Chapter 32 Braised Chicken and Duck, Blanched Bok Choy, Carrots...
After her initial excitement subsided, Su Yixiao applied light makeup and discussed with her best friend where they would go later.
In their travel itinerary, mornings are always deliberately left free. After all, with such a vibrant nightlife, it's even more important to sleep in late in the morning. A wonderful day begins with waking up and having lunch.
We'd already decided where to go for the afternoon, but for lunch, the three of us unanimously decided to cancel our plans to eat at a certain teahouse and instead go to Gu's Private Kitchen.
Regardless of whether Gu's Private Kitchen will offer new dishes today, even if it's the same braised pig's feet, braised platter, and braised vegetables as yesterday, they wouldn't get tired of eating them three or four more times.
They got ready and headed out, this time choosing to take a taxi directly to Suli Street.
At the restaurant, Gu Qingqiu got up early in the morning and immediately called Boss Zhu, Boss Chen, and Boss Wang to order 20 catties of pig's feet, 8 catties of spare ribs, 10 chickens, and 10 ducks respectively, asking them to send people over as soon as possible.
Boss Zhu's side was the fastest. Gu Qingqiu had just finished making breakfast and was about to eat when the young man delivered twenty catties of pig's feet.
After paying, she took the pig's feet into the kitchen, put them in two large basins, added scallion and ginger water to soak them, and then went to eat breakfast.
After breakfast, ten chickens and ten ducks were delivered one after another, and she took them all into the kitchen.
Gu Qingqiu set up a large pot and put in twenty catties of soaked pig's feet to blanch them.
She then began processing the chicken. All ten chickens were already slaughtered and plucked. She rinsed them with water, then used a cleaver to remove the lymph nodes and blood vessels from the chicken's neck, the kidneys and lungs inside the cavity, and the sharp points of the chicken feet. This way, the chicken would taste better when braised and the braising liquid would not be contaminated.
Before putting it in the pot, she twisted the chicken head in the direction of the cut to drain the blood and stuffed it into the chicken wing on that side, all the way through the wing. She then bent the wing tip back and tucked it onto the shoulder. She did the same for the other wing tip.
After processing the ten chickens, two more large pots were opened to blanch them.
The ten ducks were cleaned and processed using similar methods. After the ten chickens were blanched, they were taken out and drained. Gu Qingqiu put the ten ducks in a pot with cooking wine and ginger to blanch them. Then she took them out, dried them with kitchen paper, and coated the duck meat with dark soy sauce to color it.
She changed the wok and put it on the stove, turned on the fire again, added oil, and then put a duck into the wok to fry.
While being careful to avoid getting splashed by the sizzling oil, use the large tongs to press the duck down to ensure it's fried more evenly. Once it's slightly golden brown, flip it over and continue frying.
This task was simple but time-consuming. By the time Gu Qingqiu had fried the ten ducks, almost forty-five minutes had passed.
Ladle the oil from the pot into a bowl and set it aside. Remove the pot temporarily and replace it with two pots that were used for blanching earlier. Rinse them and add water again to blanch the pig's feet.
Gu Qingqiu opened the basin of braising liquid that she had taken from the refrigerator before cooking that morning and poured it into the braising pot.
The braising liquid becomes richer and more fragrant the longer it simmers, but if it's too concentrated, the meat won't absorb the flavor well. Following her parents' instructions, she added about 10% more water to the braising pot and heated it while stirring. After it boiled, she added five chickens and five ducks to the pot to braise.
She used the braising liquid from yesterday's beef to braise the chicken and duck. These three ingredients don't conflict with each other. The braising liquid retains the aroma of beef and various spices, blending together to create a comprehensive braising fragrance, which can also enhance the flavor of the braised chicken and duck. Of course, this requires careful control of the taste.
The braising pot was quite large, barely enough to fit ten chickens and ducks. The braising liquid had risen and was about to reach the warning line drawn inside the pot. Gu Qingqiu covered the pot and let it boil for the time being, then temporarily put the other ten chickens and ducks that had been prepared and stir-fried into water into the freezer.
