## Chapter 61: Who Knew This Strange Combo Could Be So Delicious
1156 Words
Jiang Tingyun had no idea what those wealthy old men in the dining hall were discussing.
If she had, she would have loudly told them: You're overthinking this!!!
There was no salted egg yolk on her menu today.
As an ordinary little farmhouse restaurant owner, "osmanthus pork intestines" meant osmanthus plus pork intestines—no tricks.
She was earnestly slicing the braised intestines and deep-frying them.
To ensure the intestines were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, Jiang Tingyun handed the finished dish to Jin Feifan as soon as it was fried, and he carried it out.
These customers had come too early. The osmanthus-glazed lotus root hadn't cooled yet and wasn't at its best flavor.
...
When Jin Feifan set the first dish—osmanthus pork intestines—on the table,
Everyone looked at it curiously.
The moment he saw it, Zeng Haiguo exclaimed in surprise, "What is this? Where's the salted egg yolk?"
On the table sat a plate of deep-fried pork intestines, accompanied by a small dish of sauce dotted with a few osmanthus flowers.
Zeng Haiguo had assumed that "osmanthus pork intestines" must be pork intestines stuffed with salted egg yolk.
Rich, fatty pork intestines paired with savory, oily salted egg yolk—a harmonious combination. He had eaten it several times at private kitchens, and it was indeed delicious.
But this dish at Qionghua Eatery clearly wasn't that sophisticated. It was simply deep-fried intestines with osmanthus sauce.
"Nonsense!" Zeng Haiguo's eyebrows shot up in anger. "Osmanthus is light, fragrant, and sweet. Pork intestines are all about the rich, fatty aroma. How can these two go together? What a foolhardy move!"
Being an outspoken man, he said directly, "Old Qi, this place you recommended—I don't think it works. This cooking has no method at all."
Qi Hongming's face stiffened slightly. "How do you know it's no good without even tasting it?"
Seeing the two of them acting like children bickering,
One of their friends tried to mediate. "One of you eats meat, the other doesn't. What's there to argue about? Maybe this place just does vegetarian dishes better?"
The others didn't voice any opinions. They simply picked up their chopsticks, grabbed a piece of intestine, dipped it in the osmanthus sauce, and put it in their mouths.
They had to taste it first. How could you comment without tasting?
One taste, and they froze.
"Old Zeng, stop arguing. Try it. This flavor is actually interesting."
These weren't people who hadn't seen the world. Seeing their friends genuinely impressed by this osmanthus intestine dish,
Zeng Haiguo stopped being fussy. He quickly picked up his chopsticks and took a piece.
The moment it entered his mouth, he frowned. The intestine had been braised for too short a time—the inner flavor was lacking.
However, the deep-frying was well controlled. The texture was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. There was no strange smell. That barely brought it back to a passing score.
Out of a hundred points, he'd give it maybe a passing grade.
He was about to speak when he noticed his friends had fallen silent, fiercely dipping the intestines in the thick sauce.
Was the key to this dish the sauce?
Zeng Haiguo quickly took another piece, coated it generously with the sauce, and put it in his mouth.
His eyes widened in shock.
He had assumed it was ordinary osmanthus honey sauce, but on closer taste, the sauce was sweet, savory, and sour—it definitely contained sour plums or salted plums.
Most osmanthus sauces were made similarly.
But the flavor of this sauce was astonishing. The osmanthus fragrance was soft and deep. The wild honey was sweet and mellow, with a slightly bitter aftertaste that lingered. And the salted plum added a refreshing salty-sour element. The three components blended together perfectly and naturally.
It wasn't just that the sauce was delicious—the problem was that it paired incredibly well with the fried intestines!
He had never been able to imagine how intestines could go with osmanthus, but here it was. When you ate it, the crispy, soft texture of the intestines, with their unique fatty aroma, combined with the sweet, sour, salty, and savory osmanthus plum sauce—the more you chewed, the more fragrant it became.
On its own, the fried intestines were just average. But with this sauce, the flavor jumped several levels.
He couldn't believe such a thing was possible. He stubbornly tried another plain piece—ordinary. Then dipped in sauce—immediately elevated.
After going back and forth a few times, he numbly admitted that this ridiculous, strange combination actually worked!!
In no time, the entire plate of intestines was wiped clean.
Everyone looked at each other. Though they weren't picky eaters, none of them particularly liked pork intestines to begin with.
They had only tasted it as a courtesy because Old Master Qi had recommended the place.
Who knew that a "taste" would turn into finishing the whole plate?
Zeng Haiguo had been the quickest with his chopsticks and had eaten the most. His feelings were complicated—excited, embarrassed, and questioning his life all at once.
Qi Hongming didn't eat meat. He had been patiently waiting for the osmanthus-glazed lotus root, just watching everyone else eat.
Seeing the unseemly sight of his friends clearing the plate, he laughed out loud.
"Haha, didn't I tell you this boss knows what she's doing? Old Zeng didn't believe me. Who just said osmanthus and pork intestines together was nonsense?"
Zeng Haiguo's face flushed slightly. He stubbornly defended, "Well, cooking osmanthus and pork intestines together definitely wouldn't work. This dish is ultimately just deep-fried intestines with osmanthus sauce on the side."
"The essence is this osmanthus sauce. What kind of plums did she put in it? What's the ratio? How is it so good?"
Qi Hongming, showing his playful side among old friends, laughed. "That must be Boss Jiang's secret recipe. Why would she tell you?"
...
The osmanthus-glazed lotus root had finally cooled slightly. Jiang Tingyun quickly sliced and plated it.
She had no idea that these wealthy old men were once again guessing about her "secret recipe."
The truth was, the sauce was simply osmanthus with wild honey, plus homemade salted plums.
She had picked the fruit from those two green plum trees on the mountain during Lixia (Beginning of Summer) and cured them with sea salt.
This wasn't anything rare or special. It wasn't a secret recipe at all. The only special thing was Jiang Tingyun's awakened talent.
Her talent enhanced the flavors of plants, allowing her to instinctively bring out the best in the osmanthus and green plums.
Add to that the rich, fresh, natural taste of wild honey—not the sugar-fed kind you could easily buy—and that's why the flavors blended so perfectly, so naturally, leaving people wanting more.
- Writer
