Lunch Rush Carnitas

With the last bag of bagels sold, the morning rush finally ended. After shooing away the stragglers and closing down shop temporarily, he now had some breathing room. He still had the whole day ahead of him, after all, and he didn't have Maine's crew to help him this time around. Taking his well earned rest, he pondered on what he'd be cooking up next.

As he was the cook, cashier and manager all wrapped into one package, he really didn't have the luxury to make more dishes. His goal of just making dishes as requested was a fun idea, but he didn't have time. He was just one man after all. He should probably fix that at some point, but that was a problem for future him to solve.

For the upcoming Lunch Rush, he needed something filling and tasty. He needed something that anyone would take comfort in and he might've had something in mind: Carnitas. It was cheap, simple, and easy to prepare. It also allowed him to have three dishes in one if he could make some tortillas.

Rolling his shoulders, he grabbed himself a Coke bottle out of thin air and started cooking. The main star of today's dish was pork and lard. It would have been preferable to get boneless pork shoulders, but he felt that it didn't have enough flavor. It was the meat near the bones that was the tastiest.

Chopping enough meat to make an entire pig, he seasoned them generously with salt and some spices before tossing them in the pot of boiling lard. It was quite jarring, tossing several chunks of dark animal fat, but it wouldn't be Carnitas if it wasn't Lard. To add some texture, it wasn't just the normal cuts but also the cheeks, face, tail and ears of the pork.

With more fat getting rendered out, it was time to add another key ingredient; Coca Cola. Grabbing a coke bottle out of thin air, he cracked it open and poured it into the large pot of inexpensive pork cuts. "Damn shame they don't sell these anymore," He whispered as he emptied the bottle before making himself another one to drink.

It was quite strange to no longer see Coca Cola, or Pepsi for that matter, but he chalked it up to the corporate wars, or maybe it was the wars in central america. Who knew releasing some bio plague that wiped out a lot of plants used for drugs would also impact Coca Cola?

Snorting in amusement, he turned his attention back to the dish at hand. With the added cola, the dish had its infusion of much needed sweetness to round out the taste. Along with a fresh orange, peel and all squeezed before being tossed into the pot, it was shaping up. Making sure to add some extra spices, he just let it cook in the low heat as he kicked back and relaxed.

-x-x-x-

It took him quite a bit of time to cook it as well as get a whole mountain of flour tortillas ready, but just as lunch started, he was ready. He made sure to give the dish a taste test, savoring the shredded pork as it just melted in his mouth. Sweet, savory and, most important of all, crispy with that well browned texture from the lard; his dollar carnitas was ready for the masses.

"Bless your heart mijo," An eldery latina thanked him, shaking his hand as he awkwardly received it with a strained smile across his face.

"I'm just a guy selling food, no need to thank me here ma'am," He replied, rubbing the back of his head. It was simply just that after all, he was just a guy with a food stand; Nothing more, nothing less. Still, it warmed his heart that his efforts were getting appreciated.

After a few more blessings, and some rude comments from the line, he was finally freed to serve the next one in line. Without looking up, he asked, "Welcome to Seoul Kitchen, today's special is dollar carnitas. For an extra dollar, you can get a drink as well as extra tortillas on your plate. We also serve them in burritos and burgers if you like."

"Huh, a place in Night City that's not costing you an arm and a leg, who would have thunk," The southern twang of a woman's voice replied.

"Not everything in Night City is shit you know," packing it with onions and hot sauce, he continued, "Sometimes you just have to look hard enough to find something worthwhile." Rebecca's smile flashed across his mind, making him smile in turn. Her energy was just infectious and he felt like he could take on the world with her encouragement.

"Definitely words to live by," the woman agreed, "Anywho, I'll have myself half a dozen of those scrumptious looking carnitas on a bun and can you add some hot sauce on that, peaches? Also, mind if I have one of those cola bottles? Never thought I'd get to see one sold in the wild," She then added as she pointed over at the half finished bottle of coke he had from cooking.

For a moment he paused, his brow scrunching up as something tickled the back of his head, a memory that he couldn't quite grasp before he shrugged it off. "Half a dozen Carnitas Burger and a bottle of coke coming right up!" he chuckled, amused at just how much the woman ordered. There was just something about the appetite of people here that just put everyone across the vast ocean to shame.

"W-wait now hold on a minute, I didn't order that!" The woman blustered.

"Didn't you order half a dozen burgers and a cola?" He asked as he slowly reached for his tongs.

"Yeah but not that one! The one you said at the end," She whispered furiously, making him frown. Probably seeing his confusion, she then got a little bit closer as she whispered angrily, "Do I look like some druggy to you?"

He blinked before laughing, "Ohhh, that," Shaking his head as he grabbed a generous amount of pulled pork for each burger, he then said, "That's just what they used to call the drink back in the day you know, mostly cause the main ingredient comes from the same plant used to make that."

"Wouldn't that be you know?" She replied, "Addicting as hell?"

"Oh no, not at all," He assured her as he turned around to reached inside his fridge, making sure that no prying eyes would get to see him pull out of nowhere, "Don't worry though, they removed that thing from that ingredients so no danger of getting high or addicted," He then explained to her, "If it was, it would have been taken off the market years ago."

It was technically off the market as no one produced them anymore but, eh, she didn't need to know that. Finishing her order, he wrapped them all up before handing them over, "That'll be 7 eddies!"

"Here you go," She paid him and the money in his wallet started going up and up till it was several thousands too much.

"H-hey, you overpaid…" He panicked as he looked up, only to stop dead on his track as a familiar woman greeted him. He couldn't mistake that stetson hat and that tall, well built figure, "Wait! You're that girl from the bar!"

"Glad you still remember me Peach Boy cause I definitely remember you," She replied with an easy going grin across her face, "Definitely made yourself quite the apology, but you put me in a debt so I had to fix that."

Well now, his lunch rush certainly became a bit more interesting.

A/N:

A familiar face reappears! Seems like our Chef made quite the impression back in the bar and he may have just made a new friend. Also lol, I had a realization back when I was writing this. With coke no longer being associated with the drink, since it's long gone by this point, the term coke has taken a far more negative connotation. Definitely makes for some interesting misunderstanding... like imagine Smasher asking for Coke and he gets given the office supply of Synth coke.

Anyways, I'd like to thank vyor once more for making this possible. Praise be vyor cause he actually puts up with my shenanigans :V. Now if you want to support me or want to read some fic chapters in advance, consider dropping by either Pa treon or Ko -Fi. Without my pa treons, I wouldn't have been able to write this. Links in my bio