Chapter 71 Braised Fish Head with Tofu Skin, Steamed Egg with Pine Nuts...
Just after 11 a.m., when Yao Sixuan walked along Suli Street to the restaurant entrance and saw the scene inside, she felt as if she had stepped from the internet into reality. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and feel a little more expectant.
You know, many of the trendy restaurants on Xiaohongshu look so exquisite and beautiful in their photos, but when you actually go to eat there, you'll find that many of them have been filtered and photoshopped. You're lucky if you don't end up with something completely different from what you expected.
But Gu's Private Kitchen is different. Whether it's the restaurant's storefront photos posted by the official account or the storefront photos posted by netizens, they are highly similar, with almost only the lighting being different.
Moreover, she was worried that the restaurant would be too popular and she would have to wait in line if she arrived late, so she made sure to arrive right when it opened. She was only a few minutes late because of traffic on the way.
As it turned out, several tables in the store were already occupied, leaving only two empty tables.
Yao Sixuan quickly led An'an inside and found a relatively small table. As soon as they sat down, they saw that another large table had been taken by a group of six people. At this point, the restaurant was full, and those who came later had to take a number and wait in line.
Even though the difference is less than a minute, there is still a sequence, and the staff came over to serve their table first.
Although it was Yao Sixuan's first time visiting Gu's Private Kitchen, she had done thorough research beforehand and had already checked today's menu on Gu's Private Kitchen's official Xiaohongshu account around 10 a.m.
She and An'an couldn't eat much on their own, but today she wanted An'an to try as much as possible to see if she could eat what she wanted, so she simply ordered all five dishes and one soup from the menu, including cheese and bacon shrimp rolls, which An'an was very unlikely to eat.
An'an loves cheese and bacon, but he hasn't eaten much shrimp paste before. Since he doesn't like shrimp, he naturally doesn't like shrimp paste either.
An'an should like sweet and sour pork, sauerkraut and tofu casserole, and steamed egg with pine needles. But braised fish head with dried bean curd is a bit of a stretch. If it has a fishy smell, she won't touch it. However, Yao Sixuan herself is looking forward to this dish. She really likes fish head and tofu soup.
Although lately, whenever we go to a restaurant, no matter how many or how few customers there are, we basically order all the dishes, Sister Zhou still habitually asks if we're sure we want to order this much because we might not be able to finish it.
After receiving an affirmative answer, she first brought over two sets of bowls and chopsticks and washing utensils, then went to the kitchen to pour a pot of iced lemon water for the customers at this table, then went to the cashier to prepare their menus, and then went to serve another table of customers.
Because the waiter had just asked if she had ordered so many dishes, Yao Sixuan's impression of Gu's Private Kitchen had improved.
She looked around and found the restaurant to be quite clean before she started rinsing the dishes, chopsticks, and teacups. After pouring some iced lemon water, she handed the teacup to the child: "An'an, have some lemon water."
Normally, An'an likes to drink iced lemonade, which is cool, refreshing and slightly sweet, and she can drink several cups. But this time, as she took the teacup and drank the iced lemonade, her round eyes kept looking at the standing freezer in the back kitchen of the restaurant.
After finishing her glass of iced lemonade, An'an quietly observed her mother's expression and, seeing that she was in a good mood, asked, "Mom, can I have a drink?"
After speaking, he pointed in the direction of the upright freezer.
This child is usually a picky eater but not a picky drinker. He loves to drink any kind of beverage, and Yao Sixuan usually tries to limit his intake.
Seeing that he was so excited, and since I had specially brought him out to eat today, I nodded and said, "Sure, go and pick out a drink yourself."
"Yay! Thank you, Mom!"
Upon hearing this, An'an immediately grinned, stood up, and skipped over to the standing freezer. She looked closely through the glass door, almost overwhelmed by the choices, before finally opening the freezer door and taking out a drink.
Yao Sixuan looked at the bottled beverage he brought back and smiled, "Want some coconut juice?"
