Free Web NovelChapter 525: Chapter 437: Handmade Dumplings with Pork, Bamboo Shoots, and Scallions
"No, no, haha, I didn’t mean that, you know!"
Since coming here, Zhao Shun’s mental state has been improving by the day.
At first, he looked like he might drop dead at any moment, with his face haggard and eyes bloodshot. Now, he seems full of life and energy.
On the contrary, Old Chen beside him still looks a bit sleepy, his eyelids half-closed, following Zhao Shun around like a zombie.
Only when he sees Lin Chen does he perk up, forcing a smile and greeting him.
"Hello, hello~"
Daniel had just unloaded the goods and, spotting Zhao Shun, his eyes lit up, as if suddenly remembering something, and he enthusiastically extended his hand.
Zhao Shun looked at him strangely and extended his hand as well.
"Clap!"
Although not quite used to this foreign greeting style, it was more acceptable than a hug.
He couldn’t imagine the delightful scene of hugging Xiao Hei early in the morning.
"What’s up with this guy today, so enthusiastic?"
Due to the language barrier, the two were usually just nodding acquaintances, not to the point of high-fives.
Zhao Shun keenly noticed something odd about Daniel’s strange behavior today.
"Him? You’ll find out soon,"
Lin Chen didn’t give it away, just smiled meaningfully.
"?"
Something’s up!
Zhao Shun suspiciously narrowed his eyes, a myriad of possibilities flashing through his mind.
But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out any connection he might have with Xiao Hei.
They couldn’t even communicate, so what was up?
Unable to make sense of it, he temporarily put the concern aside and led the sleepy Old Chen over to count the newly arrived ingredients, while also bringing a small cart to load up the ground meat and vegetables.
During this time, Lin Chen disappeared for a few minutes.
When Zhao Shun and Old Chen pushed the dumpling filling materials into the kitchen, turned on the air conditioning and lights, and were about to wash hands, disinfect, and change clothes, the employee restroom door suddenly opened, and out came a...
Black girl?????
Zhao Shun and Old Chen both froze in place, rubbed their eyes in disbelief, and their gazes swept over the uniform on the black girl.
"Am I seeing things, Old Chen, isn’t that our restaurant’s uniform?"
"Yeah, I see it too."
Seeing the astonishment in their eyes, Lin appeared somewhat at a loss, her small hands tightly clutching the hem of her clothes, rubbing them, her eyes dodging, not daring to meet their gaze directly.
"All changed?"
At this moment, Lin Chen came out from the adjacent restroom, already wearing the chef’s black uniform with gold trim.
He glanced at Lin, nodded: "The smallest size is a bit big for you, but it’s good to have it loose, makes it easier to work, and wearing something too tight in the summer can be stifling."
Turning to Zhao Shun, he patted his shoulder: "Let me introduce you, this is Lin, twenty years old, two years younger than you. She’s Daniel’s sister, and after eating the sandwiches and bread you made yesterday and the day before, she became very interested in Great Xia food and wanted to try learning it."
"Later, you take her along, just teach her how to make dumplings, and see if she has any talent for cooking. If she’s decent, she might become your little helper in the future."
"?????"
Zhao Shun’s mouth opened slightly, "Her? Learn to make dumplings? Can she even handle it!"
He wasn’t so easily swayed by a few pleasantries.
It sounded like nonsense that she became interested after eating his food.
It’s not just foreigners; even many Great Xia people can’t learn how to make dumplings, let alone when they can’t even communicate, only able to demonstrate.
"Never mind if it works out or not, just don’t give her a hard time. They’re refugees from a war-torn country, with their whole family killed in bombings. President Wang Aiguo took them in to work over there, was it his uncle or cousin who came by a few days ago?"
"Uh... alright, I’m not someone with a bad temper, after all!"
Initially, Zhao Shun had a few complaints, thinking it odd someone brought in a person through the back door, but upon hearing the harsh words like war and bombings, his expression immediately softened.
Old Chen beside him looked even more touched, stepping forward to extend his rough hand to Lin.
"Hello!"
"Holy crap? Boss, look at him. What’s with this guy? Is he overflowing with paternal love or something? He’s speaking English!!"
Zhao Shun refused to be outdone and promptly reached out to greet him.
Since they couldn’t communicate with each other, Lin Chen briefly explained the situation here to Daniel, asking him to elaborate with Lin.
Anyway, both of them were off today. Daniel wasn’t in a hurry to head back and could stay here to see how Lin worked, maybe grab some brunch while he’s at it.
