Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

Yesterday's side dish was white radish, but today it's seaweed. Zhou Wen wanted to change things up, so he bought more vegetables than yesterday.

The rest of the process was pretty much the same as yesterday: making soup, preparing ingredients, taking a short break, and then waiting for the shop to open.

……

Two days passed in this way, and business in the store gradually improved, with about ten more diners than the previous day.

Zhou Wen gradually adapted.

On the third day, the profit also broke through the two hundred yuan mark for the first time in history.

However, Zhou Wen noticed something: some diners, after trying fried noodles or fried rice for the first time, might come back to the restaurant for their next meal, but they would often change the flavor.

The first time I ate there, I ordered fried noodles, and the second time I would choose fried rice. Among these repeat customers, most of them are young people in their twenties and thirties.

Among these repeat customers, a small number may come back to eat every other day, but most will go to other places to try something different. For example, Li Lichun and Lao Wang have not eaten at the restaurant for two consecutive days.

Zhou Wen could have anticipated this situation.

Fried rice is certainly delicious, but after a while, even the most satisfying rice can become tiresome.

The restaurant currently only offers fried rice and fried noodles, both of which are high in oil and salt, making them both spicy and greasy.

Since we already have these kinds of oily foods, we need some lighter foods to replace them.

There are currently no drinks in the store, and it's unlikely they'll be restocked anytime soon. The best food to choose right now is one that comes with its own broth.

"Then let's make noodles! Tomato and egg noodles!" Zhou Wen clapped his hands and made the decision.

Tomato and egg noodles do not require complicated seasonings or oily cooking methods, and the ingredients are relatively light.

Zhou Wen decided to wait another day or two.

……

On the fourth day at noon, everything remained the same.

Zhou Wen is cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks left by the previous guests.

"Boss, Lao Li asked me to ask you when the restaurant will be offering new dishes. Although the fried noodles and fried rice taste good, we're getting old, and we can't eat these oily and salty foods every day."

The one speaking was a fellow worker who had come with Li Lichun on the first night.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Wen said, "I've been researching this for the past few days, and we might have a new dish tonight."

Kobayashi laughed and said, "Tonight, right? Okay, I'll go back and tell him. Looks like I'll have to come back again tonight."

As they talked, everyone laughed. Although the shop only served fried noodles and fried rice, everyone had already recognized Zhou Wen's culinary skills. He could make even such common food taste special, let alone other dishes.

After hearing this, Zhou Wen decided not to wait any longer and went to the supermarket that afternoon to buy ingredients and make tomato and egg noodles.

Restaurants really need to change things up.

In the afternoon, Zhou Wen went to the supermarket to select tomatoes.

Tomato and tomato are the same vegetable, but due to regional differences, they are called tomato in the south and tomato in the north.

There are two common types of tomatoes on the market: pink tomatoes and regular tomatoes.

There are some differences between the two. The former is easier to release sand when stir-frying, which can better infuse the flavor into the soup; the latter has firm flesh and is more resistant to cooking, making it suitable for dishes like braised dishes.

Furthermore, there is a significant price difference between the two.

After selecting the tomatoes, the next step was to look at the noodles.

Alkaline noodles used for stir-fried noodles are not suitable for tomato and egg noodles. Zhou Wen chose thin noodles and dragon beard noodles, which have a strong ability to absorb soup and can best bring out the deliciousness of the soup.

After buying the necessary items, I went straight to the kitchen to start preparing the ingredients.

The first step is to score the tomatoes and blanch them in boiling water to easily remove the skin, otherwise the skin will affect the taste.

After peeling, dice the ingredients and set them aside.

Once the oil is hot, pour the beaten eggs into the pan, stir-fry evenly, and once scrambled, remove them and set them aside.

Next, add minced garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add the tomatoes and stir-fry together.

After frying the tomatoes to extract the juice, add a bowl of water, and then season.

Finally, add noodles, ham, vegetables, and other side dishes.

The tomato and egg noodles are now ready. The thick, bright red broth is indeed very appetizing.

Zhou Wen's eyes lit up after taking a bite of noodles, and he took another bite, along with a sip of the broth.

Perhaps it was because he had been dealing with fried rice and fried noodles every day for the past few days, but Zhou Wen felt that this bowl of tomato and egg noodles was nothing compared to it.

The broth is sweet and sour, and the fruit pulp is completely melted into it.

The noodles were cooked to the perfect firmness, and they absorbed all the flavor of the broth.

After finishing a bowl of noodles, my stomach felt warm and cozy.

……

"Xiao Zhou, I heard from Xiao Lin that there are new dishes?"

Xiao Lin was the coworker from earlier that day.

Not long after the door opened, Li Lichun and Lao Wang arrived at the restaurant.

Zhou Wen truthfully replied, "Yes, we've added tomato and egg noodles."

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Lichun said, "Two bowls, please."

"Uncle, we have large and small bowls. A small bowl costs six yuan, and a large bowl costs eight yuan. You can order a small bowl first to try the taste."

Li Lichun waved his hand: "We've seen your cooking before. If we weren't getting old, we'd come to your shop to eat every day."

"Old Li usually eats some bread in the afternoon to fill his stomach, but after hearing that you have new dishes, he didn't eat any bread in the afternoon and didn't drink much water either, for fear of getting a full stomach," Old Wang interjected at the right time.

Zhou Wen didn't say anything more, but smiled and said, "Uncle, please sit down for a while. I'll go make you some noodles now."

The aroma of tomato and egg noodles is not as strong as that of oily foods like fried noodles or fried rice, but the soup base is thick, red, and glossy with a thin layer of oil.

The former uses color to stimulate appetite, while the latter uses aroma.

The eggs were also fried to a golden brown by Zhou Wen, giving them a beautiful color.

"Uncle, if you're not full, you can have another bowl of noodles for free, but there won't be any toppings."

The two were somewhat surprised, not expecting to get a free second round of noodles: "Really? Not bad, not bad."

"Uncle, please enjoy your meal. If you need more noodles, just let me know."

"Old Li, this looks pretty good, there are quite a lot of eggs," Old Wang said.

Li Lichun didn't say anything. He picked up the bowl and blew on it gently. Because the noodles were fresh out of the pot, they were still a little hot. Li Lichun only took a small sip.

"It's sweet and sour, and the flavor is quite rich." Li Lichun said, taking another bite of noodles.

"It tastes so much better than the noodle shop we went to before, and it's much cheaper too."

"Really? Let me try it." Li Lichun's words immediately piqued Old Wang's curiosity.

"Xiao Zhou's noodles are very flavorful; the noodles soak up all the broth. The noodles at that other noodle shop are bland, practically tasteless." He shook his head as he spoke, "There's no harm without comparison."

The two of them said no more and began to slurp their noodles.

The two bowls of tomato and egg noodles were quickly devoured.