Chapter 5: Salt and Pepper Fish Fillets

That evening, Father and Mother Pan came to visit the grandparents. They arrived too late, and dinner had already been prepared. The three of them sat down at the table and slowly started eating.

Grandfather and grandmother had both cooked, and the dishes on the table were like fire and ice in contrast.

Because she still had a fondness for the tomato dish from lunch, Pan Yueyi took a bite of the scrambled eggs with tomatoes. As soon as it entered her mouth, she froze.

This dish had a very complete presentation of the ingredients’ original taste. The tomatoes had no real tomato flavor. They were thick and heavy, with little moisture, and they were overcooked. The eggs carried a slight eggy taste—not very strong, but it was there. Everything was so faint that it became the most prominent flavor of the dish.

Pan Yueyi’s pause in eating caught her grandmother’s attention. She asked with concern, “Is it not to your taste? Young people like you always prefer food with strong flavors, just like your grandfather. I’ll add more soy sauce next time.”

Pan Yueyi forced a smile and replied, “No, I just think tomatoes nowadays aren’t as good as they used to be.”

Her words opened the floodgates for a discussion.

Grandfather, with deep agreement, grunted heavily and said, “The tomatoes back in the day were so much better! Ever since these thick ones, which are as hard as a ball and won’t even crush when they fall, became the common variety, you can’t find the old, tasty ones anymore. Who would want to eat these tasteless tomatoes? They don’t even have much juice when you cut them. People are getting wealthier, but food is getting worse. Where’s the justice in that?”

Mother Pan chimed in, “When I was little, Mom would often buy a big bag of tomatoes from the farmers. They were sour and sweet, and when you bit into one, the juice would splatter all over my face. Before I even cooked them into a dish, I’d eat them as fruit. I could eat three or four a day!”

Pan Yueyi quietly rejoiced, saying, “I had delicious tomatoes today… at the school cafeteria. They were really tasty, I ate almost two bowls of rice.”

Mother Pan glanced at her in surprise, continuing her work. While the parents were busy criticizing the tomatoes on the market, she mixed two dishes—one salty, one mild—together, signaling her husband and daughter to start eating.

“These two plates, what were they for?” Grandmother, coming to her senses, looked at the two quickly emptied plates in confusion. “You finished them already? Let me get you some more.”

“No, no, no,” the three quickly stopped her. “I ate too much at lunch. I’m full now.”

“I have a friend to play badminton with. It’s not convenient to eat too much.”

“I’m also full.”

The three of them said this with certainty, all putting their chopsticks down at the same time.

———

After leaving the house, Mother Pan touched her slightly unsatisfied stomach and nudged her daughter with her elbow.

“Yueyue, are you full? Is the place you ate at for lunch nearby?”

Pan Yueyi gave a dry laugh, saying, “What? I ate at the school cafeteria at noon.”

“Nonsense,” Mother Pan said with a knowing expression. “What kind of delicious tomatoes would your cafeteria have?”

Reluctantly, Pan Yueyi had to confess that she had eaten lunch at a nearby restaurant.

She had been holding this in for a while, and at that moment, she couldn’t help but say, “That tomato sauce salted egg yolk tofu was really delicious. The soup made from tomatoes was sour and sweet, and the egg yolk was crumbly, all wrapped around the tofu…”

When she said that, Mother and Father Pan became even more interested.

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

“Nanlai Restaurant, it’s right here.”

When Mother Pan saw the restaurant’s name, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity but quickly dismissed it, thinking it was probably a common name.

The three of them entered the restaurant together.

With the “warning” from her daughter, when Father Pan saw the relatively expensive prices on the menu, he only raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

“Let’s get the tomato sauce salted egg yolk tofu,” Mother Pan also wanted to try the dish her daughter raved about. Then, as if remembering something, she turned to her daughter and asked, “By the way, you just had that at lunch, should we order something else?”

“No, no, no,” Pan Yueyi waved her hand like a windshield wiper. “I still want to eat it. Having it again is fine.” Her tone was very firm, indicating she was telling the truth.

The menu reached Father Pan’s hands, and he ordered a dish of salt and pepper fish fillets.

After all, they had already eaten a bit for dinner, so to avoid wasting food, the three of them only ordered two dishes.

A few more customers arrived, and seeing that only one young person seemed to be busy running around, Father Pan couldn’t help but look around, wondering if the chef had already started cooking.

Pan Yueyi said that the restaurant was run by a pretty lady, and she was also the one cooking.

“You said she’s the waitress, the chef, and the owner?” Father Pan asked, shocked.

His expression grew complicated. During the initial opening of a new restaurant, it was not surprising to be losing money, but the necessary staff still needed to be paid. If one person was handling everything, it didn’t look like the restaurant would last long.

Salted egg yolk and the like sounded like trendy internet food, and Father Pan became suspicious, thinking this might just be a trendy place that would make some quick money and close down shortly.

He had seen many such restaurants before—pouring large sums into marketing to attract young people, creating a buzz with long lines, and once the marketing period ended, business would take a sharp downturn, and the place would close, only to reopen with another new trend.

But this little restaurant felt different. Father Pan thought, if they couldn’t even afford to hire a waitress, they probably wouldn’t waste money on marketing either.

No wonder the place wasn’t very crowded.

