Travel back to ancient times and open a Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 82

But she still accepted her daughter's kindness, so she pulled over a small stool and sat down. You know what, although it was a bit awkward, it was still comfortable to sit on.

Who wants to squat when they can sit? It’s because the living conditions were poor in the past. Being able to eat enough was enough. Who would care whether squatting would hurt the body?

The two of them worked silently, and soon the second brother came over after breakfast to help them deal with the buckets of pig offal and chickens.

When the washing was almost done, Zhong Ruyi went out to buy some tofu and dried bean curd, and came back to put them in the pot with the chicken. One chicken wouldn't fill up the whole pot anyway, so the tofu, dried bean curd and ten eggs would be enough.

The chickens and eggs brought from home have been consumed. These chickens and eggs were collected by my second brother from a small village a few miles outside the town two days ago. The price was agreed upon: 18 cents for a chicken and 1 cent for an egg.

This is the price you get when you go to the village to collect the chickens. Normally, farmers would charge a few cents more when they bring them to town to sell. A chicken costs twenty cents, and an egg costs two cents.

All three pots are full, and half of them are still in the wooden barrel. Once the previous pots are ready, the remaining half can be put into the pot.

The three of them were busy and sweating, and finally the remaining half was put into the pot. It was about half an hour away from noon, and the customers who had received the cards were about to arrive.

Zhong's mother stayed to continue watching the fire, while Zhong Ruyi and her second brother began to move out the tables and wooden barrels where the braised goods would be placed.

There were already several people waiting at the door, including the young man who had arrived early in the morning and two young men.

After moving the table and wooden barrels, the two began to move out the braised offal and peanuts.

There was one pot of braised peanuts and two pots of pork offal. The remaining pot of pork offal and braised chicken and tofu were still braising in the pot, and there was half a basin of peanuts.

Zhong Ruyi only collects money for the braised food first, and leaves the task of making the braised food to her second brother. When the remaining half of the braised food is ready, she will be needed to help make the braised food, and the task of collecting money will be left to Zhong's mother.

Xu Xiaohu came up quickly with a wooden basin, followed by two young men who also held signs.

As soon as Xu Xiaohu came up, he asked for all the braised peanuts, two spoons of braised offal, two spoons of braised chicken and braised tofu. As soon as he asked this, the guests behind him refused to accept it.

"Boss, you can't give him all the braised peanuts. What will happen to the people behind us if you give them to them?"

"Yes, yes! Didn't you say yesterday that you would give us braised peanuts today? We can neither get the brand nor buy the leftovers!"

The group of people were making a lot of noise, but Xu Xiaohu didn't care about it. He just put the money on the table and reached out to pour the braised peanuts into the wooden basin he brought with him.

Zhong Ruyi reached out to stop him, "Sir, please wait a moment. I have something to say."

She walked to the table and said loudly to everyone, "Everyone, listen to me first."

Seeing that everyone had finally quieted down, she continued, "We have an unlimited supply of braised peanuts. This customer bought a whole pot, but we still have half a pot left. Don't worry about running out."

Zhong Ruyi thought that the matter was over after she said that, but when the guy heard her say that there was still half a pot left, he refused to do it.

"Boss, I want the other half of your pot too! Give it all to me!"

So greedy? Now the unhappy person became Zhong Ruyi. She saw it yesterday. This guy just bought the goods and processed them himself and then sold them at a high price. Yesterday was fine, but why is he still like this today? Is he really taking advantage of them? This middleman is too rampant.

"No, how can we do business like this?" Zhong Ruyi refused directly.

Xu Xiaohu was confused. "Why? Boss, it doesn't matter who you sell to, why don't you just sell them all to me?"

"If we sell them all to you, what about the others? If you come again tomorrow, we won't be able to buy them all for you like we did today."

Zhong Ruyi's eyes widened. "Besides, you didn't buy it to eat yourself. You bought it to resell it, right?"

