Chapter 26 The diner has big round eyes, a puffy face, and a pair of thick pink lips...
Just as Song Jin was venting his anger on the chicken, Chunyun shouted, "Sister, the goose is ready."
Someone reminded: "Don't call me sister here, you have to call me shopkeeper."
Chunyun smiled and changed the subject: "Shopkeeper, Shopkeeper Wen..."
Song Jin's lips curled up into a smile. She couldn't tell whether she wanted to laugh because Chunyun amused her or because the change in identity made her happy. In short, both were interesting.
Lifting the lid of the pot, the rich aroma of sauce became stronger. Song Jin took the goose out and used a colander to filter out the various spices in the pot. At the same time, he instructed Chunyun:
"Use a big fire."
"good."
The soup in the pot was simmered over high heat until it turned into a rich sauce. Song Jin once again picked up the goose and put it in the pot, then used a spatula to pour the sauce over the goose layer by layer.
Song Jin rinsed it several times before putting the goose aside to cool down and cutting it when someone arrived and served it to the table.
After processing the goose, it is time to prepare the dipping sauce for the boiled chicken.
This dipping sauce is different from the ones he had seen in Suzhou before, so Song Jin had to come in person.
Take a large piece of peeled ginger and use the blade of a knife to smash it into minced garlic little by little. While smashing, pull outwards to mash the ginger, and secondly, remove the ginger shreds inside the old ginger, making it taste better.
Chop the beaten ginger into fine pieces again, chop the green onions into chopped green onions, mix the two together, add salt, pour hot oil on them and stir evenly, and a classic white-cut chicken dipping sauce is ready.
Song Jin prepared two main dishes, and the rest could be cooked when the guests arrived. As for the common Suzhou dishes, they were handed over to the two maids. After throwing the bitter melon into the earthenware jar, she put down her work in the kitchen and took a look ahead.
She was so busy in the back that she didn't know what time it was. When she came out, she found that there were already many customers sitting in the restaurant. The meals were prepared by the maids. She was not distracted, so she didn't know what was going on here.
Song Jin calculated the time and estimated that the man would not come too late. After all, there was a curfew, and he should show up in two hours at most.
The waiter greeted her politely and A Rong calculated the bill clearly, so she went back to the kitchen to prepare her own dishes.
Cut the eel into pieces, knead it with flour and then clean it; tear off the tendons from the pea pods, cut the sea bass, and prepare the shredded ginger, green onion and chili peppers. Now look at your preparations, they are almost done.
After doing all this, Song Jin finally calmed down and waited silently for the distinguished guest to appear.
When the sun began to set, Song Jin heard a sudden increase in the volume of voices ahead. Guessing that it was a guest arriving, he hurried out to greet them.
As soon as I got to the front, I saw four or five sedan chairs parked in front of the Shiding Building. The leading sedan chair was wider than the others, and even the sedan chair bearers were stronger than the others.
As soon as it stopped, a handsome boy in blue came forward and lifted the jade-colored curtain of the sedan chair, and the person inside bent down to get out.
When Song Jin saw the man clearly, wow, silver!
The man was wearing a cross-collared straight-body suit with a blue lotus satin background and a ruyi nest pattern. He had a Zhongjing crown on his head, a sash around his waist with a white jade dragon-shaped hook at the connection, and stone blue satin boots on his feet.
Song Jin guessed that the jade hook must be worth a lot of silver, but what was more eye-catching than the hook was the face and the round figure.
He had big round eyes, a puffy face, a pair of thick pink lips, and a golden fan in his fleshy hands, which he was waving lazily. His belly was slightly protruding, and it was obvious that he wanted to enter the store before his feet.
"Mr. Chai, please come in."
The waiter came forward to greet him warmly, and Song Jin did not dare to neglect him. He stepped forward and bowed, "Mr. Chai, please go upstairs."
The chubby Mr. Chai glanced at Song Jin and asked, "Are you the owner of this Shi Ding Lou?"
"That's me."
While the two were talking, Master Guan of Wasonglu, who had been there that day, came forward to greet them: "It's this Shopkeeper Wen, he said he can cook authentic Cantonese cuisine, so I'll bring you here to taste it."
Mr. Chai snorted, "Okay, I haven't been to Guangdong yet, so I don't care if it's authentic or not, but I want to make sure it tastes good or not."
After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and followed Song Jin upstairs.
The second floor was left vacant today, and there were still plenty of flowers and fruits. However, the incense that the Ming Dynasty guests liked was rejected by Song Jin.
After all, it is a restaurant, not a brothel. It would be bad if the aroma of the food was taken away, so only flowers and fruits were displayed.
However, Mr. Chai seemed to be used to it. He just glanced at it, probably thinking it was too simple, and said nothing. He just followed the people to sit at the table by the window.
"Sir, would you like to order food today, or should we serve it to you?"
Chai Heng said: "Just bring the dishes you are good at, and also wine."
Song Jin smiled and nodded in response; "Then I will go prepare the food for you."
Chai Heng ignored him and turned to chat with the young men he brought with him.
"The weather is getting hotter and hotter. I heard that the ice drinks at the east side of the city are in short supply every day, but it's a pity that it's too far away."
Chai Heng said: "What are you afraid of? My ice cellar is big and we have plenty of ice every year. It's not difficult to eat ice. Come to my house, I won't treat you badly."
Song Jin asked the waiter to serve tea when he heard laughter: "Don't bother me casually. If my sister-in-law sees this, she will definitely blame me."
