Food: Starting with Wonton Noodles

The rise of Lee Gardens is a legendary story.

Lee Garden's founder, Chan Shu-kit, was not actually a chef by training, but due to his prominent family background, he had eaten countless delicacies and developed an extremely discerning palate.

Because of his lifelong love of food, he decided to start his own restaurant at the age of 38, but because he didn't know anything about cooking, Lee Garden lost money for ten consecutive years.

At nearly fifty years old, he decided to learn to cook himself. In just three years, he conquered the kitchen and led a group of chefs to create a large number of new Cantonese dishes based on the tradition.

For example, the use of XO sauce, and the main dish of baked lobster with cheese noodles, which is now an essential part of Lingnan family meals.

Lee Garden's innovative and fusion concepts have also influenced the development of Chinese cuisine to some extent.

It can be said that after the millennium, most of the well-known restaurants in Lingnan, and even the most famous high-end restaurants across the country, had their own disciples or followers from Lee Garden.

Looking back now, Chen Shujie's extraordinary life seems more like someone who has obtained a "God of Cookery System" than Zhou Yu.

......

Mango pomelo sago was one of the Cantonese desserts that Lee Gardens created back then.

In the 1980s, Hong Kong Island witnessed the rise of Cantonese cuisine due to the influx of chefs from Lingnan, but this also fostered a relatively conservative culinary philosophy.

At that time, the menus for high-end Chinese banquets were relatively simple, and the pairings of side dishes and desserts were not as coordinated as those for Western cuisine.

The desserts that restaurants can make are still limited to lotus seed and lily bulb soup, sesame paste, red and green bean paste, and double-skin milk.

They are either too hot or too sweet, making them difficult to pair well with banquet meals.

Against this backdrop, Lee Garden recreated popular Southeast Asian fruits and ingredients such as mango, coconut milk, pomelo, and sago using Cantonese cold dish and dessert techniques, thus inventing Mango Pomelo Sago.

The original version of Mango Pomelo Sago did not include ice cream or milkshake. The overall flavor was light and refreshing, with a predominantly fruity aroma.

The purpose is to make up for the lack of desserts in high-end Cantonese banquets, which serve as a refreshing and finishing touch to the meal.

The name "Yangzhi Ganlu" is derived from the story of Guanyin's willow branch and jade bottle, which bestow sweet dew upon the world.

As Zhou Yu explained, Chen Mingyuan also began to eat the mango pomelo sago that Cheng Yin had not eaten.

Unlike the mango pomelo sago he had eaten at this restaurant before, although it was the same dessert made with the same ingredients.

But Zhou Yu's arrangement was clearly more aesthetically pleasing to him.

The first thing that catches the eye is the soft golden color of the mango flesh, and the sago pearls look like tiny glass balls floating on the coconut milk.

The bright orange grapefruit pulp, hidden beneath the coconut milk, resembles lava about to erupt.

Chen Mingyuan carefully scooped up a spoonful of soup with a spoon. The taste was sweet mango and creamy coconut milk.

Just as the two flavors are about to fill your mouth, the crushed grapefruit pieces release a slightly bitter fruity acid, which then neutralizes the sweetness of the coconut milk and cream.

Then the bitterness of the grapefruit turned into a sweet aftertaste.

As you bite into the chewy sago pearls, the soft and bouncy texture blends the flavors of various fruits together.

At this moment, only three words remained in Chen Mingyuan's mind: clear, moist, and transparent.

The midday heat brought by the sun was instantly dispelled.

He couldn't help but exclaim, "It's delicious!"

He tried to find the words to describe it, but couldn't think of anything at all.

However, he was glad that he went out to eat today and didn't eat the terrible food in the hospital cafeteria, otherwise he would have missed out on such delicious desserts.

However, his happiness didn't last long before he remembered what the breakfast stall owner had said when he went to eat glutinous rice chicken after running with Zhou Yu a couple of days ago.

