Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Many of the customers had the thought that the taste wasn’t likely to be bad since both the knife skills and plate presentation were so good.
Even Dahe and Xiaojing had the same thought. When the fish was distributed to them, such an idea became even more ingrained.
“Dahe, it turns out that the knife skills of the chefs from our country are so good. Look at the shreds. How thin it is.” Xiaojing took the plate in her hand and looked quite amazed.
That’s right. She was holding the plate in her hand. Wu Jun had prepared only four chairs in all. Of the four chairs, Wu Hai sat on one and he didn’t even move an inch. Basically, he ate one plate of the fish slices whenever it was served.
And Wu Jun also seated himself in another chair. After all, he was the one that had worked hard and performed a valuable service. Therefore, he must have a seat.
Then, there were only two seats left. Nevertheless, even these two chairs were both occupied by the two people that ate the Otoro first. For the people who ate the fish, these four chairs were even worse than a drop in the bucket.
Therefore, the people that stood and ate could be found everywhere. Fortunately, this was one of the original qualities of the market. As there were many people but the space in most restaurants were small, it wasn’t uncommon to see many of the customers standing and eating before leaving those restaurants.
There was nothing special about Yuan Zhou’s booth. Nevertheless, there was an immense crowd around they totally surrounded Yuan Zhou’s booth. Nobody could go in or out.
Under such circumstances, Xiaojing and Dahe naturally stood there while holding their own plates and chopsticks, preparing to eat like other people.
At the center of the plate was the dipping sauce. It wasn’t the mustard but the green onion, the kind that came from northeast China and tasted a little sweet.
“Yeah, I’ve never expected it. I still thought the Japanese chefs were more awesome on the aspect of knife skills.” Dahe scratched his head with embarrassment.
“Me, either. Let’s just try the taste. We haven’t eaten our traditional fish slices yet.” The way Xiaojing spoke had changed for the better.
After all, she became spirited and excited while looking at such beautiful food.
“Alright. Xiaojing, you eat first.” Dahe received the plate and handed it forward before saying to to Xiaojing.
“Okay.” Xiaojing was accustomed to that. Whenever her boyfriend got something delicious, he always handed it to her first.
Without saying much, she picked up a small cluster of the shredded fish slice with the chopsticks and dipped it into the sauce before straightforwardly stuffing it into her mouth.
“Wow, it’s so delicious.” Xiaojing opened her eyes wide unconsciously and said excitedly. Then she couldn’t wait to close her mouth and start to chew.
It was indeed very delicious. The back of the bluefin tuna was directly cut open by Yuan Zhou with the blade. Because of the low temperature of the ice blade, the fish was frozen immediately. When Yuan Zhou started to shred it, the four sides of the fish flesh were frozen.
This way, the freshness and the delicacy of the fish flesh was preserved. Besides that, the fibers of the gold orange had been frozen so it became a little crispy. Along with the fish flesh, it tasted soft, fragrant and sweet.
“It’s way too delicious.” Every time she chewed, Xiaojing couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.
The small protrusions on the surface of the orange skin contained some juice, which tasted a little bitter. However, more of the fruit fragrance burst out after it was bitten. While she was chewing, the taste directly took away the remaining slight underlying fishy smell.
On the contrary, this kind of underlying fishy smell and the intrinsic freshness and delicacy of the tuna as well as the sweetness of the green onion from Northeast China blended together, which made the tuna have not only the delicious taste but also the unprecedented chewiness
“Hurry up, you taste it now. It’s super delicious. So this is the true meaning behind China’s raw fish slices .” Xiaojing gulped down the fish flesh and couldn’t wait to let Dahe eat.
“Okay.” Dahe nodded his head with a spoiling manner. He was prepared to eat less shortly in order to give more to his girlfriend.
“Yeah. Eat it quickly. It tastes ice-cold, fragrant, sweet and fresh. The tuna is so delicious.” Lost in the recollection, Xiaojing said that.
