, and then fried them quickly. ³

Gu YuMian took a small fried shrimp and gave it to the baby panda who had been crying and acting like he was starving. The baby panda was immediately happy. After chewing it carefully, he held Gu YuMian’s hand and chirped.

Gu YuMian thought about it and made soft boiled eggs.

 

The method of making soft boiled eggs was not complicated either. They were boiled with fish sauce, soy sauce, cooking wine and miso, and then cooled. This was the sauce he would serve on the side. Gu YuMian put some synthetic chicken stock in the pot and boiled it over medium heat for a while, then directly put the egg into cold water, peeled it, and soak it in the sauce. ⁴

“The cooking process for the chashu pork ⁵ is a little more complicated, and it is also the essence and focus of all the side dishes.”

Gu YuMian chose the synthetic pork neck, which was fat and thin, and looked like plum blossoms. He cut the meat into many pieces with one hand holding the knife. With a turn of his fingers, he changed to the back of the knife to hit the meat on both sides and patted it gently.

“Patting it with the back of the knife is to make the meat tender and soft, which makes it easier to chew. The taste of the chashu is very important.”

For marinating meat slices, Gu YuMian chose raw soy sauce and honey. The amber honey was boiled and melted into a syrup. It was thick and evenly spread on the meat slices together with the raw soy sauce. The sauce was mixed with salt, rose wine and cooking wine with sufficient dosages. The whole of the meat was almost covered with the honey sauce.

After cooling the meat down, he put it onto a baking tray and baked it. He turned it over and brushed the honey sauce over the meat several times while baking. During the roasting process, the fat layer in the pork neck meat melted, and the fat and thin meat slices made a crisp crackling sound.

The pork neck was roasted to a golden yellow on both sides, soft and juicy, with a glossy surface. The aroma of freshness and sweetness overflowed everywhere, making people’s throat roll!

The nearly 50 million people and three children were stunned.

Gu YuMian set aside a small plate of chashu pork to cool and waited to let the children try it. Then, just before everyone could react, he cooked the noodles in the pot, fished them up, and drained them, then filled four bowls.

Each bowl was successively marked with red and bright beef, fried shrimp, golden and sweet chashu pork, bamboo shoots, and green onions. He spooned in the bubbling milky and fragrant Tonkotsu soup from the stove and poured it over the surface. Finally, he added two pieces of crispy seaweed and the soft boiled egg. The bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen was finished.

Under the warm light of the hot spring hotel in winter, a bowl of ramen noodles within milky white thick fragrant soup was steaming with heat, and all kinds of brightly colored side dishes were attractive and delicious. Looking at and listening to the crackle, the audience couldn’t help salivating and having a big appetite

The audience, “!!!”

The barrage stagnated for a second, then flowed out madly!

[Throwing Cosmetics: My God, my imagination was poor. I can’t imagine how delicious this is now!]

[User 18786: Please hurry up]

[Quilts: If you can cook, you can do more. Hurry up! I can’t help it!!! I want to eat very much!!! ]

The little snow leopard couldn’t maintain his pride. The gray-blue eyes, together with the little snow-white fox and the baby panda, stared at the bowl. They stretched out their claws and pressed them against Gu YuMian’s wrist, and pushed him hastily. Gu YuMian held them and pinched them.

Gu YuMian asked the snow leopard to sit on his shoulder. First, he picked up the fox and the baby panda, went to the living room to sit near the stove, and then went back to the kitchen to serve the food.

“I’m sorry to have made you wait a long time. Let’s have dinner now. We’ll go to the hot spring and visit our neighbors later.”

The three children were almost unable to sit down. Gu YuMian only slightly cooled down the soup to a lower temperature, so he fed each child a chopstick full of noodles and made them taste the side dishes.

——The noodles were full of the soup but were not soggy. They were still soft and smooth. The thick Tonkotsu broth soaked the taste buds along with the noodle and warmed the stomach from the throat all the way to the bottom. It was even better than their imagination by several times. The taste left a vibration on each person’s spirit, as that mouthful was more than amazing!

