"Stop! What big order is it? Is some emperor going to eat dragon meat?" Xiao Lei stopped at the door and asked him with a smile.
"It wasn't an emperor, but an overseas Chinese who traveled thousands of kilometers back to Jiazhou to find his mother's hometown. I asked him for a long time and finally found out that Linjiang Eel Shreds are a local specialty." Zhou Yan explained to his master with a smile, "His mother's ancestors were chefs. Linjiang is a small place, and the most famous chefs are from the Kong Sect, right? So I wanted to ask you to make him a serving of Linjiang Eel Shreds to try. You know Linjiang well, so you can guide him when he goes to look for his relatives. You can ask people for directions."
"There are indeed many chefs in Linjiang, and the most famous are definitely your great grandmaster's lineage. As long as you have a name, you can find out about them." Xiao Lei stopped smiling and looked at him seriously, asking, "What's the name of that overseas Chinese you mentioned? How old is his mother? What's her name?"
"The overseas Chinese is named Qian Siyuan. He looks to be in his forties. I haven't asked his mother's age or name yet, but she's at least in her sixties or seventies and has been gone for many years. I'm not familiar with Linjiang either. You can ask him when you meet him later." Zhou Yan said.
"Alright, we should help overseas Chinese who are coming back to trace their roots. Linjiang is such a small place, they might even be related to your grandmaster." Xiao Lei nodded, turned around and went into the yard to pick up a bag, pushed his bicycle out, and called to Zhou Yan, "Come on, let's go buy some eels and side dishes. Linjiang Eel Shreds are a signature dish of our Kong Sect. I didn't have many opportunities to make it in the cafeteria before. Today you can learn from me. If you practice a few times, you might master it."
"Great! You haven't taught me how to make Braised Yellow Catfish yet." Zhou Yan caught up on his bicycle and said with a smile.
"I've hosted three banquets in a row, what time do I have to teach you?" Xiao Lei rolled his eyes at him.
"Hehe, I know you're busy. I only came to find you today because you didn't have a banquet." Zhou Yan was still smiling. He could get an order for his master every few days, so he would come to the restaurant every two or three days to update the banquet schedule to avoid clashes and having trouble explaining to the guests.
"Master, today's overseas Chinese is a big client of the textile factory, a big boss who came back from the United States. If you do well, may be when he successfully finds his relatives and wants to hold a banquet, he will ask you and Senior Brother Zheng to host it for him, and he will also give you a big red envelope."
Xiao Lei glanced at him upon hearing this and laughed, "You know how to attract business, you even came up with ideas for organizing a banquet for him."
"Rich people think differently. They don't want to owe favors, so they repay us with money." Zhou Yan grinned. "We're different. What we lack is money."
"That makes sense."
The two chatted idly as they rode their bicycles. They'd both been busy lately and rarely met.
"Master, aren't we going to buy eels over at the bridgehead?" Zhou Yan asked, looking at his master who was turning left on his bicycle. He braked suddenly.
"The market's already closed this afternoon. What can you buy at the bridgehead? Let's go find Eel Zhang, the professional eel catcher. He'll have everything." Xiao Lei said without turning his head.
"Eel Zhang?" Zhou Yan quickly followed up. Anyone who could come up with such a name must be quite something.
Just outside Suji Town, there was a secluded courtyard by the river. The door was ajar. Xiao Lei stopped his bicycle, went up, knocked on the door, and called out, "Eel Zhang! Are you home?"
"I'm here! Brother Xiao, come in!" A strong voice came from the courtyard.
Xiao Lei pushed open the door and went in, Zhou Yan quickly followed.
In the courtyard, a thin, middle-aged man dressed in a white martial arts uniform and cloth shoes with thick soles was feeding the fish in the pond in the corner of the yard with a porcelain basin in his hand. He turned around and saw Xiao Lei, and said with some surprise, "Brother Xiao, what brings you here? I heard you're hosting banquets everywhere every day, and your business is booming."
"Running around here and there, earning a little bit of hard-earned money, business is never good." Xiao Lei laughed, "I want four jin of eels, 25 g each, no big ones, no small ones either, hurry up."
