Free Web NovelChapter 532: Chapter 444: Steamed Dumplings Fresh Out of the Steamer, Team Spirit
"Could it be someone here for an interview?"
A bold idea suddenly flashed through Zhao Shun’s mind.
It’s the peak of the tourism season now, so logically, it should also be the busiest time for chefs.
Although foreigners tend to have a more laid-back societal atmosphere, it might not fit well with the way locals think.
It can’t just be good luck running into a fellow professional on vacation, can it?
The commotion on this side also caught the attention of Lin Chen and Old Chen.
Old Chen wasn’t really interested in this kind of gossip; he couldn’t understand the gibberish anyway, and just wanted to focus on his work.
On the other hand, from Lin Chen’s angle, he just happened to see the young man in the crowd showing off his dumplings.
"Interesting."
A subtle smile curved at the corner of his mouth. He stayed silent and wanted to see how things would develop further.
These experience activities are inherently like this. Most people just play around for the novelty, but surely some people would want to show off with their skills.
There’s no avoiding such things from happening, after all, the guy didn’t do anything, just wrapped a dumpling.
"Beep beep beep—"
The timer rang.
He swiftly uncovered the steamer lid, and a large cloud of hot steam billowed up.
Steam continuously rose through the gauze at the bottom of the steamer, carrying a strong dumpling aroma.
Unlike the rich wheat smell of steamed buns, dumpling wrappers made of unleavened dough lack that fermented wheat aroma. Instead, the scents of the meat and vegetables inside become more pronounced.
The cooked dumplings were clear and translucent, with their fillings visible through the half-transparent wrapper.
The moon-shaped dumplings’ stuffing looked the most normal, with a faint yellow tinged meat, which was the pork and bamboo shoot filling.
The willow leaf dumplings had relatively thicker wrappers due to the method used; only a hint of brown mushroom and bamboo shoot stuffing was visible from the side.
The plump dumplings were the most noticeable, with the faint pink granules exposing the hidden shrimp filling, instantly whetting one’s appetite.
Lin Chen steamed two baskets of each kind, each basket containing over thirty dumplings, totaling nearly two hundred.
After transferring the six freshly steamed baskets of dumplings, he immediately started steaming six more baskets of raw dumplings.
After replacing the steamer lid for insulation, he didn’t rush to serve but instead lifted the wooden lid of a nearby skillet, examining the bottom of the row of dumplings.
Seeing a slight browning at the bottom, he grabbed a large teapot and poured in the rich and slightly yellow bone broth.
"Sizzle—"
The hot oil sizzled as soon as it met the broth, releasing waves of delightful sounds, with a large cloud of white steam rising, spreading a mouthwatering aroma all around.
This was the umami scent formed from the evaporated broth, mixing with the dough’s fragrance and the meaty-vegetable aroma, enhanced by the distinctive scent of canola oil, making it much more aromatic than the steamed dumplings.
Old Chen instinctively sniffed a few times, smacking his lips, swallowing the overflowing saliva back down.
Turning around, he took the six-tier steamer Lin Chen handed out from the window and set it on the nearby table, where an eager Elsa quickly lifted the steamer lid to take a deep breath.
"Ha~"
"Smells amazing!"
Her mom often made fried dumplings for her to take to school as lunch, so she practically grew up on dumplings.
Since she started working, she hadn’t had dumplings again, just the employee meals provided by the restaurant, which were mostly Western food.
She craved them so much when Lin Chen made potstickers before, but manpower was limited then, not even enough for the customers, let alone making staff meals.
Only after they made steamed buns later did she slightly curb her craving.
When she heard they’d be having steamed and fried dumplings for breakfast during her shift, the craving bug hidden in her heart was once again fully awakened.
She was very familiar with fried dumplings, but it was her first time seeing steamed dumplings.
The Sakura People favor two methods of cooking dumplings—frying and deep-frying.
Steamers only appear in convenience stores, and they’re used only to steam buns, which are machine-made frozen buns.
It’s not just the Sakura People; the situation is the same in Kimchi Country. The two countries seem to have conveniently skipped over learning many things in the long river of history.
Everyone was busy learning to wrap dumplings earlier, completely forgetting about breakfast.
Now, smelling the aroma of freshly steamed dumplings, she immediately recalled the flavor of the buns she had before, and her mouth started watering uncontrollably.
It wasn’t just Elsa; even Nicole and Su, who were helping with order and preparing for packing, had their eyes fixed intensely on the steamer.
With the unending steam no longer rising, once the accumulated vapors dispersed, the true form of the dumplings finally revealed itself.
