Chapter 81 Braised Pig's Trotters with Sand Ginger, Sesame Chicken, Stewed in Oil and Water...
After finishing a bowl of soup, the warmth spread from her throat to her stomach, and Lan Jingcheng relaxed completely, both physically and mentally, still immersed in the rich, sweet, and lingering aroma of the soup.
Actually, you can really tell a lot about a restaurant's culinary skills by its soup. If the soup is well-made and tastes delicious, then the restaurant is probably quite good.
Lan Jingcheng just wanted to say that the Gu Family Private Kitchen opened by Gu Qingqiu was simply too good. This Gastrodia elata and fish head soup was absolutely amazing and could definitely be included in her Top 3 of the best soups she had in a year.
Gu Qingqiu said that she was the head chef of the restaurant, so this delicious soup was made by her. No wonder the netizens were so enthusiastic and active under the restaurant's official account. Envy and desire to eat it filled the entire comment section. She was even more looking forward to the dishes to come.
If Gu Qingqiu were sitting across from her right now, Lan Jingcheng would praise her a hundred or eighty times.
It's quite a contrast. The gentle and quiet girl who loved writing back then has now transformed into the owner of her own restaurant. Who wouldn't admire her? They can't help but wonder and even feel a little sorry for her. What happened to make Gu Qingqiu undergo such a big change?
Of course, it's okay if you can't give a compliment now; there will be plenty of opportunities to express your sincere praise once we sit down.
Lan Jingcheng poured herself another half bowl of soup and drank it. The soup was fresh and flavorful, and she could feel the sweet aftertaste on her tongue after swallowing it. It was really good. At this moment, she had no appetite for chrysanthemum tea anymore.
After finishing the small bowl of soup in a few gulps, Lan Jingcheng thought about tasting the fish head meat. After all, strictly speaking, this soup doesn't require much cooking skill except for controlling the heat. However, the ingredients for making the soup must be fresh enough to make such a fresh and sweet soup.
The whole fish head was sliced in half, but the pieces were still connected and spread out into a large chunk. It wasn't practical to put it in the bowl to eat, since she was eating alone anyway. So she simply picked up her chopsticks and reached into the soup bowl to poke at the fish head meat, picking out two or three pieces of tender white fish head meat and putting them in the bowl before she started eating.
The fish head meat was more tender than I expected, with a rich and fresh flavor. Perhaps it had absorbed some sweetness from being soaked in the broth for so long. When I chewed a few times and swallowed, I could taste a hint of sweetness.
Lan Jingcheng nodded, quite satisfied with the taste of the fish head meat; or rather, it did not disappoint the expectations she had been raised after drinking such a rich and fragrant soup.
Next, she kept using her chopsticks to pick up fish head and eat it, managing to poke and pick up almost all the fish meat on that big fish head. She even turned the fish head over to see if there was any meat left to eat, and managed to find a few more bites of fish meat to eat.
With her mouth full of fresh and delicious flavor, Lan Jingcheng looked very satisfied.
She also picked up and ate the few eye-catching red goji berries floating on the surface. They were soft and sweet, and you could taste the fresh and fragrant soup when you bit into them. They were quite delicious.
Looking at the remaining medicinal herbs, she couldn't figure out what they were. Although she really wanted to try the other main ingredient in the soup, Gastrodia elata, Lan Jingcheng thought better of it, in case she ate the wrong thing.
Just then, the waiter brought over another dish of braised pig's trotters with sand ginger. A large clay pot bowl was filled with chunks of dark brown pig's trotters, with sand ginger mixed in and sand ginger paste sprinkled on the surface of the trotters. The air seemed to be filled with the unique spicy aroma of sand ginger, mixed with the salty and savory meat smell. It wasn't pungent at all, but rather whetted the appetite.
After thanking the shop assistant, Lan Jingcheng immediately picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of pig's trotter, put it in her bowl, and started eating.
This pork knuckle looks like it has a good balance of fat and lean meat, with a layer of translucent pork skin still visible under the dark brown color. When you eat it, you can immediately feel the soft and chewy texture of the pork skin, which has a gelatinous feel, giving you the illusion that your mouth is full of collagen.
