I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 564 - 273: Hand-Torn Cabbage is So Delicious! Quick Kimchi That Only Requires Hands, Super Simple! [Please Subscribe]_3
There was an empty bowl and an empty plate in front of her.
Aside from a few Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilies, the plate was devoid of even a hint of soup, making it impossible to guess what dish it had held.
"Just a serving of cabbage, was it necessary to eat until you’re stuffed like this?"
As Lin Xu spoke, Dou Wenjing finally finished her phone call.
Clutching her steamed bun and clacking over in her high heels, she headed towards the booth. As she was walking, Geng Lele spoke up, "Originally, I was happy after eating the meal Sister Dou ordered for me, but then Sister Yun came and fought over it with me, almost leaving me without enough... Sister Doudou, look how clean I ate, I didn’t waste a bit."
Dou Wenjing was utterly bewildered.
"I meant you should have saved some for me!"
Just one phone call, and now I only have half a steamed bun left! The hand-torn cabbage I was craving has been completely devoured, so much so that I can’t even dip my bun in any leftover sauce... What kind of tragic life is this?
Geng Lele was completely stunned.
So that’s what she meant? Good thing I didn’t understand!
Lin Xu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at these two. "How about I just fry another portion? It’s not anything valuable. Do you two really have to be like this?"
One was engrossed in a ten to twenty-minute phone call yet couldn’t stop thinking about the food, while the other was already full yet kept stuffing herself—anyone would think they hadn’t eaten in generations.
"It’s so delicious... It’s your fault for making it taste so good..." Dou Wenjing muttered. She pulled apart a seam in the half of the steamed bun she held, then opened the jar of Chili Oil on the table, scooped up some with the small spoon inside, and drizzled it into the opened seam of the bun. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
When it seemed like enough, she squeezed the bun and took a bite.
Mmm, delicious!
Although she hadn’t gotten to eat the hand-torn cabbage, she couldn’t very well send the steamed bun back to the kitchen. Chewing on the bun, she looked at Lin Xu and asked, "Are the pickled vegetables ready?"
"Not yet, the water still needs to be drawn out from them."
"Then this is a good time to report something. Brother Qiang’s company is hosting a Mid-Autumn group meal, and at his strong insistence, the company’s boss plans to use our restaurant’s dishes for the event."
A Mid-Autumn group meal? That’s good news.
He loved this kind of group meal business. It wasn’t too much trouble but was quite profitable.
Plus, group meal bookings usually came from regular customers they had dealt with before, making the business easier to handle.
Dou Wenjing took a bite of her steamed bun and continued, "But we don’t have a dedicated banquet hall, and their company office is relatively cramped, so they can’t have all their employees gather for a meal. That’s where the issue lies."
No venue?
In a place like Yanjing, where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold, finding a relatively large space was indeed not easy.
Lin Xu asked, "So, what’s your plan?"
"I’m thinking of renting the tutoring center space upstairs in the building next door. We can do a simple renovation to turn it into a banquet hall and maybe add a small stage or something. The rent isn’t high, and even if we only use it to host group meal clients, we’d still make a profit."
Lin Xu didn’t understand these business matters, but it was true that many of the tutoring centers upstairs along Yingchun Street were vacant, and landlords were practically renting them out at bargain prices.
Renting one to set up a banquet hall exclusively for group meal clients seemed quite suitable.
He said to Dou Wenjing, "You decide, Sister Wenjing. I trust your judgment."
After all, there were funds in the account now, and the restaurant really did lack a space that could accommodate ten or so tables at once.
They might as well take this opportunity to get it sorted out.
Hearing Lin Xu’s words, Dou Wenjing stuffed the remaining half of the steamed bun into her mouth. "Then I’ll contact Zheng Xiaoguang to start the renovations. If we only do basic renovations, it can be ready in a few days and won’t delay the Mid-Autumn group meal."
With that said, she clacked down the stairs in her high heels, bustling with energy.
Back in the small kitchen, the vegetables in the basin had nearly finished drawing out their water, and a considerable amount had collected at the bottom.
Although drawing out water was necessary for pickling, it shouldn’t be overdone; otherwise, the vegetables would lose their crisp texture and become soggy.
Using a colander, he scooped the ingredients out of the basin, then added half a basin of cooled boiled water to rinse the vegetables that had their water drawn out, twice.
At this point, the ingredients had a high salt content, so they needed to be rinsed before being put into the pickling jar; otherwise, the pickled vegetables would turn out like ordinary salted vegetables.
From this rinsing step onward, the pickling jar, as well as all ingredients and seasonings added to it, had to be kept free from any contact with raw water or oil, to prevent the pickled vegetables from spoiling.
He placed the vegetables, now rinsed with cooled boiled water, into a glass jar, then added the prepared ingredients such as small hot chili peppers, ginger, and garlic.
Finally, he poured in a large spoonful of White Vinegar and three large spoonfuls of dark red Zhe vinegar.
The dark red Zhe vinegar was added for aesthetic appeal, lending the pickled vegetables a delicate rouge color, which was prettier than using White Vinegar alone.
Next, he added salt and twice as much sugar as salt.
Quick pickles were prized for their sweet and sour flavor and crisp texture, so a generous amount of sugar was necessary.
After that, he opened a packet of pickled wild chilies and poured both the chilies and their brine right into the jar.
The brine from the pickled wild chilies contained fermenting bacteria that pickles thrived on, allowing them to develop an enticing flavor in a short amount of time.
After adding them, he filled the jar to the top with Sichuan peppercorn water.
Then he covered the jar, sealed its rim with water, and set it aside to pickle.
"Remember to come over tomorrow morning to film the unsealing of the jar and the tasting. That will complete the video," Lin Xu said, as he moved the jar to a corner and instructed the two cameramen.
"Okay, Boss!"
"We’ll come early and won’t delay the recording."
After the two cameramen left, Lin Xu did a quick round in the main kitchen. Everyone was busy with their assigned tasks; the entire back kitchen was bustling but orderly.
Having checked everything, he was just about to go downstairs to the braised goods section when Chezi suddenly approached him. "Boss, the roasted gluten you asked me to buy has arrived. But it looks just like oil gluten. Why is it called roasted gluten?"
Identical?
Lin Xu smiled and said, "They’re not the same. There’s a clear difference between the two..."
Recently, I’ve been writing tens of thousands of characters daily, and my head feels foggy. The plot keeps getting written and revised, so there’s been a bit of a delay. I’ll try to adjust my schedule tomorrow and aim to update earlier. This Chapter is 5,000 characters. Please subscribe and vote with a Monthly Ticket!
