Chapter 157 Salt and pepper beef tendon, tomato rice crust with shrimp, chicken broth...

This dish is served on a hot plate. When it is brought to the table, the hot plate is still sizzling and grilling the beef. The beef is topped with bright green scallions, minced garlic, and sesame seeds. The sauce on the beef slides down with each movement, making a "sizzle" sound when it touches the hot plate.

Yao Qingqin got up to take it, but Du Min smiled and stopped her, saying, "Sister Qin is a guest today, how can I let you get involved?"

As he spoke, he moved the plate to the center and greeted Xiao Yao Huang warmly.

"Take your time eating."

Yao's mother whispered to Yao Qingqin, "This little girl is amazing."

Yao Qingqin smiled.

Du Min and Mi Xiao are both young; Du Min is quick-witted, while Mi Xiao is reserved and intelligent. Compared to these two young people, what she knows isn't particularly special.

Currently, the store's account is managed by Mi Xiao. Previously, when Wen's mother mentioned finding someone to draw, Mi Xiao volunteered, saying she could do a little bit, so Wen's mother let her give it a try. Upon trying, it was discovered that Mi Xiao not only knew a little bit, but was actually quite proficient.

So Wen's mother gave the account to Mi Xiao, who could draw and edit videos, and Wen's mother also gave her a raise.

As for Du Min, that little girl is quite shrewd; lately, she's been hanging around Xiao Ge all the time.

At first, everyone thought she liked Xiao Ge, but later they found out that this girl was actually eyeing Xiao Ge's position!

Du Min whispered to Yao Qingqin, "Sister Qin, I won't lie to you. I think Wenji is pretty good, and I'm thinking of working here often. It's just that I really don't like reading books or making videos. I just want to learn a trade."

Having already become Xiao Ge's apprentice, Du Min was simply here to further her studies. In truth, Du Min harbored a serious desire to formally become Wen Fan's apprentice.

But the boss is busy with the college entrance exam right now, so Du Min doesn't dare to bother him. She just wants to work hard for now and learn some knife skills from Xiao Ge so she can ask for help later.

Yao Qingqin thought to herself, "It's good to be young; you can catch up with others whenever you have the chance."

Looking at myself, things are not bad now. The business of my snack stall is booming, and the new products have instantly become the hottest items in the city. Many people queue for one or two hours just to eat a bite of sweet and sour chicken shredded pancake.

"Mom, eat the vegetables while they're hot."

Yao Qingqin used serving chopsticks to put a piece of beef rib on each person's plate.

I don't know how these beef ribs were prepared, but the pan-fried beef was tender and juicy, retaining just the right amount of chewiness; the doneness was absolutely perfect. The pure aroma of the meat became even more intense under the high heat of the grilling. The salt and scallion sauce sizzled on the hot plate, the aroma of the meat and scallions blending together. The fresh, hot ribs, coated with vibrant green scallions, and the touch of sea salt and pepper, made this dish even more flavorful…

"It's so hot!"

Even after blowing on the meat a few times after picking it up from the hot plate, you still need to slurp it a few times before you can chew and swallow it.

The scalding heat elevated the already excellent dish to a perfect 12.

Yao Huang blinked her big eyes and even ate the scallions that she doesn't usually like to eat.

"Mom, this beef is so delicious."

Yao Qingqin picked up another piece for her: "Eat slowly, don't burn yourself."

Among the college students at the next table, one was spitting out a drink because it was too hot, and the rest of the table laughed and handed him a beverage.

The dish was quickly devoured as soon as it was served, with all three tables finishing it off in no time. Then, everyone smacked their lips and savored the taste.

"It doesn't seem too difficult. I'll try making it at home."

"...Don't get your hopes up. This is the simplest way to make beef ribs. Can you make them this tender at home?"

Come to think of it, let's just eat vegetables.

The second dish was tomato, crispy rice crust, and shrimp.

Du Min explained, "This dish is also called 'A Thunderclap from a Clear Sky,' you pour the sauce over it first before eating."

When the dish was served, a large plate held chunks of golden-brown, crispy rice crust, while a bowl next to it contained a tomato and shrimp soup. Du Min left the moment of pouring the sauce to the customers at each table.