Chicken and duck take less time to braise than beef, only about forty minutes. After that, just keep them warm by soaking them in the braising liquid.
Gu Qingqiu first added 10% water to the braising liquid used to braise the pig's feet yesterday, then heated it up. After blanching the pig's feet, she took them out and put them into the braising pot, covered it, and started braising.
Braised pig's feet take a long time, at least four hours, and they won't be ready until around midnight. This is the earliest I can manage; I'll have to explain this to the customer later and offer a waiting price.
If it weren't for this, she wouldn't have gotten up before six in the morning.
There wasn't much work to do in the kitchen for the time being, but with two pots of braising liquid simmering, Gu Qingqiu didn't feel comfortable going out to buy groceries, since safety is no small matter.
She simply walked over to the dining area, found a seat, picked up her phone, and opened a food delivery app to try ordering groceries online.
As far as she knows, some small restaurants also buy groceries online if they use small quantities, saving time going to the market and having them delivered to their door.
Even when she's tired, Gu Qingqiu still likes to go to the market to buy meat and vegetables. Picking them herself ensures the freshness and quality of the ingredients. If she buys something online, she accepts whatever is delivered. Unless there are obvious quality problems that can get her a refund, she has no choice but to accept everything.
She selected the best quality stalls for pork, chicken, duck, and beef after inspecting the entire market. The quality had been consistently high for several times, which is why she got their contact information and ordered by phone every day. The quality of the ingredients delivered each time has never disappointed her.
Fortunately, it only happened today. After this period of hard work, the spiritual energy in my dantian has increased from a tiny bit to the size of a small glass ball.
Gu Qingqiu was confident that as long as the ingredients delivered by online grocery shopping weren't obviously rotten, sour, or very stale stock that had been stored for several days, and were just a bit stale, she could use the methods she used as a former spiritual chef to remove the impurities from these ingredients and ensure they were of the same quality as usual.
She had just opened the grocery shopping category on her food delivery app when a pop-up ad appeared offering a special welcome gift for returning customers: an 8 yuan no-minimum-spend coupon and a 12 yuan discount coupon for orders over 88 yuan.
Before Gu Qingqiu transmigrated, she had also used this app to buy groceries and cook.
Gu Qingqiu was browsing her phone, looking at the various ingredients on display. She added the same lotus root, potatoes, kelp, and dried tofu as yesterday, along with twenty eggs, and also some dried bean curd sheets and taro.
I bought ten catties of bok choy, plus some scallions, ginger, garlic, and cilantro. Today I'm not making Chaoshan steamed noodles, so I'll keep it simple and add a vegetable dish. This way, customers can choose braised vegetables or blanched bok choy.
For the soup ingredients, she bought corn, carrots, water chestnuts, and red dates; the pork ribs had been delivered by Boss Zhu earlier.
When checking out, Gu Qingqiu discovered that she could not use two coupons at the same time.
She had a sudden inspiration. She selected some ingredients to reach the minimum order amount for delivery and placed an order using an 8 yuan no-minimum-spend coupon. She then placed another order for the remaining ingredients using a coupon for 12 yuan off orders over 88 yuan.
Almost immediately after placing an order, the order status showed that the merchant had accepted the order, and then the rider was on his way to pick up the goods.
Gu Qingqiu did the math and found that most ingredients sold online were a bit more expensive, but after using coupons, the price was about the same as buying them at the market.
While waiting for the delivery rider to bring the ingredients, she opened her phone's notes app and wrote a short description. She wouldn't add any pictures later; she would post today's menu directly on Weibo and Xiaohongshu.
A comment from a netizen reminded her yesterday.
