Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 189 Signature Dish: Fried Pork Belly Skewers

"I heard that when a big restaurant in Beijing opened, the first five guests who came into the restaurant on that day were given a small gold medal, and from the sixth to the thirtieth guests, each was given a small silver medal."

"Everyone in the back was given a serving of the restaurant's signature soup. This was continued for two days in a row."

"The news of the gift of gold medals spread all over the capital before the restaurant even opened. When it opened that day, customers lined up before dawn. It was crowded and quite spectacular."

"But after giving out the gold medals for two days, everyone in the capital knew about the restaurant, and it became famous all of a sudden. From then on, the restaurant's business was very good."

Li sighed as if she was listening to a divine book, "No wonder they say that the capital is full of gold. A restaurant is so rich that it actually gives away gold medals when dining. Aren't the guests who come to eat here really lucky?"

Shen Yu said, "Those ten guests who won gold medals made a profit, but the reputation of the restaurant has also become famous."

"When people in Beijing want to entertain guests, they always mention the restaurant that gave out gold medals when it opened. It sounds so grand."

"Guests are also willing to go there for dinner and drinks. If business is good, the restaurant will make money."

Li nodded thoughtfully and said, "You make sense. Do you have enough pork belly for making skewers today? If not, I'll go get some more."

Shen Yu felt that Li was much better than before. If it were in the past, she would definitely complain because she felt sorry for the money. Now, as long as the reason is explained to her clearly, she will unconditionally support him in doing it.

Shen Yu smiled and said, "No need. When I ordered the vegetables yesterday, I specially ordered some extra pork belly and a few fat chickens."

"The butcher cut the pork belly into small pieces as I requested. The chicken was also killed and cut into small pieces for delivery. I have already marinated them."

"Wait until the morning, stir-fry some spices, and eat it right after frying. The whole house will be crying with greed."

Li smiled and said to Jiang: "Look at this kid, is he bragging? There are always people selling all kinds of meat skewers on the street, how come our meat skewers can make people cry with greed?"

In front of Li and Jiang, Shen Yu always acted carefree and straightforward, saying whatever he wanted. He didn't need to be restrained, gentle and polite like he was in front of guests.

She whispered with a smug look on her face, "Most of the meat skewers on the street are made from chicken, duck, rabbit, quail, etc. The meat is too lean and doesn't need to be marinated with any spices. They are just cut into pieces, skewered, fried in oil, sprinkled with salt and done."

"Besides lamb, which tastes good cooked this way, everything else is too bland. But lamb is too expensive, and ordinary people can't afford it."

Jiang nodded and said, "Miss Yuzhi is right. Those meat skewers are not as tender and delicious as the mutton skewers."

Shen Yu continued, "I used streaky pork for this skewer. I also specially ordered some small ribs, fried them, and sprinkled them with spices. They are fresh and tender, especially the crispy bones of the ribs, which are chewy. You'll see when I make them."

As the three were talking in low voices, more customers came to buy buns.

The bun stall was turned into a restaurant with tables and chairs. Some customers even took the trouble to bring big bowls of porridge and soup, ordered a few buns, and sat down in the restaurant to eat happily.

Seeing this, Shen Yu discussed with Li and the others. They decided to go to the tofu shop today to order some raw soy milk, and have it delivered tomorrow morning. They would boil it and sell it with buns and honey cakes.

Zhou Dalang took the initiative to say: "I am used to getting up early in the morning. I'll come earlier next time and make the raw soy milk so as not to spoil the pot."

Li said, "That's fine. If the guests like to drink soy milk, there's no need to bring big bowls of porridge or soup. If they get burned on the way, I'll be so embarrassed."

Shen Yu thought of the spicy and spicy soup, fried dough sticks, sazi, and tea eggs that he used to love to drink, and said, "When the weather gets colder, I'll make some spicy and spicy soup to sell. Drinking a bowl of it in the morning will warm your whole body. It can be paired with steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and sazi. It tastes spicy and fragrant."

Zhou Dalang is also a person who loves to eat and cook. He didn’t dare to eat and drink to his heart’s content before, but now he finally has the chance. He wants to try any delicious food that Shen Yu mentions.

After hearing what Shen Yu said, he couldn't help but say, "It's getting cold in the morning now. Why don't you wait until you're free and Miss Shen make a little for us to try."

Shen Yu nodded readily and promised that after the menu in the store was sorted out in two days, he would slowly make some new dishes and porridge and soup to try at home first.

The sun rose, the steamed buns were sold out, and everyone put the buns into the winnowing baskets together.

Li weighed the money box and said happily, "That's great. I didn't expect that even if we don't put it at the entrance of the market, customers will still be willing to walk a little further to buy it."

Zhou Dalang said, "The store is located on the street. Merchants going out of town or to the market have to pass by the store. After a few days, customers will know that the bun stall has moved to this side, and business will be better."

After a simple breakfast, Li and Jiang sat at the small table and washed the vegetables.

Zhou Dalang rolled up his sleeves and went to the big kitchen to make dough for pancakes and buns for lunch.

Shen Yu started frying spices in the small kitchen of the shop, and Yutao helped beside him.

With a customized small iron pan, frying spices is easy.

Pour the white sesame seeds into an iron pan, stir-fry over low heat until slightly yellow, pour onto the chopping board, and crush them with a rolling pin.

The price of spices at this time is very high, and the stalls making meat skewers basically have no use for them.

Although Shen Yu thinks it is expensive, the small ingredients are the soul and they are absolutely indispensable.

Although there is no chili pepper, there are pepper, Sichuan pepper, dried ginger, cumin, and mustard.

Among these, pepper is the most expensive.

Fry the pepper and cumin separately on low heat until fragrant, and let Yutao crush them in a stone mortar and sieve them to get two cans of pepper powder and cumin powder.

Shen Yu also put the fried fine salt into a jar.

Take out a large bowl, scoop in crushed white sesame seeds, pepper powder, cumin powder, add appropriate amount of fine salt, stir it, and the side dish is ready.

After preparing all these, Shen Yu brought the meat that had been marinated yesterday to the table in the shop kitchen.

With a well in the store, not only is water convenient to use, but storing stuffed meat and various pickled meats is much more convenient than before. There is no need to worry about raw meat going bad after being stored overnight.

At this time, Li and the others had already washed and drained the vegetables, and Shen Yu began to teach them how to skewer the meat.

Pork belly cut into thick slices, crispy ribs chopped into small pieces, fish fillets cut into slices, and chopped fat chicken.

Yesterday, Shen Yu mixed all of these with wine and scallion and ginger water and let them sit for an incense stick. Then he added egg white, a little starch, and sweet sauce wine, mixed them, poured in some sesame oil to seal the aroma, and put them aside to marinate.

After taking it out and stirring it again today, you can start threading the meat onto the skewers.

Li said, "Raw meat smells fresh now. If it is fried, it will taste better than the meat cut and fried directly on the street."