Chapter 336: 109: Teach the scum a lesson, be the matchmaker_3
“Yangyang, why aren’t there any chopsticks?”
Ni Yang laughed and said, “Mom, this is Western cuisine. Western meals are eaten with a fork and knife. Look at me, I hold the fork in my left hand, and the knife in my right hand…” As she spoke, Ni Yang elegantly cut off a piece of the steak, speared it with her fork, and put it in her mouth.
“Wait!” Ni Cuihua interrupted in surprise.
“What’s this, mom?” Ni Yang asked, turning her gaze to Ni Cuihua in confusion.
“Yangyang, this meat is not cooked. There’s still blood drippin’ from it! They should take it back quickly and cook it thoroughly!”
Ni Yang smiled slightly and explained, “This is what a medium-rare steak looks like. It’s tender and juicy, and it tastes great.”
Ni Cuihua expressed her confusion: “How can you eat the beef that isn’t fully cooked? What if it got you sick? What if you catch mad cow disease?”
Ni Yang responded, “Mom, that’s a misconception. In fact, a medium-rare steak is not only edible but also much more flavorful and nutritious than fully cooked beef. It’s like the durian we had last night: it doesn’t look appetizing, but it tastes wonderful!”
Ni Cuihua frowned slightly, “Really?”
Ni Yang continued to encourage her, “Why would I deceive you? Mom, try the steak on your dish.”
Ni Cuihua was hesitant.
No matter what, she still can’t accept raw, bloody meat.
The very sight of it made her skin crawl.
Ni Yang reassured her, “Mom, don’t worry. What I ordered for you is medium well. It won’t be bleeding.”
Ni Cuihua finally relaxed, picked up the knife and fork, and began to cut the steak as she had seen Ni Yang do it.
Ni Yang had made it look straightforward while cutting, but when Ni Cuihua tried it, the utensils seemed to have become dulled.
Ni Yang got up with a chuckle, went to Ni Cuihua’s side, slightly leaned over and gently guided her hand to teach her how to operate the knife and fork, “Mom, like this, and then this.”
After a moment, the entire steak was cut into nice little pieces.
Ni Cuihua stabbed a piece of beef and put it in her mouth.
The beef was sprinkled with lemon juice and black pepper, so it didn’t have a gamey taste, and it was neither tough nor chewy. The taste was indeed way better than that of the soy-sauce beef and braised beef she was used to.
Ni Yang handed her a piece of steak from her dish, “Mom, now try this medium-rare piece.”
Ni Cuihua hesitantly accepted it, closed her eyes, and slowly chewed it in her mouth.
The taste…
It wasn’t bad at all, just like what Ni Yang had described. The texture was excellent, tender and juicy, and it was delightfully bouncy when she bit into it.
Even though it tasted great, Ni Cuihua still preferred the medium-well-done beef.
The idea of eating raw meat was a mental block she still hadn’t been able to get over.
Seeing Ni Cuihua’s reaction, Ni Yang didn’t force her and continued to teach her how to eat escargot.
In Western cuisine, there’s a particular way to eat escargot too.
Like common people eating river snails, they can get the meat out in one ‘slurp’, but for eating escargot, there are special tools involved.
Looking at the six big escargots in the dish, Ni Cuihua expressed her astonishment, “Yangyang, why are these river snails white?”
It’s not that Ni Cuihua hasn’t seen escargot before.
But these escargot were so big and unlike the ones she had seen in the fields, she mistook them for river snails.
Ni Yang explained, “Mom, these are escargot.”
Hearing this, Ni Cuihua was completely floored!
“Escargot?!”
Escargot is the term used in the local dialect for snails.
Ni Yang nodded, “Yes, escargot. But don’t worry, mom, these are not like the wild snails. These are edible ones and their English name is ‘Helix Pomatia’.”
“Can escargots be eaten as well?” Ni Cuihua conveyed her doubt, “Foreigners are too strange! They eat things no one else does!”
Eating the raw meat that was still bloody seemed bad enough, but now even escargots are being thrown in the mix!
How frightening.
Ni Yang expertly chose a piece of escargot and handed it to Ni Cuihua, “Mom, give this a try.”
Ni Cuihua repeatedly refused, “No, no …”
In the countryside, even ducks don’t eat escargot.
Ni Yang laughed, “Mom, do you know how much each of these escargots cost? If you don’t eat them, there’s no way I can eat all six by myself.”
“How much?”
Ni Yang said, “28 yuan each.”
“What? 28 yuan each?” Ni Cuihua looked incredulously.
Ni Yang nodded.
“Then this whole dish would be 168 yuan?”
Ni Yang continued to nod her head.
We only spent 158 yuan for dinner at the state-owned restaurant last time but now a plate of escargot meat costs 168 yuan. It’s just too expensive!