The pig skin was chewy and soft, with a slightly salty and spicy flavor, and it wasn't greasy at all. Lan Jingcheng used to love eating the pig skin when she ate pig's feet, and this time she felt that the pig's feet were cooked very well, and the pig skin was delicious. She simply finished the layer of pig skin on the pig's feet first before continuing to eat the meat.
The meat is tender, savory, and slightly chewy, with a delightful texture. The combination of lean and fatty meat is simply amazing, truly living up to the saying "fatty but not greasy, lean but not dry." The spiciness of the sand ginger adds a touch of aroma, removing any greasiness from the pork knuckle and creating a unique flavor that blends perfectly with the savory taste.
After finishing a piece of pig's trotter, Lan Jingcheng was still immersed in the salty and fragrant taste of the trotter. Without hesitation, she picked up another piece of pig's trotter with her chopsticks and continued eating.
As before, she first ate the chewy, soft, and gelatinous pork skin, and then ate the pig's trotters. When she opened her mouth and bit into them, the soft and chewy fat and the tender lean meat were mixed together, which was the best taste.
She couldn't help but recall some pork trotters she had eaten before. This braised pork trotters with sand ginger didn't taste as soft and tender as pork trotters, but it perfectly preserved the bouncy and tender texture of the pork trotters. The pork skin was cooked until it was like jelly, and every bite felt like she was eating a lot of collagen that could beautify her skin.
Lan Jingcheng is usually quite disciplined in managing her figure. She can eat whatever delicious food she comes across, but she can also control herself. However, after eating three not-so-small pieces of pig's trotters in a row, she still couldn't resist picking up another piece with her chopsticks.
After finishing the gelatinous pork skin, she paused for a moment and then waved to the waiter to bring her a bowl of white rice. She placed the pork knuckle, which she had only eaten a little bit of, on the white rice. Instantly, the sauce coating the pork knuckle dripped and spread, and the white rice grains became salty and fragrant.
Lan Jingcheng also used a spoon to scoop some of the sauce from the ginger-baked pork knuckle and poured it over the rice before starting to eat.
The pork knuckle is savory with a hint of spiciness; the fat is tender and the lean meat is juicy, making it a very satisfying dish.
When you've almost finished chewing, take a bite or two of rice soaked in the sauce and full of savory flavor. When you swallow it, you'll feel very full and incredibly satisfied.
After eating a few more bites, she finally regained her senses and didn't reach for the pig's trotters or touch the remaining half bowl of rice. She just wanted to calm down for a while.
The salty aroma of the pig's trotters was still lingering in my mouth, and before I could even recover, the staff came over and served me sesame chicken.
Lan Jingcheng was looking forward to this sesame chicken.
It's not that she's narcissistic, but when people in Jiang City mention sesame chicken, most will think of the sesame chicken from L Middle School. It's a delicious dish that countless L Middle School students still crave even after graduation, and they'll make a special trip back just to taste it again when they feel like it.
This dish is on the menu now, and it just so happens that she made an appointment with Qingqiu to come over for dinner. Could it be that Qingqiu specially ordered this dish?
I'll find out when I see her.
Lan Jingcheng looked at the sesame chicken in front of her. The chicken pieces were cut into distinct pieces and arranged neatly on the plate. The surface of the chicken was roasted until it was slightly crispy and golden brown, with a color that was a bit darker than golden. There were also a lot of sesame seeds on it. It was almost exactly the same as the sesame chicken that she used to get from the cafeteria window in high school, but it looked even more tempting than the one she had eaten back then.
She couldn't resist taking out her phone to take a picture of the sesame chicken as a souvenir, and also took pictures of the sand ginger baked pig's trotters and gastrodia elata fish head soup, which she had tried before and which were also delicious.
Although she had already eaten both dishes, thankfully she didn't pick them up randomly while eating, so the ingredients in the soup bowl and casserole looked neat and tidy. A casual snapshot would be enough to make it photogenic, and it's good enough to be posted as a note on Xiaohongshu.
Putting down her phone, Lan Jingcheng picked up her chopsticks with anticipation and ate a piece of sesame chicken.
The moment she took a bite, she felt the crispy skin of the chicken, the rich aroma of sesame, and the tender, savory chicken inside. The familiar taste filled her mouth again, even better than she remembered. After chewing a few times and swallowing, she couldn't resist taking another bite, fully enjoying the deliciousness of the sesame chicken.
