Chapter 55 The food is so good
The Qiao family is having dinner. The cold dish platter is in the form of two meat dishes and one vegetable dish of old Suzhou style. Half of the dishes are cooked in Suzhou style and half in Cantonese style.
Old Mrs. Qiao praised the smoked fish highly: "Nowadays, smoked fish is just fried in oil until crispy. Do you still have the nerve to call it smoked fish?"
Qiao Qiming also tasted the old flavor.
In her previous life, when Yue Ning was studying in Shanghai, she ate Shanghai smoked fish. She never understood why fish fried in oil was called smoked fish? Isn't another name, fried fish, more appropriate?
After she looked up information, she learned that smoked fish was actually smoked at the beginning, using rice husks, fruit wood, and even tea leaves and rice. After being smoked, it was fried and then put into the sauce to make it flavorful.
Just then, her best friend from university came to visit Yuecheng, so she tried to make smoked fish using the method from the Republic of China, using grass carp chunks smoked with tea leaves. Her best friend was amazed when she tasted it.
This traditional smoked fish dish was later introduced at Shanghai Ningyan and became a signature dish. She also introduced the process of recreating this dish, and added another layer of label to Ningyan, saying that it is innovative but not forgetful of its roots, and that it cooks dishes with care.
However, at that time, it was hard to find gourmets who had eaten this dish during the Republic of China, and Yue Ning didn't know whether the flavor had been passed down.
The old couple prefer the sweet smoked fish, while their children and grandchildren still like the roast pork with crispy skin, tender fat and sweet lean meat. This piece of meat has the dual sweetness of rose water and rice wine, but is not as sweet as the smoked fish.
At this time, the waiter came in with the braised river eel and served the dish: "Our restaurant's chef Ning's traditional braised river eel, please enjoy."
Qiao Junxian passed the dish to grandma: "Grandma, Ningning said that she might not be able to cook it the way you remember it. After all, it was the first time you and grandpa met, and there was a special taste in it. She followed the Suzhou cuisine method and tried her best to restore it."
Old Mrs. Qiao looked at the old man, then at Qiao Junxian: "Brother! Your grandfather talks nonsense all the time, why do you take this seriously?"
Qiao Qiming was not convinced and picked up the chopsticks to pick up a piece of eel meat for his wife: "You eat it, you eat it. No matter how delicious Ningning cooks, can it taste like it did back then?"
Old Mrs. Qiao didn't want to argue with the old man. When her chopsticks touched the eel segment, the skin separated, revealing the snow-white meat. She picked up a piece of eel meat, dipped it in a little sauce and put it into her mouth.
"How is it? Ningning's cooking skills are considered to be very good among chefs. Is it as tasty as yours before? I tell you, I just didn't believe it." Qiao Qiming said firmly.
Old Mrs. Qiao stretched out her chopsticks and picked up a piece for him: "Eat it, and you will know after you eat it!"
Qiao Qiming ate it with a smile. The river eel skin was stewed until it was gelatinous, and the eel meat was as soft and tender as fine tofu. It melted in the mouth with a sip. The taste of eel occupied the mouth, the aroma of garlic, the rich aroma of lard, and a faint aroma of caramel. The braised fish was not as sweet as smoked fish, but it could not get rid of the sweetness of Suzhou cuisine in its salty and fresh taste.
"That's the taste! It's sweet but not too sweet, sweet with a little fragrance. When I gave birth to Shuyi, I wanted to eat it, and you asked a famous chef from Shanghai to make it. I said it was sweet and fragrant, and the chef knocked over the sugar jar, thinking that we Suzhou people can eat sugar as food? The main taste of this dish is salty, not sweet. But it has a sweet fragrance." Old Mrs. Qiao said to her children and grandchildren with an expression that this dish finally cleared her name, "Try it, the thick sauce is not so sweet that it is unpalatable."
