Chapter 151 Fried Spring Rolls, Braised Pork and Bamboo Shoots with Green Rice Dumplings, Pine Flower Dumplings...

As winter fades and spring arrives, the enthusiasm for dining is surging and vibrant, with customers constantly asking when they can finally eat there.

Wen Fan happened to be in the shop: "Is the food in the shop not good these days?"

"It's delicious!" said a young woman with a smile. "But I still want to eat the 'Winter Goes, Spring Comes' meal."

She was so busy at work that she lost her sense of time and was no longer aware of the changing seasons. But when she saw the descriptions online, she suddenly felt a sense of urgency.

March, April, and May—summer will be here soon. If you miss out on a season of delicious food, you might not be able to enjoy it again until next year.

"Boss, could you do something like a seasonal limited edition? Make a promotional image with a message saying that there are only a limited number of servings available, while supplies last, just like the Tender Beef Wrap."

Wen Fan thought about it for a moment and actually thought the suggestion wasn't bad.

The store is now on the right track, but Wen's mother also said that the biggest problem is that the menu is not fixed and the promotion is not in place.

Just like the steamed vegetables, the elm seeds got a bit old in just a few days, so the shop stopped serving steamed elm seeds. But the customers didn't know that recently, there have been several more customers coming specifically for the elm seeds, which has made it hard for Mrs. Wen to explain to everyone.

Within a few days, many fans noticed the change in Wenji. Wenji, who used to just update cooking videos, has now started posting promotional pictures.

In a steaming black clay pot, tender green bamboo shoots, yellow potato chunks, and round green peas are nestled among the oily rice. Thinly sliced ​​Chinese sausages are reddish-brown on the lean parts and translucent, glistening fat on the fatty parts.

Even through the screen, you can almost smell the mouthwatering aroma of lard.

Below the image is a line of text.

[Limited-time spring offer, only 200 servings available daily, NT$28 per serving, for 20 days only. Enjoy!]

If before you only heard people say how delicious Wen Ji's "Winter to Spring" rice was, and saw what ingredients Wen Ji used, then at this moment, the visual impact of the finished product undoubtedly makes your mouth water.

[Husky: Two hundred servings! Every day! Hahaha, I'm sure I'll get to eat some!]

[Foodie: This is so clear... I probably won't be able to this week, I have to work overtime every day, but I'll definitely be able to eat it next week!]

[Chao Nan: Wow! I'll go eat at the restaurant tomorrow.]

As winter fades and spring arrives, the popularity of rice and steamed dishes continues, and Wen Fan's private kitchen offers a wide variety of dishes.

Springtime is just so delicious.

Fresh shepherd's purse, chopped finely, is mixed with meat in a 2:1 ratio to make filling. Whether used for wontons or dumplings, the flavor is incredibly delicious. Wen Fan also ingeniously uses bamboo shoots, shepherd's purse, shiitake mushrooms, pork, and shrimp as filling. The dumplings he makes are so delicious that even his own family loves them. After finishing work in the evening, Xiao Ge can even pack a box of raw dumplings to take home, eat two or three herself, and give the rest to her master.

Not long after the steamed dishes were introduced to the restaurant, Wen Fan invented a new dish called fried spring plate.

The so-called "fried spring platter" consists of wild vegetables coated in batter and deep-fried. Vegetables like shepherd's purse and dandelion, coated in batter, resemble small, crispy pancakes after frying, the aroma of the wild vegetables balancing the greasiness of the fried food. Perilla leaves, coated in batter on one side, float in the oil like tiny boats. The most surprising ingredient, however, is cucumber blossom.

Feng Huijuan planted a lot of cucumbers under the eaves of her house this year, and set up trellises a few days ago. The cucumber vines were covered with trumpet-shaped yellow cucumber flowers. But seeing the cucumber flowers, Feng Huijuan regretted it, lamenting that she had planted too many.

"I completely forgot that neither of my kids like cucumbers!"

Lou Yue hated the smell of cucumbers the most. While her mother was out delivering goods, she secretly picked a small basket of cucumber blossoms and put them in the delivery box. She even said it nicely: "I'm giving some flowers to Sister Xiao Fan."

