Chapter 73: A blogger specializing in intangible cultural heritage praises handmade fish balls. ...
Boiled fish balls are tender and white like jade, retaining the original flavor and allowing you to better appreciate the freshness and smoothness of the fish. Fried fish balls are golden brown, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with a much better bouncy texture than boiled fish balls.
Boiled fish balls are usually used to make soup, such as seaweed fish ball soup, loofah fish ball soup, or tofu fish ball soup. Adding a few of these tender and round fish balls to the soup will add a lot of freshness and sweetness.
Deep-fried fish balls, after being briefly heated in the pan, have a crispy and fragrant flavor with a fresh fishy aroma and a very bouncy texture. They can also be sliced and stir-fried with chili peppers, green beans, bean sprouts, or other ingredients to make a delicious meat dish.
We previously served handmade fish ball soup, which was very popular with customers. Some customers even asked if they could buy a pound to keep at home so they could cook it whenever they wanted. We also sold a few pounds of handmade fish balls separately back then.
Making fish balls today was an unexpected decision, as I had to buy so much fish meat for the fish head. But since I was going to make fish balls, Gu Qingqiu wanted to make them well so that she and her customers could enjoy them.
Actually, the only difference between boiled fish balls and fried fish balls is the cooking method. After another pot of boiled fish balls puffed up and cooked through, Gu Qingqiu scooped them out and drained them as before. Then she turned on another stove, poured half a pot of oil into it, and started to put the shaped fish balls in when the oil temperature was about right.
Wearing a glove, the left hand scoops a fistful of fish paste from the basin and holds it in the palm. With a little force, it squeezes out a long, round strip of fish paste from between the thumb and forefinger. The right hand holds a spoon and scoops it out from between the thumb and forefinger, then holds it above the oil surface, allowing the fish paste, which has been shaped into a more rounded shape by the spoon, to slide into the oil pan, where it immediately sizzles.
The key to making this is speed. Gu Qingqiu's left and right hands worked in perfect coordination, and the perfectly round fish balls floated on the oil, gradually turning a pale yellow color.
Once enough fish balls had floated to the surface in the pot, she stopped kneading them and then turned up the heat of the stove to fry them until they were thoroughly cooked.
During this process, the outer skin of the fish ball gradually changed from tender white to light yellow and then to golden yellow, and it also continued to expand into a round and plump fish ball. Smelling the fresh fish aroma with the fragrance of oil, Gu Qingqiu couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.
Since the fish balls will need to be stir-fried again when they are actually eaten, they only need to be fried until they are thoroughly cooked. There is no need to make the color of the fish balls too appealing. Gu Qingqiu watched as the fish balls in the pot condensed tiny specks of spiritual energy. She then used a slotted spoon to scoop out the fish balls one by one and placed them on another bowl with a slotted spoon suspended over it. This time, the fish balls were used to drain the oil.
After scooping all the fish balls out of the pot, Gu Qingqiu turned down the heat of the stove and waited for the oil temperature to drop again.
She began to repeat her previous actions, quickly and skillfully pinching the fish balls, reshaping them with a spoon, and then sliding them into the pot where they floated halfway on the surface of the oil and were fried.
Half an hour later, Gu Qingqiu finished processing all the fish paste and fried a basin and a half of golden and crispy fish balls. The last batch of fish balls was placed on a strainer to drain the oil.
After the first two batches of fried fish balls cooled down, their originally puffed-up shape gradually shrank back, making them look only slightly smaller than ping-pong balls. They were round, smooth, and had a bit of tiger-skin wrinkles, which looked very appealing and smelled tempting.
The boiled fish balls had already been drained and cooled. Gu Qingqiu put them in a plastic bag, tied it with a rope, and put it in the freezer. She then covered the fried fish balls, which were still cooling down, with a breathable cover to prevent mosquitoes from falling in later.
She breathed a sigh of relief, took her phone, went out of the kitchen and went straight upstairs to the second floor. After turning on the air conditioning in her room and sitting at her desk to rest for a while, she took her clothes to take a shower and wash her hair.
After drying her hair and playing on her phone for a while, Gu Qingqiu sat at her desk and decided on tomorrow's menu. Naturally, the ingredients she would use included the white fish balls and fried fish balls that she had worked so hard to make today.
She checked the schedule for the coming week, prepared the text in advance, and planned to send it out along with today's menu tomorrow.
Before going to bed, Gu Qingqiu went downstairs to the kitchen and put all the drained and cooled fish balls in plastic bags and put them in the refrigerator. She also took all the pots, pans, spatulas, and spoons she had used to the sink to wash and drain. Only then did she leave the kitchen, check that the doors and windows were closed, and go upstairs to rest.
