Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

A few minutes later, Shan Wei also arrived at the restaurant.

Zhou Wen also got a bowl of rice.

Dan Wei can only have that one meal in the morning when the store releases new products.

Normally, I would wake up, quickly wash up, and head to the restaurant.

When making new dishes, you definitely need to taste them first. Otherwise, if the taste is not up to standard and you serve it to diners directly, it will cause problems.

As for Shi Ying's words.

When there are no new products in the restaurant, people usually just grab a bite at a roadside breakfast stall on their way to the restaurant.

Zhou Wen thought it tasted good at first bite, but the more he ate, the more greasy it felt, even unbearably so.

Even with pickled cabbage and green vegetables to cut through the greasiness, it did nothing to help.

"Does Shih Ying find it greasy?"

Yes, I will.

Unlike before, this time Shi Ying felt the greasiness very clearly, and there was still more than half a bowl of pork knuckle left in the pork trotter rice.

"The first bite was fine, but the more I ate, the more greasy it became, and I felt like I couldn't eat anymore."

Shi Ying felt a little embarrassed. She had been looking forward to this bowl of braised pork trotters rice, but now there was still so much left.

"Where's Shan Wei?" Zhou Wen asked, turning his head to look at Shan Wei.

As a boy, I hadn't eaten breakfast, so it was alright.

"Would it be better if the boss ate it with garlic?" Shan Wei suggested.

Dan Wei's words gave Zhou Wen an idea: he could indeed offer the guests a few cloves of garlic.

However, garlic cloves are not very popular in the south, and most diners may not be used to eating them.

The idea is still good; you can offer garlic cloves to the guests, whether they need them or not is another matter.

However, the specific problems still need to be solved by addressing the root causes.

Zhou Wen took another bite of the pork knuckle, savoring it carefully, hoping to find the problem.

The pork knuckle actually has a sweet taste overall, and this sweetness is quite noticeable.

It's possible that the sweetness combined with the richness of the meat amplified the overall greasiness.

"I've added too much sugar. I'll reduce the amount when I stew it tomorrow," Zhou Wen thought to himself.

You can also pay more attention to the process during production.

In addition to leafy greens and pickled vegetables, you can also add some dried radish.

As for the forelegs, they may not be as greasy as pork hocks because they contain some tendons and collagen.

"Don't force yourself if you can't finish it. You can throw it away or reheat it in the afternoon," Zhou Wen said, looking at Shi Ying, who was already having trouble eating.

Shi Ying shook her head and said, "It's such a waste to throw it away. Let's keep it and eat it this afternoon."

Shan Wei, who hadn't eaten breakfast, almost finished a whole bowl of braised pork trotters with rice, leaving only some rice in the end.

"Boss, are these the new dishes for today?" Shan Wei asked.

Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "The taste is a bit off. We might need to adjust the flavor a bit more. Let's do it in a few days."

Dan Wei was a little taken aback. He hadn't expected the boss to have such high standards. This bowl of braised pork trotter rice was definitely delicious.

"Sister Shi Ying, is the boss going to adjust the flavors a bit?" Shan Wei asked quietly after Zhou Wen went to the kitchen.

As a long-time employee, Shi Ying naturally knew that her boss had high standards for her cooking, so she wasn't surprised and replied:

"The owner has always been very particular about the quality of the dishes. This is because he is responsible to his customers. Otherwise, the restaurant wouldn't have so many customers."

"I think the taste is already very good." Shan Wei didn't quite understand, but after saying that, he didn't say anything more and took the empty bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen to put them away.

After resting for a while, Shi Ying and I started cleaning the restaurant.

Shan Wei is already familiar with the overall process, but he hasn't yet shown a particularly serious work attitude.

Take cleaning as an example. Shi Ying would often clean the places that Shan Wei had cleaned again.

……

……

As the store was about to close in the afternoon, there were still two tables of customers inside, who were considered regulars.

"Shi Ying, serve these two plates of braised pork knuckle to those two guests," Zhou Wen said.

Shi Ying blinked and asked, "Is it free from the boss?"

Zhou Wen nodded and said, "Yes. Otherwise, we might not be able to finish all this meat, and it wouldn't be good to waste it. Let's give it to these regular customers to go with their meals."

Zhou Wen didn't give out much pork knuckle meat, only five or six slices.

The main purpose is to let the guests taste the food first and see what their feedback is.

After completely closing the shop and cleaning up, Zhou Wen and his two companions sat in the front hall to eat.

Shi Ying ate the leftover braised pork trotters rice from breakfast, which Zhou Wen helped heat up.

Zhou Wen and Shan Wei ate other dishes, including side dishes like Sichuan peppercorn chicken and pork knuckle.

"Boss, the feedback from those two tables of customers was quite good."

Zhou Wen nodded. Actually, the braised pork knuckle tasted pretty good to begin with; it was just that it got a bit greasy at the end.

In fact, most braised pork knuckle rice dishes are like this; the more you eat, the greasier they become. It's impossible to completely eliminate this greasiness, but Zhou Wen still wanted to reduce the greasiness a bit further.

Perhaps the price and portion size allow these diners to overlook the final greasiness.

But Zhou Wen clearly didn't want to settle for less.

Besides, it's free anyway, so the guests naturally won't say anything bad.

The same thing happened in the evening. When the restaurant was about to close, Zhou Wen gave the last of the braised pork knuckles to the diners.

Zhou Wen, who had nothing to do, also went out of the kitchen to get some fresh air and chat with the diners in the restaurant.

Zhou Wen leaned against the doorway, not smoking, afraid that the smell of smoke would blow into the shop with the wind; he just teased the rice balls with his foot.

I don't know if the rice ball is worried, but it always disappears without a trace when the restaurant is crowded, and then reappears at the restaurant entrance when it's time to close.

"Boss, is this a new product? Or did you just make it for yourself?"

The speaker was a regular customer who was almost always eating at the restaurant at this time of night. Zhou Wen, on the other hand, usually didn't have much to do at this time and was just out getting some fresh air.

So the two of them would often chat for a few minutes.

Zhou Wen turned to the side and said, "New products. If things go smoothly, they'll be available in the next day or two."

"We have to wait until tomorrow or the day after?" a diner said with some regret.

Zhou Wen nodded: "The flavor might not be quite right now; it needs some adjustments."

Upon hearing this, the diner joked, "Does the flavor need further adjustment? Boss, are you making this for the gods?"

"By the way, is this a standalone dish, or...?"

"Braised pork knuckle rice".

The diner suddenly realized what he meant, then nodded and said, "Then I'm really looking forward to it."

……