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When Du Heng was making dumplings, everyone followed suit. After Du Heng finished, everyone spread out their hands.
Unlike the cute big-bellied dumplings he made, the dumplings in Jing Nan's hand were like a semicircle. He folded the dumpling wrapper in half and pinched the dough on top. Seeing the different shapes of the dumplings, Jing Nan consoled himself: "Well! They're pretty cute!"
Feng Gui's face darkened. He squeezed too hard and the meat filling burst and flowed out of the dough. There was a mess between his fingers. Feng Gui was so angry that he wanted to throw the thing away.
Du Heng laughed so hard that his stomach hurt: "Xixi, don't force yourself. The dumpling wrappers you made are so pretty! Really!"
The dumplings in Xuan Yu's hand are most similar to those in Du Heng's, except that he doesn't pack as much stuffing as Du Heng. With the experience of helping Du Heng make snacks, Xuan Yu is now more experienced when making new products!
Du Heng introduced the dumplings as he made them: "There are many shapes of dumplings in my hometown. Some are like crescents, some are like willow leaves, some are like purses, and some are like gold ingots. Unfortunately, I am clumsy and can only make this kind."
Du Heng's family eats wontons more often, and he usually eats frozen dumplings. He knows how to make big-bellied dumplings, which he learned when he saw the aunties in the kitchen making them in the cafeteria when he was in college. Apart from this, he really doesn't know how to make other shapes.
Jing Nan is indeed a master of handicrafts. When he made the second dumpling, the shape of the dumpling was already quite good. Soon he surpassed his teacher and made big and beautiful dumplings. After a while, he even made crescent-shaped dumplings without any instruction!
Du Heng knelt down to Jing Nan again: "Nan Nan, you are so amazing."
Jing Nan wanted to take out all his seven tails and shake them. He was very happy in his heart, but he was still modest: "What's so difficult about this? Besides, even if the outside is covered with flowers, it still tastes like the filling."
Xuan Yu said softly to Du Heng: "Lao Nan likes to be humble at this time. He is waiting for you to praise him."
Du Heng was not stingy with his words of praise, he quickly added: "You can't say that, if the dumplings look good, you will feel good when you eat them! Nan Nan is amazing, and of course, our Xi Xi is also superb!"
Feng Gui, who was accepting his fate and holding back his face, could no longer suppress his smile. He said tactfully, "It's just so-so."
After everyone finished eating the bread prepared by Du Heng, rows of dumplings appeared on the chopping board next to them. The most numerous of these dumplings were big-bellied dumplings, which were also mixed with a few dumplings of other shapes.
Jing Nan looked at the remaining fillings in the wooden basin: "Hey? There are still two kinds of fillings left." The most remaining fillings are celery and leek, and it looks like there are quite a lot of them.
Du Heng smiled and said, "I promised Xiaoxiao that I would make him jade dumplings. The remaining stuffing is just right for that."
Jing Nan stretched his neck and said, "Emerald dumplings? Let me see."
Du Heng took out the white and green dough from the wooden basin and the big bowl, and there were two round doughs of similar shape on the chopping board.
Jing Nan reached out and poked the green dough: "This color looks good, is there anything added in it?" Xiao Xiao, who witnessed the whole process of Du Heng pounding celery leaves, said proudly: "Chirp chirp!!"
Du Heng glanced at Xiao Xiao with a smile and said, "Actually, this tastes similar to other dumplings, but it's just fun."
Everyone saw Du Heng rolled the white dough into a long strip, then flattened the green dough and rolled it into a slightly thicker dough wrapper to wrap around the white dough. The white dough was like wearing a layer of green, and Du Heng carefully kneaded the connecting parts of the green dough together.
After kneading it, he rolled the long strip on the chopping board twice. The unruly joints suddenly became smooth, and Du Heng raised the knife to cut it into pieces of dough. On the cut pieces of dough, you can see the green dough wrapped in white dough, which looks very beautiful.
Feng Gui pressed the dough into dough sheets, which were white in the middle and green at the edges. Because Du Heng did not wrap the dough evenly, each rolled dough sheet looked different.
Jing Nan first picked up a piece of dough, and when he used it to wrap the first dumpling, Xiao Xiao's eyes lit up. The belly of the dumpling in Jing Nan's hand was white, but the dough on top was green, looking like a green cabbage in the field. This is so cute!