Qiao Jiahe picked up a piece with his chopsticks, and the others followed suit. As the eel was in their mouths, their old lady asked, "It's delicious, right?"
Qiao Jiahe looked at his biological father, and after thinking it over, he couldn't go against his will: "It's delicious."
"Right! I was only eleven years old at that time, not even twelve. No matter how beautiful you are, what does it have to do with me? It's definitely not as good as a piece of river eel. That river eel, unlike now, I can eat as much as I want. After I ate one piece, I couldn't eat the second piece. I kept thinking about it." Old Mrs. Qiao explained to the old man. It's not bad to be misunderstood by her children and grandchildren that she fell in love with an old man when she was only eleven or twelve years old, right?
Ye Yingyi saw that her father-in-law was a little embarrassed. The men in their family! They all liked him. He lied to himself. His wife liked him first. When she graduated from college and returned to Nanyang from the United States, the Qiao family and this idiot were willing to take a three-day and three-night boat from Hong Kong to Singapore to watch a movie with her, and left without saying anything. Well, this man insisted after marriage that she fell in love with him when she was in the United States.
If she fell in love with him, would she listen to her mother and go on a blind date? When he heard that she was going on a blind date, he rushed over in a hurry.
Thinking of this, Ye Yingyi glanced at her husband, then turned to the old lady and said, "Mom, this soup with rice must be delicious. How about we have a small bowl of rice, half for each of us?"
"OK!"
"Grandma, Mom, are you sure Junxian can finish two servings of fried rice by himself?" Qiao Junshen stopped his mother from mixing the rice. His mother's home was in Southeast Asia, where there were all kinds of curry sauces. Whenever she saw something with a strong sauce, she would think of mixing it with the rice.
Just at this moment, the waiter came in with a pot: "Wuhan fish pot, please enjoy."
Qiao Qiming is old now and has eaten too much delicacies from land and sea, as well as a lot of food from street stalls. However, he had traveled across most of China from south to north and from east to west. He thought about those years when he organized and coordinated transportation during the bombing of the Japanese invaders, sleeping in the open air, and in Hubei. The occasional bite of grilled fish, especially the fish roe, made him eat three bowls of brown rice. In addition, he relied on the fact that he was the second son of the Ningbo business group to deliver supplies to northern Shaanxi. On a cold night, an older sister-in-law made him a bowl of potato cakes. He was almost frozen, but after eating this bowl of spicy potato cakes, he instantly came back to life.
But these two farm-style dishes are hard to find. Firstly, Hong Kong people don’t eat spicy food, and there are no restaurants that cook them. Secondly, restaurants can’t make the farm-style taste.
When he said these words, the old lady also said to him that he was so hungry that even chewing tree bark tasted delicious.
When Yue Ning listened to Qiao Junxian talking about Grandpa Qiao's past again, he couldn't help but think that this bald old man was so handsome.
Qiao Junxian turned the steaming fish stew in front of his grandfather and said, "Grandpa, I told Ningning..."
Qiao Junshen interrupted his brother and said, "Silly boy, you are really young. Being young means you don't know much. You tell your sweetheart everything you like. Where's Ningning? Her cooking skills are so good..."
Qiao Junshen couldn't continue speaking, he tilted his head and smiled.
"Eat." Qiao Qiming glared at his grandson, "You're being too smart."
Old Mrs. Qiao scooped a spoonful of fish offal with a spoon and put it in Qiao Qiming's bowl: "When I went to Shanghai to study at the Girls' High School, I fell in love with you! Otherwise, why would I make cakes for you? I was afraid that you didn't know how virtuous I am and how skillful I am."
Now the few remaining hairs on Qiao Qiming's head were finally smoothed out. He lowered his head to eat the fish roe his wife had served him. It was salty, spicy and delicious, very homely and went well with rice.
Ye Yingyi also took a bite of the fish offal: "This is spicy and delicious."
"Don't even think about having bibimbap." Qiao Jiahe said to his wife.
