The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 233: The Three-Head Banquet (Thanks to YKYB_KI for the reward)
"Jingjing, where are you? You're locking up your shared bike, right? Huihui still has a big question left to finish, so I brought her here because I was afraid she'd be late. It's the same if she goes back to finish after dinner. There's no need to rush for one or two questions."

"Come, Huihui, say hello to your sister Qu."

"Hello, Sister Qu Jing." Chen Huihui greeted Qu Jing in the video. "Sister Qu, my mother said that your ultraviolet allergy has healed. I can also see that you have become darker recently."

Qu Jing, who was locking her bike, was stunned and could only smile: "Huihui is really sharp-eyed. Sister Qu's ultraviolet allergy is indeed almost healed."

Chen Huihong led Chen Huihui into the box and was surprised to see that only Qin Huai and Huang Anyao were in the box: "They haven't arrived yet? I thought I was going to be late."

Qin Huai glanced at his phone. "There are still 8 minutes left. Ouyang just sent me a message saying that Uncle Wang realized he forgot to take the fruit after he went out, so he went back to get it. Uncle Qian and the others are waiting for Uncle Wang at the gate of the community. He should be here soon."

As soon as Qin Huai finished speaking, noisy footsteps were heard outside, and louder than the footsteps was Chen Juan's scolding.

"Wang Gensheng, if you can't remember things, put on your reading glasses and look at the memo on your phone. It was you who said you were embarrassed to come to Dr. Qu's banquet empty-handed. It was you who said you should buy some fresh fruits and bring them here. It was you who asked you to pick some good fruits but got cheated into buying those Qiuyue pears that looked good but were so expensive. It was you who forgot to bring any fruit when you went out."

"When you were an accountant, you remembered everything very clearly. You could report the first year's accounts clearly in the second year. And you brag that you are the company's human account bookkeeper, but you even forgot to take a bag of fruit when you left the house."

"Why don't you forget to come too? Just forget yourself at home and I'll come out to eat at this feast."

"I was thinking about other things and forgot about the fruit when I went out." Uncle Wang defended himself in a low voice.

"What are you thinking about now? Do you think you have to calculate performance bonuses and year-end bonuses before you retire? Don't make excuses. I'm warning you. Just eat today and don't think about the past all the time."

"Sister Chen said it well! Sister Chen, let me tell you, Wang Laogen likes to think about the past when he goes for a morning run. Every time he can't run anymore, he thinks about the past." Xu Tuqiang took the opportunity to complain.

"Ahem, we're almost at the private room, please keep your voices down. Dr. Qu's colleagues will be here today, and we, as neighbors, cannot embarrass Dr. Qu!" Uncle Qian reminded.

"Qian, you are from the next neighborhood, what kind of neighbor are you? I am the real neighbor!"

"Xiao Ou, is the pineapple with you?"

Grandma Ding pushed the door open.

There was silence outside.

The old men and women who were arguing with each other as if they were about to quarrel a second ago automatically switched to warm fake smiles the moment they pushed the door open.

Grandma Ding and Chen Juan took the lead with fruits in hand, each with a bag of cut fruits. The premium fruits were placed in plain red plastic bags, and there were also many small forks in the plastic boxes containing the fruits.

"Sorry, sorry, we're late. We brought some fruits, let's eat some first. Doctor Qu... Hey, haven't Doctor Qu and her colleagues arrived yet?" Chen Juan enthusiastically distributed fruit slices to everyone.

Everyone sitting in the box who heard the conversation outside clearly said: …

Huang's is a time-honored restaurant that was expanded and renovated on the basis of an original state-owned hotel. It is well known to old diners that the sound insulation of the private rooms is not very good.

It would be a little better if the door was closed, so that the conversation in room 888 would not be heard clearly by room 666.

But if the door is not closed, and the person chatting happens to have a loud voice...

Private chat becomes public.

When Chen Huihong came in just now, she just closed the door slightly. The old men and women happened to be a little hard of hearing due to their old age, so their voices were particularly loud.

Qin Huai stood up, smiling as if he hadn't heard anything just now, and took the fruit: "Grandma Ding, Aunt Chen, you are so polite to bring fruit here specially."

"Doctor Qu and the others will be here soon, please take a seat first."

Wang Gensheng consciously sat down at the serving area. After he sat down, he looked back at the door of the private room. He seemed to remember something and couldn't help but sigh: "Thinking back to when I was just..."

"Shut up!"

Two minutes later, Qu Jing, Dr. Zhou, Director Liu and her daughter hurried to the box.

