The Gourmet Customizer

This was the truest thought in Jiang Yuan’s mind right now.

’Are you fucking kidding me?’

’Two dishes, and you scammed my boyfriend out of five hundred yuan?’

’Oh wait, and a five-yuan tea egg.’

Liu Ahbao paid them no mind. He grabbed Aunt Fang’s oven mitts. "I’ll open it for you."

The reason Su Chen had kept this Braised Lion’s Head Meatball with Crab Roe simmering on the stove, only bringing it to a hard boil at the very end, was for this exact moment!

The moment Ah Bao lifted the lid of the clay pot, the soup inside was still BUBBLING furiously. The two crab roe meatballs had been braised until the individual bits of meat on the surface were distinct. At first glance, they really did look like a lion’s head!

’Boss Su’s technique is incredible. He didn’t chop the meat, which is why it holds its shape so well after braising. Brilliant!’

Seeing this, Liu Ahbao’s admiration for Su Chen deepened.

Jiang Yuan’s expression, however, was not so pleasant.

’He’s really fucking with me!’

’Two meatballs in one clay pot?’

"Please, enjoy your meal." Seeing the dumbfounded expressions on both customers, Liu Ahbao was secretly delighted.

’They must be conquered by Boss Su’s cooking skills, right?’

’Just looking at this dish is enough to make you drool!’

’I have to get Boss Su to make this for me sometime!’

Liu Ahbao clasped his hands behind his back and happily returned to the kitchen, leaving the dining area to the two customers.

"You’ve been scammed!" Jiang Yuan glared angrily at Brother Fang Chang.

"Huh?" Brother Fang Chang was also a little bewildered.

The day before yesterday, when he came with Zhan Yang for that stir-fried chicken, he’d only thought it was a little pricey. But after all, for 100 yuan per person, they had also added three servings of noodles and were completely stuffed.

Today, he had also come to try the food, which was why he’d given a budget of five hundred for two people.

He had figured they would get at least three or four dishes, which would make the price about right.

He never expected...

"Forget it. Let’s just try it first," Brother Fang Chang said, helplessly trying to soothe his girlfriend.

"How can we just forget it! This is a blatant rip-off!" Jiang Yuan was on the verge of a breakdown. "My family’s restaurant is huge, and a single Lion’s Head Meatball is 68 yuan! Our head chef’s Wen Si Tofu is only 88, and this..."

Brother Fang Chang covered his forehead in embarrassment. ’How humiliating!’

He originally thought he and Zhan Yang had discovered a hidden gem of a restaurant. He’d planned to bring his girlfriend to try it, and if it was good, he’d bring his future mother-in-law.

And now... they hadn’t even touched their chopsticks, and his girlfriend was already this furious!

Besides, Brother Fang Chang had been to Yangzhou. He knew her family’s restaurant was called something-or-other Garden, but in any case, it was a very famous local establishment.

The food there was already quite expensive, mostly catering to business banquets, with the average cost per person exceeding 200 yuan.

For these two dishes to be even more expensive than at her family’s restaurant was indeed a bit hard to justify.

Fortunately, having been in business for a few years, Brother Fang Chang had a great attitude. "Relax, Babe. Since we’re here, let’s just make the best of it. We’ll try a bite. If it’s good, we’ll eat. If not, we’ll go eat somewhere else! Five hundred yuan isn’t that much money. I can earn it back in a minute!"

Seeing Brother Fang Chang puffing out his chest like that, Jiang Yuan was both exasperated and amused.

It was precisely this part of Brother Fang Chang’s personality—how he always accommodated her and gave in to her—that had made her decide to leave her hometown for Jingzhou.

She knew she hadn’t been wrong about him.

"Next time you’re craving food from my hometown, just tell me! Don’t go making plans on your own." Jiang Yuan used her spoon to break off a small piece of the Lion’s Head Meatball. "Not just anyone can make this dish well. I could make you a better one at home."

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Brother Fang Chang picked up his chopsticks, about to stab the meatball, feeling quite helpless.

’I guess I overestimated this restaurant.’

"Hey, what are you doing!"

Brother Fang Chang’s chopsticks were suddenly blocked. Jiang Yuan said, "You can’t use chopsticks for this Lion’s Head Meatball."

"Why not?"

"If you can just spear it with your chopsticks, that means the meatball is no good. You have to use a spoon, like me, and scoop up a little bit. The ones our head chef makes, when you shake it like this, the meat will... huh?"

Jiang Yuan stared at the piece of meatball she had scooped onto her spoon. When she gave it a little shake, the small bite of meat quivered along with her movement.

She had been too busy being angry to notice earlier, but now she took a closer look.

The individual grains of meat on its surface were distinct. Although she hadn’t tasted it yet, its appearance was actually on par with the quality of the ones made in her family’s restaurant!

Driven by curiosity, she brought the spoonful of meatball to her lips.

Hmm?

Her mouth could clearly feel the granular texture of the meat, but before she could even savor it, the meat instantly melted in her mouth!

When she instinctively went to chew, there was still a slight, pleasant resistance. Only after swallowing did Jiang Yuan realize it was the crab meat!

The crucial part was, although this bite of meatball was incredibly rich and tender, it wasn’t the least bit greasy. There wasn’t even a hint of any fishy or unpleasant smell.

There was only the fragrance of pork upon entering her mouth, and the umami of crab meat in the aftertaste!

’This place can actually make a Lion’s Head Meatball that’s just as good as the one from my family’s restaurant?’

Still filled with doubt, Jiang Yuan scooped up another spoonful of meat. Brother Fang Chang saw this, and his guilt began to transform into happiness.

’Could it be that it’s actually delicious?’

Brother Fang Chang copied his girlfriend’s actions, using his spoon to scoop up a small half of a meatball.

He shoveled it into his mouth, eating noisily.

"Whoa! This is delicious, Babe! It’s really good!"

Jiang Yuan shot him a look. "Don’t talk!"

One bite after another. The more Jiang Yuan savored the dish, the more shocked she became. It was no exaggeration to say she had grown up eating this stuff!

Her family’s restaurant would change chefs every few years. Whenever they did, her dad always entrusted Jiang Yuan with taste-testing the new head chef’s Lion’s Head Meatballs.