Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

“【Stir-fried snails】 are here.”

"Please try the [Stir-fried blood duck] that I make at home."

"[Braised Loach]. Please enjoy your meal."

Local night dishes were served one after another, filling the air with fragrance.

If you look at it from a professional perspective, these dishes are all substandard, but they taste very enjoyable and spicy.

The simple stir-fried dish has its own charm. Du Shaojie ate it with sweat all over his forehead and had an extra bowl of rice than usual.

"Madam boss, these dishes are delicious. I'm very interested in this dish, Zha Rou. Can you tell me how to make it? I want to try making it myself when I get home."

Du Shaojie put down his bowl and chopsticks, and the proprietress came over and poured tea for them.

He thanked her and asked the lady boss how to make the "Zha Rou". In fact, "Zha Rou" is a local specialty dish that almost every household can make, but the taste varies greatly.

Du Shaojie didn't know anyone else here, so he just asked casually.

"This method is very simple. Choose the fat and lean parts of the pork. Wash it and drain the water after buying it, then cut it into large slices. Then use coarse salt to marinate it to force out the excess water in the pork, sprinkle it with strong white wine and mix it with chili powder. Seal it in a jar for about 10 days before eating."

The lady boss was quick to speak and directly explained the method of making [stir-fried meat].

This does not need to be kept secret, many local people know how to do it.

However, in the actual operation process, there are many details that need to be grasped, which depends entirely on personal experience and cannot be explained clearly.

"Thank you, Madam, I understand."

Du Shaojie then asked Wang Yongli to pay the bill and leave. They had traveled a lot today and needed to rest early.

the next day.

Several people got up early and went out for breakfast.

A common breakfast on the street is rice noodles with pork bone soup as a base, and topped with pickled beans, pickled radishes, chopped peppers, lean meat or pork offal, which has a unique flavor.

"good to eat!"

Wang Yongli and others thought it was delicious, and as one portion was not enough, some people even ordered half a portion of rice noodles.

Du Shaojie also thought it tasted good. Snacks like this can often be found in small places. Compared with the soup noodles in Guangdong Province, the rice noodles here have a stronger flavor and are very friendly to people who can eat spicy food.

"Boss, are we leaving today?"

After Zou Xiaohe had eaten and drunk his fill, he asked about today’s schedule.

Normally, they should continue on their journey after a night's rest, but he has no say and they have to listen to their boss.

"We won't leave today. Let's rest here for two days."

Du Shaojie thinks the local food is very good, and every time he goes out, he actually has the purpose of exploring delicious food. He is not in a hurry to visit various places, and he will stay a few more days if he thinks it is good.

The local dishes can be classified as Hunan cuisine, but they have their own unique features.

After dinner, we went back to the guesthouse to rest for a while, and then went out for shopping. The area of ​​the small county town is not large, and the only prosperous area is an old street.

Cars cannot pass through the old street. The bluestone paved road is bumpy in some places, but as smooth as a mirror in some places, it has a very old feel.

The streets are lined with tiled houses, and the wooden houses look a bit old. There are many people setting up stalls on both sides of the road, many of whom are from the countryside, selling vegetables, pork, fish, eels, loaches and wild mushrooms.

The streets are bustling with people and noisy, full of life.

"Boss, do you want some loaches? I just caught them this morning, they're very fresh."

The small vendors kept shouting their wares. The owner of the loach stall saw Du Shaojie and waved to him with a smile.

Du Shaojie took a glance and immediately concluded that this was definitely a wild loach. The yellow eel he had seen before was also wild. After a few years, most of the loaches and eels sold in the vegetable market were artificially cultivated, and wild ones were hard to find.

"Wynn, weigh two pounds."

Du Shaojie asked Wang Yongli to buy two kilograms. The loaches sold by this stall owner were of very good quality, and he planned to buy some to eat at noon.

Then he saw the "Swan Mushroom", a natural wild mushroom that cannot be cultivated even after decades. The taste of Swan Mushroom is extremely delicious, but the quantity is small, so the price is not cheap.

Of course, prices are relative. He spent less than 20 yuan to buy a bag.

Walking and stopping, sometimes he would go up to chat with fellow villagers, and time came to noon. Several people brought a lot of things to the restaurant where they had dinner yesterday. There were not many people at this time, and the restaurant was deserted.

The consumption level in small county towns is not high, and restaurants like this usually only have business at night.

"Boss, please take a seat. Boss, boil some water and make some tea. Guests are coming."

The proprietress was very enthusiastic. After greeting them, she stared at the bags in their hands.

She could tell at a glance that the bags were filled with food, which was why she was confused. It was the first time she saw people bringing their own food to a restaurant, and she felt something was wrong.

Later, the owner and chef came out with a pot of tea.

"Everyone, please have some tea. What would you like to eat today?"

"One serving each of yesterday's Braised Pork and Stir-fried Blood Duck. I saw these ingredients were good when I was shopping this morning, so I bought some. Help me cook them, and I'll pay you the processing fee." Du Shaojie ordered two dishes, then asked Wang Yongli to open the bag and show it to the boss, asking him to help process them.