He cautiously said, “I know a restaurant with good flavor, it’s on the road back home. How about we—”

Pan Yueyi interrupted, “We’ve already ordered, Dad, are you trying to skip out on the bill?”

Father Pan replied, “No such thing, I’ve already paid.”

“Then we’ll just wait here,” Mother Pan glared at him, the warning clear in her eyes. Father Pan caught the signal and sat down obediently.

The salt and pepper fish fillets quickly arrived at the table.

For a moment, no one spoke, just watching the golden fish fillets served on the clean white plate.

The fish fillets, evenly sized and fried to a light crisp, seemed to be wearing a thin layer of golden armor. A strong fragrance—the perfect blend of fresh fish and the aromatic salt and pepper—was almost overwhelming, making it irresistible.

The three of them almost simultaneously reached for the fish fillets with their chopsticks.

One bite, and first the crispy outer layer exploded in their mouths, followed by the soft, tender, and snow-white fish meat. Though fried, it wasn’t dry or tough at all, retaining its fresh juiciness. Even the thickest part of the fillet wasn’t bland in taste. The salty, savory flavor of the salt and pepper had already permeated the fish, with a touch of the right amount of spiciness that made the taste buds come alive.

The fresh bass, which had been slaughtered that morning, weighed no more than a pound and a half, perfect for tender and flavorful meat. After marinating for hours, the salt and pepper flavor had fully seeped into every strand of fish, and then it was fried until both sides were golden and lightly crispy. The method was simple, but the taste was undeniably tempting.

The three of them were busy eating, only exchanging a few words between bites.

Pan Yueyi, like a happy little pig, chewed happily and murmured, “Delicious, delicious, the tofu is tasty, this is tasty too. I’ll definitely come again next time.”

Father Pan said, “The salt and pepper flavor in this dish is so strong, so fragrant, but the amount of salt and pepper doesn’t seem too much. I wonder why that is.”

Mother Pan took another bite, enjoying the crunch as her teeth passed through the crispy skin.

“Those who run restaurants obviously have their own secret recipe.”

That was indeed true. When making salt and pepper dishes, using pre-made salt and pepper powder available on the market would save time, but the flavor would never be extraordinary.

Because the making of salt and pepper fish fillets doesn’t require many other seasonings and relies almost entirely on the salt and pepper flavor, Nan Tu never slacked off in this area. Besides choosing top-quality Sichuan pepper, she would fry the peppercorns and salt in the right proportions until the fragrance was so potent it felt like a whirlwind was rising from the small frying pan. Then, she would grind it into fresh salt and pepper powder for use.

Nan Tu, who had been working in the kitchen since she was young, was very aware that Sichuan peppercorns are a spice that easily loses its fragrance. Only freshly ground peppercorns can best retain its flavor.

Less than five minutes later, when Nan Tu brought out the tomato sauce salted egg yolk tofu, there was only a clean white plate left on the table.

“The dishes are all served,” she glanced at the customers with a puzzled look… right? There were only a few tables, so she shouldn’t have brought the dishes to the wrong table.

Father Pan pretended to be reserved and took a sip of water from his cup. “Hmm, all served.”

Seeing that Nan Tu was less busy now, he half-persuaded and half-suggested, “Young lady, your cooking skills are really good. When I first saw you, I was worried you wouldn’t be able to run a restaurant. Now I know I was wrong. But—”

“Even if you’re capable, you can’t handle everything on your own, right?”

Nan Tu had already been advised by more than one customer to hire a waiter.

She replied skillfully, “You’re right, we’re already hiring.”

That was a lie.

She had indeed posted a job opening notice. Business at the restaurant wasn’t great, and the compensation she could offer was fairly average, but a few people did apply. However, after a few days, the restaurant was still quite empty, unlike now when it was starting to get a few returning customers. The applicants looked at the restaurant and realized it didn’t seem like it would last long, so they quickly found some excuse to leave.

When the Plane Restaurant System appeared, Nan Tu hurriedly tore down the job notice.

In this situation, how could she casually hire employees? How would she explain the strange customers that might appear through the back door?

Currently, Nan Tu was quite troubled. Not hiring staff was unrealistic, but hiring them didn’t feel right either. She even asked the system for help, wondering if it could assist her. Unfortunately, the system could only express its regret and said it was powerless to help.

While it could connect dimensions, it couldn’t create living people. Was she supposed to go to another dimension and drag someone to work for her?

With her worries, Nan Tu walked away.

Father Pan put down his cup, his body trembling. He quickly grabbed the chopsticks he had put down and joined the scramble for tofu. He hadn’t even eaten the tomato sauce salted egg yolk tofu that had just been served, yet there were only a few pieces left!

Mother Pan had not only grabbed several pieces of tofu, but she also picked up the plate and poured the soup into her bowl. “The soup in here is delicious even just with rice. Not to mention paired with tofu. Yueyue really knows how to pick good restaurants. I didn’t know there was such a good restaurant near your grandfather’s place.”

Pan Yueyi proudly boasted, “Of course, I could tell this restaurant was different right away!”

… The number of customers was particularly low, how could it be called “different”?

However, Pan Yueyi was quite certain that this situation wouldn’t last long.

In the end, the three of them finished both dishes completely. The plates were so clean that they looked like they had been wiped down, as if they hadn’t just eaten two dinners.

The three of them, with full stomachs, slowly walked out.