"Is it that... what’s it called, oil fish?" Betty asked Chen Ze with a curious look.
"Huh?" Chen Ze was instantly dumbfounded. Honestly, he had thought about many types of fish, but he really hadn’t expected Betty to inquire about this particular fish.
Escolar, its na alone suggests, is a fish known for its oils. However, these oils are not ordinary but rather notoriously troubleso.
It’s not that the oil from escolar is toxic, nor is the fish’s flavor unpalatable. In fact, the taste of escolar is quite decent, with a unique flavor profile.
Normally, this fish had nothing to do with Chen Ze, especially since he didn’t eat fish and never cared much about them. That was until one of his friends from Guangdong shared a harrowing experience, and that’s how Chen Ze beca aware of escolar.
Escolar has flesh sowhat similar to cod. If you’re not a regular buyer, you might get duped by unscrupulous sellers. While it won’t land you in the hospital, the aftermath could make victims wish for a swift end, invoking a feeling akin to social death.
It was a sunny and pleasant day when Chen Ze’s friend from Guangdong bought what he thought was cod, deciding to treat himself. Even though the fish seed a bit off during cooking, he didn’t mind and devoured it blissfully.
Then the guy went to et a date he was matched with. Everything was going well, until he suddenly felt sothing wrong in his stomach. He intended to head to the restroom, but the mont he stood up, he felt sothing... co out from behind...
And just like that, he socially died, and was suspected by the lady he was eting to be gay for a very long ti.
Only then did Chen Ze learn that escolar had another nickna, "gay happy fish."
This evil moniker stems from a compound in the escolar that, though not toxic, can’t be digested by the human body and accumulates until the oils start leaking out from... behind.
"Why do you want to ask about this? You planning on eating it?" Chen Ze seriously began to doubt if his restaurant was a bit off today. Could it be that since the last gathering of the wise, it had turned into a gathering for weirdos?
What kind of custors would co next, asking him bizarre questions?
"It’s a bit... I heard escolar is delicious, and you feel very happy after eating it," Betty nodded.
Chen Ze’s mouth twitched. So, you really want to eat it?
"Betty, do you rember the heather scrambled eggs from last ti?" Chen Ze patted Betty’s shoulder with a aningful expression.
"Eh?" Betty’s face changed color instantly.
The heather scrambled eggs, that was a sad tale, and it had left Betty with a terrible appetite for quite a while.
Seeing Betty’s complexion turning bizarre, Chen Ze sighed.
"Although escolar isn’t as unique as heather scrambled eggs, the after-effects it causes are far worse," Chen Ze couldn’t bear the thought of Betty having a social death in the restaurant, nor did he want to witness such a scene.
"You should know that escolar is also known by another na, ’gay happy fish,’ so you better give it up." Looking at the dazed Betty, Chen Ze shook his head and continued studying his notes.
"Betty, what’s wrong?" Hastur asked, noticing Betty’s pale complexion.
"It’s nothing, Lord Hastur," Betty shook her head, then subconsciously covered her behind. After hearing what Chen Ze had said, she no longer had any desire to try the ’gay happy fish.’
"Hmm, I can see that you’ve got sothing on your mind, and if there’s anything, you can talk about it." Hastur’s tone was so gentle and warm, it moved Betty a bit.
"Since you’re keeping it in anyway, you might as well share what’s bothering you and make happy." But then Betty imdiately felt that her previous thought was definitely a mistake, for Lord Hastur was nowhere near gentle and warm.
"I’m not!" Betty said crossly, picking up a cloth and scrubbing the table vigorously.
Hastur smiled, and then took another bite of his curry katsu rice.
"This curry katsu rice is quite delicious, but it feels like it’s missing sothing." Hastur touched his mouth and frowned.
"Manager!" Hastur called out to the kitchen.
"What’s up?" Chen Ze, who was looking at his notes, poked his head out to look at Hastur.
"Do you have any sauces or sothing for eating with the rice?" Hastur felt he’d found what was missing, after all, the curry katsu rice would still feel sowhat odd if he kept eating it as is.
"Sauce? No, but I have Lao Gan Ma, do you want so?" Chen Ze shook his head; he hadn’t gone out of his way to make any sauces, but he did buy so Lao Gan Ma, as it could also be used in so dishes.
"Give so." Although it felt like a bit of a pity, Hastur nodded; he had heard of Lao Gan Ma, a product revered as divine.
Chen Ze called Betty in and then had her bring out a bottle of Lao Gan Ma.
"Sauce?" Chen Ze stroked his chin, thinking that if it’s a sauce for eating with rice, he hadn’t really researched it, but he knew that in Southeast Asia, there was a kind of sauce that tasted quite good, and Chen Ze thought it would be good for eating with rice as well.
"Let see... do I have any shrimp?" Chen Ze picked up the warehouse stone, then shook his head as it seed he needed to restock on shrimp.
What Chen Ze planned to make was Southeast Asian shrimp paste, a sauce with a quite unique flavor, but it tasted great and worked well with rice, at least Chen Ze found it more palatable than its sibling, Fish Sauce.
Chen Ze had tried shrimp paste before and found it delicious and perfect for rice. He figured that even without any other dishes, just the shrimp paste would be enough to enjoy a large bowl of rice.
"I’d better check it out when I go out this afternoon." Chen Ze quickly made up his mind, as the process of making shrimp paste wasn’t very complicated, and he could handle it as long as he followed the steps one by one.
"Manager, two pots of black tea and two servings of chiffon cake, please." Moriarty walked in through the door.
"Okay." Chen Ze nodded and then glanced outside to see Sherlock Hols beside Moriarty, wearing a deerstalker hat.
"Sherlock Hols!" Chen Ze was pleasantly surprised.
"Mr. Manager, we et again." Sherlock Hols smiled and then glanced at Chen Ze.
"Congratulations, Mr. Manager, on soon entering the sacred temple of marriage." Sherlock Hols casually remarked.
"Eh? Right, thank you for your blessings." Chen Ze smiled happily, though he didn’t know how Hols deduced that, but he wasn’t surprised, after all, it was Sherlock Hols.
But now, wouldn’t he be able to receive a gift from Sherlock Hols?
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