Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 101 Secret Recipe

Xia Maosheng pulled Xiaowei along quickly towards the bone restaurant, saying, "Come on, let's eat our fill today. We usually can't bear to part with our food. Let me tell you, the bones here are really delicious. You'll know once you try them." Just talking about it makes my mouth water.

I dodged a few bicycles, crossed the empty road, dodged another bicycle, and reached the other side of the road. Cities in this era were all like this: there were hardly any cars in the middle of the road, but the bicycle lanes on both sides were the busiest.

The biggest difference between cities and county towns isn't the number of people and cars, but rather that there's practically no snow on the roads. As soon as the snow stops, it's swept up and piled in the green belts on both sides of the road. Where there are no green belts, it's piled between the sidewalks and the road, forming neat, trapezoidal heaps that extend along the road. Of course, everything has its pros and cons. After a winter, almost all the snow piles become garbage dumps for nearby residents, and when the snow melts in the spring, the streets are littered with trash.

In the 80s and 90s, businesses were required to participate in snow removal, but this gradually disappeared and was replaced by sanitation contracting. However, that was just a formality, and nobody did it.

The two of them crossed the street and went straight into the bone restaurant without stopping.

As soon as you enter the house, the rich aroma of stewed bones wafts over you. Although it's not yet mealtime, there are already guests inside, playing cards around a table. Back then, playing cards were standard equipment in every restaurant. When you ordered food and were waiting for someone, the owner would throw a deck of cards on the table, a friendly gesture.

The two found a sunny spot to sit down, and a waiter came over with the menu.

Xia Maosheng took the menu and handed it to Xiao Wei, while the waiter stood by the table and poured hot water for the two of them.

This restaurant truly lives up to its name as a bone restaurant; half of the dishes on the menu are made from bones: stewed bones, braised bones, fried bones, stir-fried bones, roasted bones, large bones, spine bones, tailbone, spare ribs, cartilage, long ribs, short ribs, deboned meat, and more than a dozen dishes made solely from bones.

Xiao Wei ordered a boiled pork rib and a pork spine stew with green beans. He tossed the menu to Xia Maosheng, who then ordered a large portion of braised pork ribs and a pork bone stew with sauerkraut. He handed the menu to the waiter and said to Xiao Wei, "The braised pork ribs are all about the meat. The meat on the bones is cooked until it releases a rich, meaty flavor. It's so satisfying to eat large chunks of fresh meat. The stew with sauerkraut is all about the broth and the marrow. The meat on the bones melts into the sauerkraut, and every sip of the broth is full of the flavor of meat and bone. The marrow has a hint of vegetable flavor, and the sauerkraut stewed this way is also quite delicious."

Xiao Wei said, "Come on up and try it. Who would be willing to cook like this before? I've never eaten any of these dishes before. Let's try them later."

Xia Maosheng said, "See if you can figure it out in a bit. This boss is so stingy. I've been here many times and asked him several times, but he still won't tell me. The taste I make at home isn't the same, and I don't know why. This bone is different from stir-fries. With stir-fries, you can basically figure out the ingredients by tasting them, but this bone is different. Its own flavor is too strong, and the flavor changes after the ingredients are added, so you can't taste it when you eat it. Anyway, I couldn't taste it."

I guess because we arrived early, the restaurant was well-prepared, and our food for two arrived quickly. The people at the next table were playing cards, so they must have been waiting for someone.

Without any small talk or ordering of alcohol, the two of them started eating as soon as the dishes were served. In those days, there were no disposable gloves, so they just grabbed the bones with their hands and gnawed on them.

Boiled pork ribs are simply pork ribs boiled in water with a little salt, scallions, garlic, and ginger slices. The ribs are soaked in warm water to remove the blood, then boiled until tender. They are then served directly and eaten with salt and pepper or minced garlic. They are tender and soft, and each bite is mouthwatering.

Braised pork ribs are also spine bones, but they taste different from stewed ones. The meat in braised pork ribs is tougher, and you get the chewiness and savory flavor from the sauce. Stewed pork ribs are cooked with raw bones, giving you a completely different experience.