The two young men behind Xu Xiaohu came up quickly and said, "Boss, if you don't want to sell it to him, sell it to us!"

Zhong Ruyi glanced at the two people, ha! Did she not know that these three people came together? What's the difference between selling it to them and selling it to that young man?

"That's all we have today. The rest is for the guests who will come later. If you want some, you can come tomorrow."

Xu Xiaohu and the other two had no choice. Before they came, the boss told them to buy as much as Zhong Ji had. But now it was not a matter of just buying whatever they wanted. Zhong Ji did not allow them to buy so much.

I carried the braised goods I bought back to the tavern. As soon as I entered the back door of the tavern, I saw the boss sitting at the stone table in the yard.

Seeing the people who were sent out to sell braised goods coming back, Old Wu put down the wine glass in his hand, waved to them, and asked them to carry the braised goods over.

"Boss, this is the braised food I bought today."

Xu Xiaohu put down the food box in his hand, and the two young men also put the large wooden basin on the stone table.

Old Wu took a closer look and saw that there was only one basin yesterday. He didn't say anything and asked the two young men to move the large wooden basin into the kitchen and have them serve out portions later.

He pulled the food box that Xu Xiaohu had put down and opened it. The aroma of braised food spread out immediately. Noticing that Xu Xiaohu had a sad face, he casually asked what was wrong.

"...Boss, the boss of Zhongji said that she can't sell us so many braised peanuts starting tomorrow. She knows that we buy them and sell them to other customers."

"Oh? That's what the boss of Zhongji said?" Old Wu became interested. Seeing Xu Xiaohu nodded, he said, "Go ask Old Zhang and the others if they can tell how the stew was prepared."

Xu Xiaohu went into the kitchen to find a few chefs to taste the food, while Old Wu sat at the stone table and ate the braised chicken he had just bought with some wine.

Master Zhang and several other masters of Zhang Shao's school each grabbed a handful of braised peanuts and ate them, but they couldn't tell how they were braised.

"...I tasted a sweet taste, probably because of the sugar added." said a chef.

Master Zhang rolled his eyes at him. We are all chefs working in the kitchen. Who can't tell that sugar has been added? Isn't this nonsense?

"Sugar, wine, bean paste, and the oil used should be lard." Master Zhang said, picking up a peanut. The braised peanuts were a little cold by now, and the oil on them was a little condensed. You could tell at a glance that lard was used.

But apart from these, he couldn't taste anything else. He smacked his lips and added hesitantly, "There should be cinnamon as well."

Before, the old woman in his family was not feeling well and went to see a doctor. He had seen the medicine the doctor brought back. There was cinnamon in it with a strong fragrance, so he always remembered it.

Old Wu came in from outside, chewing some braised offal, "Can't you taste anything else?"

Master Zhang looked embarrassed and the other master chefs shook their heads. Even someone like Master Zhang, who had worked in the tavern for so many years, couldn't taste it, let alone them.

"You must come up with the recipe for this braised food within a month. I will reward the person who comes up with it with twenty taels of silver!"

Twenty taels of silver! They only earn one tael of silver after working here for a month! This recipe must be researched! If for no other reason, it is just to take the tavern's business to the next level!

Old Wu turned around and told Xu Xiaohu, "You don't have to buy braised food starting tomorrow. Keep an eye on the boss of Zhongji and see where he usually goes. What does he buy? Write it down for me. I don't believe I can't make this recipe."

Master Zhang stood aside and felt that he had found the secret of stewing. Isn't cinnamon a Chinese medicinal material? Could it be that other ingredients that can't be tasted are also Chinese medicinal materials?

But there are more than one or two kinds of Chinese medicinal materials. If you go to a medicine shop, you will see several rows of large cabinets, and one cabinet has countless small cabinets. How can you find out which medicinal materials are used?

Moreover, from ancient times to the present, no one has ever heard of using medicinal herbs to cook such delicious food. He has also eaten medicinal food, which has a bitter taste, completely different from Zhongji’s braised food.