Night 61: Franka & Liskarm, Braised Beast Meat (Beef) with Golden Broth
The Late Night Diner is a part of Rhodes Island's canteen. That goes without saying – to whom had anyone ever heard of a diner in the boiler room?
As the name implies, it opens around midnight. There are only a handful of customers at a time.
Operators off their night shift could take an order and bring back to their quarters. Night owls could sit dining-in while leeching off the Diner's wi-fi. The Doctor would come for instant noodles from time to time.
Drinks are in the cooler. Anyone burdened by their own thoughts could take one and chug it down, anytime.
Menu? No such thing exists. What the Chef prepares is what you get. It all depends on his mood of the day.
Welcome to the Rhodes Island Late Night Diner. In here, you might even meet a familiar face or two.
The Chef, looking at the customer before him, was perplexed. After he confirmed a few times over her order, he asked yet one more time. "You sure you want this?"
"Yep. Sometimes a change in taste is absolutely necessary!"
"Nobody had ever ordered something this...pungent. Not even Nian." The Chef pinched the ridge of his nose. "I have to warn you though, you have to clear your plates or take the leftover with you. Otherwise there will be a fine if you leave your food on the table."
"Easy. There will be nothing left when we are done!" His customer beamed a confident smirk and nodded.
"So what did you order this time? You've kept me in the dark ever since the end of night shift. Tell me now." When she returned to her seat, her companion knocked on the table and put on a serious look. "Another large ice-cream cake enough for six? Don't you forget your weight management course just started for two weeks -"
"Oh c'mon now, when will our healthy-and-diciplined Miss Teacher's Pet ever shed her bad habit of talking about other's weight at the dinner table?" Franka squinted her eyes smiling, and shook her index finger. "Do I look like someone who doesn't care about her figure? Was a nice cake and all but I didn't eat that much last time."
"Yeah, because you gave me half of it. Didn't ask me either." Liskarm was not amused. "And I payed for all of it! You only had a tiny sliver. Gave the rest to Vanilla and Jessica and acted like you bought it out of your own pocket!"
"Aww. I was just following your advice and watching my sugar intake." Franka said, feigning innocence and fluttered her eyes playfully at Liskarm. "You don't praise me but scold me instead! How could you! Now I'm sad."
"If you could tell the two next time that I paid for everything, then maybe I will go easy on you."Liskarm huffed.
"Ladies, your Braised Beast Meat in Golden Broth." The Chef announced, bringing a tray with two small iron pots on top to the table. "This one is for you, Miss Liskarm." He pointed to the brighter looking one with more meat.
The pot was then placed on top of a metal stand. Underneath was a lit small alcohol gel lamp. The heat brought the broth to a slight boil, and bubbled along were the cooked beast meat slices as well as few drops of Yan goji berry raisins and a sprinkle of chopped scallions. In Franka's pot however there were chopped red chilli peppers and green Yan peppercorn. It looked quite spicy. Liskarm glanced at Franka, then picked up a slice of meat with her chopstick and sent it into her mouth with some hesitation.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I need to listen to our Miss Teacher's Pet and watch my weight." Franka said, opening her palms and shrugged. "If you want to share some of the meat with me, I won't mind. How is it? Not bad, right? I head from Exusiai and co that this is a Yan specialty dish. Good eating and not too spicy, either. That's why I kept it a secret. I want to give you a surprise!"
Liskarm's expression looked rather odd. Her chewing slowed down, and her eyes were not as wide as the moment she tasted the meat. After swallowing she took a few quick breaths. Franka picked out a few strands of needle mushrooms and placed in her bowl of rice. She asked.
"Hmm. You are sweating, Liskarm. Too spicy? I ordered an extra-not-spicy one just for you! Don't tell me you can't even take this little heat?"
"Ah, it's just a bit warm on the tongue, that's all." Liskarm fanned her hands toward her face in a rather exaggerated manner. "And the AC must be turned high. Franka, go take a look."
"Only a little warm, huh?" Franka pointed to her own cheeks with a wicked smile. "Your face is all red to the ears."
"Quit yapping, go on now." Liskarm said, downing a few large gulps of ice water.
Looking pleased with herself, Franka stood up and glanced towards the kitchen. The order she placed for Liskarm was in reality extra-extra spicy. The golden broth was made from Yan golden lantern pepper, pickled pepper and vegetable juice, plus Shangshu peppercorn and Hiigashi wasabi oil. She was actually a little surprised that Liskarm was not tearing up immediately after the first bite. In comparison her own broth was made from pumpkin soup stock, and the chopped red chilli peppers and peppercorn were just for show.
I'll let her take a break. Just for a bit. Franka thought with glee. Then I'm gonna watch her finish the entire pot when I get back, meat and soup and all.
"...Instructor Franka?" An operator trained under Franka during the day saw her and waved, breaking her train of thought. "You are here for dinner too?"
"Ah...sure. We need to relax also, you know. Me and Miss Teacher's Pet over there." Franka said, pretending to be fixing up the AC control panel before her. She turned and blinked at the young man. "Don't eat something too spicy this late in the evening. You still got more training later~~"
The operator, not knowing what she meant, nodded, and watched as Franka went back to her seat. When she got back, Franka found that Liskarm had almost finished her pot. At the moment she was pouring the broth onto her bowl of rice, and eating it quite contently with the meat and needle mushrooms.
"You ate it all?" Franka stared at Liskarm in surprise. "Not spicy..at all?"
"Spicy?" Liskarm wiped her mouth with a piece of napkin. "Yeah, a bit. But it's extra-not-spicy, right? So it's really good. Why not try some yourself?" She picked up a slice of meat and passed it to Franka.
"Nah I'm good.." Franka shook her hands in a jolt. "I'll...I need to finish mine." She said. Then she picked out quite a few slices of meat from her pot and poured a large spoonful of broth onto her bowl of rice, and took a large bite.
A burning sensation spread throughout her mouth the moment her tongue touched the meat slice. Franka felt that her entire tongue, her gum and even her windpipe was numbed by the stinging sour and spicy taste, yet there was a strong urge that pushed her almost to sneeze...she carefully swallowed the bit of juice in her mouth, and as the droplets rolled down her throat she felt as if countless needles were pricking her from the inside. Afraid of chewing, all she could do now was holding that slice of meat in her mouth. Whenever her teeth touched the meat, there would be more scalding juicy being forced out and rolled down her throat.
"What's wrong, Franka?" Liskarm asked just in time. "Not feeling well, hmm? Bit your tongue?"
"Ummm..." Franka gestured frantically toward her mouth and shook her head. Not sure whether she meant "I'm ok" or "I can't speak", Liskarm passed her a cup of ice water then pointed to the pot in front of her. "Boss just told me that he can't do take out with these, so we have to finish them here. Looks like we need to do some extra training tomorrow. Chin up."
Franka cast a begrudging yet resigned look to Liskarm, yet the latter did not mind her at all. She was busy sending clumps of rice soaked in delicious broth in to her mouth.
She must've switched the pots! She must have! Next time...next time I'm switching her toothpaste into wasabi! Franka swore silently, then swallowed her mouthful of spicy food with no small hardship. She looked down at the pot - In there lay many more pieces of meat still, soaked in extra-spicy broth - the food she specially ordered meant for Liskarm.