Chapter 272 Restaurant Menu
"Erniu is a wonderful child. She's quiet but hardworking. She's been working diligently ever since she arrived this morning. After finishing her tasks, she cleans the house. The room that used to filter wood ash was originally filthy, but after she cleaned it, it became clean and bright." Zhao Xiue praised her immediately. "If you ask me, Erniu could stay."
Wang Shuiyan hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Yu'er wasn't slacking off, she just really likes to wander around. I said a few words to her, and she said she's the direct niece of a ninth-rank lady, so I..."
"Has this girl gone mad?!" Old Mrs. Zhao's face immediately darkened. "Her own uncle has been dead for a long time. What kind of niece is she, daring to cause trouble in the workshop just because she's related to someone? Let's see how I deal with her!"
Cheng Wanwan said calmly, "The wages for seven days are 140 coins. Let her come to me to settle her wages, and then have Dashan take her back. As for Erniu, let her stay. Please have Sister Xiu'e take good care of her."
Zhao Xiue and Wang Shuiyan nodded and withdrew.
Grandma Zhao looked annoyed: "I shouldn't have let those two kids come. Erniu is alright, but what is Yu'er thinking..."
Cheng Wanwan said nonchalantly, "The people we hired are not suitable, so we can just fire them. It's not a big deal."
On the day her subsidiary went public, the total number of her company employees exceeded three thousand. Not everyone among those three thousand people had high moral character, and she didn't have such high requirements for her employees. As long as they worked diligently during working hours and didn't cause trouble, that was enough. She unconditionally welcomed people who worked diligently.
But Lin Yu'er...
As an elder, she shouldn't criticize a child.
Before long, Lin Yu'er arrived. She straightened her clothes before walking in, looking somewhat uneasy.
Cheng Wanwan placed 140 copper coins on the table and said calmly, "From today onwards, you no longer need to work in the workshop. I'll have your cousin Dashan send you back."
Lin Yu'er froze, "Auntie, what...what does that mean?"
Grandma Zhao picked up the copper coin, grabbed Lin Yu'er, and walked out: "Let me tell you what it means."
The old lady dragged Lin Yu'er out. No one knows what she said, but in any case, Lin Yu'er was sent away.
Many people in the workshop saw Lin Yu'er sitting on the oxcart with tears in her eyes, as Zhao Dashan drove the cart, taking Lin Yu'er further and further away.
Those working in the workshop dared not slack off even more.
Lin Yu'er was the direct granddaughter of the Zhao family. If Aunt Dashan could just drive her away like that, then people like them who have no blood relation would have even less of a chance if they made a mistake.
Winter has arrived, and the weather is getting colder and colder. Cheng Wanwan wants to open the restaurant as soon as possible, otherwise she won't be able to keep it open after the snow.
Zhao Ergou was busy with the renovation every day, while she was discussing recipes with Wu Huiniang. After the dishes were finalized, they asked Cheng Zhao to draw pictures and write words to create a illustrated recipe book.
Six months ago, Wu Huiniang only boiled vegetables. Later, under Cheng Wanwan's guidance, her cooking skills improved day by day. She could cook the dishes that her family ate every day with her eyes closed. For some less common dishes, she could make about 80 or 90 percent of them as long as the steps were listed. Cooking skills were not a big problem; the important thing was the combination of dishes.
During this period, Cheng Wanwan went to learn about the market. Zuixianlou's specialty dish is Eight Treasure Duck, and Jixiang Restaurant's unique specialty is Chicken and Fish Soup... In short, most of them are made with chicken, duck, fish and meat to make a delicious dish. If a restaurant can have two unique dishes, its business will not be too bad.
“We’ll offer one specialty dish for each of the three types of meat: chicken, duck, fish, and pork. For meat, it’s simple: braised pork or twice-cooked pork, whichever you’re best at.” Cheng Wanwan said while thinking. “For chicken, there are actually more options. Stewing, boiling, frying, or stir-frying all result in delicious dishes. I’ve thought of one: braised chicken. How about we try that dish tonight?”