Yao Huang's eyes were already glued to it, so her father carried her to pour the rice crust.

The sauce was piping hot, and the crispy rice crust was fragrant. With a slight tilt of the wrist, the soup was poured down rapidly. The crispy rice crust made a sizzling sound the moment it touched the sauce—that was the "thunder."

Yao Qingqin held up her phone to record a video; the moment she poured the sauce was visually stunning and made one's mouth water.

"...Eat it while it's hot."

Rice crusts tend to become soggy and collapse if left out for too long.

Before the thunder subsides, it's the perfect time to start eating.

The shrimp are fresh, tender, and bouncy, the tomatoes are rich and tangy, and the crispy rice crust retains its crunchy texture. Dipping the crispy rice crust in the tomato sauce creates a sweet, sour, and crunchy flavor. Because Wen Fan serves a whole piece of rice crust, after pouring the sauce over it, the sauce swirls around the crust from top to bottom. When you break it open with chopsticks, you discover a hidden surprise inside!

Wen Fan placed a few meatballs in the hollow part of the rice crust!

There were only four meatballs. Yao Qingqin picked one up with her chopsticks, dipped it in tomato sauce, and ate it, nodding repeatedly.

"fragrant!"

If the crispy rice crust is on the drier side, then the meatballs are moist. The fried meatballs, soaked in meat juice, become even more flavorful when dipped in tomato sauce. This dish can be described as having two ways to enjoy it.

When the first dish was served, all three tables unanimously ordered rice. Now, they ladled a spoonful of tomato sauce into their rice bowls, stirred it well, took a bite, and felt incredibly satisfied.

Director Hao looked at the staff member beside him who was eating voraciously, but seemed to have no time to say anything.

Okay, let's eat anyway.

The third and fourth dishes were served quickly.

A large clay pot of soup, served with a small stack of sesame seed cakes, and a plate of fried food covered with a thick layer of seasoning powder on the side.

Chicken broth pea shoots.

Salt and pepper beef tendon.

The chicken broth with pea shoots is rich and flavorful, with vibrant green pea shoots piled in the center and topped with some chopped dried tofu. Just looking at it makes you want to take a spoonful.

Yao Qingqin's parents both love this soup. It's not only rich and fragrant, but the pea sprouts are also tender, and the dried tofu further enhances the flavor of the soup.

"How do you make this soup? We can't make it taste like this at home."

Yao's mother poured herself another bowl, drinking it while sighing.

Having been immersed in Wenji's culture for a long time, Yao Qingqin can now guess most of the food.

"They must have fried some flour first."

First, stir-fry the noodles until fragrant, then add chicken broth. This will make the broth thicker. Yao Qingqin lowered her head and took a sip. The warm and rich broth flowed into her throat, and she couldn't help but squint her eyes.

"There are peas in here too..."

The beans, cooked until they're soft and powdery, can only be scooped out by digging all the way to the bottom with a spoon. The sandy beans, paired with tender bean sprouts, and then a small round pancake the size of your palm, make for a perfectly savory, fresh, and moist dish.

All three tables were enjoying their meal so much that people almost forgot about the plate of beef tendon.

Until a young man cut open the sesame seed cake and stuffed the beef tendon inside.

The beef tendon is cooked to perfection, with a crispy outer shell and a chewy interior. It has a slight chewiness without getting stuck in your teeth. The rich flavor of salt and pepper is perfectly complemented by the flatbread, making it dry and fragrant. Take a bite of the flatbread and then a sip of soup.

"Wow! This sesame seed cake should be eaten with beef tendon!"

Everyone suddenly realized that they had thought it was for soup, and had eaten several on their own.

Now, imitating that person's actions, I started to pick up the tendon and add it to the soup, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"This stuff smells amazing!"

"Wow! This steel reinforcement is amazing!"

"Waaaaah, how am I supposed to eat at the school cafeteria now?!"

...

That's the thing about delicious food; even before you've finished eating it, you start thinking about the regret of not being able to eat it again.

Yao Qingqin has actually eaten a lot of delicious food since last year, so she can't help but feel regretful now.

However, both Yao's mother and father were very content.

"You can't eat good things every day. Besides, the things you brought back before were all delicious."

