Chapter 12 Garlic Shrimp.
The lemon shredded chicken looks incredibly appetizing. The chicken shreds are coated in red oil, with red chili peppers, scallions, and onions mixed in casually. Even the lemon slices, which should be refreshing, are half-stained with red oil, making them look even spicier.
Zhu Shuangyi was delighted to see this. The lemon shredded chicken was just as she had imagined, and she quickly picked up some shredded chicken with her chopsticks and ate it.
The shredded chicken was clearly torn along the grain, and even covered in red oil, you could still see the tender white texture of the chicken meat. When you put it in your mouth, the spicy, salty and savory flavors all came together. The chicken was tender and soft, not fishy or dry, and had the unique fragrance of lemon. As for the bitterness that lemon should have, she didn't taste it at all.
"This lemon shredded chicken is so flavorful and satisfying!" Zhu Shuangyi exclaimed. She can handle spicy food, and the spiciness of this dish was just right for her.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Hua quickly picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks and tried it.
Well, the chicken was delicious. It was well-prepared, not fishy or dry, and very tender. The sauce was also delicious, with a numbing, spicy, salty, and savory flavor. The lemon flavor perfectly balanced out any greasiness from the sauce. Even the onion I accidentally tasted was fragrant.
But... hiss... Zhang Hua exhaled, "It's a little spicy!"
His response came too late. Lele also picked up a piece of chicken and ate it. It was so spicy that she stuck out her tongue. Fortunately, there was still some chilled orange juice left, so she quickly picked up the glass and took a couple of sips.
After the spiciness subsided, he said with his lips still red, "But this chicken is quite delicious, it's very novel."
This was the first time he had ever eaten a dish made with lemons.
Grandma Zhang looked at her anxiously: "Lele, let's not eat spicy food, lest we get a stomachache."
She could smell the aroma of lemon shredded chicken, but she also saw and smelled its spiciness, so naturally she didn't dare to touch it.
Lele, fearless like a newborn calf, seemed to have mastered a crucial winning strategy: "It's okay, Grandma, I have orange juice. If it's spicy, I'll just drink some orange juice, that'll be perfect. This chicken is especially delicious, you should try it too."
Grandma Zhang quickly shook her head: "No, no, I can't eat spicy food."
"Okay, I'll eat it myself then." Lele picked up another piece of lemon shredded chicken and ate it.
Zhang Hua, as a father, naturally couldn't lose to his son. And let me tell you, this lemon shredded chicken is spicy, but the aftertaste is unforgettable. You can almost still feel the tenderness of the chicken and the fragrance of lemon. That numbing spiciness is so invigorating!
He continued eating, occasionally panting heavily, yet he looked completely absorbed in the food.
Zhu Shuangyi happily ate the lemon-flavored shredded chicken and said with a smile, "Alright, there are drinks in the freezer, go get a bottle and drink it."
Zhang Hua also realized she had been foolish to force herself to endure the spiciness, so after asking her parents if they didn't want any drinks, she went and got a bottle of Coke to relieve the heat.
Seeing his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson enjoying the meal so much, and noting that the lemon shredded chicken looked spicy but was indeed very fragrant, Grandpa Zhang couldn't resist trying it. So, while his wife was peeling shrimp, he quickly picked up the smallest piece of shredded chicken and stuffed it into his mouth.
hiss!
It's very numbing and very spicy.
Grandpa Zhang forced himself to chew quickly, finally tasting the tenderness of the chicken and the refreshing aroma of lemon. This was much tastier than ordinary shredded chicken! He couldn't help but hiss out loud.
Grandma Zhang had just finished peeling the prawns when she looked up and saw the old man's ridiculous appearance. She couldn't help but spit on him: "At your age, why are you still eating spicy food? You deserve it!"
Zhu Shuangyi and Zhang Hua were focused on eating chicken, but they didn't expect their father to be so bothered by the spiciness.
Lele, being quick-witted, hurriedly handed him the orange juice: "Grandpa, drink some orange juice to relieve the spiciness."
Grandpa Zhang didn't stand on ceremony this time and accepted the drink directly.
The cool orange juice swept over my burning tongue, filling my mouth, and its sweetness spread, instantly relieving the spiciness.
He swallowed the orange juice and chewed on the remaining, distinct pieces of fruit; not bad, there was still some juice left.
"Lele, your orange juice is really good. Freshly squeezed juice tastes so good."
Grandpa Zhang looked at his wife with a conciliatory smile and said, "I'll just have a taste."
"Take care of your own body," Grandma Zhang said to him, then lowered her head to taste the shrimp she had peeled.
