Chapter 68. Eating at Gu's Private Kitchen is such a blissful experience! ...
The restaurant was doing better than expected during the Dragon Boat Festival. The tables in the dining area were always full, and many customers were waiting in line outside the restaurant after taking a number.
As soon as a group of customers got up to pay their bill and leave, the staff immediately led the next group of customers into the restaurant to dine.
Sister Zhou was busy greeting customers, serving dishes, taking payments, and guiding customers in line to dine in the restaurant. She was so busy that her steps were flying.
Sister Tang arrived at the store earlier than usual. After going to the kitchen to heat up the salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings, she went to the dining area to help serve customers, serving them rice and rice dumplings.
With her help, Sister Zhou's pressure was reduced a little.
Gu Qingqiu was equally busy in the kitchen.
Today, almost every table in the restaurant was full, and the customers ordered almost all the dishes. Some tables even ordered a portion of certain meat dishes on top of the main menu.
So even though she had prepared the ingredients in advance, she was still busy running around the stove. Fortunately, most of the dishes today were steamed, unlike stir-fries where she would swing the wok and make the flames leap up.
However, the soup is usually prepared in advance and kept warm. Today's papaya and bamboo shoot fish fillet soup is made because the fish fillets are easy to overcook and fall apart. So, the papaya and bamboo shoots are cooked first, and the fish fillets are added to the soup after a customer orders. It can be served in no time.
This adds a lot of extra work to our schedule.
In addition, considering that it was the Dragon Boat Festival today, Gu Qingqiu wanted to satisfy customers' long-standing request to prepare more ingredients, so she bought more than usual during the shopping trip. She served two more tables of customers during the lunch break and was busy until about 12:50 pm before she could finally relax.
She looked through the glass window towards the dining area, where customers were enjoying their meals with laughter and smiles. All the dishes on the menus had been cooked and were being served.
Customers who had already taken a number were all ushered in, and there were no customers queuing at the restaurant entrance. Earlier, a wooden sign had been posted indicating that the ingredients were running out, so those who arrived late had to leave disappointed.
Gu Qingqiu looked at the large iron pot containing the salted egg yolk and meat dumplings. The pot had a good heat retention effect. Once a pot of dumplings was almost gone, Sister Tang would come in and get a new pot of freshly heated dumplings from the stove to replenish it.
All 150 zongzi had been distributed, leaving only five in the iron pot for her own restaurant. She couldn't help but smile.
It seems that there were far more customers at lunchtime than I had imagined.
The initial budget of 100 zongzi was indeed not enough. Fortunately, I prepared 150 zongzi for lunch and dinner, so that more customers could enjoy the homemade zongzi as a way of giving back to them.
She rested for a while against the wall next to the glass window, then returned to the stove and made some simple meat dishes for herself, Sister Zhou, and Sister Tang.
Dishes like steamed pork ribs with taro, steamed pork slices with loofah, and roasted pigeon wrapped in lotus leaf with Shaoxing wine are relatively simple. I had already prepared the dishes and reserved some for my own consumption. Now I just plated them up, stacked them on a steamer with plenty of water at the bottom, and steamed them.
She had reserved a small portion of the soup earlier, with papaya and bamboo shoots cooked until soft and tender. The stove was still burning brightly. She held a bowl of fish slices in one hand and used chopsticks to quickly slide the fish slices into the soup pot. Soon, the soup turned milky white and emitted a fresh fish aroma.
Observing that the fish slices had turned white and tender, and curled slightly into a nice arc, Gu Qingqiu knew that the fish slices were almost cooked, so she simply turned off the stove.
There were still some peach kernels, lily bulbs, and red beans left over from what had been prepared earlier. Gu Qingqiu turned on a separate stove and started cooking the dish.
After cooking the dish, she walked to the glass window and pressed the bell, meeting the gazes of Sister Tang and Sister Zhou, signaling that they could come in and eat.
Sister Tang was always there whenever she was needed at the restaurant. At first, she offered to help serve dishes, zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), and rice, but after customers paid and left, she promptly collected the bowls, chopsticks, and plates from the table and put them in the kitchen sink to soak. After 12:30, her main job was cleaning up the dishes.
Upon receiving a signal from the boss, she hurriedly went into the kitchen, brought out a folding table, unfolded it, and helped serve the dishes, saying with a smile, "Boss, you've prepared such a lavish spread. If you're so busy, a smaller spread would be fine, just enough to eat."