"Hmm, I want to drink orange juice, cola, and coconut juice. I've thought about it and I'll drink coconut juice first today," An'an said, her little face full of seriousness. It was clear that she had been thinking hard and struggling with her decision in front of the standing freezer.
“Yes, it’s great that you can make a choice,” Yao Sixuan said.
She waved to the shop assistant and asked for a straw. She rinsed the coconut juice bottle with water from her own thermos, opened it, and inserted the straw for An'an to drink.
After taking a sip, An'an squinted her eyes happily, looking thoroughly enjoying herself. Then she pushed the bottle of coconut juice towards her mother: "Mom, you drink!"
"Okay, thank you An'an." Yao Sixuan smiled and took the drink. The iced coconut juice tasted good, with a sweet and rich coconut flavor.
When her child shares food with her, she usually agrees to try some and accepts the child's kindness. Otherwise, if she frequently refuses, it will dampen the child's enthusiasm, and the child will gradually stop sharing with her.
After taking a couple of sips, she handed the bottle of coconut juice back to An'an: "No wonder you chose coconut juice, this brand is really delicious. But drink slowly, there are still many dishes to be served later."
"Okay, I understand, Mom," An'an replied obediently. He really liked the sweet and sour pork that was coming up later, so he had to save some room for it.
Soon the waiter came over and served a soup made with six ingredients: sand ginseng and Solomon's seal. It looked clear and bright with a few specks of oil floating on top, so it seemed like a refreshing soup.
She took An'an's bowl and used a soup spoon to ladle some soup for him. As she stirred the soup in the bowl, the ingredients began to simmer. She saw ingredients like sand ginseng, Solomon's seal, figs, and sea coconut, as well as some others that she didn't recognize.
There are also spare ribs, each piece looks particularly beautiful and symmetrical, they are the kind of high-quality spare ribs that are relatively expensive.
With so many soup ingredients, this soup must be very nutritious. Yao Sixuan first ladled more than half a bowl of soup into her bowl. An'an didn't like these soup ingredients, so after hesitating for a while, she ladled a piece of pork rib with more meat into the bowl and decided to try her luck.
"Here, An'an, have some soup first."
"good."
An'an was obedient; since his mother had promised him coconut juice, he had to drink the soup too. He took the bowl, placed it in front of him, and scooped it up with a spoon to drink.
The soup wasn't too hot when it entered my mouth. It tasted sweet and refreshing, a bit like sugar water but not too cloying. It was a bit like a beverage but it was clearly soup. Anyway, it was sweet with a hint of meaty flavor and tasted delicious.
An'an likes sweet soup, and his family often makes his favorite carrot, corn, and pork rib soup. He really enjoyed this soup. After scooping two or three spoonfuls, he simply picked up the bowl and brought it to his lips to gulp it down.
Yao Sixuan also had a bowl of soup to drink. Soup with sand ginseng and Solomon's seal usually tastes refreshing and has a light sweetness that lingers in the mouth, making it hard not to savor it.
Perhaps because of the addition of figs, sea coconut, and two other ingredients I don't know, the soup has an even richer sweetness. Also, the presence of beautiful pork ribs makes the soup more meaty and flavorful, resulting in a refreshing and fragrant taste.
She finished the whole bowl of soup in one go before putting it down. Looking up, she was surprised to find An'an using chopsticks to pick up the only piece of pork rib in the bowl and start gnawing on it.
An'an doesn't like steamed or boiled food. She usually likes to drink carrot, corn and pork rib soup, but she only drinks the soup and eats some carrots and water chestnuts at most. She won't touch the pork ribs at all, saying that they have a fishy smell and no taste at all.
She had only put a piece of pork rib in his bowl on a whim, but before she could even persuade him to eat it, he started eating it himself.
Yao Sixuan lost her appetite for the soup in her bowl for a while and stared blankly at him as he ate the ribs.
An'an is quite focused when eating. She uses chopsticks to pick up a rib, puts it to her mouth, bites off the meat, chews it, and then bites off the meat from the bone. She throws the bone on the plate and continues chewing.
