Chapter 100 Oil-Fried Dough Sticks [First Update]
Overnight, a torrential autumn rain fell, and the weather turned exceptionally cold. The leaves on the branches were sticky with rainwater, and when a gust of autumn wind blew, they pattered to the ground.
The fallen leaves laid a wet, golden carpet on the road.
Wen's mother hired someone to nail up the door curtain, and when Wen Fan came home from school in the evening, he saw that the door curtain had been replaced with a thick one.
Mother Wen left half a door open for guests to come and go, creating two completely different worlds inside and outside the house.
A biting, chilly wind blew outside, but inside it was so warm that you just wanted to take off your coat.
As soon as her daughter entered the door, Wen's mother poured her some hot water. It was from the shop's thermos, and now she boils some sweet potato soup every day.
The sweet potatoes are cooked until they are so soft they can't be picked up with chopsticks. They are then filled with red dates, brown sugar, and a little ginger. Every customer who enters the store must order a cup of this first.
Wen Fan sipped the sugar water, enjoying its sweet taste.
The heating in the store was turned on a few days ago. With heating, these days of transition between autumn and winter are no longer so unbearable.
After finishing his drink, Wen Fan asked how the new hot pot dish that was served at noon was selling well.
Wen's mother poured her another glass: "How could it be bad?"
When the weather gets cold, eight out of ten students who come into the store order either maocai (a type of Sichuan hot pot) or spicy beef noodles, as the spicy flavor is the best way to ward off the cold wind.
With the rise of spicy soup dishes, the braised dishes in the store have obviously lost some popularity.
That's normal. Wenji isn't a proper braised food shop. The best time to sell braised food is during the summer vacation. At that time, people order some braised food and a cold dish, sit under the tree outside, have a couple of beers, and enjoy themselves immensely.
Now that it's winter, outdoor seating has long been discontinued, and even in shops with heating, braised dishes cool down quickly after being served.
If there were no other choice, it would be fine, but the people next to me were sweating profusely while eating hot pot, and I was gnawing on a chicken or duck wing, which got cold before I could even finish it...
Seeing that the braised food business was declining day by day, Wen's mother simply stopped making braised food.
With the braised dishes stopped, the lunch-time sesame seed cakes with fillings were naturally also no longer sold.
Nowadays, they only sell sesame seed cakes in the morning and fried foods in the evening.
They also decided not to sell the sesame cakes anymore, not because of the customers, but because Feng Huijuan and her husband, who supplied the persimmons, said that after more than two months of continuous consumption, their persimmons were finally running out.
Feng Huijuan specially chose Monday evening to deliver the goods, apologetically explaining that the persimmons would be unavailable starting the week after next, and expressed her gratitude for the time being, saying that this year's persimmons had at least not been wasted.
"To be honest, once all these persimmons are sold, my family will use the money to pay back some of our relatives... We'll sell the pigs we raised at the end of the year so we can have a proper New Year this year."
In previous years, because they owed money, the couple had to go from house to house to explain and give gifts before the Lunar New Year. During the reunion dinner, they would always hear some disheartening words, and their children were also not well received.
Being in debt is a terrible feeling. Although we can't pay it all back yet, at least we see hope, and our family can finally hold our heads high a little.
Wen's mother was equally pleased with the improvement in Feng Huijuan's family's circumstances and asked Feng Huijuan about her future plans.
Feng Huijuan smiled and said, "My husband and I aren't very capable, and our health is just average. Nowadays, people are more particular about what they eat and drink, and the village also provides assistance to livestock farmers, so I've decided to raise some chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep back in my hometown."
Wen's mother: "Your business is indeed quite successful with your location near the mountains."
If it's really well-bred, I'll be the first to buy it for my own family.
Feng Huijuan was a shrewd woman; she had mentioned it during her visit precisely because she held onto this hope. After speaking, she took out a large sack of white radishes.
"These are all grown by ourselves. It got cold early this year, so the radishes were harvested early too. We're bringing you some."
Next to the large sack of white radishes was a small bag of wood ear mushrooms.
"These were all picked up by the children on the mountain; they're wild."
Since the continuous rainy weather made it difficult to dry things, Feng Huijuan simply brought them all with her.
When Wen's mother offered her money, Feng Huijuan refused, firmly saying that she would send something nice later, and then insisted on taking her leave.
Wen's mother placed the white radish and wood ear fungus on her daughter's side. Wen Fan was very happy to see them when she got home from school and kept saying that she wanted to make some fried dough balls.
Grate the white radish into shreds and marinate to draw out the moisture. Add a little flour, cooking oil, pepper, and five-spice powder, and stir into a paste.