Eel Zhang placed the porcelain basin on the stone table beside him and said with a smile, "Four jin of 25 g eels? Brother Xiao, you've ordered a lot of eels. I can only pick out two jin from my jar, which are all leftovers from this morning. I'll go to the field behind the house and get you another two jin of eels. You guys sit and wait a bit."
"Catch eels? Catch them right now? Now?" Zhou Yan raised an eyebrow. How long would it take to catch two jin of eels? The winter bamboo shoots have already come out on the mountain, and it's a bit cold in the mornings and evenings. It's not the season when eels are active, is it?
"Okay, go ahead, I'll feed the fish for you." Xiao Lei picked up the enamel basin on the table, walked to the edge of the fishpond, grabbed a small handful of paddy and scattered it into the pond, attracting a group of plump koi carp to scramble for the food, all of them of excellent quality.
"Brother Xiao, that's about it for feeding this bowl of paddy, don't let the fish get bloated to death!" Eel Zhang said, taking a fish basket off the corner wall of the yard and turning to head out the door.
"Doesn't he need to change his clothes and shoes?" Zhou Yan looked at Eel Zhang, who was dressed in white, wearing cloth shoes, and carrying a fish basket, and went out with a strange expression. If he comes back from the fields covered in mud, won't his wife tear him apart?
"I don't know when it started, but this guy always wears all white and cloth shoes when he goes to the fields to catch eels. He can walk around the paddy field once and catch all the eels in half the field without getting a speck of mud on his white clothes. When he comes back, he wipes the mud off the soles of his feet, and his shoes aren't even dirty." Xiao Lei said with a smile as he scattered paddy.
"Otherwise, how do you think he got his nickname 'Eel Zhang'? It's because of his unique skill. He once said that if his clothes get even a little bit mud on them, he'll release all the eels he caught that day, leaving none behind.
He poked his right middle finger into the eel hole, and an eel was doomed. It wouldn't take long before he caught it, clamping it between his two fingers, there was no way it could escape."
"Wow, that's amazing!" Zhou Yan exclaimed in surprise. This was truly an extraordinary person.
No wonder everyone else had nicknames like "Zhang Laosan" or "Wang Laowu" but his was unique—"Eel Zhang."
Wearing a white shirt and catching eels, he's quite the strong guy!
"He still needs two more jin of eels. How long will it take him to catch them all?" Zhou Yan glanced at his watch, it was already two o'clock, and he still had to work that evening.
"Don't worry, he'll be back after I feed the fish these paddy." Xiao Lei said calmly, scattering paddy in his hand, which amused the koi carp in the pond, causing them to scramble for the food.
Zhou Yan peeked out and saw that there was still a little less than half a basin of paddy left in the enamel basin. At the way his master was spreading it, it would be all gone in less than ten minutes.
He couldn't sit still any longer, so he ran outside the yard to look. In the distance, he saw Eel Zhang, dressed in white, walking slowly along the paddy field ridge in the field behind the yard. He would squat down from time to time, dig a couple of times in the field or on the ridge, and then he would have a small eel in his hand. He would wash it in the water a couple of times and then put it directly into the fish basket.
The movements were fluid and effortless, as if he had casually picked it up while crouching down.
But this was a slippery eel!
Moreover, it's daytime during this season, so they're completely buried in the soil.
He walked along one of the paddy field ridges to the end, and each time he squatted down, he could catch one or two eels. After walking along both ridges, he turned around and came back.
Eel Zhang walked up the path, carrying a fish basket that was still dripping with water.
Zhou Yan carefully examined Eel Zhang's clothes. From top to bottom, there wasn't a single speck of mud on them, and even the surface of his cloth shoes was spotless.
These days it's been dry and there's been no rain, so the paddy field ridges are dry too, and even the soles of his shoes didn't get muddy.
"Master Little Zhou, right? I've heard Brother Xiao mention you as his apprentice." Eel Zhang handed him the eels in his hand and said with a smile, "Take a look at these eels, see if they're any good."
"Just call me Little Zhou." Zhou Yan took the fish basket and looked inside. There were thirty or forty small yellow eels of uniform size, with a bright orange color. They were darting around in the basket, looking very lively. These were wild yellow eels from that era, and they were definitely genuine.
[A basket of top quality eels]
The results that popped out of the corner of his eye confirmed this.
Even the most slippery eel becomes utterly submissive in Eel Zhang's hands.
This time, Zhou Yan was truly convinced.