[Happiness Spins Around: Wow, these food photos look so tempting, my mouth is watering! But I have a small suggestion: could the owner please post today's menu earlier? Even without pictures, it's okay, we can use our imagination (proud hands on hips)]
Posting at 11 PM is really too late. If we see the dishes we want to eat and then rush to the restaurant, it might be too late. Posting earlier would give us enough time to plan and try to get there!
Gu Qingqiu thought it made a lot of sense, so she took the advice and changed the time for updating the daily menu to 9:30.
She wrote the copy, copied it to the clipboard, and then posted it on Weibo and Xiaohongshu's official accounts to update today's menu.
[Gu's Private Kitchen: It's the fourth day before the holiday! Hope you all had a great time! Gu's Private Kitchen on Suli Street is a great spot for food photos!]
Today's menu:
Braised pig's feet: 68 yuan (including a serving of "Four Delicacies" for 88 yuan);
Double-flavor braised dishes (braised chicken and braised duck) are 68 yuan.
Braised vegetarian dishes: 38 yuan;
Boiled bok choy hearts, 28 yuan:
Carrot and corn soup, 58 yuan.
Customers who want to try it are welcome to come to the store! (starry-eyed with anticipation)
After the update, Gu Qingqiu opened the "My Messages and Comments" section, glanced at it briefly, and then picked out some comments to reply to.
The main questions are from netizens, such as whether the menu is really updated daily based on the ingredients, the exact location of the restaurant on Suli Street, what time it is open, and whether they can stock up on meat and vegetables when they are sold out after one visit.
She responded to some of the compliments with small emojis. Fortunately, there haven't been any malicious comments yet, which is quite pleasant.
The moment she exited the message, several more comments appeared, and Gu Qingqiu couldn't resist clicking on them to read them.
[Extreme Speed Ride: Oh my god, blogger, are you a devil?! I was so scared I quickly checked the dates, and today is clearly the second day of the holiday, but you insisted on calling it the fourth to last day of the holiday (laughing and crying).]
I get it! The boss is creating a sense of urgency for us, reminding us that we need to hurry up and eat at Gu's Private Kitchen!
[Red Velvet High Heels: Wow, I missed it yesterday because I was too late, and I couldn't sleep at night because I was so craving it. I didn't expect they would have braised pig's feet today, I have to go for lunch!]
[I hate noise: Ugh, another day of cravings! I wish I could just buy an apartment in Jiang City and eat at Gu's Private Kitchen every day!]
Gu Qingqiu smiled after reading them and replied with a beckoning emoji. After exiting, she didn't click on any more red dots even when she saw them, and instead went to Weibo to selectively reply to some comments.
She scrolled through the updates from the bloggers she followed, and time flew by.
The wooden door was open, and Gu Qingqiu noticed the rider as soon as he arrived. She got up to take the ordered ingredients, which amounted to three large bags.
"Thank you, you've worked hard."
After the riders left, Gu Qingqiu temporarily closed the wooden door and carried three large bags of ingredients to the kitchen.
She first opened a large bag of bok choy and looked at it. It was better than she expected. The ten pounds of bok choy all looked quite fresh and tender. The black wisps of moisture contained slightly more than she usually buys, but it is still within the normal range.
After all, the vegetables at the small vegetable stall she usually buys from are all grown by the old lady herself, and are all natural. Today's bok choy may have been grown with pesticides and fertilizers, and it has to go through transportation before it is sold.
She checked the remaining two bags of ingredients, and the quality was pretty good, so she started preparing the vegetables for braising, and also started preparing the soup.
Just after 11 a.m., Gu's Private Kitchen welcomed its first table of customers.
Su Yixiao and her two companions arrived at Suli Street in just over ten minutes by taxi. As they walked in, they were saying that they might be the first customers of the day, but they didn't expect that someone else had arrived even earlier than them.
"It's alright. We've already won by being the third customer today, without having to wait in line outside to smell the aroma," Zhao Kexuan said with a smile as she found a chair and sat down.
Su Yixiao nodded: "That's true, it's so nice to sit here and enjoy the air conditioning without having to wait in line."