The next morning, the weather was fine and sunny, another warm and pleasant day.
After getting up, Gu Qingqiu first called to order ingredients from various shop owners to be delivered to the stores around 9:30. Then she made breakfast, ate a quick meal, and took two shopping carts to the market for a good shopping trip.
After returning, she sorted and categorized the ingredients, signed for the various meats delivered by the bosses, put half in the freezer and carried the other half into the kitchen, and put on an apron to start preparing dishes for the lunch business.
Around 10 o'clock, Gu Qingqiu took a break and took out her phone to post the text she had written the day before on Xiaohongshu and Weibo. After that, she didn't pay any more attention to it and went straight into the kitchen to continue working.
Countless netizens, regardless of whether they dine at Gu's Private Kitchen that day, habitually open Xiaohongshu at 10 a.m. every day to check the daily menu posted by Gu's Private Kitchen's official account, as if seeing it is equivalent to participating in this culinary feast.
After watching, you can revisit the place at noon. This time, you won't be looking at today's menu posted by the official account of Gu's Private Kitchen. Instead, you'll be looking at the food photos posted by lucky customers who have dined at the restaurant in the comments section. Every photo is worth looking at closely to the point of making your mouth water.
It's best to look at it while eating, so that while you're enjoying your lunch, you can imagine how delicious and fragrant the dishes at Gu's Private Kitchen are by looking at the food photos and reading the comments from other netizens, which is a small consolation.
Originally, I thought today would be another ordinary day, but I was also looking forward to seeing the pictures in the comments section. However, most netizens were both surprised and delighted after seeing today's menu.
Wow, they even have fish balls! No doubt, these must be handmade fish balls by the owner. There seem to be quite a lot of them, making up two dishes.
Those who had tried the fish balls were overjoyed and started planning whether they could find time to eat at the restaurant today; those who had never tried the fish balls but had been thinking about them for a long time began to consider it, and those in Jiang City started planning whether they could make it for lunch or go for dinner.
As for those who can't come because they're out of town, they can only sigh and pound their fists in frustration.
Then everyone was surprised to find that there seemed to be a long paragraph below.
[Gu's Private Kitchen: Hello everyone, good morning! Our handmade fish balls are back for a limited time! In addition to the tender white fish balls we used to make soup, we've also added deep-fried fish balls, which are absolutely delicious when stir-fried! (wishful thinking) Here's today's menu—]
Spicy chicken, 58 yuan;
Apple and pear stewed with beef shank: 58 yuan;
Stir-fried fish balls with green and red peppers, 48 yuan;
Stir-fried shredded vegetables, three kinds of vegetables, 28 yuan;
Handmade fish ball and loofah soup, 58 yuan.
Also, I'd like to inform everyone in advance that the restaurant will be temporarily closed for three days from June 21st to 23rd, which is this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, due to personal matters. The originally scheduled rest day on Tuesday, June 18th, will be adjusted to normal business hours. I hope customers who plan to dine here will check the opening dates to avoid making a wasted trip!
Thank you so much for your understanding and patience (heart emoji)
After watching, netizens couldn't help but leave comments in the comment section, making it quite lively.
[Who understands the emo of the night: One second I was happy about the return of handmade fish balls, the next second I was completely devastated by the notice of a three-day holiday. I was planning to take the high-speed train to Jiang City this weekend to eat Gu's Private Kitchen. I can only be thankful that I haven't booked the high-speed train ticket yet (Waaah, I'm crying. So what does the return of handmade fish balls have to do with me? I still can't eat them, right? *crying*)]
[Creamy yellow is the prettiest color: Although I'm really reluctant to part with you, boss, please go ahead and get busy. You've worked hard too (admiration.gif)]
[What's wrong with cup lovers: Ahhh, I had handmade fish ball soup once before and it was amazing. It was so bouncy and bouncy, with a very strong fish flavor without any fishy taste. The soup was also very delicious. It's completely different from the fish balls sold in the market.]
Because Gu's Private Kitchen never repeats its dishes every day, I never dared to dream of a limited-time return, but it happened so unexpectedly! Wait for me! I'm getting dressed and going out to eat right now!
[World in My Hands: Hehehehe, I've been laughing so hard I've lost track of time! Handmade fish balls are back, and they even have fried fish balls now! I'll definitely try them tonight! But boss (rubbing hands), could you please bring back the braised meat platter? I still miss your braised pig's feet, braised beef, braised chicken, braised duck, and braised meat platter!]
[A kind and gentle heart: Boss, please go ahead and do your work. We're very understanding. Before you rest, I really need to go out for a meal with my family!]