"Eel Zhang, you truly live up to your reputation! You caught two jin of eels in such a short time. How many do you catch in a day?" Zhou Yan exclaimed in admiration.
"These are the fields where I raise eels. Any eels that I can't sell or that don't survive are thrown into these fields to be raised. When customers come to buy them, I just catch them. That way they're fresh and wild." Eel Zhang said with a smile. "Normally, to catch two jin of eels, I have to walk through two more fields. In winter, it's much harder to catch them, I can only catch about twenty jin a day at most."
Zhou Yan knew he was being modest. In such a large field, even the fish raised there were hard to catch, let alone eels that burrow into the soil.,
Some people get slapped for trying to catch fish in a fish tank, while others catch eels in the field as easy as taking something out of a bag, without even getting their clothes dirty. That's real skill.
A person's reputation is like a tree's shadow.[1]
That saying is absolutely true.
While Zhou Yan was distracted, two specks of mud had already fallen onto his feet.
Upon entering the courtyard, Xiao Lei had just scattered the last handful of paddy into the fishpond and put down the enamel basin. He wasn't surprised to see the two people who came in. "How much are the eels selling for per jin today?"
"Brother Xiao, if you come to buy, just charge one yuan per jin. You know, I usually sell it for one yuan and twenty cents per jin at retail." said Eel Zhang.
Xiao Lei nodded: "Okay, you go and get the other two jin as well."
Eel Zhang took his fish basket to the corner, lifted a lid, bent down, and pinched off a whole eel from the sunken stone jar, putting them all into the basket.
He swung the fish basket back and forth in the fishpond next to him to wash off the mud before handing it back to Zhou Yan: "Four jin is the correct weight. If it's 5 grams short, come back and I'll refund you. I won't take a penny."
"I believe you." Zhou Yan took out four yuan and handed it over without the slightest doubt.
Comrade Old Zhou cut exactly the amount of meat you asked for, down to the last cent.
Eel Zhang, caught four jin of eels, and it's four jin, which he considers reasonable.
"Let's go." Xiao Lei patted the rice husks off his hands, called out, and walked towards the door.
With a fawning smile, Eel Zhang said, "Brother Xiao, are you going to make some Linjiang Eel Shreds today? How about I contribute two jin of eel and let me have a meal too? I've been catching eels my whole life, but I can never make the same taste as you. I've been craving it for half a year."
"Next time you provide the eels, I'll provide the ingredients and labor, we'll split the bill. I'll make the Linjiang Eel Shreds." Xiao Lei said with a smile, "We have guests today, so it's not convenient."
Eel Zhang nodded and said, "Sure! You can come anytime you're free. I feed the eels in the fields, so you can have them anytime. I also have two bottles of good liquor, we'll open them next time."
"Okay." Xiao Lei replied, and left with Zhou Yan.
Catching eels is a skilled job, praised by everyone.
But being able to make eel taste so good that even the most skilled eel catchers can't forget it is also a skill.
Master Xiao is not only a regular customer, but also the master of controlling the flavor of eels in Suji Town.
Even though Eel Zhang was dressed in white and was very proud and arrogant, he still showed some respect when he was in front of Xiao Lei.
The reason was simple: in Suji Town, he couldn't find another chef who could cook eel to his satisfaction.
Xiao Lei's Linjiang Eel Shreds were exceptional, even in Linjiang Town, he might not find anyone who could do it better. It was true skill.
Zhou Yan put the fish basket in his back basket, got on his bicycle, and rode towards the restaurant with Xiao Lei. "Master, this Eel Zhang can't stop thinking about the Linjiang Eel Shreds you made."
"You have to show off your skills in front of a remarkable person to impress them." Xiao Lei's lips curled up slightly: "The first time I met Eel Zhang, it wasn't so easy to talk to him about buying eels. If there are eels in the jar, there are, if not, I offered him extra money to go and get them, but he wouldn't do it.
Later, I made a pot of Linjiang Eel Shreds and invited him over for a meal. From then on, no matter how much eel I wanted, how big or heavy, he would prepare it for me without hesitation. Basically, if I treated him to Linjiang Eel Shreds during festivals and holidays, and I showed him the courtesy, everything would be fine."
Zhou Yan nodded repeatedly, agreeing that his master was indeed adept at handling interpersonal relationships and social interactions.
