Zhuhai Miscellaneous Memories (53)--Two Interesting Stories of Eating Puffer Fish

The late nineties of the last century, the reform and opening up has been carried out for twenty years, the social and economic development began to enter the orbit of prosperity, all walks of life are flourishing, social relations are also unprecedentedly active, eating and drinking the wind exceptionally prosperous.

In Guangdong, treating people to dinner and drinks are going to restaurants, and very few people are invited to dinner at home. Moreover, the Guangdong people are also popular to invite a person to dinner, often pulling a large number of people accompanied. At that time, I was often dragged to be a companion, because I had just changed my work and living environment, and was trying to form my own circle of friends, so I was happy to be a companion.

As the saying goes, eat, drink and have fun. Today, I'd like to share with you two interesting stories about eating puffer fish.

? (I)

The puffer fish is delicious and famous all over the world; the poisonous puffer fish is known all over the world. It should be a Friday afternoon, a buddy ran to my desk, mysteriously whispered to me: "After work first do not go, we go to eat puffer fish." It just so happened that the training class notified me that I could skip class that day due to another teacher's transfer. So, after work, I sat in the chair smoking and reading the newspaper, waiting for this guy to pick me up.

At that time, the puffer fish I know, but have not eaten, there are puffer fish to eat the restaurant is not much. In Guangdong, the puffer fish is called "chicken bubble", the vernacular said "chicken breast", this between seafood and river food seems to be very mysterious, as if the restaurant is not allowed to sell openly, not familiar with the customer can not eat.

In the gold cup van, in addition to me, there are four people, all know, but are not familiar. Along the way, a car people do not make a sound, not like the usual go drinking so noisy and lively. I tentatively asked the buddy sitting in the pay driver, where to eat. The guy just said, we'll know when we get there. Turns out it wasn't his treat, it was someone else's, and he dragged us along for the ride. The van stopped under a big banyan tree after turning around in the old alleys of the old town.

I looked at the dark banyan tree and dim alley, puzzled to follow the person out of the car, just stood firm, just to hear the buddy to the driver seat of the driver much older than us said loudly: "Lao Du, you wait in the car, do not turn off the engine, do not go away!" Seeing our dumbfounded faces, he explained, "Just in case, just in case, it's okay to ask him to come in and eat again." I thought to myself, "Isn't that testing us? As I followed along, I asked him if it was too late to go to the hospital after being poisoned. This guy even answered me: "generally too late!"

As a result, in that room, although bright, but the dining table and chairs and stools are very dilapidated, in addition to the buddy, we are all stupid, muffled not to speak. As far as I can remember, the guest of honor was a building materials business owner, very loudly and my buddy high talk, praising the delicious puffer fish and what aphrodisiac effect, said what waited for a week to get enough more than five pounds. Seeing that we are silent, and give us each a toast to cigarettes, the side of the tribute, said, absolutely assured that the chef is a master of the puffer fish, from the kill fish to the kitchen are his alone, he has eaten a number of times. Then, he gave me a cigarette and said, "The poison of puffer fish is in the liver and blood, and the meat is not poisonous, so as long as you kill it cleanly, it's fine." After a short pause, he said, "Wait, I'll eat it first, I'll be poisoned first if it's going to be poisoned." Seeing the treats were like this, we relaxed, and I joked, "I'm not afraid of death either, I'll accompany you to eat first." Haha laugh, the first dish - puffer fish in soup came up.

The steaming hot big tile pot one end into the room, a seemingly familiar and seems to be somewhat special fish aroma wafted up in the room, as if everyone can not help but use their noses to inhale a few times, and then, without the waiter to fill up, the boss of the invitation to treat himself to fill a bowl of milky white fish soup first, huffing and puffing up, I stood up, also want to make good on the promise of accompanying him to eat, just want to fill up the soup, but was buddies Noiselessly pressed. As a result, a table of seven, eight people are holding their breath to see a person in the bowl of eating and drinking that bowl of surely delicious and incomparable puffer fish soup.

I don't know if it was an intentional delay, or if the guy was just trying to tempt our appetites, but it was only after five or six minutes that the brother finished the bowl of puffer fish meat and soup. The next thing is simple, no need to talk, we all have to their bowls, everyone should have eaten more than two bowls. Then we started to drink, followed by steamed puffer fish and ginger-scallion casserole and other practices, the delicious and fun not to mention, anyway, until everyone drank almost, only to remember that there is a person in the car waiting to take us to the hospital. After another round of harrumphing, I quickly ran to the big banyan tree and told the driver, named Lao Du, to rest his fire and go upstairs.

? (II)

Or the same year, also accompanied a brother invited the leader to eat puffer fish in Tang's house. This restaurant is open to the blowfish business, all the dining tables are on the roof of a broken house. That day is "playing side stove", because the leader is late, we do not dare to eat first, so we have to talk to the sea and sky, chatting to the table on the peanut rice have eaten two plates, the leader only to come.

The brothers invited to dinner with a beautiful woman, a beautiful woman is very quiet, we chatted and ate peanuts, she did not participate, just smiled and gave us a "renewed water". After the leader came, the owner of the restaurant personally gave us the first pot, a few minutes later, we were each loaded with a bowl of puffer fish without soup, pointing to the soy sauce began to savor the delicious. I remember very clearly, I just put a piece of blowfish meat into my mouth, the beautiful woman diagonally across the table suddenly fell on the table on the bowl of food.

At this moment, it is difficult to describe the chaotic scene in words, I only remember that I was subconsciously eaten later than others, when the beauty down, my piece of puffer fish meat is still in my mouth, from the brain's conscious command of the first reaction is "poisonous", the first action is to the mouth of the piece of meat spit back into the bowl. Next, there was chaos on the roof of the restaurant where seven or eight tables were filled with diners. When the terrified boss's wife called us to carry the beauty downstairs to send the car straight to the hospital, I was terrified and uneasy back upstairs, suddenly remembered that a few tables, including the leader has eaten most of the bowl are fine ah, I helped the brother to greet everyone to sit down, and said to everyone: "should not be a matter of fact, we are fine ah." Then, I boldly just spit out the piece of puffer fish meat and then order a small plate of seasoning, boldly stuffed into the mouth slightly bite and chew and swallowed.

The next story should be the highlight of the day. Just as I encourage leaders and friends to continue to taste the deliciousness of the puffer fish, the pocket palm (then cell phone) rang, the phone, invited to dinner buddies excitedly said to me: "Old Wu, you accompany the leadership to eat quickly, puffer fish no problem, this silly girl is hypoglycemic, has been all right." Later realized that the car to the hospital, with the hospital stretcher trolley pushed to the door of the emergency room, lying on the stretcher bed beauty woke up, when she knew she fainted was sent to the hospital, but also smiled at everyone and said, "I'm sorry ah, I have low blood sugar." It turned out that waiting for the leader waited too long, low blood sugar beauty lowered her head and prepared to eat the first mouthful of puffer fish fainted, only none of us paid attention to it, she did not eat a mouthful, and thought that she was fainted because she ate the puffer fish.

The traditional idea that puffer fish is poisonous, the first reaction to the poisoning scared us all blind, even the long-standing boss's wife was confused. That night, in that broken house on the top of the layer, after a false alarm, we let go of the stomach, eating and drinking, do not know how many pounds of puffer fish ate, anyway, everyone is drunk and full of fish, especially the leader, was a few of us even cajoled and honored, and openly drink.