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"Waiter! What's the special dish today?" The customer who was fascinated by the crucian carp crossing the river yesterday came again. Most of the people who come to Jiangyue Tower are not short of money. Even if they can't afford the special dishes, they can always have some noodles. Even if they just want to see the building within Jiangyue Tower, they can still see something new.
"Today's dish is Eight Treasure Duck! New and old customers get a 20% discount. Would you like to try it?"
Eight Treasures, it sounds expensive. A few customers went in, while some were hesitating outside.
"Today, Louzhonglou has specially launched spring rolls. Everyone can come in and take a look!" The waiter looked enthusiastic. No matter whether you are a man or a woman, old or young, as long as you stop at the door, you are a potential customer, and he will greet you with a smile.
He Yingchun rolled up her sleeves and made Eight Treasure Duck today. She even called her mother to help.
First prepare the duck, wash it, make an incision in the duck's abdomen with a knife, do not cut it off, debone the whole duck, do not break the skin, take out all the internal organs, clean it, and make sure that water does not leak out.
Put the duck in a container, add rice wine, salt and soy sauce, and marinate for a while.
The so-called Eight Treasure Duck is all about the eight treasure ingredients. The glutinous rice is soaked last night, the dried black fungus and shiitake mushrooms are soaked, and the glutinous rice is mixed with some other ingredients, as well as chicken breast, winter bamboo shoots, Chinese sausage, lotus seeds, ginkgo nuts, red dates, walnut meat, etc. After mixing, add soy sauce, sugar and salt to season.
Just leave the rest to Mom. Stuff the duck with the prepared glutinous rice filling. He Yingchun reminds her not to fill it too full, otherwise the filling will expand and burst the duck when steaming.
Finally, sew the opening with needle and thread, blanch it in hot water to set its shape, fry it slightly after it is set, mix soy sauce, sugar, etc. to make a sauce, pour it into the duck, color it, and finally steam it in water.
In a short while, five tables of guests had ordered Eight Treasure Duck. He Yingchun had made preparations in advance and had specially deboned a few more ducks and provided plenty of soaked glutinous rice.
"Uncle Zhuang, what do you think of her cooking?" Heng Yusheng asked Zhuang Rui.
Although he didn't want to admit it, Zhuang Rui was quite impressed with He Yingchun's cooking skills. "The dishes are new and taste great. It would be great if we could stay here."
Heng Yusheng nodded, "I think so too." It would be best if He Yingchun could stay in Jiangyue Tower.
"Okay, open the pot and serve the food!"
"Okay, I'll go serve the dishes first." Zhuang Rui brought a plate of Eight Treasure Duck and sent it to the private room on the second floor.
The second floor is mostly populated by wealthy guests and some old customers, so Zhuang Rui will serve them personally and bring the Eight Treasure Duck to the table.
It was the same guest from yesterday, his face full of anticipation. "What's going on today?"
Zhuang Rui smiled and said, "It does have some features." He picked up a small knife the size of his palm. This knife was custom-made and there was a fish-like pattern on the handle. It looked delicate when displayed but would not scare the customers.
He raised his hand and gently stroked the duck's back. The duck's back was soft and tender. He opened it directly and found the filling inside was fragrant, soft and glutinous, with crystal clear and plump grains.
“This Eight Treasure Duck wishes you the gathering of eight treasures and abundant blessings!!”
The guest nodded and took a bite of the filling first. It was rich and fragrant. Before he swallowed it, he quickly dipped it in the soup and took a bite of the duck meat. It was soft and rich, with a long aftertaste.
He nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay, okay!"
The main dish promoted at the counter is spring pancakes, which go perfectly well with the Eight Treasure Duck. Customers enjoyed the Eight Treasure Duck on its own and decided to try a different way of eating it.
The paper-thin spring pancakes are wrapped with the fragrant Eight Treasure Duck, which has both the refreshing taste of spring pancakes and the rich flavor of Eight Treasure Duck.