Lou Yue thought to herself, everything in the city is good, but it seems there are just not as many flowers as in the countryside.

Starting this month, she has been able to see city people in the village every weekend.

These people didn't go to Qingtang Mountain, but instead came to the village, all for the rapeseed fields planted by the villagers.

That vast expanse of yellow rapeseed flowers, because so many people planted them, stretched out into a breathtaking field.

On the nearby hillside, a patch of grass was being hailed by some as "pink muhly grass," and there were also peach blossoms, forsythia, and cherry blossoms gradually blooming on the mountain...

The city dwellers were overjoyed.

When Wen Fan saw the small basket of cucumber blossoms that Lou Yue had given him, he didn't think about how beautiful the flowers were; instead, he thought about how they could be fried and eaten!

Cucumber blossoms, dipped in batter and deep-fried, remarkably retained their flower shape: green stems, yellow blossoms, and a tiny cucumber, no bigger than a little finger, each coated in batter. The fried blossoms were refreshingly slightly bitter, while the cucumbers were crisp inside. They weren't very juicy, but each bite offered a delightful contrast of crispness on the outside and inside. Wen Fan found creative ways to enjoy cucumber blossoms; not content with frying, she also stir-fried them, pouring hot oil over them to maximize their fresh, vegetable aroma. Wen Fan even considered stuffing them with minced meat to see if it would be suitable, but then decided the blossoms were too small and decided to wait; pumpkin blossoms would be more appropriate.

A customer in the shop exclaimed in surprise that it was "tempura," and then an elderly woman next to her shouted, "What tempura! This is called fried spring platter!"

Wen Fan priced this fried spring platter at a hefty 48 yuan. It contained all sorts of seasonal vegetables that could be fried. Alongside it were several fried rolls, with golden-brown wrappers filled with shredded bamboo shoots, potatoes, and carrots. All the vegetables were stir-fried until crispy. One bite, and you were greeted with the aroma of oil, flour, and vegetables—a complete and satisfying experience.

When the shop gets busy, Wen Fan asks his parents to adjust the menu.

"Take away anything that doesn't sell well."

Mother Wen checked the accounts and indicated that the beef offal stew could be cooked.

"Everyone's on a diet lately, so a lot of people come here to eat wild vegetables. They only order beef offal hot pot when all the wild vegetables are sold out."

However, Wen's mother guessed wrong. Many people aren't really trying to lose weight; they're clearly just looking for something new and getting tired of it.

If you don't believe me, just look at the comments section of Wenji's blog; almost everyone there is lamenting about gaining weight.

[Momo: My coach told me that wild vegetables are good and I can eat more of them, but I've been eating them for several days and I'm still gaining weight!]

Sunny: That shouldn't be the case. I've been eating wild vegetables lately and I've lost almost ten pounds. What are you eating?

[momo: Just like the dishes at Wenji Restaurant: shepherd's purse wontons, fried spring rolls, and stir-fried steamed vegetables—a meal for winter's end and spring's arrival.]

[Wangzai: ...So you ate this much in one day? There's no way this could help you lose weight!]

[Nine Transformations: Your coach said corn helps with weight loss, so you ate thirteen ears, right? Fun fact: Even the best fat-burning foods won't help you lose weight if you keep eating them!]

[Qiqi: Um, my coach told me not to eat that "winter goes and spring comes" meal, saying it's made with lard and will make you gain weight very, very much.]

[Happiness Never Stops: It really made me gain weight... After I gained five or six pounds, my coach almost scolded me to death. But I still couldn't resist going to Wen Ji for dinner that night, and then... I saw my coach there. He ate three servings by himself, haha.]

[Qingzhou: I tell myself every day not to look at Wenji anymore, and I stick to it well during the day, but at night I often feel that if I don't eat it this year, I won't be able to eat it again for a whole year! So in the end, I have to spend a lot of money to hire a delivery person to buy it. It's better to just go to the store earlier and save some money.]

[An'an: I have a feeling that after Wenji expands its stores, it will be very difficult to lose weight in the future...]