Liang Siyun waved to the shop assistant: "Hello, give us one of everything except the braised vegetables, and the pig's feet should have four golden spots."
They had already seen today's menu posted by Gu's Private Kitchen on their way here. Although it was a pity that the Chaoshan steamed noodles they couldn't have yesterday were completely unavailable today, the braised double platter looked pretty good.
Braised vegetables are delicious, but they're not as satisfying and addictive as braised pig's feet. I'd rather try the new blanched bok choy.
Soup is a must-order. This carrot and corn soup sounds ordinary, but it should taste good since it's from Gu's Private Kitchen.
Actually, if they had a bigger appetite, or if they could pack up the leftovers, they would be happy to order a braised vegetable dish. But it's inconvenient to heat up food in a hotel, so it's better to eat fresh and hot food at a restaurant.
Sister Zhou smiled and nodded in agreement, then said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, the pig's trotters were just braised this morning and won't be ready until noon, so we'll have to wait a while. Let's serve the other meat dishes first, and I'll give you a 10% discount on the braised pig's trotters, okay?"
Su Yixiao and the other two readily agreed: "Sure, no problem."
After the staff brought over the menu, bowls, chopsticks, washing utensils, and a pot of chrysanthemum tea, and then left, Zhao Kexuan couldn't help but exclaim, "Their attitude is so sincere! They even give a 10% discount on braised pig's feet if you order them later in the evening."
Liang Siyun checked the time: "Yes, it's about 11:40 now, and there are still 20 minutes until 12 o'clock. Normally, if we take 20 minutes to serve the braised pig's feet and serve the other dishes first, we won't say anything."
Her positive impression of the shop owner increased greatly because of their honest explanation.
Su Yixiao laughed and said, "When we came here for dinner yesterday, the braised pig's feet and other dishes could usually be served in five or six minutes. After all, they were already braised, so all we had to do was cut them up, plate them, and serve them. That's probably why the restaurant gave us a 10% discount today."
"Anyway, it's lucky to get a 10% discount on a dish. It's 88 yuan, so we saved 8.8 yuan, which is the price of a cup of milk tea," Zhao Kexuan said with a smile.
Su Yixiao was intrigued: "Then let's buy a milk tea this afternoon. We can't save any money here. Let's skip it now. The soup at the restaurant is quite good, and we also have chrysanthemum tea. It's good to be healthy first thing in the morning."
The other two smiled and agreed.
Liang Siyun volunteered, "Just because of the 10% discount on braised pig's feet, I'll definitely say a few good words for Gu's Private Kitchen on Dianping later."
You know, normally when she goes out to eat, even if a waiter comes up to her and says that if she leaves a good review on Dianping (a Chinese review platform), she'll get a free side dish, and the waiter will type it up for her without her having to write it herself, she's too lazy to do it and just refuses.
Su Yixiao nodded immediately upon hearing this: "That's a good idea. I'll go up and say a few words later, and I'll also post a shout on the official Weibo account."
Zhao Kexuan laughed and said, "Then count me in too."
As they were talking, the shop assistant brought over a plate of braised meat and sauce.
Compared to yesterday's braised platter, where reddish-brown beef made up half and fish cakes and rolled rolls each made up a quarter, today's braised chicken and braised duck each took up half the space. The braised chicken was cut into slightly larger pieces, while the braised duck was about a finger's thickness.
The chicken is a lighter color, while the duck is a darker color, both with the savory hue of the braising sauce and a glistening sheen. The familiar, overpowering aroma is irresistible, making your mouth water and prompting you to pick up your chopsticks and eat the meat.
Before that, the three of them took out their phones to take pictures. They forgot to record it yesterday, but they couldn't forget it today; they not only had to post it on social media, but also on Dianping (a Chinese review platform).
Su Yixiao picked up a piece of chicken and ate it. The first bite was filled with the strong aroma of the braising liquid. Then he tasted the firmness and tenderness of the chicken. It didn't become dry because of the braising. When he took the first bite, a sweet and salty juice would burst out, which was particularly satisfying.
