Chapter 764: 764

Speaking of which, the old dough was actually a small piece of dough first taken from the kneaded dough and then kept well to be reused in the future . Next time, when another dough was fermented with the preserved dough, people would take another piece down from it and continued keeping it .

The process would repeat again and again . After that, the yeast in this dough would become more and more mature . Furthermore, they were all quite natural . The dough that was fermented with them would naturally be light and fluffy, tasting extraordinary .

And the Thousand Thread Mantou was a dish that needed that kind of mouthfeel . That was the reason why Yuan Zhou would choose the old dough . Meanwhile, the system had given him a surprise . It was, surprisingly, a piece of old dough left over by the several former hosts .

That surprised Yuan Zhou more . Perhaps, he realized something about the several former hosts from this old dough .

There is an old saying, “You get what you pay for” . Compared with the other foods in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, the ingredients used for Thousand Layer Mantou were much simpler . Of course, the wheat flour used was still top-grade . As for the old dough, it was naturally not a common thing since it was left over by the several former hosts .

More importantly, Thousand Thread Mantou mainly depended on the skills of kneading dough . It was all in the control of the chef’s hands whether it tasted chewy or nice . By ordering this complicated dish, Liu Zhang wanted to witness Yuan Zhou’s craftsmanship to its largest extent .

“Boss Yuan is really a capable man . ” Liu Zhang had been watching Yuan Zhou’s actions all along . Actually, it was very difficult to recognize the taste of the dish from his actions, but there was one thing he could tell . Yuan Zhou’s actions were neater and tidier than his .

“Boss Yuan is always so awesome . Little Hai is wild and intractable and would never submit to anybody . But he once said that only Yuan Zhou alone could make him submit . ” Zheng Jiawei immediately answered Liu Zhang .

Liu Zhang knew little about drawing and thus he didn’t know who was Wu Hai, but he could perceive Wu Hai wasn’t a simple person .

Zheng Jiawei and Liu Zhang were seated together now . Wu Hai suddenly had an inspiration and went back to draw his painting . Before he left, he especially instructed Zheng Jiawei to entertain Liu Zhang well . And more importantly, he paid for the meal .

With regard to anything entrusted by Wu Hai, Zheng Jiawei always tried to finish it perfectly . Therefore, Zheng Jiawei and Liu Zhang were seated together now .

Based on his actions, Liu Zhang gave Yuan Zhou a full score . Now, he was only waiting for the taste .

It was quite boisterous in the restaurant . Outside, a 17 or 18-year-old young man walked to the money box at the door and looked around carefully . Sometimes, he sat by the long bench and seemed to observe the surroundings .

It was 8 p . m . , but there were still many people waiting in line outside Yuan Zhou’s restaurant . The young man stood beside the money box for ten minutes until no one looked toward him . With lightning speed, he took out 4RMB from the money box and immediately left quickly without any hesitation .

“Here’s your Thousand Thread Mantou . Please take your time and enjoy the meal . ” Zhou Jia carried a steamer of Mantou to them .

The steamer was naturally weaved with the emerald green bamboo splits . As soon as it was uncovered, the hot gas curled upwards from the inside and a hint of fragrance leaked out .

“Oh, the fragrance is good . ” Liu Zhang immediately became interested when he smelled the fragrance . Then, he took up his chopsticks and prepared to eat .

The Thousand Thread Mantou on the bamboo steamer wasn’t big and was only as large as half of a girl’s palm . It was rectangular with a little curve at the top, which seemed to have some luminous luster .

If examined carefully, one could realize the Mantou was not very smooth as if it were connected bit by bit .

“There really are thousands of threads . ” Liu Zhang looked at the mantou in front of him and gasped in admiration .

Then, Liu Zhang bit it . The mantou directly collapsed but regain its shape slowly . With the bitten surface exposed to him, he could clearly see the mantou was really connected by thread-like wheat .

Having bitten off a piece of Mantou, Liu Zhang couldn’t help closing his eyes and enjoying the taste in his mouth .

