Chapter 371: Chapter 371 - 365: Dragon Boat Festival, Delicious Zongzi!

Jiang Feng finished his food stall in Chang’an.

The "Zhuangyuan Noodles" still caused quite a stir.

The gaokao is something that garners nationwide attention, and everyone hopes that the students will achieve good results, sending their blessings in their own ways.

Jiang Feng was no exception.

Many exam candidates tried the "Zhuangyuan Noodles" and all expressed their approval of the eight delicious pork toppings.

After finishing up in Chang’an, Jiang Feng tirelessly prepared new food.

It was rice dumplings (zongzi).

Since it’s almost the Dragon Boat Festival, Jiang Feng’s idea was to give a complimentary zongzi to every guest at Jiangyue Terrace.

Jiang Feng himself was responsible for the Cantonese Cuisine Restaurant, while other chefs handled the other establishments.

Mainly, he wanted to take the chance to go to Guangdong to see the dragon boat races.

The dragon boat races in the Guangdong Region are quite spectacular, with well-to-do villages and many landlords; winning brings honor, while losing means having to kneel at the ancestral hall, so they say.

The competition is very fierce.

Elsewhere, it’s to commemorate Qu Yuan, but here they truly intend to save Qu Yuan.

If the Guangdong dragon boat team were there, as soon as Qu Yuan jumped into the river, he’d be pulled out in the next second.

Jiang Feng thought it would be fun to join in the excitement.

Making zongzi is quite simple, and for Jiang Feng, it’s second nature.

Jiang Feng is a fan of sweet zongzi, enjoying red date zongzi and honey date zongzi, though he can also accept red bean paste zongzi.

But he can also accept savory zongzi, especially meat zongzi; after getting used to it, he finds them quite tasty.

However, the first time he ate savory zongzi, he gagged several times. It was as if his brain and body were receiving different signals, and his body thought it was being poisoned.

He overcame it later and then found savory zongzi delicious.

At Jiangyue Terrace Cantonese Cuisine Restaurant, Jiang Feng went to the back to start preparing the zongzi.

The bamboo leaves and glutinous rice were already prepared.

The leaves were cleaned thoroughly, all large ones.

The glutinous rice had been soaked for several hours.

Since the boss was coming to the kitchen, everything had to be ready.

"Boss, everything is ready."

"The ingredients you wanted are all stocked in the fridge, all bought today."

The executive chef reported to Jiang Feng.

"Great, thanks for your hard work."

Jiang Feng began checking the ingredients.

He planned to make both sweet and savory zongzi with a wide variety of flavors.

For sweet zongzi, Jiang Feng planned to make honey date zongzi, red bean sesame zongzi, taro and purple yam zongzi, yellow rice honey date zongzi, and sweet and sour pineapple zongzi.

The method is simple; it just involves cooking the glutinous rice with the ingredients.

Savory zongzi are a bit more complex.

Before wrapping the zongzi, the glutinous rice needs to be seasoned.

Add lye first to give the savory zongzi a golden-yellow color when cooked.

Then add baking soda to make the zongzi shiny and translucent.

Next, mix in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce.

The glutinous rice takes on a deep soy sauce color.

Jiang Feng also prepared a lot of savory fillings.

These include sauced meat zongzi, Orleans chicken leg meat zongzi, crab roe fish zongzi, salted egg yolk meat zongzi, traditional pork zongzi, Sichuan spicy meat zongzi, and abalone braised meat zongzi.

China’s culinary culture is vast and profound.

Even with something as simple as zongzi, there are dozens of ways to make them.

For one person like Jiang Feng, he could only make so many.

He busied himself in the kitchen.

With the ingredients ready, he didn’t need any assistants to help.

He did it all by himself.

However, since it’s almost the Dragon Boat Festival, the official account planned to shoot a promotional video, so the photographer was constantly shooting here.

Jiang Feng occasionally explained a few things to the camera:

"When I was a kid, I really loved the Dragon Boat Festival, because once it arrived, there would be zongzi to eat, and we could wear multicolored ropes, and wash our faces with mugwort in the morning."

