I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 320: Chapter 302: My Bitter Melon Is Not Bitter

Then, Duan Canghong pointed to the Cherokee Rose on the truck bed and said, ”Boss, what do you think of this Cherokee Rose plant?”

Li You said, ”It’s very beautiful and very healthy. Uncle Duan, thank you so much.”

Duan Canghong waved his hand. ”It’s nothing. It was on my way.”

Li You said, ”Even if it was on your way, it couldn’t have been easy to dig up such a large Cherokee Rose bush. It must have been hard work for you, Uncle Duan.”

Duan Canghong said, ”It was fine, really. It didn’t take long to dig up. Boss, you really don’t have to be so formal.”

Then, the two of them worked together to move the Cherokee Rose from the truck bed. They then carried it directly to the wild orchard.

The Fire Dragon Fruit Seedlings, of course, were also taken to the Hundred Fruit Garden.

Duan Canghong also asked if Li You wanted help planting them.

Li You said there was no need, that he would plant them slowly later on.

Li You felt too embarrassed to trouble Duan Canghong with planting them as well.

So, Duan Canghong told Li You a few things to keep in mind when planting the Dragon Fruit.

Li You listened very attentively. Afterward, he asked, ”By the way, Uncle Duan, where are you from? How long does it take you to get here?”

Duan Canghong replied, ”I’m from Changhe Village, over in Qingshui Town. It takes me about fifty minutes to get here by three-wheeler. It’s a bit faster if I ride my motorcycle.”

Li You nodded. He knew of Qingshui Town; it was the neighboring town to Wenxian Town. He had been there before, but only to the town center, never to the villages.

A fifty-minute trip by three-wheeler was still quite a distance.

After that, Li You paid him. The total was 400 yuan. He also invited Duan Canghong to come inside the shop and rest for a bit.

Duan Canghong said he wouldn’t stay today, but would take a seat next time he came for a meal.

But Li You insisted that Duan Canghong stay, at least for a glass of water before he left.

Duan Canghong finally nodded. ”Alright, then.”

The two men walked into the shop. Li You poured Duan Canghong a glass of water, then brought out a bag for him to take home.

Inside were two chopped, braised chickens.

Li You had secretly notified Da Bai earlier and asked him to prepare them.

Duan Canghong asked what it was.

Li You said it was nothing, just a bit of braised chicken for Duan Canghong to take back for his family to try.

’A bit?’

Duan Canghong tested the weight. This was more than ”a bit”; it felt like several pounds, probably two whole chickens.

Duan Canghong repeatedly refused, saying he couldn’t accept it. What kind of seller comes to sell something, only to take something from the buyer in return?

But Li You insisted, adding that since they were already chopped, he couldn’t very well sell them to anyone else.

In the end, Duan Canghong accepted the braised chickens, thanking him again and again.

Li You, however, said that he was the one who should be expressing his thanks.

Amidst their mutual expressions of gratitude, Duan Canghong took his leave, carrying the braised chickens.

After Duan Canghong left, Li You took out one of the Dragon Fruits he had just been given, intending to taste it.

He cut it open and saw that it was red-fleshed.

’Red-fleshed is nice.’ The red variety was much sweeter than the white, and its texture was also finer and softer.

However, white-fleshed Dragon Fruit had its advantages, too. It was juicier and more refreshing to eat.

Some people preferred the red kind, while others preferred the white. Li You liked them both.

He cut off a piece of the fruit and put it in his mouth.

The texture was excellent—very sweet, tender, and delicious.

’I knew these Dragon Fruits would be good.’

Duan Canghong’s skills in cultivating Dragon Fruit were excellent.

After quickly finishing the entire Dragon Fruit, Li You walked into the Hundred Fruit Garden. He was going to plant the Fire Dragon Fruit Seedlings.

After planning out a spot, he retrieved a hoe from the Storage Pavilion and began to dig a hole.

Following the instructions Duan Canghong had given him earlier, he finished planting all twenty Dragon Fruit plants.

Then he took out some fruit tree fertilizer and spread it around.

With the fertilizer, the fruit these Dragon Fruit plants would bear in the future would have an even better texture.

This was certainly something to look forward to!

Work here was done. He went back to the wild orchard to plant the Cherokee Rose.

Arriving at the wild orchard, he likewise chose a good spot and began to dig a hole.

After a bit of work, the job was done.

He also took out some fruit tree fertilizer and spread it around.

In a month, this Cherokee Rose would bear fruit. He’d be able to eat the rose hips then, which was very exciting.

Afterward, Li You went to the vegetable garden and picked a few bitter melons.

The bitter melons had begun to ripen and were ready to be eaten.

Although he didn’t have any recipes involving bitter melon for the restaurant yet, he could still eat them himself.

Bitter melon is highly nutritious. It can help clear internal heat and detoxify the body, beautify and soften the skin, lower blood sugar, and nourish the blood and liver.

So it was good to eat it often.

For women, eating more bitter melon could help keep their skin hydrated and smooth.

Many people disliked eating bitter melon because of its bitter taste.

That was a real shame.

He decided to stir-fry some bitter melon tonight. Stir-fried with meat or plain—either would be fine.

He checked the time. It was 4:30 PM; he could still play games for a little while.

The time flew by as he played, and soon it was 5:30 PM. Customers started to arrive for dinner.

Li You quit the game and went into the kitchen to start another busy period.

At seven in the evening, Ling Xiaoru arrived.

It was Li You’s turn to treat Ling Xiaoru to dinner tonight.

Ling Xiaoru walked to the kitchen doorway, poked her head in, and asked, ”Boss, what are we having for dinner tonight?”