Jing Nan looked at the cabbage hesitantly... Ugh, dumplings. He said, "Where's the jadeite you promised me?"
Du Heng smiled and said, "Don't you think this dumpling looks a lot like the cabbage carved out of jadeite from Xixi's home? Do they look alike?"
Feng Gui said calmly, "My family doesn't have any cabbage carved out of jade." Du Heng was choked, and he asked Xuan Yu uncertainly, "No...no?"
Xuan Yu gave an affirmative answer: "Well, probably not. The jade carvings in Xixi's house were all carved by masters in the demon world."
Du Heng scratched his cheek and said, "I think I saw it somewhere else. Anyway, there is a kind of jade carving made of jadeite.
This dumpling looks like a jade carving! "Du Heng said he would not accept any rebuttal, and anyone who refuted would not be allowed to eat lunch.
Feng Gui looked at Du Heng's face and said thoughtfully, "Hmm... maybe there really is one in my warehouse. Don't tell me, I really feel it."
Xiaoxiao was extremely satisfied. He urged Du Heng and the others to make the dumplings quickly. He couldn't wait to eat the cute dumplings right now!
Du Heng and the other two quickly finished wrapping the dumplings. The big pot was half full of water, and Du Heng stood in front of the stove, shaking his head: "Well, you need to boil the dumplings three times~"
Xuan Yu said: "Isn't that similar to cooking dumplings?"
Du Heng blinked, it seems so... It seems that the cooking methods of many foods are similar. After the water in the pot boiled, Du Heng randomly selected a quarter of the dumplings on the chopping board and put them into the pot, including of course the jade dumplings that Xiaoxiao specifically requested.
The white and green dumplings sank briefly after being put into boiling water, but soon floated to the surface. After being poured with cold water twice, the dumplings were cooked.
Du Heng used a colander to scoop the dumplings onto a large plate, while Feng Gui and his friends took the peppers and vinegar. Soon everyone gathered around the large round table to eat the dumplings that had just come out of the pot.
The dumplings were piping hot and looked particularly good on a large white plate. Fenggui rolled out the dumpling wrappers very thinly, and after they were cooked, the color of the fillings could be faintly seen through.
Several fillings can be distinguished by the color that comes through, such as leek meat, which has the darkest color. After the leek is cooked, it is dark green, and it is mixed with chopped yellow eggs. If you see dark green with a few yellow and white fillings, it must be leek filling.
Celery meat is lighter in color. As a vegetarian dish, celery is lighter in color. The mushroom caps in mushroom meat are gray-black, which can be distinguished at a glance. The color of bamboo shoot meat is the lightest, with a thin skin that is faintly flesh-colored.
Du Heng picked one up casually: "Hey, mushroom meat. In fact, dumplings are like wontons, you can use anything as the filling. In addition to these, there are also pickled cabbage and meat, three fresh fillings, fresh shrimp fillings... You can only think of it, there is no..."
Du Heng stopped talking. He found that everyone was eating dumplings with their favorite sauces.
Dumpling skin is different from wonton skin. Wonton skin is thinner, and the soup will soak into the skin when cooking, while dumpling skin is like a layer of leather tightly wrapping the filling.
The rich juice in the full filling is locked, and after the skin is broken, the juice greets the tongue with boiling hotness. In an instant, the leek is fragrant, the celery is crisp, the bamboo shoots are light, and the mushrooms are rich. All kinds of flavors gather in the mouth. This is not just a plate of dumplings, it is a feast!
Jing Nan ate the bamboo shoots and meat filling. After the crispy bamboo shoots and meat filling were crushed by his teeth, he exclaimed: "The taste is different!"
The delicious ingredients retained their original flavor after simple seasoning, which was completely different from the meat sauce he had eaten before. If the meat whistle before was a woman with heavy makeup, the bamboo shoots and meat in the dumpling filling now were like a beautiful and elegant girl. Each one was amazing!
Feng Gui ate the leek and meat dish, and he nodded in agreement: "Yes, the taste is different." He had eaten leek fried eggs before, and the stir-fry was delicious, and the dumplings tasted great too, but the taste of these two dishes was different. But if Feng Gui was asked to explain the difference in detail, he couldn't tell.
Xiaoxiao was the most frank one in the group. He didn't care about the difference. He just knew it tasted good. Especially the dumplings made with celery juice and flour, which looked good and tasted good. He watched and played at the same time, and soon half a plate of dumplings was in his stomach.
