Riding the wind of rebirth

When the braised pork belly with bamboo shoots was served, Zhou Zhi pointed to the dish and said, "This dish is a famous dish created by Dexing Restaurant by absorbing the stewing techniques of Suzhou cuisine, the pickling methods of Zhejiang, and the bean curd preparation methods of Shanghai cuisine. First, the salted pork is stir-fried to release its oil, and then fresh pork is added and stewed together."

"This dish tastes pretty good," Zhang Xinyi said. "And the recipe looks simple too."

"Isn't this just cured pork stewed with bamboo shoots?" Ye Xin said that Zhang Xinyi was making a fuss over nothing. "But in my hometown, we like to stew it with radishes. When stewing bamboo shoots, we mostly use dried bamboo shoots, dried cowpeas, and snow peas."

“If it were the dishes Xin Xin described, then it would be Fu Bao’s home-cooked meals,” Zhou Zhi nodded.

"However, it seems that stewing fresh bamboo shoots with cured pork is not very popular where I'm from. This dish is more flavorful than the way we make it back home," Ye Xin had to admit.

"I think this soup with flatbread is pretty good." Mai Xiaomiao nodded in agreement.

“Xiao Miao is right. Back then, foreigners loved this dish in winter, and they would eat it with French bread dipped in the soup.” Zhou Zhi laughed. “So, starting in the winter of 1939, Dexing Restaurant pioneered the delivery service of casserole-style pickled bamboo shoots and pork soup, exclusively for Western residences in the French Concession. The most interesting thing is that they even sealed the earthenware pots with wax to prevent counterfeiting, making them one of the earliest catering companies to value intellectual property rights.”

"There are many other dishes invented using similar methods of 'refining rough materials'. For example, because the fish body was supplied to the front lines and the fish tail was cheap, it became a dish to save the market in various local restaurants. The soy sauce in the Suzhou-style 'braised fish tail' was halved, and sugar and lard were added to adapt to local tastes. This is the origin of 'red-braised fish tail'."

"Because of the beef rationing, Dexing Restaurant created the dish of braised pork tongue, which is actually pig's tongue. During the war, Western expatriates competed for this dish. A British merchant complained in his diary that he was addicted to the braised pork tongue and consumed three pounds of it every week."

"For example, soybeans were not subject to wartime control, and local Shanghai restaurants used pork cracklings to enhance the aroma, creating 'soybean and shredded pork soup.' According to a survey by the Shen Bao newspaper, at that time, 40% of Shanghai's working-class families 'bought soybean and shredded pork soup daily, priced at 15 cents, making it the cheapest meat soup.'"

"There were many poor foreigners in Shanghai. To adapt to the wartime supply of goods, after the pork embargo, Dexing Restaurant changed the traditional 'braised chicken pieces' to chopped chicken with bones, increased the meat sauce ratio, and used soy sauce and sugar to cover the fishy smell, making a dish called 'chicken bone sauce'. Unexpectedly, the French got addicted to it, saying that it was more fragrant than their Coq au Vin, which is red wine chicken. When an American reporter interviewed at Dexing Restaurant, the translator directly called it 'poor man's French red wine chicken'."

"This is hilarious!" Mai Xiaomiao laughed. "Do you have this dish here?"

"Don't add any more, the four of us can't eat this much already," Ye Xin and Zhang Xinyi waved their hands repeatedly.

"It's alright." Zhou Zhi called over the waiter and ordered another dish of chicken bone sauce. Then he said to the two girls, "If you can't finish the braised eel and fried shrimp, you can pack them up and take them back to the dorm to eat."

"Won't it taste fishy when it's cold?" Ye Xin asked.

"Why don't you just put them in aluminum lunchboxes, pour boiling water into a basin, and float the lunchboxes on top to heat them up?" Zhou Zhi criticized Ye Xin for not being flexible.

"You can come up with all sorts of ideas when it comes to food!" Ye Xin couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, Xin Yi and I will pack up the leftovers and take them back. We'll buy some bread this afternoon and go back to the dorm to teach everyone how to eat the 'Western food' that foreigners in the concession used back then!"

