Chang’an Small Restaurant

Chapter 29.2 Second Step to a Tavern

Their newly rented place was not yet available, moreover with male guests forbidden to stay overnight at the nunnery, Shen Shaoguang could only allow Yu San to stay in the eatery for now.

By the time they arrived back at the store, the sun was still high in the sky; it was still too early to prepare dinner. Thus Shen Shaoguang decided to first take the candies she bought in the West Market to Missus Li as a thanks for helping to watch the eatery and stove. Afterwards, she came back and said to Yu San, "Go to the back and wash your hands and face."

Yu San responded blankly, and walked through the back door.

Shen Shaoguang then asked A’Yuan to go to Qiu Dalang's to buy a few flat cakes, and put a plate of braised spare ribs on the table counter—it had been stewing since they left in the morning. After so many hours of simmering, the meat was so tender that it easily fell off the bones.

In this day and age, only the privileged enjoyed three meals a day, while those without money only ate two meals a day. Shen Shaoguang felt that Yu San most likely wasn’t given lunch.

Once Yu San returned, Shen Shaoguang said, "You can eat first."

Yu San took a look at Shen Shaoguang before sitting by the counter and began to eat. He seemed to be very hungry as his pace was not at all slow, but he ate with surprising manners.

After he finished eating, Shen Shaoguang asked him how it tasted.

"Too much sugar and not enough salt."

Shen Shaoguang looked at him inquisitively.

"—better than what I can do."

"...!" Fine, at least he had an acute sense of taste. Shen Shaoguang had always been good at discovering the strengths of her own people.

Shen Shaoguang explained to Yu San that people in Chang'an loved sweets, and because this was a dish meant to be paired with alcoholic drinks, she deliberately put more sugar and less salt.

Yu San nodded.

"Can you cook fish? We still have a carp more than a foot long in the back!" Now that you’re full, it's time to work. Of course, as the shop owner, she must test the practical level of her new chef.

Yu San nodded again and asked Shen Shaoguang, "Should I make it now? It’s best served while hot."

Shen Shaoguang replied with a smile: "If there are no guests, we can eat it ourselves."

Hearing this, Yu San didn't say anymore, he went to catch fish from the small water tank under the kitchen, took it to the back, and went to gut and clean it.

At the sight of his smooth motions of killing fish, Shen Shaoguang felt relieved. Hehe, at least she won't have to worry about killing fish in the future.

Every time she watched A’Yuan hitting the fish with a stick, Shen Shaoguang could almost feel the same pain as the beaten fish. The key was that sometimes the fish was only stunned and not killed. It was hard to tell the difference between the two states, so when Shen Shaoguang began cleaning the ‘dead fish’, it would then suddenly struggle and frail its tail around.

This was the so-called ‘at the sight of life, its passing would be unbearable; induced by their cries, its meat no longer palatable[1]’. Shen Shaoguang was not a person of noble character, and couldn’t turn away from her own kitchen, but she found times like those a bit hard to tolerate.

Yu San was much more neat, it only took a single blow of the butcher's knife; his experience seemed comparable to that of an executioner’s.

After gutting the fish cleanly, Yu San cut up the fish with fine precision. After he chopped off the fish head and tail, the only part Yu San kept was the thick part of the meat in the middle. He sliced off its skin and discarded all the unnecessary parts. The remaining meat was sliced into equal sections, coated with seasoning, dipped in a mixture of egg white and cornstarch, and then deep fried.

Looking at the fish head and tail that was ruthlessly abandoned, Shen Shaoguang believed just based on this ‘to eat but the finest of ground grain, nor chopped meat unless exquisitely processed[2]’ act, Yu San's former owner is probably poor due to his fastidiousness. Yu San had said he was sold in exchange for a banquet, it seemed those words weren’t lies.

The fish pieces were deep-fried until golden before being taken out to drain. On another pan, oil, sichuan pepper, scallion, and ginger were heated until fragrant, then yellow wine (huangjiu), soy essence, vinegar, sugar, and other seasonings were cooked all together before the fish pieces were added back in. Everything was cooked on high heat until the fish was completely coated in sauce.

The finished dish was soon served. The edges of the fish pieces were slightly raised. The generous sauce was rich and glistened with oil; it looked appetizing and smelled delicious. It was not braised, nor stewed, not a sweet and sour sauce, but somewhat resembles the Tile Fish dish invented in the later future.

Before Shen Shaoguang had time to try it, she saw a regular customer who often ordered mini soup buns come in.

When the regular customer saw the fish, his eyes lit up, and he asked Shen Shaoguang with a smile, "Our Elder Madam didn't have a good appetite at noon and only took a few sips of porridge. She’s now craving something more flavorful and asked us to come here and have a look. Is that fish dish for sale?"

At his earnest gaze, Shen Shaoguang pursed her lips. Maybe another day. "You may take it." She then added, "Eat it while it's hot."

The regular customer smiled and expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, thank you. I'll bring the plate back later." It was an established standard for restaurants to only sell food and not plates.

The freshly cooked fish was sold just like that. Shen Shaoguang wasn’t even able to have a bite, so with her finger, she swiped the pot of sauce that was yet thrown into the sink. Hmm… the overall flavor was salty and umami, with a hint of sweet and tart. Not bad.

… 

Lin Yan had more affinity with food compared to Shen Shaoguang—he was able to sample a piece of the fish.

As soon as he entered his grandmother's courtyard, Lin Yan smelled a delicious fish smell. Elder Madam Jiang was sitting on the couch, with a small food table in front of her. There was still half a bowl of porridge left on the food table as well as several sides.

"Brother, you’re back?" Elder Madam Jiang smiled, and then asked a maid to serve Lin Yan some porridge as well. The elderly was once again in her muddleheaded phase.

"Try this fish, it was purchased from Abled Immortal outside." There were two pieces left on the plate, Elder Madam Jiang generously gave one piece to her ‘brother’.

Abled Immortal was a famous tavern in Hangzhou, and it has been serving guests for a hundred years. It seemed that his grandmother was reliving the time when his paternal great-grandfather was still serving as an Administrator in Hangzhou.

Lin Yan tasted it, "Mm, not bad."

"Isn’t it? But I believed this dish and the previous sweet and sour fish was not made by the same chef." Elder Madam Jiang firmly stated.

Lin Yan looked at the maid next to her grandmother, and the maid mouthed the words, "Shen Indelible."

Lin Yan smiled helplessly. He was impressed that his grandmother still remembered the sweet and sour fish from Shen Indelible from two days ago, but she had mistakenly said it was made by a different chef...

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The author has something to say:

Poor Lin Yan only ate a piece of fish, and even pitiful was Shen Shaoguang, who only licked a bit of the sauce.

Elder Madam Jiang was extremely proud, "Wasn’t I right to say that these were cooked by different chefs?"

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Footnotes:

[1] ‘at the sight of life, its passing would be unbearable; induced by their cries, its meat no longer palatable’ (见其生不忍见其死，闻其声不忍食其肉) - This is a rather old saying which basically means once you've seen the live version and heard its calls, it's very hard to kill and eat that very same animal.

[2] ‘to eat but the finest of ground grain, nor chopped meat unless exquisitely processed’ (食不厌精脍不厌细) - is an idiom, from Analects. It means to be fastidious about one's food.