Food Stall: Customers Chase Me across the Country

Chapter 731: Chapter 633: It’s Snowing—Time for Iron Pot Stewed Goose!

The nearly 100 million tourists visiting Harbin in winter are mostly drawn there by the ice and snow.

The ice is ready, but the snow depends on nature’s favor.

However, this batch of tourists got lucky, as the heavy snow the night before allowed them to fully experience the thrill of goose feather-like snowflakes falling from the sky.

The scene of the world falling silent as the pure and flawless snowflakes descended from the sky excited countless tourists.

Most people in the Northeast also love it, but there’s one creature that surely hates the snow: the goose.

After heavy snowfall, the demand for goose skyrockets, so it’s no wonder geese aren’t fans of snow.

Handling goose feathers can be quite troublesome and usually isn’t easy to do properly. But in winter, when geese grow down feathers, it’s much simpler to handle the feathers, and they are cleaned more thoroughly.

Goose meat itself has a strong gamey taste, so if the feathers aren’t properly cleaned, you can imagine what it would taste like.

Visiting the Northeast without eating a pot of Iron Pot Stewed Goose is certainly a regret. Wang Fan felt that with such great conditions, not making a pot of Iron Pot Stewed Goose would be a bit of a waste of this snowfall.

"Are all the feathers cleaned properly?"

"Look at you, what you’re saying! If it weren’t clean, wouldn’t my reputation be ruined? Don’t worry, we’ve cleaned them with 80-degree hot water; even the tiniest down feathers have been picked clean with tweezers."

Wang Fan picked up a goose from the chopping board and rubbed its clean thigh, not feeling any feather roots: "Alright, then roast it and cut it into pieces for me."

This dish requires careful preparation of the ingredients, so Wang Fan had to make a special trip to the goose farm.

After roasting and cutting the goose into pieces, they were loaded into the truck and delivered directly to Wang Fan’s little shop.

Wang Fan ordered geese weighing between 3 to 5 pounds, and after a discount, they were 16 yuan per pound, making the goose farm owner extremely happy with the purchase of 2000 pounds.

Zhuo Qianqian, Liu Hehe, and Zhou Ruoqing were already busy in the store, as cleaning dried chestnut mushrooms and potato slices is a large task.

Seeing Wang Fan return, Zhuo Qianqian ran over with her phone, smiling: "Boss, I just saw a funny picture. It seems that eating Iron Pot Stewed Goose has become the traditional program after snowfall, even making the geese angry enough to grab a sniper rifle, hahaha."

Wang Fan glanced at Zhuo Qianqian’s phone, which showed a large white goose holding a sniper rifle angrily, with the caption saying "Today, just try to touch me."

Wang Fan chuckled, completely unfazed: "No worries, the one with the gun is a white goose. I bought wandering gray geese. Have the dry ingredients been washed?"

Zhuo Qianqian nodded: "Almost done, the chestnut mushrooms have had their stems removed and are thoroughly squeezed dry. Aren’t you soaking the dried potato slices?"

"No soaking, or else they’ll turn mushy when stewed."

Wang Fan simulated cooking Iron Pot Stewed Goose for a good while last night.

Though this dish seems simple, it’s full of details; to make it more delicious than others, these details need to be perfected.

When putting the goose meat in the pot, Wang Fan tried to place the side with the skin facing down. Although goose meat has a higher fat content than chicken, long stir-frying can help render the fat, so the meat doesn’t end up as tough as a stick.

Those waiting in line, smelling the aroma of meat, tiptoed to look into the pot, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh wow, we lucked out today. Isn’t this Iron Pot Stewed Goose?"

"Haha, I saw the snow the night before last and thought I’d try my luck today. Didn’t expect I’d really hit the jackpot!"

"Goose really tastes best after it snows."

"Mainly because when it snows, these things don’t lay eggs or gain weight, everything they eat just becomes goose feathers, so it’s only right to slaughter and eat them."

"Oh my, the color of this goose skin when fried is really something, clearly they’ve rendered the fat from the skin."

"And they’re using dried ingredients, now that’s top-level Iron Pot Stewed Goose. Using fresh vegetables that make the soup thin and watery doesn’t taste good."

As Wang Fan’s stewed dish gained more fame, many middle-aged and older people who previously disregarded online hype were suddenly interested, stepping out of their homes to join the fun.

These people are already semi-professional, having cooked themselves for decades, they have some insights. If it wasn’t done well, they’d spot it in an instant.

Liu Zhaofeng was already uncapping one large bottle after another, pouring the light yellow beer inside into the pot with loud "ton, ton, ton" sounds.

"Glug glug glug..."

The fire used for stewing the goose was far stronger than before, making the boiling sounds in the pot louder and more frequent.

The aroma of beer and liquor along with the chestnut mushrooms had already masked the gamey taste of the goose, and the unique and rich aroma of meat mixed with the fragrance of chestnut mushrooms and wheat was mouthwatering for everyone who smelled it.

Zhou Ruoqing felt that Northern food was really different from their Southern dishes. Southern flavors seemed more reserved, nowhere near as fiery and vigorous as the North’s.

It’s really like a robust Northeastern man hammering open people’s taste buds with a fist as big as a clay pot.

And also managing to expand the stomach to twice its size!

She felt that since coming to Harbin, her appetite had increased geometrically, mysteriously getting hungry so easily. After gorging on dinner, by around 10 PM she’d start feeling hungry again, unable to rest unless she had a bite.

Just like now, even though she had eaten a large bowl of savory tofu pudding with a Chinese cruller and two chive pockets in the morning, it wasn’t even two hours later before the smell of meat made her crave food again.