CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45: SALIVA CHICKEN

"Why are there so many people here tonight? It feels like there are at least thirty percent more than at noon!"

It wasn’t until nine thirty at night, after all the ingredients prepared in the shop were used up, that they finally managed to send away the students clamoring outside for soup dumplings and hot and sour soup.

Hu Zhihai was so exhausted that his legs were trembling. He moved to the chair next to him, sat down heavily, gasping for breath, his face still showing disbelief,

"Just tonight, we sold almost three hundred baskets of dumplings, and the three big pots of hot and sour soup weren’t even left with a drop!

Those steamers suffered even worse, repeatedly enduring high-temperature steam torture in a short period, I guess, at least their lifespan is more than half shorter than others!"

"It’s only tonight that there are so many people."

Jiang Yu also let out a long breath. Halfway through tonight’s business, he saw there were too many people outside, so he let Lu Shuwu go to the front to help, and when he used up all the remaining dough skins in the back, he even jumped in himself.

The reason for doing this was simply to let more people taste the soup dumplings and hot and sour soup.

He explained as he walked inside, moving his somewhat sore wrist,

"The new students are starting their military training tomorrow, so if they don’t eat tonight, they won’t have a chance to eat for at least half a month."

"Oh, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten."

Hu Zhihai suddenly realized. He saw Jiang Yu open the fridge, pull out a cardboard box, and instantly got curious,

"Hey, Lao Jiang, what are you up to?"

Jiang Yu continued focusing on what he was doing, replying without turning his head, "Making a new dish."

"A new dish?"

Lu Shuwu, who had been sitting quietly, jumped up at those words, took a few steps to Jiang Yu’s side, and looked over,

"Is this a whole chicken? What dish are you planning to make?"

"A whole chicken?"

Hu Zhihai, who was a step slower, also came over at this time, asking excitedly,

"Lao Jiang, are you planning to make Beggar’s Chicken?"

"Beggar’s Chicken?"

Jiang Yu pulled out four chickens, stuffed the cardboard box back into the fridge, closed it, and then stood up, glanced at Hu Zhihai with a smile,

"What? You want to be Hong Qigong?"

"Making Beggar’s Chicken is very troublesome. We don’t have lotus leaves or clay here in the shop, and most importantly, it’s best cooked with firewood."

Lu Shuwu also laughed, explaining to Hu Zhihai and the curious Yan Tongtong beside him,

"Moreover, the firewood used has its particularities. It’s best to use fruit woods like lychee or longan; the Beggar’s Chicken made this way smells even more fragrant.

We don’t have the conditions right now, but maybe in the future, if we change to a bigger place, preferably with a small open-air courtyard, then it won’t be a problem."

"Stop talking, stop talking, just listening to you, I’m already drooling."

Hu Zhihai quickly interrupted him, took a sip of his saliva, then looked at Jiang Yu,

"So what dish are you planning to make?"

"Seeing you drooling, I think we should just make Mouthwatering Chicken."

Jiang Yu couldn’t help but laugh seeing his greedy look. He lifted the chickens in his hands and added,

"There are four of us; let’s make four chickens today—just right, one per person."

"Great, then I’ll go buy some beer!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Zhihai was overjoyed and was about to rush outside but suddenly remembered something at the door, turned back and asked,

"Xiaoyan, do you drink beer?"

Yan Tongtong was startled, waving her hand repeatedly after realizing, "Ah, I, I don’t drink alcohol!"

"Then what do you want? Milk or a soft drink?"

"Then, just a bottle of yogurt, please, Senior Brother Hu!"

"Oh! No need to be polite!"

Hu Zhihai generously waved his hand and ran out.

After Hu Zhihai left, Yan Tongtong said a bit embarrassedly:

"Boss, this chicken is so big, it looks like it’s at least two pounds. I, I can’t eat a whole one by myself, right?"

"No worries, weren’t you going to bring a meal for your friend?"

Jiang Yu looked back at her with a smile and said, "If you can’t finish it, just save a portion to take back for her."