If you think the Eight Treasure Duck is too expensive and don’t want to buy it, that’s fine. The spring rolls sold in the open counter also come with side dishes, such as shredded potatoes, shredded pork with mustard greens, shredded cucumbers, shredded green onions, and special sauces.
"Give me a spring roll! And a side dish!"
"Bring me the Eight Treasure Duck! And spring rolls, no side dishes! And more sauce!"
"Another helping of Eight Treasure Duck!"
The kitchen was extremely busy. Heng Yusheng, despite his sick body, started to debone the duck. He was quick and finished a whole duck in a short while.
Jiangyue Tower was constantly crowded with customers. The Zhuanmei Pavilion across the street looked on with envy. Boss Teng stood on the second floor and looked down at the endless stream of customers pouring into Jiangyue Tower. He was jealous.
"Find a few people... never mind." Something had happened at the gambling house a few days ago. If something happened at the restaurant as well, it would be bad. He thought for a moment and said, "Didn't they offer Crucian Carp Crossing the River and Eight Treasure Duck? They're just fish and duck, just gimmicks! We'll do the same. Have those chefs from Jiangyue Tower imitate me. We'll lower the price and make bigger portions!"
"Yes." The person behind him agreed. If He Yingchun was there, she would definitely recognize that this person was Fang Qi who reported the news at that time.
On the third day, Zhuanmei Pavilion launched two dishes, "Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate" and "Perfect", which were exactly 1:1 imitations of Jiangyue Tower's.
Zhuang Rui got blisters on his lips after hearing this in the afternoon. This was a common occurrence in the past. If they launched a new dish, the other party would just "change the soup but not the substance" and launch it with a new name. The price was always a little cheaper than theirs, and the taste was almost the same. After considering it, most customers would choose Zhuanmei Pavilion.
"Boss, this time..."
"Uncle Zhuang, don't worry. Even if you watch them being made, you may not be able to make these two dishes exactly the same." Heng Yusheng prides himself on having a photographic memory, but when He Yingchun cooks, she doesn't have a fixed plan for where to add more salt or sugar. Instead, she uses her feeling. If she feels like she used too much soy sauce just now, she will add more water. This is the result of years of cooking experience.
Heng Yusheng saw that He Yingchun was young but her cooking skills were indeed impressive, and he was eager to recruit her. "Even if Zhuanmei Pavilion could imitate her, it would only be a poor imitation. It could imitate the appearance but not the taste."
Just as he said, some customers came to Zhuanmei Pavilion and wanted to try the "Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate", but either the minced meat was fried too hard, or the flavor was not absorbed into the dish and it tasted bland.
As for another "perfect" dish, Zhuanmeige also uses duck as the outer skin, and deliberately adds a few more ingredients inside. It looks quite similar, but the taste is completely wrong. The bacon tastes like bacon, and the mushrooms taste like mushrooms. Each dish has its own flavor. It's as if the meat and vegetables were cooked and mixed together, and they don't blend into one.
It didn't taste bad, but it just didn't suit my taste. Customers with a bit of taste went straight to Jiangyue Tower.
"What's the special dish today?" the customer asked with familiarity. He had eaten so much crucian carp and eight-treasure duck over the past two days that he had completely gorged himself. He even stopped drinking wine and spent all the spare money he had on eating.
"Today we have a special dish, Golden Sweet Potato Threads. Would you like to take a look, sir?"
"Sweet potato golden thread?" I've never heard of this name before. "Okay, let's see how your sweet potato golden thread tastes."
"Okay!"
"Try our new dishes at Zhuan Mei Pavilion! Feel free to try them! If they don't taste good, you won't have to pay!"
"Today we are offering our special dish, Golden Sweet Potato Threads!! We have a variety of pastries in the building, please come inside!"
Just across the street, the waiters were shouting at each other at the top of their lungs, fearing that someone's voice would be too soft and drowned out by the other.
After eating meat for two days in a row, we were afraid of emptying the guests' pockets. The so-called sweet potato is actually sweet potato, candied sweet potato, a dessert with simple ingredients and quick to make.