When Gu Qingqiu was tired earlier, she thought that she could just cook something simple for lunch. But after resting for a while, she was full of energy again. She felt that since it was a holiday, she couldn't let the customers have a big and satisfying meal while she and the two employees just made do with whatever they could.
She smiled and said, "It's a holiday today, so I thought we should have a decent meal. And most of the dishes are steamed today. I was a little busy preparing the ingredients, but cooking them wasn't too difficult."
"Thank you for your hard work, boss," Sister Tang said with a smile.
After placing the meat and vegetables on the table, she went to get three sets of bowls and chopsticks and helped to serve a bowl of soup.
After settling the bill for a table of customers, Sister Zhou hurriedly came in, carrying some bowls, chopsticks and plates. After greeting them, she put them in the sink before sitting down at the table.
She looked at the dishes on the table and said happily, "What a feast today! I was craving the aroma when I was serving the customers outside."
Gu Qingqiu smiled and said, "If you like it, eat it quickly. You've all worked hard today."
There were more customers dining today, making the restaurant busier, and they ate later than usual.
Sister Zhou and Sister Tang smiled and agreed.
The soup wasn't very hot, but Gu Qingqiu picked up the bowl and drank it directly. It was indeed as sweet and delicious as it smelled. The unique fragrance and sweetness of the papaya blended with the freshness of the fish slices, creating a very tasty soup with a rich and mellow flavor.
After a busy morning, a sip of this sweet and fragrant soup is incredibly refreshing. It's as if all the fatigue in my body has dissipated, my mind relaxes, and I feel completely at ease.
She finished a bowl of soup and then started eating the soup ingredients in the bowl.
The papaya is cooked until soft and tender, with a smooth and delicate texture. The unique fragrance of papaya spreads throughout the mouth as you chew. The fish slices are fresh and slightly crisp. This type of fish has no bones after being sliced, so you can eat as much as you want.
After quickly finishing the papaya and fish slices in her bowl, Gu Qingqiu started picking up meat and vegetables to eat.
The taro steamed pork ribs are savory and flavorful, the loofah steamed beef is tender and sweet, and the lotus leaf-wrapped roasted pigeon with Shaoxing wine is tender with a hint of lotus leaf fragrance and mellow Shaoxing wine. These meat dishes are all very good.
If she weren't thinking about eating zongzi later, she would have preferred to eat it with a bowl of plain white rice.
Stir-fried peach kernels, lily bulbs, and red beans looks rather bland, and it does indeed taste bland with a hint of sweetness, but the texture is quite rich when you chew it.
The peach kernels are crisp and crunchy, the lily bulbs are silky and refreshing, and the red beans are smooth and delicate. When you pick up a piece with your chopsticks and put it in your mouth, all the flavors intertwine and create a very refreshing taste.
Gu Qingqiu really liked this dish, and she ate several bites before finally stopping.
Seeing that Sister Zhou and Sister Tang were also drinking soup and eating meat and vegetables the whole time, Gu Qingqiu smiled and said, "You two remember to save some room. These five zongzi have double salted egg yolks. May everyone have a happy and healthy Dragon Boat Festival after eating them!"
That day, when we were finishing making zongzi, in order not to waste the salted egg yolks, the last five zongzi were all made with double salted egg yolks.
She had marked the knots on the string after wrapping the rice dumplings, and then put them in a separate bag after cooking. Today, on the Dragon Boat Festival, she took them out to cook together, but she put them in a separate bag and cooked them last, keeping the inside for herself.
Sister Zhou was pleasantly surprised: "It's a double salted egg yolk and pork zongzi! I have to save some room for later. The zongzi you gave me to take home the other day, Fangfang especially liked them. She said she had never eaten such delicious zongzi in her life and asked me to cook them for her for breakfast every morning."
Sister Tang nodded in agreement: "The zongzi we made that day were really delicious. Boss, take those eight zongzi home with you. My son ate them and praised them highly. He especially loves them."
She smiled and said, "I never expected to be so lucky today, to be able to eat a double salted egg yolk and pork rice dumpling."
Gu Qingqiu was amused by Tang Jie's words: "We've worked so hard, of course we should keep the two salted egg yolk and meat dumplings for ourselves, as a reward for ourselves."
Sister Zhou and Sister Tang smiled and agreed. Originally, they planned to eat salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings last after the meat dishes. One was worried that eating rice dumplings would fill her stomach, while the other thought that the rice dumplings would be the grand finale, so that the aroma of salted egg yolk and pork belly would linger in her mouth and leave a lasting impression.
