Chapter 79: Fish Maw and Yellow Croaker Soup. (Second update)...
The three of them entered the shop with familiarity and took a seat by the second-floor window. Lin Sen leaned over to take a look, his face beaming with joy. "Jiao Niang, Sister Zhi, look! We're really lucky today."
The position where the three of them were sitting just happened to allow them to take in the entire brothel opposite. They saw two female musicians playing the pipa sitting on the stage, and five slender girls dancing the Huxuan dance. The clear music and swaying dance moves attracted people to stop and watch. Many people noticed the good location of Juyoulou and hurried into the shop.
"It's a good thing we came early."
"That's right. If we were later, we wouldn't be able to get such a good seat." Song Jiaonian felt more and more relieved as she watched the customers coming up to the second floor one after another.
Just then, the shop assistant presented the menu to Lin Sen. He took a look and suddenly recognized him: "I've seen this young man before!"
"What are you talking about?" Song Jiaoniang was speechless and rolled her eyes at Lin Sen. "We met last time when we had dinner at Juyoulou, right?"
"Have you ever been to my house?" Lin Sen ignored Song Jiaoniang's question and asked curiously. The last time he saw the man in the shop, he felt familiar, so seeing him again now was bound to surprise him.
Ping'er's body stiffened, a bitter taste in his mouth. He replied dryly, "Are you—Manager Lin of Linzhiji?"
Lin Zhi glanced back after hearing this. However, she wasn't in the main room, and she was slightly face-blind, so she couldn't recognize the diners at all, let alone Ping Ge'er.
Lin Zhi turned around silently and continued to lie on the fence, watching Hu Xuanwu with relish. She saw the dancers' long sleeves spinning in the air, and the blue and green skirts undulating like flowing water as they turned, coupled with their glowing white skin, it was hard to take your eyes off them. Even the outside of the venue, which had been noisy just now, gradually quieted down, and everyone was immersed in the performance before them.
"Sister Zhi, Sister Zhi."
"Hmm? Hmm." Lin Zhi came back to her senses and turned back to find a menu in her hand. She flipped through it, skipping over the dishes she had eaten last time and selecting a few more before returning the menu.
Ping took the menu and quickly left. He took the order to the kitchen, thought for a moment, then went back to Chef Zhou and whispered a few words.
Chef Zhou was surprised, but thinking about what Chef Cui had told him last time, he shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it. Just treat it as a normal treat for guests."
"yes."
"Wait." Just as Ping Ge'er left, Chef Zhou called him back: "Listen to their conversation later. If that girl says anything, write it down and tell me later."
Pingge responded and hurried out.
After he left, Chef Zhou was uneasy for a while. He did not go to Chef Cui, but instead walked forward to look at the menu that Linzhi and others had decided on, and his eyes fell on the bottom line.
Chef Zhou's heart moved slightly, and he walked inside and started to cook himself amid the surprised gazes of many kitchen helpers.
"Why is Chef Zhou cooking?"
"Are there guests in the box?"
"...No?" The cooks in the kitchen looked at each other in bewilderment. The first and second floors of Juyou Building were ordinary halls for receiving individual guests. Only the first floor did not charge tea fees, while the second floor did. The private rooms were located on the third floor, and all needed to be booked in advance. No matter how many dishes were ordered, the tea fee alone would cost two strings of cash.
Similarly, the dishes ordered by customers in the private rooms are all prepared by the corresponding chefs, and the experience is naturally completely different.
Chef Zhou is one of the chefs in charge of the private rooms on the third floor. Such an unexpected action is really puzzling.
Soon he served three dishes, two cold dishes and one hot dish. The cold dishes were bacon platter and white-cut goose, and the hot dish was roast duck with fermented black beans.
The cured meat platter consists of cured meat with skin and cured sausage. The former has cured meat with skin, which is chewy but not greasy, and becomes more fragrant the more you chew it; the latter is made with sufficient time, and is full of salty, fresh and fragrant flavor, with just the right taste, and will not make people feel choked at all.
Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang praised the restaurant highly, and the production process of Linzhicai's cured meat platter also showed that the restaurant manager managed the restaurant well, operated efficiently, and had a great grasp of details.
