Chapter 35: D*mn Good Noodles
The moment the rib made contact with Di Tou's mouth, the meat immediately fell off the bone, turning into a vigorous stream of energy that rushed into Di Tou's body and cycled through his meridians.
Wide eyed, Di Tou paid no attention to any beneficial the ribs had, but was stunned at the taste that was presented before him.
"Its… ITS DELICIOUS!"
*PAH*
Instantly, glowing beams of light emitted from Di Tou's body, blinding everyone in the vicinity, when they could see him again, they noticed outlines of muscles bulging under the loose robe that he wore, and before they could react further his clothing burst apart at the seams, revealing a chiseled body that a professional bodybuilder would be envious of. Surprisingly enough, small clouds of steam appeared to cover any private parts, which prevented this from being a case of exhibitionism.
His body that had been dilapidated just moments ago suddenly puffed up even further, his already thick muscles growing throughout his body and highlighting the contours of his figure even further as he flexed.
"The rough gamey texture of the meat has been perfectly dealt with by the chef. In most cases, chefs will try to hide away the stench of the meat, but this chef here managed to use the gamey flavor of the meat to his advantage, perfectly harmonizing with the spices that he used to marinate the meat. Not only that, the meat was marinated in two separate sessions, the first session focusing on tenderizing the meat and neutralizing the gamey taste, while the second marination helped sublimate the flavors through the additional usage of dry spices. The meat was then lightly fried before being put to the side, and treated through another method that even I can't figure out the methodology to!"
Pausing for a second, then elegantly picking up the small set of chopsticks that seemed tiny in his now oversized bulking hands, Di Tou slurped up a mouthful of noodles.
"And that's only part of the secret of this dish! The noodles are made using a special ratio of flour and egg, seemingly using three different types of flour! Then after being mixed and hand pounded, the noodles are chopped in a unique method that allows for a slippery texture that picks up all of the flavor in the soup. As if that isn't special enough, the soup itself is made with a unique base of at least three different types of fish, alongside an overnight simmering of various aromatics like onions and ginger. Over the course of the meal, the ribs continue dripping into the soup, allowing for two completely unique tastes from when first starts eating to when one finishes."
Then, grabbing a handful of four ribs at once, Di Tou dunked them into the bowl of soysauce and garlic.
"And this soysauce and garlic isn't ordinary either! It seems like this soy sauce is created using a special fermentation method using the highest quality soy beans, as opposed to the B or C grade beans that are typically used to create sauces and condiments. Not only that, they used a hot and cold method of fermentation, which allows the soy sauce to draw out the most perfect taste, before slowly allowing it to age and grow richer, giving an even greater umami to the sauce. Paired with this garlic, which is of a higher quality then anything I've ever seen, it allows the ribs to shine even more then they already did!"
*Ahem*
Sorry, it seems like the story has derailed somewhat.
In reality, Di Tou's clothing didn't burst, as the robes were designed for someone at the Nascent Soul realm and above, so it wasn't something Di Tou could burst no matter how swole he got, and of course Di Tou didn't experience a massive inflation in his body mass. After all, he wasn't experiencing either Qi Deviation or an overdose of steroids, and even then the gains took time, not a matter of minutes.
The ribs indeed were delicious, as for how much of the matter above is reality and how much is random imagination on the part of Di Tou, I'll leave it up to you to guess.
Di Tou was absolutely surprised when he bit into the ribs, as he had originally thought with the sheer quantity of how many they were, individually they probably wouldn't be that impressive. After all, this was a rather common methodology for restaurants, quality or quantity. Either you give the customer a lot of food for the price point, or you give them very good food for the price point, either way you can find a way to prosperity.
But the ribs were well made, well seasoned, and seemed to come from an animal that Di Tou had never tried.
Beyond that, Di Tou did find that the noodles and other toppings were also rather tasteful, and not there just to make up numbers and colors.
After the first rib, Di Tou found himself immediately reaching for another, and before he knew it he was almost at the bottom of the bowl, only having a bit of soup left.
Leaning back in his seat, Di Tou let out a loud sigh of comfort.
"Boss, your rib noodles are really good! Worth the price, worth the price! Haha."
The boss stared at Di Tou.
Di Tou felt a little awkward, but the afterglow from the meal left him feeling thick skinned enough to ignore the boss's frosty demeanor.
"What type of meat was that? I don't think I've tried it before."
"Earthen Two Horned Pig."
"A good pig, a good pig."
The boss continued staring at Di Tou.
"Ahem." Di Tou clapped his hands against each other, trying to get rid of a bit of the mess, and then after hesitating a moment wiped his hands against the side of his robe. F*ck it, he'd do laundry eventually anyways, and it was already rather dirty from his gorging not long ago.
Looking around, Di Tou realized that the lady from earlier was already gone, and in her place sat six empty bowls and a pile of bones sitting on the table that ended up with a height that reached slightly above Di Tou's head.
The rest of the shop was still empty, and the boss had finally stopped processing ingredients, although it looked like he still had plenty available.
It was time to go.