Chapter 781 - Lets Go and Buy Some Vegetables (1/2)

“Wow, this smells great. Is this even congee?” Xiao Xing rushed over, forgetting to even say goodbye to his girlfriend.

“Um. Plain white congee,” Yuan Zhou nodded.

“How can plain white congee smell so nice?” Xiao Xing started swallowing his saliva when he saw the boiling congee in the casserole.

The smell was way too appetizing.

While Xiao Xing was staring at the congee, Yuan Zhou had already scooped out two bowls of congee. He gave one to Xiao Xing and placed the other bowl before himself.

“Dig in,” Yuan Zhou said.

“Gulp. Ok,” Xiao Xing swallowed the accumulating saliva in his mouth and sat down like an obedient child in preparation to eat.

Xiao Xing was a very polite person. Since this meal was cooked by Yuan Zhou, it was natural that he had to wait for Yuan Zhou to take the first bite before he started eating.

Thus, he sat there staring at Yuan Zhou’s lips with a burning gaze, causing Yuan Zhou to cover his mouth while raising the bowl in awkwardness.

The moment Xiao Xing saw Yuan Zhou eating, he lifted his bowl and started eating as well.

There was an extremely fitting ancient saying: one would rather be waiting for the congee than had the congee be waiting for the person. This saying basically meant that congee must be eaten while hot, scalding hot.

“Hiss, ouch, so hot. So hot,” Xiao Xing cried out from the heat but he still couldn’t resist chewing on the hot congee.

He could not help himself. The congee was too delicious. He did not look the slightest bit like the person who had, just earlier, claimed to have no interest in congee.

One important thing when cooking congee was to ensure the essence from the rice was seeped out from the boiling. With this, the fragrance of the rice would start seeping out. When putting the congee into one’s mouth, apart from the fragrance, the taste of the rice’s essence and the congee’s unique flavor would be mixed within the fold.

“Ahh, ummm,” Xiao Xing stuffed yet another mouthful of congee into his mouth despite how hot it was.

This time, it was no longer as hot, enabling Xiao Xing to have a greater appreciation of the taste.

When the congee entered his mouth, his first sensation was fragrant instead of hot. A faint, yet everlasting rice fragrant coursed down his throat to arrive inside his stomach.

Next, he started tasting the mellow and rich flavor of the rice milk that had appeared after the rice grains were boiled. Together with the sensation of the rice grains entering his mouth, he started chewing on them.

The two ends of the slender grains of rice were already mushy, but the middle part of the grains was still springy and tender. When chewing on them, they tasted extremely aromatic.

Gulp. Xiao Xing swallowed the thick congee in his mouth, leaving a pleasant lingering aftertaste in his mouth.

That’s right. Even after swallowing the congee, a pleasant aftertaste was left in the mouth. That was an aftertaste left after chewing the rice grains, a sweet and natural flavor of the rice grains.

“So the Thai aromatic rice is actually this good? No wonder those tourists are buying so many packets each time they visit,” Xiao Xing lamented.

That’s right. Xiao Xing was of the opinion that although the Thai aromatic rice was good, it wasn’t good enough to be a tourist attraction. But now he understood. If he had known earlier that congee cooked with the Thai aromatic rice was this good, he would be eating congee everyday.

“That’s because my cooking skills are good,” Yuan Zhou clarified.

“Yes, yes, yes. Chef Yuan, your cooking skills are too good,” Xiao Xing nodded repeatedly.

“We have side dishes as well. Eat the side dishes,” Yuan Zhou reminded.

“The congee alone is satisfying enough. This is great,” Xiao Xing said as he reached out towards the Sour and Spicy Chicken Shreds, his heart filled with expectation.

The flavor of this Sour and Spicy Chicken Shreds had been adjusted with Thai lime for the sourness, while peppermint was being used as the basic flavor. As for the spicy flavor, it came from chili mixed with iced water before being mixed with sugar and table salt.