Since they were aiming for fifty thousand in sales, they needed to figure out ways to increase the menu items.
Lin Xu glanced at the kitchen.
The steaming cabinets were already at full capacity. In addition to hundreds of bowls of rice, they also needed to steam Pork Ribs and Chicken Feet, leaving no room for anything else.
To increase sales, they would need to find other ways.
As for other dishes...
Forget about the egg drop soup—it only cost six yuan a bowl, and even if it sold out, it wouldn’t add much to the sales. Moreover, most customers had it with rice, and ever since they introduced Sour Plum Soup today, the sales of egg drop soup had noticeably declined.
On a hot day , who could resist a cup of icy, refreshing Sour Plum Soup?
Regarding Ginger Lotus Root, this dish maintained steady sales at about one hundred servings per meal; even making more might not mean they would sell.
The sales of hand-pulled noodles were not doing well either. After the introduction of rice, the sales of the noodles had dropped to a third of what they were before. Many people chose noodles only after the rice was sold out.
Lin Xu calculated over and over, and it seemed that the only items that could potentially increase sales were the Chicken Feet and Sour Plum Soup.
But increasing their sales proved difficult too.
The restaurant only had five stoves. If they were to increase the quantity of Sour Plum Soup and Chicken Feet, there wouldn’t be any stoves left for making gravy. Moreover, they were planning to introduce Crispy Meat in a couple of days, which would make the stove situation even tighter.
The only solution was... to change the pots?
While the customers hadn’t yet left, Lin Xu was browsing huge pots on his mobile phone out of boredom. He suddenly discovered a type of pot called a double-layer pot. This pot resembled the old-fashioned ground pots from the countryside; it was large in capacity and equipped with its own burner, which meant it wouldn’t occupy the restaurant’s stoves. The only downside was that it took up a lot of space.
He calculated based on capacity. This pot was nearly three times bigger than the large soup vats used in the restaurant. If used for braising Tiger Skin Chicken Feet, it could handle about three thousand pieces at a time, much more than their current capacity. Moreover, using this pot for Sour Plum Soup, it could produce nearly two thousand cups at a time, definitely meeting the needs of the restaurant.
After the calculations, he immediately ordered two pots. With these big pots, reaching fifty thousand in sales wouldn’t be a problem at all.
The ordered pots were delivered to the restaurant. A few workers measured and installed the two pots at both ends of the stove, connecting water, electricity, and natural gas. After testing them, Lin Xu had exhaust hoods installed above both pots.
Once everything was installed, Lin Xu was just about to have Che Zai clean them when an alert from the system rang in his mind:
"Host has purchased new gas kitchen equipment, completing the hidden task ’Add Stoves,’ and earned an Excellent Level Basic Cooking Technique—Dough."
Dough?Hadn’t he learned this skill on the first day of opening the store?
Buddy, you can’t reward the same thing twice!
Just as he was about to complain, a flood of experience surged into Lin Xu’s mind. After digesting the information, he realized that the application of the Dough Mixing Skill was quite broad. Nearly all operations involving mixing powder with liquids into a dough, this skill could handle it.
This was much stronger than the Pig Slaughtering Technique he acquired a few days ago.Both are Excellent Level Basic Cooking Techniques, aren’t you embarrassed, Pig Slaughtering?
"This pot is really big!"
"No kidding, back in the Northeast, it could even be used for an ’iron pot stews itself’ act."
"Now the customers won’t ever complain about too few Chicken Feet again, and the amount of Sour Plum Soup will significantly increase."
"Boss, this pot is awesome!"
As Lin Xu digested the experience, Che Zai, Song Tiantian, and Xu Xinhua gathered around the two pots, incessantly praising them.
"Che Zai, you and Brother Xinhua clean these two pots thoroughly, and we’ll start using them officially tomorrow!"
It was already time to close for the day. All the customers in the restaurant had also left. Che Zai and Xu Xinhua, each armed with a cloth, dishwashing liquid, and a brush, seriously started to clean the pots.
The surface of the pots was coated with industrial oil. They not only needed to be cleaned thoroughly but also burned afterward to let the surface oils and contaminants evaporate, making them safer to use.
