Chapter 168 Spicy Rabbit Noodles, Eight Treasures Noodles, and Silken Duck Eggs [...]
A large white porcelain bowl was served, with red oil and sesame seeds covering the diced meat and side dishes, creating a bright red appearance at first glance.
As Du Min added the vegetables, the aroma of chili oil and spiciness spread, tearing a crack in the rich meaty fragrance of the braised pork and gently wafting towards everyone's noses.
The three of them had just finished eating the braised pork and hadn't even caught their breath when they saw this pot of fresh, fragrant, and spicy meat.
What else is there to say?
eat!
Wen Fan saw the rabbit meat this morning when he went to buy pigeons. The pigeon vendor had several cages in front of his stall, and the lively little rabbits were hopping around, their three-lobed mouths moving as they nibbled on vegetables.
The moment Wen Fan saw the rabbit, he thought of a hundred ways to eat it.
There was once a concubine from Shu who loved to eat rabbit meat. When she was favored by the emperor, she would always ask Wen Fan to cook rabbit meat for her. During that time, the imperial kitchen was having a headache just from raising rabbits.
Rabbits are prolific breeders. If you put two rabbits together, you'll see baby rabbits in less than two months. And then the baby rabbits will have their own baby rabbits, and you won't even have time to separate them into different cages.
Despite having so many rabbits, the palace maids and eunuchs in the harem basically didn't eat them.
It wasn't that they were so aloof as to not eat meat; it was simply because rabbit meat wasn't very filling. The palace servants did a lot of work, and eating fatty meat was better than rabbit meat—at least it was oily and flavorful.
The concubine later fell out of favor, and the remaining rabbits were cooked by Wen Fan in one pot, making it into spicy rabbit cubes.
Red oil rabbit cubes are made by boiling fresh, cleaned rabbit meat, cooling it, dicing it, mixing the diced rabbit with red oil sauce, and adding some fried peanuts and scallions.
Rabbit meat is bland, but chili oil can make up for it.
Stir-fry the rabbit pieces with fermented black beans and broad beans, add some chili oil, and pour the spicy sauce over them. The rabbit meat is tender and delicious, and the chili oil is salty, fragrant, and spicy. This dish is undoubtedly a great accompaniment to rice.
The rice soaked in chili oil is reddish-brown, spicy but not very spicy, but it has a pungent aroma.
Da Huang and his friends buried themselves in their food, finding even the peanuts to be crispier and more fragrant than those from other shops.
I ate bowl after bowl of rice, and it even gave me the illusion that rice would taste good even if I didn't eat rice at all, just mixed with chili oil.
"It smells so good!"
"I feel like I can eat three bowls of rice with just this one dish!"
Knowing that the guests would eat a lot of rice, Wen Fan served the last dish tonight.
Du Min served the third course, thinking that some guests might have questions, but everyone accepted it well.
"Hey, the last one is Eight Treasures Noodles!"
This dish can be served as both a side dish and a main course, and it can also be considered a variation of Eight Treasures Tofu.
A little sea cucumber, scallops, shrimp, crab sticks, squid, chicken...
Once you have all eight ingredients, stir-fry them, thicken the sauce, and then scoop the round noodles out of the pot.
Du Min served the noodles and vegetables separately.
Whoever wants to eat can pick out some noodles and add two spoonfuls of Eight Treasures Sauce.
The sticky broth coats the noodles evenly, and the various toppings are truly impressive; Wenji really knows how to be generous.
"I thought it would all be home-style dishes, but I didn't expect there to be seafood."
"I can't believe I'm saying this... I really hope Wen Kee raises its prices."
With an average cost of 100 yuan per person, even the best food is limited. It would be better to raise the price to 300 or 400 yuan per person, so that you can eat some more expensive ingredients.
Wen Fan was unaware of what the guests were thinking; she cleaned up the table after finishing cooking.
The pot of Eight Treasures Broth is plentiful, and as usual, it's included in the staff meal allowance.
