1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 148 Show Some Respect to Braised Beef! (Bonus Chapter for 9000 Monthly Tickets!)
Huang He was quite excited at the moment. Huang Bing came back after breakfast and told him that Zhou Yan was going to launch braised beef today.

Huang He, who was still lying in bed, jumped up and immediately asked Huang Bing to take him to Suji on a motorcycle.

Feiyan Restaurant cannot function without braised beef, just as the West cannot function without Jerusalem.

So many regular customers ask about the braised beef, and especially since the braised pig's head was reintroduced to the menu, people ask about it every day.

When will the braised beef be served?
He was anxious too.

Braised beef used to be the best-selling braised meat at Feiyan Restaurant, with over 100 jin sold a day at its peak.

When talking about this glorious experience, the old man told him more than once that if Aunt Zhang were to set up a stall to sell braised meat again, the braised beef must be restored.

Aunt Zhang probably won't be selling braised meat anymore, but Zhou Yan has inherited her mantle and made braised pig's head that tastes exactly the same.

The regular customers who have come these past few days have all praised the food, saying that the taste hasn't changed at all over the decades.

Huang He knew in his heart that this praise was not for their Feiyan Restaurant, but for Zhou Yan.

This young man's culinary skills are not to be underestimated. At such a young age, he has already completely inherited Aunt Zhang's braised pork products.

Huang He was a little unsure about his braised beef, since he had just told him a couple of days ago that he still needed to practice, but his expectations were definitely high.

Before coming, he had already discussed it with Zhao Shulan. As long as the taste was about 70-80% as the braised beef that Aunt Zhao used to make, they would place an order directly.

Even if it's only 70-80% of the original, it still tastes better than the braised beef you get outside.

If a discerning regular customer asks, I'll just say that the braising liquid is still being aged and will taste better over time.

Feiyan Restaurant is willing to grow alongside Zhou Yan, providing him with a portion of the beef so that he can continue to improve during the braising process.

"Boss Huang, you came a bit too fast." Zhou Yan came out of the kitchen, looked at Huang He, whose fat body was jiggling, and said with a smile, "I just turned off the fire, and the braised beef will be ready in a while."

"Good meat is worth the wait. I can sit and wait patiently without any problem," Huang He waved his hand dismissively.

“Alright, please have a seat. I’ll make you some tea.” Zhou Yan nodded, gesturing for the Huang father and son to sit down. He took tea leaves from the cabinet and brewed three cups of tea.

Zhou Yan brought over tea and sat down. Huang He looked at him impatiently and asked, "Boss Zhou, didn't you say last week that you needed to practice making braised beef for a while longer? Why is it so sudden today?"

"You've been practicing for an extra week, is it still sudden?" Zhou Yan said with a smile, blowing on the tea leaves on his teacup.

"I'm so happy! Waiting for your braised beef has been agonizingly long." Huang He was a little nervous: "I wonder how it tastes? How does it compare to Aunt Zhang's?"

Zhou Yan shook his head slightly: "It's hard to say if I'm just praising myself. You'll know once you try it."

"Okay." Huang He nodded, then changed the subject: "By the way, Boss Zhou, what's your opinion on the matter of the exclusive supply of braised beef that I discussed with you before?"

"Mr. Huang, let me tell you the truth, my restaurant will open in Jiaozhou one day. Even if I don't sell it to someone else, I'll definitely have to sell it myself eventually," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

“I know that your Feiyan Restaurant has had a decades-long partnership with my grandmother, and we’ve weathered the most difficult times together. So I don’t want to cheat you out of a franchise fee. I’ll sell you as much as you want.”

Huang He fell silent upon hearing this; it was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Feiyan Restaurant and Zhangji Braised Food have been cooperating for decades and have almost never had any conflicts during that time.

Zhang Ji Braised Food has been based in Jiaozhou for decades, consistently providing braised meat and never leaving the area.

He's become a bit path-dependent; if Zhou Yan were to open a restaurant in Jiaozhou, the situation would naturally be different.

In other words, they would become competitors.

"When are you planning to open a restaurant in Jiaozhou? Where do you plan to open it?" Huang He asked.

"It's still early, at least a year from now," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "The specific location hasn't been decided yet, but I'll just be opening a restaurant, not a large banquet hall."

"That's alright, we can talk about it a year from now." Huang He breathed a sigh of relief and a smile returned to his face. "I think the decoration of Feiyan Restaurant is too outdated. I might move to a new restaurant a year from now, a larger one with better decoration, to make it a benchmark for banquets in Jiaozhou. Our positioning is different, so it won't affect us at all."

"Boss Huang is indeed capable," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

Once everything was out in the open, the atmosphere became much more harmonious.

The three of them sat drinking tea and chatting, and time flew by.

Zhou Yan looked at his watch and took out the soaked braised meat in batches.

After the braised beef shank was taken out of the water and cooled, Zhou Yan cut a portion, plated it, and served it.

Huang He watched as Zhou Yan came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of braised beef, and subconsciously stood up.

Huang Bing was sitting with his legs crossed, eating sunflower seeds, but seeing how serious the old man was, he hesitated for a moment.

Snapped!
Huang He's hand had already landed on the back of his head: "Show some respect for braised beef!"

