This was the fundamental contradiction: once you improve quality, you inevitably compromise speed.
If you can’t increase speed, you can’t increase the number of orders sold, which means the price per unit has to go up.
And even though society has no shortage of wealthy people, the rich aren’t going to eat at the same delicious restaurant every single day.
Besides, perfecting a craft like this is an exhausting endeavor.
If you spend your whole life painstakingly perfecting something, you might not even make as much as someone who just casually whips up something mediocre. Who would be willing to do that?
"I’ll take that as a good omen!"
After a full twenty-some minutes, the woman came jogging over, carrying two small paper bowls. "Folks, two orders are ready!"
Su Chen took them and handed one to Shang Mingke. "Try it. Her little wok can only stir-fry two servings at a time."
"Mm."
Shang Mingke unwrapped a pair of disposable chopsticks and sat in the car, holding the bowl of stir-fried geda in one hand.
The geda in the bowl were a mix of shapes—some cylindrical, some like teardrops. Because they had been blanched before stir-frying, each piece was clean and distinct, with no stickiness between them.
He picked one up with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing lightly for a moment.
TSK.
"It has a savory beef flavor, and the sauce is very aromatic."
Su Chen glanced at him. "President Shang, this is how you’re supposed to eat stir-fried geda."
He watched as Su Chen brought the paper bowl right up to his lips. Why bother with chopsticks? He just shoveled it straight into his mouth!
A huge mouthful!
’This is the stuff!’
The blanched geda were perfectly chewy, with a fantastic texture.
Shoveling such a large mouthful in, you could clearly taste the meaty flavor mixed with the shredded beef.
But the real soul of the dish was the vegetables. Since it was summer, the cook had added finely diced cucumber and short segments of cowpeas.
They left a fresh, clean aftertaste that cut through any richness.
The pleasure of the carbs combined with the crisp texture and fresh aroma of the vegetables—that one bite was pure satisfaction!
And the key part was, this bowl only cost 10 yuan!
Although he couldn’t take it to the Gourmet Practice Room for an official evaluation, based on Su Chen’s understanding, this stir-fried geda was an A Level dish, at the very least!
’I saw the cooking method and the ingredients. This dish would really suit the tastes of the Jingzhou People. I could add it to the employee meals on the second floor.’
Su Chen had achieved his first objective.
In the car, Bai Xiaobo and the others watched Su Chen and Shang Mingke shovel the delicious food they’d never tried before into their mouths, completely disregarding their image. Every now and then, they’d even hear the appreciative sound of lips smacking.
The others couldn’t help but start swallowing, their mouths watering.
This was pure torture!
"Bosses, these two are ready!"
The woman brought over two more servings, and Bai Xiaobo was the first to pounce!
He snatched a bowl and, without a second thought, stuffed a mouthful in.
"Holy crap! This is amazing!"
He stuffed his cheeks full, and the feeling of satisfaction was so immense he felt like he could take flight!
The other serving ended up in Zhang Li’s hands. "Mmm, mmm! So delicious. I can’t believe the boss found such a delicious place so far off the beaten path."
Su Chen wiped his mouth. One serving just wasn’t enough.
He closed his eyes slightly, recalling the preparation method for the stir-fried geda in his mind.
The unique chewiness of the geda, paired with the crisp sweetness of the vegetables, gave the simple dish a rich complexity of textures.
The beef was stir-fried in a soy-based sauce with sesame oil... that’s why the aroma was so rich and the meat was so tender yet firm. If he wasn’t mistaken, a splash of vinegar was sprayed onto the side of the wok while stir-frying the meat. Though you couldn’t taste the sourness, there was a faint, fragrant hint of it.
It seemed more like Zhenjiang Fragrant Vinegar, not an aged black vinegar.
However, Su Chen also identified the dish’s flaw.
The cook’s control over the heat seemed rather average.
The geda, shredded beef, diced cucumber, and cowpea segments—these four ingredients all required different cooking times and temperatures to reach maturity.
If she could just master that aspect, this snack would be absolutely unbeatable!
"*Hic!*" Shang Mingke finished his bowl as well. He looked at Su Chen with pleasant surprise. "Truly a master hiding in plain sight. This flavor is incredible! Boss Su, want another round?"
"Yes, yes! One serving isn’t nearly enough for anyone. Another round for everyone!"
The woman at the stall periodically wiped the sweat from her brow. She had been working under this overpass for who knows how many years.
She had her reasons for choosing this spot. Not only did she not have to worry about city inspectors and the like, but more importantly, it was close to her home.
The woman only prepared about 30 servings’ worth of ingredients and seasonings each day. Normally, she just had a few regular customers, so the work wasn’t too strenuous.
She was perfectly content earning two or three hundred yuan a day, with a net profit of over a hundred.
It didn’t interfere with her housework, and her schedule was flexible. Who could have guessed that today would be so strange? Five or six people suddenly show up, and each of them eats two servings!
The simple stove sputtered with flames as the woman strained to toss the contents of the heavy wok with one hand.
"It’s a pity. Such a delicious dish is hidden away in a place like this, unable to be enjoyed by more people."
Su Chen laughed. "That’s exactly as it should be."
He remembered clearly that in the past, because of one of his restaurant vlogs, this place had indeed blown up for a few days.
At the peak of its popularity, a well-known fuerdai from the Capital City had brought several female influencers here late at night to eat, and someone had snapped a photo and posted it online.
After that, the place was constantly mobbed with long lines. But a few days later, the woman stopped setting up her stall altogether.
The reason Su Chen remembered it so clearly was because he had felt guilty and later went looking for the woman.
"When there are too many people, I get flustered. And when I’m flustered, the flavor changes."
"My mother passed this down to me. She said that if I learned this craft, I’d always be able to feed myself, no matter the times. But I can’t ruin the craft just for money."
"She wanted me to pass it down, too, and said to pass it to a daughter, not a son. Men get impatient easily, always thinking about building a career. They’d easily ruin the craft."
That was why Su Chen had strongly urged Shang Mingke to post about it on his Moments this time.
Firstly, it would boost the woman’s business just a tiny bit, which he considered payment for being able to replicate the dish himself.
Secondly, consider the people in President Shang’s social circle... they preferred to go places without anyone knowing. There was no worry that they would suddenly attract a huge, disruptive crowd.
When the next batch was ready, Liu Shengnan and Liu Ahbao finally got to eat this supreme delicacy.
Su Chen and Shang Mingke, meanwhile, continued to wait, ready to eat their second serving in a bit.
Just then, a car pulled over on the side of the road. A man got out and came jogging over, his face looking somewhat anxious in the dim light of the evening.
"President Shang, this place is really hard to find! I came all this way specifically to apologize to you!"
It was Wang Peixing!