Wu Huiniang's eyes lit up. This was a new dish name, and she could learn another dish.
She began, "Could we make roast duck? Duck skin is quite thick, so it should be quite crispy and fragrant after roasting..."
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "Roast duck is fine. Today we'll try braised chicken, tomorrow we'll try roast duck, and the day after tomorrow, we'll try boiled fish with sauerkraut."
Every household in the village made pickled vegetables, but Old Mrs. Zhao's family made an extra lot. More than a dozen jars were full of pickled vegetables, pickled cowpeas, pickled radishes, pickled cabbage... The pickled vegetables used to make boiled fish were made from cabbage. The taste of the pickled vegetables cooked with the fish was unforgettable.
Just mentioning the names of the dishes made Cheng Wanwan's mouth water.
Opening a restaurant in the family is such a great thing! In the future, if we want to eat something, we can just ask Hui Niang to cook it under the guise of a food tasting. It's perfect.
Cheng Wanwan asked Chunhua to catch chickens, all of which were only three months old and had very tender meat, perfect for making braised chicken. There were also some wild mushrooms at home. As for chili peppers... when she returned from Nanyang City, she brought back a large bag of dozens of kilograms of dried chili peppers, claiming that she had bought them from a merchant. Nanyang City was big enough to have everything, so no one in the family suspected anything.
Cheng Wanwan asked Zhao Dashan to keep the dried chili seeds so they could plant them next spring and then they would have chili peppers to eat. In her opinion, chili peppers were more suitable as a condiment than dogwood. Dogwood is a Chinese medicine; eating it occasionally is fine, but eating too much might have side effects.
Before the braised chicken was even ready, a bunch of the boys in the family gathered around, all sniffing the aroma in the air.
We've been busy at home lately, and we've been eating the same few dishes over and over again. The kids haven't had anything new to eat in a long time.
Cheng Wanwan chuckled helplessly: "You all step back one by one. Zhao'er, come here."
Cheng Zhao quickly put down the book in her hand and squeezed in: "Second Aunt, please give your instructions."
“Look at the shape of this dish in the pot. Look at every detail carefully. You’ll have to draw it later.” Cheng Wanwan assigned him the task. “This is a promotional picture, not a realistic one. The main purpose is to highlight the key points of this dish and also to draw the rich aroma. It should make people’s mouths water just by looking at the picture.”
Shen Zheng leaned closer: "Auntie, is there anything I can do to help?"
"You..." Cheng Wanwan pondered for a moment, "After we finish eating, can you write a poem for this dish?"
Shen Zheng: "..."
What he disliked most was writing poetry and articles.
"Mom, let me do it," Zhao Sidan said, blinking his eyes. "My teacher said I have a talent for writing poetry, and I'm sure I'm better than Zheng Ge."
"Get out of here, you little brat who hasn't even grown a beard yet." Shen Zheng picked him up and threw him aside. "Writing poetry? A piece of cake. I can finish it today. Auntie will be waiting."
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll wait. Chunhua, let's start cooking."
Chunhua agreed and quickly scooped the braised chicken from the pot. Since it was a whole chicken, and many mushrooms were added to stew it together, it was a bit too big to fit in one bowl, so it was divided into two bowls and placed on both sides of the table. This was today's main dish, and there were four side dishes as well. Each dish was a large portion, enough to keep the dozen or so people eating their fill every day.
"This braised chicken is so delicious!" Zhao Sidan wished he could swallow his tongue. "If I open a restaurant in the future, I could make a lot of money just from this one dish."
After taking a careful bite, Shen Zheng began to eat it whole. After he had eaten most of it, he said, "If a hotel were to make this dish, a third of a chicken would be enough, and the price could be set at over 800 coins."
Zhao Dashan's eyes widened: "Eight hundred coins..."
Chickens on the market cost around 20 coins per catty, and a chicken costs about 60 coins. Selling it for 800 coins is like an astronomical price for him.
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