Chapter 33 Spicy Grilled Fish and Plum Juice.
Busy until 12:30, after seeing off several tables of customers in the dining area, Gu Qingqiu welcomed in groups of customers who were queuing up. The meat and vegetables they had ordered were basically all available. After observing from the kitchen, Gu Qingqiu called over Sister Zhou and asked her to hang up a sign at the door indicating that the ingredients were sold out. Then she prepared to come in and eat.
She used a large strainer to scoop out a piece of pig's trotter from the braising pot, sliced it, and put it on a plate. She also sliced braised chicken and duck to make a double-flavored braised dish, and simply stir-fried some blanched bok choy. Then it was ready to eat.
Sister Zhou came in, unfolded the small folding table, set it up, brought the meat and vegetables over and placed them on the table, and went to get two sets of bowls and chopsticks to serve the rice.
"Boss, your braised meat is so good! It smells amazing when I serve it outside, and customers keep praising how delicious it is. Everything you braise smells wonderful."
"Eat as much as you like," Gu Qingqiu said with a smile as she sat down. "I left some braised pig's feet, braised chicken, and braised duck. It's not much, so take it back with you later for Fangfang to have for dinner."
Fangfang had come with Sister Zhou three times, and each time she was exceptionally well-behaved. She would smile with the same dimples as her and tell her funny stories from school. When there were many customers, she would also help her mother serve the dishes. Gu Qingqiu quite liked this little girl.
Sister Zhou quickly waved her hand, saying, "No need, no need, boss, you're too kind."
Knowing that her daughter really liked pig's feet, and that the braised meat at the restaurant was really delicious and you couldn't find it anywhere else, and that Fangfang had been sent to stay with her mother for the holiday, she figured the owner wouldn't be selling braised meat by the time she came back. So she said, "How about this, boss, I'll buy the braised meat at the price and take it back for Fangfang to eat."
Gu Qingqiu rarely spoke with such force: "Listen to me on this. Asking you to take the braised meat back for Fangfang is a small token of my affection as her older sister. I'm not calling you 'older sister' for nothing. When she's on vacation, bring her over to eat more delicious food."
Having gotten to know a bit about the boss's tone and manner of speaking over time, Sister Zhou simply smiled and agreed, "Okay, then I'll thank the boss on Fangfang's behalf."
"It's alright, don't be shy, eat it while it's hot," Gu Qingqiu said.
Sister Zhou agreed and picked up a piece of chicken to eat. The chicken was tender, savory, and flavorful, and you could taste the juices oozing out of the chicken when you bit into it. It was even more delicious than when the dishes were served outside.
Although cooked in the same braising liquid, the duck meat has a completely different flavor. The skin is slightly crispy, and the meat inside is fresh, fragrant, and tender. The braising flavor permeates every fiber of the duck meat, making it taste so savory and delicious.
As for what she heard from the customers outside, who said that the braised chicken and duck tasted like beef, Sister Zhou felt it and it did.
She knew that the braised chicken and duck used the same braising liquid as yesterday's braised beef. Just as the customers had said, the beef flavor seemed to have fully blended with the braising liquid, forming a new braised aroma. The braised chicken and duck made this way didn't have any jarring flavors; instead, it added a unique taste.
Sister Zhou laughed and said, "This is the first time I've ever known that the braising liquid used for braised beef can also be used to braise chicken and duck, and it tastes quite delicious."
Gu Qingqiu ate several pieces of braised chicken and duck. She preferred the braised duck, as the crispy skin made the duck meat taste even better when she chewed it.
She explained, "Making braising liquid takes quite a bit of time. I didn't prepare much braising liquid, so I could only use the braising liquid from braising beef to braise chicken and duck. Although this gives it a unique flavor, it requires more attention to controlling the heat and texture. If possible, it would be better to braise these three ingredients separately with braising liquid, and the taste would be more authentic."
Gu Qingqiu knew that if her parents made braised meat, they would make a lot of braising liquid at once, and use it to braise different kinds of meat. One pot of braising liquid could braise the same meat and vegetables for a long time.
She was the only one who had ever seen her grandfather use the braising liquid meant for beef to braise chicken and duck when she was very young. Her grandfather said that if used properly, it would enhance the flavor of the braised chicken and duck, but if used improperly, it would easily waste the chicken and duck.
