Chapter 36 036 Mapo Tofu, Braised Pork Belly [Second Update]...
With the start of the new semester, Wen Fan's life became simpler, consisting mainly of studying and going to the store.
There are no morning or evening self-study sessions for the first and second year students at Qunying Middle School. Wen Fan's daytime schedule is tight, so in the evening, after finishing his homework, he would often go to the store to give guidance on the new products that had recently been introduced to the store.
So, a few days after the start of the school year, the shop successfully transformed itself, removing all the previous signs for rice and noodle dishes and replacing them with new ones.
Claypot rice, 18 yuan
Braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens, 25 pieces
Braised Pork Belly in a Bowl, 25 pieces
[Braised meatballs in a bowl, 25 yuan]
[Cold dish platter, 15 yuan]
Below are the prices of various braised dishes.
After the price was set, business was slow for several days, and the store survived on a few dozen orders from regular customers on the food delivery platform.
Since several summer part-time workers quit, Ms. Wen gave up on finding a dedicated delivery service and naturally handed over the delivery to the platform's delivery drivers. Over the past few days, the customers coming to the store were still the same old faces, neither too busy nor too slow. However, the delivery drivers had gotten used to the routes, and occasionally two or three delivery drivers would come to the store together, ordering a braised dish, two cold dishes, and a large bowl of rice for one yuan, which was enough to fill several people up.
Wen Fan was a little worried about the business at the shop and looked forward to the weekend so she could revise the menu and add some stir-fries or similar dishes.
But Wen's parents remained calm: "What's the rush? It's only the beginning of the school year. The students will start coming out to eat gradually."
During the first week of each new semester, students need to familiarize themselves with the environment, so the cafeteria is always busy. This is especially true for first-year high school students, who are exhausted from military training and have little desire to eat out. Once they get tired of the school food, the food streets outside become their final destination.
Sure enough, on Friday of the new semester, three students, dressed in camouflage uniforms, peeked into the store.
"It's so annoying! The instructor is on fire today. There are about ten classes, why does he insist on keeping our class behind for extra training!"
"Yeah, it's such a rush at mealtimes. All the first, second, and third-year high school students are out eating, and I can't even get a seat."
"Hurry up and eat, there's only half an hour before class starts this afternoon."
"There's no other way, we'll have to go to this place. All the other places are packed."
The three boys entered and each ordered a bottle of ice water. They drank half of the bottle before they saw the menu.
"So expensive!"
A boy blurted out something and blushed a little afterward because he was facing Wen Fan, who was eating.
Wen Fan was eating a special meal prepared for her by her father. Knowing that his cooking skills were not as good as his daughter's, her father could only make various kinds of fish, shrimp and blanched vegetables. If Wen Fan got tired of the same dishes, she would go to the kitchen to see what dishes were ready-made and stir-fry them in a few minutes to have something new to eat.
For lunch today, Wen Fan ate boiled shrimp made by her father and Mapo tofu made by herself.
Mapo tofu is made by first stir-frying minced meat, then stir-frying it with fermented soybean paste until the oil turns red, and then adding minced garlic and Sichuan peppercorns. Wen Fan has now gotten into the habit of adding a little braising liquid when stir-frying. The addition of braising liquid makes the Mapo tofu sauce instantly fresh, fragrant and mellow. The tofu and minced meat are stir-fried evenly in the sauce, and a little cornstarch is added to thicken the sauce, making it thick and glossy, which looks very appetizing.
Wen Fan left a plate for his parents, and served his own portion on top of the rice. It was fragrant, spicy, and numbing, with smooth and tender tofu.
There weren't many dishes; there were only seven or eight shrimp and just a small dish of Mapo Tofu, which was just right for Wen Fan to eat by himself.
After the boy called out "Gui," he saw Wen Fan's food and felt his stomach rumble with hunger.
"Boss, do you have this dish?"
Another boy also set his sights on Wen Fan's food and immediately asked for Mapo Tofu.
Mr. Wen said apologetically, "This is what we eat ourselves."
The three boys blushed deeply, watching with envy as Wen Fan devoured his food.
"...What's the fastest?"
Wen's mother: "The steamed dishes in the shop are all ready-made, and there are also cold dishes. There are three of you, so you don't need to order so much. Just order one steamed dish and some cold dishes."
This was acceptable to a few boys; otherwise, with a meal costing over twenty yuan, they would rather buy a loaf of bread to eat back in class.
"Then... let's order some braised pork belly."
Wen's mother responded, and Wen's father went to the back kitchen to remove the covered bowl.
One boy nudged another boy's arm: "This kind of restaurant probably can't be very good, selling such rustic dishes."
What about the shovel? Isn't that something you only see at big banquets in the countryside?
This stuff is so greasy.
The boy who got poked was also a little regretful. He should have left as soon as he came in and looked at the menu. This stuff was expensive and didn't look appetizing. Sigh, he might as well just eat some bread.
The three people sat down, looked at each other, and all felt that their lives were miserable.
Wen Fan had just finished eating when he collected his bowls and plates and put them in the kitchen.
After thinking about it, I decided to work harder to improve the business of the store.
She rummaged through drawers and cupboards, looking for the jar she had put away a week ago.
