Chapter 275 [Anomalies in the middle of the road]
There are not many diners in twos and threes.
Looking at the appearance and attire, most of them are caravan members who come and go to rest here. They often want some stews and naan bread, and wine to eat and drink.
It seems to be a certain habit of the merchants in the Western Regions, and their conversations are very low.
So this Xinhua restaurant is quite quiet.
The shopkeeper was leaning behind the counter, arranging abacus beads that didn't match each other, while the two boys gathered at the door of the back kitchen, whispering something. It wasn't until Fang Chang and Sang Ziping stepped through the threshold that they raised their heads and greeted, "Guest officers, please!"
Fang Chang followed the guidance of the two boys, and together with Sang Ziping, walked towards a certain table by the window.
During the action, Fang Chang smiled and asked the shopkeeper behind the counter: "Shopkeeper, the name of this store on the plaque outside is a bit interesting, I don't know where it came from?"
The shopkeeper saw the customer talking to him, let go of the abacus beads in his hand, and said with a smile:
"The customer is actually interested in this? To tell you the truth, this is actually very common. It has been seven or eight years since the small shop was handed down to me, and it has been here for three generations."
"The reason for this name is that the ancestor who founded this restaurant, Yuxin, and another partner named Qiuhua, so each took the last word of their names to form this Xinhua restaurant."
"After several twists and turns, the other party's descendants only took share dividends and no longer took charge of the business. During this period, the name of the restaurant has not changed, but these years, the guest officer is still the first one I saw, and I am interested in the name of the small shop."
Fang Chang nodded, which solved his doubts.
Although he can know the reason by pinching his fingers, he still prefers to ask himself.
This kind of smooth feeling of solving the mystery, mixed with hearing new stories, is a good experience.
The shopkeeper of the restaurant greeted the waiter with a smile on his face, and added pork ear shreds to Fang Chang and Sang Ziping who were already seated.
It is a treat from the shopkeeper.
Thanks to the shopkeeper of the restaurant, the two stretched out their chopsticks to eat the shredded pork ears mixed with courgette shreds, and asked the boy next to him:
"What meals are there in the store?"
The little fellow was very clever, and immediately replied:
"Now there are naan cakes just out of the pit in the kitchen, and reconciled noodles that can be sliced and cooked in the pot at any time, and there is also a big bucket of white rice, which is produced in the rice fields next to Juhai. It tastes sweet. These three staple foods can be topped. Hungry."
"There are also all kinds of cold dishes, as well as sheep's cheeks and hooves, which are marinated with the method passed down from the Central Plains. A bowl is very cheap, with enough oil and salt, it is very suitable for rice. There is also a signboard of the shop, which is hand-caught mutton."
Hearing this, Fang Chang stretched out his hand to interrupt him and asked:
"Hand-caught mutton? What's the point?"
Seeing the interest of the previous guests, the young man said excitedly: "There is a large area of land near here that is severely saline-alkali. There are not many plants and trees growing there, but there are also some plants that are not resistant to salt-alkali. Although it is difficult to graze on it, it is difficult to raise them on saline-alkali land. The sheep that come out have no smell of mutton and taste sweet, and they are delicious when boiled in clean water."
"Then let's get some." Chang Fang waved his hand and asked, "How do you sell the hand-caught mutton here?"
The boy said: "It's calculated according to the basin."
Fang Chang said: "Then let's serve two pots first, one pot for each of us, let's talk if it's not enough."
Beside Sang Ziping nodded, but the boy was a little surprised: "Guests, the pots here are very big, be careful not to eat them."
Waving his hand proudly, Fang Chang said: "You don't have to worry about it, we will take it with you if you can't eat it. Continue to talk, what else do you have here?"
"The small shop also sells donkey meat. Every once in a while, it takes a donkey to sell. The donkey meat tastes very good, but most of it has been sold out today, and the rest can only be cut into one plate."
"There will be no more dishes. If it takes another two months, I must come here. The master chef recently got some new recipes. He has already learned the cooking method of the Central Plains. After two months, he will be able to master them. At that time, the guest Guanlai Xiaodian, in addition to these original signature dishes, can also taste the flavor of the Central Plains.”
"Then there is wine. We have good wine here. It is produced in the grape valley next to Juhai. There are good grapes all over the mountains and plains. Each grain is big and sweet. It is more mellow after being used to make wine. The guest officer must come to a bottle. .”
Fang Chang said with a smile: "There is no need for dishes from the Central Plains. The two of us traveled here from the Central Plains, and we cut up the plate of donkey meat, added some random vegetables, and served some white rice. That's it, hurry up and prepare." Well, we've been walking for a long time, and we're already hungry."
The little guy nodded, and then ran to the back kitchen with a long voice, "Okay~!", and informed the master behind to prepare the meal.
The hand-caught mutton is served very quickly, because this is not freshly made, but has been prepared long ago.
The sheep raised in the saline-alkali land are cut into large pieces and stewed in water only.
Although various spices have been widely grown in the Central Plains, this dish does not contain any condiments, let alone spices, or even salt.
The store only provided a small knife, and signaled Fang Chang and Sang Ziping to cut and eat by themselves.
At the same time, the boy also brought up two shallow plates with some white powder in them.
Sang Ziping dipped his hand in some, tasted it and said with a smile:
"It's salt."
Fang Chang did not use the small knife provided by the store, but took out his small jade table knife from his arms, grasping the meat with one hand and cutting it with the other. The texture of the small table knife is no longer like jade, it is extremely sharp, whether it is mutton or mutton bones, it will be cut off when touched.
Sure enough, it was as described by the two guys. The meat tasted mellow without any peculiar smell, and it melted in the mouth after a long time of stewing.
When eating, you only need to dip a little salt, and you can clearly taste all the original flavors of the ingredients. The lamb bones are also stewed soft, and you can eat them with good teeth.
Fang Chang, who can use copper and iron as snacks, is even more so.
"It's really good meat."
The two had a full meal while complimenting each other, and there was nothing left, including bones and soup.
The donkey meat and the steamed rice in the small wooden barrel were not left at all, and they were all eaten up by them like a storm.
The two young guys next to him were a little startled, and one of them was even worried: Will these two guest officers eat up the table in the store?
Fortunately, the two of them acted fast enough to pay for it after eating.
It was getting dark outside, but the setting sun had sunk half of his body behind the horizon, and he was hiding.
"Find a place to sleep overnight, and then continue westward."
"Um."
"etc?"
After walking a few steps, turning a corner, Fang Chang suddenly called Sang Ziping to stop.
"What's the matter? Mr. Fang." Sang Ziping was puzzled. He followed Fang Chang's line of sight, but found nothing.
"Look there."
Fang Chang pointed to a place in the middle of the road and said to Sang Ziping.
Thank you for the reward for changing the wrong name.
(end of this chapter)