After finishing his meal, An'an couldn't help but smack his lips, still wanting more. When he looked up and saw his mother looking at him, he pushed the bowl towards her and said, "Mom, I want to drink some soup and eat some ribs."
"Okay, Mom will make it for you!" Yao Sixuan replied happily, took the bowl, picked up the soup spoon, and made him another small bowl of soup, scooped out two pieces of pork ribs, and asked with a smile as she handed it back, "Is this pork ribs very delicious?"
An'an took the bowl and placed it in front of her, nodding obediently with delight in her eyes: "Mmm, it's delicious. The meat tastes sweet, just like the soup, and it's easy to chew without getting stuck in your teeth, and it doesn't have a fishy smell."
"It looks so delicious! Mom has to try it," Yao Sixuan replied with a smile. She thought to herself, "No wonder it's Gu's Private Kitchen. Niu Niu's mom was right; this place really has something special."
Seeing that An'an was eating the meat with a look of deliciousness on her face, she also picked up her chopsticks and ate some pork ribs from her bowl.
The pork ribs become very tender when cooked for a long time, and they practically fall off the bone with a single bite, making them very easy to chew.
Just as An'an said, there was no fishy smell, only a rich and mellow meaty aroma.
Perhaps because they've soaked up all the broth, they taste not only meaty but also have a subtle sweetness from the overflowing broth. They might not be as crispy and savory as fried ribs, but they have their own unique flavor.
Not to mention An'an loves to eat it, she loves to eat it too.
After finishing the two pieces of pork ribs in her bowl, Yao Sixuan scooped up some figs to eat. The figs were creamy and sweet, while the sea coconut was sweet with a hint of coconut flavor. She didn't eat the ginseng and Solomon's seal.
After An'an finished eating the ribs and drinking the soup, just as he was thinking of asking his mother to add some more, the waiter brought over the sweet and sour pork that he was most looking forward to.
"Thank you, Auntie," An'an said sweetly.
Sister Zhou smiled happily and said, "You're welcome, please enjoy your meal." She then turned around to serve the other dishes.
An'an has eaten Guo Bao Rou (sweet and sour pork). Back then, when she went to Northeastern Chinese restaurants, her favorite dishes were Guo Bao Rou, Liu Rou Duan (stir-fried pork slices), and sweet candied sweet potatoes.
Looking at the golden, crispy, and sweet-and-sour Guo Bao Rou (sweet and sour pork) in front of me, I couldn't help but swallow hard. I gripped my chopsticks in my right hand and kept glancing at my mother.
Seeing the child's anticipation, Yao Sixuan smiled and said, "Eat up."
She was also looking forward to the taste of this dish.
An'an immediately picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork with her chopsticks, opened her mouth wide and took a bite. She smiled and her eyes crinkled as she felt the crunch and taste.
He chewed on the sweet and sour pork, savoring the crispy outer layer and the tender, juicy meat inside with a subtle salty taste. After swallowing, he took another bite of the remaining pork and continued to enjoy it.
After finishing the whole piece of sweet and sour pork, An'an exclaimed with satisfaction, her lips curving into a smile that revealed her cute dimples: "Mom, this sweet and sour pork smells so good! It smells even better than the ones we've had before. I love this dish the most!"
"It smells so good, this sweet and sour pork is delicious," Yao Sixuan said sincerely.
She just ate a piece of sweet and sour pork. It was sweet and sour, and the outer skin was crispy and refreshing. The meat inside was tender and juicy, with a little bit of meaty juice. It wasn't bland at all; the salty and savory flavors were perfectly balanced with the sweet and sour taste.
Undoubtedly, this sweet and sour pork is of a very high standard, far better than any other Northeastern Chinese restaurant I've had before.
She and her son ate the sweet and sour pork at about the same speed, one piece after another, finding it increasingly addictive without ever feeling greasy.
