Food: Starting with Wonton Noodles

"Sticky rice chicken? Isn't sticky rice chicken just sticky rice? I see it's quite popular to eat here, isn't it?" Chen Mingyuan said.

Sticky rice chicken is not chicken.

It is a famous snack in Lingnan. The glutinous rice is filled not only with chicken, but also with shrimp, barbecued pork and other fillings, and it is wrapped in lotus leaves.

"So you meant sticky rice chicken. Actually, sticky rice chicken isn't considered a dish here, although it is essentially sticky rice," Zhou Yu said with a smile.

"We usually only count sticky rice chicken as a dim sum dish. Haven't you noticed that its portion size is actually quite small? If the portion size were large, it wouldn't be called sticky rice chicken; it should indeed be called lotus leaf rice."

"So in Lingnan, you'll basically only see glutinous rice chicken at breakfast stalls and teahouses. But glutinous rice chicken is too greasy, and I haven't had it in a long time."

"Huh? Do they have glutinous rice chicken in dim sum? When my friend took me here for dim sum, we ordered siu mai, steamed buns, shrimp dumplings, chicken feet, and stuff like that," Chen Mingyuan said.

"Yes, in the early 20th century, when Lingnan morning tea was just emerging and there were only a few dozen kinds of Cantonese dim sum, glutinous rice chicken was already one of them. At that time, there was a saying that the four major items of the tea market were shrimp dumplings, siu mai, char siu bao, and glutinous rice chicken."

"Later on, the dim sum in teahouses became more and more diverse, and the popular dim sum changed from the four main items to the eight main items, which means that in addition to the four main items, chicken feet, spare ribs, rice noodle rolls, and beef balls were added."

"Now, there are almost a thousand kinds of dim sum, and the iconic Cantonese dim sum has expanded to twelve kinds, forming the current saying of the Four Heavenly Kings and Eight Vajras of morning tea."

When the topic of morning tea and dim sum came up, Zhou Yu became quite interested.

After all these years of working, he has spent most of his earnings on food.

"Haha, you know so much. You're making my mouth water."

Chen Mingyuan hadn't had breakfast yet and was already very hungry after his run. Hearing Zhou Yu recite the names of the various snacks one by one made him even hungrier.

He recalled the chewy and delicious shrimp dumplings, the soft and juicy char siu buns, and the rich and flavorful beef offal soup he had eaten at the teahouse, as well as every dish Zhou Yu had mentioned.

It felt as if we were back in the teahouse, with waiters pushing carts and serving dishes, and the air filled with the aroma of various dim sum and the thick smoke rising from the food.

Chen Mingyuan felt his stomach secreting stomach acid frantically, making constant gurgling noises.

He couldn't help but say, "If there were a teahouse nearby, I would definitely order ten or eight baskets of dim sum right now. It's a pity I have to go to work later, otherwise, even if there wasn't a teahouse nearby, I would definitely drag you to find one to brew a pot of tea and eat dim sum."

"It's alright, just around the next corner. Let me tell you, even though this glutinous rice chicken stall is just a street vendor's stall, it's definitely no worse than what you'd get at a teahouse. I always buy one for breakfast after my run."

As he spoke, he quickened his pace.

"Of course, street vendors also have good stuff. The earliest sticky rice chicken was also sold by people carrying it on a shoulder pole on the street," Zhou Yu said.

"I feel like I made the right choice to meet you today. You have to take me to find more delicious food around here in the future! Oh, we're here, it's that stall over there."

Upon seeing the glutinous rice chicken stall, Chen Mingyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now, his stomach could finally enjoy something real.

Before even reaching the stall, he was already calling out, "Boss, two servings of sticky rice chicken, and two cups of soy milk, please! Hey, Zhou Yu, anything else?"

When Chen Mingyuan arrived at the stall, he found that the owner had changed again.

He couldn't help but ask, "Huh? Is that young man from before gone?"

"That's my brother. He went to the restroom, so I'm watching his stall for him," Yang Jingda said.

Zhou Yu was also somewhat surprised when he arrived at the stall.

He recognized Yang Jingda. Wasn't this the man who had bought wonton noodles from his stall the night before last?

However, he didn't think much of it and just said to Chen Mingyuan, "One sticky rice chicken is enough. Sticky rice chicken is too greasy. Any more and we won't be able to eat it."

Yang Jingda panicked when he saw Zhou Yu; he hadn't expected to run into Zhou Yu.

Before he could even inform Sun Zhigang, he saw customers starting to arrive at the stall, and Sun Zhigang jogged back.

"Would you like to order an extra char siu bao? My char siu bao is really good, really good, delicious, delicious."

Upon seeing Zhou Yu, he began to stammer.

Zhou Yu didn't say anything, just smiled at him, and then he and Chen Mingyuan walked away with the packaged glutinous rice chicken and soy milk.

At this moment, he finally understood why Sun Zhigang's wish task had suddenly appeared on his wish task list the day before yesterday.

"How is it? Isn't it delicious?"

After taking a delicious bite of the sticky rice chicken, Chen Mingyuan felt much better after his stomach acid was relieved.

Zhou Yu looked at the sticky rice chicken in his hand; it was perfectly intact and still piping hot. The lotus leaf was slightly damp.

He unfolded the lotus leaf, which was half-wet from being soaked in oil, and found that not a single grain of glutinous rice had stuck to it.

Taking a gentle bite, the glutinous rice was completely infused with the juices secreted by the filling, and the umami flavor of the chicken, the sweetness of the char siu, and the fragrance of the shiitake mushrooms were all very rich.

Although the filling isn't immediately apparent in one bite, chicken, char siu, shrimp, and pork gradually emerge with each second and third bite.

The only downside was that the chicken wasn't deboned and was rather dry, indicating it wasn't freshly slaughtered.

However, for four yuan a piece of glutinous rice chicken, it has all the necessary fillings, so what more could you ask for? It's a great deal.

"It's really delicious. His method is a very traditional way of making glutinous rice chicken," Zhou Yu said. "If it were made in a teahouse, the chicken would fall off the bone and the ingredients would be better, but it only costs four yuan, so those aren't any drawbacks."

"Haha, although I really love eating sticky rice chicken, I still have to say, it's really a bit strange that you guys turn rice into a dessert."

"Haven't you heard the saying from Lingnan?" Zhou Yu said, "Lingnan has four great inventions: congee, noodles, rice. And it's not just rice; each of these four can be extended into at least hundreds of ways of cooking. Moreover, it covers morning tea, rice markets, and late-night snacks."

He stared blankly at Chen Mingyuan.

Zhou Yu laughed and said, "Even plain porridge, rice noodles, vegetarian noodles, and plain rice have various different flavors and combinations."

Chen Mingyuan couldn't help but sigh, "It seems my biggest gain from running today is meeting you. Enough said, next time you take me out to eat, I'll pay."

"Now I'm going to teach you another aspect of Lingnan culture." Zhou Yu opened his phone and said, "It's a split-the-bill system, the so-called 'even close brothers should keep clear accounts.' Open your payment code, and I'll transfer the money for breakfast to you."

On the other side, Yang Jingda only came to his senses after watching Zhou Yu and the others walk away.

He subconsciously made a throat-slitting gesture, then said to Sun Zhigang:

"Brother Gang, how about we take him out?"