"Kids these days don’t seem to wear multicolored ropes anymore."

"But zongzi remains the unchanging theme of the Dragon Boat Festival."

"We’ve prepared a lot of zongzi today, and customers coming to Jiangyue Terrace tomorrow will all receive one."

Jiang Feng began wrapping zongzi.

He picked up a bamboo leaf, skillfully rolled it into an inverted funnel shape, added the glutinous rice and filling, then wrapped it up with the bamboo leaf and tied it with a string a few times, finishing one zongzi.

The young man responsible for filming the video watched, eyes wide and mouth agape.

It was wrapped just like that?

Such quick hands!

As a chef, Jiang Feng’s hands were indeed skilled, and this was precisely why he could create many exquisite and complex dishes.

Wrapping a zongzi was naturally no problem.

This was just the beginning. Next, Jiang Feng continued wrapping zongzi without pause.

With just a few movements, another zongzi was wrapped.

The young man responsible for filming admired him more and more as he watched.

This was truly impressive.

He had no choice; when Jiang Feng ran his stall, customers surrounded him in dense crowds, and who knew how many there were.

If his hands weren’t quick, the stall would have been swamped long ago.

It was entirely a skill honed through experience.

Just like that, Jiang Feng wrapped the zongzi, then had the assisting cooks take them to boil.

Sweet zongzi and savory zongzi needed to be boiled separately, because during the cooking process the water for the savory zongzi would turn into lye water and affect the taste, so they had to be separated.

Moreover, Jiang Feng made extra savory zongzi, because in Guangdong the habit of eating meat zongzi is prevalent, so preparing extra was definitely a good idea.

He was busy for another whole day.

Coinciding with the Dragon Boat Festival, Jiang Feng sent blessings to people in his own way.

On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, it happened to be a holiday, so many people chose to dine out.

Jiangyue Terrace was people’s first choice.

A family of three entered Jiangyue Terrace and ordered a few exquisite dishes. At this time, a waiter came over with a platter of zongzi.

"Hello, today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and Jiangyue Terrace is offering each table a complimentary zongzi. Would you prefer sweet zongzi or savory zongzi?"

The waiter asked with a smile.

The man glanced at the platter of zongzi, somewhat surprised, and then said:

"We’ll have three savory zongzi, please. What flavors are available?"

"We have abalone braised meat zongzi, salted egg yolk meat zongzi, crab roe meat zongzi, Orleans chicken leg zongzi, and sauced meat zongzi."

Hearing the waiter’s introduction, the man was even more surprised.

These zongzi are really good zongzi!

Each one is a top-quality product!

No wonder it’s Jiangyue Terrace; it’s truly a grand gesture.

"However, the zongzi for the customers are given out randomly, so we don’t know what flavor you’ll get."

The waiter said with a smile again.

"Alright, thank you."

The man took the three zongzi, contented.

At this moment, the waiter spoke again:

"The zongzi were made by my boss personally. He was at the Cantonese Cuisine Restaurant yesterday and even posted a video on our official account platform. If you’re interested, you can check it out."

Upon hearing this, the woman eagerly asked:

"Who, Boss Jiang? Are you saying the person who made the zongzi is Boss Jiang?"

The waiter nodded, "Yes, it’s our boss. All the zongzi being given away by our restaurant today were wrapped by our boss himself, no one else was involved."

"Oh my god, made by Boss Jiang?"

Both of them were very surprised.

They looked at the zongzi.

The zongzi were large and exquisitely wrapped, touching them felt tight and substantial, indicating the use of ample filling, plus the wrapping technique was superb.

The biggest fear when eating zongzi is those soft ones, where they don’t feel tightly wrapped, and some even leak glutinous rice from the corners when soaked in water.

But the zongzi wrapped by Jiang Feng were extremely good, looking quite beautiful.

The waiter left with the tray to serve another table.

Every table’s customers felt pleasantly surprised upon hearing the zongzi were made personally by Jiang Feng.

