Gourmet: Midnight Vending

In the vast land of Huaxia, if one were to spend their entire life exploring the delicacies from various regions, a lifetime might not be enough.

Especially since some delicacies have already been lost to the river of history with the passage of time, particularly those that could be called snacks.

These are mostly unique flavors from different parts of Huaxia, with strong regional characteristics and delicious taste. For some post-80s and 90s from Sichuan, Bang Bang Chicken is just one of them.

When Zhou Xudong was very young, he had to get up at four or five in the morning and walk more than two hours along the mountain road to get to school.

After a day of school, he wouldn't get home until seven or eight in the evening.

Back then, although his family was poor, they would still give him a dime as pocket money every day, but Zhou Xudong never could bring himself to spend that dime.

He would save it, managing to save up fifty cents every week.

Come the next Monday, he would get up particularly early, leaving home half an hour in advance. After arriving at the path leading from the school to the main street, Zhou Xudong would squat and wait, not rushing to the classroom. Around seven-thirty in the morning, he would hear a distant voice.

"Peppery chicken, fifty cents a portion of peppery chicken!"

"Hammered with a stick, peppery chicken!"

Once he heard the voice, it wouldn't be long before a bicycle with a twenty-eight-inch frame appeared at the path's corner.

The owner was a granny in her sixties who never rode the bicycle, only pushing it slowly.

On the sides of the bicycle's rear seat were strapped two bamboo baskets, covered with a layer of cage cloth. Whenever Granny appeared, a group of kids would immediately gather around.

Everyone held their hands high, clutching colorful little notes, mostly fifty-cent notes.

Granny leisurely propped up the bicycle, took out a small bowl lined with a plastic bag from the basket on the left, then lifted the cage cloth. The children eagerly climbed over to peer in, wanting to see what was inside the bamboo basket.

Granny, with a smile, took out a spoon, opened the lid of a huge plastic bucket in the bamboo basket, and scooped a ladleful of sizzling red oil seasoning into the bowl lined with a plastic bag.

Then she moved to the other side of the bicycle and lifted the cage cloth there, "Let me see which little guy has the best luck today."

Then Granny's hand reached into the bamboo basket and grabbed a handful of fresh, tender chicken breast strips, saying, "Oh wow, it's actually chicken breast, it's so delicious!"

The chicken breast strips were put into the bowl, instantly dyed by the red oil. Granny stirred them well with chopsticks and handed them to the little child.

The child, who had already paid, held the bowl with shining eyes, grabbing the chicken strips with the chopsticks given by Granny and stuffing them into their mouth.

Zhou Xudong's luck was always pretty good, managing to grab chicken breast and chicken wing meat each time. Once, Granny scooped out a handful of meat, and it was all drumstick meat!

Drumstick meat, resembling garlic cloves, soaked in red oil, enviously chased after by classmates, repeatedly asking him, is it delicious, is it delicious?

Hence, in Zhou Xudong's childhood, the happiest days were not Saturdays or Sundays.

On weekends, he had to help his family feed chickens, chop wood, and fetch water.

Only Monday mornings were his most anticipated, that bowl of spicy and numbing Bang Bang Chicken dispelled all the weekend fatigue, completely.

And starting from Monday, every dime he saved was accumulating hope for the next Monday.

At this moment, Zhou Xudong saw his daughter's finger pointing at a yellow food truck, with a little girl hammering the chicken with a stick, scenes from his childhood flashed through his mind. He hadn't tasted this thing in almost twenty years since he left home at sixteen.

"Boss, how much are you selling the Bang Bang Chicken for?"

Chen Mo tilted his head slightly, somewhat speechless. You can see it's called Bang Bang Chicken, can't you see it says 8 Yuan/portion behind it?

"Are you silly? It says right there eight Yuan, and you're still asking." Jing Zhaodi was speechless, feeling her husband seemed a bit absent-minded and not knowing what was going on.

"First give me three portions." Zhou Xudong stood up and walked to the food truck, looking expectantly, wanting to know which part of the meat the boss would grab for him.

Chen Mo put on gloves, "Which part of the meat do you like to eat?"

Oh? You can actually choose?

Zhou Xudong looked a bit surprised at the chicken lined up on the counter, each chicken was divided into several parts.

There were chicken heads, chicken wings, chicken breast, back meat, chicken necks, and chicken legs.

"Is the price the same?"

"Yes, we sell per portion." Chen Mo was confident in his skills, not worried about the different portions in each serving.

Jing Zhaodi in the back overheard, curiously asked, "Boss, logically, chicken wings and legs are the most expensive, chicken breast is the cheapest. Aren't you afraid everyone will just eat the wings and legs, leaving the chicken breast?"

"Not afraid." Chen Mo answered.

Jing Zhaodi still wanted to ask why he wasn't afraid, but she soon got the answer.

"Alright, give me a portion of pure chicken breast first! Uh, also a mixed portion of chicken wings and back meat, and another of chicken leg."

Jing Zhaodi was a bit dumbfounded. I just asked if he wasn't afraid customers would leave all the chicken breast, yet her own husband ordered a portion of chicken breast directly?

Truly incomprehensible.

But with something costing eight Yuan a portion, there was no need to overthink.

Chen Mo, following the customer's request, donned disposable gloves and picked up the chicken breast to shred.

After soaking in cold water, the chicken became very firm, but thanks to Lu Yingqiu's pounding, the chicken became very tender, easily shredded into strips.

The shredded chicken was put into small bowls that used to hold egg dumplings, "Oh right, we have two flavors, which one would you like to eat?"

"Two flavors?" Zhou Xudong tiptoed and craned his neck to peek, "Tengjiao and spicy?"

One was sizzling with red oil, while the other had little red oil on it, floating with a slightly greenish oil and fresh Sichuan pepper, an obvious choice.

"I guess it's the 'strange flavor'."

Even for locals of Sichuan and Shu, they rarely use "strange flavor" to describe the dish's taste. Zhou Xudong didn't mind; seeing the childhood snack reemerge after twenty years, he thought he must order a portion.

"Then make one 'strange flavor', and another Tengjiao."

After all, that mouthful of bo bo chicken just refreshed his understanding of Sichuan Cuisine as a Sichuan person.

Is that really how our Sichuan Cuisine tastes? What an international joke!

Of course, after working for so many years outside, Zhou Xudong knew that when many dishes leave their original breeding ground, to take root in other places, they have to adjust to local palates to some extent.

But that bo bo chicken was too exaggerated in its alteration, losing its original flavor; can it still be called bo bo chicken?

Thus, Zhou Xudong surmised that this little boss must also adjust the Bang Bang Chicken flavor. His anticipation for the snack's original taste wasn't high, so long as he could eat a memory, it was enough.

Chen Mo separately shredded chicken breast, chicken leg, and chicken wing meat, putting them into bowls.

Then ladled a scoop of strange-flavored sauce over two portions, topped with some scallions, and the other portion with a little Tengjiao sauce, also garnished with scallions.

Zhou Xudong carried the three portions of shredded chicken back to the yellow table, placing the 'strange flavor' chicken breast in front of himself.

He gave the strange-flavored chicken leg to his daughter and the last portion of Tengjiao-flavored to his wife.

Then he nonchalantly grabbed the heap of bo bo chicken, putting it into the kind of container that Li Xiaobo gave, similar to a drink bucket, "Wife, taste it."

Li Xiaobo looked at the neglected bo bo chicken.

Alright, alright, playing favorites, huh?