Chapter 388: Eighty's Gourmet System (26)

A chef said sourly, "Opening the window doesn't mean there's business, isn't it the same?"

No sooner had the words fallen than they heard Xiao Rong's joyful greeting:

"The Hanging Oven Roast Duck is out of the oven! Those who want to buy roast duck, please line up!"

"Don't scramble! Don't fight! Today is the first day of our Canteen's opening after restructuring. To reward new and old customers, we have prepared one hundred ducks, roasted in a hanging oven with select jujube wood. They are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, fatty but not greasy, fairly priced, and we treat everyone honestly!"

They saw the group of residents who had come to watch the excitement just like them all rushing to the clean and transparent deli counter to line up, shouting out the weights they wanted one after another.

Chef Fan sneered, "You call this no business?"

"……"

Afterwards, they witnessed Xie Yang's level of skill with braised dishes:

Braised meat, braised eggs, braised pork chops, braised offal, braised chicken feet, braised duck necks, braised dried tofu...

When basin after basin of brightly colored and rich-smelling braised dishes were brought out from the back kitchen, everyone couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

Xie Yang was wearing a custom-made, clean white chef's uniform and a chef's hat that could tuck away her hair, nimbly chopping the braised dishes with a kitchen knife.

"Today's theme is braised dish rice bowls. Those interested can take a look at the menu."

Xie Yang demonstrated what a braised dish rice bowl was while speaking:

She filled a bowl full of rice, pressed it down, and flipped it onto a clean white porcelain plate. She then scooped on a braised pork chop, a slice of braised dried tofu, three or five stalks of green vegetables, and a spoonful of shredded potato, handing it to Liu Shen, who had come specially today to help her watch the children.

Then she served three children's meals, with half the amount of rice but an extra braised egg, and handed them to Daniu and Shuisheng in turn.

Musheng's portion was held by Liu Shen, and the one adult and three children carried their trays to the small private room Xie Yang had reserved for them.

The Tube Building neighbors who knew Liu Shen were extremely envious.

Just by helping watch the children, she got to eat a hearty lunch with meat, vegetables, and white rice for free; Old Liu's wife had really gotten a huge bargain.

They couldn't help but ask Xie Yang, "A Li's wife, how much would Old Liu's wife's portion cost if she bought it?"

Actually, the price list was written on the blackboard.

The pork chop rice bowl and the fatty meat rice bowl were the most expensive, at one yuan and five jiao each. However, they were quite substantial; the pork chop was the size of a palm, and there were five slices of fatty and lean pork belly.

Next was the pig trotter rice bowl, at one yuan and two jiao per portion.

Braised large intestine, braised tripe, and other offal rice bowls were all one yuan per portion. Braised eggs, braised chicken feet, and braised duck neck rice bowls were all five jiao, and the purely vegetarian braised dried tofu rice bowl was only three jiao.

The reason everyone asked like this was just to see if it could be any cheaper.

Xie Yang patiently explained:

"I have already discounted the prices as much as possible, but since you came early, the first twenty customers get a 12% discount, and those after get a 2% discount, plus a free serving of tomato egg drop soup."

No sooner had Xie Yang finished speaking than the kitchen assistant poured the tomato egg drop soup cooked in the back kitchen into a large tea barrel and carried it out.

It was placed on the solid wood low table by the counter. She first sent four bowls to Liu Shen and the children in the private room, then left a large soup ladle, letting the customers who bought meals scoop it themselves. They could drink as many bowls as they wanted, but takeout was not allowed. The free soup could only be consumed in the shop.

Chef Fan leaned over and peeked into the tea barrel. It was tomato egg drop soup; there weren't actually many tomatoes or eggs in it, but it must be said, the color was quite bright.

The first person in line at the braised food window was a staff member's family member. Her husband liked to eat braised large intestine, so she bought a portion of braised large intestine rice bowl.

She had brought her own lunch box. Xie Yang took the lunch box and arranged the rice and dishes in order, and even specially poured an extra spoonful of meat gravy.