"Oh, it's okay. Going to eat ice cream is not like going to a yard. Your sister-in-law won't care."
Song Jin served the tea and invited everyone to taste it.
Brother Wasongluguan picked up the teacup and smelled it, saying, "This tea smells so good. I don't usually see such good tea here. I think it was specially prepared for Brother Chai. Brother Chai's family runs a tea business, so maybe you can tell what kind of tea this is?"
After hearing this, Chai Heng picked it up politely, sniffed it first, then tasted it, and said confidently: "Wenshan Imperial Tea, or before the Qingming Festival, is it right?"
The last question was addressed to Song Jin, who smiled and said, "Sir, your tongue is very sensitive. It is the Wenshan Imperial Tea from before the Qingming Festival. I dare not bring out ordinary tea for you to taste."
"Of course, my family has been selling tea for generations. The picking time of Wenshan Yucha is late, and tea farmers are scrambling to pick it if they want to get Mingqian tea." He opened the lid of the tea bowl and said with regret: "The tea soup is clear and bright, and it is pleasing to the eye. I don't know what the ancients were thinking, they had to knead good tea leaves into balls, which is a waste of nature. Fortunately, our emperor is wise, if the tea was ground into powder, it would be a pity."
After hearing this, several people nearby agreed with Chai Heng. Song Jin took the opportunity to leave and served the first dish: Guangdong roast goose.
All the flowers and fruits on the table were removed and a golden goose was placed on top.
Chai Heng saw it and asked, "This is nothing like ordinary roast goose, why does it smell so sweet?"
Song Jin said, "This is Guangdong roast goose. It is different from the common roast goose in that it is cooked with brown sugar and has a slightly sweet taste. Please try it, sir."
As he spoke, he moved the goose to the next table, took the knife handed to him by the waiter, cut the goose into small pieces on the spot, put them together on a plate, and then put it back on the table.
A few people sniffed it and were ready to taste it with a hint of curiosity, but Chai Heng didn't touch it, so they didn't dare to move.
Chai Heng pursed his lips and frowned, doing quite a few little movements before the meal. After a while he picked up the chopsticks and took a small bite.
The crispy outer skin is wrapped with a thin layer of fat, and the goose meat inside has absorbed the light sweetness of brown sugar. It is fat but not greasy, sweet but not choking, and has an extremely novel taste.
"Interesting, interesting, this Cantonese dish is interesting." After saying that, he said to the servant boy in blue clothes beside him, "Reward."
The servant boy took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and put it in Song Jin's hand. The heavy weight pressed down on him. Song Jin knew that this was a heavy reward, so he thanked him quickly and went downstairs to prepare the second dish: boiled chicken.
One person held the dipping sauce, another held the chicken soaked in the cold soup, and the three of them went upstairs together.
"Your chicken... doesn't look like it's fried. Why is the surface so yellow?"
Song Jin smiled and replied: "I added a special seasoning when cooking it." Then he picked up the knife and cut the chicken.
Although there was no ice, the well water was also useful. The hot chicken was stuffed into cold water. After a long time, the chicken soup between the skin and muscles actually froze into a jelly-like state, and when it was cut open, it became a shiny layer.
But apart from the chicken jelly, there is another thing that is more eye-catching.
"Boss, the chicken is not cooked yet, why did you serve it with blood on it?" someone asked curiously.
Song Jin patiently explained: "This white-cut chicken is not cooked, but stewed in boiling water. Although the bone marrow is red, the meat is cooked through. Because it is not boiled over high heat, the meat is fresh and tender, which is incomparable to other methods. You may want to try it first."
After saying that, he brought up a plate of sliced poached chicken and taught everyone to eat it with minced garlic sauce.
Probably because of the prelude of roasted goose, Chai Heng did not hesitate this time. He picked up a piece of meat, rolled it in the dipping dish, barely avoiding the blood-red bone marrow, and bit off a large piece of chicken.
As soon as the meat entered his mouth, Chai Heng's eyes widened even wider. He bit the meat and said, "It's tender, really tender. This is the most tender chicken I have ever eaten. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful."
After hearing this, the young man who suspected that the chicken was not cooked did not hesitate. He picked up a piece of chicken and stuffed it into his mouth. Sure enough, the chicken was tender and smooth.
"Boss, what's the secret?"
Song Jin smiled and said, "This is my specialty."
Everyone laughed, and Chai Heng asked again: "You look young and your accent doesn't sound like a Cantonese, so how come you know so much about Cantonese cuisine?"
Song Jin started to make up a story: "When I was young, there was an old man from Guangdong in my family who was good at cooking Cantonese dishes. Since I didn't like studying, I learned a lot of dishes from him, so I can cook some."
"No wonder. You are young and not from Guangdong, so how can you cook Cantonese food? Do you have any other dishes for me to try?"
Song Jin said: "There is another soup that is very suitable for summer, with a special flavor, would you like to try it?"
Chai Heng couldn't wait to order the soup.
A clay pot of bitter melon, soybean and pork ribs soup was brought to the table. Song Jin scooped a bowl for Chai Heng, and the waiter scooped a bowl for each of the guests.
"This soup is called bitter melon and pork ribs soup. Bitter melon tastes bitter and is cold in nature, so it is best eaten in the hot summer. Goose and chicken are both greasy dishes, but this soup is light and bitter with a hint of freshness. Your Excellency, please try it."
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