Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

"I came up with a few ways to cook these dishes while I was bored at home, but I don't know if they can be sold in restaurants," Xia Yu said modestly.

"You figured this out yourself? Would it be convenient to make it and try it?" What do restaurant owners care about most? Of course, it's the food and drinks. Here, shrimp is usually boiled or braised; other cooking methods are rare. Mainly because shrimp are scarce here, and few chefs specialize in this. Even these two methods were passed down from fishermen on the coast.

"We didn't bring many shrimp today, so I'll make you a couple of simple ones." Xia Yu looked at the few shrimp jumping around in the bucket and prepared to make two simple dishes, as the weather was really too hot.

"Okay, okay, this way please." Manager Liu quickly led Xia Yu and Zhang Youtie to the restaurant's kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, several old women were picking and washing vegetables, while a few younger cooks were chopping various side dishes. A man was sitting at the table drinking tea.

"Master Zhao, this is the brother who delivered the shrimp to us and his daughter. This little girl has been thinking about two ways to cook shrimp at home, so I asked her to come over and try making them."

The tea master sat there without moving, glancing at Xia Yu with a disdainful look at his cup, which was barely larger than a wine goblet.

"Manager Liu, have you found a young maid to replace me in my work?"

"Master Zhao, what are you saying? This little girl has just come up with a few shrimp dishes. I just wanted to add more variety to our menu. You can sample them here and see if we can add them to our menu."

Xia Yu, watching from the side, could see clearly that Master Zhao was much more arrogant than Manager Liu, and Manager Liu had to coax him nicely.

"Master Zhao, you misunderstand. My skills are far inferior to yours. I mainly just want to sell more of the shrimp from my family. Lord Shen instructed Steward Ding to take care of our family, and we're not ungrateful. We can't do big things, but we've figured out a few ways to cook them at home, hoping that our restaurant can prosper even more." Xia Yu said to Master Zhao with a smile, her attitude very humble, but everyone could understand the implied meaning in her words.

Master Zhao had naturally heard her mention Lord Shen in her words, and he was still somewhat resentful, but he dared not show any more contempt on his face. "What the little girl said is right, very reasonable. Then you can work here. All the seasonings are on the counter, just use them. We'll leave now."

As he spoke, he stood up, beckoned to his apprentices and the old women who were washing vegetables, and left the kitchen. He seemed to have no intention of secretly learning how to cook, but in reality, he didn't want to offer Xia Yu any help. Their restaurant had far more seasonings than ordinary households; without someone familiar with the area explaining, many ordinary people had never even seen many of these seasonings, let alone knew how to use them.

Having worked in the restaurant for many years, Manager Liu naturally knew the ins and outs of it, but he wasn't very familiar with these seasonings and couldn't explain them clearly to Xia Yu. He stood there looking at Xia Yu with some difficulty, unsure of how to begin.

"Manager Liu, if you want to watch me cook, you can watch right here. I don't have anything to hide; they're all simple dishes. If you find it too hot in here, you can go outside and cool off for a while," Xia Yu said, noticing her hesitation.

"It's alright, it's alright. I'll take a look around. I recognize some of those seasonings, so I might be able to help you."

Hearing him say that, Xia Yu let him do as he pleased. She took a small stool, stood on it, and looked at the row of earthenware jars on the table. She took a spoon, scooped out a little bit, and smelled it. Some she put back in the jar, while others she dipped her fingertip into and tasted. After tasting everything, she had a general idea of ​​what to expect.

The restaurant certainly had a good selection of condiments. There was a jar of Shaoxing wine infused with scallions and ginger, and two jars of soy sauce. Xia Yu tasted them and thought they were similar to modern dark and light soy sauce. One of the jars had a noticeably less pronounced color, so it was probably light soy sauce for enhancing flavor. Even the vinegar came in two types: rice vinegar and aged vinegar.

Using the purse at her waist as cover, she took out several bright red chilies from her storage space; this time, they were fresh. Zhang Youtie, seeing that it was just him, his daughter, and Manager Liu in the room, took the initiative to speak.

"Girl, let me help you start the fire."

"Okay, thank you, Dad!"

After Zhang Youtie started the fire, Xia Yu scooped a ladle of water from the water vat and added it to the pot. Then, she grabbed a few slices of ginger and scallions from the chopped side dishes and threw them in. After doing this, Xia Yu scooped eight shrimp out of the bucket, quickly removed their veins and antennae, and set them aside to wait for the water in the pot to boil.

While waiting, Xia Yu prepared the sauce for the dish. She heated oil in a wok, then rinsed the minced garlic in water and added it to the wok, sautéing until fragrant. She then transferred the garlic to a bowl and added appropriate amounts of light soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar. Finally, she added a few sliced ​​red chilies to the sauce. She set the sauce aside.

