Chapter 113: 100 Styles of Rice Cuisine
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
Anyhow, Yue Yueli was a girl. Being requested repeatedly by the boss to leave, she would naturally turn around and get out while still murmuring in her mouth, “With such expensive dishes and such a small restaurant, how is it possible that people would come to eat?”
However, after saying this sentence, she was immediately astounded by the crowd that instantly squeezed into the restaurant.
Stunned, she found the small restaurant was truly filled to brim with customers after standing at the entrance for a little while.
“Luckily that my words weren’t heard by the boss just now.” With this, Yue Yueli didn’t have the mood to wander about anymore. Therefore, she asked for directions and walked out of the street.
This group of people was the audience of the live broadcast yesterday. They were organized by the wealthy Amisa to come to Yuan Zhou’s restaurant for a meal.
With the help of the contest and the ten customers’ enquiries, Yuan Zhou eventually completed the third stage of the mission and, afterward, received the reward of 100 Styles of Rice Cuisine.
“What kind of rice is provided this time?” Yuan Zhou was in urgent need for top-notch ingredient rewarded by the system in order to comfort his wounded heart which was caused when he had just obtained the Taste-Free Chopsticks.
The system displayed, “The rice provided this time is Yang Xi Zao breed of the Jing Shan Qiao Rice. The harvest was likewise the least among all local breeds.”
“As a specialty of Jiangshan County in the Land of Jingchu, Jing Shan Qiao Rice got the name from its place of origin in Sunqiao Town of Jingshan County. The rice particles are long and slender, shiny and clean, tasty and non-sticky, and fragrant and delicious. Therefore, it was designated by the royal house to be used to pay tribute from as early as in Ming dynasty.
“Of the Jing Shan Qiao Rice, the Yang Xi Zao breed was characterized by its dryness, completeness, maturity and whiteness. The green stem of the rice was jade in color and its white belly was extremely small. Besides, the long and slender, shiny and clean quality makes the rice a treasure that was seldom encountered. The steamed rice cooked by the grains is loose and soft, tangy and fragrant, delicious and non-sticky. Furthermore, it had an abundance of nutrients and was best fit for making the diversified rice foods.”
“As expected, it’s again the rice for the royal house.” Yuan Zhou felt himself to be quite a calm person. If not for his excited actions in turning the kitchen upside down to look for the rice, it would have been more convincing.
Written at the upper part of a cabinet next to the one for the wheat grains for Egg Fried Rice were several words, 100 Styles of Rice Cuisine, which was considered to be the rewarded rice this time.
As for the 100 cooking ways of rice, Yuan Zhou had already tacitly understood each of them, thinking that he would eat one particular type each day later. For some of the cooking ways, Yuan Zhou had never even heard of them, which in turn widened his experience.
The several words of “100 Styles of Rice Cuisine” were also added in the menu on the wall.
100 Styles of Rice Cuisine, 98 RMB per serving
At 5:00 in the afternoon, Yuan Zhou started to do business. It seemed that he forgot one thing, that is, it was Saturday today and the two people who basically came regularly every Saturday came again today.
“Mu Mu, listen to me. Last time, Boss Yuan won the cooking contest. It was said to be quite spectacular. When we go back home, I will look for the video for you to watch. Just don’t be angry, ok?” The duck-like quacking voice of Wu Zhou could be clearly heard even from a distance.
At least, Yuan Zhou had always felt the voice of Wu Zhou could be compared to the quacking voice of ducks when he intentionally lowered his voice and pretended to be charming.
“Then are you going to be good to me from now on?” while pinching the soft flesh on Wu Zhou’s waist, Zhuang Xinmu threatened.
“Yes, absolutely,” pretending to be in severe pain, Wu Zhou agreed ceaselessly with a pathetic expression.
The two people approached Yuan Zhou’s restaurant while shouting and laughing. Yuan Zhou nevertheless asked seriously, “What do you want to eat?”
“Boss Yuan is still as serious as before. It’s not good for you. You should be happy and smile more frequently.”With his girlfriend beside him, Wu Zhou appeared to be showing off a lot and even began to make jokes about Yuan Zhou.
“No need,” having decisively refused him, Yuan Zhou’s tone became more solemn.
“Ok. Hurry up and sit down; otherwise, the number of customers will increase in a while,” standing at the side, Zhuang Xinmu pulled the edge of Wu Zhou’s clothes.
“Alright. Mu Mu, check the menu and tell me which one you want to eat.” With a complaisant smile on his face, Wu Zhou immediately turned his head and waited for Zhuang Xinmu to choose her favorite dishes
As a ranking member of FFF league, Yuan Zhou disdainfully glanced at Wu Zhou’s doggy manner towards his girlfriend and continued maintaining his usual seriousness.
“Gee, 100 Styles of Rice Cuisine? Is this a new dish? What does it mean?” Zhuang Xinmu was quite familiar with Yuan Zhou’s menu, thus immediately found the new dish.
