The price of the newly bought shop is very cheap, only less than twenty taels of silver, and it is like the sky and the ground with the previous grocery store. But expensive has the advantage of being expensive, and cheap has the disadvantage of being cheap. The reason why this shop is so cheap is because of its location.
If you are not very familiar with the local terrain, it is simply impossible to bypass seven, eight or nine alleys to get here. Qi, who almost passed out in the alley, is now too worried to eat, for fear that her daughter will lose all her money.
Lin Dan comforted her while packing up the tables and chairs: "Mother, don't worry, it's not unreasonable for me to open the store here. Do you look at the shops around?"
"What is it? Casinos, battlefields, docks, and brothels are all low-level places, and the people who come and go are all low-level things. I really don't understand why you want to open your store here. Since the Yan family can't tolerate us , let's leave the capital, so we can have a happy birthday. Mother doesn't want you to fight for any family property, and I don't want you to compare yourself with anything, mother as long as you are safe and sound." Qi shi said as she pulled her daughter's wrist.
Lin Dan patted her soothingly and explained, "The residents of Nancheng are all foreigners, and their identities are indeed complicated, but they are better than those of Beicheng. Don't think that the people of Nancheng are inferior, but in fact, there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers here, and phoenixes rise up. There are all kinds of people, it's not a simple place. If you do business here, it's much better than in the North City. Look at the casino, the arena, the wharf, and the brothel. Are there people coming and going? Natural popularity. Whether a restaurant's business is good or not, cooking skills take the first place, followed by popularity. If cooking skills are good and popular, the business will naturally rise. My cooking skills are here, and I will borrow the popularity of the surrounding area. Don't be afraid of not making any money. You'll know when I open the shop."
"The popularity of the surrounding area is indeed not bad, but you don't want to see if your store can borrow their light. Only this alley has seventeen or eight turns, can people find you here? Open a restaurant on the street. That's good, my mother has never seen a store open in a dead end." Mrs Qi was still worried.
"Jiuxiang isn't afraid of deep alleys, it's not a big problem." Lin Dan chuckled and waved his hands indifferently.
The guy she brought was very quick and easy, and in half a day, the store was tidy up, and a small flag was hung at the door, so that it was possible to do business.
The Junwei man had something to do in the morning and delayed some work. He didn't come until noon. First, he dealt with the local snakes here, and then called for the nearby catchers to take more care of Lin Dan, and then went to the store to report. Of course, these things were done behind Lin Dan's back, lest she have any burden in her heart.
"Why are you here again? You have nothing to do?" Lin Dan looked surprised when he saw the man.
"You never seem to have asked my name?" The man asked without answering.
Lin Dan was stunned for a moment, then chuckled, "Okay, may I ask who is your surname and how old is this eldest brother?"
"I am twenty-six this year. My surname is Tang, Xingjiu. You can call me Brother Tang Jiu, or you can just call me Brother Jiu." The man gave Qi's junior salute, and then picked up the axe to chop wood.
"Tang? This is a good surname." Lin Dan smiled more and more briskly. She is a cook, and she has a natural affection for things that are soupy and watery.
After thinking about it, the man knew what she was laughing at, and his deep eyes couldn't help leaking a little soft light. Even the shared names can be associated with the dishes, and Lin Dan is really "inseparable from the line in three words".
The signboard of the restaurant has already been made by a carpenter, and it can be delivered in the afternoon. Lin Dan has no plans to do business today, so he only asks the servants to carry three large pots to hang the soup, a pot of clear soup, a pot of milk soup, and a pot of stewed soup. . Because the price of the shop is very cheap, she still has a lot of silver left to spend, so she almost ignores the cost of cooking, stuffing the whole chicken and duck into the pot, and adding elbows and pork bones. Boil in water.
"I learned the skill of hanging soup from an old master in the north. Although he is not a royal chef, his cooking skills are very consummate. I learned from him for three years and only learned a little bit. Clear soup should be hanged on a small fire. , the milk soup needs to be washed with a big fire, you have to pay attention when you add firewood." Lin Dan spoke very modestly, but the method of hanging soup was very old-fashioned, boiling, boiling, sweeping, hanging, and the movements were smooth and smooth.
Tang Jiu stared at a few cauldrons with a slightly worried tone: "With so much material, can you earn back the cost?"
Lin Dan said with a light smile, "Don't look at the amount of ingredients I use for these pots of soup, it seems to be a waste of money, but you must know that these pots of soup are enough for me to cook hundreds of dishes, hundreds of bowls of noodles, and I don't waste anything at all. My shop is hidden too deep, and I have to boil some old soup to hang the guests. The so-called 'the fragrance of wine is not afraid of deep alleys', in my case, it is 'the thick soup is not afraid of deep alleys', when the soup is cooked, there will always be someone smelling it Find the taste."
The clear soup and milk soup were all boiled, so Lin Dan put the spice packet into the stewed soup and boiled it over high heat. After boiling for a quarter of an hour, he added the elbows, pork bones, pork belly, pork skin and other items. Block it with a wet wipe to keep the steam from escaping.