Soon the waiter brought over another dish: braised fish head with tofu skin. The casserole-shaped soup bowl was filled with a thick sauce, several fish heads were fried until crispy and fragrant and were buried in the sauce, along with bean-colored tofu skin mixed in, which was also stained with the sauce. The aroma was fresh and tempting.
After glancing at it, An'an picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork with her chopsticks and continued eating.
Yao Sixuan wasn't in a hurry when she saw that he wasn't interested. This child only ate fried fish, and he wanted fish that wasn't too fishy, such as fried ribbonfish and fried mackerel.
She picked up two pieces of dried bean curd with her chopsticks and ate them first. The bean curd was cooked until soft and tender, smooth yet slightly chewy. It had absorbed a lot of broth, and in addition to the rich soy sauce flavor, you could also taste a lot of the fresh fish flavor, as well as a bean flavor that was somewhat masked by the fish and soy sauce flavor.
The braised tofu skin was delicious, that was Yao Sixuan's first thought.
She then picked up a few more pieces of dried bean curd and ate them before finally picking up a fish head. The fish head actually had some meat, and the meat was quite tender after cooking.
She placed the fish head in the bowl, used her chopsticks to poke out a piece of fish meat, and put it in her mouth. It was tender, juicy, fresh, and delicious, with a slightly slippery texture, and her mouth felt full of collagen.
Collagen is good for beauty, and Yao Sixuan really likes the smooth, gelatinous taste. She eats the fish with gusto, pokes it one piece at a time, and enjoys the fresh and savory flavors of the sauce. The taste lingers even after swallowing the fish.
She didn't even bother to pay attention to An'an anymore. After eating all the fish meat that could be poked out of the fish head in the bowl, she put the whole fish skeleton on the plate, then picked up another fish head and put it in the bowl to continue poking out the fish meat to eat.
At some point, An'an stopped eating after finishing another piece of sweet and sour pork. Her round eyes stared straight at her mother, not understanding why she was eating so deliciously. Was the fish, or rather the fish head, that delicious?
He observed his mother's expression, and it didn't seem like she was faking it; she genuinely thought the fish head was delicious, just like the happy and content look on her face when she ate the sweet and sour pork earlier.
An'an watched, his lips slightly pursed, a few thoughts forming in his mind. After his mother finished eating another fish head, he couldn't help but ask, "Mom, is this fish head really that delicious?"
Yao Sixuan then came to her senses. She had been so engrossed in the delicious fish head that she had forgotten about her son. Now that she saw him asking her questions, clearly out of curiosity and interest, she was both surprised and delighted.
She smiled and said, "This fish head is very fragrant. The meat is very tender and fresh with no fishy smell. It's all the salty and savory flavor of the sauce. Plus, it's smooth and rich in collagen, so it's very nutritious."
Seeing the hesitation on her son's face, clearly still considering it, Yao Sixuan took a step back and said, "The dried bean curd sticks cooked in this pot are also delicious. They're smooth, savory, and a little chewy, and they also have the freshness of fish. Don't you usually like to eat dried bean curd sticks? Why don't you try some?"
An'an nodded immediately this time: "Then I'll give it a try."
After her mother put three pieces of dried bean curd into her bowl, An'an picked up a piece with her chopsticks and tasted it.
The dried bean curd sticks were better than I expected. Unlike the kind of dried bean curd sticks that I've had before, which were simmered with braised pig's feet, these were softer and more tender. They were smooth yet chewy, savory and flavorful, and had a fresh fishy taste.
He usually feels nauseous at the smell of fish, but this time he tasted the flavor of fish and there was no fishy smell.
Surprisingly, An'an didn't dislike it at all; in fact, she liked the taste. She felt that the addition of fish flavor to the tofu skin made it taste better than the tofu skin that had absorbed the meat flavor before.
After finishing one piece of dried bean curd, An'an picked up another piece and ate it until she finished all three pieces of dried bean curd in the bowl.
He looked up at his mother and said, "Mom, can you give me a fish head to try?"