Upon opening the lid, Wen Fan smelled the aroma and felt it was still a little undercooked, but it was usable.
She found a small condiment dish, scooped out two small spoonfuls of sauce from it, and placed them on the tray.
Mr. Wen was somewhat surprised: "Didn't you say this beef sauce would take a few more days?"
Wen Fan: "That's about enough, Dad. Next time, you can give each table a free dish of this sauce."
Because the sauce needs to be marinated in advance, the saltiness and sweetness cannot be adjusted. Wen Fan specially prepared several sauces. The mushroom sauce is not ready yet, the soybean paste is still fermenting, but the chicken sauce and beef sauce look about ready.
Wen Fan made quite a lot of sauce this time, intending to use it as a condiment for the restaurant's customers.
Wen's mother brought out the tray and urged Wen Fan, "Hurry up and go, or it will be too late."
Wen Fan grabbed a bottle of AD calcium from the refrigerator and rushed out the door.
Food was also placed in front of the three boys in the shop.
For this batch of steamed bowls, Wen's mother specially ordered a batch of bowls and plates. The bowls were about the size of a palm, shaped like conical bowls, narrow at the bottom and wide at the top. The bottom layer was lined with small pieces of potatoes and lotus root to cut through the richness, and the top layer was a thick layer of steamed meat.
This bowl of crispy pork has its original crispy crust soaked in broth after steaming. Some of the crust has fallen off, revealing strips of meat inside. There are a few star anise scattered in the bowl, and only two or three pieces of red chili pepper. The glistening broth soaking the meat makes it look incredibly appetizing.
The man who had just complained about the price took a deep breath of the aroma: "I must be starving."
Otherwise, why would this stuff smell so good?
"I must be starving too."
"This looks greasy." The boy said, frowning. He had a weak stomach and often couldn't digest meat, so seeing such greasy meat made his stomach hurt. "Luckily, there are cold dishes too. I'll just eat the cold dishes."
As he spoke, he first reached out with his chopsticks and picked up a stir-fried green bean.
"……Um??"
The boy chewed the green bean carefully, then quickly picked up another one before saying, "You two should try these green beans."
The other two boys, heads down, ate their rice and said, "Why don't you try this meat?"
The moment the crispy pork entered their mouths, their chopsticks almost stopped, as if in slow motion. After a few seconds of pause, their eyes met, and without saying a word, they began to shovel rice into their mouths.
The crispy pork itself is amazing. The pork strips and the crispy crust soaked in broth are salty, fragrant and slightly spicy. You can still faintly taste the salt and pepper granules on the outside of the crispy pork. The meat itself is chewy, and the softened crispy crust also has a unique flavor.
The boy who had eaten the cold dishes was initially hesitant, but seeing the two eating like animals, he immediately stopped hesitating and rushed to eat with his chopsticks.
Halfway through eating the crispy pork, the potatoes underneath were revealed. If the crispy pork is the natural satisfaction brought by meat, then the potatoes are the more enchanting and irresistible core flavor.
The potatoes absorb all the essence of the meat juices and braising broth, turning them into a starchy texture and enhancing their flavor. With just a slight flick of the chopsticks, the potatoes are transformed into mashed potatoes.
Two spoonfuls of potatoes mashed into rice make a delicious dish, even without any side dishes.
The three boys buried themselves in their food and ate like crazy. The cold dishes were gone in no time, and the braised pork belly was practically devoured except for the broth.
One of them even scooped two spoonfuls of the oily soup and mixed it with rice.
After they finished eating, the three of them discovered there was still a dish of sauce left.
What kind of sauce is this?
"I don't know, the boss seemed to have said it was some kind of meat sauce."
"Oh dear, I can't eat anymore, let's go."
Seeing that they were students and wearing camouflage uniforms, Wen's parents gave each of the three a large bowl of rice, the kind that was overflowing.
The three of them finished their meal without needing another bowl.
The person who had just mixed the oily soup was still unwilling to give up: "This restaurant makes such good food, the sauce must be good too, I'll try it."
He scooped a little with a spoon and put it in his mouth. In the red oil sauce, he could clearly taste the beef chunks.
"...Boss, I'd like another serving of rice!"
Mr. Wen was somewhat surprised, as the bowls of rice he had just served were the usual two bowls.
Seeing that the bowls in front of the group were empty, Mr. Wen simply filled another huge bowl and brought it over.
"...Hey, you can still eat so much?"
Boy: "Let's break up, the three of us. Trust me, you'll regret it if you don't eat this sauce!"
Upon hearing this, the three of them divided the bowl of rice among themselves, and each person barely received a small spoonful of the sauce.
"Wow, this sauce is amazing."
"It's so delicious."
I don't know how the beef was processed, but the grainy texture added to the flavor, and there were also some crushed peanuts inside. It was so fragrant that I couldn't stop eating it.
All three of them were so exhausted that they looked at each other and felt that the other's eyes were glazed over.
With time running out, the three of them had no choice but to get up and rush to school.
"It's so delicious, I want to come back for it tomorrow."
"It's like a hidden master's skill; I don't know what they're after by opening such a remote store."
"I just saw that they also have braised dishes and chicken legs in their shop."
"...I'll bring more money tomorrow."
"I also!"
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