The chicken is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The best part is the crispy skin, which is garnished with sesame seeds and makes it even more delicious. But the chicken inside is also very tasty. The meat is tender and savory. After chewing a few times, you can mix it with rice and eat it. It's even more delicious!
Lan Jingcheng was immersed in the joy of eating sesame chicken, and even wondered if Qingqiu had studied how the school's sesame chicken was made back in high school, so that she could make a sesame chicken that was far superior in appearance and taste to the one made by the master chef at L High School.
While eating the sesame chicken, she overheard customers at the next table praising the dish.
"Oh my god, this sesame chicken is absolutely amazing! The outermost skin is crispy and fragrant, and you can hear a satisfying crunch when you bite into it. The chicken meat inside isn't dry at all; it's tender and juicy, with a perfect balance of saltiness and savory flavor. The sesame seeds sprinkled on top are also incredibly fragrant—they're the soul of this dish. You can taste the sesame aroma when you bite into the outermost skin, and you can also taste it when you eat the chicken meat inside. The sesame flavor truly permeates every single fiber of the chicken; it's so delicious!"
"This chicken is really delicious. I've never had a dish with sesame and chicken together before. The owner is so creative and clever to come up with such a delicious sesame chicken!"
"I was so glad I ate here today! Although I really miss the braised pig's feet and braised beef at this restaurant, which is supposedly their signature dish, it was still pretty good to have the ginger-baked pig's feet. They're both delicious and have their own unique flavor. The sesame chicken was also very good; I could eat several pieces without getting tired of it!"
"I just checked on my phone, and there aren't many restaurants that sell this sesame chicken. Even most of those cooking tutorial vlogs teach you how to make things like sesame roasted chicken legs. The only place, guess where? It's in the cafeteria of L Middle School in Jiang City. Apparently, this sesame chicken is a classic dish at L Middle School. It tastes very good and attracts many students to eat it every year. It's said that the school cafeteria is A-level, offering everything from Chinese dishes to Western food."
"I have a bold guess: could the owner be a graduate of L High School? He loved sesame chicken back then, and today he suddenly reminisced about his high school days, so he put this dish on the menu and showcased his culinary skills by making countless versions of the same sesame chicken as back in L High School, making even more diners fall in love with this dish. Hilarious! L High School should thank the owner for this publicity!"
Lan Jingcheng ate sesame chicken, chewing continuously, while quietly listening to their conversation. The corners of her mouth gradually turned up, and by the end, she couldn't help but chuckle softly.
She really wanted to tell the customers at that table that their bold guess was correct, that the owner was a graduate of L High School, and that this sesame chicken dish carried a hint of nostalgia for high school life, but was more related to herself.
Lan Jingcheng felt that there was a little voice inside her at that moment, chuckling to herself.
She ate half a plate of sesame chicken before she could barely suppress her craving for the dish, feeling utterly satisfied.
I ran into another high school classmate a while ago, and we were chatting about some old times and even made plans to go back to high school sometime to visit our old teachers and have some sesame chicken in the cafeteria. But now I have absolutely no intention of doing that anymore.
Because she had already eaten a more delicious sesame chicken, and it was cooked for her by her former high school classmate.
Thinking of this, Lan Jingcheng's face lit up with a bright smile, her lips curving into a wide grin, which was quite heartwarming.
Soon the waiter came over and brought out another dish of braised lettuce in oil. About ten lettuce leaves were neatly arranged in a white porcelain plate, with some fried garlic on top. Some of the lettuce leaves were still glistening with oil, and it looked quite good.
Lan Jingcheng picked up a piece of lettuce and tasted it. The lettuce was crisper and more refreshing than she had imagined. It wasn't coated with too much oil, allowing her to taste the most original flavor of lettuce. It also had a very fragrant garlic flavor, which made the lettuce no longer taste bland.
After finishing one piece of lettuce, she subconsciously picked up another piece and ate it. She tasted the rich garlic flavor and found the lettuce incredibly crisp and refreshing, retaining the best characteristics of this green vegetable. On a hot summer day, after eating so much meat and vegetables, a bite of lettuce was very refreshing.
Even though she felt a bit full after eating sesame chicken, Lan Jingcheng's appetite was rekindled by the braised lettuce in oil and water, and she ate the vegetable dish with gusto.
