Chapter 2394: Hanshi Dishes

The shop's walls on all four sides held shelves, and in the middle stood large long tables full of glass compartments with lids, each compartment filled with various goods.

The floor and walls here unusually featured ceramic tiles. Probably because they'd just been cleaned at opening, everything shone spotlessly—even the glass was immaculate.

Limited by packaging materials, the Senate's light industrial products and foods mostly adopted a large-package retail model, which made them susceptible to contamination in terminal channels. Cleanliness and hygiene had always been emphasized.

Both Chu He and Park Jihyun had come from Jeju Island and were accustomed to Zhongyi Trading Company's style, finding nothing unusual. But the local customers in the shop were somewhat amazed—after all, the cleanliness that ceramic tiles brought was rare in the seventeenth century.

Chu He examined the goods in the glass compartments—this branch was not only larger than the Jeju branch, but the variety and grade of goods were considerably higher. Probably due to differences in market purchasing power.

Unlike Zicheng Records, whose food and daily necessities targeted high-end customers with premium prices and exquisite packaging, Zhongyi Trading Company's goods were mostly aimed at the middle and lower classes. Not only was the variety more diverse, but prices were also relatively more affordable.

The reason for saying "relatively" was that these goods remained unaffordable, or only occasionally affordable, for the truly bottom-tier local common folk.

If only we could get more quality goods at low prices from Southeast Asia, Chu He thought.

Unlike the deserted atmosphere outside, quite a few customers were browsing and selecting goods inside. From upstairs came laughter and the clinking of bowls and dishes, suggesting decent patronage there as well.

It seemed the Senate's commerce and goods still held considerable attraction. Chu He's heart settled somewhat—as long as the Senate remained a golden brand, it would naturally attract enough investors.

The shop's clerks were almost all female—in the commercial retail field, Senate-affiliated enterprises followed the principle of using women as much as possible whenever they could handle the job. Zhongyi Trading Company was no exception. They wore white tops with coffee-colored trim, black long pants, tied with coffee-colored short aprons, and coffee-colored headscarves—exactly the same as the Jeju Island branch. The only difference was that they spoke Cantonese, not "New Speech."

Watching the female clerks greet customers, recommend goods, weigh and package items... Chu He suddenly thought of something and quietly asked, "Little Piao, how did they know I'm a Senator?"

Park Jihyun smiled. "As soon as you opened your mouth with 'just browsing'—speaking New Speech isn't rare, but that 'just browsing' immediately sounds like something a Chief would say."

"Is that so?" Chu He found this quite novel.

"That's right." Park Jihyun nodded. "Although Chiefs and us naturalized citizens both speak New Speech, the differences are quite significant. First, Chiefs speak New Speech with accurate tones. Second, the vocabulary and sentence patterns are also different from ours."

"I see." Chu He nodded repeatedly.

"There's more, actually. For example, when Senators walk, men all like to walk with hands behind their backs, taking measured strides. Women basically all take big strides with heads held high..." Park Jihyun imitated the Senators' walking postures. "And then there's the expression. That expression—I can't learn it either. Poor people are all evasive, rich people look down on everything, but Chiefs' expressions and gazes are especially distinctive..." He started imitating that too.

Chu He couldn't help laughing, thinking this summary was really quite on point! He suddenly thought of Little Piao's sister—equally clever and witty and lively, the most favored among his life secretaries.

"You're quite something." Chu He teased. "I think you should go be an actor in the drama troupe."

"How could that work? Then there'd be no one to serve you, sir. Besides, if I weren't by your side, my sister wouldn't feel at ease either..."

"Didn't expect you had such heavy responsibilities." Chu He teased again. His originally somewhat worried mood was now relieved. He suddenly felt hungry—probably the dazzling array of food had aroused his appetite. Seeing the "Hanshi Dishes" advertising board hanging at the first-floor stairway entrance—though not a photograph, the pattern drawn by a skilled painter was still quite tempting—he couldn't help swallowing.

"Let's go upstairs for something to eat."

"Chief, there's still a dinner banquet tonight..."

"You talk too much! In a bit, you can stand aside and watch!" Saying this, he headed upstairs.

The second floor housed the trading company's "dining department." Zhongyi Trading Company's dining department also catered to middle and lower-class common people, specializing in "fast food" and "snacks."

The dining department's decor was completely fast-food restaurant style, with small tables for two or four people. The chairs were also small-sized, maximizing use of space. Large menus were posted on the walls, all with illustrations and prices. Customers could see everything at a glance upon entering.

Chu He led Park Jihyun to the cashier counter and ordered a basic "Hanshi Cold Noodles."

"Would you like to add meat?" the cashier asked.

"No need..."

Park Jihyun couldn't help saying, "Chief, it's still winter right now..."

"What do you know? Cold noodles are most satisfying eaten in winter," Chu He said. "Do you want some? If not, stand aside."

Park Jihyun had no choice. "I'll have a bowl too."