What was more remarkable was the addition of the side dishes. The soy sauce beef was fragrant, soft and chewy, and soaked with the freshness of the soup; the soft boiled egg was like snow, and the yolk burst with flavor; the fried shrimp were thick and honey-colored, which dripped in the hot thick soup, and was soft and tender. The taste of the chashu was the finishing touch. The golden pork was soft and flavorful, oily but not greasy. It was delicious with a sweet, salty, and mellow taste after it was covered in the soup. The fresh and slightly sour dried bamboo shoots and scallions finished the soup off.

At this moment, the number of viewers had skyrocketed to over 70 million, and Gu YuMian’s live studio had once again entered the top three popularity, and the barrage had reached a peak!

[Junior B: Brother, you’re so amazing, isn’t this too fragrant?!]

[Vivian: I’ll go, I… I can’t speak, is this delicious thing even real???!!]

[Yang Hualuo: I’ve never sent a bullet comment after watching a live broadcast for so long. Now I can’t help it. This is good to eat!!! I like the golden chashu. It’s delicious to eat with the soup. I want to give a gift to anchor for the taste. Take away the fireworks!]

[Cat’s Meow: MianMian has worked hard. This ramen is good to eat. How can eggs be so sweet and soft? I love what MianMian does every time. You may have been a noodle maker in your last life. Rose in September, fireworks for you! ]

[There’s a Cloud: The soup is delicious and full-bodied. The noodles are delicious and perfect. Thank you for the delicious food from the anchor. Sending five fireworks.]

The little snow leopard’s gray-blue eyes squinted contentedly, condescended to take the initiative to bow down and drink a sip of the soup. Gu YuMian pet the leopards back, and he could feel that the little snow leopard was lazy and comfortable. The baby panda was more direct, with a round head arched in Gu YuMian’s arms, showing he liked it.

The little fox wagged his big fluffy tail and chirped, shyly putting his little head into Gu YuMian’s palm, as if to say thank you for your hospitality.

Gu YuMian’s heart was almost sweet.

Gifts and barrages went on and on, and his popularity and the atmosphere continued to peak.

Especially when Gu YuMian put the chashu and the soup still boiling in the pot into the fresh-keeping box, and said that these would be sent out to thirty spectators. They were all too excited.

Although it was thirty people out of 80 million viewers, and the probability was almost impossible, but what if they were one of the lucky ones?

Whether it was the audience, Gu YuMian, or the three cubs, it was a happy meal.

The whole atmosphere was too high for people to settle down because of the hot ramen, the tonkotsu on the pot, the warm heater, and the soft mat.

“YuanYuan eat slowly, don’t choke yourself, there’s more,” Gu YuMian scratched the baby panda’s chin, and pressed little Tangyuan’s forehead with his fingers. “Mmm. After a while, let’s rest and go to the hot spring. The pool is not deep. Don’t make any noise.”

There had never been any punishment in their family, such as ‘withholding pocket money’ and ‘banning’. But surprisingly, the children were very obedient, even the most unruly and arrogant little snow leopard was obedient. Of course, there was a little mischief, but a big mistake had never been made.

Gu YuMian accompanied the children to dinner, with a little snow leopard lying on his shoulder, a round little Tangyuan, and a little fox in his arms. He talked about the hot spring for a while and the plan for the next two days. Everything was arranged properly.

The mood of the audience was also a little gentle and relaxed. In the delicious taste of ramen in winter, the sudden taste of life was very light but very fragrant and long.

It was a wonderful feeling, very satisfying, very reassuring.

They were looking forward to every second.

The wooden houses and lanterns of Wenquan Villa were also made of paper. There was no snow on this winter night. Through the window, they could see the bright moon hanging high in the sky. Inside, there was the steaming white air and the fragrance of Tonkotsu ramen. They could smell the warm smell of sulfur from the outdoor hot spring.

The number of visitors continued to rise rapidly, and now it was about to reach 90 million. Once again, Gu YuMian was ranked first on the homepage’s real-time popularity list!

 

The hot spring villa focused on their hot springs. Each small house had a small private hot spring, which could be used without bathing with strangers. In the evening, the hot spring would be prepared automatically. Towels and plum wine would be put on the poolside by a small robot and there was spring water available on the side. 