Who doesn’t love dumplings with thin skin and big fillings? Xiaoxiao thinks dumplings are as delicious as wontons! He likes this food!
Before they knew it, half of the dumplings on the table were gone. Du Heng knew how much people ate, so he said, "Everyone, eat as much as you can. I'll go cook the next pot of dumplings right away."
At this time, someone strode in from the door: "Du Heng?"
Du Heng looked up and found that the man looked familiar. Thinking carefully, wasn't that the real person he met on the day he came to Shenxu Palace? Gu Lingfeng! Yes, that's his name!
Du Heng smiled and said, "Master Gu, have you had lunch yet? If not, let's have some together. These dumplings are fresh out of the pot."
Xuan Yu stood up and went to the chopping board to get a pair of clean bowls and chopsticks and put them on the table: "You're welcome."
Gu Lingfeng just wanted to convey the meaning of the Supreme Elder. As soon as he arrived at the kitchen door, he smelled all kinds of fragrances. Just like what the monks said in the past few days, the dining hall has become the place that tests willpower the most.
Gu Lingfeng thought he was a very principled person, how could he be shaken for such a small thing? He underestimated the Orthodox Sword Gu Lingfeng too much.
He looked at everyone and said slowly, "The Grand Elder said that from today on, I will be responsible for purchasing ingredients for the dining hall. If you need anything, please let me know in advance. But I have to make it clear in advance that I am only responsible for purchasing normal ingredients. If the request is excessive, I can't do it."
Du Heng's eyes lit up. Gu Lingfeng looked like a reliable person. It would be great to have him buy the ingredients!
Du Heng narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Really? Thank you very much, Master Gu. Come on, we are one of you from now on, come and have something to eat!"
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Gu Lingfeng firmly rejected Du Heng. He said, "I don't go out every day. I only go out every four days. If you need me to buy something, you can find me at the training ground next door."
Du Heng nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, thank you Master Gu."
Gu Lingfeng frowned and looked at Du Heng. Du Heng touched his face. What's wrong? Did he say something wrong?
Gu Lingfeng said: "You can just call me by my full name, no need to address me like those servants."
After saying this, Gu Lingfeng left in a hurry. Du Heng was confused. When he sat back at the dining table, he was still confused: "Is it wrong for me to call him Gu Zhenren?"
Jing Nan said, "If he asked you to call him by his full name, just do it. Why are you being so polite to him?"
Xuan Yu put a jade dumpling into Du Heng's bowl and said softly, "The mission disciples enjoy the same treatment as the inner sect disciples. Strictly speaking, you should call him Senior Brother. The outer sect servants usually have no cultivation, so they can only call the inner sect disciples "Masters" or something like that. Just like Nan Nan said, don't take his words to heart."
Du Heng picked up the jade dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth: "Ah, this one is made with celery and meat."
Feng Gui said, "Speaking of which, from today on, we can all stay in the dining hall with peace of mind, right? Du Heng, do you have any plans?" Du Heng chewed the dumplings in his mouth: "Hmm? What plans?"
Xuan Yu said: "Xixi means that you can't prepare all the dishes on the menu by yourself, and the four of us don't have that much time and energy to prepare the dishes."
Du Heng relaxed his brows: "You're talking about this? I've thought of this a long time ago. Let's open a private restaurant! Whatever I cook, they'll eat!"
Xuan Yu thought about it and said, "Well, that's fine."
Du Heng smiled and said, "In the future, there is no need to make set meals. I will make three meals a day. For breakfast, I will make some porridge and snacks, and for lunch and dinner, I will make some stir-fried vegetables, soups, and rice. The dishes made every day will be written on the board with the prices. If you are interested, come and try them. Anyway, we are responsible for our own profits and losses. Making money is important, but our mood and health are also important!"
Jing Nan said with a smile: "This is good."
Xiaoxiao was stuffing dumplings into his storage bag while eating. At this moment, he was holding a jade dumpling in his mouth and putting it into the storage bag. Du Heng was happy: "There are still a lot in the pot, you can eat as much as you want."
Feng Gui said disdainfully: "I can tell at a glance that he is reserved for Tai Shuhong. If you like him so much, change your form as soon as possible and let your uncle go and propose marriage for you."
Xiaoxiao looked at Fenggui in bewilderment: "Chirp?" Isn't Tai Shuhong her aunt? Isn't it normal for a nephew to have a good relationship with his aunt?