Gu Qingqiu had never tried this braising method before. In the morning, she kept a close eye on the braising pot, paying close attention to the heat. She would turn the chickens and ducks in the pot over from time to time, and then use her golden finger to observe the black mist on the chickens and ducks. When she saw tiny specks of spiritual energy condensing, she knew that they were cooked.
Sister Zhou looked enlightened: "So that's how it is. Boss, your cooking skills are really amazing."
She had originally planned to try cooking braised beef, chicken, and duck at home with her rudimentary cooking skills, but now she's completely given up on the idea. Even the restaurant owner said that cooking like that is difficult, and she shouldn't waste her money and effort.
Gu Qingqiu ate about a bowl of bok choy and thought that blanching it and then stir-frying it with sauce to make it flavorful was quite delicious, sweet and crisp.
Because she hadn't eaten lunch, she ate a lot of corn, carrots, and water chestnuts, and also drank two bowls of sweet soup.
Sister Zhou also ate quite a lot, enjoying the delicious food while eating quickly. She would glance towards the dining area from time to time, ready to go over if a customer waved to her.
Fortunately, the customers at each table in the restaurant were all engrossed in their meal, eating braised meat and chatting with family or friends, so for a while no one needed to be served more dishes, rice, or tea, or pay the bill.
Around 1 p.m., Gu's Private Kitchen closed its wooden door, ending its lunchtime business hours.
After clearing away the dishes and wiping the table, Sister Zhou went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Gu Qingqiu sat on a chair in the dining area, replying to comments on Xiaohongshu and Weibo on her phone.
She casually opened Weibo and scrolled through her followers for a while before putting her phone down.
Twenty pounds of pig's trotters were braised together in the morning, half of which were sold at noon. The rest were soaked in the braising liquid to absorb more flavor, and then reheated around four o'clock in the afternoon.
I processed the five chickens and five ducks this morning, but I need to braise them again this afternoon. Fortunately, the braising time isn't too long, but it will take some effort.
The vegetables for braising were prepared in the morning, and the soup ingredients were easy to prepare. The bok choy was washed and set aside to be stir-fried when a customer ordered it.
After considering all this, Gu Qingqiu suddenly felt that the afternoon's tasks would be much easier.
She stood up and went to the kitchen, took two takeout containers, opened the braising pot, scooped out a piece of pork trotter with a ladle and put it in one of the containers, then poured the braising liquid over it. It would taste good when heated up later.
She then took a duck and a chicken out of another pot, placed them on the cutting board, cut the chicken and duck in half, and put them in separate plastic bags.
Open the remaining takeout boxes, scoop out three large spoonfuls of the braising liquid from the braised chicken and duck, seal the lids tightly, and stack the two takeout boxes into a takeout bag.
After Sister Zhou put the washed dishes and plates into the sterilizer and started the sterilization process, Gu Qingqiu instructed, "Sister Zhou, the pig's trotters are packed in there with the braising liquid. You can just heat them up directly. I packed the chicken and duck separately. This box contains the braising liquid. You can pour it into the pot later to heat up the chicken and duck together."
Sister Zhou was surprised that the boss was so generous, giving her half a chicken and half a duck. Not wanting to disappoint her, she excitedly nodded in agreement.
"Okay, boss, you've packed everything up for me. Thank you so much. I'll heat it up for Fangfang when she gets back from her grandma's. She'll definitely be happy."
She called Fangfang last night to chat, mentioning that the braised pig's feet, braised beef, scallops, and fish cakes at the shop were all incredibly delicious. Fangfang sighed and said, "Mom, you're so lucky to work for the boss and eat such delicious food. It's a pity I don't get to eat braised pig's feet and braised beef at my grandma's place."
That's great! I'll call Nizi and tell her the good news when I get back.
After Sister Zhou left, Gu Qingqiu went upstairs, turned on the air conditioner, changed into her pajamas, and went to bed for a midday nap.
Business is better in the evening than at noon, since it's hot now and most people choose to go out in the evening.
After closing time, Sister Zhou was busy in the kitchen, while Gu Qingqiu stood in front of the cashier and checked the transaction records for the past two days on the computer.
On May 1st, the daily turnover reached 8,235 yuan, and today, May 2nd, the daily turnover reached 8,363 yuan.
This may be related to the slightly higher price of the braised meat, as well as the fact that Gu Qingqiu prepared more ingredients than usual. Of course, it also depends on the large flow of people and customers during the holiday to earn so much money.