Next is the poached goose. Perhaps because their family has been making roast goose recently, Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang are very particular about this goose dish.
Just by looking at the pristine white goose meat and the pinkish bones, you can tell this white-cut goose is cooked well. Sure enough, I picked up a piece and put it in my mouth. The goose meat, which is relatively rough, was soft in the mouth, with a chewy skin, smooth and mellow texture, and rich flavor. I guess it must have been cooked with fat.
This kind of flavor needs to be slowly brewed over low heat, and it is a time-consuming and labor-intensive dish.
Linzhi picked up another piece and dipped it in the sauce, with surprise in his eyes. The sauce was made of minced garlic, fermented glutinous rice and various spices. The goose meat tasted even better when used with this sauce.
Even Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang, who were trying to find fault, couldn't say anything wrong, or perhaps they didn't expect that goose meat could be cooked so deliciously without any spices.
Lin Zhi laughed when she heard this. "Dad, Mom, you're wrong. This goose meat must be stewed with spices for at least three cups of tea to make it so soft, tender, rich, and mellow."
Next was the roast duck with fermented black beans. The roast duck on the plate was still steaming, as if it had just been baked.
Large chunks of duck meat are wrapped in a glossy sauce, and the slightly charred and wrinkled duck skin is adorned with dark brown chopped bean paste, with soybeans, green onion segments and other ingredients piled on top. The color is bright and the aroma is overwhelming.
If I have to point out a shortcoming, it is that the quantity is a little small.
Doubanjiang and duck are both ingredients that the Linzhi family is very familiar with. So, looking at the small plate that was served, Song Jiaoniang couldn't help but mutter, "This must be almost four hundred coins? This duck is too expensive..."
Linzhi picked up a piece and tasted it. The duck skin was chewy, the duck meat was firm and elastic, and the juice was rich. Most importantly, there was not even a trace of duck smell.
She savored it carefully for a while, and gradually came to an answer: "I think it's a different breed of duck? The meat is sweeter and more compact than the duck we used to make roast duck."
Lin Sen called Ping Ge'er to ask, and only then did he know that Juyoulou used Gaoyou Mallard instead of local Henan duck.
After being transported from Yangzhou Gaoyou to Bianjing, its value increased several times, and the prices of the dishes made from it also rose accordingly.
The price of less than four hundred wen sounds expensive, but it is actually not expensive at all.
Lin Zhi even thought about the menu and couldn't help but say to Ping Ge'er, "Actually, you could also mark the origin of the ingredients on the menu, so that we won't have such doubts when choosing."
"Just like the goose just now, it's not our local breed, right?" There are only a few people like Linzhi who can taste the difference in texture and taste of duck meat. Most ordinary people, or diners who enter Juyoulou for the first time, will probably have questions like Song Jiaoniang.
After a pause, Linzhi thought that perhaps Juyoulou was one of the largest restaurants in Bianjing City, and most of its customers were wealthy people with some assets, so this price was normal for everyone?
However, restaurants and hotels in later generations also like to indicate the origin of ingredients. This can anchor the quality, build trust with customers and reduce concerns, and enhance the value of the dishes.
If it were Linzhi herself, she would definitely write it down. As for the other shops, she would just mention them casually and there would be nothing more to say.
Ping Ge'er's expression remained unchanged as he smiled and agreed. Not long after, he brought up two more dishes: "Three shrimps and wild rice stems, and fish maw and yellow croaker soup."
Hearing the word "茭白" (wild rice stem) piqued Linzhi's interest. In fact, "茭白" (wild rice stem) is actually the enlarged stem of wild rice infected with smut fungus, and the two are currently merging.
Due to the special situation of茭白, and the fact that officials and their families do not easily eat these newly produced ingredients, it is rarely seen in restaurants or even in the market.
Unexpectedly, Juyoulou is now ahead of everyone else and is even the first to bring out the finished dishes.
The so-called "three shrimps" are shrimp oil, shrimp brain and shrimp roe, with only the tenderest water chestnut core left inside. When you take a bite, you will first taste the freshness of the shrimp, and then the sweetness of the water chestnut. It can be said that your mouth is full of fragrance and it will whet your appetite.