Li You said, ”Bitter melon.”

”Bitter melon?” Ling Xiaoru’s face fell. ”Boss, can we change the dish? I don’t like bitter melon.”

Li You said, ”Eating bitter melon is good for you. It’s also good for your skin, better than any skincare product.”

Ling Xiaoru replied, ”I don’t really use skincare products anyway. Besides, even if it’s good for my skin, I can’t bring myself to eat it. It’s too bitter.”

Li You said, ”Don’t worry, the bitter melon I make won’t be too bitter. After you try it, you might even find it delicious.”

Ling Xiaoru shook her head vigorously; she didn’t believe him. After a moment, she added, ”I know, Boss. The bitter melons in the vegetable garden are ripe, and since you don’t have a new dish that uses them yet, you decided to eat them yourself. Am I right?”

Li You chuckled. ”That’s one of the reasons. It’d be a shame to waste such a good ingredient.”

Ling Xiaoru muttered, ”Well, I’m not eating it.” Then she giggled and continued, ”You can’t possibly be making just one dish of bitter melon. I’ll just eat the other dishes.”

Li You said, ”You’ve just reminded me. I’ve decided to make only one dish tonight: bitter melon.”

Ling Xiaoru laughed again. She knew Li You was just teasing her and wouldn’t really make only bitter melon.

”Oh, by the way,” Ling Xiaoru added, ”did you ask Teacher Chu to stay the night?”

Li You feigned a look of sudden realization. ”Oops, I forgot. Oh well, I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

”Is that so?” Ling Xiaoru’s eyes crinkled with a smile. ”I’m heading upstairs now.”

With that, she turned and left.

’Of course, Li You hadn’t really forgotten to ask Chu Yiwei. He simply never intended to ask in the first place.’

’It wasn’t that he didn’t want to. He just knew that without a special reason, Chu Yiwei would definitely not come over to sleep.’

’She didn’t rent a place nearby, after all.’

’Oh well. For now, it was enough that Chu Yiwei could occasionally stay the night.’

’As for what would happen in the future? That was a matter for another time.’

’He wouldn’t worry about it for now.’

When 7:30 PM arrived, Li You began to cook dinner for himself and Ling Xiaoru.

Of course, he wasn’t only going to make a single bitter melon dish.

However, when Li You said his bitter melon wouldn’t be too bitter, he wasn’t lying to Ling Xiaoru.

There was a trick to making bitter melon less bitter.

The trick was to first cut the bitter melon in half and then scrape the inner pith out completely.

Then, after slicing the bitter melon, it should be salted and left to sit for a few minutes.

Next, the salted bitter melon should be blanched.

Blanching, as it’s called, means putting it into boiling water to cook briefly.

It could be blanched for a little longer, for about 30 seconds to a minute.

After blanching, the bitter melon is removed and placed in cold water.

It had to be cold water.

After soaking for a while, the bitter melon is taken out. You can give it a gentle squeeze to press out the excess water.

When stir-fried after these steps, the bitter melon’s bitterness would be greatly reduced.

Of course, there would still be some bitterness, but that small amount of bitterness was essential.

Otherwise, why would it be called bitter melon?

This level of bitterness was something most people could accept.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible to cook bitter melon with no bitterness at all.

It could be done.

But in Li You’s opinion, if it truly had no bitterness at all, the dish would lose its soul.

Therefore, Li You would definitely retain a certain amount of bitterness.

Alternatively, another trick to reduce the bitterness was to skip the salting and blanching. Instead, after heating the wok, the sliced bitter melon is added directly without oil for a dry-fry.

After dry-frying for a moment, salt is added, and the dry-frying continues.

Continue to dry-fry for two to three minutes until the bitter melon softens and its water content is released, then remove from the wok and set aside.

Bitter melon prepared with this dry-frying method would also have a very faint bitterness.

Both methods worked. It was a matter of personal preference.

Li You used the method of salting and blanching.

After completing the process, a dish of plain stir-fried bitter melon was ready.

It was a vegetarian stir-fry, without any meat. There was no need to add any.

Besides this dish, he also made an order of Longjing Shrimp, an order of Chopped Pepper Fish Head, and two pounds of spicy crayfish. That should be about enough.

After all the customers had finished eating and left, Li You closed the shop door and carried the dishes upstairs.

Of course, he also brought up two bowls of wine.

Ling Xiaoru was gradually starting to look like an ”Alcoholic” these days, so she would definitely want to drink.

Of course, she wasn’t a real Alcoholic. After all, she only ever drank when she was here.

After the food and wine were all set out, the two of them began to eat and drink.

Li You picked up a piece of bitter melon and tasted it.

It was crisp, tender, and refreshing, with an excellent texture. Although there was still a hint of bitterness, it was completely acceptable.

Ling Xiaoru looked at the bitter melon and said, ”This bitter melon actually looks pretty good.”

Li You said, ”Then why don’t you try some?”

Ling Xiaoru shook her head. ”Even though it looks good, it tastes bitter. No, I’m not trying it.”

Li You said, ”But it’s only a tiny bit bitter. You can definitely handle this level of bitterness.”

”Really?” Ling Xiaoru was still skeptical.

”You’ll know if it’s true once you take a bite. The worst that can happen is that it’s bitter; it’s not like it’s poisonous,” Li You said.

Ling Xiaoru thought about it and figured he was right. ”Alright then, I’ll try one bite.”

After saying that, she picked up a slice of bitter melon and put it in her mouth.

She tentatively chewed it.

Her eyes slowly brightened. It seemed it really wasn’t that bitter.

There was a little bitterness, but it seemed she could actually handle it.

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