It might also be related to the fact that she started managing her official accounts on Xiaohongshu and Weibo in the past two days. According to Sister Zhou, several customers reported that they saw her on Xiaohongshu or Weibo and came over to eat there since they were in the same city.
After deducting the costs of purchasing ingredients, utilities, and fuel, the profit is still quite considerable.
After calculating the approximate amount, Gu Qingqiu smiled with satisfaction, feeling that the busy work of the past two days had been worthwhile.
She saved the transaction history spreadsheet on her computer, but deleted the document from her computer after sending the transaction profit spreadsheet to her WeChat account.
Gu Qingqiu then used the key to open the cash register drawer, counted the cash inside to know the exact amount, and then closed and locked the drawer.
She initially put some cash in there from the bank, in various denominations, so she could give change to customers who paid in cash.
These days, most people use electronic payments, but sometimes older folks still prefer to pay in cash when they come to eat, and it still comes in handy.
She opened her phone and withdrew most of the money she received from WeChat and Alipay via QR code to her bank card. She would set aside money for taxes, salary, and daily expenses on weekdays, and invest the rest in fixed-term or stable financial products.
After she finished, she saw that Sister Zhou in the kitchen was almost done with her work, so she went in and together they carried out the brine, which was wrapped in several bags, to take to the garbage disposal point.
As they left the restaurant, Sister Zhou couldn't help but ask, "Boss, are you really not going to use all this braising liquid? It looks like the braising liquid for braised pig's feet could be used several more times."
When the boss said he was going to dispose of the brine and throw the pot out for her to clean, Sister Zhou had already asked him once and received a positive answer.
After getting permission from the owner, she even kept some of the braising liquid from the braised pig's feet to take home, so she could buy some pig's feet later and braise them herself. The taste certainly wouldn't be as good as the owner's, but with this braising liquid, the taste shouldn't be too bad.
Gu Qingqiu nodded as she walked forward carrying the bag: "No need. It's too much work to just boil braised pig's feet. It's too troublesome to make new braising liquid for other meats. Besides, the shop has been selling braised meat for two days in a row, and some customers are probably tired of it."
Sister Zhou thought to herself, "Boss, you don't know, those customers who eat in the store say they could eat this braised meat a thousand times and never get tired of it."
Then I heard the boss say, "Tomorrow I'll try to make some new dishes to give the customers a change of pace and give us something fresh to eat too."
Sister Zhou's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she looked forward to the new food tomorrow: "Boss, if you put it that way, I'm really looking forward to it."
Gu Qingqiu smiled and agreed.
The two walked to the garbage collection point and threw away the kitchen waste they had taken from the restaurant. Sister Zhou walked out of Suli Street, while Gu Qingqiu walked towards the restaurant.
As I walked, I started thinking about the dishes I would make tomorrow, so I decided to walk a few more steps and went to a small grocery store on Suli Street.
"Boss, do you sell mung beans here?"
The grocery store is relatively small and faces the same direction as the family restaurant. However, while Gu Qingqiu's family has a second floor where they can live, the owner here lives on the first floor and has turned the area near the roadside into a grocery store to sell his goods.
Looking inside, you can see children watching TV.
Hearing the voice, a woman in her early thirties came out: "Oh, yes, I'll take it out and show it to you."
She walked to the middle shelf and brought over two bags in her hands: "This one is vacuum-packed, one pound each. This one is sold loose, in large bags, whichever you prefer."
The vacuum-packed mung beans are from a well-known brand. Nowadays, most people only dare to buy food from well-known brands, and the shop owner guessed that this customer was the same way.
Gu Qingqiu glanced at them and saw that the vacuum-packed ones looked more upscale, but the loose mung bean black silk ones had less mist.
Moreover, judging from their appearance, the loosely sold mung beans are plump and round, and are no worse than those in vacuum packaging.
She pointed to the bag of mung beans being sold loose: "Boss, I'll buy these mung beans. Do you have any more? I'd like to buy twelve catties."
The boss was a little surprised, but mostly happy. Mung beans sell better in the summer, but it's rare to see someone buy twelve pounds at once.
She nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, there are still quite a few of these mung beans inside. I just took some out to show you. Wait here, I'll go get them for you right away."
The boss hurriedly ran back to the second shelf, put the vacuum-packed mung beans he had on hand back, and then brought over a few more bags. He tore off three white plastic bags, weighed them, and replenished them if they were missing any to make up the total weight.