The two chose a table and sat down. Chu He browsed the menu on the wall. Besides cold noodles, there were hot noodles, stone pot bibimbap, Hanshi pancakes, seaweed fish-meat rice rolls, Hanshi stir-fried rice cakes... At another counter stood more than ten large porcelain jars with glass lids, containing various types of "Hanshi side dishes": dressed bellflower, dressed dried tofu, dressed sea hare, dressed mixed, dressed konjac...

Actually, most dishes sold in Zhongyi Trading Company's dining department were "Korean cuisine" from the old spacetime. Although the Joseon Dynasty in this plane also had some high-class banquet cuisine popular in the palace and among the yangban, it hadn't yet developed the flavors familiar to everyone from the old spacetime—take the representative Korean pickled vegetables, for example. Because chilies hadn't yet been introduced to the peninsula, they lacked the taste Senators knew.

Chu He knew the dishes here were basically all from Doctor Zhong's hands. Zhong Lishi was quite skilled at making Joseon-style food from the old spacetime and had particular taste preferences—after all, his hometown was in Jilin. Under his guidance, Senators could once again taste the cold noodles, rice cakes, spicy stir-fried rice cakes, spicy pickled cabbage, and side dishes they'd often eaten in the old spacetime.

However, Senators couldn't admit these things came from the old spacetime, so these foods that hadn't originally existed in this plane were called "Australian Hanshi." The original plane's "Korean cuisine" was called "Hanshi Dishes" in Lingao—similar to how fried chicken and burgers were called "Kaifeng Dishes" in Lingao.

Before long, the server brought two bowls of "Hanshi Cold Noodles" to the table. The noodles were served in large sea bowls, topped with a layer of pickled vegetables. Chu He took a sip of the soup—cool and refreshing, yet with a fresh, fragrant taste—probably simmered from beef. After swallowing, the cool sensation refreshed him to the core. Then he ate a piece of pickled vegetable—fragrant, spicy, crisp, sour with a touch of sweetness, and a fruity aroma. The cold noodles slipped into his stomach before he could even chew them properly.

"These noodles are really well made!" Chu He praised. Looking at Park Jihyun across from him, also slurping away enthusiastically, he couldn't help smiling.

Chu He had witnessed the entire process of Doctor Zhong "inventing" "Hanshi Cold Noodles." After Jeju Island was occupied, Doctor Zhong had seized the opportunity of building the new astronomical observatory to establish a presence there. In his view, Jeju had excellent conditions for agriculture and animal husbandry—exactly the right place for Zhongyi Trading Company, which mainly produced and sold subsidiary food products.

So, using the construction of the astronomical observatory as cover, Doctor Zhong "incidentally" built the trading company on Jeju. This trading company, from design to decoration, was all personally done by Doctor Zhong, leaving Chu He, who was on Jeju at the time, quite unable to understand: why was this seemingly unrelated Doctor so enthusiastic about this?

Before the trading company was even completed, Doctor Zhong had already burrowed into the kitchen of the former Jeju Provincial Office and begun developing "Hanshi Dishes."

As the Senator stationed on Jeju and something of an "idle person," Chu He had been the first to taste Doctor Zhong's "invented" "Hanshi Cold Noodles."

He had to admit—these Zhong-brand cold noodles were more delicious than any cold noodles he'd eaten in the old spacetime, completely overturning his impression of Korean cold noodles.

Out of curiosity, he'd asked to see the production process. Doctor Zhong readily agreed, not only taking him to the kitchen to observe but also personally explaining:

"A bowl of cold noodles looks simple, but it actually has many ingredients and requires considerable skill. Authentic cold noodles are freshly pressed, immediately put into the pot to boil after pressing, then served in a bowl with ice shards after cooking. Cold noodles are cold outside but warm inside, soft yet resilient, and won't clump together even after an hour. The main ingredient is buckwheat noodles—smooth and chewy with good bite. The disadvantage is the rough texture. The shop's solution is to mix in some flour, but flour is currently a 'precious ingredient'—if added, the masses couldn't afford it. Fortunately, Jeju is ideal for growing potatoes, and mixing in potato flour works just as well."

Doctor Zhong had pointed at the noodle-pressing machine shipped from Lingao and spoken eloquently. "The soup base is also particular. Generally, beef broth is used—actually dog meat broth is more flavorful—first wash large pieces of beef clean and put them in the pot, add enough water at once, boil on high heat and skim off the foam, add soy sauce and salt, change to low heat and simmer for three or four hours. Then put scallions and carrots in a cloth bag, tie it tight, put it in the beef soup, and simmer again briefly. Finally, remove the beef and cloth bag to cool. The beef is sliced, carrots cut into strips. The beef soup should be settled to remove residue, then seasoned to taste and set aside. As for toppings, besides beef slices or dog meat slices, Korean pickled vegetables are essential, plus apples, pears, watermelon slices, or other seasonal vegetables to choose from. On top, use yellow and white egg strips for decoration, sprinkled with chili powder, drizzled with soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil, and finally sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds—that makes an authentic Korean cold noodle."

Chu He had thought: No wonder he wanted to come to Jeju Island to develop this so-called "Hanshi Dishes." Besides Jeju Island, where else could he get a stable supply of beef!

(End of Chapter)