The person said that Zhou Yu's wonton noodles were especially delicious, but because of my initial impression, I didn't write down the address of Zhou Yu's stall.

If Zhou Yu's desserts are this delicious, how could his wonton noodles sold at his stall be any worse? Could it be that I've missed something?

Thinking of this, he asked somewhat embarrassedly, "Zhou Yu, I remember you were selling wonton noodles at a stall, right? Where did you sell your wonton noodles?"

Before Zhou Yu could speak, Jiang Yan answered for him: "Brother Yu has a stall at the entrance of Ocean University. You can find it by going to Haojiaxuan Convenience Store."

Seeing Chen Mingyuan silently taking notes on his phone, she added earnestly, "Yu-ge's wonton noodles are delicious. His desserts are also very good. Yes, all of Yu-ge's dishes are delicious."

Zhou Yu asked with some curiosity, "Mingyuan, do you work nearby?"

Chen Mingyuan put his phone away and then laughed, "Yes, I work at the People's Hospital. I'm an attending physician in the oncology department. The food in the hospital cafeteria is terrible, so many of us doctors like to eat here."

Zhou Yu then realized what was happening.

When Zhou Yu got home, he found that Zhou Weiqiang hadn't gone to work yet either, and he and Cao Xuezhen were watching TV in the living room while waiting for him.

Before the two could ask, he said directly, "Hmm, it's not really appropriate."

Seeing that the two wanted to ask something else, Zhou Yu continued, "It's really not suitable. It's not that I'm just being perfunctory."

Zhou Weiqiang and Cao Xuezhen exchanged a glance and then stopped asking questions.

Zhou Weiqiang got up to change his shoes, then said to Cao Xuezhen, "I'll ask Qiming later. I'm going to work now."

......

To Zhou Yu's surprise, Chen Mingyuan came to his stall after get off work that evening.

He thought Chen Mingyuan wouldn't arrive for at least two days.

Chen Mingyuan explained with a smile, "Our department is quite busy, and we don't have much time to work overtime at night. Tonight is relatively early, so I came directly to find you."

At Zhou Yu's suggestion, he ordered a bowl of wonton noodles, a bowl of smashed cucumber, and a bowl of double-skin milk pudding.

Chen Mingyuan first ate the double-skin milk pudding made by Zhou Yu. Unlike the mango pomelo sago he had for lunch, the double-skin milk pudding was made entirely by Zhou Yu and was in its most perfect condition.

The smooth and tender milk flavor of double-skin milk, along with the triple texture of two layers of skin, completely awakened Chen Mingyuan's taste buds.

Then wonton noodles and smashed cucumber were served together.

He first took a sip of soup, then hesitated for a moment before picking up a piece of noodles with his chopsticks.

Although he was already very convinced of Zhou Yu's culinary skills, he still couldn't forget the taste of the bowl of wonton noodles he ate when he first came to Lingnan.

Zhou Yu: "If you don't like the taste of alkaline water, you can use a spoon to scoop a spoonful of red Zhejiang vinegar to eat with it."

Upon hearing Zhou Yu's words, Chen Mingyuan immediately poured red vinegar onto his spoon, picked up another mouthful of noodles, dipped it in the red vinegar, and ate it.

His eyes lit up instantly. The bamboo-pressed noodles were incredibly refreshing and chewy, and with the subtle red vinegar, he couldn't taste any alkaline flavor at all.

All he could taste was the rich aroma of eggs and the chewy texture that was different from that of northern-style noodles.

He tried a bite of the taste without vinegar, and this time he tasted the alkaline water, but it wasn't harsh on his throat at all.

He suddenly realized that he didn't actually hate the taste of alkaline water that much.

Then, as he put the wonton in his mouth, accompanied by the aroma of shrimp and lean meat, crab roe began to dance in his mouth.

With the lingering aroma of eggs, the fresh flavors of crab roe and shrimp instantly permeate the senses.

It's delicious!