If one were to describe Shanghainese cuisine as simply "rich in oil and dark sauce" or "heavy in flavor and sugar," Zhou Zhi believes that this is an unfair prejudice. Shanghainese cuisine has actually absorbed the characteristics of many surrounding cuisines, along with local innovations. Although it cannot compare to the "hundred dishes, hundred flavors" of Sichuan cuisine, it cannot be summarized by just a few words like "rich in oil," "heavy in sauce," and "heavy in sugar."

Especially as ingredients have become more upscale and cooking methods more refined, the high-end dishes in Shanghainese cuisine have undergone years of adjustments, and many of them have now transformed from "rustic dishes" into dishes worthy of being served at state banquets.

At least the classic dishes Zhouzhi ordered, some of which were adapted from Suzhou and Huaiyang cuisines, and others were upgraded and improved versions of local dishes, were all commendable in terms of taste, presentation, and plating. These dishes are not something you can expect to find in a university cafeteria. For example, Ye Xin might find the braised pork belly in Shanghai too sweet and the lean meat too dry, but that's due to the chef's skill. The braised river eel at this old restaurant is different; it's soft, tender, and delicious, with a superior taste and texture. At least Zhouzhi wouldn't dare say he could replicate it.

As for the giant sea cucumber with shrimp roe, this is even more so. This dish is not only a very substantial dish in terms of ingredients, but the sea cucumber and shrimp roe are also quite difficult to prepare, making it a dish that requires skill.

Crab Roe Tofu also requires extracting the roe and meat from the hairy crab and processing it together with the tofu. "Kou San Si" is a dish that combines knife skills with a rich broth, testing the chef's plating skills in preparing shredded ham, bamboo shoots, and chicken, as well as the flavor and cooking time of the broth.

On the contrary, the chicken bone paste that Mai Xiaomiao ordered out of curiosity, although it tasted good, was too sweet and cloying to eat on its own. It was hard to eat without spreading it on bread or steamed buns. Therefore, Zhou Zhi thought that this dish should be served with a ring of lotus leaf pancakes or golden steamed buns.

In the end, each person only took two bites of this dish, and it ended up being packed up for the takeaway.

"You guys have quite the appetite when you get good food," Zhou Zhi joked, looking at the clean table. "Who said they were going to pack up what they couldn't finish? Besides this last dish of chicken bone paste, there's not much else you can pack up."

"I'll beat you up if you say that again." Ye Xin first divided the chicken bone paste into two portions and put them into two lunch boxes. Then she also evenly distributed the remaining eel pieces and fried shrimp into the lunch boxes, preparing to take one with Zhang Xinyi each.

Zhou Zhi felt it was a bit shabby, and laughed, "You guys can pick out some more bread and cakes later, and we can have them as a late-night snack in the dorm."

"That's what I was thinking, but you'll have to pay me," Zhang Xinyi said with a smile.

The meal wasn't cheap; even without drinking any beverages, it still cost over a thousand yuan. Zhang Xinyi took the POS receipt from the waiter and couldn't help but stick out her tongue.

Ye Xin also took a look: "Now I suddenly understand those girls getting on the bus at the school gate."

"Xin Xin, that's a dangerous idea," Zhou Zhi immediately teased. "Wen Yu's cooking skills really aren't that great, are they?"

"One person in the family needs to know how to cook." Ye Xin slapped the order form onto Zhou Zhi's chest: "I can whip up that braised pork and bamboo shoot soup in no time!"

"So this is a family now?" Zhang Xinyi and Zhou Zhi immediately seized on the flaw in Ye Xin's words, and the group started arguing again.

Since they had a car, even though it wasn't far from Yu Garden and the Bund, Zhou Zhi decided to take the three girls for a drive and see some places further away.

After asking the two women, Zhou Zhi found that neither of them had ever been to Zhouzhuang. So, he took them to the Old Street of the City God Temple to buy some snacks, bread, and drinks before setting off.

Zhouzhuang is a two-hour drive from Shanghai, and with evening study time, it's perfectly feasible to make the round trip.

The sight of everyone crammed into one car chatting reminded Ye Xin and Zhang Xinyi of the days when they would go on holiday trips together. (End of Chapter)