"Look, this is exactly twelve jin, four yuan per jin, for a total of forty-eight yuan."
"Okay, thank you." Gu Qingqiu scanned the code to pay.
She often shopped at the grocery store when she went to the market, and she heard the prices quoted by the owner when other customers bought mung beans, and they were not much different.
Carrying the mung beans back to the restaurant, Gu Qingqiu went into the kitchen, took two basins, soaked all the mung beans, rinsed them twice, then added fresh water, covered them with plastic wrap, and put them in the freezer.
The skins of mung beans will separate during the freezing process, making them easier to cook into a mushy consistency the next day.
Thinking about the meat dishes she would be making tomorrow, she took out a dozen deep iron grilling pans and washed them at the sink.
Back when grilled fish was all the rage, my parents bought some plates for grilling fish to improve their business and added this dish to their menu. However, unlike grilled fish restaurants, they weren't as professional as those that served the dish with a small alcohol heater. Instead, the fish was prepared in the kitchen and then served directly to the table.
After washing the plates and letting them drain, Gu Qingqiu took out the charcoal grill and placed it on the empty space on the right-hand side of the corner of the stove. She wiped off the dust on the surface with a damp and wrung-out cloth, removed the grill net, washed it clean, and left it to dry along with the grilled fish plates.
After finishing her work, Gu Qingqiu turned off the kitchen lights, turned on her phone's flashlight to illuminate the stairs, and went upstairs to her room to rest.
The next morning, Gu Qingqiu called Boss Zhu and asked him to send over ten catties of pork tenderloin.
After having breakfast, she received ten pounds of pork tenderloin and put it in the kitchen. Then she pulled her shopping cart to the market.
Gu Qingqiu walked to the fish stall with practiced ease. She had bought fish from this stall several times before, and it was arguably the freshest fish in the entire market.
After seeing off the previous customer, the fish stall owner noticed his regular customer approaching and greeted him with a smile, "What kind of fish would you like to buy today, boss?"
Gu Qingqiu glanced at the two large baskets of bass swimming freely, looking as fresh as ever. She smiled and said, "Boss, give me twenty bass, and please fillet them all without breaking them. I'm buying them to make grilled fish."
The shopkeeper was delighted to hear that he wanted to buy twenty sea bass: "Okay, I know how to fillet them, don't worry."
He took a large ladle and scooped up a few fish. Then he took a cleaver and started slicing the fish. His technique was skillful and exquisite. The sliced sea bass were uniform in size on both sides, and he also removed all the internal organs.
Gu Qingqiu stood in front of the stall, looking at the fish that had been caught, and was very satisfied with their quality.
After the boss sliced twenty fish, he packed them into four large bags.
After paying, Gu Qingqiu put the four large bags of fish into the shopping cart and started browsing the mutton stalls. Finally, she stopped at a stall at the far end of the market that still had many customers.
She pointed to a side of lamb ribs on the stall: "Boss, I want ten pounds of lamb ribs. Could you please cut them into pieces about this size?"
Gu Qingqiu held up her hand to indicate the size.
The boss happily replied, "Okay, I understand."
He picked up the cleaver with one hand, dragged over a large piece of rib meat, cut off half based on experience, weighed it and cut off a little more to make up the difference, and only started chopping the meat into chunks after he saw that the weight was right.
Finally, the ten pounds of lamb ribs were divided into three bags, as Gu Qingqiu requested. The smaller bags were easier to put into the shopping cart, and the last bag was hung on the cart handle.
She then bought side dishes such as onions, bean sprouts, tofu skin, wide rice noodles, potatoes, and baby bok choy, as well as some kelp, scallions, ginger, garlic, and cilantro. She also bought some seasonings, cornstarch, and sweet potato starch at the grocery store.
On her way back to the restaurant from the market, Gu Qingqiu went to the pharmacy and told the clerk what she wanted to buy: "Hello, could you please give me some dried plums, hawthorns, and dried tangerine peel..."
Before he could finish speaking, the clerk interrupted, "You want to buy the ingredients for plum juice, right? We've packaged them all here. This is a pre-mixed portion, enough for two pots at once. It's five yuan a pack. How many packs do you want to buy?"
As he spoke, he took a package wrapped in brown paper from the back shelf and opened it to show her.
Gu Qingqiu glanced at the ingredients and saw that, in addition to what she had just mentioned, there were also roselle, licorice root, and dried mulberries. These were indeed the ingredients she wanted for the plum juice, and even the proportions were about right, saving her the trouble of weighing them on the ingredient scale when she got back.