[With a heart full of good intentions: I was completely captivated by the handmade fish balls; I absolutely had to try them!]
The situation was similar on Weibo, with the comment section buzzing with activity.
Some netizens were just jokingly saying they wanted to eat at the restaurant, but because it was too far away, they couldn't get there in a short time. Some netizens immediately put down what they were doing and prepared to go. Others saw the post but didn't have time to comment, as they were too busy calling their friends to go to Gu's Private Kitchen for a meal.
Like Yang Liu, because she was at work, she couldn't get to Gu's Private Kitchen in time to grab a seat. The restaurant was so popular that even though her company was very close to the restaurant, if she was a little late, she would have to queue up at the restaurant entrance.
The main concern is arriving late and finding that the handmade fish balls you really want to eat are already sold out by the time it's your turn to eat. That would be truly heartbreaking.
After seeing the post on Xiaohongshu's Gu's Private Kitchen official account, she thought that she had been working for a while and there was no urgent task at the moment. Looking around, she saw that her colleagues were also slacking off. She immediately picked up her phone and went to the restroom to call her mother.
"Hey Mom, it's me. I just saw on a video that Gu's Private Kitchen is having handmade fish ball soup again today. This time it's handmade fish ball and loofah soup, but I'm sure it will be delicious. They also have fried fish balls stir-fried with green and red peppers. Let's go try it at noon."
“I know I won’t be there that early after work, so I said I’d call you so you and my dad could go to the shop first to reserve a table and order, and I can rush over after get off work. That way we won’t have to wait in line or worry about the handmade fish ball soup being sold out.”
"Okay, let's order everything on the menu. I think the dishes are pretty good today. If we can't finish them, we can pack them up and take them home to eat tonight."
"Okay, I'll hang up now."
After ending the call, Yang Liu couldn't help but smile. She washed her hands, walked out of the restroom, and returned to her office.
She was one of the early customers of Gu's Private Kitchen. She went there with her colleagues that time, and there was a handmade fish ball soup that she remembered fondly for a long time.
Even though I later went to eat at many of the Hui family's private kitchens with my colleagues' parents, I still miss this handmade fish ball soup. The soup is very sweet and fresh, and the fish balls are bouncy, tender, fresh and delicious. It's so rare to find something that's purely handmade.
She was lucky that time, managing to buy a pound of handmade fish balls to take home. Her parents praised them repeatedly after eating them. Afterwards, the family went to Gu's Private Kitchen for a meal. Her parents raved about the restaurant, and since then, the family has frequently dined at Gu's Private Kitchen.
Just now, she called her mother to ask her to go to Gu's Private Kitchen early to reserve a table, so that she wouldn't have to wait in line again after she got off work. Her mother immediately agreed, and even stopped doing her square dancing, saying that she was going to the lakeside in the park to take her father, who was fishing, home to change his clothes before heading to Suli Street.
Everything else can be delayed, but eating at Gu's Private Kitchen can't be delayed! If you're late, you'll have to queue, and you might not even get to eat the handmade fish balls you want. That would be so frustrating!
There are quite a few customers like Yang Liu. They either go to Suli Street themselves or ask their relatives and friends to go first. If they really can't spare the time at noon, they have to go to Gu's Private Kitchen on Suli Street in the evening.
Many customers were also planning to ask Gu's Private Kitchen if they could sell fish balls separately, even just a pound or half a pound would be fine. They could buy them and keep them at home to eat anytime, whether for soup or stir-fry, instead of fighting tooth and nail for them like they do now.
At noon, Gu Qingqiu was busy cooking in the kitchen, while the dining area was bustling with activity.
Customers were enthusiastic about their meal, especially discussing and praising the handmade fish ball and loofah soup and the stir-fried fish balls with green and red peppers, which made the customers waiting at the restaurant entrance even more eager to eat.
They were so eagerly waiting that they practically begged the customers sitting inside who were praising the food to hurry up and finish eating so they could have their seats. They knew the handmade fish balls were very fragrant and delicious, but there was really no need to say more!
After finishing another dish of stir-fried fish balls with green and red peppers, Gu Qingqiu plated it and brought it to the glass window. She took a small piece of paper, marked the table number with a black pen, and placed it under the plate of the dish. She then pressed the bell. Just as Gu Qingqiu was about to turn around and go back to the stove to continue cooking the next dish, she heard Sister Zhou calling her.
"Boss, wait a minute."
Gu Qingqiu stopped in her tracks and saw Sister Zhou run over and lean close to the glass window, trying to make her voice clearer, because she was speaking in a low voice.
