The next day, Zhang Hulan got up early and went to Hekou County with Zhang Hubing, taking the prepared things.
When we arrived at Yiweixuan, Manager Qian came out to greet us with a smile.
Zhang Hulan asked, "Shopkeeper Qian, what was the feedback from the diners after they tasted the braised pork yesterday?"
Shopkeeper Qian smiled and said, "Not bad."
Zhang Hulan nodded and said, "I'll cook first, and we'll talk about the braised meat later."
Shopkeeper Qian asked, "Mrs. Zhang really wants to cook?"
"Of course I will. My words will count. But if the dishes I make are not tasty, please don't make fun of me, Manager Qian."
Zhang Hulan walked in and said, "Manager Qian, I need some mutton, mutton chops, pork, tofu, eggplant, cabbage, coriander, glutinous rice and rice flour. And prepare some orange peel, ginger, garlic, Sichuan pepper, white pepper, cardamom, cumin, hawthorn..."
Shopkeeper Qian didn't ask Zhang Hulan what dish she wanted to cook, but immediately asked the waiter to prepare it.
Shopkeeper Qian asked, "Should I ask the people in the kitchen to leave?"
Zhang Hulan waved her hand and said, "No need. Just let your chef watch so I don't have to teach you again. I cook simple home-cooked dishes, and you can learn them in no time."
Shopkeeper Qian said, "We haven't even concluded our deal yet. Aren't you afraid that if my chef learns your cooking skills, I will still not cooperate with you?"
Zhang Hulan said with a smile: "Manager Qian, you are joking. Even if the business fails, we still have friendship. Let's just consider it as making friends."
The waiter quickly prepared everything, and Zhang Hulan asked the kitchen boy to help prepare the lamb chops and cut the meat and vegetables.
Marinate the mutton and lamb chops with some white wine and white pepper, then add orange peel, pepper, white cardamom, cumin, hawthorn, ginger and the mutton into the pot and stew together.
Chop orange peel and ginger, add to lamb chops, add salt and stir. Then add rice noodles, coat the lamb chops with rice noodles, and steam them.
Soak the glutinous rice in hot water, chop the lean pork, add salt and soy sauce, add starch, minced ginger and tangerine peel, knead into balls, wrap with glutinous rice and steam.
Cut the eggplant into strips, marinate with salt and squeeze out the water. Pour water into a bowl and add salt, soy sauce and starch.
Add the minced meat into the pan and stir-fry. When the aroma comes out, add the minced ginger and garlic and continue to stir-fry. Then add the eggplant and finally thicken with starch. This dish of minced meat and eggplant is ready.
Zhang Hulan made a mapo tofu without chili peppers, and finally cooked a clear soup with cabbage cores and ginger slices. She only added some salt and ginger slices, and nothing else.
One stewed lamb, one steamed lamb chops with rice flour, one pearl meatball, one minced meat and eggplant, one mapo tofu and a soup.
After the five dishes and one soup were ready, Zhang Hulan asked Shopkeeper Qian and the cook to taste them.
Shopkeeper Qian first tried the stewed mutton, and the taste was a little different from the one made by the chef, mainly because it had a burnt mutton smell.
The steamed lamb chops are sprinkled with chopped green onions and coriander when they come out of the steamer, and the aroma of orange peel is very pleasant. The lamb chops have been steamed to the point of being boneless, and the meat falls off with a light bite, and the taste is very good.
The pearl meatballs have no special seasoning and retain their original meaty flavor.
Minced meat eggplant and mapo tofu are dishes that go well with rice. I can’t say they are very delicious, but they are indeed good to eat with rice.
After eating the meat, I drank a sip of the clear soup and my mouth and stomach felt very comfortable.
Shopkeeper Qian gave Zhang Hulan a thumbs up and said, "Mrs. Zhang, you have great cooking skills!"
"Please forgive me, Manager Qian. I can only cook some home-cooked dishes. I can't cook any delicacies from land and sea."
Shopkeeper Qian said, "We are all ordinary people. Even if we are rich, who can afford to eat delicacies from land and sea every day? Most of the time, we still eat home-cooked meals."
Chef Wan, the cook, asked, "Madam Zhang, what is that thing you put in the tofu and eggplant? It looks like starch, but the color is wrong."
Zhang Hulan explained, "It is starch, but not mung bean starch. I use starch filtered from kudzu root. Master Wan, when you stir-fry lean meat in the future, add some starch to the meat and mix it. The lean meat will be very smooth and tender, not dry at all. There are several meat dishes today, so I didn't make any."
Master Wan nodded, "Okay, I'll make a note of that."
Shopkeeper Qian smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Madam Zhang. Let's talk outside."
When they got outside, Shopkeeper Qian poured tea for Zhang Hulan and asked, "Madam Zhang, do you know how to cook any other dishes?"
Zhang Hulan replied: "I can cook a few dishes, but they are just common ones. I can't cook any big dishes."
Shopkeeper Qian nodded, "Madam Zhang, do you think this is feasible? You can help teach my restaurant chef to cook new dishes, and I will give Madam Zhang... three taels of silver for each dish. How about that?"
Hmm? Is this still possible? Zhang Hulan thought she could make some quick money.
If she only made these few dishes, Zhang Hulan would definitely not charge the shopkeeper, but if she was asked to teach the restaurant chef all the dishes she could cook, she would have to pay. She knew quite a few home-cooked dishes, and could easily cook twenty or thirty dishes.
But many dishes require chili peppers, which is a problem. She thinks she needs to think about what to replace chili peppers with.
Zhang Hulan did not immediately agree to Shopkeeper Qian's request, but asked, "Shopkeeper Qian, are you going to make the braised pork?"
Shopkeeper Qian nodded, "Of course. But I still say what I said yesterday. My restaurant's business is not good right now, and I'm afraid it will affect Madam Zhang's business."
"What about the braised meat shop?"
Shopkeeper Qian asked: "If I don't run the braised meat shop, will you stop selling your braised meat to me?"
Zhang Hulan nodded, "Yes. If Shopkeeper Qian only sells in your restaurant, I won't be able to sell much that day, so I can only look for other restaurants to cooperate with. Business is all about making money, I hope Shopkeeper Qian understands."
Shopkeeper Qian smiled and nodded, "I understand. If it's not for making money, then why do business?"
Shopkeeper Qian paused, then nodded and said, "Let's sign the contract. But Madam Zhang, you said that you can only sell to me in Hekou County."
Zhang Hulan also smiled and nodded, "Of course!"
The two parties signed the contract, weighed the braised meat they brought today, and after paying the silver, Shopkeeper Qian asked, "Madam Zhang, how is the matter I mentioned earlier?"
"Teach your cook the dishes I can cook?"
Shopkeeper Qian nodded, "Yes."
Zhang Hulan nodded and agreed, "Okay!"
Shopkeeper Qian bowed and said, "Thank you very much!"
Manager Qian took out another fifteen taels of silver and gave it to Zhang Hulan.
Zhang Hulan waved her hand and said, "Forget about today's. Just consider it as a gift from me to Shopkeeper Qian. Next time you make it, I'll take the money."
Shopkeeper Qian said hurriedly, "How can I do that? I have to pay the money."
Zhang Hulan said, "Forget it. No money this time. We have a long way to go."
Shopkeeper Qian said, "No, no, it should be like this."
Zhang Hubing watched Zhang Hulan and Manager Qian pushing the silver back and forth. He wanted to say: If you don’t want it, you can give it to me…
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