Wen Fan searched the entire kitchen and found a large stainless steel spoon that had been left behind at some unknown time.
After heating a pot of oil, dip an iron spoon into the hot oil, then scoop up a spoonful of batter and place it in the oil for a moment. Once it has set, remove the oil-fried dough ball from the spoon and fry it until golden brown and crispy. The oil-fried dough ball is now ready.
Freshly fried radish fritters are best eaten hot, even scalding. The moment the crispy outer layer breaks open, steam carrying the delicate aroma of shredded white radish wafts out. The fresh white radish loses its crispness and becomes soft, and the oily aroma of the outer layer doesn't affect the smooth and sweet taste of the radish shreds inside. There seems to be no clear dividing line between oiliness and freshness. After finishing one steaming hot, you'll want another.
Even when Wen's parents were busy, they would still grab one when they passed by.
"This stuff is really delicious."
Locals rarely eat this, especially Wen's father. When he was a child, he always ate white radishes in winter, but later he didn't want to eat them at all.
But when his daughter cooks, he eats with more gusto than anyone else.
The fried radish smelled very different from the white radish he remembered, but it was still very delicious.
Wen Fan fried a huge pot, but only used two white radishes.
The radishes grown by Feng Huijuan and her husband were truly enormous, larger than those sold in the market. Not only were they large, but they were also incredibly juicy.
After eating two fried dough balls, Wen Fan suggested using them to make a dish.
After being spotted by guests at the kindergarten, Wen's mother was constantly bothered by people asking why she wasn't serving new dishes.
Wen Fan thought about it for a while and realized that apart from the private kitchen meals every weekend, there were indeed relatively few other options for customers.
One customer complained, "Last week I went out to eat with my colleagues, and we had a really expensive dry pot meal. The worst part is, I still wasn't full!"
God knows how much she wanted to come to Wen Ji, but Wen Ji only has rice noodles and noodles. It's not that rice noodles and noodles are bad, but isn't the point of occasional gatherings to eat something that's not convenient to eat alone normally?
Wen Fan pointed to the bag of white radishes, indicating that a new dish would be served this weekend.
"Beef offal stew".
The price is moderate, 128 yuan per serving, enough for two people, or three people if they have smaller appetites.
The method of making beef offal hot pot is not complicated, especially since the restaurant also offers clay pot versions.
We just need to buy some more heating equipment, and then we can start using it.
Wen's mother had become accustomed to her daughter's sudden inspirations, and her initiative was increasing day by day.
Wen Fan had just finished speaking when the package arrived the next day, Friday.
Wen Fan drank some brown sugar water and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner for the old man next door and himself, as usual.
The old man really liked the fried radish cakes I made a few days ago, and he went on and on about the benefits of eating radishes in winter. After that, he even asked Wen Fan if her parents were feeling better.
After taking the medicine for a week, Wen's mother's blood pressure did stabilize somewhat.
Wen's father had almost finished his medicine. When the old man asked, Wen Fan went back to his own home and dragged his father, who was in the kitchen, to the pharmacy.
Mr. Wen: "If I had to describe my feelings... I seem to have more strength lately, and I don't experience blurred vision when I wake up in the morning anymore."
The old man checked his pulse again and said that it had indeed improved a lot.
"Don't take any more medicine. Just keep warm and eat more nutritious foods, like animal organs."
Mr. Wen nodded: "They're eating it. They had beef offal stew yesterday."
Wen Fan always tests her dishes on her family first. She made beef offal stew once, but the quantity was small, so she gave it all to her family.
After Mr. Wen finished speaking, the old man fell silent.
After a while, he casually asked if beef offal was troublesome to prepare, and whether the restaurant would be very busy if it served this dish in the future.
Mr. Wen was still clueless and didn't understand. He just said that it wasn't complicated and that his daughter had said that she would make it often in the future, mainly in the evenings, because it would be nice to have something hot when the weather was cold.
Wen Fan:......
"If you're not busy tomorrow night, come and try it. I'll give you a 20% discount."
Fortunately, Wen Fan took over the conversation, finally giving the old man a way out.
The old man coughed a few times and said it was okay, he was free tomorrow night, right? Seven o'clock is late, I'll go and order two dishes, I should be able to get them, right?
Wen Fan: "...Yes, you can come."
How could you not have enough stock on the first day of selling beef offal hot pot?
Not only that, but there are also three more tables of guests tomorrow night.
To avoid the situation where guests at the private kitchen are tempted by the beef offal hot pot on other people's tables tomorrow night, Wen Fan has decided that one of the four dishes for tomorrow night will be a small beef offal hot pot for each table!
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