Zhao Kexuan picked up a chicken wing to eat. The skin of the chicken wing, which was braised in soy sauce, was bouncy and the chicken meat was very tender. The texture was so clear that when she bit into it, she could tear off pieces of meat. The tip of the chicken wing was the most salty and fragrant part, and the chicken wing was the most flavorful part.
After finishing the chicken wing, the rich, savory aroma of the braising sauce lingered in her mouth for a long time. There was only this one chicken wing in the braised platter; she hadn't touched the chicken leg, leaving it for her friend. Instead, Zhao Kexuan picked up a piece of chicken and ate it.
Liang Siyun prefers duck meat. She was very tempted by the dark red duck meat covered in braising sauce. While her two friends were reaching for the braised chicken, she reached for the braised duck.
The piece of duck meat was quite large. She picked it up with her chopsticks and took a bite. The duck skin was slightly crispy under the salty and savory braising sauce, and the duck meat was very tender and smooth. After being braised, it was tender and mushy. The salty and savory flavor permeated every inch of the duck meat, making it very flavorful.
Savoring the taste, she finished the whole piece of duck and immediately picked up another piece. Only after she had eaten her fill did Liang Siyun turn her attention to the braised chicken on the next plate.
Glancing at the chicken and drumsticks, she picked up a chicken foot to eat. The chicken foot looked a deep yellow color, and it tasted just as salty and savory. It was delicious, chewy and tender, and by the end, she wanted to gnaw on the bones.
She sucked the last bit of flavor from the chicken feet bones before spitting it out.
Liang Siyun recommended: "You two shouldn't just focus on eating the meat. These chicken feet are the most fragrant. They're soft and chewy with a gelatinous texture. But they would be even more amazing if they were made into a spicy flavor, although the savory flavor is pretty good now too."
Su Yixiao had just finished eating a piece of duck meat and was savoring it when he heard her say this. He laughed and said, "If it were really made into spicy chicken feet, it could be sold as a snack with drinks. Speaking of which, I can't help but think of the braised peanuts from yesterday."
Talking didn't stop her from eating. She picked up a chicken foot with her chopsticks, and as soon as she finished speaking, she immediately took a bite, enjoying the soft, chewy texture and salty flavor of the chicken foot. She ended up sucking on the bone.
She recalled a dish from before: "I heard that there was a soup called Soybean, Fig and Chicken Feet Soup in Gu's Private Kitchen. Someone on Xiaohongshu said that the chicken feet were especially soft and delicious. We can't try that now, but the braised chicken feet here are really delicious!"
Zhao Kexuan had just eaten two pieces of braised duck meat. Not only was there no fishy smell at all, but it was also cooked until tender and savory, with crispy skin. It had a fresher texture and flavor than braised chicken wings. Now, she was also enjoying some braised chicken feet.
She savored the memory and said, "Don't you guys think that both the braised duck and the braised chicken have a flavor that's different from the flavor of the ingredients themselves? It's a bit like the flavor of the braised beef from yesterday?"
Su Yixiao and Liang Siyun nodded repeatedly upon hearing this: "Yes."
"Maybe the braised chicken and duck used the braising liquid from yesterday's braised beef?" Su Yixiao quickly came up with the most likely possibility. "Although the flavors might be slightly mixed, it's not unacceptable. On the contrary, the aroma of the beef blends together with the braising liquid, giving the braised chicken and duck a unique flavor."
After listening to her, Liang Siyun nodded: "You said what I wanted to say. I feel that braised chicken and braised duck are quite delicious, and they can also satisfy my craving for braised beef."
Zhao Kexuan joked, "I get it. It's called a double-flavor braised dish, but it's actually a triple-flavor braised dish."
The three of them laughed out loud at the same time. They didn't care how many kinds of braised meat it was, as long as it tasted good, and they all reached out their chopsticks to continue eating meat.