...

Wen Fan didn't know whether other people were trying to lose weight or not; all she knew was that her deskmate, Han Lulu, had been talking about losing weight a lot lately.

Wen Fan uses mugwort and glutinous rice flour to make bright green wrappers, which are then filled with stir-fried shepherd's purse with dried tofu and braised pork and bamboo shoots.

Malantou and dried tofu are not difficult dishes to make, but Wen Fan added some pine nuts to enrich the flavor. In the wrapped green rice dumplings, the aroma of pine nuts is the most suitable interpretation of the plain filling.

Wen Fan made the "Yan Du Xian" (a Sichuan dish) once at her private kitchen, not intending to sell it in the restaurant. However, when making qingtuan (sweet green rice dumplings), she specially prepared a pot of "Yan Du Xian" filling, including salted pork, bamboo shoots, green peas, and a little bit of chopped dried tofu. She then wrapped it in the qingtuan and steamed it.

Locals don't traditionally eat qingtuan (green glutinous rice dumplings), but with the development of information technology in recent years, many stalls selling qingtuan have appeared on the streets. However, many stalls make sweet qingtuan with fillings like red bean paste, taro paste, egg yolk, and pork floss, while Wen Fan's qingtuan are all savory.

This stuff takes a lot of time, so Wen Fan didn't make too much; he only made a few batches and distributed them to his employees and classmates.

Han Lulu chewed on the salted meat, muttering to herself like a mantra: "I need to lose weight... This salted meat is so delicious... I need to lose weight... Green beans are delicious too... If I don't lose weight soon, I'm doomed... The bamboo shoots are so fresh..."

Wen Fan:......

Han Lulu sinfully finished eating four green rice dumplings, her hands sticky, so she took out a wet wipe to wipe them.

Wen Fan: "...Don't wipe it yet, I brought something else."

Han Lulu: ……

She looked at Wen Fan with a mixture of grief and anticipation, leaving Wen Fan speechless.

"Actually, you don't need to lose weight, you're not fat."

Han Lulu is so tall, if she were also thin, wouldn't she look like a skinny stick? How could that be attractive?

Looking at Wen Fan's well-proportioned figure, Han Lulu said helplessly, "...I know, but I'm just not evenly proportioned."

She has thick legs, and although her weight is not excessive, she still looks fat.

Wen Fan shook his head and opened his lunchbox: "Pine flower dumplings."

There was a yellow, sticky rice cake at the bottom of the lunchbox.

Wen Fan: "There was too little pine pollen, so I only made about twenty. I'll give you one."

This time, it was a relative from Song Hui's family who heard that she had broken her bone and sent her pine pollen from Northeast China, saying that it was good for her health.

Song Hui kept some for herself and gave a few taels to Wen's mother.

Wen's mother didn't know this stuff was expensive. When she got back and searched for prices, she found out that pine pollen cost several hundred yuan per kilogram, and there was no guarantee that she could buy the real thing.

Wen's mother hurriedly sent Song Hui a few more pieces of salted meat and sausages made by Wen Fan, and then worried about how to eat the pine pollen.

Wen Fan said he could make pine flower dumplings.

"White sugar, black sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, a little lard, and a layer of pine pollen on the outside."

Han Lulu took a bite, and the sweet syrup almost oozed out from the opening. Wen Fan had brought it from the shop, and even after such a long journey, the inside hadn't gotten cold. The warm syrup flowed into her mouth, and the slightly bitter layer of pine pollen on the outside didn't detract from the deliciousness of the dumpling. The chewy pastry could be stretched quite a bit while eating. The lard, white sugar, and black sesame filling was smooth and oily, almost like the filling for glutinous rice balls, but thanks to the pine pollen, it had a slightly fresher taste than glutinous rice balls.

As Han Lulu listened to Wen Fan talk about the ingredients, her heart sank more than halfway, but she still stubbornly insisted on sticking her tongue.

"...I'll start dieting after I finish this."

-----------------------

Author's Note: I'm having some writer's block, so I'll have to apologize for the missed update.