Border Cook

Chapter 76 Texas Braised Chicken
"You have to be flexible. Sometimes you can't be too fussy about the money. Give less when it's necessary and give a little more when it's necessary. Then you will feel that the things you buy are worth it and you are honest. You will want to buy from you again in the future."

"Well said." Xia Mingyue nodded approvingly.

As a peddler, he has gained so many insights from his business, which shows that he is a man who works with great care.

The most important thing in everything is to be attentive.

Seeing that Xia Mingyue agreed with his statement, Ding Quan felt more confident and continued, "This food business is different from being a peddler. In addition to having delicious food, reasonable prices, and good hospitality, you also have to be diligent and clean."

"To be honest with you, Madam Xia, I used to be a rough man, not very particular about things, but my wife is really a clean person, and she always nags me. Now I have learned a lot, and I think I can run this food business well."

"This food stall is different from the peddler business you had before. One person cannot handle it all. Will your wife join you in this food business in the future?" Xia Mingyue asked.

"That's right." Ding Quan said, "My wife used to earn some pocket money by washing clothes for others, which was not a long-term job. If she can join Madam Xia's food stall, she will naturally lend a hand. The two children at home are both in their teens and can help with some odd jobs. They should be able to handle it."

If you are really too busy, you can learn from Jiang Erniu and hire someone to collect and wash the dishes. That will be enough.

"Yeah." Xia Mingyue nodded and roughly told Ding Quan about the joining method and cost.

"That's no problem." Ding Quan had no objection to Xia Mingyue's proposal. "It's just that the location for the food stall..."

"To be honest with you, Madam Xia, after I had this idea, I started looking for a place and found a few that I liked, but I still need to take a closer look."

"Mrs. Xia has been screening these days to see if I can join Xia's. I will also ask around about the location and come back to find Mrs. Xia in a few days."

"Alright." Xia Mingyue nodded, "Then let's talk about it in three days, Brother Ding, come again."

"Okay." Ding Quan agreed happily.

When the three people left just now, Xia Mingyue did not seem to have made a clear agreement with them on the next time to talk.

Can it be understood that Madam Xia still likes him more?
If that was the case, he couldn't delay and had to go check out the location right away and inquire about the location and price for preparing tables, chairs, stoves, pots, pans, and utensils.

Everything should be prepared in advance so that you can catch the good luck when it comes.

Otherwise, God can’t help you even if he wants to.

Ding Quan thought so and left in a hurry.

Jiang Zhuguo cleaned up the benches that those people had just sat on, and also cleaned up the used tea bowls, boiled them, wiped them dry, and placed them on a special shelf, separate from the bowls and chopsticks that she and Xia Mingyue usually used.

"I've seen so many in this period of time, and it looks like the last one is probably the best." Xia Mingyue thought for a moment, "But I have to ask around."

It is not acceptable to be eloquent if the facts are inconsistent.

The most difficult time is when a business is just starting out, and Xia Mingyue feels that she must take it seriously.

So Xia Mingyue called the two brothers Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu and gave them the task of finding out about Ding Quan.

In return, Xia Mingyue specially made Dezhou Braised Chicken.

Dezhou Braised Chicken is characterized by good appearance and color, and five-spice boneless. In layman's terms, it must be good-looking in shape and color, and taste good, tender and boneless. Therefore, the size of the chicken is quite demanding, and a small rooster of about two pounds or a young hen that has not yet laid eggs is preferred. Considering that there is really limited meat left after bones and internal organs of a two-pound chicken, Xia Mingyue simply bought two chickens, one male and one female.

Slaughter, bleeding, hair removal, evisceration...

After soaking away the blood, Xia Mingyue began to shape the two chickens.

The so-called shaping is to make the chicken look like mandarin ducks playing in the water, so that it will look beautiful when eaten. The method is to cross the two wings of the chicken and stuff them into the wound on the neck for bleeding, and the two chicken claws are stuffed into the wound on the abdomen for removing the internal organs.

After shaping and draining the moisture, the next thing to do is to add sugar color and fry in oil. The former ensures the color and flavor of the roast chicken, while the latter determines its taste.

The sugar color can be made by frying white sugar or rock sugar, or by adding honey to water. Honey is not easy to obtain here, so Xia Mingyue used white sugar, fried it into a brightly colored, thick syrup, and evenly spread it on the surface of the whole chicken.

After the two chickens are dried, put them into a 70% hot oil pan. When the skin of the whole chicken turns golden and shines slightly, they can be taken out and put into the pot and stewed with ginger, salt, soy sauce, aniseed, pepper, cloves, cinnamon and other ingredients with water.

After simmering on low heat for an hour and a half, Xia Mingyue opened the lid of the pot.

Gently fanning away the moisture, Xia Mingyue carefully identified the position of the chicken. Holding the chicken's head with one hand and a strainer with the other, she gently took the whole chicken out of the soup and placed it on the chopping board to drain the soup.

Xia Mingyue used just the right amount of strength on her wrist, and when the two chickens were fished out, they were both intact, with even the shape of the chicken wings and chicken feet not destroyed at all.

Drain the soup and serve on a plate.

The rich aroma and attractive color made everyone present swallow their saliva.

While looking at the chicken, Mrs. Lu sighed, "Not only is the cooking skill of my sister-in-law exquisite, but her thoughts are also very delicate. I have never seen such a beautiful chicken."

It was the first time she saw such elegance in a roast chicken, so much so that she was reluctant to pick up her chopsticks.

"It looks good because it tastes good." Seeing that everyone was watching but reluctant to take action, Xia Mingyue simply took the initiative and dismembered the whole roast chicken herself.

The braised chicken was stewed long enough, and the meat was extremely soft and easy to remove from the bones. Xia Mingyue dismembered the whole chicken with just a few chopsticks.

Seeing this, everyone started to pick up their chopsticks.

The braised chicken is bright in color, extremely fragrant, and melts in your mouth. The chicken skin has been coated with sugar color and fried, so it has a slightly sweet and fragrant taste. The chicken skin is slightly chewy, and although it is thick, it is not greasy and becomes more delicious the more you eat it.

It was the first time for everyone to eat such delicious roast chicken, and they all praised it highly.

"This is even better than the braised chicken sold at Yueran Restaurant." Zhao Dahu sighed.

Zhao Erhu also nodded, "Yes, yes."

"Since you think it tastes good, then eat more." Xia Mingyue generously tore off the two legs of another roasted chicken and divided them into two bowls. "Only when you are full can you help me do the work well."

The two brothers looked at the tempting chicken legs and nodded frantically.

But I also feel that this is not a good idea.

(End of this chapter)