Feng Gui angrily slapped Xiao Xiao on the butt: "Even eating can't stop your mouth!"
Du Heng said, "Xiaoxiao, you don't have to leave it for Uncle Tai. I just have to go to the Beast Garden to get something this afternoon. I'll bring him some fried dumplings."
When Xiaoxiao heard the word fried dumplings, his eyes lit up. He had eaten fried wontons and fried buns, so could dumplings also be fried?
Jing Nan knocked on the table and said to Xuan Yu, "Look at Du Heng, his mind is so distracted that he has lost his way. We have known him for such a long time, but Tai Shuhong has only known him for a short time. Look, when he has something delicious, we don't think of Tai Shuhong first..."
Du Heng quickly surrendered: "I'll do it right away, right away!" Just one sentence attracted protests from Jing Nan and others. If he was slower, who knows what accusations they would put on him.
There is a saying in the world that only women and villains are difficult to raise. It seems that we should add one more thing: Nine-tailed foxes and phoenixes are also difficult to raise.
Du Heng took out the flat pan he used to make Shengjian, and brushed a layer of soybean oil on the bottom of the pan. While the oil pan was heating up, he quickly lined up the dumplings neatly in the pan. The bottom of the dumplings made a sizzling sound as they were heated.
When the bottom of the dumplings turned golden yellow, Du Heng poured water into the pot to cover half of the dumplings. He also added a little starch to the water, so that when the dumplings were fried, a thin and crispy starch paste would appear in the middle of the dumplings.
Du Heng closed the pot and looked at everyone eating dumplings at the table. He suddenly remembered something: "Want to eat pickled garlic?"
Sweet and sour garlic seeds with dumplings, this is the way of eating that Du Heng's former roommate strongly recommended to him. It is said that if you soak garlic seeds with rice vinegar on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the garlic seeds will turn into emerald green by the time of the Chinese New Year. Cook a pot of hot dumplings on New Year's Day and pair them with a few cloves of Laba garlic, and they will taste better and better!
However, Du Heng had never tried this way of eating because people in his hometown don't often eat dumplings during the New Year.
When he saw the dumplings today, he thought of the pickled garlic that he had soaked in early summer. It has been more than half a year now, so it should be ready. Pickled garlic and Laba garlic should be similar... right?
Du Heng thought uncertainly while taking out the pottery jar he had used to soak garlic in sugar. When he opened the seal on the pottery jar, a strong sweet and sour smell wafted out, mixed with a hint of garlic. The smell was not too bad, at least Jing Nan could still sit steadily at the dining table.
Jing Daxianer used to be someone who firmly rejected garlic. He almost went crazy when he saw Du Heng using garlic sprouts in cooking. But later, after being influenced by a series of dishes such as bacon fried with garlic sprouts and stewed eel with garlic seeds, he is no longer so opposed to it.
But when he saw the intact garlic cloves on the plate, he began to resist again: "Ah, this garlic, why does it still look like garlic!"
Hearing this, Du Heng laughed so hard that his stomach hurt: "Garlic doesn't look like garlic, what do you think it will look like?" Jing Nan was a little upset: "Isn't it clove by clove?"
Du Heng picked up a garlic clove and was delighted: "This is what it looks like, one clove at a time."
The soaked pickled garlic is brown-yellow in color, like amber. The neat garlic cloves retain their appearance when they grow. They have been cut off from the old roots and stems, and the outer layer of the old membrane has been peeled off, leaving only one or two layers of tender membranes wrapped around the garlic cloves. Through the vertical fibers on the tender membrane, you can see the well-behaved garlic cloves inside.
Du Heng opened his mouth and bit off two garlic cloves. The garlic cloves were sweet and sour and crisp, and the pungent garlic taste was neutralized, leaving only an unprecedented wonderful taste in his mouth. A bite of garlic, paired with a bite of dumplings, this incongruous way of eating was actually quite addictive.
The outer layer of garlic cloves is covered with a membrane, and Du Heng usually removes this membrane when cooking. However, the garlic he uses is grown by himself. The freshly unearthed garlic is very tender, and the outer membrane can be eaten. After being soaked into sugar garlic, the outer membrane tastes no worse than the garlic seeds inside.
