Yunding Ranch

Chapter 46 Supermarket Purchasing
After entering the supermarket, Lu Li quickly left Chloe behind him. He thought, Chloe needs some private space right now.Unexpectedly, Chloe, who usually looks big, is still such a small woman in these respects.

Temporarily forgetting about the little accident just now, Lu Li started looking for the ingredients for dinner.

There are very few small supermarkets in the United States now, and almost all of them are large chain supermarkets, which are divided into various regions and display all the goods in a dazzling array.This feeling is much more organized, but Lu Li still prefers the traditional market. The mess there is full of human touch. A handful of shallots and a little bargaining are the fun of life.

Lu Li first went to the meat section. Considering the attributes of the guests tonight, meat is undoubtedly the most important thing - if possible, Lu Li would be happy to prepare a seafood feast, but inland areas like Texas, forget it.

Standing in front of the container, Lu Li seriously thought about tonight's menu, one dish of braised pork, one dish of pork ribs in black bean sauce, one dish of roast beef with potatoes... This would definitely be enough, but would it be too strong?Although Cole and the others didn't like to eat vegetables, Lu Li felt that a table full of meat was too greasy just thinking about it in his mind.

The combination of meat and vegetables still needs to be done properly.

However, Lu Li soon realized that the idea of ​​the menu seemed to be taken for granted.This is not China, or even New York, but a small town in Texas. He can't buy many materials at all.For example, you can’t find fermented soya bean here at all, so you can only choose sweet and sour pork ribs with fermented fermented soy sauce. For another example, stewed old hen with mushrooms is probably troublesome. In the pasture, the taste of free-range chicken must be found. But their hometown is used to stewing dried shiitake mushrooms instead of fresh shiitake mushrooms, so he is not sure how much the taste will be affected.

Looking at the neat and clean supermarket in front of me, the vegetable cabinets are even more beautifully arranged, red carrots, green broccoli, bright yellow bell peppers, light green cabbage... the patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder standing here will definitely He was overjoyed, but for the first time, Lu Li began to miss New York—although not everything is available in Chinatown, most of the ingredients can be bought. It seems that next time he should go shopping in big cities.

After buying the meat, Lu Li bought another two large pieces of cabbage, ready to make a dry pot of cabbage.If he stir-fried a garlic baby dish, no one would be willing to eat it tonight, so it still took a little ingenuity to do it.After patching together, I finally bought all the ingredients for dinner.

However, he couldn't find the seasoning cabinet, and Lu Li was dumbfounded.

First, I didn't see soy sauce, God, there is no soy sauce in the supermarket, only RB soy sauce for dipping sashimi, not to mention the difference between dark soy sauce and light soy sauce; second, I can't find live yeast and baking soda at all, Lu Li Can't help but start to feel a headache - how do they make pizza?

If there is no soy sauce, it is a big deal not to cook braised in soy sauce. As for the dry pot...the idea of ​​dry pot cabbage without any color appeared in his mind, and Lu Li couldn't help rolling his eyes. He had given up the lazy way of bean paste, and now even oyster sauce And no soy sauce, which was also drunk.

But what would his breakfast be without live yeast and baking soda!What about his buns and fried dough sticks!
Tonight's dinner didn't matter, but Lu Li originally thought that while he was cooking tonight, he could make the buns and have them for breakfast tomorrow.But now that I think about it carefully, there is no live yeast and baking soda, and there is no steamer, so the buns and fried dough sticks are probably about to say goodbye.

With a long sigh, Lu Li looked worried.Or, let the family send it over?So much fanfare, just for breakfast, really good?

"Sir, may I help you?" The supermarket staff looked at Lu Li standing in front of the seasoning aisle and sighed. After all, he couldn't hold back and came forward to ask.

Lu Li had already decided to give up, because these special ingredients from China can only be found in the Chinatowns of big cities, especially on the east coast and west coast.In central regions like Texas, the degree of internationalization is very limited.But after thinking about it, I would not lose a piece of meat if I asked, so I said, "I am looking for soy sauce, baking soda and live yeast."

Then Lu Li saw the stunned expression on the staff member's face. It was so joyful that Lu Li couldn't help laughing. He waved his hand to help him out, "It's okay, I asked for too much. Now, you don't have to worry."

But the other party was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized, "Oh, you mean those Chinese dishes?" For Americans, soy sauce is equal to Asian dishes, because their dishes will never be used. The representative is undoubtedly RB's sushi and most of the Chinese/Chinese dishes.

Lu Li's eyes lit up, "Why, do you know where it's sold?"

"Haha, we don't have any here." The staff smiled and waved their hands, finally matching Lu Li's Asian face with his Chinese identity, "However, there is a Chinese restaurant on Stanley Street, you can go there Ask where they bought it."

