Free Web NovelChapter 528: Chapter 440: Making Dumplings Isn’t Hard, But an Ugly One Is Embarrassing
His awkward smile fell into Lin’s eyes, yet it seemed so friendly and warm.
As if a beam of light fell from the ceiling, shining on Zhao Shun, making his whole image look towering.
Lin breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in response: "Okay, chef!"
Without further hesitation, she took a deep breath, her aching right hand exerting strength once again, striving to overcome the swollen feeling, and her forearm became obedient again.
Quickly finishing the last bamboo shoot, she struggled to lift the heavy metal basin and walked to Zhao Shun’s side.
"Put it there."
Zhao Shun casually pointed to an empty spot on the table in front of him. Although Lin didn’t understand, she could grasp his meaning.
She leaned slightly forward, just about to reach out, when Zhao Shun held her back.
"You can’t do it like this! When lifting heavy objects, never let them stay away from your body, or you’ll risk a herniated disc in no time. At worst, you’ll be bedridden for two to three months, at worst, paralyzed for life!"
Knowing she couldn’t understand, Zhao Shun forcefully placed the basin on the table, then picked it up himself, demonstrating a forward-leaning posture, and pretended to clutch his waist in pain, knocking it a few times.
After completing this series of actions, he then slid the basin over, pushing it to an empty spot near Old Chen, convenient for him to mix the fillings later.
Lin blinked, a look of sudden realization in her eyes, and hurriedly clasped her hands together, shaking them slightly in thanks.
She used to cook in the dormitory, with the heaviest item at most being the frying pan, never having thought about this much.
When she bent over earlier, she faintly sensed some strain in her lower back. Without Zhao Shun’s reminder, she probably would never have realized the hidden danger.
"Just remember, and now let me teach you how to make dumplings."
Zhao Shun, with his thick skin, seeing she could understand his meaning, continued speaking in Chinese, occasionally throwing in a few English words, regardless of her comprehension.
Lin imitated his actions, picking up a small piece of dough, clumsily rolling it with a rolling pin until she finally made an irregular oval-shaped dough.
In contrast, Zhao Shun’s dough was very round, like it was cut out with a mold.
She innocently pinched the dumpling wrapper in her hand, clearly not understanding where she went wrong.
"The pressure of each roll should be about the same, and the angle of the dough movement should be consistent, ensuring every direction is evenly rolled."
Zhao Shun patiently slowed down and demonstrated each step in detail.
After the dough turned twice, it transformed into a thin, round dumpling wrapper.
Lin felt she completely understood now, but when it came to actually doing it, she was unsure if she could replicate it perfectly.
Letting her try several times to roll the dumpling wrapper on her own, seeing that the shape started to look somewhat decent, Zhao Shun began teaching how to wrap the dumplings.
"There are many ways to fold dumplings; there’s the crescent, the ingot, the willow leaf, the wheat spike..."
Anyway, since Xiao Hei couldn’t understand, he sped up his explanation but kept his actions slow.
"Pinching pleats is quite common; put a spoonful of filling in the center, use a bit of water on the edges to make it easier to stick together. Then, slightly hollow out your palm, letting the edges of the wrapper naturally lift."
"With the other hand, use your thumb and index finger to pinch one edge, applying pressure to make a pointed corner, then use your index finger to pinch from the far side towards you. After repeating this five or six times, the dumpling will naturally form into a crescent shape..."
He was now teaching the basic method of wrapping crescent dumplings, not too difficult. One could learn just by closely watching the finger movements.
But, of course, just because your eyes know how doesn’t mean your hands will, which is the hidden difficulty.
Lin, somewhat understanding, followed Zhao Shun’s actions, first pinching out a corner at the edge, then extending her index finger, maneuvering it back and forth on the outer dough as if searching for the right distance.
Once the first corner was pinched out, the two pieces of dough in the center naturally formed an angle. By gently guiding the outer dough back, squeezing out a small arc so that it overlaps with the inner dough edges, and pressing firmly, the first pleat was formed.
Repeating until the last corner was pinched, it was completed.
Lin dazedly looked at the slightly crooked crescent dumpling in her palm, and a flash of happiness appeared in her eyes.
"I did it!"
Compared to the irregular dumpling wrapper she rolled earlier, this dumpling’s shape looked nearly eighty percent similar to the one Zhao Shun wrapped.
Zhao Shun didn’t expect this little black girl to have a bit of talent. Earlier, watching her roll the wrapper, he thought it was going to be a disaster, but her dumpling wrapping was quite decent.
He gave a thumbs up in praise, then pointed to a pile of scattered dough pieces in front, signaling her to practice rolling them.
Not only that, Zhao Shun called out loudly.
"Boss! Take a look at the dumpling this little black girl made, it’s something!"