Upon finding out that Zhao Shun was the chef who made the bread she ate a couple of days ago, Lin looked at him with eyes full of little stars and followed him like a little shadow.
Zhao Shun was thick-skinned as always. Even without language, he could communicate the gist through gestures.
Lin often watched food videos after work. Great Xia dumplings had some reputation in the culinary land of Romantic Country, so of course, she’d had them before and viewed them a lot.
But seeing how challenging it seemed, she never dared to try making them herself, fearing what she would create wouldn’t be palatable.
While she was learning from Zhao Shun how to make dumpling dough, she didn’t forget to sneak a peek at Old Chen and Chef Lin washing and chopping vegetables nearby.
They used Chinese kitchen knives that looked cumbersome, but in their hands, they flew up and down like toys on the cutting board, creating fleeting shadows.
With each rise and fall, a piece of food was chopped to size, almost perfectly uniform in her eyes, seemingly a miraculous skill.
How was it possible for such a large knife to be so obedient?
She couldn’t even handle the smaller Western chef’s knife; her vegetables ended up uneven, sometimes nearly cutting herself.
She’d only seen such scenes on TV shows and didn’t expect the live close-up view to be even more breathtaking.
Lin Chen noticed her gaze and surreptitiously glanced up, seeing her still staring blankly at his knife.
"Interesting, this little girl possibly has culinary talent?"
Having worked in the kitchen for so long, despite mostly interacting with White and Middle Eastern people, racial differences didn’t truly affect culinary talent; you either have it or you don’t.
People without culinary talent, when watching the prepping process in the kitchen, exhibit mostly curiosity, as if watching for entertainment.
People with culinary talent unconsciously analyze the principles behind each step, exploring techniques, wondering how it’s done, if there’s another approach, etc.
In this series of analyses, the feelings expressed in their eyes are different.
At this moment, Lin was in such a state, imagining the scenes of herself chopping in her mind based on what she had just seen.
In just a fleeting moment, Lin Chen understood Lin’s state and withdrew his gaze, continuing to chop the ingredients in his hands.
He didn’t need to do anything special next, just leave some ingredients for the little girl to try her hand and see if she had a knack for knife skills.
Such a proactive learning attitude already put her ahead of 90% of people.
There wasn’t much to see on Zhao Shun’s side for now; initially, it was just the water-to-flour ratio, handled entirely by the dough mixer due to the sheer quantity, which couldn’t be kneaded by hand.
The difficulty of making dumpling skins versus baking products was worlds apart; relatively speaking, it wasn’t hard, the only technical challenge being rolling the skin.
While waiting for the dough, Lin was fully fixed on Lin Chen’s vegetable chopping process.
Many vegetable chopping methods differed from what she’d seen online, but clearly, Lin Chen’s methods were simpler and more efficient.
"If you want to learn Great Xia cuisine, knife skills and fire control are two essential basic skills."
Seeing her patience, Lin Chen didn’t mind giving a few pointers.
"Unlike Western cuisine where you can use slicers for shortcuts, Chinese chefs emphasize purely manual cutting, which should be faster and better than using tools—a feat not achievable in a short time."
"Of course, it’s not that it’s entirely forbidden. Many small and medium-sized restaurants use slicers to save time and manpower."
"However, for relatively high-end restaurants, everything must be hand-cut by the chef. Hand-cut food tastes slightly different from machine-cut, and the appearance is usually better."
As Lin Chen explained, Lin listened intently, occasionally nodding to show she remembered.
Since there wasn’t much else to do, Lin Chen casually handed her a bamboo shoot to practice cutting herself.
After watching for so long, it was time for her to learn.
These bamboo shoots were among those ordered from back home; shoots could be preserved for longer.
The local production was scarce, the taste different, so ordering more was the better choice.
But not immensely more, enough only to support this meal’s amount. Most dumpling fillings consisted of pork and other ingredients, bamboo shoot pieces making up only 40%.
For making delicious bamboo shoot pork dumplings, there’s a crucial trick—not forming the filling into balls but cooking it first.
Bamboo shoot’s tender and juicy texture gets overshadowed when enclosed in a meatball, losing its original mouthfeel and flavor.
Due to needing pre-cooked filling, the meat can’t be ground, as ground meat cooked yields an odd texture, like granular lean meat. It’s best to use hand-cut small meat pieces, interspersed with fat.
Fat can be substituted with pork belly, and for lean bits, it’s up to personal choice—shoulder, leg, or rump meat are all acceptable.