Watching her boyfriend, Dahe, also eat contentedly, Xiaojing picked up another small piece and started to eat.
This time, she found something new. When Yuan Zhou sliced the fish, there were some parts where he followed the skin texture before cutting down. For other parts, however, he didn’t. Therefore, that caused some difference in the taste.
And this difference together with the crispy fibers of the gold orange just added to the delicious taste of the fish.
“It turns out that the shredded fish slices are also so delicious.”
“It looks so. Look at the expressions of those people. They almost seem to be ascending to the heavens.”
“Exactly. One chef is too little. If there were two more, we can probably get more. After all, there’s a whole fish to eat.”
“He’s truly underestimated. He looks like a gentleman, but his culinary skills are even better than a senior master.”
“No, I can’t stand it. He really seems to be a spirit that will stimulate my appetite. I feel so hungry just looking at him. Let’s go inside and buy something to eat first. Then, we can come back.”
“Let’s go together. I also want to buy something to eat and fill my stomach first.”
“Chinese people are so amazing. They can always make magical dishes with magical movements.”
Since the Akami was prepared, more people had joined the crowd and started to eat. For other onlookers and those who had nothing to eat, they also became hungry at the sight of the scene. Even those who weren’t hungry became hungry, too.
Naturally, it was the seafood-rice store behind Yuan Zhou’s booth that benefited a lot. After all, Yuan Zhou’s booth was right in front of the store and others naturally thought he also served delicious food.
The seafood-rice stores that didn’t have much business originally suddenly became so prosperous that even the boss couldn’t get some free time.
When he wasn’t so busy, he looked at the big crowd outside the door smilingly and became quite happy.
“Just continue. This is really like winning the lottery.” The boss looked at Yuan Zhou and felt quite satisfied.
He just wished that Yuan Zhou would set up his booth here every day.
In order to keep the freshness of the fish, Yuan Zhou didn’t rest at noon, but prepared the remaining half of the fish one serving by one serving before he packed up the booth.
In the evening, more and more onlookers joined the crowd. Therefore, the owner of the seafood-rice store just kept smiling from morning until evening. His face even became stiff due to that.
Of course, Yuan Zhou specially reserved a plate of meat of the bluefin tuna for Zheng Jiawei during the period. When noon came, he gave him the food directly.
“Excuse me, everybody. The live slicing of the bluefin tuna is over. Thank you for coming.” Zheng Jiawei began to say his thank-you speech.
Once Zheng Jiawei finished, the crowd of people around immediately became annoyed, just like a drop of water dripping into a pot of oil.
“Hey hey hey. I just arrived and haven’t gotten my turn yet. ”
“Exactly. We rushed here as soon as we got off work. And you want to leave now?”
“Why don’t you cut the other half of the fish? We haven’t eaten it before.”
“I want more. I didn’t eat my fill at all. I only ate three plates.”
“Three plates still aren’t enough for you? We haven’t eaten any.”
Upon hearing that Yuan Zhou was going to pack up the booth and leave, even Dahe and Xiaojing, who had stood there for a whole afternoon unconsciously, revealed a look of great pity.
The one that shouted he had only eaten three plates of the fish slices was directly scolded while Zheng Jiawei explained with a smile, “Everyone, it is very late now. The market is also going to be closed, Please be cautious on your way back home.”
“Oh yeah. This market is going to close.”
What Zheng Jiawei said directly made those who hadn’t eaten any start to complain that the market closed too early. Besides that, somebody even proposed that everyone should suggest to the person in charge to increase the business hours.
While the crowd of people were complaining here, some smart ones started to approach Yuan Zhou. They all aimed for the remaining half of the bluefin tuna. Some of them could even speak some simple Chinese.
Meanwhile, the owner of the seafood-rice store stopped Wu Jun and didn’t let him leave. He was prepared to persuade Yuan Zhou to come again the following day. Of course, he would offer the booth for free.
…