After all, Jiang Feng’s name is virtually known everywhere now, the number one chef in the Chinese culinary world in the true sense.

Moreover, every Jiangyue Terrace he opened had explosive reputations.

They could satisfy ordinary people’s dining needs as well as host high-end customers for business discussions in private rooms.

The dishes he made were absolutely delicious.

So Jiang Feng was very popular among the people.

"Today is really great, to actually catch Boss Jiang here!"

"Being able to eat the zongzi he made also compensates for any regrets."

The woman picked up a zongzi, somewhat excited, gently untying the string on the zongzi.

Then, she unfolded the bamboo leaves.

The crystal-clear zongzi immediately appeared in front of her.

She opened one with abalone and braised pork.

The glutinous rice showed a crystal yellow, seeming to glow, with a fresh aroma wafting from the zongzi, with the fragrance of glutinous rice and the scent of bamboo leaves.

The zongzi looked highly enticing.

"It’s so beautifully made!"

The woman exclaimed in admiration.

She picked up the zongzi and took a bite at one corner.

The glutinous rice had a chewy texture, felt excellent, slightly sticky which was just perfect.

Because it was mixed with various seasonings, the glutinous rice was very fragrant.

The aroma of abalone and pork permeated through the glutinous rice, enhancing that delightful feeling.

"Wow, it’s so delicious!"

The woman kept exclaiming.

Even though they were both zongzi, this zongzi was not only exquisite but also tasted and felt superb, providing a flawless experience.

The man opened a traditional pork zongzi.

The pork was meticulously cooked by Jiang Feng, so it was already fragrant.

Placed with seasoned glutinous rice, the flavors mixed together, tasting even fresher and more delicious.

Before even having a proper meal, the family of three finished all the zongzi.

At the nearby table, there were two guests from the North who ordered only sweet zongzi.

Even though sweet zongzi are simple to make, those made by Jiang Feng were equally unique.

Once the bamboo leaves were opened, the glutinous rice revealed a pure white, with grains very delicate, tightly sticking together, and two red dates hidden within, tinting the surrounding glutinous rice with a faint orange-red.

For those who love sweet zongzi, the orange-red part was, in fact, the most delicious.

Sweet zongzi were like a dessert, soft and sticky in texture, giving off a fragrance, leaving a lingering taste in the mouth.

The guests ate happily.

Every table’s guests excitedly discussed.

"Were all these really wrapped by Boss Jiang?"

"The taste is indeed good, feels just more delicious!"

"Jiangyue Terrace posted a video, he wrapped all day long, it’s indeed made by him!"

"Really nice, never had his cooking but at least tried his zongzi!"

"What a coincidence indeed!"

Being able to taste the delicacies made by Jiang Feng had clearly become a popular topic.

After all, Jiang Feng had set up stalls at many places, quite a few had tasted his cooking.

Similarly, many people wanted to mark off Jiang Feng’s delicacies from their list.

Unfortunately, Jiang Feng was setting up stalls less often now, and every time he did, there’d be a huge line, making it not easy to taste.

It was all up to luck.

At this moment, Jiang Feng was by the river, watching the dragon boat race.

Those participating were truly fierce; the dragon boats sped on the river as if powered by motors.

Some races even had to navigate complex waterways, requiring manual steering for turns.

The competitiveness was fully charged.

The scene was indeed thrilling.

In many other places, dragon boat races were simply small activities, just for show.

But here, they were truly battling it out.

The number of onlookers was immense.

People cheered and laughed, many took out their phones to film the dragon boats.

At this moment, someone shouted:

"Holy crap! Isn’t that Boss Jiang?"

Then, many people’s attention turned to Jiang Feng.

Once the dragon boats passed, people flocked to take photos with Jiang Feng.

Festivals should be like this, lively and bustling to be enjoyable.

The hotter the atmosphere, the more meaningful the festival.

Facing requests for photos, Jiang Feng graciously agreed.

Many thus completed their goal of experiencing Jiang Feng’s culinary achievements.

This Dragon Boat Festival was destined to be very memorable.