The next dish served was blanched bok choy, which looked quite good. The bright green bok choy was arranged neatly in the center of the plate, drizzled with sauce and topped with minced garlic.
Pick up a piece of bok choy and let the sauce drip down. Carefully put it in your mouth and taste the salty and fragrant flavor, which is different from the braising liquid. It tastes sweet, crisp and tender, with a light garlic flavor. The leaves are soft and the stems are not tough. It is boiled until very soft and can be swallowed in a few bites.
"This bok choy is also quite good; it's cooked until soft and tender, and it's fresh and sweet."
The three of them would occasionally eat meat until their mouths were full of salty and savory flavors, then switch to eating bok choy to change things up. Although it wasn't as incredibly fragrant as braised vegetables, it had its own unique flavor.
After the carrot and corn soup was served, they all scooped out bowls of soup and left a lot of the soup ingredients to cool. The aroma of the steam wafting over them made them feel refreshed and sweet.
Su Yixiao looked at it and said with delight, "This soup is also made with pork ribs today! I love this kind of light-colored pork; I know it will taste delicious without even thinking about it."
Like pork, every time she goes to buy vegetables, she asks the butcher for the "crystal willow" cut of meat, which is basically all lean meat, with the same light color as the ribs. The meat is tender and delicious, whether stir-fried or steamed.
Liang Siyun couldn't resist picking up a piece of pork rib and finishing it: "Indeed, although 58 yuan for a bowl of soup is a bit expensive, the owner uses really high-quality ingredients. Some hotels use pork bones to make soup for more expensive dishes."
Zhao Kexuan loves carrots. She picked up a piece and found it soft, sweet, and refreshing. The round water chestnuts were crisp and crunchy, and the juice that overflowed had the fragrance of the water chestnuts themselves as well as the sweetness of the soup.
She used a chopstick to poke into the cob of the corn, letting it drip slightly over the bowl before bringing it to her mouth to bite into. This was sweet corn; she could bite off a large piece of kernel in one go—it was sweet, juicy, and she quickly finished the corn.
"You guys should eat this soup base quickly. The corn is especially sweet, and the carrots and water chestnuts are also good."
Seeing her two friends start tasting the carrots and corn, she picked up her bowl and brought it to her lips to tentatively drink some soup. It was warm and sweet, a very fragrant and palatable temperature, so she drank it in big gulps.
The soup is clear and pale yellow, and tastes very sweet. This sweetness is rich, with the sweetness of corn, carrots, water chestnuts, red dates and goji berries, as well as the fresh aroma of pork ribs.
If yesterday's bitter melon, soybean, and pork rib soup was refreshing and had a sweet aftertaste, today's corn and carrot soup is sweet from beginning to end.
After finishing a bowl of soup, Zhao Kexuan let out a satisfied sigh, then immediately made another bowl of soup to cool before eating braised chicken, braised duck, and bok choy.
Su Yixiao and Liang Siyun drank the soup to their hearts' content and ate the meat with great enjoyment.
When the waiter brought over a plate of glossy, oily, and savory braised pig's feet, they suddenly realized how fast time had flown by; it was already midnight.
The restaurant gradually became lively, with all seven tables filled with customers and seven or eight people queuing outside.
Su Yixiao and the others glanced at it, sighed that it was good that they arrived early, then turned their attention to the fragrant pig's trotters and began to eat the meat.
Today's pig's feet were probably braised for a shorter time than yesterday, so the color looked bright red but not as dark as the braising liquid, which is normal for pig's feet.
A piece of pork trotter trembles slightly when picked up, yet it still tastes savory and flavorful, tender and not greasy. The pork skin is the essence of every bite, soft, chewy, and gelatinous. After eating, the texture lingers in your mouth, leaving you wanting more.
They were enjoying their meal, as were the other customers at the other tables. However, the customers waiting in line outside, smelling the rich and overpowering aroma and seeing them so engrossed in the food, were very unhappy.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