Once the Mantou entered his mouth, it immediately melted into threads and dispersed in his mouth, just like its name “Thousand-thread” indicated . Meanwhile, there was also a rich fragrance of lard filling his mouth . Even if he didn’t chew it, the Mantou would still slowly melt .

“Authentic! Awesome!” After saying the several words, Liu Zhang ate up the remaining half between his chopsticks at once .

This time, he directly began to chew it carefully and the Mantou in his mouth also had a new mouthfeel of softness along with a little chewiness . Due to the “thousand threads”, it wasn’t sticky at all while being chewed, but instead, it was very fluffy . What’s more, the lard added inside also melted into the Mantou perfectly .

“The more it’s chewed, the more fragrant it becomes . It tastes both soft and chewy . Furthermore, you can chew it or let it melt by itself . Besides that, it won’t choke the throat and even has a little sweetness of wheat . How delicious it is!” Liu Zhang nodded his head contentedly .

“The only defect is that there are only four Mantous in each steamer . It’s too little . ” Liu Zhang couldn’t help shaking his head . Meanwhile, he picked up another Mantou and stuffed it into his mouth with a satisfied expression .

Seeing Liu Zhang eat so blissfully, even Zheng Jiawei who had little interest in eating couldn’t help looking towards him, let alone the other foodies . They were all looking at him expectantly and waiting for his comments .

As soon as Liu Zhang raised his head, he saw the gaze of these people . Then, he smiled and opened his mouth .

“I also know many masters of cooked wheaten food and it’s not my first time eating the Thousand Thread Mantou, either…” Liu Zhang suddenly stopped when he talked halfway . No people knew if he did it on purpose, but he continued on another subject, “For the time being, I think I’ve taken advantage of Boss Yuan by exchanging the liver raw for this dinner . ”

During the process, 7 or 8 customers had added a serving of Thousand Thread Mantou to their dinner . This group of foodies just wavered easily and didn’t have a firm resolution .

After he ate up all the Thousand Thread Mantou, Liu Zhang mentioned a matter, “Boss Yuan, I know a friend who’s quite good at cooked wheaten food . I have invited him to Chengdu for fun for quite a few times, but never succeeded . Can I tell him about this matter? I think he’ll definitely agree to come since he’s very interested in cooked wheaten food . ”

He didn’t organize his words very well . Maybe he was too happy because he thought of this good idea and thus spoke disorderly . However, Yuan Zhou still roughly understood what he meant . As far as he understood, Liu Zhang intended to use the 100 Styles of Mantou in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant to tempt his old friend to come to Chengdu for fun .

To Yuan Zhou’s surprise, his delicacies could become the reason why people came to another city, of which, Yuan Zhou had always been proud of . Therefore, he didn’t say anything about Liu Zhang’s proposal and just agreed .

“Okay, but I’m only good at a few cooked wheaten foods,” Yuan Zhou thought for a while and then said directly .

“Haha . These are quite enough for us,” Liu Zhang burst into laughter first and then said gratefully .

“Thank you so much . Thanks to your culinary skills, I can get together again with my old friend . ” There appeared a big smile on Liu Zhang’s face .

Actually, nice food was the best pretext to invite old friends for a reunion . Liu Zhang and that old friend also had stories . However, Yuan Zhou didn’t ask about anything because there were still several servings of Thousand Thread Mantou that needed to be cooked by him .

Yuan Zhou felt he was becoming a nocturnal creature slowly and gradually . He was more spirited at night than during the daytime . After dinnertime, he still wanted to be active though he was fairly tired .

“Boss Yuan, take the money back . Little Hai told me that he would treat Master Liu to the meal . ”

Zheng Jiawei and Yuan Zhou were modestly declining the money . These kinds of scenarios were quite common . One wanted to stuff the money into the other’s pocket while the other didn’t want to accept it .

“I made an agreement with Wu Hai today . He would give me the money first and after the meal, I would return it back to him . ” Yuan Zhou explained seriously . He tried to return the money to Zheng Jiawei many times, but all failed . He really had no idea why this seemingly “weak” man suddenly had so much physical strength .