The two returned to the restaurant.
Qian Siyuan and Lin Zhiqiang were sitting on the stone bench by the door watching Zhou Momo paint.
The little one sat on a small stool with another stool in front of her, holding a crayon in her hand. She would occasionally look up at the two people and draw very seriously, one step at a time.
"What are you drawing?" Zhou Yan squeezed the brakes and peeked out.
Good heavens!
The little one is already doing portrait drawing.
To be honest, Qian Siyuan, dressed in a suit, and Lin Zhiqiang, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, sat side by side on a long bench. Their hair was combed back, and one of them, wearing black-rimmed glasses, was actually quite good at drawing.
"I'm drawing pictures for the uncles and then I'll give them the pictures when I'm done." Zhou Momo looked up at him and said with a smile, "Look! It's almost finished!"
"Yes, you draw really well." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile. Since getting crayons, the little one's drawing skills have improved extremely quickly. She has evolved from her original abstract style to being able to draw people.
While the details could be improved, the character traits are captured very well. The little girl's perspective is unique, and the characters are drawn in large sizes, which is very characteristic of her.
"Hehe." Zhou Momo laughed smugly, then lowered her head to continue coloring the clothes, the painting was nearing completion.
"Boss Zhou is back!" Qian Siyuan stood up and looked at Xiao Lei, who had parked his bicycle nearby. "This must be Master Xiao, right?"
"I'm Xiao Lei." Xiao Lei smiled and extended his hand.
"Hello, Master Xiao, I'm Qian Siyuan." Qian Siyuan shook his hand. "Thank you for making this trip."
"Zhou Yan told me about your situation, Mr. Qian. For overseas Chinese like you, tracing your roots is not an easy task. It would be good if we could do our part." Xiao Lei looked at him and said, "What is your mother's name? What year was she born? What was her life like in China? My master is from Linjiang. Our Kong Sect is the most famous lineage of chefs in Linjiang. Perhaps I have heard of her name."
Qian Siyuan pondered, "My mother's name was Kong Simin. She was born in 1900. She rarely talked to me about her life in China, and she rarely even taught me to speak Chinese. She came to the United States by ship with my father in 1921 and spent her whole life in New York, passing away in 1956."
"The surname is Kong!" Zhou Yan's eyes lit up, the possibilities had narrowed down considerably.
"Kong Simin?" Xiao Lei frowned, pondered for a long time, and said, "This name sounds familiar, but I can't remember where I've heard it before..."
Qian Siyuan clenched his fists tightly, his excitement evident, and even his voice trembled: "Master Xiao, have you really heard of this name?"
"Your mother is one year older than my master. She went abroad in 1921, before I was even born, and before my master had even completed his apprenticeship. It's been too long." Xiao Lei shook his head and said, "So it's hard to be sure now. I'm free tomorrow, so I can go with you to Linjiang to ask the older folks in town. We can also check the household registration information at the town's police station. May be we'll find something. It's too late today, and I didn't tell my wife. I'm going home after meal."
"Thank you so much!" Qian Siyuan said gratefully, holding his hands in both of his.
"You're welcome. What you keep in mind will eventually come to pass." Xiao Lei reached out and patted the back of his hand, smiling as he said, "Zhou Yan said your mother in United States missed the Linjiang Eel Shreds, her hometown. It's my master's signature dish, and also one of my specialties. We went and bought the eel and the side dishes.
To avoid interfering with his business tonight, we'll start preparing it in a little while. We'll eat it for dinner. Try it later and see if it tastes the same as your mother described."
"Okay." Qian Siyuan nodded.
Zhou Yan reached into the fish basket and grabbed an eel, gripping it tightly with three fingers. He smiled and said, "Mr. Qian, this is the eel you think looks like a snake."
Qian Siyuan took a step back and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh! It really looks like a snake! Smooth and oily, it even looks a few times scarier than a snake!"
This was the first time he had ever seen an eel, its slimy appearance was almost exactly as he had imagined it when he was a child.
However, they were smaller in size, with pointed heads, and didn't seem very aggressive.
But thinking of the delicious food his mother always craved, which was made from this small eel, his disgust and fear lessened considerably. "Linjiang Eel Shreds, is that what it's made with?"