The pork bones stewed in sauerkraut are the best. The meat is tender and the bones are soft, and the bones are full of broth. The taste of sucking on them is indescribable, especially the marrow inside. One bite is so comforting that it goes from head to toe. The taste is simply irresistible.

A region's traditional cuisine is a way of eating that has been passed down for hundreds of years. Northeastern stews are a product of the cold climate. A few bites of the stew and a bowl of soup will immediately warm you up, with a powerful effect in dispelling the cold. Moreover, stews are nutritious and easily absorbed. After being simmered over high heat for a long time, everything is in the soup, which is why people in Northeast China are generally tall and strong.

The two men were happily gnawing on bones when the restaurant owner, a cigarette dangling from his lips, strolled out from the back. He had short hair, thick eyebrows, a burly build, and wore a black leather jacket. He looked around the restaurant, then walked over with a smile to Xia Maosheng and Xiao Wei, pulled up a chair, sat down at a table, and said, "Xia's here. Haven't been here in a while, where have you been?"

Xia Maosheng gritted his teeth, glanced sideways at the boss, and said, "By order of Heaven."

The boss took a drag of his cigarette, glanced at the table, and said, "Don't you want some baijiu? Eating bones with some strong liquor is much more satisfying."

Xia Maosheng threw down the bone he had just finished gnawing on and said, "It's been cold these past few days, and I haven't eaten properly. Let's eat first, and we can drink alcohol anytime. Boss, if you're not good at this, why don't you teach me? I don't do this kind of work; I just cook for myself at home."

The owner, still with that same smiling face, said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. This is how it's stewed. There's no secret recipe. Just simmer it for a longer time. I simmer these bones over low heat until they're very flavorful."

Xia Maosheng said, "Boss, you're such a cheapskate. I'm not stealing your business, why are you being so mysterious? I give you money every time I come here."

The boss laughed and said, "Yeah, if we teach you, won't there be one less person to bring in money?"

After finishing the bone in his hand, Xiao Wei scooped up a bowl of bone broth and drank it. The owner looked at Xiao Wei and said, "This young man looks unfamiliar. Is this your first time here?"

Xia Maosheng said, "This is my buddy from Fengtian, he came to visit me."

The boss flicked his cigarette ash, looked at Xiao Wei, and asked, "How's it going, brother? How's my bone?"

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "It's delicious. It's really well made, and the boss has really put a lot of thought into it. Impressive."

The boss raised an eyebrow and said, "What did you taste? Tell me, and if you guess right, I won't charge you today."

Xia Maosheng said, "You really noticed? Haha, boss, serves you right for being stingy. Tomorrow I'll go and eat one of yours across the street."

The owner smiled and shook his head, saying, "If it were that easy to tell by taste, my shop would have gone out of business long ago. Tell me, brother, if you're right, I really won't charge you."

Xiao Wei was a little embarrassed. He licked his lips and looked at Xia Maosheng, who said, "Tell me, tell me."

Xiao Wei said, "You know, I grew up in the mountains. Conditions were bad, and we rarely ate meat more than twice a year. When I was little, I often stole the pig feed that my family cooked. Don't laugh, the pig feed that my family cooked was clean. We cooked it on the same big stove that we used for cooking, and the vegetables were washed, but we didn't eat them."

Xia Maosheng was so happy he almost crawled under the table. Even the people playing cards stopped and stared at him in horror. The restaurant owner looked at Xiao Wei with interest, waiting for him to continue. He wondered how the secret recipe for big bones had somehow gotten to pig feed.

Xiao Wei scratched his head, glanced at the next table, and unconsciously lowered his voice, saying, "Back then, conditions were bad. People didn't eat well, let alone pigs. But pigs had to be fattened up. They looked forward to this meat all year round. Even if it was just to complete a task, they could earn a few more yuan. Then my dad got some folk remedy from somewhere, which was to grind bones and add them to the pig feed, saying that this would make the pigs grow strong."

The restaurant owner's smile gradually faded, he stopped smoking, and looked at Xiao Wei seriously. Xiao Wei said to him, "Brother, if I'm not mistaken, you added bone meal to all of this food, right? You added slices of young ginger when soaking it, and wild hawthorn berries when stewing it, right?"

The boss didn't say anything, took out a cigarette and offered one to each of the two men, then waved and went back to the back.