But when the owner told them that this was a double salted egg yolk and meat zongzi, it immediately aroused their desire for zongzi, which they had been deliberately suppressing. They simply put down their bowls and chopsticks and each took a zongzi to eat.
These five zongzi were brought over after the knots were cut with scissors. Gu Qingqiu took a zongzi and put it in a bowl. Not wanting to get her hands dirty, she used chopsticks to unfold the zongzi leaves, revealing the four corners inside.
She picked up the pieces with her chopsticks and ate them one by one.
The glutinous rice is as soft, sticky, and savory as ever. The oil from the salted egg yolk permeates the surrounding rice, giving it a salty and savory flavor. The salted egg yolk is sandy and flavorful, making the glutinous rice even more fragrant. Double the salted egg yolk means double the happiness, making it especially enjoyable to eat.
The pork belly was still oozing oil, and it tasted fatty but not greasy, lean but not dry, savory and delicious. It was especially tasty when eaten with glutinous rice.
This zongzi is quite large, but it feels like there's very little inside; it was gone in just a few bites.
Gu Qingqiu felt the lingering aroma of salted egg yolk and meat in her mouth, which was very satisfying. All her fatigue was completely swept away, and she felt refreshed.
After finishing the whole zongzi, Sister Zhou sighed with satisfaction, "This double-egg yolk and pork zongzi is so delicious! It's so satisfying to eat, even better than the salted egg yolk and pork zongzi I had before. Eating this one makes me feel happy all day!"
Sister Tang also took the last bite of the zongzi, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it. She couldn't help but lick her mouth with the tip of her tongue, not wanting to miss the last bit of fragrance.
She smiled and nodded in agreement, saying, "It smells really good. I'm so happy today. I'll crave this double salted egg yolk and meat rice dumpling for years to come."
Gu Qingqiu felt a sense of accomplishment when she heard them say that, and smiled with her eyes crinkling: "As long as you're happy, that's good. If it's delicious, we'll make a few more double salted egg yolk and meat dumplings for ourselves next Dragon Boat Festival, so we won't have to think about them for several years."
Sister Zhou and Sister Tang both burst out laughing upon hearing this.
Gu Qingqiu felt that her stomach was already full: "You guys can eat the remaining two zongzi together."
Sister Zhou shook her head: "No need, no need, boss, I'm already full. You and Sister Tang can eat."
Sister Tang also shook her head: "Boss, I'm full too, you can eat it."
"I'm full too." Gu Qingqiu smiled helplessly, and then said, "How about this, since everyone is full, you can take these two zongzi back and give them to Fangfang and Sister Tang's sons. They're double salted egg yolk and pork zongzi, so let them try them and see if they're really more fragrant than the previous salted egg yolk and pork zongzi."
Sister Zhou and Sister Tang felt embarrassed to refuse, but after hearing the shopkeeper's words, they really wanted Fangfang/her son to try the delicious double salted egg yolk and pork rice dumpling. Seeing the shopkeeper's firm attitude, they readily agreed, smiling and saying, "Thank you, boss!"
After the meal, Sister Zhou went back to the dining area to settle the bills for the customers who had finished eating and were leaving. Sister Tang was in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes and utensils and washing them in the sink. Then she folded up the dining table and put it away.
Zhou Meizi would bring in the remaining dishes and utensils from the tables outside later, so she simply went to the sink, put on gloves, and started washing the dishes.
Gu Qingqiu did nothing and rested completely.
She walked out of the kitchen and into the dining area, thinking she would go to the restaurant entrance to get some fresh air.
There were still two tables of customers eating in the dining area. When she came out of the kitchen, a group of young women at one table greeted her very warmly.
"Boss, your cooking skills are absolutely amazing! Every dish you made today was delicious, we had a wonderful time, thank you!"
"Yes, yes, boss! This salted egg yolk and pork rice dumpling is the best I've ever eaten, absolutely amazing! Thank you for the event today. Eating this rice dumpling makes this Dragon Boat Festival the happiest I've ever had."
"Boss, wishing you a happy and healthy Dragon Boat Festival!"
Gu Qingqiu was in a particularly good mood, her eyes and brows beaming with joy. She nodded with a smile, her lips curving upwards: "Thank you for your enjoyment. I'm happy that you're having a good time. Happy Dragon Boat Festival to you all!"
Perhaps it was these girls who livened up the atmosphere, because the customers at the other table also greeted them with smiles, and they were all speaking from the heart.
"Boss, thank you so much for the rice dumplings! We really enjoyed them. We've never had such delicious salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings before!"
