Just as:
Wife cakes have no wife.
Fish-flavored shredded pork has no fish.
Silk stocking milk tea has no silk stockings.
Wallets have no money.
Buddha Jumps Over the Wall certainly has no Buddha inside.
But the most prominent feature of this dish is its aroma.
The reason for its intoxicating aroma is that it's made from 18 main ingredients like lamb shank, pig stomach, trotters, pork tendons, abalone, shark fin, sea cucumber, and dried scallops, as well as 12 auxiliary ingredients such as goji berries, longan, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and razor clams!
It's no exaggeration to say that such a magnificent dish is rarely seen in the cookbooks of all Chinese cuisine.
…
"Sosuke's Restaurant."
"So you're making Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?"
At this moment, Sonoka, who had just burst into the Izakaya, began to stare intently at the pot of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall on the dining table with her round eyes.
The rich aroma constantly stirred her appetite, making her swallow involuntarily.
"Hmm?"
"Mujiuzhi?"
"Your nose is quite sharp."
Seeing her drooling expression, Sosuke just chuckled and asked, "Since you're here, why don't you sit down and eat with us?"
"Really?"
Hearing this, Mujiuzhi was stunned.
She hadn't expected Sosuke to invite her proactively, instead of waiting for her to speak first and shamelessly freeload a dinner here.
This situation inevitably made her feel very touched.
"Yes, this pot of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is enough for at least four or five people; even if the two of us eat together, we definitely won't finish it."
After speaking, Sosuke handed her a pair of bowls and chopsticks.
Sonoka, who was usually shy and timid, did not refuse this time. She took the bowls and chopsticks and sat beside Sosuke.
Looking closely, the rich and varied ingredients in the pot were steaming hot and the soup was thick and rich, very tempting!
Thus, under Sosuke's gaze, she began to taste it impatiently.
…
Upon entering her mouth,
The first sensation she felt was a soft, tender, rich, and meaty aroma!
And that rich and abundant aroma constantly lingered in her mouth, making Mujiuzhi feel that this taste experience was unprecedented at all times.
Clear liquor!
Rich meat!
Sweet seafood!
And various ingredients with different flavors!
After long hours of stewing, these ingredients finally permeated each other, blending a myriad of flavors.
As a result, Mujiuzhi, who only chewed a few bites, was immediately captivated and enchanted, feeling both drunk and slightly tipsy!
In fact,
Among the major Chinese cuisine.
Fujian cuisine is indeed not considered particularly famous.
The only dish that people might be familiar with is this "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" hard dish.
Even when talking about Cantonese cuisine, if you ask local Cantonese people, they can list one representative dish after another, such as:
White-cut chicken, old fire soup, crispy roasted goose, braised squab, honey-glazed char siu…
But when it comes to Fujian cuisine, many people probably only think of the three words: Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
However, in Mujiuzhi's eyes, the ingredients, seasonings, and cooking utensils Sosuke used for his Buddha Jumps Over the Wall were undoubtedly the most authentic.
Dried abalone, dried sea cucumber, dried shark fin, dried yak hide gelatin, king oyster mushrooms, pork tendons, flower mushrooms, cuttlefish, dried scallops, quail eggs…
Just these ingredients that she could name were enough to make Mujiuzhi feel that it was "expensive."
Its luxuriousness and exquisite level were definitely not inferior to the noble French cuisine at her Harukatei!
…
"Mmm~"
"As expected, it's delicious!"
"There are many ingredients, and most of them are not cheap."
"Scoop a spoonful, and you can visibly see chicken, pork tendons, king oyster mushrooms, sea cucumber, abalone, shiitake mushrooms… one could say the ingredients are very generous!"
"But when you eat it, you don't feel that the taste of any one ingredient overwhelms the others; nor does it taste messy or chaotic. On the contrary, the flavors of various ingredients blend harmoniously, making it quite pure!"
"The entire dish has a common meaty flavor while maintaining its individual characteristics."
After a long while, Sonoka slowly opened her eyes.
She couldn't help but lick a drop of soup from the corner of her mouth, then said with lingering satisfaction.
She had been fortunate enough to taste such a precious dish as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall before and had once wondered how this rich yellow broth was made.
Initially, she thought it was chicken broth.
Later, thinking carefully, chicken broth only has a yellow layer of oil on the surface, but the broth itself is not yellow.
In other words, chicken fat is yellow.
But whether the soup made from chicken fat is yellow is not certain!
If there is little oil and much soup, the soup will naturally not be yellow; if there is much oil and little soup, it will indeed form a yellow liquid effect.
However, chicken fat is still fat, and if too much chicken fat is used, the soup will become very greasy… This is obviously not suitable for making Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
So, could it be "Gardenia Yellow," one of the 12 ingredients, that is playing a role?
"Hey!"
"Shopkeeper."
"Is this broth made from chicken stock?"
Finally, unable to figure it out, she could only ask Sosuke curiously.
"No."
"Chicken broth is not suitable for stewing Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."
"You want to know how the yellow color of this soup comes about, right?"
"Actually, when stewing, we add Shaoxing Huadiao wine, which is unique to the Heavenly Dynasty."
"This wine is made from high-quality glutinous rice, premium wheat yeast, and clear lake water, then brewed using ancient methods."
"After heating, its internal alcohol content will be greatly reduced, so the overall taste will become mellow and rich, easy to drink."
"Wine?"
"Huadiao wine?"
Listening to Sosuke's explanation, Mujiuzhi began to savor the taste.
Finally, her bright eyes seemed to understand, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "It seems so! When I ate it, I could indeed detect a hint of wine aroma!"
"So that's it."
"The reason this Buddha Jumps Over the Wall dish is so fragrant the moment it's unveiled."
"Although it's due to the many precious ingredients used, the more important reason is this Shaoxing wine!"
Some people.
Even a bowl of plain white rice makes them feel content.
While others find even the richly ingredients Buddha Jumps Over the Wall to be unremarkable!
But as for the dishes made by Sosuke, Sonoka never refused them; in fact, she particularly liked them.
…
The dark sky was dotted with stars.
They were like mischievous children, constantly blinking and peering into everything in the human world!
"Alice."
"Can you not be so impatient?"
"But, Erina, I really want to meet that mysterious Shopkeeper."
"His Izakaya doesn't even open until 7 PM, so there's no point in rushing now…"
"Huh? Why is the Izakaya's door open, and the lights inside are on?"
"Could it be that they opened early today?"
At this moment, Alice Nakiri and Erina, the two Nakiri young ladies, had arrived at the Izakaya earlier than expected.
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