She nodded: "Okay, then give me twenty packs."
Although the shop assistant said that one pack could be used to make two pots of plum juice, the first pot is usually the strongest, and the second pot is much milder.
In addition, Gu Qingqiu bought two jin of rock sugar here.
After leaving the pharmacy, she went to a store that specializes in barbecue supplies and bought some red willow branches and lychee charcoal.
The grocery shopping cart, along with the handles on both sides, was completely covered in debris. Gu Qingqiu was also carrying some bags of lychee charcoal in her other hand. It was already past nine o'clock when she returned to the restaurant.
Without pausing, she went into the kitchen and began preparing the ingredients for lunch.
Xiangcai Didi is a streamer with over 100,000 followers on the Doumeng live streaming platform. She specializes in live streaming her exploration of delicious food and fun places in Jiang City. She takes her fans on a first-person perspective to experience any newly opened good restaurants or fun attractions.
After the live-streamed store visit, he would edit the footage into concise short videos and release them for fans who missed the live stream, which garnered a considerable number of likes and saves.
The most popular posts were the two "red and black lists" of food and travel, which garnered hundreds of thousands of likes.
Because of his humorous way of speaking and straightforward personality, he never accepts restaurant review advertisements and focuses on authenticity, which makes him very popular among netizens in Jiang City.
Even some netizens from other places who want to travel to Jiang City will go to Doumeng to watch some short videos on Xiangcai Didi's homepage to decide what to eat and do in Jiang City.
Zhang Ledi is currently worrying about what to include in her upcoming live stream.
There aren't many new restaurants in Jiang City lately. He's explored almost all the old-established ones and visited quite a few trendy restaurants. He even featured one of those in the last episode. This time, he should try something different.
We've already shown the shows about the attractions, museums, art galleries, and craft shops, as well as the amusement parks, gardens, and plant oil shops that we took our fans to.
He scrolled through the pinned short videos asking for restaurant recommendations, and found over 50,000 comments in the comment section. He then switched to view the most recent comments.
Zhang Ledi usually selects suitable stores from here to do a live stream. He will go to whichever store a fan asks him to visit. The selected fan is naturally happy, and others also actively comment on the stores they want him to visit.
He was scrolling through the comments and realized he had already visited most of the shops suggested by fans. As he scrolled down and couldn't find anything new, Zhang Ledi was thinking of giving up and quitting, and just driving to a newly opened farmhouse in the suburbs to do the live stream.
Suddenly his gaze froze, and his fingers stopped moving.
[My knees hurt a bit: Cilantro, cilantro, have you heard of Gu's Private Kitchen? It's located in the middle of Suli Street, Yunjiang District, Jiang City. It's been quite popular on Xiaohongshu and Weibo's local recommendations lately. The Weibo artist Ji Jian Chuntang recommended it, and the food pictures on Xiaohongshu look very tempting; I'm getting hungry just looking at them. Cilantro, if you have time, you should check it out. If it's really that good, I'll try it too.]
Zhang Ledi raised an eyebrow. He had never eaten at this restaurant before. Private kitchen dishes are usually quite expensive. If they were really bad, they would be quite a gimmick for live streaming. If they were really that good, they could also provide food for viewers watching the live stream.
He first opened Weibo and searched for "Ji Jian Chun Tang". On the blogger's homepage, he found the Weibo post "Gu's Private Kitchen" and clicked on the photos one by one.
It has to be said that these meat dishes look quite tempting. He has visited many restaurants and has been a social media influencer for many years. He knows that the photos of meat dishes at many of the hidden gem restaurants recommended by bloggers online are taken with carefully adjusted angles and lighting, and have undergone several rounds of post-production before being published.
These photos are clearly not heavily edited; they're very natural and unedited, which is already very tempting. That's what makes them so special.
Many fans commented that they were craving it and wanted to try it, while customers who had eaten there wrote rave reviews that read like academic essays—even real food bloggers probably couldn't praise it that well.
Zhang Ledi checked Xiaohongshu again and found that there were quite a few notes about Gu's Private Kitchen. The blogger "Have you eaten today?" posted the most, and the data was quite good.
He took a closer look and discovered that this blogger had started by posting notes about Gu's Private Kitchen, and the previous data was relatively average.
To be honest, seeing so many kinds of meat dishes, each one looking and smelling so tempting, he really got quite hungry.
