Riding the wind of rebirth

After six cold dishes, the hot dishes began to be served. According to the custom of Sichuan banquets, the dishes are usually steamed first, then braised, then soup, then stir-fried, and finally dessert.

The first soup served was matsutake chicken soup, made with a whole chicken, and the broth was fragrant and delicious.

Next came the main courses, which included braised abalone, braised sea cucumber with radish, fish lips and tofu, lobster and chicken soup, pan-fried prawns, braised lion's head meatballs with sweet potato, crispy rock carp, and braised fresh mushrooms with wild melon.

Braised abalone is actually the same as a braised platter, but the main ingredient is upgraded to abalone with a slightly soft center. This dish is borrowed from Cantonese cuisine and modified with Sichuan cooking methods. In Zhou Zhi's opinion, it is just a way to increase the prestige of the banquet and is created by spending more money.

Braised sea cucumber with radish is also very simple, similar to braised sea cucumber with scallions, but it uses cooked white radish soaked in broth to absorb the flavor. For customers like Zhou Zhi who like meat-based dishes, this dish is definitely a hit. The white radish not only makes the plate look rich in ingredients, but it also removes the fishy smell before absorbing the flavor, which adds a lot to the dish in terms of both texture and taste. The improvement made Zhou Zhi very satisfied.

Fish lip tofu is a modified version of Mapo tofu, with the addition of fish lip gelatin, which is suitable for women to supplement collagen. From a nutritional point of view, it is very reasonable. However, Zhou Zhi believes that using the Mapo tofu method is a bit of a waste. It should be seasoned with lighter ingredients, such as salted egg yolk and ham with loofah, which may better highlight the flavor of the ingredients.

Lobster Chicken Noodles is an improved version of Snowflake Chicken Noodles. The addition of lobster meat makes the chicken noodles more tender and sweet, and the flavor is indeed improved. However, like braised abalone and fish lips tofu, the improved flavor is not worth the increased price.

The same goes for the pan-fried shrimp dumplings, but Mai Xiaomiao was very satisfied with the large shrimp inside one of the dumplings.

Braised pork and water chestnut meatballs are made by cooking large meatballs with pork and water chestnuts in chicken broth until cooked through. They are then served in small bowls and topped with a bright green broth made from sweet potato juice. This dish has a distinct Huaiyang style, is incredibly fresh and delicious, and is highly praised.

Crispy Rock Carp is a very authentic Sichuan dish, but it uses the more precious rock carp as its main ingredient.

Rock carp is already quite expensive in Jiachuan, starting at 80 yuan per jin (500 grams). You can imagine the price when it's transported to Chengdu and cooked as a dish.

The braised fresh mushrooms with wild loofah was a great success. The fresh mushrooms used were wild porcini and chanterelle, and the loofah was tender loofah. After frying the scallions in lard, the scallions were removed, and then the mushrooms were fried and the loofah was stir-fried. The result was incredibly fresh and fragrant.

Seeing that Mai Xiaomiao wasn't touching the dish much, Mingyi introduced it to her, saying, "Xiaomiao, this dish is quite good. You should try it. Of all the dishes at tonight's banquet, this is the most successful innovation."

Mai Xiaomiao smiled as she munched on another potsticker shrimp: "This dish, braised pork knuckle, is often made for us in the countryside, especially this month. Every two or three days, we stir-fry it in different ways. Any leftovers are fried into mushroom oil. Ming-ge, if you like it, eat more."

Mingyi: "..."

The remaining dishes were the banquet's final course, consisting of three dishes: sweet, salty, and sour.

The sweet one is bamboo swallow, a dessert that boldly incorporates very fine scallop shreds, which not only enhances the texture but also makes it fresh without being fishy, ​​greatly improving the overall flavor.

The savory one is square fried cake, which is a local delicacy from Zhouzhi. However, in Jiachuan, it is called "fried rice cake". It is made by mixing glutinous rice, peppercorns, and salt, pressing it into a square mold, slicing it, and then deep-frying it.

