(Morcster Chef) Glass noodle salad (part 2) - Ch. 99 (Patreon)

She took a pair of tongs from its hook on the wall and flipped each shrimp in the wok before it could burn. They cooked so quickly that, by the time Arek reappeared with several bunches of herbs clutched in his hand, Malissa had already emptied the shrimp into an empty bowl.

“Good job,” Arek said, giving her an approving nod. He filled the second wok with water and brought it to a boil as they worked. “All that remains is to give the noodles one final run through the boiling water and then put everything together.”

Malissa nodded mutely. Once the water had reached a boil, Arek removed the plate on top of the bowl of noodles. They’d already nearly tripled in size and the dry, brittle dough had turned soft and slippery. He tipped the noodles into the boiling water.

Arek waited a minute before pouring the water out of the wok and into the sink, holding the noodles in place with Malissa’s tongs. Once he’d strained the noodles, he placed them within the bowl that they’d originally sat in. He tossed the meat on top and finished it by pouring the sauce on top.

“Mix this,” Arek said, handing her the bowl. Malissa took it and did as the orc asked. Meanwhile, Arek got to work quickly washing and chopping the green herb from his garden. He sprinkled it over the top of the salad once Malissa had finished incorporating everything together.

“Cilantro,” the large chef explained as he grabbed a bag of roasted peanuts. “It brings energy to a dish. It’s vibrant and strong enough to break through most flavors. It pairs very well with citrus.”

“Are the peanuts there for texture?” Malissa guessed, watching Arek place a large handful of them over the top of the noodles.

“They are,” Arek said, giving her a wide grin. “They’ll bring some crunch to an otherwise soft dish. You could have done that with carrots as well, but I’m more partial to peanuts. And, with that, the glass noodle salad is done.”

“What’s next, then?” Malissa asked as she rubbed her hands together. Arek chuckled at her enthusiasm.

“First we wash the dishes we’ve used. It’ll help keep our workspace tidier, and it’s annoying to run out of plates in the middle of work.”

Malissa let out a half joking groan. The two of them spent several minutes cleaning up the mess they’d made making the noodles. Once they’d finished, Arek dried his wok off and set it back over the fire.

“The next thing we’ll be cooking is essentially sauteed mushrooms,” Arek said. Malissa shot him a doubtful glance, and the orc could tell she wasn’t particularly enthralled by the idea.

“Mushrooms are cave fungus,” Malissa said. “I can see eating them when we have no choice, but are they actually good enough to make a dish that consists entirely of mushroom?”

“Mushrooms are like little flavor sponges,” Arek said as he grabbed a cloth bag. “If you properly caramelize them, they’ll have an enormous amount of taste already. Add anything else to the mix…well, just watch. I reckon you’ll be singing a very different tune.”

Malissa’s cocked eyebrow indicated that she wasn’t particularly convinced by the orc’s words, but she dutifully watched as he emptied the bag over the counter. Dozens of large white mushrooms spilled out.

The mushrooms had thick white stalks with light brown caps. After she helped Arek wash them, the orc pulled his old cleaver out of his bag and started to slice a mushroom lengthwise.

“We want the cuts to be thin enough to caramelize without burning, but thick enough to avoid shriveling,” Arek explained. He cut several more mushrooms for Malissa, moving slowly so she could watch his motions. Then he stepped aside and waved for her to take over.

Malissa claimed a knife from the seemingly endless array of cooking utensils on the wall and hesitantly started to cut her first mushroom. It offered more resistance than she’d originally expected and her blade only went about halfway into its flesh. She pressed down harder, sawing the blade back and forth slightly, and the knife hit the cutting board with a thunk.

“Try to make each cut with one motion. Single, clean cuts are ideal for vegetables,” Arek said. Malissa nodded, not turning her head away from the task.

Her second cut went clean through the mushroom. Her slice was slightly larger than the ones that Arek had made, causing the other two parts of the mushroom to be slightly too small. She pushed them to the side and grabbed another mushroom. Some of them were large enough to cut into four pieces, but the majority were split into three before joining the ever growing pile of massacred mushrooms.

As Malissa worked, her cuts slowly grew more confident. While the size of her slices continued to slightly fluctuate, they grew closer to the appropriate distance from eachother. Her speed steadily increased and, after only a few more minutes, she’d finished chopping all the mushrooms.

“Good job,” Arek said with an approving nod. “I’ve already mentioned this, but it’s important enough to repeat. The key to frying mushrooms is to ensure that they start to caramelize. If you take them out of the pan too early, they’ll just be steamed.”

Arek removed a flask of oil from his bandolier and poured a healthy glug into his wok. He dumped the mushrooms into it right after. It took him several motions to deliver the large pile of chopped vegetable into the wok. They sizzled and popped as they hit the bottom of the wok.

“Keep them moving constantly,” Arek instructed, handing Malissa a wooden spoon and nodding at the wok.

She took over his position and stirred the mushrooms as they spoke. She leaned over the wok slightly, sniffing to see if she could get any hint of the mushroom’s flavor from their scent. However, all she could pick up was the olive oil in the wok.

“Just wait,” Arek promised as Malissa shot the wok a distrustful look. “Keep stirring. We’re waiting for the mushrooms to release their water. We’ll know when that happens because the sizzling will get louder as the water interacts with the oil.”

“How long will that be?”

“It depends on the type of mushroom,” Arek replied. “These are Long Cavetoes, which are relatively low moistures. They’ll start browning pretty quickly. I’d give it around five minutes. Just keep at it. Trust me, you’ll know once they’re ready.”