"Yes, boss, your cooking skills are amazing! You can make so many delicious meat dishes. We've been craving them all day long!"
"Thank you for your hard work, boss."
"It's no trouble at all. I'm just glad you enjoyed your meal. Thank you for your support," Gu Qingqiu said with a smile and a nod.
"You guys take your time eating, I'm going to go outside for some fresh air."
"Okay."
Gu Qingqiu stood at the restaurant entrance, the fresh air rushing towards her face, making her feel increasingly comfortable. Even though the occasional breeze was hot and dry, she still felt pleasant.
She thought she had probably received the best gift for the Dragon Boat Festival.
The noodle shop diagonally across the street doesn't seem to be doing much business. There are only two customers eating noodles there right now, and I don't usually see many people during mealtimes.
According to Sister Zhou, sometimes she sees the owner of the restaurant across the street standing at the door smoking, and he looks really worried.
Gu Qingqiu didn't pay any attention and turned back to the restaurant.
The two tables of customers who had just left the restaurant waved goodbye to her as they paid their bills, saying, "Goodbye, boss!"
The shop was now empty. Sister Zhou had already cleared away the bowls and plates from the two tables and was wiping all the tables with a rag. She said, "Sister Zhou, please take care of cleaning up. Go back and rest when you're done. I'll go upstairs to rest now."
Sister Zhou nodded: "Okay, boss, you must be exhausted too, go and rest first."
To be honest, she felt a little sorry for the boss. He was so young and had run the restaurant so successfully. Today, on the Dragon Boat Festival, he had served so many customers and worked in the kitchen for so long. He must have been very tired.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone out of his way to get some fresh air at the restaurant entrance.
Gu Qingqiu nodded in agreement, went into the kitchen to give Tang Jie some instructions, and then went upstairs to the second floor. Back in her room, she turned on the air conditioner, changed into her pajamas, and lay down on the bed, feeling extremely comfortable.
Every part of my body is relaxed at this moment, especially my waist and legs; lying down is so comfortable.
She originally intended to go straight to sleep, but she couldn't resist the interactive business habit she had developed recently, so she picked up her phone, opened Xiaohongshu, and started reading the comments section of today's menu posts.
Holidays really make a difference; even the comments section is more lively than my usual daily menu notes.
[Thinking of you at night: Hehehe, it's finally my turn to post pictures! I took advantage of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday to come to Jiang City just to eat this Gu's Private Kitchen (cough cough, to be honest, this is the third time I've eaten here in a row, it's super blissful).
The steamed dishes for today's Dragon Boat Festival were still very fragrant. My favorites were steamed pork ribs with taro and steamed beef with loofah. However, my parents said that the lotus leaf-wrapped braised pigeon with Shaoxing wine was even better. We all loved the soup; it was so sweet and delicious! Also, the stir-fried peach kernels and lily bulbs with red beans was quite good, refreshing and delicious—a perfect summer dish.
Of course, the best part was getting a free limited-edition salted egg yolk and pork rice dumpling for the Dragon Boat Festival from Gu's Private Kitchen. It was absolutely delicious!
Look at this beautiful cross-section! The salted egg yolk is sizzling with oil and has a sandy texture, making it very salty and fragrant. The pork belly is a huge piece with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, making it soft, tender, and not greasy. It's savory and flavorful. Even the glutinous rice is delicious. The mung beans mixed in are even more fragrant than the glutinous rice. You'll want to eat more after you finish this!
Taro Steamed Pork Ribs.jpg Loofah Steamed Beef.jpg Lotus Leaf Carved Pigeon.jpg Papaya and Bamboo Shoot Fish Fillet Soup.jpg Peach Kernel and Lily Bulb Stir-fried with Red Beans.jpg Cross-section of Salted Egg Yolk and Meat Dumpling.jpg
After reading the comment carefully, Gu Qingqiu smiled and started looking at the photos one by one.
Each dish was photographed in a very authentic and tempting way, especially the last photo of the salted egg yolk and pork rice dumpling cross-section, where you could see the oil glistening from the salted egg yolk and the fat and lean pork belly oozing out.
Other dishes might be too greasy to eat because of the sizzling fat on the meat, but anyone who has eaten zongzi knows that it has to have this kind of sizzling fat pork belly to make the whole zongzi taste good, otherwise the dry texture is much worse.
She smiled as she read the comments below.