Tonight, Master Jin kicked me out and made Xiao Ge, who came to learn his skills, work as Wen Fan's assistant. After finishing his work, I cooked myself a bowl of noodles and ate it.
The seafood was fresh and delicious, the broth was savory and flavorful, and the noodles were hand-rolled, so they were a little irregular in shape. This irregularity was just right here. The broth was rich and flavorful. Xiao Ge was completely impressed with this bowl of seafood noodles and ordered another one after finishing it.
Wen Fan, on the other hand, ate a small bowl and heard some noise outside.
She put down her chopsticks and went outside, only to see Wen's mother talking to the customers queuing outside, looking apologetic.
Of those customers, two were alright, but the other one was complaining that he had waited in line for so long, and now they were saying there was no food left? He accused Wenji Restaurant of being arrogant and taking advantage of its customers.
Wen's mother went to great lengths, and even promised to give him an extra number next time he came, before she finally managed to persuade him to leave.
Turning around, I saw Wen Fan.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
Wen's mother rubbed her forehead: "It's alright, go back and rest when you're done."
Wen's mother didn't want her daughter to worry about things at the shop.
"Your Aunt Feng didn't deliver the goods on time today, so she can't make them. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Wen Fan didn't think much of the delivery. She told her mother that there was seafood noodles prepared in the kitchen for her to eat, and then went home.
Meanwhile, Wen's mother returned to the shop and was extremely busy.
Supplying goods is a small matter, but it's always a hassle.
Although there was no contract signed between Wen's mother and Feng Huijuan regarding the crayfish supply, Wen had confidence in Feng Huijuan's character. However, less than half a month into the sales, Feng Huijuan ran into trouble.
This afternoon, Feng Huijuan was more than an hour late delivering the goods. When Wen's mother saw that she was soaking wet, she didn't say anything.
We can deliver all the food, but the part-time workers we hired can't finish cleaning up, which means we can't book many tables for tonight's guests.
Wen's mother thought to herself that she would ask Feng Huijuan about it when she had some free time tomorrow. She could let it go once or twice, but if it continued like this, how much trouble would the shop have to deal with?
But before Wen's mother could even call, Feng Huijuan called early the next morning.
"Sister Xia, I'm really sorry, I might not be able to supply enough crayfish here."
Wen's mother frowned, but didn't say anything, waiting for Feng Huijuan to explain.
Feng Huijuan explained the whole story in just a few words.
"When I approached this company before, I mentioned that we were related by marriage..."
Her fourth uncle was a kind man who devoted all his time to raising this pond of crayfish. But now that the crayfish were ready to be sold, her fourth uncle had fallen ill.
Feng Huijuan felt a headache coming on just thinking about yesterday's argument, and felt even more sorry for her fourth uncle.
“My fourth uncle’s health has deteriorated, and his two sons have started arguing. They’ve been fighting over this one pond of shrimp. I went to get some yesterday, but I couldn’t get any out. They both want money for them, so I ended up getting them myself.”
Wen's mother couldn't help but ask, "So what are they saying now?"
Feng Huijuan smiled wryly: "That's exactly what's bothering us. Not only do these two argue, but they also secretly come to the city to check. When they find out that it's for you, they insist that you're selling it at too high a price, that they're losing out, and that they want to raise the price."
They even made outrageous demands, asking for double the amount without hesitation.
Mother Wen said coldly, "Double the price? The price I gave was already higher than the market price."
How could Feng Huijuan not know?
In other words, Wenji itself cares about quality and does not want to use shrimp from other places, otherwise where can't you buy good shrimp?
Uncle Si's pond didn't sell well last year, and this year he finally found a big customer, but his family members are dragging his feet.
Wen's mother didn't mince words: "Then forget it. Huijuan, you can ask around and see if there are any other shrimp ponds nearby. If not, we'll look for others."
Knowing it wasn't Feng Huijuan's fault, Wen's mother offered a few words of comfort: "People can't do business if they don't get along. Even if this family really wants to sell, I don't want to take it anymore. Who knows what kind of trouble might arise later?"
