Free Web NovelChapter 544: Chapter 456: A Mother’s Flavor, Undisputed First Place
The skin of the chive dumpling seems a bit thin to the point of being translucent, yet it still has a certain thickness. When you eat it, you can clearly feel the solidity and toughness of the dough.
The almost oil-free outer layer is not very crispy. It has a distinct wheat aroma that isn’t overshadowed by oil.
The soft, juicy chive filling gushes out as you bite into it, fresh and sweet. Combined with the tender texture of the egg, the overall flavor is prominently fresh, with the taste of the ingredients taking center stage rather than excessive seasoning.
Most importantly, the finely mixed vermicelli inside is completely tasteless, seemingly added just to contribute to the texture, making the chive dumpling fuller and more substantial.
"Do you know why we add these rice noodles inside?"
Lin Chen quickly polished off half of the chive dumpling, smiling as he looked into her eyes.
Lin was holding the chive dumpling in both hands and munching on it. Hearing this question, she was taken aback at first, then her brain started whirling, recalling the history of chive dumplings she had heard before.
Poverty, hunger...
These two keywords flashed repeatedly in her mind. Connecting it to her childhood experiences, she quickly grasped the feeling and confidently replied.
"To increase satiety!"
"Very good."
Lin Chen nodded in approval, patted her thin shoulder, then turned his head and said in a loud voice.
"Lin, a total time of twenty-three minutes, twelve pieces made, no issues with taste or appearance, passed!"
After saying that, he turned his gaze back, "Aren’t you going to let your brother try some?"
"Can I?" Lin’s dark pupils sparkled with noticeable anticipation.
Upon receiving affirmation, she immediately held up the plate and ran a few steps towards Daniel, grinning boastfully.
"Haha, I passed!"
"Try it quickly!"
The smile never left Daniel’s face, and he kept nodding. He was so excited that he couldn’t form a complete sentence, quickly grabbing a palm-sized chive dumpling and stuffing it into his mouth, not minding the heat.
"Ha ah~"
He tilted his head back, exhaling the heat.
Fortunately, the juice inside the chive dumpling wasn’t too much, and there wasn’t much oil. Plus, the vermicelli absorbed the juice, making it just mildly hot inside.
"Delicious!"
"So tasty!"
Daniel tore into the chive dumpling with big bites, not minding the green juice staining the corners of his mouth, wishing he could shove the entire thing into his mouth in one go.
A faint aroma of flour filled his mouth, the fragrant sweet scent of the chive didn’t overpower the dish but harmonized perfectly with the dough and egg.
Though the overall taste wasn’t stunning, it reminded him of his mother’s cooking.
Before even finishing what was in his mouth, he grabbed a second chive dumpling to stuff into his mouth, pressing harder with each bite.
Even when he couldn’t push it in anymore, he kept poking at it desperately.
He poked until the chive dumpling went completely out of shape, breaking apart, with filling and juice dripping down his hand – he didn’t even notice.
"Brother?!"
"What are you doing?!!"
Lin panicked. She had never seen her brother like this before. Her instinct was to put the plate down, but there was no table nearby.
As she fretted, Daniel suddenly stopped his actions, and two tears trickled silently from the corners of his eyes.
Seeing her brother’s crestfallen look, Lin seemed to be infected by the emotion hidden within him, her eyes gradually moistening.
"It’s, it’s okay."
Daniel swallowed the food with difficulty, turned his head and waved his hand, speaking indistinctly.
"It’s just... I miss mom a bit."
Lin trembled all over as if a terrifying memory had surfaced. Her little face turned pale instantly, about to fall back but was caught firmly by Dais.
"Alright, alright, it’s okay now. It’s safe here."
Dais didn’t ask anything; she kept soothing the back of Lin’s head and back. Her gentle words seemed to hold a unique magic for the siblings, calming their agitated emotions.
This unexpected situation drew everyone’s attention, faces filled with confusion as if they couldn’t understand why eating a dumpling could lead to tears.
Is it that delicious?
Lin Chen observed them for a while. Seeing that Dais had managed the situation, he decided not to go over.
He wasn’t good at comforting people, so he left this kind of thing to women.
He glanced at his phone and addressed the crowd in a loud voice.
"It’s been twenty-eight minutes already. With so many experienced chefs present, not even one can match a novice with only one day of work experience?!"
"What?!"
"This guy only has one day’s work experience??"
"No way! Absolutely impossible!"
"Could it be that she did the same job yesterday? If that’s the case, it would explain why she’s so fast."
"I’ll be the second, just wait and see!!"
Lin Chen’s requirement was simple: everyone had to make at least four chive dumplings, and there was no time limit.
