Chapter 297 - 173: Truly Unbeatable with Rice

Chapter 297: Chapter 173: Truly Unbeatable with Rice

She was a freewheeling person. As long as the younger generation in the family wasn’t facing an emergency, she never interfered.

No matter how busy the restaurant got, she would never help carry plates or clear tables. To her, being overwhelmed just meant it was time to hire more people; there was no need for her to step in.

If she were to bump into something or hurt herself, she’d only be getting in the way. This also saved her from being accused by the other youngsters of favoring one family over another, so she was happy to enjoy her leisure.

Fanwa moved a stool to the entrance and sat there doing his homework.

Zhou Lihui, on the other hand, slipped into the kitchen to tend the fire for Zhou Yan.

"Uncle, my old man bought me a new kitchen knife. Now I’m in charge of chopping all the vegetables and pig feed at home. No one else is allowed to touch it." Zhou Lihui shoved a log of Chestnut Wood into the stove, speaking with a hint of pride as he worked the bellows.

"That’s great," Zhou Yan said with a smile. The boy’s enthusiasm for learning to cook was still as strong as ever, which was quite rare.

Lately, there had been an endless supply of potatoes to chop, but they were always peeled and sliced after the morning service ended, a time Huihui always missed.

Although Zhou Lihui’s grades were still consistently third from the bottom, he was, after all, still in school. Zhou Yan couldn’t very well have him drop out just to chop potatoes.

However, Zhou Yan hadn’t taught him nothing. Over the past two days, he had shown him the Straight Blade Technique, having him practice on cabbage stems.

It was a good way to make the most of the cabbage.

Huihui was a quick learner and very motivated, as evidenced by the few new cuts on his hands.

Zhou Yan planned to have him properly practice his Knife Skills once winter break started, beginning with slicing potatoes and lotus roots.

The braised vegetables required over a hundred catties of potatoes and lotus roots to be sliced each day. This kind of high-intensity practice was something most other restaurants couldn’t offer.

By the time the evening service was over, the sky outside had already grown dark.

Zhou Weiguo and Zhou Fei had arrived a while ago and were chatting with a now-idle Zhou Miao on the chairs at the entrance.

A bicycle leisurely rode up and stopped at the restaurant’s entrance.

"Uncle."

"Grand-uncle."

Zhou Weiguo and Zhou Fei quickly stood up to greet him.

"Uncle, where did you get this bicycle?" Zhou Miao asked, a look of surprise on his face.

Zhou Yan, who had just stepped out of the kitchen, was also a bit surprised to see Zhang Zhengping sitting on the large roadster bicycle.

"Weiguo, Fei." Zhang Zhengping greeted them with a smile, getting off the bicycle. He explained, "Ji Hongtao, the Vice Director of the textile factory’s hospital, was one of my students. I just swung by his place for a bit. He said he’s always either at the hospital or his dorm and doesn’t use his bike, so he told me to ride it for a few days and return it before I leave."

"At your age, can you still ride it steadily?" the old lady asked with a laugh.

Zhang Zhengping slapped the bicycle seat confidently. "Don’t you worry, Third Sister. I’m a very steady rider. I take Yurong all over the place every day. Tonight, you can ride back with me."

"Alright," the old lady nodded with a smile.

"Mom, I should be the one to take you home," Zhou Miao said quickly, feeling a bit worried.

"Take me home? What for? Weiguo has a bike too. We have more than enough bikes, we don’t need you to take me," the old lady said dismissively with a pout.

Hearing this, a thought struck Zhou Yan. ’The vice director of the factory hospital is Grand-uncle’s student? And it seems like they have a pretty good relationship.’

’In that case, I could consider using Grand-uncle’s connection to build some sort of tie with that Vice Director Ji Hongtao, or at least get to know him.’

’Small towns are all about personal connections.’

The doctors at the textile factory’s hospital were said to be even better than the ones at the local clinic.

’People are bound to get minor ailments now and then. Having connections at a hospital will always come in handy; sometimes, it can even be life-saving.’

Zhou Yan made a mental note. If he hosted a dinner in the next couple of days, while his grand-uncle was still around, he would see if he could find an excuse to invite the vice director as well.

A person of that stature wasn’t someone he could normally get to know easily.

"There are no more customers. Everyone, come on in and sit down. I’m about to start cooking," Zhou Yan called out before turning back toward the kitchen.

There was a little over one portion of braised pork ribs left from today, which was just enough for a dish.

Comrade Zhou had already set aside the braised beef and braised vegetables. Zhou Yan butchered and marinated two crucian carp, prepped the ingredients for the Huo Xiang Carp and the stir-fried pork liver, and then began to prepare what he needed for the Mapo Tofu.

Both the broad bean paste and the fermented black beans needed to be minced finely to fully release their color and flavor.

Authentic Mapo Tofu uses garlic sprouts, not scallions or ginger.

The stems of the garlic sprouts were diagonally cut into small pieces, and the leaves were chopped into short sections. He set them aside for later.

Zhou Yan had saved two liang of sirloin tip, which he minced. He heated oil in a wok and stir-fried the minced beef over low heat until it was crispy, creating a "beef crumble" that he then set aside.

Zhou Yan was an absolute master at stir-frying the beef crumble. His Fire Control was perfect, and he cooked it to a crispy, golden-brown.

He got two woks going at the same time. In one, he pan-fried the crucian carp. In the other, he brought half a pot of water to a boil, added a spoonful of salt, and blanched small, three-centimeter cubes of tofu. This cooked the tofu through, removed its beany taste, and gave it a bit of a base flavor.

He removed the pan-fried carp, then stir-fried the aromatics, added water, and let it simmer on low heat.

Meanwhile, he had already removed the blanched tofu. He poured rapeseed oil into the other wok, added the broad bean paste and fermented black beans over low heat, and stir-fried them until the red oil was released. Then, he added chili powder, fried it until fragrant, and poured in a bowl of water, creating a bright red, shimmering broth.

Next, he added the blanched tofu, along with the beef crumble he had prepared earlier. Cooking the beef crumble in the broth allowed its aroma to infuse the soup, which would then be absorbed by the tofu.

He turned up the heat slightly and gently pushed the tofu with a spoon to keep it from sticking to the wok or clumping together.

There was a very important little trick to this: the spoon could only be used to push, not to stir, otherwise the tofu would easily break apart.