Seeing the shopkeeper about to speak, Xiao Yu directly raised her hand to interrupt him.
"I’m not a local here, so I didn’t like those four dishes just now. This kind of taste is something only locals like my sister could get used to, which is why she finished and even cleaned her plate. Sweet is sweet, spicy is spicy, why mix them into a sweet-spicy flavor? Of course, I don’t mean to belittle this taste. I’m saying you could build on it, create some flavors that suit non-locals, like salted spicy, for example."
"Before I came to the restaurant, I also checked out other small diners and saw that their food also mainly featured red broth. Although I don’t know about the taste, if it’s similar to the local palate, then why would people choose to come to an expensive restaurant ? A small roadside shop could satisfy their cravings!"
At this point, the shopkeeper’s face finally changed, his beard twitching as he stared wide-eyed at her.
"Their trifling little shops dare to compare with my Yingbin Building? You’re insulting me, I tell you, even at our worst, we’re better than their messy stews!"
Xiao Yu felt somewhat helpless upon hearing this, "But eating your dishes gave me the impression of a messy stew as well!"
"You, you’re spouting nonsense! The ingredients we choose are the finest, and the price is high for a good reason. Messy stew? I can’t believe you’d say that!"
Seeing that the shopkeeper couldn’t hold back his displeasure, Xiao Yu was not upset but rather pointed at the dishes on the table and reiterated her personal experience.
After speaking, the shopkeeper’s expression changed.
From anger at the beginning to calmness later on, and now to a head bowed in thought.
With every change on his face, Xiao Yu’s heart lifted a notch until he finally raised his head and looked at her seriously.
"The critiques from you, girl, are quite sharp. Could it be that you know how to cook?"
Xiao Yu, far from being modest, stood up with a smile, "I am indeed no master, but I do know how to cook."
The shopkeeper pursed his lips in thought for a while, then looked up at her, "The four dishes you just ate, do you have a different way of preparing them?"
Xiao Yu confidently curled her lips, "Is the shopkeeper interested in tasting the flavors I can produce?"
"What would I be afraid of? If I had the audacity to walk through these doors, I came prepared. Not just this dish, but any dish you can point to, I can offer you a variety of flavors."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper stood up at once, "Then why are we still sitting here? Girl, it’s good to be confident, but you also need the skills to back it up."
Xiao Yu wasted no time in banter and simply made a gesture of invitation, which made the shopkeeper chuckle as he stroked his chin.
"Ha-ha, excellent, as long as you can make dishes that satisfy me, not only will today’s four dishes be on the house, but I’ll also give you the opportunity to make demands."
Clearly, being prepared implied she wasn’t here just to cause trouble. As long as she had a goal, he was ready to respond.
Xiao Yu offered a slight smile, knowing that actions speak louder than words. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novel•fire.net
Soon, she arrived in the kitchen carrying her own bamboo basket. The kitchen was large, consisting of the chef, sous chefs, to dishwashers and other miscellaneous staff—a total of only five people.
A kitchen staffed by five people in the only restaurant in town—if spoken aloud, it sounded quite pitiful.
However, that wasn’t the point. The point was, from start to finish, Xiao Yu noticed that the available seasonings were indeed quite limited.
The oil was animal fat, and soy sauce, miso, chili sauce, salt, scallion, ginger, garlic, dried chili, wet chili were all common in Huagang Village, nothing special.
And for sweetening, instead of sugar, they used sugar water, likely made from beets.
Other pots and pans were plentiful and well-polished to a shine.
After some thought, the shopkeeper decided to let her focus on shrimp as a theme for four dishes. Not expecting too much, he simply wanted her to showcase her own style.
Though the seasonings here were scarce, and she hadn’t managed to find a complete range of flavors, it would likely be somewhat satisfactory. As long as she could create a unique flavor that was also delicious, it should be more than enough.
She glanced over the ingredients in the kitchen and had pretty much figured out what to do.
——This Chapter has 1200+ words.