Anyway, lettuce is low in calories, and this water-oil cooking method is also low in oil and salt, so it doesn't matter if you eat more of it, and you can also supplement more dietary fiber.
In the kitchen, Gu Qingqiu was busy cooking one dish after another at the stove. The fire was burning brightly, and the spatula never stopped.
She entered a busy phase as soon as the restaurant opened, with order forms piling up under the glass window one after another, leaving no time to waste.
After finishing another dish of salted fish and eggplant stew, Gu Qingqiu put it in a casserole bowl and placed it by the glass window. She wrote down the corresponding table number with a pen and paper. Instead of immediately turning back to the stove to continue working, she looked up and followed the glass window toward the dining area.
She searched the seven tables to see if the person she was looking for was there, and soon spotted Lan Jingcheng sitting facing the glass window at the small dining table under the air conditioner against the wall.
Actually, Lan Jingcheng has changed quite a bit since high school. She now has long, wavy hair, bright and striking features, and looks very confident and poised, which perfectly matches the image of a beautiful lawyer in the TV series.
You can still vaguely see her appearance from high school; her back is always straight and confident, her phoenix eyes always sparkle, and her smile is bright and generous.
Gu Qingqiu smiled, pleased that everyone had grown up so well after so many years.
She wanted to go out and say hello first, but when she looked at the glass counter, there was a menu on it. It only had one dish: braised pork knuckle with sand ginger and braised lettuce in water and oil. Other dishes were already checked off, indicating that they were ready to be served.
The braised pig's trotters with sand ginger don't need to be cooked for a long time, because he blanched the pig's trotters beforehand when preparing the other ingredients.
The vegetables, which were mixed with mortar and simmered in a pot, were ready to be served as soon as they were put into a bowl. The braised lettuce was also easy to cook. Gu Qingqiu simply went back to the stove and made these two dishes first.
In the dining room, Lan Jingcheng ate most of a plate of braised lettuce in water and oil before finally stopping to catch her breath and rest.
She glanced casually to the side and saw the customers at the next table who had been discussing whether the owner had graduated from L High School because the sesame chicken was too salty and fragrant. They were eating with satisfied and happy expressions, and now they were happily eating a salted fish and eggplant stew that she hadn't ordered.
Her eyesight has always been excellent. Despite years of studying, working, and using her phone, she has never become nearsighted. With her 5.0 vision, she can clearly see the salted fish and eggplant casserole on their table, which is also served in a clay pot. The deep purple eggplant pieces look very soft and shiny, and there are also salted fish pieces that are dark on one side and have the shape of fish heads on the other.
Just by looking at its appearance, one can tell that this salted fish and eggplant stew will taste good. Moreover, with the dishes she had eaten before as a precedent, Lan Jingcheng knew without even thinking that this dish should be quite fragrant and would suit her taste perfectly.
Lan Jingcheng regretted not ordering this dish earlier; since she was already there, she should have ordered and tried everything.
However, I really don't have the energy for this. I ate too much meat and vegetables earlier and my stomach is already full. I really can't eat the salted fish and eggplant stew.
She also heard the customers at that table praising the food as they ate, and occasionally letting out satisfied and happy sighs after swallowing their food.
"This salted fish and eggplant casserole is also delicious. It looks very appetizing and tastes great with rice. The eggplant pieces are cooked until soft and tender, and they are salty and flavorful. They have absorbed a lot of oil and are very slippery. Even when placed on rice, the sauce still drips down. It's so delicious to eat with a piece of rice. The salted fish is also very salty. Every inch of the fish meat is salty, and it also has a hint of plum flavor."
"Yes, this dish is absolutely perfect with rice! The eggplant slices are great with rice, and the salted fish is great with rice too. I feel like I could eat two or three bowls of rice just with this dish. You guys should try the minced meat at the bottom. I was wondering why I tasted pork flavor when I was eating the eggplant and salted fish earlier. The minced meat at the bottom looks incredibly rich in color, and it's savory and flavorful, with the aroma of eggplant and salted fish. It's so delicious and goes really well with rice!"
"Really? I didn't even notice until you pointed it out. Let me try the taste."
"Seriously, these minced meats soaked in the sauce at the bottom of the pot are full of salty and savory flavors, and they taste absolutely amazing! The freshness of the meat itself, the saltiness of the salted fish, and the freshness of the eggplant all come together, along with the savory sauce. They're so oily and satisfying to eat. You don't even need to pour the sauce over white rice; just mix it in and take a bite, and it's flavorful enough."