"Oh, oh, alright then."

Yan Tongtong replied softly, thinking to herself that the boss is so thoughtful. I didn’t even think about Xiaoqi, but he still remembered...

Jiang Yu didn’t know what Yan Tongtong was thinking, realizing it wasn’t early, and had to get started quickly.

Mouthwatering Chicken is a traditional dish of Sichuan cuisine, with a delightful combination of numbing, spicy, fresh, fragrant, and tender flavors, famous for "spreading its name across Ba Shu for three thousand miles and surpassing the taste of Jiangnan’s twelve states."

When preparing this dish, the broth used to cook the chicken is crucial, as it needs to be just right to maximize the preservation of the chicken’s soluble proteins, enhancing the freshness of the chicken while retaining its unique aroma and flavor.

Clean the four whole chickens with water, remove the heads and tails, then place them in a pot of broth, immerse them with water, and add slices of ginger, scallions, and Sichuan peppercorns, then bring it to a boil.

After a short while, when the water in the pot boils, Jiang Yu turns down the heat to let it simmer, while he turns around to start preparing the sauce.

He cuts the scallions into segments, minces the garlic, then lights another burner, heats a pan, and slowly roasts peanuts with skin until they crackle and release their aroma before stopping.

Once the peanuts are cooled, Jiang Yu peels and crushes them for later use.

This busy-looking process didn’t actually take much time, and Lu Shuwu stood by, observing intently.

Jiang Yu didn’t mind, as what he was doing now was common knowledge among chefs and didn’t need to be kept secret.

As for the truly secret recipe, he had prepared that ahead of time.

It’s not that he’s stingy and deliberately withholds the recipe—it’s just that the formula provided by the system is impressively effective.

If leaked, and the other party is a decent person, they might just use it to open a business. But if an unscrupulous person gets hold of it, who knows what consequences it might have.

After another moment, the aroma of chicken came from the pot, and feeling that it was about right, Jiang Yu turned off the heat, took out the four chickens, and placed them in the ice water prepared in advance.

Next, he took four chilled cucumbers from the fridge, washed them, then sliced them into uniform strips, placing them on the bottom of four large plates.

Then, he took the chickens, cooled in the ice water, drained them, and chopped them for plating.

Each chicken, weighing nearly two pounds, filled four large plates.

After finishing these, Jiang Yu reheated the pan, poured in cooking oil, and once the oil was hot, added chopped scallions, peppercorns, and some minced garlic, stirring constantly.

After the aroma was released, he turned off the heat. With the oil in the pan cooled slightly, he spooned out the scallions, peppercorns, and garlic, pouring the hot oil into a bowl containing chili powder.

After lightly stirring the hot oil and chili powder in the bowl, Jiang Yu filtered the red oil from the pan into another bowl.

Next, he added minced garlic, his previously prepared secret sauce, and the chicken broth he had cooked earlier into the red oil, stirred it evenly with chopsticks, and set it aside to cool.

Seeing this, Lu Shuwu, who had been watching from the side, couldn’t help but ask, "What was that dark sauce you just added?"

"Huh?"

Jiang Yu turned back, a bit surprised, then smiled warmly,

"Of course, it’s a secret family recipe—not something shared outside."

"..."

At this point, Lu Shuwu had no way to ask further.

The man already said it was a secret family recipe that wasn’t shared, and asking further would just make him seem clueless, plus he likely wouldn’t get an answer anyway.

However, by now, he somewhat understood why the soup dumplings and hot and sour soup Jiang Yu made were so delicious. It largely had something to do with this.

The only thing that puzzled him was how could he never have heard of any secret sauce that could be used in any dish and make it taste great?

This seemed a bit too unscientific!

But before he could figure it out, Jiang Yu had already sprinkled crushed peanuts over the chicken on the plates, drizzled the prepared red oil sauce over it, and then sprinkled some cilantro.

At this point, the Mouthwatering Chicken was completed.