Transmigrated into the fat wife of the future prime minister

Chapter 261 Dried Fish

Looking at Xu Qingmeng's hand gestures, Madam He asked again, still not believing it.

"Mother, two thousand eight hundred taels!"

"My God! Mengniang, are you sure? Did you calculate it wrong?"

Xu Qingmeng first gave He Shi an approving look, and then nodded to her.

Mrs. He looked incredulous. Their hot pot restaurant hadn't been open for very long, and the chili oil workshop as a whole hadn't been around for very long either.

However, the hot pot restaurant has been booming since it opened, and the workshop is the same. They have been busy ever since they have enough staff, especially before the Lunar New Year. The workshop staff wish they could split themselves in two to make the most of the work.

However, in Xu Qingmeng's view, at least half of the 2,800 taels came from the workshop, because the price of chili oil is relatively high, the profit is relatively higher, and the labor cost is also lower than that of hot pot restaurants.

Moreover, now almost half of the city is filled with Gu's red chili oil. If Xu Qingmeng hadn't been worried that she couldn't make it and that it would delay the work of the various shops, the workshop wouldn't have accepted many of the orders that came in.

Xu Qingmeng had previously discussed with Gu Yunyi that if the chili oil business remained so booming after the New Year, they would recruit more people.

The courtyard that Xiao Li Zi had previously found was quite large, and there are still quite a few rooms vacant.

Of course, Xu Qingmeng felt that even though the market for chili oil had opened up further after the New Year, Fucheng was not Quanxian, and this product was not that difficult to make.

However, it may not have the same texture as Xu Qingmeng's, but it should still taste similar. It's not impossible for someone with outstanding abilities to develop different flavors.

After all, with so many people, each person has different tastes. Therefore, those who offer different flavors from Gujia will definitely capture a portion of the market.

Xu Qingmeng has already planned to develop more flavors after the New Year, because she wants to turn Gu's chili oil into a brand, just like the modern Lao Gan Ma, so that people will think of Gu's chili sauce whenever they mention it.

The food and sauces from the Gu family workshop, in terms of both taste and everything else, were perfectly suited to them, which was exactly what Xu Qingmeng wanted to achieve.

However, considering that she now has children and that her Zhuyunzhai restaurant will open after the Lunar New Year, she will inevitably have less time to spend with her children.

Xu Qingmeng still felt that she wanted to spend more time with her child, so she was considering whether to find two more apprentices.

However, Xu Qingmeng also understood that apprentices were something that could be found by chance. She was straightforward and didn't like trouble.

"Ugh!"

"What's wrong? Why are you sighing for no reason? You think this is not enough?" Mrs. He thought her daughter-in-law was dissatisfied with the money she earned.

Xu Qingmeng shook her head.

"Of course not, Mother."

Xu Qing dreamed of opening too many shops, but she couldn't manage to be in two places at once.

"What happened?" Mrs. He asked.

"Now that the New Year is over, Zhuyunzhai is open again. I'm afraid I won't be able to handle everything. Also, I need to spend more time with Zhizhi and Ruirui. I don't think Xinting can manage on her own. I'm considering whether to find two more apprentices so that I can have more free time."

After hearing this, Mrs. He understood.

So you wanted to take on a disciple! But taking on a disciple is not something to be taken lightly. He said seriously, "Mengniang, this needs to be done carefully. Once you take on a disciple, you have to be responsible for their future. It's not something you can decide casually."

"Mother, I know, but this is just an idea I have right now. Besides, the shop hasn't opened yet. I just think it will be busy, but what if there aren't enough customers?"

“Nonsense, how could there be no customers? Your cooking skills are beyond question,” said Mrs. He.

On the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, the Gu family began making various fried foods.

In fact, over the past year or so, we've had meat at every meal, and we've prepared it in many different ways. However, Xu Qingmeng has fried it relatively few times, except for once when she made fried chicken nuggets.

Mrs. He was busy making arrangements, talking to Xu Qingmeng about some New Year customs, while Xu Qingmeng and Xinting were also busy.

There are many kinds of fried food, but the most basic ones are crispy pork, meatballs, fish, and pork, etc.

Xu Qingmeng prepared a lot. The meatballs were divided into vegetarian and meat meatballs, and there were two kinds of fried fish: whole fish and fish pieces. She even fried a lot of small dried fish.

They rarely encounter these fish. The prefectural city is a wealthy place, so people generally don't care about such small fish.

Upon seeing this, Xu Qingmeng bought them all.

However, these small fish are only about a finger's length long. All you need to do is remove their internal organs, but it's still quite a challenge. Xu Qingmeng didn't ask anyone else to do it.

However, it still took Xu Qingmeng nearly half an hour to process the full basin of small fish. Finally, she rinsed them with clean water to clean them thoroughly.

Next, rub salt and prepared soy sauce on the small fish to marinate them, then drain them.

Heat the pan, add oil, and once the oil is hot, put the small fish into the pan to fry until the skin is golden brown.

Xu Qingmeng left a suitable amount of oil in the pot, sautéed the ginger, garlic and scallions prepared by Xinting until fragrant, and finally poured the fried small fish into the pot and stir-fried.

Although the courtyard was filled with fragrance, Yun Sheng and Yun Mo were still drawn in by the rich aroma emanating from the kitchen.

"Sister-in-law, what delicious food are you making? Is it ready to eat?"

Xu Qingmeng smiled and picked up a small dried fish and handed it to Yun Sheng. Of course, she didn't forget Yun Mo either, saying, "Be careful, it's hot."

Yun Sheng and Yun Mo nodded obediently, but still not quite satisfied, they smiled and served a small plate to the two of them: "Here, there's still a lot of delicious food to eat today, don't eat too much at once."

"Uh-huh."

Xu Qingmeng fried all the dried fish and stir-fried them. This way, they were crispy, delicious, and chewy.

These dried fish can be enjoyed as an appetizer or as a casual snack.

Besides these, there were also fried chicken nuggets and whole chickens. She prepared a lot, after all, there are many people in her family, including the workshop workers and the servants at home. With so many people, they need a lot of food during the Chinese New Year.

You don't need to prepare for the hot pot restaurant, but you still need to prepare clothes and money for the New Year; you can't skimp on those.

"Fry some more tofu. Tofu puffs are delicious in hot pot, stir-fries, or even just a simple soup."

Looking at the golden fried food in the pot, Xu Qingmeng felt a bit craving tofu puffs, but actually she really wanted to eat stinky tofu.