“It might mean a name for cooked rice?” Wu Zhou asked tentatively.
His girlfriend didn’t trust his speculation and thus prepared to ask Yuan Zhou directly.
“Boss Yuan, what does that mean, the one called 100 Styles of Rice Cuisine?” Zhuang Xinmu asked.
“It’s literally what it’s supposed to mean.” Yuan Zhou straightforwardly answered.
“Eh, is it really the name of a particular rice cuisine?” Wu Zhou still believed his speculation was right.
“It should be the 100 ways of cooking rice?” After thinking for a while, Zhuang Xinmu said to Yuan Zhou.
This time, Yuan Zhou gave her a simple nod, affirming her speculation.
If one were to say that there were a 100 ways of cooking rice, most people would probably believe that. They just didn’t know which method it was.
“What kind of cooking ways? Does it include porridge?” Actually, Zhuang Xinmu preferred to drink porridge. As her mom was from the south and their breakfast was always porridge, with Southern snacks sometimes.
“No, it doesn’t include that. It’s limited to only the cooking ways of rice. You can add flavorings but cannot add side dishes.” Yuan Zhou gave a supplementary explanation to her.
“That’s fine. I want a serving of Fried Rice Patties. Boss Yuan should know the way of cooking, right?” Zhuang Xinmu asked with a mischievous expression.
This place was located in the southwest. Therefore, this dish name, which sounded to be a kind of snack, was rather unfamiliar. Obviously, Zhuang Xinmu did this on purpose.
She just wanted to see the expression of Yuan Zhou when he wasn’t able to cook it.
She would never have thought that Yuan Zhou still remained calm and say, “Sure, wait a moment, please.”
When she found Yuan Zhou actually knew how to cook it, she got a little surprised. Thinking of the Jin’ling cuisines, however, she immediately understood.
Wu Zhou just stood at the side and watched them. He hadn’t eaten the Fried Rice Patties before either, hence said hurriedly, “I want a serving of that dish too.” Only after ordering his dish did he sit down and wait there.
Fried Rice Patties was matter-of-factly a traditional snack which was especially popular in the area south of the Yangtze River. It was a deep fried pastry, usually cooked for breakfast.
Of course, Yuan Zhou had a good knowledge of the snack. Perfect Fried Rice Patties were characterized by the golden yellow external layer along with the snowy internal layer of cooked soft rice, giving it a fragrant taste and crisp feeling when being bit. Chewed in the mouth, the Fried Rice Patties gave crisp, salty and fresh texture without any greasy feeling even though it was fried with oil.
He took out some Jing Shan Qiao Rice, washed them clean and threw them into a high-temperature ceramic rice cooker. After that, he added some water until the water level was 5 cm above the rice and added some fragrant well salt. Having heated the cooker on high heat first, he then turned down the flames and kept heating the cooker for another 10 minutes. At this time, the lid of the cooker needed to be removed, thus the fragrance of the cooked rice naturally floated slowly into the noses of the several people.
“What kind of rice is it? With such a fragrant flavor, it feels that I can even eat at least two bowls of the plain rice,” while inhaling the scent of the rice, Wu Zhou asked directly.
However, Yuan Zhou pretended not to hear that and didn’t give him any answer.
“It’s likely to be some new crops of rice. My mum has once said some new crops of rice in the area south of the Yangtze River were quite fragrant to cook,” Zhuang Xinmu said hesitantly.
“Yeah, yeah. Mu Mu is always right,” Wu Zhou responded primly.
“With such heavy fragrance, it must have been cooked with new crops of rice and spring mountain water.” Now, Zhuang Xinmu’s expression appeared to be more firm.
On this point, Zhuang Xinmu definitely speculated correctly. It was indeed new crops of rice being cooked with spring mountain water. It was just that this spring mountain water was the flowing spring water from deep within the mountains, hence free from any pollution or peculiar smells, while the rice was Yang Xi Zao, a breed of the Jing Shan Qiao Rice.
Soon the rice was well cooked. He then poured them into a square wooden plate and made them into two shaped pastries of identical size. After setting them down in a special place for cooling, Yuan Zhou began to prepare the oil and wok for frying.
The oil that Yuan Zhou had poured into the wok was just enough to submerge the two rectangle soap-sized shaped pastries. When the oil was heated until it boiled, the shaped pastries had also cooled properly. Then, Yuan Zhou slid the two pastries along the verge of the oil into the wok and began to fry them.
During the process, he stirred the oil lightly with the spoon. At that time, the main hall was again free of any greasy smell.
After turning to golden yellow color, the Fried Rice Patties took shape. Yuan Zhou directly scooped them up and shook his hand quickly during the process. When they were laid out on the square plate, there was no excessive oil, leaving only the golden yellow and delicious Fried Rice Patties emitting a tempting fragrance.
It greatly stirred some appetites…