Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

Shi Ying pointed to the dish of chili peppers and said, "Boss, chicken skin dipped in chili peppers is delicious."

Zhou Wen smiled; the bowl of chicken skin he had given Shi Ying was now almost empty.

Although this chicken skin is said to be delicious, Zhou Wen doesn't know if everyone can actually accept this fried chicken skin.

After all, no one would eat chicken skin on its own; it's greasy and has a slightly strange texture.

Zhou Wen wasn't sure if customers would buy it if it were sold separately.

It opens at noon.

"Fried chicken skin? Is this edible?" The diner smiled.

Back in 07, they fried the chicken skin separately and sold it. Aside from Zhouji Restaurant and a few other food stalls, it was probably hard to find anywhere else that sold it.

"Where is this cuisine from?"

"This was something the boss researched himself."

This customer had only recently started dining at Zhouji Restaurant.

The diner's expression was slightly exaggerated: "Can you eat chicken skin? I usually skim it off separately when I eat chicken."

Fortunately, Zhou Wen had already come up with a solution when the business opened: food tasting.

"You can try it first and see how it tastes."

"There are also free samples?"

"Okay, please wait a moment."

Soon Shi Ying came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of fried chicken skin.

When the diners saw the plate of fried chicken skin, they nodded to themselves in approval.

Both in terms of color and aroma, it looks quite similar.

Then I took a piece with my hand and put it in my mouth.

Looking at Shi Ying, he couldn't help but say, "Hey! Not bad."

The diner thought about having another piece, but felt a little embarrassed.

So he asked, "How much is a serving of chicken skin?"

"A small portion is seven yuan, and a large portion is thirteen yuan."

The diner thought for a moment, then asked, "What goes well with this chicken skin?"

This question stumped Shi Ying.

This chicken skin is like a snack. If it were just for myself, I would probably order a large portion of fried chicken skin and pair it with a bottle of soda.

"You can try pairing it with hot and sour noodles."

"Okay, then I'll have a bowl of hot and sour noodles and a small portion of fried chicken skin. If you're having hot and sour noodles, could you also give me a fried egg?"

Fried foods like fried chicken skin will lose much of their flavor if left out for too long.

The main issue is crispness.

So Zhou Wen blew it up once before opening, though not very thoroughly.

When a customer orders chicken skin, just fry it again.

"What's the use of this little dish?" The diner asked curiously about the small dish that Shi Ying had brought over.

"You can scoop some of each of these seasonings on the table and put them on this small dish. The chicken skin can be dipped in these seasonings, which will make it taste even better," Shi Ying explained.

The diner nodded, understanding the purpose of the plate.

Zhou Wen had already added some cumin powder and white sesame seeds to the fried chicken skin that was served.

This fried chicken skin... well, it's true that some things, like sliced ​​beef and tripe in chili sauce and hand-shredded Sichuan peppercorn chicken, are considered appetizers. It would be perfect if we could have a bottle of wine with it.

The diners were somewhat annoyed, wishing they had brought a bottle of beer with them.

After eating a few more pieces, the diners prepared to add some of the condiments on the table, as Shi Ying suggested.

Thinking about it, I put a spoonful of white sugar into the dish, then picked up a piece of chicken skin and dipped it in.

"Wow! This is a completely different feeling." The diner nodded as he savored the food.

Then he scooped a spoonful of chili sauce, sweet chili sauce, and other condiments from the table into his dish.

I then tried them one by one, and each seasoning tasted different.

If you had to say which one is the best, it would be really hard for diners to choose.

each has its own Hobby.

This fried chicken skin is really good.

Fried chicken skin is indeed a hard thing for many people to accept, but some loyal diners of certain restaurants will naturally try it no matter how good or bad it is.

After trying it, everyone was pleasantly surprised and gave it positive reviews.

The worst thing about fried chicken skin is that it's greasy, since it's a deep-fried food.

Fortunately, Zhou Wen was careful to control the oil while frying, and he also used a slotted spoon to drain the oil when the food was taken out of the pan.

In addition, the seasonings and condiments masked some of the greasiness.

The fried chicken skin was unexpectedly delicious.

……

In the evening, Li Lichun and several of his coworkers, including Lao Wang, went to Zhouji Restaurant.

Ever since Zhouji Restaurant started serving sliced ​​beef and tripe in chili sauce and roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), the group of friends would get together every few days, ordering only these cold dishes instead of other main dishes.

If you're still not full, then have a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) to finish off the meal.

The group, each carrying two bottles of wine, found a place to sit down.

"Fried chicken skin?"

"Yes, it's a new item in the store, a snack to go with drinks."

Their eyes lit up at the mention of snacks to go with the drinks.

As a regular customer of Zhouji Restaurant, I am also familiar with Zhou Wen.

So Li Lichun said without hesitation, "Then give me a large portion of fried chicken skin."

"Uncle Li, you can try it first," Shi Ying said.

Li Lichun waved his hand: "I know how good Xiao Zhou's cooking is."

"Then, one large portion of sliced ​​beef and tripe in chili sauce and one large portion of hand-shredded Sichuan peppercorn chicken, and one roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) for each of us."

Shi Ying nodded, wrote it down in her notebook, and then went into the kitchen to tell Zhou Wen the dishes.

Soon, dishes such as fried chicken skin and sliced ​​beef and tripe in chili sauce were served one by one.

"Uncle Li, you can scoop some of each of the seasonings on the table into this small dish. Dipping the fried chicken skin in each of these seasonings will result in different flavors."

"Okay."

"Try them all. How about this fried chicken skin?"

Li Lichun also used chopsticks to pick up that piece.

"good!"

Everyone else who finished eating also gave a thumbs up.

"Don't eat it plain, try these dipping sauces. There must be a reason why others say that."

As Shi Ying instructed, Li Lichun added a spoonful of each of the seasonings on the table.

"Let's see if there's any difference after adding these ingredients."

"Yes, it really is different now." Old Wang ate a piece of fried chicken skin dipped in sweet and spicy sauce.

"It has a sweet and spicy flavor now. Not bad, not bad."

The others followed Lao Wang's example and dipped their food in the sauce.

I must say, different ingredients do taste different.

The fried chicken skins were served in just a few minutes, and a large portion was already empty.

Seeing this, Li Lichun asked Shi Ying to order two more portions of fried chicken skin, one large and one small.

The group ate these snacks while drinking and chatting.

Zhou Wen was also somewhat moved when he saw this.

After get off work, going to a restaurant with a few buddies to eat, drink, and chat is a really nice feeling.

At 10:30 p.m., Zhouji Restaurant also closed on time.

Although at the beginning, some customers didn't quite understand, and some customers came back empty-handed.

But gradually everyone got used to it; after all, there was nothing that could be done if they didn't.