Chapter 61 Braised Pork Belly with Dried Bamboo Shoots (2)
Yunhe has been a food blogger for many years, navigating the culinary world for a long time and discovering many little-known gems of a small shop. These shops may be hidden in the backstreets or alleys, or even in the "deep mountains and forests," with a nicer name like "farmhouse inn."
She wouldn't be surprised if it were hidden anywhere, but it was definitely the first time she'd ever seen it open right in front of a high school.
After taking a taxi, Yunhe asked everyone in the car—
"This is the first time I've ever seen a small restaurant located right next to a high school." To be precise, it's surprising that such a recommended restaurant would be located right next to a high school. After all, aren't these small restaurants known for their large portions and filling meals?
"Have any of your friends tried it?" she asked.
The comments flew by in a blur.
I've never eaten it.
Me too! I'm drooling over the pictures online, haha, but I don't know if they'll taste good.
[Xiao He, why don't you give it a try for us? Let's see if this is just paid trolls hired by the boss himself.]
At this point, Yunhe's first impression of this small restaurant wasn't very good, and she was inclined to believe that the owner had hired online trolls.
However, since we were already there, after making a few turns, we ran into a large group of high school students leaving school. They were all wearing the same colored school uniforms and riding electric scooters, a sea of heads.
Yunhe is also live streaming, planning to give everyone a first-person, first-scene live stream.
The high school was just down that path. The driver said there were too many people after class and he couldn't drive in, so he dropped Yunhe off at the intersection.
There weren't many large shops around the high school area, just a few noodle shops and restaurants. Yunhe walked around looking at the signs: snail rice noodle shop, multigrain fish noodle shop, spicy hot pot shop, and more snail rice noodle shops...
Wait, what's that smell?!
It wafted in with the warm breeze of Yuncheng, carrying the rich, fatty aroma of tender pork belly, the crisp freshness of dried bamboo shoots, and the savory fragrance of stewed soy sauce. Whose food smells so good, or whose family is cooking?
She followed the scent and stopped where the aroma was strongest. Looking up, she saw five large characters on the sign: Yu's Small Restaurant!
She was a little surprised. No wonder the viewers in the live stream recommended this store. But there were just too many people!
Yunhe sighed. Even after graduating for so many years, she still felt a little embarrassed competing with students for food. She decided to wait until there weren't so many people left before going to eat.
"Hello, teacher."
"Hello, teacher."
"Chuchu, come quick! There are still seats here. Let's share a table with this girl."
"Jun Jun, stand here and wait a bit. There are too many people now. After we finish queuing, we'll go home to eat," Aunt Cao said.
Seeing this spectacle, Yunhe quickly squeezed into the line. Don't blame her for competing with high school students for food; after all, there were also teachers, grandmothers, children, and people around her age in the line.
"There are too many people in the store. I'll start a live stream after I buy what I need. Bye-bye!" Yunhe said goodbye to everyone, feeling embarrassed by the sheer number of people.
After queuing for quite a while, I finally got a picture of Yunhe. The high school students who arrived early had already finished eating, and Yunhe also managed to grab a seat.
This was her first time eating here. So she ordered one of each: fried rice noodles, stir-fried rice jelly, braised rice with chestnuts and sausage, hot and sour shredded potatoes, and braised pork belly with dried bamboo shoots. When Aunt Zheng saw that the young woman had ordered so much, she gently told her, "Young lady, if you can't finish it, you can ask me to pack it up for you to take home."
"Okay, thank you, Auntie," Yunhe said with a smile, thinking that her aunt's worries were unnecessary. She took out her live-streaming device, and after confirming that the angle wouldn't capture anyone else on camera, she started the live stream.
The fried rice noodles were glossy and each strand was distinct; the rice noodles were coated in a thick sauce and glistened slightly; the slices of Chinese sausage on top of the braised rice were bright red and vivid, with the fatty part looking like transparent jelly; the shredded potatoes were cut into thin, long pieces, showing the owner's excellent knife skills; another dish featured dried bamboo shoots and chunks of pork belly interspersed...
[My mouth is watering! Who's drooling? I'm so hungry! Luckily I ordered myself a bowl of snail rice noodles, but it definitely won't taste as good as the food Xiaohe ordered.]
No wonder so many people recommend it, it looks so tempting!
When will they invent a phone that can smell things?
Yunhe was also craving it; she was already starving while waiting in line and had originally intended to describe the presentation to everyone. But looking at the comments on the screen, she realized there was no need for any introduction, because everyone was already drooling.
Yunhe picked up a piece of pork belly with her chopsticks, the pork belly trembling slightly on the chopsticks. As she ate it, the rich aroma of the pork belly melted in the savory fragrance, carrying the refreshing scent of dried bamboo shoots. The meat was flavorful yet not greasy. The fatty part seemed to have melted into the sauce, completely devoid of the greasiness often associated with fatty meat; instead, it was very moist.
Having tasted so much delicious food, this was the first time Yunhe had ever felt truly amazed; the dishes were incredibly fragrant. She didn't even need to say a word; everyone could tell from the blissful look on her face that the food at this restaurant was definitely top-notch.
Yunhe forgot that she was a food blogger. She picked up another piece of dried bamboo shoot and bit into it. With a crunchy sound, the dried bamboo shoot, which had absorbed the oil and sauce of the pork belly, overflowed with juice and the sweetness of the bamboo shoot.
Yunhe remained silent, picked up a piece of pork belly, then another, and ate with extraordinary happiness, which was written all over her face.