Everyone is here.

Although Qu Jing has recovered all her memories and tried hard to become sunny and cheerful, and to socialize and live like a normal person, no matter which life she was in, Qu Jing was not good at making friends and communicating.

Noticing Qu Jing's nervousness and restraint, Qin Huai, who was entrusted by Huang Shengli to entertain today's guests well, glanced at Huang Anyao beside him.

Well, the young master is even more nervous and reserved than Qu Jing. Huang Anyao has been silent since the moment someone entered the box, even though there are people he knows.

Huang Anyao knew Qu Jing, Ouyang and Chen Huihong. Qin Huai reserved snacks for the three of them, and Huang Anyao was the one who met and delivered the goods.

Knowing that the young master was unreliable, Qin Huai stood up and began to introduce everyone present one by one.

When introducing Huang Anyao, Qin Huai was suddenly stuck. He couldn't think of his relationship with the people present for a while.

"Huang Anyao, Huang... the young master of Huang's, Master Huang Shengli is his father. He came here today mainly because he was worried that everyone had no experience in eating the Three-Head Banquet, and didn't know when to start, so he came here specially to introduce the Three-Head Banquet to everyone." Qin Huai said.

"Ah?" Huang Anyao was shocked and looked at Qin Huai with a face full of "When did my father assign me this task? How come I didn't know about it?"

Director Liu shook hands with Huang Anyao enthusiastically and said, "Mr. Huang, I have heard of your name for a long time. I really like your Huangji Restaurant. Every time our department has a dinner party before, it is at Huangji. I have always regretted not coming to Huangji earlier and not getting a VIP card. In the future, our Department of Neurology must work harder and strive to get a VIP card earlier than the Department of Orthopedics!"

Dr. Zhou also stood up and shook hands enthusiastically: "Mr. Huang, you can contact me anytime if you need anything in the future. Although I am not familiar with the doctors in the rehabilitation department, I have connections with the doctors in the orthopedics, emergency, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology departments. Please make an appointment with me!"

Huang Anyao stood up in confusion and shook hands one by one, his eyes still on Qin Huai, winking wildly and asking him how to introduce the dishes.

Qin Huai replied to him, just be yourself.

Just at this moment, the waiter came in and asked if they wanted to serve the food now that everyone was present. Huang Anyao was standing and he nodded immediately to indicate that the food could be served.

Today's menu was prepared in advance by Huang Shengli, and it is also the standard menu for the Huang's Restaurant's three-person banquet.

Eight cold dishes: cold jellyfish skin, cold crispy dishes, boneless shark fin, salted gizzard, salt and pepper vegetarian eel shreds, agate salted eggs, mustard belly shreds and crystal fish strips.

Four seasoning dishes: pickled garlic, mixed coriander, red fermented bean curd and pickled radish slices.

Twelve hot dishes: stir-fried bighead carp, soft-shelled eel, deep-fried chicken, abalone and pigeon eggs, roasted whole pig's head, braised lion's head with crab meat, braised silver carp head, gingko choy sum, assorted coconut flakes, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, Yangzhou fried rice and chicken soup.

Four kinds of snacks: fermented glutinous rice steamed buns, three-spice buns, Suzhou-style mooncakes and fruits.

Originally, the four dim sum at Huang Ji San Tou Yan were Zheng Siyuan’s four dim sum. After Qin Huai came, it became two dishes from Qin Huai and two dishes from Zheng Siyuan. After Guo’er appeared on “The Taste”, it directly became the current three dishes from Qin Huai and one dish from Zheng Siyuan.

The waiters came in one after another and served the dishes. One by one, the exquisite dishes with good color, aroma and taste and beautiful presentation were brought to the table, which made everyone's eyes pop out.

Among all the people present, except Huang Anyao, no one had ever eaten a proper three-head banquet.

Even Qin Huai eats his food in a scattered manner.

Looking at everyone's inexperienced expressions, Huang Anyao knew it was his turn to perform.

The young master suddenly transformed himself into the best food commentator.

“In the traditional three-head banquet, salted gizzards and crystal fish strips are two indispensable cold dishes.”

"Many uncles and aunts here are from other places and may not know that salted gizzards are the second best dish to go with wine here, second only to fried peanuts. When making it, you should choose fresh and large duck gizzards, pickle them, cook them, and then marinate them. There are very few spices and seasonings used in the whole process, only salt, pepper, scallion knots, ginger slices and Shaoxing wine. Because heavy objects are used to press for 12 hours during the pickling process, the final product will have a very firm and chewy texture."