Yao's mother suddenly changed the subject: "I'll go see Song Hui tomorrow."

To this day, Yao's mother is most grateful to the Wen couple, and secondly to Song Hui.

If Song Hui hadn't introduced her daughter to work at Wenji, she wouldn't know what would have become of her daughter.

Yao Qingqin: "Mom, didn't you already go?"

Yao's mother scolded, "Can't we go again after we've been there? Besides, Song Hui said she wants to go on a trip after she recovers from her injuries, so we should take advantage of her rest to visit her more often."

The conversation circled back to Song Hui, then quickly returned to the dishes in front of them.

Yao's mother put down her chopsticks and let out a burp: "I'm stuffed."

Wenji's portions are really huge. The plate for the salt and pepper beef tendon was bigger than our face. Not to mention, everyone ate rice before the sesame seed cakes even arrived.

The family ate as much as they could, but still left half a plate of salt and pepper beef tendon uneaten.

Yao Qingqin went to find a bag to pack it up.

Of the remaining two tables, the university students' table was completely empty, but the group of young people staggered when they stood up, clearly indicating they were extremely full.

As for the other table...

Yao Qingqin gave them a strange look.

After Yao Qingqin finished packing up her own leftovers, she saw the older of the two people run to the front desk and talk to Wen's mother.

After muttering a few words to herself, Yao Qingqin picked up the takeout box and hugged her daughter: "Did you eat your fill today?"

Yao Huang's little belly was round and bulging. Hearing this, she nodded and yawned, "Mom, I'm sleepy after eating."

Mr. Yao smiled and took his granddaughter from her, putting down her hand that was rubbing her eyes: "Are you sleepy? Let's go back to sleep, okay?"

"good--"

Yao Qingqin's family said goodbye and left, while Wen's mother stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"You said you are..."

Director Hao took out his business card: "I am the director of the culture and tourism department, hello."

Wen's mother took the business card, and after confirming that it was unlikely that anyone would take such a risk to impersonate a government official, she put the card away and asked the other party what they wanted, somewhat nervously.

Director Hao smiled warmly: "I've come to talk to you about our future development projects."

After a few words, Wen's mother understood.

"You mean you want us to livestream the entire home-cooked meal and then sell products through livestreaming in the restaurant?"

Director Hao corrected him, "It's not about selling goods, it's about helping farmers. Of course, you won't work for nothing. This is one of the main things we're promoting in the cultural and tourism sector this year, and there will be subsidies."

Although Wen's mother was happy, after hesitating, she refused.

"Why?" Director Hao asked, somewhat puzzled.

In his view, this is a win-win situation. Now that Wenji has established a reputation, isn't the next step to enhance its overall influence in the country?

This year, the local cultural and tourism sector has promoted the implementation of the Carp Village project, as well as the Qingtang Mountain Cultural Festival and various other routes. They are just waiting to start promoting them after the May Day holiday and then make a great comeback during the summer.

Adding Wen Kee, a local restaurant benchmark, at this point would be a huge boost to the reputation of both parties.

As for helping farmers, it is also part of the plan. When people come to travel, they always want to take some local specialties with them when they leave.

Because of Qingtang Mountain and Liyu Village, the local area has a wide variety of specialty products, such as cured meat from Qingtang Mountain, various cultural and creative products from Liyu Village, as well as mushrooms, Chinese medicinal herbs, mugwort, etc. With their supervision, there will be no quality problems with these products. Therefore, Director Hao did not understand why Wen's mother refused.

Mrs. Wen sighed, "You see, we only cook at home on weekends, right?"

Director Hao frowned and said, "This is negotiable. After all, we need to extend our business hours to promote the business. If you have any difficulties or problems, please let me know and I'll see if I can help you solve them."

Director Hao had already imagined various possibilities, such as insufficient space, lack of ingredients and manpower, or that Wenji was simply trying to create scarcity.

These are all solvable problems.

Mrs. Wen shook her head: "This isn't a form of scarcity marketing, but... my daughter is the head chef, and she'll be a senior in high school next year."

Director Hao: ...

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Author's Note: My voice is still sharp and grating. I'm sorry, I can only update once a week for a while.