The bright meat gravy poured over the white rice enticed others to join the line to buy braised dish rice bowls as well.

As for Xiao Rong's side, the line for buying Hanging Oven Roast Duck not only didn't shorten, but grew longer and longer, almost reaching the entrance of the Old Factory District workshop.

Residents also began to line up at the window facing the alley.

The reason was that they discovered this Hanging Oven Roast Duck wasn't chopped into chunks to be eaten directly, but sliced into thin pieces and wrapped in a pancake as thin as a cicada's wing along with evenly sliced cucumber strips and scallion strips, then dipped in sauce to eat.

And the duck frame, picked clean of meat, was deep-fried and tossed with salt and pepper. It was effectively another separate dish to go with drinks.

Everyone was initially just looking for something novel.

This way of eating roast duck wasn't even sold at the largest State-run Restaurant.

The chefs at the State-run Restaurant were skilled at roast duck that was a bit like soy-sauce duck.

That was to stuff a cleaned duck with various spices, put it in a pot, add water and seasonings, and simmer it over low heat until the moisture was roasted out, then cut it into pieces to go with drinks or rice.

A roast duck like this, wrapped directly in a pancake to serve as both a dish and a meal, was probably the only one of its kind in the entire Mingjiang City, right?

Consequently, everyone scrambled to line up, all wanting to buy a portion to taste.

The first customer in line was a young Technician assigned to the Gad Steel Factory from out of town. After buying the roast duck, he didn't rush back to the dormitory, but found a seat and sat down.

Following the way of eating Xiao Rong taught him, he picked up a thin pancake, tucked in two slices of crispy roast duck, dipped it in sauce, added a chopstick-full of cucumber strips and a chopstick-full of scallion strips, wrapped it up with the pancake, and took a bite. It was heavenly!

"Delicious! This roast duck is really delicious! I feel like I could finish half a roast duck by myself!"

"Eat slowly, the salt and pepper duck frame will be here soon! Help yourself to the free soup."

Xiao Rong responded to this first patronizing customer while busy slicing the duck.

The increasingly long line became restless:

"Master Rong, stop chatting! Hurry up! We're waiting to buy it to take home!"

"Xiao Rong, we won't be sold out by the time it's our turn, right?"

Xiao Rong smiled until his cheeks were sore: "Rest assured! There will definitely be enough! There are one hundred ducks!"

He admired Sister Xie so much!

Two days ago, when she said she had ordered one hundred ducks from the farm, he even thought she had ordered too many. What would they do if they couldn't sell them all?

After all, before the restructuring, the two windows of the Da Shitang didn't even consume one hundred ducks in a month combined.

But judging by the current flow of people, it was a good thing they ordered one hundred.

A great opening!

Xiao Rong smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits.

He just knew that following Sister Xie would never be wrong!

Look at that!

On the first day of opening, the sales of roast duck alone had probably surpassed the profit of the Da Shitang for the past month, right?

Unlike the joyful mood of Xiao Rong, the moods of several Master Chefs from the Third Canteen were not particularly pleasant.

They claimed to be here to show their support, but in reality, were they not harboring the mindset of watching a good show?

They wanted to see if the Da Shitang, which had closed for half a month for renovations and poured in quite a bit of capital, could make a big splash on its first day of business.

Need it even be said now? It was more than just a big splash; it had hit so hard that few employees would go to the Third Canteen to dine in the future, right?

"That's not necessarily true! Look at these dishes she makes; they are only suitable to be eaten with rice. Those who like eating wheat-based foods are only here today to show support while there's a discount; just wait and see, not so many people will come to patronize it later."

One of the chefs analyzed it with great logic.

What Mingjiang City produces in abundance is not rice but Wheat, and the majority of people prefer eating wheat-based foods.

Like their Third Canteen, besides supplying rice, they also supply steamed corn buns, steamed buns, and occasionally dumplings and meat buns.

Yet the Da Shitang actually only supplied rice on its first day of business?

After a long time, who among those who like eating wheat-based foods will still come?