Once the water with scallions and ginger in the pot boiled, Xia Yu poured the prepared shrimp into the pot, then added a spoonful of Shaoxing wine to remove any fishy smell. After the shrimp turned red, Xia Yu used a large strainer to scoop them out and place them in a pre-prepared basin of cold water to increase the elasticity of the shrimp meat.

Finally, Xia Yu took a cucumber, cut it into thin slices, mixed it with freshly peeled and chopped shrimp, poured over the prepared sauce, tossed it well, plated it, and then garnished it with a few sprigs of cilantro. Xia Yu placed the plate in front of Manager Liu, gesturing for him to try it.

Looking at the refreshingly colored dish in front of him, Manager Liu felt as if the summer heat had subsided. He picked up his chopsticks, took a bite of a shrimp, and ate it.

"Not bad, not bad, this shrimp tastes good, good, good," Manager Liu said, frowning as he racked his brains to find a suitable word to describe the shrimp's texture.

"Is the texture chewy and bouncy?" Xia Yu, seeing his distressed expression, spoke up for him.

"Q-bouncy? What does 'Q-bouncy' mean?" Manager Liu didn't quite understand.

"It means it's very crisp and bouncy." Xia Yu cursed herself inwardly for her carelessness and quickly explained to make amends.

"Yes, that's the feeling. The taste is good too. It has the aroma of garlic, but without the pungent smell of garlic. And the color looks refreshing too. Great, great!" Manager Liu took another bite of shrimp, chewing as he commented. It was clear that he was very satisfied with the dish.

For the second dish, Xia Yu prepared cucumber and shrimp, with cucumber and shrimp as the main ingredients. She removed the veins from the remaining ten shrimp in the bucket, peeled them, and placed them in a bowl. She added a little salt, cooking wine, pepper, and cornstarch, mixed well, and marinated them for a while. She then took two cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise, removed the seeds, cut them into strips, and then into sections. She blanched the marinated shrimp in boiling water with scallions and ginger until they changed color, then removed them. She heated oil in a pan, added garlic slices and sautéed them until fragrant, then added the cucumber and stir-fried until just cooked through. She added salt to taste, then added the shrimp and stir-fried them together. Finally, she drizzled in cornstarch slurry and stir-fried a few times, and it was done.

Manager Liu looked at the cucumber and shrimp dish served on the white porcelain plate, picked up a piece with his chopsticks, and tasted it. He found it to be both fresh shrimp and refreshing cucumber. He couldn't understand why restaurants had always assumed that shrimp could only be boiled or braised. He had watched Xia Yu prepare these two dishes; frankly, they weren't difficult to make, and he could easily understand them. Most importantly, both dishes tasted good and were perfect for the current season. Aside from everything else, the color combination of the two dishes was excellent.

After putting down his chopsticks, Manager Liu walked to the kitchen door and called out to the people in the courtyard, "Chef Zhao, the two dishes are ready. Come and try them. I think our restaurant should give it a try."

Hearing Manager Liu's words, Chef Zhao was also curious. He couldn't think of any other ways to cook prawns besides blanching or braising. However, when he went to the kitchen and saw the two dishes on the counter, he knew he was wrong. Even without tasting them, just by looking at the colors of the dishes, he knew that this young girl had some knowledge of cooking.

He picked up his chopsticks and tasted each item. Although he was reluctant to admit it, he had to say that the taste was indeed quite good.

"Little girl, your cooking skills are quite good. It seems I misjudged you earlier. Please don't take offense!" Chef Zhao was also flexible and adaptable. After tasting the food, he actually spoke softly to Xia Yu.

"You're too kind. My family doesn't have much, but we have plenty of shrimp. My parents spoil me and let me experiment, so I can figure out how to make it taste better. Chef Zhao, you're thinking about the restaurant's profits, so you wouldn't waste ingredients like I do. If you had enough space, you could definitely develop more new dishes." Xia Yu knew that the restaurant needed the head chef to sell shrimp, so since he had spoken so kindly, Xia Yu went along with it and flattered Chef Zhao.

"Haha, little girl, you know how to talk!" Xia Yu's few flattering words chased away the last bit of displeasure in his heart.

"Manager Liu, that young lady gave us two recipes. Shouldn't you show some sincerity?" After laughing, Chef Zhao said to Manager Liu.

"Of course, but I don't know if my niece would be willing to sell us the recipe?" Actually, Manager Liu felt that he had already learned how to make these two dishes, but since Chef Zhao had brought it up, he couldn't refuse him, so he went along with it and asked.

Hearing Manager Liu ask this question, Xia Yu hesitated for a moment, as she had her own concerns.