Zhang Ledi paid attention to the feedback in the comments section, and then continued to look at other notes. While looking at them, she discovered the official account of Gu's Private Kitchen.
The latest note was posted just three minutes ago, and it already has over twenty likes and several comments.
[Gu's Private Kitchen: No braised pork today, let's try something new (rubs hands)]
Today's menu:
Salt and pepper crispy pork, 58 yuan;
Grilled fish, 98 yuan (garlic or spicy flavors available).
Grilled lamb skewers, 48 yuan (one serving per person)
Kelp and mung bean soup, 38 yuan;
Plum juice is 18 yuan per pitcher.
Grilled fish and lamb skewers are available in limited quantities, so come and enjoy them if you like!
Zhang Ledi raised an eyebrow. The dishes looked good today, and the prices of the meat and vegetables weren't as expensive as she had imagined. Even if she ordered everything, it would only cost 260 yuan.
Some famous private restaurants can cost thousands of yuan just by ordering a few dishes, but Gu's Private Kitchen does have a limited selection of dishes each day.
After clicking into the homepage, Zhang Ledi found that the restaurant's official account mainly posted daily menus, and the fans were quite active.
Zhang Ledi finally went to Dianping to search for Gu's Private Kitchen and was even more surprised. It was all five-star reviews, with pictures and a considerable amount of text.
In cases like this, it's either faked or the food is genuinely delicious and has won over all customers, but is that even possible?
Zhang Ledi became increasingly interested, so she opened Doumeng and, after some effort, found the comment recommending Gu's Private Kitchen in her pinned short video and replied with a comment.
[Coriander Didi: Received, I'll go eat at Gu's Private Kitchen today.]
He made a live stream announcement, then packed his equipment and prepared to leave.
Zhang Ledi started her live stream on the street. Holding a gimbal camera, she smiled and greeted everyone: "Hey guys, today's mukbang is starting again!"
"To meet the request of a friend who has a bit of knee pain, we're going to Gu's Private Kitchen on Suli Street in Yunjiang District. You guys can check it out online first; several platforms have posted tempting food photos."
While Zhang Ledi was greeting people, many netizens entered the live stream room, and the barrage of comments began to appear.
[Hehe, I clicked in out of habit, and it just so happens that Cilantro (Coriander) is live!]
[Wow, this is the perfect time to watch your live stream while eating!]
[I've never heard of Gu's Private Kitchen before. I always seem to find restaurants I don't know. Looking forward to it!]
[I just searched online, and wow, those meat dishes look delicious! Looking forward to checking them out!]
Zhang Ledi chatted and joked with her fans the whole way until they finally arrived at Suli Street.
He walked into Suli Street and spotted an old Wang's Home-Style Restaurant. Thinking about how to find out the prices of restaurants on Suli Street, he simply took out his gimbal camera and went in.
"This is Old Wang's Home-Style Restaurant on Suli Street. Let's come in and take a look at the prices of meat and vegetables here so we can compare them with Gu's Private Kitchen later."
There were two tables of customers eating in the restaurant. Wang Zhiguo was in the kitchen watching the chefs prepare the dishes. He had recently been learning to cook meat dishes and new dishes from Gu's Private Kitchen, and his business was doing very well.
Business was even better during the May Day holiday than last year, and he was all smiles and beaming with joy.
Seeing someone carrying a camera coming in, I immediately realized it might be an online celebrity visiting the store, so I quickly ran out to greet them: "Hello, welcome! Let me show you to a seat."
Zhang Ledi had just finished live-streaming the menu on the wall and introducing the approximate prices to her viewers when she greeted the owner with a warm smile: "Hello, I'm a little thirsty from walking around, so I thought I'd come in and buy a bottle of water."
Wang Zhiguo's smile froze for a moment, but he still managed a forced smile at the camera: "Our freezer is over there, it has water, drinks and tea, you can pick them yourself."
Zhang Ledi smiled and agreed, then went to the freezer and picked out the most expensive sugar-free milk tea from a major brand. After paying, she left the store and continued walking into Suli Street.
"It's said that Gu's Private Kitchen is in the middle of Suli Street, where there's a peach tree. It's probably the end of its blooming season now, so you can still see some peach blossoms. Look, that log cabin-style restaurant up ahead should be it."
However, the comments section was full of criticism of him.