"Huh?" Huang Bing looked puzzled. But under Huang He's intimidating presence, he had no choice but to get up and greet the braised beef... esteemed guest?
Huang He's eyes were fixed on the white porcelain plate in Zhou Yan's hand. He saw the braised beef arranged in a spiral on the plate, cut into pieces the thickness of a copper coin, thin yet with a little thickness. The texture of the beef, soaked in the braising sauce, was so beautiful. The translucent tendons were like amber decorations on it. The meat wrapped around the tendons, and the color was bright red and full.

"The color! The texture! It looks perfect! It's just right!"

Huang He's eyes grew brighter, and even his breathing became somewhat rapid.

Isn't this the Zhang's braised beef he's been longing for?

It's exactly the same as I remember.

came back!
Zhang's Braised Beef is really back!

"Boss Huang, please try it and see if it tastes right?" Zhou Yan smiled and handed over chopsticks, also giving Huang Bing a pair.

Huang He took the chopsticks, his hands trembling slightly. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before picking up a slice of braised beef. He carefully turned it over and examined it, nodding repeatedly: "Exactly the same, absolutely identical. The caramel color is so beautiful, it's completely absorbed and not black at all."

After admiring it like a precious treasure, he fed it to his mouth, chewing it slowly, his eyes shining even brighter.

The beef has a firm texture, with slightly chewy tendons. It's not dry or tough, and it has a rich, savory flavor. The beef taste is particularly prominent, and it gets more fragrant the more you chew!
In a daze, Huang He felt as if he had returned to his childhood.

His father took him to Suji Bridge to find Aunt Zhang. He insisted on going home, and Aunt Zhang casually cut two pieces of braised beef and handed them to him, smiling and saying, "Little chicken, take this and eat."

To this day, he still remembers the taste of those two slices of braised beef.

It smelled so good that it changed his opinion of braised beef.

As he grew up, he always loved eating the braised beef made by Aunt Zhang.

This piece of braised beef tasted exactly the same as he remembered.

He remembers that back then, he always liked to go to Suji with his uncle, and sometimes he could even buy braised vegetarian dishes made by Aunt Zhang.

Feiyan Restaurant doesn't sell braised vegetarian dishes because they're not considered high-class.

But he loves to eat it, braised lotus root, braised tofu, braised potatoes... and you can only eat it when it's in season.

"Old man?" Huang Bing was so shocked when he saw a tear slide down Huang He's cheek that he didn't dare to pick up his chopsticks.

This braised beef made the well-traveled old man cry.
"That's right! Absolutely right!" Huang Xiaoji ignored him and looked at Zhou Yan excitedly, saying, "Boss Zhou, you've mastered Zhang Niangniang's braised beef to perfection! The taste is amazing, flawless! It's absolutely delicious! I'm ordering ten pounds today!"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "I only braised fifteen catties today. You can take five catties to try first. I need a lot more tomorrow, so you can order in advance."

"Alright, then prepare twelve catties for me tomorrow, which is thirty servings. I'll start by building up my reputation." Huang He nodded, unable to resist picking up another piece of braised beef and putting it in his mouth, nodding repeatedly, "Great! This is truly a perfect dish to accompany drinks!"

Huang Bing also picked up a piece and tried it. His eyes lit up as well. The beef was firm and chewy, and it was indeed more and more fragrant the more you chewed it. It was delicious!
but.

It was delicious, but the old man was so excited that he shed tears. Was that a bit of an exaggeration?

Huang Bing didn't quite understand and didn't dare to ask, so he ate two more slices of braised beef.

Zhou Yan didn't ask for a franchise fee for the braised beef, but promised not to sell the braised beef to other restaurants in Jiaozhou City for three months.

In return, Huang He bought the braised beef at a price of 3.2 yuan per kilogram, which was only 3 mao cheaper than the selling price.

It seems he lost out.

But the price was actually lower than what he had discussed with Zhao Shulan before he came.

Zhou Yan priced his braised beef lower than he expected.

It's 50 cents more expensive than braised pig ears and braised pig snouts, and it'll definitely sell like hotcakes in Suji.

A serving at Feiyan Restaurant is four ounces, served with a side of chili powder dipping sauce and garnished with two sprigs of cilantro. It can easily sell for 2.2 yuan, making the profit margin quite considerable.

The braised meat was placed into two baskets, covered with gauze, and the Huang father and son looked at it from the left and right, feeling quite smug, before riding away on their motorcycle.

After they left, Aunt Zhao looked at the menu and couldn't help but ask, "Isn't the price of this braised beef a bit low? Three yuan and fifty cents a pound, can you even make a profit?"

"The gross profit is about 50%, so making money is no problem. If the price is set too high, we won't be able to sell more than two jin a day. It would be better to lower the profit and sell more." Zhou Yan said with a smile, glanced at his watch, and saw that it was already 10:20. He turned and walked towards the kitchen: "We're having tofu for lunch. I bought two pieces of tofu this morning."

Aunt Zhao followed her into the kitchen, asking curiously, "How are you planning to make it? Do you know how to make Mapo Tofu? I've heard that Mapo Tofu in Chengdu is very famous, it's spicy and numbing, and tastes amazing."

"I haven't learned how to make Mapo Tofu yet. Today I'll make some home-style tofu first, and then some crucian carp and tofu soup," Zhou Yan said with a smile, taking two bowls of tofu from the shelf.

A perfect serving of tofu

A decent serving of tofu

Zhou Yan considered it carefully. Good tofu was used to make home-style tofu, and perfect tofu was used to make crucian carp and tofu soup. The main idea was to use the lightest flavor and the best ingredients.

Open up!
(End of this chapter)