As they were busy, Xie Baomin suddenly pushed the door open and entered.
Lin Xu asked curiously, "Senior Brother, what brings you here at this hour?"
Xie Baomin, holding a sheathed kitchen knife, said with a laugh, "Your sister-in-law drove my car today to take the kids camping in West Mountain. They won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon. I was worried about taking the kitchen knife on the subway, so I hitched a ride with a colleague to bring it over now, to avoid any hassle tomorrow."
Just helping out for one day, and he even made a special trip to bring the kitchen knife.
Lin Xu suddenly remembered a meme: This is what you call professional.JPG.
"Senior Brother, why didn’t you go with them? I can manage here without help, and it’s rare for you to have a holiday. Won’t your sister-in-law complain?"
"Complain my ass, you have no idea how happy she was when she heard I wasn’t going..."
Senior Brother, your status in the family seems worrisome.
Lin Xu put Xie Baomin’s kitchen knife in the cabinet and suddenly remembered that he still hadn’t completed the task of making Snacks for Shen Jiayue, so he asked curiously, "Senior Brother, what Snacks are simple and quick to make? I want to make some for my girlfriend to try; she’s been craving some these days."
"There’s a wide range to choose from." Xie Baomin looked at Lin Xu and said, "Since you can make hand-pulled noodles, you can definitely make Shakima; they’re quite similar."
In high school, he used to eat quite a lot of Xu Fu Ji’s Shakima. Chen Meijuan even made it at home once or twice.
But what does that have to do with hand-pulled noodles?
"Hand-pulled noodles and Shakima are similar. Both require mixing dough, rolling it out, cutting it, and then cooking it in a pot. The difference is that Shakima isn’t boiled in water but deep-fried. After frying, you just simmer some sugar to mix with it, then press it into molds. That’s it—so simple."
That does sound quite simple.
Lin Xu went through his skills. Dough Mixing, he just got it; it hadn’t even warmed up yet. Rolled dough too; it was the first skill he gained. As for deep frying, with Perfect Level Crispy Meat and Fried Chicken Feet experience under his belt, frying some Shakima should not be a problem. The only challenging part was boiling sugar. But he could exchange points for that at the store. Eighty thousand points would get him the Qualified Level Sugar Boiling Technique.
Thinking of this... He suddenly felt there was no need to waste a Superior Cooking Learning Card. Just the skills he had could get the Shakima made.
Damn! Talk about a revelation!
"Junior Brother, I’m heading back. They are still waiting for me outside. Remember to tell Master to make extra breakfast. I’ll be there early tomorrow. I haven’t had his cooking in many years; tomorrow I must eat a lot..."
After Xie Baomin left, Che Zai and Xu Xinhua were almost done cleaning. Lin Xu told everyone to finish up for the day. He himself stayed in the shop, first spent eighty thousand points to exchange for the Qualified Level Sugar Boiling Technique, then took out low gluten flour and yeast from the storage room, planning to try making some Shakima.
Having just finished a workout, Shen Jiayue was messaging Chen Yan, "I don’t know why, but I suddenly really want some Snacks. Do you know any good places in Yanjing to buy them?"
"Want some? Why don’t you have your Xu darling make them? Isn’t he skilled in everything?" Being subjected to her cousin’s public displays of affection one after another had left Chen Yan’s tone somewhat sarcastic.
Shen Jiayue replied, "He doesn’t seem to know how, actually. Come with me to the shop tomorrow. I bought him a pair of shoes. After that, let’s go find some Snacks together, how about it?"
Chen Yan had been thinking of declining. Having endured several days of their lovey-dovey behavior, she had almost developed post-traumatic stress disorder. But the moment she saw that Lin Xu couldn’t even make Snacks, she was instantly energized.
Haha, finally got a chance to make fun of you lovebirds!
She quickly typed a message back to Shen Jiayue, "Okay, okay, okay, wait for me at home tomorrow, I’ll come to pick you up early!"
*Author’s Note: Brothers, I need Monthly Tickets and recommendation tickets! My cat has been sick recently, so updates have been scarce. Please forgive me. Once it recovers, I’ll definitely make up for it. Rest assured!*