Feng Huijuan naturally understood, and kept saying she would look for it again herself.
After hanging up the phone, he lamented that his fourth uncle's two sons were not up to par.
"They only have money in their eyes!"
The old man is in poor health, but it's not time for that yet, and he's already planning to divide the family property.
Feng Huijuan shook her head, trying not to think about these things, only concerned about where to find a new supplier.
Feng Huijuan withdrew, and the two people waiting for the price increase were initially smug.
The two men were drinking in a thatched hut by the pond, and they kept saying that if Feng Huijuan didn't raise the price, they wouldn't sell!
"If our shrimp weren't so good, where would they find such good business!"
A few days ago, the two went into the city and saw the people queuing in front of Wenji Restaurant. Their eyes turned red.
Shrimp that sells for less than ten yuan a pound at home, but Wenji charges several tens of yuan for a single serving!
Even so, people still can't get their hands on the food; they have to queue up and get a number!
After they got back, the two of them felt increasingly indignant, wondering why they could only earn so little.
I gritted my teeth and decided to raise prices!
Although the two were openly and secretly arguing over who should collect the money from this pond, they were of one mind when it came to raising prices.
Yesterday, they tricked Feng Huijuan into going down into the pond to fish herself out, and today the two of them are just waiting for Feng Huijuan to give in.
But no matter how long they waited, Feng Huijuan never appeared.
The two comforted each other, thinking that just because she wasn't coming for a while, did that mean Wenji would never do business?
Don't be afraid!
Little did she know that Feng Huijuan had already given up on that idea. She couldn't find a substitute for crayfish, but she found another good thing.
Wen's mother was quite surprised when she saw the basket that Feng Huijuan had brought to the store.
"Where did you get this?"
Feng Huijuan smiled and said, "A relative of mine brought some back with him. I thought it looked good, so I asked him to send it to me."
Wen's mother picked up the duck eggs from the basket; the eggs were still covered in dirty mud.
Feng Huijuan explained, "These duck eggs are different from those from other places; they're called 'wrapped silk duck eggs.'"
At Feng Huijuan's suggestion, Wen's mother cooked a fresh duck egg on the spot. After it was cooked and cut open, you could see that the yolk of the duck egg had rings like tree rings growing inside.
No wonder they're called "wrapped duck eggs".
Feng Huijuan: "The ducks eat local crucian carp, which is why the duck eggs are like this."
Mother Wen: "This is quite convenient, the timing is perfect."
With the Dragon Boat Festival just a week away, sending these duck eggs is perfectly timed.
In addition to the braised duck eggs, Feng Huijuan also brought some crucian carp.
These small crucian carp didn't need to wait for Wen Fan to come back to be processed. Wen's father and Master Jin each had a knife and easily processed the crucian carp.
At noon, Master Da Jin caught two crucian carp to make soup.
The crucian carp soup was stewed until it was white and fluffy. Wen Fan drank a bowl of it as soon as he got home from school, and then went to look at the shredded duck egg.
Wen's mother: "I didn't know there was such a specialty product before."
Wen Fan wasn't surprised, but she was thinking that times had changed.
In her past life, these silk-wrapped duck eggs were even considered tribute items!
Now that it's on a large scale, the price of the basket that Feng Huijuan sent wasn't as high as I had imagined.
Wen Fan took out a duck egg to look at it and immediately suggested that his mother ask Feng Huijuan if she had any salted duck eggs.
"If we have any, we'll buy a few hundred for making zongzi this year."
The unique feature of the silk-wrapped duck egg lies in its layers of yolk. Whether boiled or pickled, as long as the yolk is sandy, you can peel off each layer to eat.
"For crucian carp, I'll pick the ones with roe and buy some. The festival is coming soon, so I'll make some braised crucian carp."
Anyway, crayfish has been suspended recently, so the restaurant has suddenly become a vacuum. Serving some holiday dishes is a way to make the year worthwhile.
Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), salted duck eggs, five-poison cakes...
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