[This is hilarious! Cilantro, you're stealing bamboo shoots! You went in with a camera and came out again; the boss's smile froze.]
[The owner said a second ago: A social media influencer came to visit the store, and I'm going to be incredibly rich!]
The boss, a second later: No, haha, in the end, I misplaced my trust.
[Boss: Thank you so much! I made a special trip in to buy a 12-yuan bottle of water.]
Zhang Ledi chuckled when she saw this: "When you're out in the world, as long as you have a little thick skin, I'm not the one who's embarrassed; it's others who are."
He adjusted the camera angle, "Alright, we've arrived at Gu's Private Kitchen. It looks like business is better than Old Wang's Home-Style Restaurant we just visited; there are already several tables full of customers."
Zhang Ledi rushed in, smiled at the camera, and said, "Hehe, I managed to save the last table, otherwise I would have had to wait in line."
[Wow, business seems pretty good. The decor is quite traditional, which matches my impression of a private kitchen.]
[Cilantro doesn't want to see your face right now. Move to the next table; the food there looks delicious.]
[Cilantro, show me the menu!]
[To the person upstairs, just search for Gu's Private Kitchen's official account to see today's menu. I'm really looking forward to it after seeing it.]
Zhang Ledi pointed the camera at the menu on the wall: "Friends, it is said that Gu's Private Kitchen determines the menu of the day based on the ingredients purchased each day. For example, the braised pig's feet platter from yesterday and the day before was particularly popular."
"Today we have crispy fried pork with salt and pepper, grilled fish, and roasted lamb skewers..."
After introducing the meat dishes and prices on the menu, he waved to the waiter to order: "Hello, one of everything on the menu, spicy grilled fish, and monk fruit tea."
The clerk smiled and agreed, then went to the cashier's computer to place the order and print the receipt for the customer. She then went to get a set of bowls and chopsticks, washing utensils, and a pot of monk fruit water.
Zhang Ledi set up her phone on a stand for the live stream, chatting with viewers while rinsing the dishes: "The meat dishes have been ordered. Now let's see how many minutes it takes for the first dish to arrive. The tea selection here is quite extensive, like lemonade and chrysanthemum tea, which we love to drink in the summer..."
As Sister Zhou handed the menu to the kitchen window, she whispered for the owner to come over.
Gu Qingqiu is frying sea bass.
Cut the sea bass fillets into large pieces, wash them several times to remove the black membrane, cut the bones inside, and score the meaty parts on the back. After marinating with scallions, ginger, garlic, and other seasonings, they become more fragrant.
After pressing out the moisture with kitchen paper towels, it won't splatter oil when placed in a hot oil pan.
After waiting a while, Gu Qingqiu held the pan handle and tilted it slightly, allowing the flowing oil to completely submerge the fish for frying. She continued this for a while, and later, when she rotated the pan handle, the entire fish would rotate along with it.
Observing that the back of the fish, facing down, was gradually browning and fried evenly and tenderly, she then flipped the whole fish over and continued frying.
Meanwhile, in another pot, sliced potatoes, lotus root, tofu skin, baby bok choy, and other vegetables are blanched.
Noticing that Sister Zhou was calling her over, Gu Qingqiu told her to wait a moment, then held the pan handle and swirled it around to ensure the other side of the fish was heated evenly. Once she was sure both sides were fried to a nice golden brown, she turned off the heat.
"Sister Zhou, is there anything I can help you with?" She subconsciously looked outside the shop.
Sister Zhou whispered, "Boss, a customer has come in outside and seems to be live-streaming on his phone, like one of those online celebrities doing a store visit. Should we be careful?"
Gu Qingqiu also saw the person. A young man was drinking monk fruit water and talking on his phone, probably waiting for the meat and vegetables from the restaurant.
She shook her head: "No need, just continue to receive guests as usual. We can handle his visits. It might even be an opportunity to expand our reputation."
"Okay, then you can continue with your work, boss. I'll go and greet the new guests too." Sister Zhou saw someone coming from the door and had to go over to hand out queue numbers.
Gu Qingqiu took the menu that Sister Zhou had put down, looked at it and ordered the spicy grilled fish, and one of everything else.
She turned back to the stove and placed a deep iron plate for grilling fish on another burner. She first laid down shredded onions and bean sprouts, then added blanched potatoes, lotus root, baby bok choy, and other ingredients. Finally, she used two spatulas to carefully place a whole fried sea bass onto the grill plate.