Xuan Yu also took a pickled garlic and took a bite. The sweet and sour taste filled his mouth immediately, but it didn't make him feel sick at all. He could also hear the crisp taste of garlic when chewing it. Hearing this sound, Xiao Xiao couldn't help it immediately. He opened his mouth to Du Heng, and Du Heng picked up a smaller pickled garlic and put it in his mouth.
Xiaoxiao fell in love with this food at the first bite. He didn’t pay attention when Du Heng was soaking pickled garlic. Could it be that this thing is so delicious?
Jing Nan peeled a garlic from Feng Gui's hand and threw it into his mouth. He looked at the stem in the middle of the garlic and said, "This is the first time I know that garlic can be eaten like this. It's eye-opening."
Du Heng laughed and said, "That's nothing. In our hometown, there are still some people who can eat garlic seeds directly. They just throw these white and tender garlic seeds that are not pickled into the water into their mouths and eat them." Jing Nan shook his head, "I can't do that. I can't do that."
Du Heng smiled: "I can't do that either, but garlic can kill bacteria and disinfect, so it's good to eat more." The pickled garlic was quite successful, but it didn't taste very good after eating. However, as long as the spiritual energy turns, the remaining taste of garlic will be taken away. Thinking of this, Du Heng's concerns about eating garlic are reduced.
The dumplings in the kitchen smelled like pickled garlic, and the smell was surprisingly harmonious. Seeing that Feng Gui and Xuan Yu had no objection to pickled garlic, Du Heng decided to make more sweet and sour garlic next spring when his garlic had grown well.
Jing Nan took a bite of garlic seeds and a bite of dumplings. He asked, "How is this made? When did you make this? How come I didn't know anything about it?"
Du Heng said nostalgically: "Not long after Wen Qiong left, the garlic in the field could be dug out. At that time, Nan Nan, you were lazy all day long and had no time to see what I was doing."
Jing Nan nodded: "That's right, you are busy in the fields all day, who knows whether you are practicing or growing vegetables. But this is delicious, you can make more next year."
Du Heng replied, "Yes, I have the same idea. It's easy to make. Just clean the new garlic and soak it in white vinegar and rock sugar. This year I used rice vinegar and the color was yellow. Next year I will use white vinegar and the sugar garlic will be white. It will look better then!"
Feng Gui didn't care: "It doesn't matter whether it looks good or not, as long as it's edible." Feng Daxian ate the pickled garlic as if he was tasting a delicacy, which made Du Heng feel a little stressed.
Soon the fried dumplings were ready. Du Heng scooped up a plate of fried dumplings with golden bottoms and tender white skins. There was indeed a layer of golden, slightly transparent crispy crust between the dumplings. When Xuan Yu took a fried dumpling away, the crispy crust broke with Xuan Yu's movement, making a crisp sound.
Xuan Yu put the fried dumplings in Du Heng's bowl and asked curiously, "What is this?"
Du Heng explained: "This is called snowflake fried dumplings. The thin crisps below are fried with starch." Xuan Yu looked at Du Heng tenderly: "It looks good and tastes good."
The taste of fried dumplings is different from that of shengjian. The skin of shengjian can expand, while the skin of dumplings is only a thin layer of flour. The bottom of the dumpling skin is crispier and the filling inside is richer.
After taking just one bite of Shengjian, Xiaoxiao felt that fried dumplings were the most delicious food on earth. Du Heng is really amazing. Not only can he combine unrelated ingredients to make such delicious dumplings, but he can also make dumplings that are both beautiful and delicious in different ways.
Xiaoxiao's eyes were full of stars when he looked at Du Heng. He really liked Du Heng so much!
If you eat too many fried dumplings, you will feel a little greasy. At this time, drinking some dumpling soup can quench your thirst and relieve your greasiness. Jing Nan and his friends ate to their heart's content, and they only ate half of the dumplings they made at noon.
Du Heng took out the fried dumplings and boiled dumplings and put them in the food box. He said to Xuan Yu, "I'm going to the Beast Garden to get some vegetables. Xiaoyu, after you clean up the kitchen, can you help me get the cow out? I want to cook beef tonight."
Xuan Yu responded: "Well, go ahead. Be careful."
Watching Du Heng's back as he left, Jing Nan sighed, "What a sin! She's almost become a husband-waiting stone."
Xuan Yu smiled as he looked at the direction Du Heng left: "Sometimes you have to give him enough trust and space." Feng Gui spat, "Bah, take your dog back if you have the guts."
Xuan Yu said calmly: "No."
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