After hearing what Huang Anyao said, everyone present suddenly felt that the seemingly ordinary duck gizzards were extremely delicious and tasty, and they couldn't wait to have a glass of wine to eat with the side dishes.

After Qu Jing took the first piece with chopsticks, everyone else stretched out their chopsticks and the whole plate of salted gizzards was cleared in no time.

"Crystal fish strips are made by taking fresh small fish, removing the small bones, slicing them into long strips, coating them lightly with a layer of starch, boiling them in boiling water, and then serving them cold with sauce."

"Because the fish strips are thin enough and cooked in boiling water, they look translucent at first glance, so they are called crystal fish strips. This dish looks simple and easy to make, but in fact, the work of removing the bones is extremely complicated and tedious. This cold dish is only served at large banquets like the Three-Head Banquet."

“If you are interested, you can eat it with pickled radish slices. The taste and texture will be even better.” After hearing what Huang Anyao said, everyone did as he said and finished the crystal fish strips and pickled radish slices on the spot.

Then everyone stopped eating other dishes and looked at Huang Anyao with eyes wide open, waiting for him to introduce the next dish.

What to eat, how to eat, where to eat.

Although Huang Anyao comes from a family of chefs, he has never done anything related to cooking since he was a child. He cannot be said to be good at eating, he can only talk. He has never experienced the feeling of being the focus of the audience at the dinner table.

Seeing that everyone trusted him so much, Huang Anyao was very moved for a moment. He cleared his throat and introduced himself more vigorously.

"In fact, there is one of these cold dishes that is also our Huangji specialty. It is neither Huaiyang cuisine nor Suzhou cuisine, but it is my father's specialty."

“Mustard tripe shreds.”

"I don't know if you have ever eaten mustard duck feet in a roast duck restaurant. If you have and can accept the taste, I strongly recommend that you try this mustard tripe shreds."

"This dish is made by cutting the cooked pork belly into shreds, mixing it with rice noodles cut into 20% thick, blanching it in boiling water, scooping it out, cooling it in cold water, and finally mixing it with sesame oil."

"Mustard is a mustard paste made from mustard powder and some seasonings. This recipe is my father's unique secret recipe. The mustard flavor is not too strong and is just right with shredded tripe."

"If you don't like mustard paste, just pick the ones at the bottom. The mustard paste is poured from the top, and the tripe and rice noodles at the bottom can't stick to it before it's mixed. Although it's delicious when eaten alone, if the mustard tripe is not dipped in mustard paste at all, it's not mustard tripe anymore."

After 10 seconds, the mustard belly shreds were all cleaned up, and even the little mustard paste left on the plate was dipped away by Ouyang.

"Oops, I forgot to introduce the vegetarian shredded eel with salt and pepper. Although this dish is a cold dish, we have to eat it quickly."

"Don't be fooled by the fact that this dish looks like fried yellow eel, it is actually made of mushrooms. The mushrooms are cut into strips, coated with starch and fried in hot oil, not deep-fried. The oil is drained and cooled before serving."

"This dish will only be crispy when it's cold, but if it's left for too long it will become limp, so we have to eat it quickly!" After saying that, Huang Anyao picked up a piece with chopsticks.

Three seconds later, the salt and pepper vegetarian eel shreds appeared.

"Xiao Huang, stop introducing cold dishes and let's introduce some hot dishes. Look, the dishes are all on the table." Xu Tuqiang stared at the soft-shelled eel in front of him and didn't dare to pick up his chopsticks.

Xu Tuqiang clearly thought he was a thick-skinned old man who could even borrow wine and steamed buns. But for some reason, in today's situation, Xu Tuqiang felt that he couldn't stretch out the chopsticks if Huang Anyao didn't introduce him.

It always feels like something is missing without an introduction.

Just now, Xu Tuqiang secretly picked up a stir-fried shrimp with chopsticks, and when he ate it, he felt that something was missing. As a stir-fried shrimp, it was already very delicious, but it just didn't feel like what he had tasted after listening to Huang Anyao's introduction.

Huang Anyao nodded. In fact, he had almost finished introducing the cold dishes. The reason he had not yet introduced the hot dishes was because the ones served now were just minor supporting roles, and the real main dishes had not yet been served.

"As for the hot dishes, in addition to the roasted whole pig head, stewed crab meat lion head and braised silver carp head, there is another dish that cannot be missed in the Three Heads Banquet, which is the soft-shelled eel in front of you."

"This dish is as famous as the three dishes I just mentioned, because it was the first hot dish in the first banquet of the founding of the country, and it is also known as the first dish of the founding of the country."