"Okay!" Yao Sixuan quickly picked up a fish head and put it in his bowl.
Just now, I saw An'an eating one piece of dried bean curd stick after another. Heaven knows how happy she was. This child can accept dried bean curd sticks with a fishy taste. Maybe she will be bold enough to try eating fish head meat?
As a result, without me having to say a word of persuasion, the child took the initiative to say that he wanted to eat. Thank God, thank Gu's Private Kitchen!
She watched as An'an imitated her earlier actions, poking at some fish head meat with her chopsticks and chewing it, her expression still savoring it, showing no signs of spitting it out for the time being.
Seeing the child swallow the meat in his mouth and then use his chopsticks to poke at another piece of fish to eat, Yao Sixuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, followed by overwhelming joy. The child could finally eat fish that wasn't fried.
After her initial excitement, she felt it was somewhat inevitable. The braised fish head with tofu skin was indeed delicious. The tofu skin was soaked in the fresh aroma of the fish, becoming soft, tender, and smooth. The fish head meat was fresh, savory, and full of collagen. This was definitely the best fish head dish she had ever eaten.
Yao Sixuan couldn't help but ask with a smile, "An'an, how does the fish head taste?"
"Delicious!" An'an nodded emphatically. "The fish is especially tender and salty, very flavorful, and it doesn't have any of the tastes I particularly dislike. The occasional slippery texture is also quite tasty. Is this the collagen you were talking about, Mom?"
Yao Sixuan nodded: "Yes, this is good for your skin and is very nutritious. Eat more if you like."
An'an smiled and nodded in agreement.
So the mother and son started eating the fish heads one after the other. Yao Sixuan was able to eat all the meat off the fish head, leaving only the fish skeleton. An'an was a little less capable, only able to eat most of the fish meat that was easy to poke out, and had no choice but to throw the rest on the plate before picking up the next fish head to eat.
Unfortunately, there was only a limited amount of fish head in the braised fish head with tofu dish, so I had to eat the dried bean curd sticks instead. I savored the fresh fish flavor that the bean curd sticks had absorbed, and since the bean curd sticks were also very tender and soft, it didn't feel any different from eating fish head meat before.
When the waiter served the pickled cabbage and tofu hot pot, it was naturally welcomed by Yao Sixuan and her son An'an.
The pickled cabbage is sour and salty with a crisp texture, while the tofu has a crispy outer skin and a smooth and delicate interior. It is soaked in the soy sauce and tastes savory and delicious with a hint of spiciness.
The minced meat mixed in had a slightly grainy texture, was oily and savory, and had the sour and salty flavor of pickled cabbage and the bean aroma of tofu. It was so delicious that you would want to swallow your tongue.
Before Yao Sixuan could even ask, An'an said, "Mom, I want a bowl of rice to eat with this minced meat."
"good."
Yao Sixuan was debating whether she wanted one bowl of rice and to behave herself, or to ask for two bowls of rice directly.
In a flash, she waved to the shop assistant and ordered two bowls of rice. When the rice was served, she saw that there was so much rice in one bowl, and told An'an to scoop the rice into the bowl she was using and eat as much as she wanted. She could scoop more rice if she wanted more.
An'an obediently agreed, first scooping three large spoonfuls of rice into her own bowl, and then cleverly using the spoon that came with the sauerkraut and tofu hot pot to scoop up the sauerkraut, tofu, and minced meat, along with the salty, fragrant, and slightly spicy sauce, and poured it over the white rice, making it look incredibly tempting.
He couldn't wait to start eating. The taste was much better than just eating pickled cabbage, tofu, and minced meat. He ate so much that he almost buried his head in his rice bowl.
Yao Sixuan chuckled upon seeing this, and then joined in, eating the rice soaked in the savory and delicious sauce with the pickled cabbage and tofu stew.
Soon, the waiter brought over a serving of steamed eggs with pine needles.