[I'm sure to get rich this year: I've finally made it big! I got to eat a free salted egg yolk and pork rice dumpling from Gu's Private Kitchen! I have to say, it's truly worthy of Gu's Private Kitchen; even this rice dumpling is the most delicious I've ever eaten in my life! (Attached: Salted egg yolk and pork rice dumpling.jpg)]
[Heart Towards the Warm Sun: Great! I've already finished the salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings that Gu's Private Kitchen gave us for free!]
The glutinous rice and mung beans used are of the highest quality. The salted egg yolk is incredibly oily, with a sandy texture and a very salty and fragrant flavor. The pork belly is also made from high-quality pork belly. Only after eating it can you truly understand what it means to be fatty but not greasy and lean but not dry! [Attached: Salted Egg Yolk and Pork Rice Dumpling.jpg]
[Huang Shuijing Wangwo: All the dishes in the store were delicious today, the most fragrant of all was the salted egg yolk and pork rice dumpling, so fragrant that you wanted to eat it again and again!]
I couldn't resist asking the shop assistant if they could sell a small quantity of these zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), that two people could share one, and that the price didn't matter, but I was politely refused.
The shop assistant said these salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings were specially made as a thank you gift to customers. Do you understand that feeling of being both disappointed and touched? [crying emoji]
[Thinking of you makes me smile: Successfully checked in at Gu's Private Kitchen for Dragon Boat Festival! You can really feel the sincerity of Gu's Private Kitchen. They use only the best ingredients, and the salted egg yolk and meat dumplings are incredibly fragrant! The atmosphere is also great right now, full of life, and the staff are as attentive and thoughtful as ever.]
Another piece of good news! The staff told me that the restaurant is giving away 150 salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings for free during lunch and dinner, which is more than half again as many as the previously announced 100 per day!!! Grab this opportunity while you can, as tonight is the only time left! First come, first served, or they'll be gone! (Anyway, I'm definitely going to have them again tonight, hehe.)
This last comment received quite a few likes, and the comment section was surprisingly crowded.
[Can't get up early enough: Wow, thanks for sharing! There are still 150 salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings left tonight! Suddenly I feel like my chances of getting some for free at dinner tonight have increased so much!]
[Calm and breezy: Ahhhhhh, thank you so much for sharing! Thank you Gu's Private Kitchen! I'll definitely seize the opportunity to go and get some salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings tonight!]
[What's wrong: I'd already planned to have dinner with my family at Gu's Private Kitchen tonight, but seeing this comment made me realize the crisis: 150 zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) aren't enough to go around! Looks like I'll have to leave at 4 pm and arrive just in time for their opening at 5 pm.]
Seeing this, Gu Qingqiu realized that business tonight might be even better than at noon.
When it's hot, most people prefer to wait until it gets cooler in the evening before going out to eat. There are also repeat customers who had lunch at noon and thought the salted egg yolk and meat dumplings were delicious and wanted to eat them again that day.
However, the ingredients prepared are fixed, and the number of salted egg yolk and meat dumplings is also fixed, so we can only try to serve them on a first-come, first-served basis.
Today's comments and expectations were mostly positive, which Gu Qingqiu found rather uninteresting. She simply scrolled through the comments, occasionally giving a like, and then exited Xiaohongshu to go to Weibo to like and interact with the comments section of today's posts.
After finishing, she had no interest in looking at anything else. She put down her phone, closed her eyes, and went to sleep, so she could be well-rested for the afternoon's work.
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Gu Qingqiu, full of energy, went into the kitchen to prepare ingredients and make soup.
Knowing that the restaurant would be busy today, Sister Zhou and Sister Tang came to the shop early to tidy up and prepare everything for opening and serving customers.
Starting at five o'clock, as soon as the restaurant opened its doors, groups of customers came in to dine.
Unlike at noon when everyone was more restrained, thinking of having soup and trying a couple of dishes before asking the waiter for the salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings, the customers at this time seemed to be more anxious. After ordering, they asked the waiter to bring the rice dumplings first, even if they didn't eat them and just put them aside for the time being. After all, once they were on their table, they were theirs, and they weren't afraid that the people behind them would take them first.
Sister Zhou and Sister Tang were busy serving customers in the dining room, serving bowls, chopsticks, tea, dishes, and zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), while Gu Qingqiu was busy stir-frying and steaming dishes in the kitchen.
The customers enjoyed the delicious food immensely, and they frequently remarked that this was the happiest Dragon Boat Festival they had ever had.
Dining at Gu's Private Kitchen is such a treat! Not only do they have delicious meat dishes, but they also have savory and flavorful salted egg yolk rice dumplings. A whole table of food only costs 260 yuan. You won't find this kind of treatment at other restaurants!
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