"Long fish, also known as eels, are not very plump in this season. They are best eaten from June to August. Of course, some people like to eat them in spring. Although spring eels are not the plumpest, they are tender. It can only be said that each has its own strengths."

“This dish isn’t difficult to make.”

"Put the eel in boiling water for one minute and take it out. Heat the pan with cold oil and fry the ingredients first. Fry the garlic until it is fragrant. Then add the garlic and chili strips, stir-fry for about 10 seconds and then pour in the eel."

"During the whole stir-frying process, you need to add the seasoning soup and hot oil one after another, stir-fry continuously to control the heat, and finally serve on a plate."

"At first glance, this dish looks very simple to make. There is no need to flip the spoon or pour hot oil on it when it comes out of the pan like fried eel paste. You can hear crackling sounds when it is served on the table, but in fact, the chef's control over the heat is very high."

“Stir-frying over high heat requires timing, and repeatedly stirring requires even more timing.”

"This dish features the tenderness of the long fish. When you pick it up with chopsticks, the two ends of the long fish hang down like a bellyband on a child's chest. When you eat it, you can hold the long fish with a soup spoon, so this dish is named "soft-pocketed long fish."

After talking for a while, Huang Anyao felt so hungry that he just picked up some with his chopsticks.

Everyone followed closely behind. Wang Gensheng picked up a fish and looked at the two ends of the long fish hanging down. He squinted his eyes and looked at it for a long time before turning his head and muttering to Chen Juan: "Is this what a child's bellyband looks like?"

"Just eat yours and forget about it." Chen Juan actively grabbed the food.

The disc is gone.

Looking at the empty plates on the table, Qin Huai felt deeply that Huang Anyao's tenure as the young master of Huang's business had really constrained his talent.

Huang Anyao really did a terrible job of making marketing plans.

When he went to the supplier to negotiate the price for the goods, he couldn't get the goods even if he couldn't agree on the price.

When attending cooking exchange meetings, people just eat and don't exchange ideas. When asked, the only thing they say is that the food at the meeting is not tasty.

But as a food host, Huang Anyao is really professional.

If Huang Ji wants to become popular, there is no need to wait for Guo'er to appear on "Zhi Wei". Let Huang Anyao do a live broadcast and introduce the food while eating in front of the camera, which will be more effective than anything else.

We guarantee that whichever dish we introduce on the day will be sold out.

Selected by An Yao, you can rest assured and rely on it.

Qin Huai was eating the soft-shelled eel and silently gave Huang Anyao a thumbs up in his heart.

He said that he always felt that something was missing during the special meals during this period. It turned out that Huang Anyao was missing to explain things to him.

Qin Huai felt that the two bites of soft-shelled eel he had eaten today were the most delicious soft-shelled eel he had eaten in the past month.

Huang Anyao talked so much that his mouth felt a little dry, so he drank some water to moisten his throat.

As soon as I put down the cup, the waiter brought the food.

Lion's head with crab meat and braised silver carp head.

The main event is coming!
Fresh out of the pot, fragrant and delicious, this is a dish made by Huang Shengli himself!
As the young master, Huang Anyao could only eat at Qinhuai's small kitchen on weekdays, and he didn't have many opportunities to sit at the table and eat a complete three-head banquet. Huang Anyao couldn't eat directly at the wedding banquets of ordinary guests, so he sat in the kitchen to eat. It was rare for him to sit in the box and eat a proper three-head banquet like today.

Now when Huang Anyao saw the silver carp head being shredded and stewed, he couldn't take his eyes away and subconsciously wanted to reach out for some with his chopsticks.

Then he realized that he seemed to be the only one at the table who picked up the chopsticks.

Everyone else was looking at him eagerly, waiting for him to give the explanation.

Huang Anyao: No, can you all bear this?

The braised silver carp head and crab meat lion head are on the table. Can you still resist stretching out your chopsticks and wait for me to talk?
There are actually people in this world who can resist looking at these two dishes without picking up their chopsticks, and that’s a whole table of people!
Is it because the flu is so severe recently that everyone has a bad cold and can't smell?
Huang Anyao was stunned.

Huang Anyao put down his chopsticks silently.

Huang Anyao cleared his throat.

Huang Anyao tried hard to divert his eyes away from the head of the silver carp being stewed.

"Since this banquet is called the Three Heads Banquet, the real protagonists are of course the braised silver carp head and crab meat lion head that were just served."

“To stew silver carp head, you should choose…”

"..."

(End of this chapter)