Night 30: Swire, Xiao Mian Noodle, Extra Spicy
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.
"Shi-sir, just got off work tonight?" The Chef greeted his guest with awkward Lungmenese."Want something to eat?"
The young woman sat down beside the bar counter and took out a pair of chopsticks from the holder. Then she started knocking hard on the glass of the display cabinet with them.
"How many times should I tell you Rhodes Island people that my name doesn't start with 'Sh' nor ends with 'i'! Call me Miss Swire, or call me Missy, or even go with my full name Beatrix Swire! Never. Ever. Call. Me. Miss. Shi!"
That was the first meeting between the Chef and Superintendent Swire. Back then the Chernoberg Incident had yet concluded, and Swire was a liaison from the L.G.D to Rhodes Island. Having supper after night shift should have been an enjoyable experience, yet angered by the careless words of the Chef, she had sworn right there and then to buyout the entire company and drag the Late Night Diner by chains across the wastelands behind the land ship.
Fortunately the Chef was a culinary master. When Miss Swire took out her silken fan from her handbag and cooling her sweating forehead, it meant his bowl of hot and filling xiao mian noodle with stewed peas and mixed sauces had successfully quelled the anger of the young mistress of the Swire family.
A popular staple in the Shangshu region of Yan, "xiao mian" was at first the colloquial name of plain noodles with chilli sauce, soy sauce and Yan pepper oil, with or without soup. Yet with the "Tu Mu Tianshi" - the geomancer-engineers of Yan – worked their Arts and technology to reshape the land and tamed its tumultuous weather, more and better produces came onto the tables of the Shangshu people. Among the food staples that gained much more variety was the xiao mian noodle. Other than the traditional tri-sauce base, stewed peas with mixed sauces, braised beast meat and intestine, shredded pickled veggie with minced meat had all became popular topping fixtures.
As for the base, the chilli sauce was made with "er jing tiao" pepper, lantern pepper and other three to four types of Shangshu chilli peppers. They were dried and stir-fried then crushed into powder, with hot oil poured in to bring out the aroma and a handful of sesame to improve the flavour. The pepper oil came from green and red Yan peppercorn. Together they formed the immutable spicy under taste of xiao mian noodle. Shangshu was located in a basin surrounded by mountains, as such cloudy weather with chances of rain hovered constantly above the heads of its denizens. Fiery chilli sauce and pepper oil was the local's way to drive away the wet and the cold, yet they had also made them passionate and vigorous.
"Missy, xiao mian noodle for tonight again?" The Chef was already pouring chilli sauce into a bowl when he saw Swire walking in with her handbag in her arms. "Fresh sauce, just had it made. Extra-extra-not-spicy as usual?"
"To be honest, I've had all the toppings from here." Swire tilted her head while looking at the large porcelain bowls with different topping ingredients. "Just a good ol' bowl with stewed peas and mixed sauces. Though tonight I want it extra spicy."
The Chef, cooking the noodles, was startled. "Extra spicy?" He said with hesitation. "Missy, am I hearing it right?"
"You want me to write it down or something?" Swire pouted. She then fetched herself a bottle of soft drink from the cooler and said. "Xiao mian noodle with stewed pea and mixed sauces. Extra spicy."
"But you had always gone with the least spicy option...the type that's even milder than mild." The Chef reminded her with concern in his voice. "Even the Shangshu natives would only order medium spicy. Do you really want it extra? You might not like it."
"You are getting on my nerves, you know that?" Swire was getting impatient. "What is life but to challenge new limits for yourself? If one does not aim high and only stays complacent, then they would be swallowed whole by the tides of time! Extra spicy, chop-chop!"
An expression of "your funeral" crept onto the Chef's face as he started preparing the food. Thin alkaline noodles were boiled and put into a bowl of shiny red chilli soup. On top of it the Chef placed a ladle minced meat with broad bean chilli sauce, a ladle of soft stewed peas made in pressure cooker, a spoonful of shredded pickled vegetable and a spoon of fried peanuts, then finished with a sprinkle of chopped green onion. He placed the bowl before Miss Swire who held her chopsticks with anticipation. He thought for a bit, and gestured her to wait before sinking the chopsticks into the bowl.
"What is it now? You want it paid?" Swire took out her meal card from her bag. "I'm starving."
"I'd suggest a bottle of warm soy milk. So that you won't have a hard time with the chilli." The Chef explained while taking the chopsticks off Swire's hand. "And the noodles haven't mix well with the sauce and toppings – you won't get the full 'extra spicy' experience otherwise." With chopsticks in hand he shook the noodles loose, then mixed it well with other ingredients in the bowl. The chilli oil, crumbs and broken peppercorn shells at the bottom of the bowl were all brought onto the surface, and a few rounds after the noodles themselves had carried on the brilliant orange colour of a sunset sky. Strong spicy aroma spread from the thick and shiny chilli soup, and it made Swire salivating unconsciously. She looked at the expertly mixed noodle and gulped.
Sometimes things were easily said, yet when it came to action, it was hardly done. "Um...Boss, your place is close to the Medical, right?" Swire asked. The Chef nodded in confidence. "Relax Missy, you are still on Rhodes Island. Four out of five people you meet are from the Medical. Go ahead and dig in."
Swire picked up a bundle of noodles with her chopsticks. She had a few whiffs of the tantalizing aroma, then tentatively put them in her mouth. The immediate burning sensation she had imagined never came, instead it was just like many times in the past when she had xiao mian noodle. The chewy noodles intermingled with succulent minced meat, salty shredded pickled veggie and the sweet soft stewed peas, and before she swallowed the noodles left a sheen of chilli oil on her lips, coating her carefully selected #38 Barrette with a layer of N10 Crazy Tangerine. Unbeknownst of her however, the stronger-than-usual chilli and pepper had numbed her tongue the moment the noodles entered her mouth. She might not be feeling the harsh burning sensation at present, but it would only be a matter of time before the full effect of the extra spicy chilli lay waste to her taste buds.
"So delicious!~~" Swire drank a mouthful of the chilli soup, and put down the bowl on the counter. "It wasn't so bad as I thought."
Yet the Chef was having a silent count down. Eight, seven, six...
"Hey, I can go boast to that cheong-fun-lung later when...my throat is burning! Argh the spiciness! Boss where are your drinks? My throat is burning up –" All of sudden Swire sprung up like a machine plugged in. She grabbed the soft drink on the counter and chugged it down.
"Missy, that's the cold pop you had before. Having cold drink right after spicy food would –"
"Ahhhh – my mouth! I can't feel my mouth! It's totally numb! Boss, warm milk! Where's the warm milk?!" Swire held her cheeks and ran haplessly around. Her lips were red and swollen.
"At this point I think the painkiller balm from the Medical would work better." The Chef sighed and tailed the Medical Department's emergency number. "It'll be on your tab."