Halfway through the meal, Yunhe suddenly remembered something and quickly described the taste to everyone, "This braised pork belly with dried bamboo shoots is incredibly delicious. The pork is stewed until it's very tender and flavorful. What's especially amazing is that the pork belly isn't greasy at all, just fragrant, purely fragrant. The dried bamboo shoots are very chewy, locking in the aroma of the meat and the savory fragrance of the sauce."
Watching her eat made everyone hungry, and hearing her description made them even hungrier. Yunhe was also made hungry by her own description, so she picked up another piece of pork belly and started eating. With a gentle bite, the rich aroma of the meat melted in her mouth, so delicious that it made her want to eat several bowls of rice.
She tried the fried rice noodles with a comparative mindset, and after taking a bite, she had only one thought: there's no need to compare, this shop's fried rice noodles are far superior to the previous one.
"This fried rice noodles smell so good, it's so delicious, I don't know how to praise it enough." For the first time, Yunhe felt that her vocabulary was so limited. Besides "delicious" and "fragrant," she seemed to have no other words to say.
But it's okay, everyone understands.
After all, it looks delicious.
Having been a food blogger for so many years, she has eaten a lot of delicious food, but this is the first time she has ever eaten such a delicious meal.
Yunhe also tried the sweet and savory chestnut and sausage rice, which was soft and chewy with chestnuts and oily with sausage, and the crispy, sour and spicy shredded potatoes. She liked them all and couldn't help but give them a thumbs up as she ate. "They are so delicious. Everyone must come and try this restaurant."
Fortunately, she had a good appetite and could finish all the food on the table. In fact, she ate it all up. After finishing the meal, Yunhe, no longer tempted by the delicious food, finally had time to talk to everyone.
"I finished everything. In short, the food here is so delicious. When you come to Yuncheng for tourism, don't miss this restaurant. You can tell how good it is by how clean I ate it."
After saying that, she held up a plate to show everyone; it was so clean it looked like it had been licked. A flood of comments appeared on the screen saying, "I want to eat that too."
Grandma Chen, who was standing next to Yunhe, looked at her and asked curiously, "Young lady, are you live streaming?" Grandma Chen was a modern senior citizen, so she knew about these things. Live streaming, well, Yuncheng Community often holds some live streams to help farmers.
“Yes, Grandma, don’t worry, they definitely won’t film you,” Yunhe said.
Grandma Chen arrived late and is only now having her meal. She smiled and said, "It's alright, it's alright even if you took a picture. Were you promoting this store just now?"
In this way, more people will know about Xiaoyin's shop.
"Yes, I'm from out of town. The food at this restaurant is so delicious. I recommended it to my fans and friends, and they all said they'd come during the National Day holiday," Yunhe said, looking at the comments.
Grandma Chen made two "oh" sounds and casually praised Xiaoyin, "I'm not bragging, but if this restaurant dares to say it's second best, no one dares to say it's first. That's certified by all of our customers."
After saying that, Grandma Chen stuffed her mouth full of delicious food. The dried bamboo shoots were thoroughly braised, every fiber soaked in the meat juices. The bamboo shoot's own aroma wasn't masked; instead, it blended with the meat's fragrance, allowing you to feel the intertwining of bamboo shoot and meat flavors on your tongue with every bite. It was so fragrant, so delicious, I could never get enough!
Upon hearing this, Xu Jiajia quickly added, "Yes, yes, yes, Sister Ayin's cooking is the best, the best in the world, the best in the universe, no one can compare."
Xiao Du nodded frantically, "I agree too!"
Xiao Du absolutely loves the pork belly in the dish. The chunks of meat, with alternating layers of fat and lean, are stewed until tender. When you pick it up with chopsticks, the skin trembles slightly. The fatty parts aren't greasy, and the lean parts aren't dry. The skin has a slightly chewy texture, and it's not fishy at all.
The other diners silently agreed, for in their hearts, the boss was number one, the number one that no one could rival.
Viewers on the other side of the screen were all laughing, saying, "You guys are exaggerating!"
Yu Miaoyin was a little embarrassed when she heard everyone say that in the kitchen. She also felt that everyone was exaggerating.
—
Yu family.
When Xiaoming woke up, it was already noon. He touched his flat stomach and reminisced about the meal he had made the night before. He even felt like he was having a dream.
Moreover, the dream was warm and fragrant, making one want to keep having it.
However, he was still arguing with his family and had just said he would never eat a single meal from them again, but he contradicted himself so quickly—it was incredibly embarrassing. Luckily, he had a sudden inspiration—
I just don't know if my parents believed it or not.
When he opened the door, his mother was sitting watching TV; everything seemed normal. Hearing a sound, his mother turned around and asked, "You didn't come out yesterday, did you?"
Xiao Ming was startled and shook his head, saying, "I didn't come out. Why would I come out? Why would I come out?"
Mrs. Yu nodded naturally, "It's good that they didn't come out. A thief broke into the house yesterday and stole all the food."
Xiao Ming said "Oh," and then added, "Is this thief really a starving ghost? Has he never eaten in his life?"
In this strange family dynamic, conflicts come and go quickly. Xiaoming vaguely remembered that they had a fight just yesterday!
An indescribable atmosphere permeated the home. Although the biggest conflict remained, at least it hadn't erupted yet. Xiaoming sat on the other side of the sofa, silent.
"Dad went to buy food. He'll be back later. How about we sit down and have a good chat as a family while we eat?" Mrs. Yu said in a low voice.
Hearing her say that, that indescribable emotion welled up again, and he was about to refuse.
Dad pushed open the door and came in, along with a rich and incredibly tempting aroma. "Dinner's ready."
Xiao Ming, who originally intended to leave, stubbornly refused to move.
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