"Boss, a few customers just asked me if I could sell these handmade fish balls raw, either half a pound or a pound, at a higher price. They don't care if they're white fish balls or fried fish balls. I came over to ask for your opinion."
"Just tell them that the shop makes a limited number of handmade fish balls. This time, there are fewer white fish balls and fried fish balls available, which can only be used for the lunch and dinner menu. We really can't spare any to sell separately, and we're very sorry," Gu Qingqiu said.
Having learned from the previous experience, Gu Qingqiu had guessed that customers might ask if the handmade fish balls could be sold separately today, and she had already prepared an answer. However, she was too busy preparing the ingredients this morning and forgot to tell them in advance, which is why Sister Zhou asked this question.
Sister Zhou nodded: "Okay, I understand. I'll go tell those customers right away."
She also took the freshly stir-fried fish balls with green and red peppers to serve the dishes, while Gu Qingqiu returned to the stove to continue cooking the next dish.
Today, Gu's Private Kitchen was destined to be a booming business, far exceeding usual levels. Customers came and enjoyed their meal, while many others arrived late for various reasons and left empty-handed, looking dejected and disappointed.
There's been a lot of online discussion about today's handmade fish ball and loofah soup and stir-fried fish balls with green and red peppers. Many netizens who got to try it shared photos and notes, making those who didn't get to eat it drool with envy.
In the evening, the hashtag for "Gu's Private Kitchen" made it onto the Xiaohongshu trending list for the first time. Although it only appeared briefly, it still gave it a lot of opportunities to be seen by netizens, attracting many new viewers. They were then captivated by the food photos in the comment sections of each post on the official Gu's Private Kitchen account and completely fell for it.
When netizens came to their senses, they realized they had been on the Gu Family Private Kitchen official account homepage for more than half an hour.
Damn it, why are you so engrossed in watching? You can see it but you can't eat it. But my hand still honestly followed Gu's Private Kitchen before leaving the account's homepage and going to browse other content.
After washing up in the evening, Gu Qingqiu leisurely lay down on the bed to rest for a while. After her waist and legs had been relieved for a short time, she got up again to check her phone.
There was no other way; she had seen a video yesterday about the dangers of lying down, especially reclining, while using her phone, and she was still wary of it, so she decided to sit up and watch it instead.
Place a pillow in front of the headboard and lean against it, then place another pillow on your legs. You can then rest your hands on the pillows while holding your phone, making it much more comfortable and effortless to use your phone.
Gu Qingqiu habitually opened Xiaohongshu first and was surprised to find that her official account had gained more than 6,000 followers today!
This is not normal!
Gu Qingqiu's own restaurant has always been quite popular, and the comments section of the notes she posts every day is also quite lively. Gu Qingqiu had noticed before that she could gain about two or three hundred followers a day.
The day I gained the most followers was probably the day after I posted the milk chicken strip vlog, and I maintained a daily follower increase of about a thousand for the next few days.
I've actually encountered a situation like this before—no, from noon until now, it's been about half a day, and I've gained over six thousand followers.
She clicked into the comments section of the note she posted today and switched to view the comments displayed by the latest time.
[Online at night: Oh my god, my favorite Gu's Private Kitchen has really succeeded! It's even trending on Xiaohongshu! Looks like the handmade fish balls are a favorite for many people. Poor me, I can only drool over the food photos and imagine the taste (crying.gif)]
[Huang Shuijing Wangwo: Oh my god, a cultural heritage blogger I follow and my favorite restaurant have interacted! It's such a dream collaboration, I'm so happy I could cry!]
[Ice Cream Puff: Waaaaah, I'm back after reading @MissFishBall's notes about starting a business at home! Gu's Private Kitchen's fish balls are truly amazing; this is recognition from a professional!]
After reading a few comments, Gu Qingqiu roughly understood what was going on. In the afternoon, @MissFishBallGoesHomeToStartABusiness, who has over 100,000 followers, posted an article about Gu's private kitchen. She said that she had come to her restaurant today to eat and tried the fish balls and thought they tasted very good. She gave a brief review of everything from the raw materials to the craftsmanship to the finished product.
The other person's post went viral, coupled with the high activity level of her fans and the excited sharing of handmade fish ball soup by fans on her restaurant's official account. These factors combined to propel Gu's Private Kitchen to the top of Xiaohongshu's trending list, resulting in high traffic and exposure, attracting more and more fans to follow Gu's Private Kitchen.
Gu Qingqiu followed the blue icon of the netizen's comment @MissFishballGoesHomeToStartABusiness to the blogger's homepage. She remembered a screenshot posted by a netizen in the comments section earlier, which showed that this blogger had also gained quite a few followers.