At this time, a bowl of fish maw and yellow croaker soup will surely make it even more delicious.
Thinking of this, Linzhi reached out and lifted the lid of the pot. Hot steam wrapped in a fresh fragrance gushed out and directly invaded the nasal cavity of the family of three.
Lin Sen, who had been thinking about the Matsutake Chicken Soup earlier, now stared wide-eyed and took a deep sniff: "What a delicious smell!"
Even the diners around him cast their gazes over, with one even whispering, "Fish maw and yellow croaker soup? This tastes even more delicious than the last time I had it?"
Hearing this, Ping Ge nodded secretly. After all, this dish was made by Chef Zhou. You know, when he turned around to get the food, he was shocked!
Chef Zhou actually cooked for this family of three himself!? No matter how skilled he is, he's just a vendor running a foot shop...
Ping Ge'er couldn't help feeling complicated when he thought of this. It took him a while to suppress his emotions and he continued to observe the Lin family, wanting to see what they would say this time.
Fish maw and yellow croaker soup is not only amazingly fragrant, but also very eye-catching in appearance. The soup is stewed until it is milky white, shiny and warm, silky and delicate. The snow-white yellow croaker floats in the soup, surrounded by emerald green asparagus, snow-white bamboo fungus, and rosy ham shreds. Occasionally, you can see translucent fish maw shreds. The appearance alone is enough to give it full marks.
Lin Sen scooped up a bowl and handed it to Song Jiaoniang, then filled a bowl for his daughter, and finally filled a full bowl for himself, unable to wait to take a bite.
As soon as he took a sip, Lin Sen was shocked. The soup was so smooth and sticky that it seemed to stick his lips together.
Before he could frown and lick his lips, the soup that landed on the tip of his tongue instantly ignited the fire, letting the strong, shocking umami taste knock on the door of his taste buds.
In the end, Lin Sen only had time to let out a long breath before he hurriedly started chewing again. The yellow croaker meat was tender and boneless, and the salty and fresh taste was accompanied by the sweetness of the fish itself. The fish maw shreds were full of the freshness of the yellow croaker, and if he was not careful, it would flow down his throat into his stomach.
Served with asparagus, bamboo fungus and ham to enhance the flavor, several kinds of fresh flavors intertwine and collide in the mouth, and the stimulated fresh flavors come like waves, one after another, hitting you in rounds.
Not to mention Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang, even Lin Zhi subconsciously tightened her chopsticks, her face showing a strange expression: "The level of this dish——"
After a pause, she whispered, "Very impressive."
Yilinzhi thought that this person's skills were not inferior to his own in the previous life. If he were to make the fish maw and yellow croaker soup in front of him, he thought that his skills would be roughly the same.
Linzhi didn't know that this dish was made by Chef Zhou. She thought to herself that she should study hard and not be proud and complacent, so as not to let others catch up with her.
"I have to say, I've changed." Lin Sen suddenly said, "The matsutake chicken soup from last time has to take second place, and this fish maw and yellow croaker soup is ranked first."
Song Jiaoniang finished a bowl, still not satisfied, so she filled another bowl and savored it carefully. As she listened to Lin Sen's words, she nodded repeatedly: "Indeed."
Linzhi couldn't help but nodded, and even asked Pingge which chef created this fish maw and yellow croaker soup.
Brother Ping didn't have Chef Zhou's permission, so he couldn't say it. He had to say that he was only responsible for serving the dishes and didn't know the truth about it. If Linzhi wanted to know, he could go and ask.
Linzhi thought about it and gave up.
As they were talking, the kitchen helpers were also discussing this, quite surprised. One of them even recognized the Linzhi family: "I remember the last time Chef Zhou came out to ask for feedback on the dishes, that family was there too!"
"Is this true?"
"Could it be a relative or friend of Chef Zhou?"
"What are you talking about?" Chef Tang came out from the back and glanced at the people in front of him.
"Soup chef!"
"Sorry, Chef Tang, I'll be right back." Some left in panic, while others bravely approached and reported, "Chef Tang, we're talking about..."
After hearing what the waiter said, the soup chef leaned out, his eyes fell on the family of three, and his face suddenly darkened.
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