Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 267: Crispy and Peppery Fish Fillet

"If we need to deliver food to the store, one food box won't be enough, and the one that 7-Up brought is too big and too conspicuous, not something that can be used in a snack shop like ours."

Li agreed, and Shen Yu felt that there was nothing else to buy, so he returned to the backyard with peace of mind.

Look at the fish in the basin. The fish meat has become tender and white after being soaked in water. Now you can start cooking.

Take out the soaked fish pieces, drain the water, put them in a bowl, add the chopped onion and ginger slices, some rice wine, and sprinkle with appropriate amount of salt, a little pepper and cumin.

Crack an egg, add starch while stirring, until the fish pieces are coated with thick batter, then set aside.

Put the small iron pan back on the stove, pour in a proper amount of oil, and when the oil is 50% hot, you can start frying.

The fish weighed more than two kilograms. It was fried in low heat until golden brown and then served, filling a large plate.

After frying everything, Shen Yu added some charcoal into the stove, waited for the oil to heat up, and fried them again.

The fried fish pieces become golden and crispy, and make a rustling sound when poured into the plate, filling the kitchen with a crispy and fragrant smell.

Shen Yu took the cooked pepper powder and sprinkled some on the fish. The still hot fish pieces were stimulated by the rich aroma of pepper and fried crispy food.

At this time, the delivery guy who came every day had brought the ingredients. Li and the others were in the kitchen, preparing the dough, stuffing, meat skewers, etc. that would be used tomorrow with clear division of labor.

Seeing Shen Yu fry the fish pieces, Li smiled and said, "This smells good and looks good. Two or three pieces can be put into a small dish. It's quite suitable to sell in the store."

Shen Yu nodded and said with a smile: "Once mother buys a water tank and raises more fish in the store, we can make more of this dish and sell it at a time."

She tested the bottom of the plate with her hand and found it was not that hot anymore, so she took a lotus leaf and packed four or five pieces, ready for Zhou Dalang to take with him when he left.

At dinner time in the evening, this salt and pepper fish dish was a big hit.

Yu Cheng ate two pieces in a row before slowing down. He commented like a little gourmet: "This fish nugget is crispy and has a spicy aroma. It's not fishy at all. It's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It's very fragrant."

"Because it's fried till crispy, the small bones in the fish are fried till crispy. Once you push away the big bones in the middle, the fish will taste better the more you chew it."

Everyone at the table was amused by him. Seeing how happily the two of them were eating, they each got two pieces from a large plate of salt and pepper fish fillets, and the rest was eaten by Yucheng and Dundun.

Seeing them eating too fast, Mrs. Li was so anxious that she kept yelling, "Slow down, this is all for both of you. No matter how crispy it is, there are still fish bones. Be careful not to get stuck."

Everyone knew that the two of them worked hard studying in the academy every day, and they had to walk such a long distance back and forth. They couldn't bear to stop them but were afraid that they would be exhausted.

I had to order the two boys to wash dishes, sweep the floor, fetch a few buckets of water and move around more after they finished their meal, for fear that they would get sick from bloating if they didn't move after eating.

Shen Yu watched and thought that he would not try the dishes at night anymore. After all, they were fried foods and it would be bad to get sick from overeating.

I'll try making a new dish and just leave some for the two of us. It's perfect for breakfast.

After dinner, Shen Yu and Yutao worked together to help Yucheng and the others clean up the kitchen, and then went to Yucheng's room.

Yutao brought out the large cut paper, Shen Yu made a draft on the rough paper used for practicing calligraphy, and asked Yucheng and Dundun to each write a restaurant menu, preparing to post one on each wall.

Shen Yu also made a draft with charcoal and asked them to draw small pictures of fish, meat, chicken, duck and other ingredients on the menu so that people could see them clearly.

By the time everything was done, it was already getting late. Shen Yu carefully placed the two menus on the table beside him before going back to rest with Yutao.

Early the next morning, when the shop opened, Shen Yu pasted the menu with dried ink on it on two walls.

The paper was very large and the words were written in large letters. There were about twenty kinds of dishes, which looked dazzling and impressive.

Mrs. Li said worriedly, "Yuzhi, can you cook all these dishes? Don't let the guests order them and you can't cook them. That would be bad."

Shen Yu nodded and said, "Mom, don't worry, these are all home-cooked dishes. They look numerous, but they are just stir-fried, deep-fried, pan-fried, steamed, and boiled. The ingredients are common ones such as chicken, duck, fish, and meat. They are not difficult to make."

Li was relieved and said with a smile, "That's good. Anyway, these ingredients are always available in our store. When the weather gets colder, we can stock up more."

After the morning mealtime when many people were eating, Li called Zhou Dalang and Jiang, and the three of them pushed a small cart to go shopping.

Shen Yuze, Zheng Sanniang and Yutao were preparing lunch in the store.

Fortunately, the market was nearby. After more than half an hour, Li and her friends came back with a cart full of things. They were followed by a servant who pushed two large water jars on a bigger cart and stopped at the backyard gate.

As it was almost noon, more and more guests began to arrive. Li and her friends parked the car, and together they moved two large water vats in. Then they washed their hands and began to busy themselves with greeting guests with Shen Yu and her friends.

At 1:15 p.m., Shen Yu saw that it was almost time, so he went back to the backyard and started making the sweet and sour fish that the guests had ordered yesterday.

Estimating the time, the fish was fried and placed on a plate. The sweet and sour sauce in the pot began to bubble. Shen Yu was wondering whether he should take the pot off the stove first and wait for Manager Xu to come before boiling the sauce.

Yutao walked quickly through the small door of the shop and said, "Sister, the customer who stopped me yesterday to ask about the food is here, and Aunt Jiang has poured him some tea."

"The customer asked me to come over and see if the sweet and sour fish was ready. He also said there was no rush, but that he had come a little early because things were going well for him."

Shen Yu pointed to the fish plate on the side and said, "What a coincidence! The fish has been fried. You can take the fish plate and the small bowl with chopped green onions over first. I'll simmer the sweet and sour sauce here and it will be just right."

Yutao agreed, and just like yesterday, she took the tray, put the fish plate and small bowl on it, and carried it back to the store.

Here, Shen Yu waited until the sweet and sour sauce was boiling, then added a spoonful of hot oil, stirred it until bubbles appeared, and quickly went to the store with the pot filled with the sweet and sour sauce.

Manager Xu was sitting at a table in the corner.

There were quite a few guests dining at this time. Perhaps Jiang and her friends knew that this dish needed to be served with sweet and sour sauce, so they specially arranged this guest to sit at a long table closest to the small door of the shop.

When Shen Yu came over with the boiling iron pot, he didn't have to be careful when walking past the guests who were eating.

As soon as Shen Yu entered the door, he saw Yutao standing by the table, and then he saw Manager Xu, who was looking towards the small door of the shop with anticipation.

When he saw Shen Yu coming over with a small iron pot, his face immediately lit up with joy and he took the initiative to move aside to make it easier for Shen Yu to pour the sauce.