Lin Chen instinctively looked up, and when he saw the dumpling with a slightly crooked edge in his palm, he glanced at Lin in surprise.
His action also caught the attention of others. Dais and a few others were busy sealing the dumplings’ edges. Seeing the little black girl manage it so well on her first try, a fiery determination ignited in their eyes.
"I cook at home, so how could a mere dumpling stump me!"
"How do you actually fold this dumpling wrapper? When I watched, I seemed to understand, but when pinching it myself, I can’t find the feeling at all?"
A group of women each fussed over their dumplings. Only Elsa quickly wrapped five or six dumplings and started rolling the next batch of wrappers.
Although she couldn’t roll several dumpling wrappers at once like Lin Chen and Zhao Shun, she could roll them one by one.
From the initial slight oval to gradually round, the visible rapid progress also caught Lin Chen’s attention.
"Have you made dumplings at home before?"
"Yes, chef, but it was many years ago, probably when I was in junior high? Or high school? Can’t really remember the exact time, anyway my mom would sometimes make dumplings at home, but she used store-bought dumpling skins."
"I tried a few times back then, purely for fun, wrapped about a dozen and ran away with a laugh, couldn’t sit still."
Lin Chen nodded with a smile. Elsa’s words reminded him that every time his mom made dumplings or buns when he was young, he would also join in for fun, but got bored in less than ten minutes and slipped away to wait to eat dumplings.
Aside from Elsa, the rest of the girls’ dumplings were all twisted and uneven, even the distance between the folds varied greatly.
If Zhao Shun’s dumplings are considered a hundred points, Lin could probably score eighty, Elsa is about the same, but the others are failing.
"So lively?"
Nagishiro Sho and Marchello walked in from the doorway, their faces visibly showing fatigue and exhaustion, their eye sockets filled with red blood vessels.
Seeing so many people crowded in the back kitchen, their eyes lit up, forcing themselves to come over to see what was being made.
"Good morning you two chefs... Whoa? Did you go thieving in the middle of the night?"
Lin Chen instinctively raised his hand to greet the two, startled by their appearance.
Upon hearing the "Whoa," the girls turned around, and then couldn’t help but laugh quietly.
Although Lucas had given them examples during class, it was invented on the spot, so encountering it in real life felt much stronger.
Lin Chen’s "Whoa" truly hit their funny bone.
Initially, they could twitch their mouths and hold back the laughter, but after exchanging confirming looks and expressions, one by one couldn’t hold it, covering their mouths with their arms and shoulders shaking with laughter.
Nagishiro Sho and Marchello were too tired to notice the girls’ small movements, their attention entirely focused on the row of dumplings in front of Lin Chen.
"Having dumplings this morning?"
Nagishiro Sho breathed a sigh of relief; he also knows how to make dumplings, so he doesn’t need to learn, just wait to eat.
"Then I’ll go back and sleep a while more, please save me a box of dumplings! Thanks!"
After saying this, he walked away without turning back.
Marchello opened his mouth, showing a look of envy.
He really doesn’t know how to make dumplings!
If he missed this opportunity, it would be quite troublesome to find someone to teach him next time.
"Chef, what’s up with you two last night, group insomnia?"
"Not insomnia, kept awake by the noise!"
Marchello glanced at Lin Chen with resentment, pointed outside: "The pile of stoves at the door was your doing, right? Construction in the middle of the night!!"
"Huh??"
Lin Chen froze, then seemed to remember something, suddenly realizing.
The stove building process itself wouldn’t make much noise, at most the sound of mixing cement and stacking bricks, mainly the dining area next door needed frames and roofing, using some machines.
Hearing Marchello’s complaint made him realize the two chefs weren’t staying at hotels, sleeping in the car every night.
This is equivalent to sleeping next to the construction site, sleeping well is indeed strange.
"Then why don’t you park the car at the hotel back door’s parking lot? It must be quiet there."
Marchello rolled his eyes: "If it was before sleep, I would definitely think so."
"But those cursed guys started working at God knows what time in the early morning, I was sleeping groggily, suddenly heard all sorts of electric saw, hammering, and more sounds from outside."
"Do you know the feeling of being woken up halfway by noise? The brain simply can’t work, the body doesn’t want to move, just silently praying for them to finish soon!"
"......"
Lin Chen nodded sympathetically, quite fitting the lazy nature typical of foreigners.
Rather pray for luck than get up themselves.
"Then chef, quickly learn and go sleep, we’ll save you one too."
Marchello nodded hard, that’s exactly what he planned.
With his years of kitchen experience, a few-minute learning of dumpling-making would suffice.
Although one could learn through online videos, it’s certainly not as impressive as making them in person.
"Get started, show me all your dumpling-making techniques!"
"Be quick!"