She wasn't in a hurry to look at the notes related to her family's restaurant. Instead, she first browsed the homepage of @MissFishBall's Homecoming Startup and found that this blogger mostly recorded her daily life of starting a business back home in the form of vlogs, or rather, her daily life of making fish balls with her parents.
In a vlog, the family got up around 1 a.m. to wash up, and around 2 a.m., they drove their three-wheeled truck to the market stalls by the sea to buy fish.
It is said that all the fresh fish brought back from the sea are sold here. Other fishmongers come to buy fish, restaurants come to purchase seafood, and people like the blogger come to buy fish to make fish balls.
The video shows the process from selecting the fish to cutting and cleaning them at home, from dusk till dawn. After breakfast, the blogger and his family continue processing the fish, which are referred to as "Na Ge fish" in the vlog.
Fish that have been cleaned, with their heads and tails removed and their internal organs removed, are thrown into a machine. As the machine runs, it separates the fish bones from the meat, and the fish that comes out is now fish paste.
Next, clean all the baskets and basins, and clean the area where the fish was cut. Then, use a blender to vigorously mix the fish paste until it becomes elastic, so that the fish balls made later will be more elastic.
After finishing their work and having a short rest and lunch, the blogger and his family went to the market stall around 2 PM to start making fish balls.
Their family mainly sells fried fish balls. After heating the oil in a large flat-bottomed pan, the blogger and her mother are in charge of frying the fish balls, using the same technique as Gu Qingqiu when she made them.
Customers came in one after another to inquire, and the blogger's father was in charge of serving them and selling fish balls.
This family of three made and sold fish balls together, and by a little after 5 p.m., they had sold out completely. After packing up and cleaning their tools, the blogger still had to pack up some fish balls ordered online and ship them out.
The art of making fish balls has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage in many places. However, each place has its own classic inheritors, and their fish ball shops have become representatives of intangible cultural heritage, attracting many customers both online and offline to buy them.
The fish ball stall run by the blogger and the fish ball making skills learned there are said to be intangible cultural heritage sites recognized by local official institutions. The blogger also used this as the starting point for their account, with vlog titles such as "Day XX of returning home to inherit the intangible cultural heritage of fish ball making..."
Looking at the account, it seems to go live almost every few days, and it also sells fish balls in its product showcase, with sales being quite good, reaching tens of thousands of orders.
Gu Qingqiu was quite impressed after reading it.
She then clicked on the top and saw the newly posted notes from today displayed after the pinned post.
[Miss Fishball's Homecoming Startup: I've been on vacation in Jiang City these past few days, and today I went to eat at Gu's Private Kitchen, which has been very popular online lately. To my surprise, the menu had handmade fish ball and loofah soup and stir-fried fish balls with green and red peppers, supposedly handmade by the owner, who had made them before and they were very popular with customers. Coincidentally, this is my old profession (laughs). With a review in mind, I started eating.]
The other dishes were also delicious. It's no wonder that Gu's Private Kitchen is so popular, given its excellent online reputation!
Let's talk about the fish balls in detail. The handmade fish ball and loofah soup uses white fish balls, which are tender and bouncy, retaining the essential freshness and aroma of the fish paste. The loofah soup itself is also sweet and delicious, very refreshing. The stir-fried fish balls with green and red peppers use deep-fried fish balls, the kind that our stall often makes. They are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and are even more bouncy than white fish balls.
Sliced fish balls are more delicate to eat. During the stir-frying process, they absorb the sauce and the spiciness of green and red peppers, resulting in a fresh, savory, and slightly spicy flavor with a rich texture.
When we make fish balls, we usually use bream (commonly known as ha). It's much easier to process them if you have a special machine to separate the meat from the bones. However, Gu's Private Kitchen uses silver carp for its fish balls. Silver carp has tender meat, few bones, and a delicious flavor, making it a suitable choice for small families to make their own fish balls.
Whether it's white fish balls or fried fish balls, you can feel their soft, tender, and bouncy texture, along with their fresh and fragrant aroma, while eating them.
From a professional perspective, I personally think that Gu's Private Kitchen makes very high-quality fish balls. The fish is selected to be fresh and tender and cleaned properly. The fish ball making technique is also quite good. The handmade fish ball and loofah soup and the stir-fried fish balls with green and red peppers served after cooking are even more delicious.
My family and I were very satisfied with the meal we had today. I really love Gu's Private Kitchen and will definitely be a regular visitor during my stay in Jiang City.
I sincerely suggest that if you ever have the chance to see Gu's Private Kitchen's handmade fish balls make a limited-time comeback, please make sure to go and have a meal there. You'll thank yourself for dining at Gu's Private Kitchen!
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