She said this garlic shrimp dish was just as good as lemon shredded chicken; each shrimp was curled up and coated with dark garlic sauce, making it look delicious.
The peeled shrimp meat is almost a finger long, reddish-white, and when you bite into it, the meat is firm and sweet. What's rare is that after peeling, there is also a rich garlic and salty aroma.
She beckoned to those who didn't know what they were talking about: "You should all try these shrimp, they're delicious and incredibly fresh!"
Zhu Shuangyi smiled and agreed.
She was tired of lemon shredded chicken, so she wanted to try something different and immediately picked up a shrimp to eat.
Zhu Shuangyi has her own technique for eating shrimp. Unlike others who need to peel the shrimp, she simply uses chopsticks to pick them up and put them in her mouth. She first bites off the shrimp head and tail, then bites off the shrimp legs and shell, and then she can eat them directly.
The garlic prawns were prepared well this time; the heads and legs were removed, making them easier for her to bite into. The garlic prawns were immediately flavorful with salty and savory garlic, and she chewed them a few times before swallowing.
Bit off the shrimp tail and then bite the shell. This process allows you to fully appreciate the garlic and salty aroma that clings to the shell. When you finally eat the shrimp meat, you'll find it incredibly fresh, with firm and sweet flesh. While it may not be as intensely flavorful as the garlic on the shell, it's still quite delicious.
She loves shrimp, a high-protein food, and focused on eating it without getting her hands dirty.
Unlike his wife, Zhang Hua was not very capable and honestly peeled and ate the shrimp himself.
He also thought the shrimp was quite fragrant, and it was rare to find shrimp that were so big and fresh. A plate of about ten shrimp was quite cheap.
Lele has long been able to peel shrimp herself, and now that she's doing it herself, she can't help but exclaim as she eats the shrimp, "These garlic shrimp are so delicious! They taste even better than lemon shredded chicken!"
He likes lemon shredded chicken, but he prefers garlic shrimp that is not spicy but very salty and fragrant.
Grandma Zhang smiled and said, "Alright, alright, eat as much as you like."
Despite being a staunch advocate of health, she repeatedly broke her self-discipline at lunchtime. She ate four slices of braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens, finished a bowl of rice, and drank a bowl of fish head tofu soup, already feeling quite full, yet she still couldn't resist eating three large shrimp.
Of course, once the garlic-flavored baby bok choy was served, Grandma Zhang couldn't resist eating quite a bit more. The baby bok choy was sweet and tender, and tasted especially delicious with the garlic sauce. She comforted herself by saying that eating vegetables was for a balanced diet.
Grandpa Zhang used to eat a lot of fish heads. When he was young and his family wasn't well-off, he would save the tender meat from the fish body for his wife and son. Of course, the fish head also had its own unique flavor.
Seeing that no one was touching the fish head in the soup, after eating two shrimp, they simply started eating the fish head.
He skillfully plucked the edible fish meat from the fish head. The fish meat was quite tender with the broth, and remarkably, it had no fishy smell at all.
In the end, the family finished all four dishes and one soup, every plate was empty, and everyone was very full.
I don't know if it's just my imagination, but the chrysanthemum tea served in the store tasted very sweet. The chrysanthemums floated in the transparent kettle and gradually sank to the bottom as the water level decreased. Judging from the shape of the petals, the quality was quite good.
The Zhang family sat and chatted until they calmed down a bit before getting up and going to the cashier to pay.
Gu Qingqiu had just finished preparing and serving all the meat and vegetables ordered by the customers in the store. Seeing that no new customers would come in for a while, she stayed in the back kitchen to have lunch.
She ladled herself a bowl of fish head tofu soup with a few pieces of tofu, then added two pieces of braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens, a little lemon shredded chicken, three shrimp, and a generous amount of garlic baby bok choy, arranging them all on a plate before leisurely enjoying her meal.
Gu Qingqiu felt that she was living a really good life. She could eat so many dishes for lunch, with meat, vegetables and soup. While eating, she also admired her own cooking skills, thinking that every dish tasted very good.
Thanks to her golden touch in purchasing fresh ingredients and removing impurities during the cooking process, she enhances the freshness and quality of the ingredients. In other words, the meat dishes she makes use top-quality ingredients. Combined with her decent cooking skills, the meat dishes she makes naturally taste great.
The braised pork with preserved mustard greens was tender and savory, the lemon shredded chicken was spicy and smooth, the garlic shrimp was firm and sweet, the garlic baby bok choy was soft and sweet, and the fish head tofu soup was very flavorful. She enjoyed this lunch very much.