Of course, this private hot spring was not the legendary ‘energy son’ hot spring. It was just a common hot spring for guests to take a bath and relax. But Gu YuMian didn’t like the bath agent prepared here very much.

“I’m sorry, I’m going to prepare the bath agent and take some time to do so. I’ll cut off the live broadcast for the moment and take you to the hot spring later.”

The bath should have been taken before cooking, but, at that time, everyone was hungry so Gu YuMian chose to cook first.

After all, they were going to be at the hot springs for two days. Another part of Gu YuMian’s luggage was sent, and because there were items that needed to be separately certified, this part would be done without an audience.

Gu YuMian would try to avoid divulging other people’s privacy during live broadcasting, so outdoor live broadcasting was chosen at places where no one was, or rarely at all. The audience all said they would wait for him, and then watched as Gu YuMian’s broadcast turned off reluctantly.

“TuanTuan, YuanYuan, and QiuQiu will wait for me here, okay? I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

There were so many people and eyes in the hot spring villa that Gu YuMian dare not take the children out. It was safer in a house with a complete security system.

Both the little fox and the baby panda were very obedient. The little snow leopard was reluctant to leave him, but Gu YuMian wanted him to stay in the room to help take care of little Tangyuan and the little fox. After a while, the little snow leopard reluctantly agreed.

Actually, the little snow leopard didn’t want Gu YuMian to go out alone. There were many hot spring villas and Gu YuMian began to feel anxious the first second he stepped out of the door, which increased with time.

Of course, he was happy to have a group of cubs, that is, they had to agree to do everything before he could continue. Gu YuMian could not help but feel that it was a sweet worry.

There was a bustling crowd outside the hot spring villa. There was a family holding a wooden basin to soak in the hot spring, or the old couple helped each other for a walk and smiled at Gu YuMian kindly. This was not like the Upper Urban District in the Capital, which reminded Gu YuMian of the squares and streets in the night of the downtown area. If he was free tomorrow or the next day, he could take the children out for a stroll.

“Maybe they can make friends.” Gu YuMian thought.

He was most worried about the little snow leopard. The little snow leopard’s character was not bad, but a little proud and a little lonely. Gu YuMian was afraid that he couldn’t make friends and would be bullied in school, but the little snow leopard wouldn’t communicate with him about school. Gu YuMian hoped to visit the school some time to find out.

It wasn’t long before he got to the luggage office.

There were fewer people here, and finally, there were various facilities in line with the characteristics of the interstellar era. The hot spring villa had a large flow of people and a large luggage storage area. There were a lot of high shelves arranged like a library, but the luggage on the shelves were in all kinds of bags wrapped by light balls. By inputting the fingerprint on one side of the light screen, when it matched, one could claim their luggage.

At this time, Gu YuMian heard a vague voice coming from the space between two shelves. It sounded like a conversation. One person’s tone was high above the others, holding over the others like a master over the servants.

“Human beings… Nobility… Your Majesty…”

Gu YuMian stopped after catching a few keywords. Gu YuMian didn’t mean to eavesdrop. He hesitated for a moment and decided to leave. He needed to hurry up and looked at his watch. It had been ten minutes since he went to pick up the luggage. He had promised Xue Tuan that he would return in ten minutes. If he didn’t come back, the little brat would be angry.

As soon as he turned around, Gu YuMian was caught by a pair of gray-blue eyes.

Gu YuMian’s first reaction was that the little snow leopard couldn’t wait and came to find him, but the next second, he realized it wasn’t. 

The man was dressed in clothes similar to Japanese yukatas, the color and style were very suitable for him. The neckline showed a small piece of his solid porcelain white chest, and the left shoulder was half leaning against the luggage rack. ⁶

Shuo Han was much taller than Gu YuMian and he almost blocked his way. He looked down at him lazily with a somewhat displeased expression. His eyes made Gu YuMian feel like he secretly went out for a drink after work and returned home late, and was caught by his partner on the spot.

Gu YuMian, “…”

The metaphor was so inappropriate that Gu YuMian quickly erased it from his brain.