My mother cut the sweet potatoes into pieces of appropriate size, washed them with water, and then added starch, mainly to make the sweet potatoes take shape and easier to shred.
He Yingchun puts the prepared sweet potatoes into the pan and fry them, moving them to prevent them from sticking. Stir them and when they feel light, they are almost cooked. They are golden and crispy and almost float in the air. Then you can take them out and drain them for later use.
The next most critical step is to make the candied sweet potato syrup. Add oil and sugar to the pot. The fire should not be too high. Stir-fry back and forth until the sugar is completely dissolved and forms a transparent syrup. Then put the fried sweet potatoes into the pot. It is difficult to flip the pot with a spoon, so He Yingchun uses a spatula to pour the sugar syrup back and forth on the sweet potatoes to evenly coat the sweet potatoes with the syrup.
Place on a plate and garnish with some sesame seeds. "Alright, serve!"
"Okay!"
The private rooms on the second floor were discussing, "I think we should go to the Zhuangmei Pavilion. Their wine is delicious."
"Hey, Brother Qi, I was here the day before yesterday and yesterday. Jiangyuelou is different from before, especially the special dishes. You really have to taste them."
"Brother Feng, everything you eat tastes delicious." Qizhou shook his head and smiled.
Feng Yuyue poured him some tea and said, "This time it's really different!"
"Sir! Your sweet potato golden thread! I wish you a prosperous and sweet life!!"
Feng Yuyue had been looking forward to it for a long time. He looked at the dish in front of him. The crystal clear syrup coated each piece of sweet potato, forming an amber luster. The sweet potato gave off a faint sweet fragrance after being fried. There was also a delicate small bowl next to it, which seemed to be filled with clear water.
He was a little confused and asked, "Just eat it like this?"
Zhuang Rui was well prepared and took out a pair of new chopsticks from the table, "Please look, sir!" He picked up a piece of sweet potato, and the long golden thread pulled out, leaving a beautiful arc. He gently passed it over the small bowl of water next to him, and the thread broke, and the sweet potato was placed on the guest's plate.
"Would you like to try it?"
Qizhou shook his head and said, "It's too fancy." Zhuang Rui raised his hand and picked up a piece for him.
Feng Yuyue took a bite and heard a crisp sound. It was the golden and crispy outer skin. Another bite revealed the soft and glutinous sweet potato flesh inside. After eating a piece, he stood up and pulled out the long golden thread himself, "Qizhou, try it quickly, it's really delicious!"
Qizhou was urged by him to take a bite, then another bite, and another bite, and finally he stood up and started to pull the silk.
Both the host and the guests enjoyed the meal.
He Yingchun rubbed her sore shoulders and said, "I'm so tired." She had been cooking for three days in a row, and she dreamed of chopping meat with a kitchen knife at night.
"Today's money." Heng Yusheng handed her the money. They had agreed to pay it daily. He Yingchun smiled with her eyes curved as she held the silver. "Thank you."
He escorted He Yingchun out through the side door. "It's all thanks to you that Jiangyue Tower has been restored to its former state." He said thoughtfully, "Actually, you can stay in Jiangyue Tower forever. We can re-draft the contract."
"You want to hire me?" He Yingchun understood what he meant.
Heng Yusheng's face was half hidden in the shadows, and it was hard to tell whether he was a man or a woman. "Not really. According to what you said, it's considered cooperation."
He Yingchun had always wanted to be her own boss, but she hadn't considered this path yet. She thought about it, then said, "Well, I'll go back and think about it, and give you an answer tomorrow."
"Okay... watch the road."
He Yingchun didn't pay attention and almost tripped over the threshold. Heng Yusheng helped her up.
"Thank you!" He Yingchun stopped, felt the soft arm under his hand, and hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
Coincidentally, when He Yingchun turned around, she saw Wen Jingzhao, dressed in black, walking towards her. He had an upright posture and light steps, and it was impossible to tell what expression was on his face.
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