She had just finished a bowl of fish head tofu soup when she looked up and saw a customer outside who wanted to pay the bill. She quickly put down her bowl, went out, opened her computer, pulled up the table number, and read out the amount: "Hello, the total is two hundred and eighty-three yuan."
For the restaurant's opening celebration three days ago, Gu Qingqiu rounded down the price for customers, but now she's charging the full price. After all, in the era of electronic payments, even two decimal places can be accepted without fail.
Zhang Hua swiftly scanned the QR code to pay.
Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Zhang, who were following behind, heard the price and muttered to themselves, "So many of us ate so much food and it still tasted so good, and it's less than three hundred yuan. It's really cheap."
They completely forgot that when they first entered the restaurant and saw the menu, they were still thinking that the meat dishes were quite expensive.
Lele smiled and said, "Boss, the meat dishes you made today are all delicious, and the freshly squeezed orange juice is also very tasty. I will come again next time."
The Zhang family members burst out laughing upon hearing this.
Gu Qingqiu quite liked the child and smiled, "Thank you for your compliment. Welcome to come again next time."
After seeing the customers off, she cleared away the dishes and took them into the kitchen, then grabbed a rag to wipe the table.
Then, they settled accounts with the remaining customers, cleared away the dishes and wiped the tables, and closed the wooden door around 1 p.m., thus ending their lunch break.
Gu Qingqiu discovered that her restaurant had very little food waste; most of it came from when she was preparing the ingredients. Basically, every table of customers finished their meals, making it very easy to clean up.
She washed her hands, went upstairs to her room, lay on her bed, and played on her phone until she got tired of scrolling before taking a nap.
At Jiangshi University, after Xu Yue and her two companions finished their meal and paid the bill at Gu's Private Kitchen, they walked to a nearby bus stop, transferred to the subway, and walked another two or three hundred meters before entering the school gate.
Their school is quite large, but thankfully there's a convenient school bus. I boarded the bus at the school gate, and it took five or six minutes to get to the dormitory. Once there, I had to climb six floors, but luckily my other roommates were already there, and the air conditioning was on, so it was quite cool.
Zhou Huilin and Zheng Jiajia slumped in their chairs, looking listless and exhausted. The excitement and satisfaction they felt from the delicious lunch had completely vanished.
Zheng Jiajia exclaimed, "Air conditioning saved my life!"
Kelly Zhou nodded frantically: "I don't even have the energy to change my clothes right now, I'll just lie here for a bit."
Xu Yue slumped listlessly in her chair, not wanting to say a word. Taking the bus or subway in the middle of the day was simply inhuman.
The other three roommates found it amusing.
"You guys are just like us the day before yesterday. It must be really tough going out for fieldwork in this heat."
"Yes, if it weren't for the department head saying that public transportation expenses during this internship could be reimbursed with receipts, we would have just taken a taxi back."
"Every penny saved counts; we must take advantage of the school's benefits!"
The six girls chatted and laughed.
After calming down a bit, the three of them changed into their pajamas and went to bed regardless of whether they wanted to sleep or not.
Although Xu Yue was tired, she was full of energy. She opened her phone and looked through the photo album, looking at the photos she had taken at Gu's Private Kitchen.
As soon as I saw the photos of braised pork with preserved mustard greens, lemon shredded chicken, and fish head tofu soup, I was reminded of the aromas I had at noon. It was as if I had returned to the fragrant restaurant, and I couldn't help but swallow.
She flipped through the photos, which included pictures of garlic shrimp and garlic bok choy, each one looking incredibly tempting.
The photos of the last two dishes were taken by her shamelessly asking the people at the next table.
Well, since I wanted to do a review of Gu's Private Kitchen, and Gu's Private Kitchen only serves five dishes a day, I had to try to film them all. This would not only do justice to my fans but also maybe bring some traffic to Gu's Private Kitchen.
The meat dishes at Gu's Private Kitchen have beautiful colors and are presented nicely. The restaurant's natural wood style, combined with yellow lights and some white light coming in from the entrance, makes even photos taken with a regular camera look great.
Xu Yue edited the photos one by one. The account they run emphasizes authenticity and doesn't force excessive filters to beautify the restaurant's dishes. It would be awkward if a fan went to the restaurant after seeing their posts, only to find that the food was not as advertised and was seriously misleading.
Looking at the photos of Gu's Private Kitchen, Xu Yue only needed to adjust the parameters slightly and it was already perfect.
She saved the edited image, and waited until Zheng Jiajia and Zhou Huilin finished writing the tweet and formatting it in the afternoon before posting it at the scheduled time that evening.
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