"This pot of marinade will be ready to use tomorrow morning after simmering on a low fire, everyone, rest and leave alone to watch the fire." When everything was ready, Lin Dan clapped his hands to dismiss everyone. The caravan still had dry goods to run, and a few servants packed up and left the capital immediately.
Lin Dan was about to make lunch for his mother and Tang Jiu, when a man suddenly ran in outside the door, but it was the second shopkeeper of the Qiaoyuan Restaurant, with an angry expression: "But I found you a liar! You said, you sold my restaurant all What kind of thing, how can it be shoddy!"
"Don't worry little brother, I'll follow you back to Qiaoyuan Restaurant if you have anything to do." Lin Dan not only was not annoyed, but also generously poured a cup of hot tea for the second shopkeeper.
The shop assistant was here to arrest her, so she hurriedly pulled her, but Tang Jiu gave her a cold glance and became timid, so she had to invite her back in a good voice. The fair-skinned and handsome little cook was already waiting in the store. He was obviously a victim, but his skin was very thin, and his tone of crusade was very soft, "There may be something wrong with the ingredients you sold to me, and you can't make the taste of top-quality ingredients. Try it, it's made with the wide belly you sold to me, it's bought from Yan's restaurant, it's all the same seafood, why is the taste of mine so different from his?"
Lin Dan tasted both dishes and couldn't help but smile. She was worried about how to fight back against the Yan family, when the little cook handed over the knife. Anyway, she can't fight with the Yan family, there will always be someone fighting for her.
Thinking of this, she waved her hand and said, "Go to the kitchen and let me see how you cook. These dry goods of mine are picked and accumulated little by little from hundreds of thousands of goods, each of which is called Top-level, there will never be a problem. Since the ingredients are ok, it must be your cooking technique. Let's find the reason from the source. "
The little cook nodded and agreed without even thinking about it, and then walked towards the back kitchen, his every move was incredibly well-behaved. The old shopkeeper glared at Lin Dan, as if he wanted to scold her for being rude, but because of Tang Jiu, who was full of hostility, he didn't dare to speak. The group got to the kitchen and started cooking.
Lin Dan stared at the little cook for a long time, then shook his head and said, "You have solid basic skills, but you just lack some experience. When cooking with dry food, the seventh successful man is soaking the hair, and the third successful man is seasoning. , of course you can't make good dishes."
"For example, this black ginseng, you can't just soak it in water. If you just cut it into pieces and stir-fry it, it can barely be used. If the whole black ginseng is added to the dish, the meat will be soft in some places and hard in some places, and the taste will be very uneven. It doesn't taste good either. Let me teach you a secret method. Before soaking the ginseng into the water, it is best to bake it on a hot iron plate, then use a small fire to burn the outer skin to black, and finally scrape off the black skin with a knife. Boil it in water. Why do you do this? Because the dried ginseng you just bought still contains some moisture, and only if the moisture is completely removed, its taste will be uniform. Boil it three times and let it cool three times, so that it can be regarded as a real growth. When it's clear, you can pinch it out with a hand to make a seal, and the touch is very tender."
While explaining, she handled the black ginseng, and her skillful hands flew up and down, staring at the crowd. Only then did the little cook realize that this shopkeeper Lin is not only a dry goods seller, but also a very experienced cook. Her unique skill of soaking black ginseng in her hand, without three or five years of study, who would have thought of the key? However, she not only thought about it, but also taught others without hesitation, and her moral character was also excellent.
In order to learn a little more, the little cook quickly took over the job of making black ginseng.
Lin Dan wiped his hands with a handkerchief, continued to handle the fish maw, and explained as he boiled oil: "You don't have a wide belly right, you have to use oil to make the taste smooth and soft. Soak it in 50% hot oil first. Second, let it cool and fry it on the stove with a low fire, then take it out and soak it in water to fully absorb the water, then add the gray water, and beat it with your hands to wash off the grease, and finally rinse the gray water with clean water. The fish maw with oily hair is very soft, glutinous and smooth, no matter how it is cooked, it is still delicious, not to mention the top-level wide belly, even the worst quality fish maw can be made into a delicacy.”
When it comes to cooking, Lin Dan is naturally eloquent, and he doesn't take off the work in his hand. He quickly boils a pot of oil and throws the fish maw into it. Whether the chef has real skills, you will see when you get to the stove. The little cook looked at Lin Dan, his eyes getting brighter and brighter, as if he had discovered a treasure.
After waiting for the oil temperature to cool down, Lin Dan said again: "Look, this pot of rock ear is not right. It's not enough to be scalded in boiling water. You have to add a little coarse salt to soak it to soften it, and grind off the fluff on the back..."
"Yes, yes, you are right! Manager Lin, I was wrong. I misunderstood you before. Your lord has forgiven me a lot this time. I am not good at cooking, please teach me! The Yan family was a while ago. The restaurant has launched a new dish called squirrel mandarin fish. The appearance and taste are excellent. It has already taken away all the remaining diners in my family. If I don't grow up, the signboard of my 'Royal Food Family' will be ruined. In my hands!" The little cook folded his hands and gave Lin Dan a nod. To put a word of conscience, Lin Dan is no worse than his father and grandfather just by looking at the skill of foaming hair, and it is more than enough for him to be a master.