An'an looked over and immediately exclaimed in an exaggerated voice, "Wow! This steamed egg is as beautiful as a painting!"
Yao Sixuan's eyes also showed amazement. She had previously imagined what the dish "Welcoming Pine Steamed Egg" would be like. Everyone knows what steamed egg is, and perhaps "Welcoming Pine" would be something with vegetables added to the surface of the steamed egg, beautifully comparing it to a welcoming pine tree?
Now she understood. On the round plate, which wasn't large but was deep enough, was a beautiful landscape painting. Against the backdrop of pale yellow steamed eggs, a lush pine tree was arranged with broccoli, its trunk made of seaweed. Next to it stretched low grass made of cucumber slices, and then there were overlapping slices of round sausage. In the upper right corner was a red sun decorated with carrot slices, and below the sun were semi-oval cucumber peaks. It was as beautiful as a work of art.
An'an snapped out of her daze and quickly said, "Mom, this steamed egg looks so good, hurry up and take out your phone to take a picture!"
Yao Sixuan had the same idea. She smiled and agreed, took out her phone and opened the camera to take pictures. She was thinking of finding a good lighting angle, but found that it was not necessary at all. The dishes were good-looking enough, so they would look good no matter how they were photographed. No wonder the food photos shared by people online are so beautiful.
The only thing to be careful about is to make sure the entire picture of the Welcoming Pine is facing the camera. After adjusting it, Yao Sixuan pressed the shutter button and took a very artistic and tempting picture of the Welcoming Pine steamed egg dish.
She was very satisfied after opening it and even showed it to An'an.
An'an nodded repeatedly: "Mom, you took such a beautiful photo. Send it to my watch later and I'll show it to my friends."
He has a children's smartwatch that allows him to contact his family, send messages, photos, and even voice and video calls. He has added many other children in kindergarten who also have smartwatches, and he is very eager to share.
Yao Sixuan smiled and agreed. Since she had already turned on her phone's camera, she decided to take pictures of the other dishes—Guobaorou (sweet and sour pork), braised fish head with dried bean curd, pickled cabbage and tofu casserole, and the six-ingredient soup with sand ginseng and Solomon's seal—as souvenirs.
Even though they had eaten down to about a third of the meat and vegetables, and only half of the soup remained, the food photos still turned out very well.
Satisfied, Yao Sixuan put her phone away and said, "Quickly try this Steamed Egg with Welcoming Pine Tree and see how it tastes."
"It's so pretty, I don't even want to eat it," An'an muttered.
Despite saying that, he still picked up a piece of carrot with his chopsticks and ate it, tasting the pure, sweet flavor of the carrot. Then he picked up some sausage, followed by cucumber from the mountain peak, seaweed from the tree trunk, and broccoli with its lush foliage.
An'an ate a little of everything, smacking his lips from time to time to indicate that the taste was very good. The novelty of each dish raised his expectations. Except for the red sun, he left some of each dish for his mother to try.
He used his chopsticks to poke at a piece of tender steamed egg, but couldn't get it up. So he switched to a spoon and scooped up a large piece. When he brought it to his mouth, he could see the pale yellow steamed egg jiggling like a bouncy jelly. It was so smooth and delicate, with a hint of saltiness and the fresh aroma of eggs, that he didn't even need to bite into it.
After swallowing, An'an exclaimed, "It's so delicious!"
"Eat more if it's delicious!"
Yao Sixuan smiled and said that she had tasted each ingredient on the Welcoming Pine Steamed Egg. Each ingredient had its own original flavor and was salty and fragrant. She guessed that it was drizzled with steamed fish soy sauce and sesame oil when it was taken out of the pot. The steamed egg was delicate, smooth and very fragrant.
While eating such a beautiful dish, she thought of the Hello Kitty mochi pudding that Gu's Private Kitchen had given away for free on Children's Day, which she had seen on Xiaohongshu. If An'an saw it, she would definitely make a fuss about eating it!
Sigh, if only she had known about Gu's Private Kitchen sooner!
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