Of course, the processing fee was sufficient, and he was not short of money, so why should he work hard for others?

"Okay, boss, wait a moment."

The restaurant owner went into the back carrying the ingredients with a big smile on his face. These outsiders were really nice, easy to talk to and generous.

It didn't take long before the food started to be served.

No one drank alcohol at noon. What the proprietress said was right. The local rice wine tasted sweet but had a strong aftertaste, so it was better to drink it at night.

Today's dishes were all well cooked, not amazing, but very tasty. The swan mushrooms were especially delicious. In Zhong Qing's words, they almost made my tongue fall off.

"Boss, I heard that you are very interested in pierced meat? Actually, this dish is quite troublesome to make. For example, I have to go to the countryside to select native pigs myself. Ordinary pork doesn't taste that delicious."

After everyone had eaten, Du Shaojie chatted with the restaurant owner for a while.

The restaurant owner did not hide his secrets and briefly explained the tricks of making [Zha Rou]. He told the other party everything from the selection of ingredients to the matters that need to be paid attention to during the production process.

If Du Shaojie and his friends were locals, the boss would never tell anyone. But because they were outsiders, it was obvious that they were here to do business or just passing by, so it didn't matter if he told them, since they wouldn't compete with him anyway.

"Thank you! Thank you! To be honest, I am also a chef. Let's exchange ideas when we have a chance."

Du Shaojie stood up, bowed, and then left with Wang Yongli and others.

He didn't want to owe anyone a favor, so he planned to teach the other person a Hunan dish, and then everyone would be even.

in the afternoon.

Du Shaojie and others went to the nearby Cuiting Mountain, where there is a Taoist temple, which is said to have a history of hundreds of years.

He definitely believed this. Even the bluestone slabs on the old streets of the county town had a history of hundreds of years, not to mention the Taoist temple on the mountain.

But after finally climbing to the top of the mountain, I was a little disappointed. The Taoist temple looked shabby due to years of disrepair, but the overall scale was grand, and the cultural relics preserved inside were basically intact.

“Worth a look!”

After looking around for a while, Du Shaojie changed his previous opinion.

The overall architecture of the Taoist temple is well preserved, and the dilapidated parts have been repaired. The main hall, statues, shrines, etc. look very old, and several stone tablets still have the handwriting of ancient celebrities.

I just don't know whether it's true or not.

Seeing that it was getting late, Du Shaojie suggested going down the mountain and donated some money to the Taoist temple.

The old Taoist priest wanted to keep them on the mountain for dinner, and said that if they were worried that it would be too late after dinner, they could stay overnight at the Taoist temple.

Du Shaojie thought about it and decided to give up. The group went down the mountain and it was already dark when they arrived at the restaurant.

Perhaps because of the mountain climbing, everyone felt very hungry. Du Shaojie wanted to eat [Chopped Pepper Fish Head], but when he asked the boss, he showed an embarrassed expression.

"I can't cook this dish well. I can fool others, but I'm embarrassed to embarrass myself in front of my peers."

"Well, let's put it this way. I said I would teach you a Hunan dish, so let's do this [Chopped Pepper Fish Head]."

Du Shaojie didn't feel very tired. After discussing with the boss, he put on an apron and a hat and went to the kitchen.

While making this dish, he taught the restaurant owner the relevant tips, including how to handle and marinate the fish head, how to handle and stir-fry the chopped pepper, and so on.

When steaming, you need to control the heat, and pouring hot oil at the end will add the finishing touch.

Du Shaojie's entire production process was as smooth as flowing water. His knife skills, methods of handling ingredients, cooking techniques, etc., completely conquered the restaurant owner, who was almost bowing down to him in worship.

This is a crushing victory in terms of cooking skills, the gap between the two is too great.

"Have you learned it? Try it."

Du Shaojie prepared this dish and asked the restaurant owner to taste it.

The other party carefully took out a pair of bowl and chopsticks, picked up a piece of fish head meat and put it into the bowl, and tasted it carefully.

"The taste is extremely delicious, the salty, spicy and fragrant taste is fully integrated into the fish head. Boss Du is really a great cook. It's useless for me to learn it, and I will never be able to make such a taste."

The restaurant owner sighed and bowed to Du Shaojie.

Du Shaojie didn't say anything more. He turned around and walked out of the kitchen, then sat back down at the table.

"Madam, give me two catties of rice wine."

We drank some rice wine in the evening, and after eating and drinking well, we went back to the guesthouse to take a shower and go to bed.

After waking up, Du Shaojie did not rush to get up, but went into the simulation scene and tried to do the [Piercing the Meat] several times.

[Zha Rou] is not a difficult dish. First, use salt to kill the moisture in the pork. Adding strong liquor can kill bacteria and make the pork last longer. On the other hand, the liquor will ferment when sealed in the jar, and the pork will also produce a wonderful reaction.

So he followed the experience taught by the restaurant owner and tried a few times, and basically he was able to achieve a perfect replica. (End of this chapter)