Food: Starting with Wonton Noodles

In the evening, after closing up shop for the day, Zhou Yu reopened the system to check:

Chef System

Today's satisfied customers: 170 (Click to view detailed customer wish list)

[Wishlist tasks claimed/Completed: 2/0]

[Recipe already mastered: (Click to view details)]

Today's settlement rewards:

[Today's Customer Satisfaction Rewards: Eight-Treasure Stuffed Tofu Recipe (to be claimed); Sister E's Rice Noodle Recipe (to be claimed)]

[Basic Settlement Bonus: If the number of paid customer orders reaches 100 today, the sales revenue will be quadrupled.]

Zhou Yu was somewhat disappointed that the recipe he received as a system reward tonight was tofu again.

I was hoping there might be some special reward tonight to help me with Chen Mingyuan's patients tomorrow.

Even after Zhou Yu memorized the two recipes, he felt no surprise.

The only thing he found interesting was the "Sister E's Pink Fruit" dessert.

In Lingnan, fen guo is a very traditional snack, and it is also a common delicacy during festivals and celebrations near the provincial capital.

The reason why the fruit is named after Sister E is mainly because she improved the fruit to be more refined, which made it popular.

Legend has it that Sister E was a self-combed female chef from SD who was hired by a wealthy family in Xiguan, Guangzhou.

Later, after the dish was successfully improved, it was operated in partnership with the Tea Fragrance Room, which was a well-known story at the time.

Zhou Yu had some understanding of the self-combing women in Lingnan in the past, but this was the first time he had heard of self-combing women going to people's homes to work as cooks.

However, he quickly remembered the movie "A Simple Life" starring Liu Hua.

In the movie, the real-life inspiration for Sister Peach is a self-combing woman who is also the family cook for the protagonist's family.

It seems that it's still quite common for self-combed women to work as home cooks.

Zhou Yu clicked to claim the double sales bonus for today. Tonight, they sold 133 bowls of wonton noodles, with a total sales revenue of 7120 yuan.

......

The next day, after completing his regular bodyweight strength training, Zhou Yu headed straight for Shunyi Tower.

Dinghu Shangsu was not only a famous dish of the four major restaurants in the past, but also a true vegetarian dish. It originated in the kitchen of Qingyun Temple in Dinghu Mountain.

Legend has it that Empress Dowager Cixi loved this dish after tasting it and included it as one of the dishes in the Manchu Han Imperial Feast.

However, this claim is based on misinformation and cannot be guaranteed to be true. Nevertheless, it does offer a glimpse into the deliciousness and intricate preparation of the Dinghu vegetarian dish.

Dinghu Shangsu also has another name, San Gu Liu Er, which means that the main ingredients are three kinds of mushrooms and six kinds of ear mushrooms.

The three types of mushrooms are: North Mushroom, Straw Mushroom, and Mushroom; the six types of ear fungus are: Snow Fungus, Elm Fungus, Rock Fungus, Yellow Fungus, Wood Fungus, and Osmanthus Fungus.

However, the preparation of Dinghu vegetarian dishes actually involves more than just these nine ingredients; there are nearly twenty kinds of vegetarian ingredients.

Some versions even add nine more bamboo shoots and one bamboo fungus to the three mushrooms and six ear fungus. That is, nine more kinds of bamboo shoots and bamboo fungus.

Zhou Yu's version is relatively traditional and does not involve adding nine bamboo shoots and one sheng (a type of bamboo shoot).

Even with just three types of mushrooms and six types of fungus, it's difficult to find them all. Fortunately, when Shunyilou was recreating traditional dishes recently, they prepared the ingredients for Dinghu vegetarian cuisine, as well as dried goods for preservation.

Different types of mushrooms require different processing methods and soaking times, making the entire preparation process quite complicated. Therefore, Zhou Yu decided to arrive at Shunyi Restaurant in advance to prepare.

When Zhou Yu arrived at Shunyi Tower, he was surprised to find that Sun Zhigang had arrived there even earlier than him.

