Chapter 15 Small Wontons and Scallion Pancakes
By the time Su Yingxue finished dealing with the group of reporters, it was already past 2 PM. If they hadn't been about to miss their high-speed train, they could have talked for much longer.
Watching Shen Yu gently instructing her fans, and He Qianyu patiently taking photos with them, Xu Qingqing stood beside her and asked curiously, "Sister, you used to be a celebrity. Why did you decide to do this?"
"Fool, you think being a celebrity is great! You can't even go shopping freely, and you can't even post pictures of your relationships publicly. You can't even eat freely."
"I think it's great! The salary is high too." Xu Qingqing looked at Shen Yu, "And I can wear pretty dresses every day."
Su Yingxue looked into the distance, pointed to a bright white dot on a distant mountain, and said to Xu Qingqing, "Look, what's that?"
Fireflies? Birds? What are those?
Su Yingxue turned her phone up to the highest zoom level and zoomed in little by little to show Xu Qingqing.
The trees were covered with a dense mass of people taking photos for others.
The Chang'an Banquet has been generating a lot of buzz lately, with countless leaked photos and videos appearing online. All thanks to these paparazzi.
"No way?" Xu Qingqing was shocked.
Su Yingxue patted Xu Qingqing on the shoulder, "I'm tired today, so let's keep it simple tonight. How about we have wontons with some delicious scallion pancakes?"
Around 3 PM, dark clouds suddenly gathered, and before long, the rain began to fall, a light drizzle. It started as a light drizzle, then suddenly intensified. Fortunately, the production team was prepared and started calling everyone to pack up the equipment. Xu Guoqing was also called over to help. Only Su Yingxue and Xu Qingqing remained in the kitchen.
As the rain intensified, the crew had to temporarily halt outdoor filming and move indoors. Director Ye Lu was visibly anxious due to Mei Ruoguo's poor performance and Shen Yu's repeated failures to get the shot right, creating a tense atmosphere on set. However, away from the noise and cameras, the small kitchen presented a different, peaceful and warm scene.
Su Yingxue, wearing a simple floral apron with sleeves rolled up to her elbows, stood in front of the makeshift kitchen counter, kneading dough with deft movements, her fingertips making a soft "shush" sound as they touched the flour. Outside, raindrops pattered against the tin roof, a rapid, rhythmic beat like a natural percussion piece, while a faint smile played on her lips, as if the sound of the rain and the clatter of pots and pans were the true rhythm of life.
She took out the fresh ground pork she had prepared the day before from the refrigerator. The ratio of fat to lean meat was about 3:7, so that the wonton filling would be fragrant, smooth, and not dry when cooked. She then picked a few tender scallions from the small bamboo basket next to her, carefully removed the roots, leaving only the tender green parts, and finely chopped them into scallion flowers, setting them aside for later use.
Xu Qingqing just pushed the door open and came in, holding a bottle of hot ginger tea. She handed it to Su Yingxue and said, "Sister Su, have something hot to drink. It's raining heavily outside. You've been busy here all day. Don't catch a cold."
Su Yingxue took the tea with a smile, saying, "Thank you, Qingqing. You're so thoughtful."
Xu Qingqing leaned against the kitchen door frame, watching Su Yingxue skillfully add seasonings to the minced meat, and asked curiously, "Sister, you used to be a big star, how come you're now content to stay in the kitchen kneading dough and preparing fillings? I really don't understand."
Su Yingxue's hands didn't stop moving as she stirred the minced meat, and she replied with a smile, "Silly girl." She glanced at the busy and noisy filming area outside the window and said softly, "Here, at least I can make everyone happy with their food, which is a kind of sense of value, I guess."
Su Yingxue smiled gently, her hands moving non-stop as she added a spoonful of light soy sauce, a little cooking wine, white pepper powder, salt, and egg white to the minced meat, stirring slowly in one direction until well mixed.
Making wonton wrappers wasn't difficult; there were still some dumpling wrappers left from lunch. Su Yingxue simply rolled them out thinly and used them to wrap wontons.
Xu Qingqing leaned closer to watch her wrap wontons: "Hey, Sister Su, your wontons have thin wrappers and lots of filling. How do you wrap them? Teach me! I love wontons. Every time I wrap them, they look like dumplings, and I don't even want to eat them myself."
Su Yingxue couldn't help but chuckle. She picked up a wonton wrapper and demonstrated as she spoke: "Look, take a wrapper, put in a suitable amount of filling, don't be greedy, or it will easily break. Then, dip one corner of the wrapper in water, fold it in half, pinch the edges tightly, and then pinch the two corners together, like this—and the ingot wonton is done."
Xu Qingqing tried to make one, but put too much filling in and the skin cracked. He laughed awkwardly, "Well, my hands can't keep up with my brain. Sister Su is much better."
Su Yingxue smiled and shook her head, continuing her work. She deftly arranged the wrapped wontons one by one on the tray, neatly arranged like a fleet of small boats waiting to set sail.
Then, she took out a large bowl, poured in all-purpose flour, and slowly added warm water while stirring with chopsticks until a soft, non-sticky dough formed. She sprinkled in a little salt, kneaded until the dough was smooth, covered it with a damp cloth, and let it rest for 30 minutes.
While the dough was resting, she began making scallion oil pastry—the soul of scallion pancakes.
She took a small bowl, poured in some flour, added a spoonful of salt and a little five-spice powder, then heated a pot of oil—a generous amount—until it just started to smoke. After letting it cool slightly, she poured the hot oil over the flour with a "whoosh," stirring rapidly as she poured to create a thick, oily paste. Next, she added finely chopped scallions, instantly filling the air with aroma. The scallion oil pastry was now complete.
Xu Qingqing hadn't left yet, and now she came over again, sniffing curiously: "Wow, it smells so good, sis, your scallion pancakes must be especially delicious."
Su Yingxue smiled and nodded: "You'll know once you try it. The key is the scallion oil. The oil needs to be hot, but not too hot, and the scallions must be chopped finely so that the aroma can penetrate."
After the dough had rested, Su Yingxue took it out, kneaded it well, and divided it into several small portions. She took one portion, rolled it into a thin rectangle, evenly brushed it with a layer of scallion oil, sprinkled some chopped scallions on top, and then rolled it up from one end into a cylindrical shape. She pinched the two ends tightly, flattened it, and rolled it out again, and a scallion pancake with distinct layers was born.
She neatly arranged several dough pieces in a frying pan, which already had a little oil in it, and slowly cooked them over medium-low heat. With a gentle flip of the spatula, the dough pieces gradually turned golden brown and crispy, releasing a fragrant aroma of scallions that filled the entire small kitchen.
By this time, the wontons in the pot were almost cooked. Once the water boiled, add the wontons, adding water two or three times. When they floated to the surface and became plump and translucent, they were ready to be scooped out and placed in a prepared soup bowl. The clear broth was made with pork bone stock, seaweed, dried shrimp, chopped green onions, salt, and pepper, with a few drops of sesame oil. The broth was clear and flavorful, the wontons were white and tender like jade, and sprinkled with bright green green onions—it looked incredibly appetizing.
Su Yingxue picked up a bowl of steaming wontons, gently blew on it, and the aroma was irresistible. She looked out the window; although the rain was heavy, the lights in the film studio were still bright, and she could faintly hear the director's shouts and the sound of the camera turning.
The director's voice suddenly came from afar.
"Can I take pictures? If not, then leave!"
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