Elsa first arranged the six-tier steamer by different flavors, placing them spread out on the tabletop, then picked up the order log to scan the six orders in front of her.
The guests were evidently prepared, ordering three to five steamed dumplings of each flavor and six to ten fried dumplings, with each person’s total purchase amounting to no less than thirty dumplings.
"Chef! Bad news!"
She hurried to the window, raising the register book in her hand.
"The orders for fried dumplings are even more than expected... huh?"
Before she could finish her sentence, her ear twitched slightly, suddenly hearing the sizzling sound of another frying pan nearby.
Standing on her tiptoes, she leaned over the windowsill towards the direction of the sound, and surprisingly saw another frying pan!
This pan was completely blocked by the towering steamer and hidden inside the van wall, making it invisible from the outside.
When did the food truck’s stove get extended?
"More than expected how? More?"
Lin Chen nodded at her with a smile, "Don’t worry, I have two frying pans."
"Oh... oh, alright then, there’s no problem."
Elsa scratched her head in confusion, unable to figure out when the chef had secretly added another stove to the food truck.
No wonder they had been cooking indoors these days, it must have been done when no one was paying attention!
Watching Elsa tilt her little head and walk away, Lin Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Earlier, when leaving half a pot for customers to DIY, he felt the fried dumplings might be overwhelming, and since no one had come into the food truck today, he used one of the two Food Truck Upgrade Cards he’d saved to add a new stove.
With two fry pans going simultaneously, excluding the DIY portion from customers, there’s enough for one and a half pots, at least over 70 dumplings, definitely enough for six customers per round.
These foreigners have no concept of how filling dumplings are, following Nicole’s recommended numbers to buy, averaging thirty for men, and twenty for women.
This takes into account the larger appetite due to Westerners’ larger physiques. If it was someone with a smaller frame, this recommended amount could be reduced further.
Smelling the fragrance of dumplings, the six customers who had been surrounding for a while started to swallow eagerly.
"Can we eat this now?"
"Hurry up, hurry up, where are my dumplings? I think it’s five of each kind!"
The six guests rubbed their hands together, their heads pushing together, wishing they could dive right into the steamer.
Dumplings were originally quite unfamiliar to them, only hearing the name or seeing them on TV.
Though some supermarkets sell frozen dumplings and wontons, most buyers are Asians, making these foods indeed unfamiliar to ordinary white folks.
They bought so many purely out of trust in Lin Chen’s reputation.
Everyone thinks this Great Xia chef makes delicious food, which means his food accommodates Western tastes, buying with eyes closed surely won’t go wrong.
"Please wait a moment, everyone, we’ll package them for you right now."
Elsa and Su immediately picked up the packaging boxes, starting to separate and package the steamed dumplings according to the quantities in the register book.
Six steamers had nearly two hundred dumplings in total, after packaging the first batch purchased by the customers, half were left.
If left there, the dumplings might get cold and affect the taste, so they simply packaged the second batch orders too, placing them according to sequence numbers beside each customer.
"So fast?"
"Steaming’s already done? I thought you do it one batch at a time, didn’t expect two batches done at once."
"What about fried dumplings? We haven’t even finished wrapping ours, wouldn’t we miss the chance to fry?"
"We won’t, please rest assured everyone, your orders for fried dumplings will be fried together with the ones you wrapped yourselves, the extra already fried dumplings will be given priority to those not participating in the wrapping experience."
Elsa placed the last bag down, simply explained, and quickly ran back to the steamer.
There were still ten steamed dumplings left in the steamer, looking like four to five of each flavor.
Selling directly to the third batch of customers may work, but it might cause dissatisfaction among those who didn’t get any.
She exchanged glances with Su, both seeing the same smile in each other’s eyes.
"Since they’re sitting anyway, how about we just consume them internally as employees?"
"I think so too, just right since I haven’t had breakfast yet."
The two agreed instantly, each taking a set of chopsticks, taking all the leftover steamed dumplings, and then moving the empty steamer to Old Chen’s table beside them.
Elsa, very observant, separated six dumplings and handed them to Old Chen, gesturing to eat.
Compared to these back-kitchen employees working hard wrapping dumplings, their work as servers was quite easy, and of course, food was prioritized to those doing heavy labor.
Su just picked up a dumpling to eat but noticed her actions, hesitated by staring at the dumpling momentarily, then silently put it down, also took out six dumplings and handed them over to Zhao Shun.
Only four dumplings were left, just enough for the two of them to share.
They exchanged smiles and neither moved, with Su taking them to Dais at the front desk.
After all, it only takes five to six minutes to steam a batch, it’s no big deal to wait for the next round of dumplings to enjoy, plenty of chances ahead.