"This dish smells amazing!"
Just as Lan Jingcheng was listening to the sincere praise from the group at the table, her mouth was starting to water, and she really wanted to indulge herself and order another dish of salted fish and eggplant stew to try, she suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Jingcheng, I'm sorry to leave you here to eat alone. I was busy cooking in the kitchen and only just found a moment to come out and say hello."
Upon seeing her old classmate, Lan Jingcheng smiled and said, "Qingqiu, it's been a long time. You can go ahead and do your work. We can chat more later when you're done. Besides, I'm not bored here. All the dishes you made are delicious. Look at how much I've eaten by myself; I'm almost stuffed. Seriously, I've never had such a delicious fish head soup before. The pig's trotters are also cooked until they're full of collagen, fatty but not greasy, and the meat is tender. The braised lettuce is also very good, crisp and refreshing."
She thought for a moment, then blinked and asked directly, "By the way, Qingqiu, please allow me to be a little narcissistic, did you specifically add this sesame chicken to today's menu because I came here?"
Gu Qingqiu smiled, her eyes crinkling, and nodded in agreement: "It's indeed because Jingcheng is here. When I was deciding on the menu last night, I was thinking about adding some high school memories to our meeting today, and I decided on this sesame chicken. Haha, let me ask you a question: how does the sesame chicken I made today taste compared to the one I had in high school?"
Lan Jingcheng cooperated by raising her right hand, making a fist, and placing it below her mouth as if it were a microphone: "The taste is excellent. The sesame chicken is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a strong sesame aroma and a savory flavor. It's delicious on its own and goes very well with rice. The taste is very similar to what I ate in the high school cafeteria, but even better. I don't know how to describe it in detail, but I can assure you that your earnings are much better than those of the chefs in the high school cafeteria!"
Gu Qingqiu laughed a few times, and replied with satisfaction, "I'm really happy to receive such praise from you. I didn't think too much when I ordered this dish last night. I recalled the recipe and taste of sesame chicken that I learned in high school, and I figured out how to make it today. I'm glad you like it."
While I heard many customers praising the dishes as they ate, especially the sesame chicken, which was described as crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with a savory and delicious flavor, Lan Jingcheng, who had eaten sesame chicken countless times during her time at L Middle School, gave the most objective and substantial evaluation.
Lan Jingcheng nodded: "I like to eat it. Not long ago, I was thinking of going back to my high school to see my teachers and have some sesame chicken. I didn't expect that coming here today would fulfill this little wish. Thank you, Qingqiu."
When I mentioned coming over for dinner, Qingqiu operated her business as usual, instead of thinking about my high school days. She specially added a sesame chicken dish that was very characteristic of my high school days. She appreciated my thoughtfulness and was very happy.
Gu Qingqiu smiled and said, "You're welcome. I haven't thanked you yet for helping me with the contract."
Lan Jingcheng smiled and said it was no big deal. It wasn't difficult for her to help review a contract. She was happy to be able to help and thanked Gu Qingqiu for thinking of her at a time like this.
The two chatted casually.
Perhaps because they had contacted each other on WeChat a few times before, and because of their decent friendship from high school, even though they hadn't seen each other since graduating high school, the two of them chatted happily as if the estrangement brought by the passage of time had not hindered them.
Noticing that after one table of customers paid and left, another table of customers came in to order and eat, and the staff had already printed out the order menus and placed them on the glass window, Lan Jingcheng took the initiative to say, "Qingqiu, you go ahead and get busy. I'll eat for a while longer. We can chat later when you're done."
Gu Qingqiu nodded in agreement: "Okay, then just tell Sister Zhou what you need. I'll go to the kitchen and get back to work."
She walked towards the kitchen and called out to Sister Zhou that the female customer at table number 3 was her friend and asked her to keep an eye on things. She told her to tell her that she didn't need to pay and that she would treat her to the meal if the customer wanted to pay.
I'll pay for the meal myself later; that way, it'll be easier to tally the accounts at the end of the month.
Sister Zhou nodded in agreement and continued to serve the customers.
Gu Qingqiu went into the kitchen to get some menus, looked at them, and then returned to the stove to continue cooking.
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