Just as I was thinking about eating, the waiter came in with a large bowl of shredded fish soup and a small bowl of white rice on a tray: "Chef Ning's shredded fish soup. Chef Ning, please give Mr. Qiao half a bowl of white rice."
Qiao Qiming took the rice, scooped two spoonfuls of fish offal and started eating.
Qiao Jiahe turned the fish soup over and poured a bowl of it for his wife: "Eat the fish soup and don't think about the rice in Dad's bowl."
Ye Yingyi took the fish soup and said, "Shouldn't my son have the first sip?"
"It's okay! Mom, you eat first." said Qiao Junxian.
Qiao Junxian made a bowl of fish soup. He finally got to eat Yue Ning's fish soup again. As he was eating, the door opened again and the aroma wafted in.
The waiter brought in a plate of fried rice. The top layer of fried rice was made of golden strands, and the middle layer was a mixture of various colors, which looked rich in ingredients. The bottom layer was a thin layer of pure egg fried rice.
“Chef Ning’s Yangzhou fried rice.”
The fried rice was placed on the table, and everyone could see clearly that the top layer was fried egg floss.
Qiao Junshen said, "Let Junxian eat first this time."
Qiao Junxian was not to be modest either. He drank the fish soup in the bowl in one gulp, then filled a bowl of rice and ate it in one gulp. He finally understood why Grandpa Zhou's eyes lit up when he described Ningning's Yangzhou fried rice to him, as if he was a hungry wolf seeing a roast chicken.
Next up was Yue Baohua's main dish, Qiankun Roast Duck. Originally, they should have used goose, but they couldn't finish a goose that big, so they used duck. Qiankun Roast Duck also had abalone, sea cucumber and other delicacies from the mountains and the sea in its belly, and the quantity was not small.
He also steamed a piece of Qiao Qiming's favorite snapper.
There were two vegetarian dishes, and even Yue Ning's fried potato pancakes were only a small plate. Their family had a rule not to waste food, and today they didn't want to waste it, so the whole family finished the whole table of dishes, and ended up being full.
Yue Ning came upstairs with a fruit platter and pushed open the door. She said apologetically, "I've thought about it and decided not to serve the Dongping Chicken Rice. Otherwise, you won't be able to finish it. Also, the potato pancakes use ordinary peppers, not the Qin peppers from our northwest. The aroma of the peppers is a bit off. I can only ask Grandpa Qiao to be more tolerant."
"It tastes great. How can it be exactly the same?" Qiao Qiming said with a smile, "I like it very much. There is no rush for Dongping Chicken Rice. Come and eat it later!"
"OK."
Old Mrs. Qiao looked at Yue Ning and said, "Nannan! Your smoked fish is really authentic. Your Grandpa Qiao and I haven't eaten it for a long time. The smoked fish that is smoked and then fried has the original taste."
"Yes, it's very authentic. It's not inferior to the smoked fish in Chengxing Restaurant back then." Qiao Qiming agreed.
Hearing this from someone who had experienced that era and was indeed a gourmet, Yue Ning felt that he had received great recognition.
"This braised river eel is even better. It has the traditional Suzhou flavor. I know why I can't taste that flavor after eating it for so many years. It's the small piece of sugared lard in it." Mrs. Qiao finally found the crux of the matter. Only the sugared lard can give this dish a sweet fragrance.
"Yes, according to the old practice, we should put this piece of sugar lard."
Qiao Junshen chuckled: "You cooked this river eel very well."
"Does Jun Shen like it too?" Yue Ning was even happier. "I thought Jun Shen grew up in Hong Kong and might not be able to get used to Suzhou cuisine?"
Qiao Junshen had always thought that Yue Ning was a very smart girl. Now he knew what it meant that birds of a feather flock together. She and this silly boy from his family were really a perfect match made in heaven.
He smiled and emphasized: "It's really great."
Yue Ning finally realized what Jun Shen said. She looked at Qiao Junxian and asked...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com