No limit, but everyone knew the later they finished, the higher the chances of elimination. They all diverted their attention from the commotion, focusing intently on the ingredients in front of them.
After a few more minutes.
Finally.
A chubby little guy shouted a few times and cheerfully carried a plate of chive dumplings to Lin Chen.
Lin Chen glanced at the time and shook his head.
"Thirty-five minutes, too slow."
With the dough already prepared in advance, taking more than half an hour to make just four chive dumplings was simply too absurd.
When Zhao Shun demonstrated earlier, he skipped the step of frying the eggs, but including the frying time, it took only about ten minutes in total.
Even if the time for frying the eggs was added, the overall time would not exceed thirteen minutes.
This is just the time taken for a small quantity; if mass-produced, the speed would further improve.
Though dissatisfied, he still cut a piece to taste. Fortunately, the flavor was okay, almost indistinguishable from what Zhao Shun made.
This indicated that the chubby guy’s basic skills were still up to par; he could replicate the same flavor after just a few bites. However, his ability to learn new things remained to be observed.
His requirements for this batch of employees to be recruited were actually not high, mainly to assist in the kitchen.
That is, to help process ingredients or wrap dumplings or buns, focusing on the hard and tiring work, and if they performed well, they could help make some dishes.
As long as the basic skills were up to standard, other skills were just a bonus.
With the chubby guy’s completion, the other chefs became increasingly nervous, intensifying their efforts to shorten the cooking time.
Before long, everyone had completed the making of chive dumplings.
Lin Chen only took a simple bite from each person and then asked them to serve the remainder to the waitstaff.
These newly arrived waitstaff had never eaten this kind of food and could be regarded as new customers.
Having worked in various restaurants, their opinions also held considerable weight as a reference.
Lured by the aroma lingering in the air, the crowd wasted no time and quickly devoured the chive dumplings, which were cut into small pieces.
"What a peculiar taste, what is this green plant? But it’s quite delicious."
"There is a very special smell; it tastes sweet and is quite nice, very refreshing."
"I thought all Great Xia food was very greasy and heavy-tasting, but surprisingly, there’s such a light one."
"This big dumpling is actually vegetarian, fantastic! I bet vegetarians would love this flavor!"
"The preparation process doesn’t look that difficult, but I don’t know how the dough is made."
"Do you think it would taste good if this filling were made into a pie?"
While the waitstaff engaged in heated discussions, Elsa, Nicole, Helena, and Lucinda walked over from the hotel. Seeing the crowd gathered here, they weren’t too surprised, evidently aware of Dais’ interviews in the morning.
At the same time, Su appeared from another direction, accompanied by her boyfriend, looking as if he hadn’t fully woken up.
Since finding out that Su was working here, he had changed his usual routine to go to bed early and rise early.
With a girlfriend already looking good in appearance and figure, and wearing that uniform, he feared countless men would hit on her every day.
He felt the need to keep an eye on her!
Although not very interested in the food sold here, he insisted on coming to accompany his girlfriend every day.
Mainly because family members of employees get a half-price discount, it’s a waste not to eat~
"Huh? Why are there so many people today?"
Seeing the large number of uniformed figures gathered in front of the food cart, he thought he was still sleepy and rubbed his eyes quickly.
"You’re not seeing things wrong. Today is the day for new hires to be interviewed, but it’s a bit too early, isn’t it?"
As they got closer, the faint aroma in the air became more intense.
"Flour! I smell the scent of flour!"
"Darling, what delicious food are you selling for breakfast today?"
Su shook her head: "I don’t know either, but we’ll find out once we get there."
The two quickened their pace and soon arrived at the food cart.
Sergy was initially curious about the food but was instantly distracted by the row of long, fair legs he noticed at first glance.
Although the uniforms of the waitstaff were not revealing, they were very form-fitting, enhancing the women’s natural charm.
The skirt length was that of a typical short skirt, with another pleated skirt style besides the set.
Though not revealing, the visual impact of a dozen beautiful legs gathered together was significant.
Not just him, even Su was drawn to this enticing scene, stealing several glances.
Then, as if realizing something, she reached out and gave Sergy a hard smack on the back of the head.
"Smack!"
"Enjoying the view, huh?"
"Ouch... No, no, not at all. I just noticed an Asian face in the crowd, so I looked a few more times."
Sergy, holding his head, pointed in a certain direction among the crowd: "Say, isn’t that person just like your chef, also from Great Xia? The facial features seem a bit similar."
"It probably is, right?"
Reminded by him, Su seemed to recall something and also looked in that direction.
"I heard there was a Great Xia person among the job applicants. Hey, they’re quite good-looking?"