Upon seeing Zhou Yu arrive, Zhang Rong smiled and said, "Good morning, Master Yu! Is this your apprentice? This young man is very energetic! He came so early in the morning."

Zhou Yu: "Good morning, Brother Rong!"

He didn't deny Zhang Rong's words, but not seeing Liang Ding, he couldn't help but ask, "Hasn't Master Ding come up yet today?"

Zhang Rong: "Dingye has some things to do today, he'll be here a little later."

Zhang Rong led Zhou Yu and the other man into the kitchen to change into chef's uniforms, and then said, "But don't worry, Master Yu, everything has been arranged by Master Ding, including the four kinds of mushrooms you asked us to soak last night, which are all soaked now."

The four types of dried fungus—elm ear, yellow ear, rock ear, and wood ear—must be soaked in spring water overnight.

When Zhou Yu called yesterday, he also explained everything.

After changing his clothes, Zhou Yu went into the kitchen to begin preparing the ingredients.

In addition to the four types of mushrooms that have been soaked in advance, the other ingredients also need to be soaked.

Snow fungus and osmanthus fungus need to be soaked for three hours; shiitake mushrooms and button mushrooms need to be soaked for twenty minutes.

Straw mushrooms should be soaked for 15 minutes, while bamboo fungus should be soaked for 30 minutes.

After asking Sun Zhigang to help with the timing, Zhou Yu took out an earthenware pot and poured in half a pound of soybeans and half a pound of shiitake mushroom stems to make the broth for the vegetarian dishes at Dinghu.

The broth needs to be prepared for three hours. While the broth is simmering and the various mushrooms are soaking, Zhou Yu first blanched the raw gluten (fried gluten) in boiling water with a little alkaline solution for five minutes.

Then rinse off the alkaline taste with clean water and soak it in spring water for an hour.

Lotus seeds are also boiled thoroughly in water with added alkali, and then the lotus skin and lotus heart are removed.

Then transfer the lotus seeds to a small stew pot and stew for an hour.

Next, cut the soft root (gluten) into coin shapes, cut the tenderest heart part of the vegetable, slice the white fungus, and cut the bamboo shoots into various leaf and begonia shapes for later use.

Only after completing all the tedious preparations did Zhou Yu have some free time.

Taking the opportunity, Zhang Rong asked, "Master Yu, I noticed that the ingredients you use to make the broth are different from what we have now. Is there any reason for that?"

Zhou Yu: "Well, there's not much to say, this information is enough."

Zhang Rong asked doubtfully, "Wouldn't it be more flavorful with more broth ingredients?"

Zhou Yu pointed to the various soaking ingredients and said, "Aren't these ingredients fresh enough? Actually, the current version of Dinghu Vegetarian Cuisine is becoming more and more complicated. It looks exquisite, but the layers of flavor have been messed up. Not to mention the diners, even we chefs, how many of us can taste so many different flavors?"

Zhang Rong was speechless.

Zhou Yu: "So, sometimes it's not that the more complicated it is, the better. Haven't you noticed that the dish Dinghu Shangsu is not lost, but because it's become more and more complicated, fewer and fewer shops are making it? What's even more interesting is that some people think it's not selling well because it's not complicated enough, so they continue to add more ingredients as so-called innovations."

After the two finished their discussion, Sun Zhigang reminded Zhou Yu that all three mushrooms had been soaked for a sufficient amount of time.

......

G City People's Hospital.

A certain inpatient ward area.

After completing a series of physical examinations, Liao Boxuan, as usual, prepared to go downstairs for a walk.

However, this time he did not have his assistant push him down.

Instead, he only allowed Chen Mingyuan to follow him.

Chen Mingyuan said, "Old Liao, what time should we go over there? Zhou Yu just called and told me that he has already started making preparations over there."

Liao Boxuan laughed and said, "There shouldn't be a rush. Didn't you say you were making Dinghu Shangsu and Huguo Cuisine? Dinghu Shangsu can't be made that quickly."