Xiao Lei nodded: "That's right, eighty small eels weighing 25 g each, weighing four jin, make a pot of Linjiang Eel Shreds. This is considered a famous dish in Jiazhou. Even Suji doesn't sell it."
He then said to Zhou Yan, "Go get some perilla leaves. The key to this Linjiang Eel Shreds is this last bit of perilla leaves, it's an essential ingredient."
"Okay!" Zhou Yan replied, pushing his bicycle into the restaurant and parking it before going out to pick some perilla leaves.
When Zhou Yan returned with the perilla leaves, Xiao Lei had already washed the eels.
"Come on, first chop up the ginger, garlic, dried chili peppers, pickled peppers, pickled ginger, bean sprouts, cilantro, and perilla leaves." Xiao Lei put the eels into a deep wooden bucket and instructed Zhou Yan.
"Okay!" Zhou Yan tied on his apron and immediately got to work.
Serving as a chopping board operator for his master wasn't shameful, on the contrary, it was a great learning opportunity.
If he wants to learn a dish, he doesn't have many opportunities to do it himself and have an expert guide him.
Knife skills were Zhou Yan's forte, he would cut exactly as his master instructed, ensuring his master's satisfaction.
The side dishes are chopped.
The water in the pot has boiled.
"Watch, once the water boils, pour all the eels into the pot at once. This step requires boldness, carefulness, and quick reflexes. Immediately put the lid on the pot as soon as the eels are in, otherwise the eels will jump up high!" Xiao Lei said while demonstrating.
The lid was put on, and a series of thumping sounds immediately followed, but then silence quickly fell.
"Aren't you going to kill the eels?" Zhou Yan asked, somewhat surprised.
"No, we'll gut them while separating the meat and bones, also cut open the belly. That way it's faster. Otherwise, with twenty eels per jin, killing and separating them would drive you crazy. Besides, if you cut open the belly first, the fish meat is more likely to fall apart, and the texture won't be as good." Xiao Lei said, opening the pot lid and skimming off the foam with a ladle.
Zhou Yan has eaten a lot of Linjiang Eel Shreds, but he has never been to the kitchen to film it. He knows that oil is poured on at the end, but he only has a superficial understanding of the cooking process.
"Boil the eels in boiling water for five minutes, then take them out of the pot immediately." Xiao Lei took a bamboo strainer and scooped the eels out of the pot. Steam rose as he picked up an eel and handed it to Zhou Yan: "Look, eels in this state are about 70% cooked. They should feel soft but not mushy. The cooking time depends on the amount of eels, it's not a fixed time. You'll have to judge the heat control yourself.
Zhou Yan squeezed the eel to feel its texture and then looked at its condition, getting a general idea of what it was like.
The cooked eels were poured onto a large cutting board. Xiao Lei took out a yellow bone knife from his bag. The end of the knife was thin and sharp. He showed it to Zhou Yan and said with a touch of nostalgia, "This is a bone knife made from beef ribs. It's used to slice eels. This knife was given to me by your grandmaster when he taught me how to make Linjiang Eel Shreds. It's been almost thirty years."
"Master, have you prepared one for me?" Zhou Yan asked him earnestly.
Xiao Lei's expression froze, looking slightly embarrassed: "Later, I'll get you one too."
"Master, you've changed!" Zhou Yan sighed. "You don't care about me, this apprentice at all. Even my grandmaster didn't treat you like this."
"Don't go crazy! Watch closely, the key is in slicing the eel into strips, the quality depends on these three cuts." Xiao Lei said seriously, picking up a slightly curled eel and making a cut along the eel with his bone knife. "First, make a cut here on the belly, then make two cuts on either side of the back. The eel will then be divided into two strips and a complete eel bone, with the internal organs intact. Just push them aside. The technique is simple, practice makes perfect. One cut, two cuts, three cuts..."
Zhou Yan watched as his master sliced the eels into strips with his bone knife, the eel bones neatly piled up, not a single piece of meat left on them, completely clean.
The technique was fast and steady, with a rhythmic, swish-swish motion that was quite stress-relieving to watch.
"Have you learned it?" Xiao Lei looked up at him and asked.
"I understand it mentally." Zhou Yan nodded.
He just wasn't sure if his hands could do it.
[1] This means that a certain kind of person will have a certain kind of reputation.