Chapter 1360 - 535: Traditional Village Banquet—Simple Yet Sophisticated! Second Main Mission!

Chapter 1360: Chapter 535: Traditional Village Banquet—Simple Yet Sophisticated! Second Main Mission!

"Whoa, so much meat prepared!"

After lunch, several village feast chefs arrived at the courtyard of the farmhouse restaurant and were stunned to see the freshly slaughtered pork, completely surprised by the abundance of meat.

Zhang Chunsheng took out a cigarette pack and offered a few sticks to the head chefs:

"We’re giving out benefits today. First, let’s select the meat for tomorrow’s banquet; what’s left will be given as benefits to the employees. Decide on the specific amount you’ll need in the afternoon and set aside accordingly."

"Alright, let’s discuss it first."

The group went straight to Shi Wenming and asked:

"How many tables of guests tomorrow? How many dishes should we prepare? We’ll reserve the amount of pork needed on our end first."

Shi Wenming had already discussed with Lin Hongqi about the guests to be entertained. He said:

"A total of twenty tables, all family relatives, classmates, and friends. The dishes should be as substantial as possible. Use the pork freely; chickens, ducks, geese, and lamb will be delivered soon. There are big fish in the reservoir, feel free to be creative."

Chefs doing village banquets love families like this.

Though it’s not a table package deal, and they don’t earn the one-time deal money from packaged tables, families that offer unlimited supply of ingredients give them plenty of room to showcase their skills.

They discussed among themselves and worked out the menu for tomorrow with Shi Wenming, considering the substantial dishes and ample ingredients.

A total of twenty-two dishes: two soup dishes, two sweet dishes, four stews, and the rest are other dishes beyond the main ones.

"Make plenty of the dishes, don’t be stingy; if the meat’s not enough, we’ll buy more, so no need to worry,"

Shi Wenming’s words immediately got the head chefs pumped up.

As long as the ingredients are ample, they’ll definitely put on a great show.

At this point, a paternal uncle arrived in an electric tricycle, delivering chickens, ducks, and geese collected from the village. Followed by another vehicle driven by an old man from a nearby village raising sheep, bringing live sheep.

Upon seeing this, Dundun, sunbathing outside, immediately joined in the fun. Seeing the big geese in the cage, it leapt onto the tricycle and barked fiercely at the cage holding the geese.

Luckily, the geese weren’t released at that moment; otherwise, this little guy would definitely have learned that the status of the village tyrant isn’t so easily challenged.

Everyone worked together to unload these ingredients from the vehicle and began slaughtering.

Lin Xu brought out a fifty-pound plastic jug from the kitchen, which intrigued his second aunt, Lin Hongxia:

"Nephew, what’s inside this?"

"Braised chicken marinade. I had people from the store prepare it before coming. Once I adjust the marinade, we’ll turn these chickens into braised chicken. After marinating, this pot of marinade will stay in the kitchen, allowing us to make the exact braised chicken like in the Beijing store."

Upon hearing this, Lin Hongxia’s eyes lit up.

During this trip to Beijing, Lin Ji’s Food’s braised chicken left a lasting impression.

Especially when served hot, the braised chicken was flavorful but not salty—simply perfect.

If the restaurant could recreate that taste, the business at the scenic spot would surely improve, and Yinzhou’s foodies would also come frequently just for the braised chicken.

Lin Xu said:

"Before leaving for the Spring Festival, I will teach my uncle a few dishes suitable for here, and with some promotion, it should boost the revenue of the scenic spot."

Operating the scenic spot is all about keeping people there, whether through tickets or activities.

Every extra minute tourists spend at the scenic spot could create new consumption, which ultimately turns into revenue.

No scenic spot in the country is known for its food yet, and Lin Hongxia thinks if her husband can master just three to four parts of her nephew’s culinary skills, Longqi Mountain could become the first scenic spot famous for food nationwide.

Imagine the scene of a bustling pedestrian street and food street in a scenic spot; it’s truly something to look forward to.

On another side, Chen Meiliang arrived at the reservoir, opened the small iron cabin by the dock, took out a fishing net, and drove a speedboat to set the net in the reservoir.

Then he took out the dragnet and hung it on the speedboat, starting to wander along the west bank of the reservoir where fish were likely to be found.

This dragnet was purchased in the summer, with large mesh that generally traps fish weighing over three pounds.

After circling around and coming ashore, Chen Shaokang and others attracted by the cannon firing joined in, their innate hunting instincts activated, eagerly helping out.

Initially, Chen Meiliang didn’t want the youngsters messing around in the water but thought that since these mischief-makers were well-fed, instead of letting them cause trouble elsewhere due to excess energy, letting them do some work would be better.

Thus, he transformed from a fisherman into a boat owner, directing the group of nephews and nieces to pull the net, sift through the catch, and clean the net—his former tasks.

The first net yielded a modest catch: only two carp, one silver carp, and one grass carp, with the silver carp being the largest at around ten pounds, and the others weighing four to five pounds each.

The rest was some aquatic plants and debris.

Chen Meiliang instructed Chen Shaokang and the others to place the fish in a nearby temporary fish storage pool and clean the net, throwing the aquatic plant debris onto the garbage pile.

Next, the second net began.

This time was more fruitful, with four to five carp, two silver carp, and two grass carp caught.

After several attempts, the fish needed were prepared, just as they were about to wrap it up, Chen Shaokang curiously asked:

"Dad, my cousin said the best fish size for cooking is around a pound and a half; aren’t these fish a bit too big?"