If it's too thin, it will turn into a salty rice crust when fried; if it's too soft, it will become a fried glutinous rice cake. Only when the heat is just right can the outer skin resemble a rice crust while the inside is like glutinous rice.

Zhouzhi is the absolute authority in judging this, and the highest praise is "This is the taste of my childhood".

The "sour" dish is a small bowl of sour soup noodles, with thin noodles, tofu skin, daylily, and wood ear fungus. It's somewhat similar to spicy soup, but without pepper or thickening agents; it's just a broth with a touch of vinegar, and it tastes pretty good.

The banquet began with a first soup and ended with a second soup. The first soup was rich and flavorful, while the second soup was light and refreshing. The purpose was to tone down the richness of the meat. Today's dish was a state banquet dish—boiled cabbage in clear broth. Finally, there were three "accompaniment dishes," one of which was plum-scented salted duck from Dechang. However, it was brushed with a crispy, sweet skin and sliced ​​thinly using the traditional knife technique for salted duck from the capital. It was served with plum sauce, a Cantonese condiment, making it another eye-catching dish.

The second dish was yam with liver oil. This dish is usually made by breaking up pork liver and stir-frying it with yam until fragrant and oily. But this time, the liver used stumped Mingyi: "What kind of liver is this? French foie gras? Even French foie gras isn't this delicate!"

The third dish was stir-fried kale.

Finally, there was a basket of soy sauce fried rice, made with Shengxinglong soy sauce and chicken oil from the Zhou Liu Niang Group, and stir-fried with chopped mushrooms.

The three side dishes would normally seem a bit bland, but now with the soy sauce fried rice, it's a different story. The combination is just right and also fits the custom of ending a banquet.

The price of this meal is incredibly high now. Even with the "friendship price" in Zhouzhi, it still costs 4,800 yuan excluding drinks. This meal is equivalent to a year's salary for an average worker.

However, judging from the venue's decor, the quality of the tableware, and the specifications of the side dishes, the prototype of a high-end Sichuan cuisine restaurant has been fully restored.

The waiter approached Zhou Zhi, squatted down, and whispered, "Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhang would like to toast everyone."

"Has he arrived yet?"

"Right outside the door."

Zhou Zhi quickly stood up, and the others followed suit: "Oh, please, please come in. Your place is getting more and more upscale, and your etiquette is getting more and more extravagant. It's fine for ordinary guests to do this, but it's not appropriate for us to do this with each other."

The waiter opened the door, and Zhang Yuanfu walked in: "Pork knuckle, everyone, did you all enjoy your meal?"

"Teacher Zhang, you're going too far. Next time I eat here, just walk in and don't be so polite."

Zhang Yuanfu laughed and said, "These are the rules we learned from a trip to Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao organized by the provincial light industry system. Actually, I'm not quite used to them..."

Just then, Zhang Yuanfu's gaze suddenly swept over Mingyi: "Huh? You...you're Ming...Mingyi?"

"Director Zhang." Mingyi, abandoning his usual carefree and nonchalant demeanor, bowed slightly to Zhang Yuanfu: "I am Mingyi. I haven't seen you since graduation."

"It really is you!" Zhang Yuanfu excitedly clasped his hands together, then suddenly became angry: "Where have you been all these years?! You said you'd go make a name for yourself and come back to see me, and then you just disappeared? With your skills, that shouldn't be happening! Where have you been all these years?!"

"Uh, Lao Zhang, calm down, sit down and let's talk slowly." Zhou Zhi quickly pulled Zhang Yuanfu aside. Zhang Yuanfu used to be the director of teaching at the culinary school. As soon as Zhou Zhi heard Mingyi call Zhang Yuanfu Director Zhang, he knew about their relationship: "Brother Ming used to be your student?"

"The class of '85, of all the students I've taught, was the most talented." Zhang Yuanfu lightly tapped the table with his fist. "Xiaoming, what happened to you? With your abilities, we should have heard from you long ago. I remember you said you were going abroad to study French cuisine, but after you went abroad, we haven't heard from you again. And there's been no news of you coming back either." (End of Chapter)