"There are also Chinese restaurants here?" Lu Li was a little surprised. If it was a big city like Austin, it would not be surprising, but for a small town like New Braunfels, this would be too amazing.

"Of course." The staff showed a big smile, "Old Li is a very good guy." While speaking, he also made a Li/Xiao/Long gesture.

Lu Li suddenly realized, and his eyes fell on the staff's badge, "Mike, thank you for your help!"

"No, no." The staff member named Mike smiled and said, "Welcome to Texas!"

After getting effective information, Lu Li decided to try his luck in the past. According to Mike's instructions, he found the Chinese/Chinese restaurant called "Chinese/Guolong" four blocks away.

In the past, Lu Li wondered why the names of Chinese restaurants in New York were almost the same. Most of them were related to dragons, but recently most of them were related to pandas. Could it be that the compatriots who work here have no imagination of naming names?
I found out later when I was interviewing the city hall, because the names of Chinese/Chinese restaurants are too strange, which is a huge pressure for Americans. They don’t know how to choose, and it is also a headache when registering for business.Later, the city hall simply stipulated that before opening a Chinese restaurant, the official name list should be provided, and the legal representative should be selected for registration.In other words, these names are actually officially formulated.

So, when you open the Chinese/Chinese restaurants in New York for takeout, all of them are dragons and the like.This made Lu Li unable to complain, "Every restaurant's name is so similar, and the difference is so small, isn't it even more difficult for Americans to tell the difference?"

At this time, "China/Guolong" was open, so Lu Li walked in, and a middle-aged woman in a floral shirt came out immediately, "Welcome, dinner hasn't started yet, is there anything I can do to help you?" ?”

Lu Li thought for a while, "Um... I'm Chinese." After finishing speaking, the other party immediately showed joy, and said in Chinese, "Are you an international student or a tourist? It's so rare to meet compatriots here." She Turning around, he raised his voice and shouted, "Lao Li, Lao Li, a fellow villager is coming."

Such an enthusiastic appearance was very different from New York, which made Lu Li relax a little.

"Auntie, hello, my name is Lu Li. I just moved here recently and plan to settle down here." Lu Li took the initiative to introduce himself.

"Residence?" Her smile became brighter and brighter. "That's even more rare. My kid didn't want to come here before. He thought it was too remote and insisted on going to Los Angeles. Next time I will tell him that we still have The fellow came here to settle here. By the way, my name is Liu Xiaoyan. I have been in the United States for nearly ten years, and I have stayed here for nearly five years. If you have any problems in the future, just come to me, even if I can’t help you. You can also find friends."

"Who is it?" While speaking, a middle-aged man came out of the kitchen inside. His well-trimmed beard was not as shrewd as a businessman, but he had the elegance of a Jiangnan water town.Lu Li guessed that he should be from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

"This is my guy, Li Huainan, just call him Lao Li." Liu Xiaoyan is a person with a very sharp personality, and he greeted Lu Li to sit down neatly, poured him a cup of jasmine tea, but then reacted, "This is not good tea, come on, let me take out the good Lao Junmei from the refrigerator."

"Auntie, no need." Lu Li felt a little embarrassed on the contrary, but Liu Xiaoyan had already walked in quickly, and Lu Li looked at Li Huainan, feeling a little helpless.

Li Huainan waved his hand, "It's okay, let her go. You don't see a single fellow here all year round, and there aren't even many tourists. If you go to Austin, there will be more. It's rare to see Chinese, she I'm also happy." Li Huainan sat down opposite Lu Li, "So, you came here to settle here?"

"Yes, I went to college in New York before, and recently decided to come here to live. I live in the beech ranch in the suburbs, which is now renamed as Yunding Ranch." Lu Li said simply, being able to see fellow villagers here, in fact, Lu Li also Some happy.

"From now on, walk around more often, and it's not easy to find someone to chat with here. If you feel homesick, come here, and Uncle Li will cook you home-cooked food, then there's no problem." Li Huainan didn't make any fuss, But the crisp words also revealed a trace of intimacy.

"Speaking of this, I came here today to consult with you." Lu Li said without hesitation, "I want to cook, but I can't buy any ingredients. I want to ask you, where did I buy them?"

"Hey, I have to go to Austin for this." Before Li Huainan finished speaking, Liu Xiaoyan came out again, "Whatever you want, tell us, and we will get it for you."

"Why is this so embarrassing?" Lu Li still felt uncomfortable meeting the stranger for the first time.

"You're a young man, how much can you take?" Liu Xiaoyan's blunt words made Lu Li laugh, "Besides, we run a restaurant, so a little seasoning is fine. I'll give you some emergencies today, and you can come over another day , Let Uncle Li take you to Austin to buy. You are a young man who just came here, and you are not familiar with people. Those cowboys in Texas are very cunning, and they might cheat you."

Lu Li couldn't help but laugh out loud when he thought of the athletic cowboy outfit.

(End of this chapter)