PDLP Chapter 104 New Farmhouse Dishes by Xiao Lu
Chapter 104 New Farmhouse Dishes by Xiao Lu
Seeing how much Lu Changming was enjoying his food, Wei Yinghong quickly took a small bite as well.
Her eyes lit up when the rice was fed to her.
The umami flavor dominated by this top-grade cured meat and premium mushrooms is completely different from the traditional spicy and salty flavors of northern cuisine.
But all paths lead to the same goal: ultimate deliciousness is the commonality of all cuisines.
The three of them quickly devoured the entire pot of braised rice.
"Son, I noticed I've gained weight when I tried on clothes today," Wei Yinghong remarked.
"Me too," Lu Changming chimed in. "I've gained weight too. Son, you've been feeding us too well lately."
After hearing what his parents said, Lu Yuan also noticed that his parents had indeed changed significantly.
For the past month, everyone has been spared the wind and sun, and Lu Yuan has made a point of ensuring a balanced intake of nutrients.
Wei Yinghong's skin became noticeably fairer, and her previously thin cheeks became fuller.
Wei Yinghong has a good natural appearance, especially today when she changed into a new outfit, she looks like she's in her 30s, not like a middle-aged rural woman at all.
Lu Changming is the same; the Lu family itself has the gene of being tall, thin, and having long legs.
He's been well-nourished this past month, and with the clothes Lu Yuan specially picked out for his dad that are a bit younger, he actually looks a bit like Zhu Shimao today.
The two of them sitting together actually gave off a charming and handsome middle-aged couple vibe!
"Dad, Mom, you can wear the new clothes I bought today from now on," Lu Yuan said happily.
"That won't do!" Wei Yinghong said, touching her new clothes with delight. "New clothes are for the New Year; it's a waste to wear them on other days!"
Lu Yuandao said, "Mom, you're not doing any farm work now, why are you wearing those old clothes?"
"Son, we are country folk, we must not forget our roots!" Wei Yinghong said.
"I don't care!" Lu Yuan simply picked up the bag containing the old clothes, ran out, and threw it into the warehouse.
"You silly child..."
Lu Changming also advised, "Our son means well. I think we should just wear these. If we wore new clothes today, would that woman selling gold look down on us like that?"
"Hmph!" Wei Yinghong glared at Lu Changming and said:
"You certainly know how to enjoy yourself! Our son's money is meant to be saved for his wedding, and you're running around like a feather duster!"
Lu Changming: "......"
. . .
Silent all night.
After finally getting two days of rest, Lu Yuan is back at work today.
After reopening today, Uncle Lu and Grandpa Lu saw a significant decrease in customers.
Lu Yuan's regular customers returned to the familiar place, especially Mr. Wang, who immediately launched into a tirade against Lu Yuan as soon as he entered:
"Boss Lu, I'm a few years older than you, so I have to give you a good talking to. Running a business requires perseverance. How can you be so inconsistent?"
"If all else fails, you can raise prices, but don't just close down all the time. What am I supposed to do if you close? Where am I supposed to eat?"
"Hey? Mr. Wang, don't do anything reckless!" Master Liu is indeed a man of destiny. As soon as Lu Yuan opens the door, he is guaranteed to refresh the map to Lu Wang Tan Village.
As soon as he entered the door, he heard Mr. Wang complaining, so he immediately pulled him aside and said:
"My dear Mr. Wang, Boss Lu, this price is good enough. Please don't raise it any further. Do you think everyone is like you, running such a large business?"
Then, Master Liu changed the subject: "But Boss Lu is really wrong about this; how can he keep closing the shop?"
"We drivers don't come here every day. Think about it, everyone's looking forward to eating lamb all the way here, and then you close down. It'll take another ten days or half a month to get here again. How frustrating is that!"
Not only Mr. Wang and Master Liu, but other regular customers also gave Lu Yuan a lecture.
Lu Yuan immediately clasped his hands together and raised them above his head to express his apology to everyone:
"I'm so sorry everyone, I went to the provincial capital to buy ingredients and tableware in order to improve the quality of our dishes!"
"Oh? So Boss Lu is preparing to launch new products?" President Wang immediately realized.
"That's right, the new dish will be available tomorrow!" Lu Yuan nodded and said, "To thank everyone for their support, I'll give you a free serving of the new dish today, no matter what you order!"
"Great!" Master Liu led the applause, saying, "I knew Boss Lu was a man of principle; he's got it all figured out!"
After finally calming everyone's anger, Lu Yuan returned to the kitchen.
Cooking has become the most relaxing thing for him now!
With the opening of Sister Lu, Uncle Lu, and Grandpa Lu's restaurants, Xiao Lu's Farmhouse Cuisine is also preparing to launch new dishes.
We used to only make lamb because we were short-staffed in the kitchen and couldn't handle the workload. Also, we didn't have much money at the beginning, and the more ingredients we prepared, the more expensive it would be.
With four stores currently operating simultaneously, many dishes can be shared.
For example, for dishes like broth, stewed chicken, and braised beef, using one large pot across four stores is much more convenient than each store operating independently.
There used to be only a fence to the east of those three shops, but no buildings were built there.
After the Zhou family craftsmen arrived, Lu Yuan instructed Lu Hua to contact people to build a few more rooms, which were officially completed in the last two days.
These rooms were prepared as a unified kitchen, capable of large-scale preparation of braised dishes, stewed chicken, broth, boiled beef, stewed mutton, fried foods, dumplings, and more, and also include a naan pit.
The naan pit is used to roast whole lambs, and it can also be used to make some specialty pastries and other roasted meats.
Xiao Lu's farmhouse restaurant used to have a very simple menu, with only stir-fried lamb, hand-pulled lamb, braised lamb, stir-fried meat, and lamb neck.
Now, chicken, beef, and even duck and fish can be added.
The style of Xiao Lu's farmhouse cuisine is expensive yet exquisite. Every dish is top-notch in taste, which is why it can serve as the mainstay and make Lu family cuisine a household name.
To keep things fresh, Lu Yuan won't add too many dishes this time, but will add a few dishes every now and then.
First, three cold dishes were added: a combination of tendon and shank, Sichuan-style chicken, and braised duck.
The "tendon double platter" is made with beef tendon and shank. Since this isn't a private banquet, pure beef tendon would be a bit expensive, so the "tendon double platter" is just right.
Spicy and savory chicken with a sweet and sour aftertaste, it is one of the most suitable chicken dishes for the taste of northern China.
As a mainstream meat, chicken has many fans, and everyone has been clamoring for chicken dishes for a long time.
The braised duck dishes were added by Lu Yuan based on feedback from private banquets. These days, braised duck dishes are rare in the northern border region, and people are still relatively unfamiliar with this flavor.
But the flavor of braised duck is so outstanding that releasing it at this time would definitely make it a bestseller.
The dish Lu Yuan is delivering today is braised duck.
No matter what dishes everyone ordered, the waiter brought out a platter of braised duck neck, duck tongue, duck intestines, etc. in advance.
Although the braised duck products looked rather plain in color, everyone was still full of anticipation because of their trust in Lu Yuan.
Sure enough, the first diners to start eating exclaimed in surprise:
"Delicious! It's spicy and fragrant, so satisfying to eat!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" other customers chimed in, "It's so delicious! You can't stop eating it!"
"Boss Lu certainly doesn't disappoint!"
Some customers even shouted directly to Zhenzhen and Pingping, "Little girl, another plate, please. You don't need to deliver it, just charge us the normal price!"
"I'll have one too!"
"I'll have one plate, and two more to go! This stuff keeps well anyway!"
"Yeah, you're so cunning! I brought three portions!"