Gu Qingqiu used the same wok to stir-fry the spicy sauce. All the seasonings and fresh red chilies had been chopped earlier. Now, as soon as they were stir-fried in the wok, a pungent yet fragrant spicy aroma wafted out. Then, she poured in her homemade chili sauce and stir-fried it until the oil turned red. Finally, she added beer and water and continued to cook it.
Once the sauce is cooked, hold the pot handle and pour it directly over the sea bass, letting it flow along the curve of the fish into a deep iron plate, covering more than half of the fish. Then turn on the heat and cook for another five minutes, directly over the deep plate.
While waiting, Gu Qingqiu took out a clean, transparent kettle, opened a soup pot, and instantly a sweet and sour aroma wafted out.
She used a spoon to scoop plum juice into a clear glass pitcher, and soon the pitcher was filled with a clear and beautiful wine-red liquid.
After filling the kettle to about eight-tenths full, she took out frozen ice cubes from the refrigerator and poured them into the kettle. The plum juice, which had been cooked in advance and wasn't very hot, began to cool down as the ice cubes sank.
Set the plum juice aside for now. Gu Qingqiu went over to the stove, picked up chopsticks, and stirred the batter into a bowl containing several strips of pork tenderloin, preparing to fry the pork into crispy pieces.
Five minutes later, the fish in the deep fish dish was crispy and spicy, with the red oil sauce bubbling around it. After turning off the heat, she sprinkled the fish with the previously chopped green and red chili peppers and minced garlic. She then poured hot oil from another pot over the fish to release its aroma, and the grilled fish was ready.
Gu Qingqiu put on heat-resistant gloves, held the deep iron tray by both sides, and carried it to the glass window. Then she brought over the plum juice, wrote the table number on a piece of paper, pressed it down, pressed the bell placed under the window, and turned to fry the crispy pork.
When Sister Zhou heard the bell, she came over, put on heat-resistant gloves, and served the grilled fish, followed by plum juice: "Please enjoy."
"OK, thanks."
Zhang Ledi smelled the aroma and was a little tempted, but still professionally addressed the camera, saying, "Okay, the staff just brought out the spicy grilled fish and plum juice in twelve minutes. That's pretty fast."
He adjusted the angle of his phone slightly and began to introduce, "Look, this is plum juice, a very clear wine-red color. I can already smell the sweet and sour aroma. We'll drink this later."
"Look at this grilled fish. Unlike many grilled fish restaurants that heat it with an alcohol lamp underneath after serving, the grilled fish here is served on a deep iron plate without any heating device."
"The grilled fish looks quite tempting. Just by looking at all those green and red peppers and the red oil, you can tell it's going to be spicy. The fish looks crispy and golden brown on the surface. The side dishes at the bottom look like lotus root, potatoes, and baby bok choy. Oh, and the classic bean sprouts too. We'll explore the rest later."
[Cilantro, no need for introductions, just dig in! I'm getting hungry just looking at it!]
[This grilled fish looks delicious! No wonder it's a 98 yuan dish. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it looks even better than what you get at other grilled fish restaurants.]
[Hilarious! Cilantro swallowed her saliva three times while describing this grilled fish; it must have smelled really good.]
[I remember when Cilantro was chatting with us earlier, she glanced at the next table several times. I thought she was checking to see if the noise would disturb the other diners, but now I know she was just drooling over their grilled fish.]
Zhang Ledi couldn't hold back any longer: "Alright, now I'm going to start eating and taste this grilled fish."
He picked up his chopsticks and first parted the green and red peppers and minced garlic covering the fish, revealing the golden-brown fish skin. Then, he carefully and precisely pierced through the skin to pick up a piece of fish meat, revealing the tender white flesh.
When you put a piece of fish in your mouth and bite into it, the first thing you taste is the spicy and salty flavor. The spiciness is a little numbing, but it can't hide the salty aroma. The skin of the fish is crispy and fragrant, while the fish meat is fresh and tender.
The sauce perfectly permeates every inch of the fish, offering a spicy, numbing, and savory flavor. Even after swallowing the last bite, the spiciness and saltiness linger on the tongue, leaving a strong aftertaste that can be quite spicy.
He took a breath and immediately picked up another piece of fish to eat.
The intense spiciness overwhelms the original spiciness on the tongue, causing a slight numbness not only on the tongue but also on the walls of the mouth. The fish remains crispy, tender, and savory, making it a particularly enjoyable meal.
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