The restaurant's kitchen is busy and well-organized, with people preparing ingredients, stirring the woks, and serving dishes. The air is filled with the aroma of various delicacies, a mixture of sweet, sour, bitter and spicy.
A cluster of flames shot up from the pot, reflecting on the face of the chef wearing a tall chef's hat. He shook the pot a few times, scooped out the food with a spoon, and put it on a plate. When he turned around and saw Xia Xi, the fat chef raised his eyebrows and looked a little surprised: "Why is Xiao Xi here?"
Seeing her wearing a white dress, white socks and white shoes, the chef picked up a towel to wipe the sweat off her face and reminded her with a smile: "Don't get your clothes dirty."
There are oil splashes everywhere and you can get them if you're not careful.
"Something's up." Xia Xi quickly passed through the area and waved, "Uncle Cao, you're busy."
A separate quiet area is set aside at the back, and the eight-meter-long sink is filled with ingredients. The aunts sit in a circle, wearing clean and tidy work clothes, dust hats and masks, with clear division of labor, making dumplings, pinching steamed buns, rolling glutinous rice balls, and making pastries.
The food at Pei Shan Hotel is all handmade, with no semi-finished products or inventory. Any food that is not used up that day is left for the employees as meals and snacks.
Xia Xi washed her hands, walked to the side of the aunt who was making dumplings, watched quietly for a while, rolled up her sleeves, took a piece of dumpling wrapper, and made a dumpling with three fresh fillings.
The aunt spared a moment to glance at the crooked dumplings she had wrapped. Her face, hidden by the mask, looked at her in a state of confusion. After a moment's deliberation, she tactfully said to her, "Xixi, you can't serve this dumpling to customers."
Details are crucial; a picky customer can ruin a restaurant's reputation. This is a rule the old lady established when she was managing the restaurant, and they keep it in mind, never slacking off.
The restaurant has a specialty staple dish called "Five Blessings Dumplings", which are made with five different fillings. After being wrapped, they are placed in a special mold and slightly frozen. The word "Fu" is printed on both sides of the dumplings, and the writing method is also different, symbolizing full blessings.
Many customers who come to the restaurant for the first time will order this staple food for a good omen.
"I know." Xia Xi smiled, rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand, and brushed away a few strands of hair. "I'll pack it and eat it myself. I won't send it to the customer's table."
The aunt was relieved, but then she changed her mind and scolded him, "You little girl, if you want to eat, you can just tell me, why did you do it yourself?" The aunt raised her hand and pointed to a tray with several rows of freshly wrapped dumplings on it. They were plump and sat in the mold. Each one was the same size, as if it had been produced by a machine. "Take a tray over and let someone cook it for you."
Compared to the dumplings made by her aunt, Xia Xi's dumplings were truly horrible, the filling almost leaking out. She patched them up and barely closed them. How could she explain to her aunt that she wanted to make them herself for her boyfriend?
Although the dumpling skins were rolled out by the auntie, the fillings were also mixed by her.
Xia Xi made five dumplings. Xu Yanfeng didn't eat beef, so she gave up on the one with celery and beef filling and replaced it with lotus root, corn and pork filling.
She occupied a pot and filled it with half a pot of purified water. The chef apprentice next to her taught her how to light the fire and told her that she could put the dumplings in after the water boiled.
Xia Xi had a tense face and was ready for battle.
Seeing she was new to the technique and fearing she might cause any safety issues, the apprentice instructed her throughout the process: "Pour some cold water into the pot and wait for it to boil again. Do this three times in a row. When the dumplings float to the surface, they're cooked."
Xia Xi clasped his hands together and stared at the dumplings in the pot as if performing a ritual.
After they floated up one by one, she took out the plates that had been washed long ago, scooped up the dumplings with a slotted spoon, bowed to thank the apprentice, walked out with the plates in both hands, and took the elevator upstairs.
They guarded it carefully all the way, like a treasure, but someone nearby gave it a strange look - where was the treasure? It was clearly just a plate of steaming dumplings.
Xia Xi entered the private room. Two dishes were already on the table. Xu Yanfeng didn't pick up his chopsticks and was waiting for her.
Someone said she would be back soon, but she had actually been gone for almost half an hour. Xu Yanfeng was really curious and asked her, "What were you doing?"
"I'll make it for you..." Xia Xi almost blurted out the truth, but she pursed her lips and swallowed her words in time, putting a plate of dumplings on the table. "I'll go to the kitchen and watch the chef cook dumplings for you. Eat them while they're hot, and make sure you eat them all. This has a meaning."
Why stare at the chef cooking dumplings? Xu Yanfeng didn't understand, but he didn't ask any more questions. He lowered his eyes to look at the strange-shaped dumplings on the plate and asked, "What's the meaning?"
Xia Xi sat next to him and pointed at the words on the dumplings: "Do you see the word 'Fu'? Eat it and you will be filled with blessings, five fortunes will come to you, and the lucky star will shine brightly. In short, you will have good luck!"
"so?"
"Um."
Xu Yanfeng picked up a dumpling with the stuffing leaking out and couldn't help but feel a little skeptical. The local driver who brought him here said that Peishan Hotel had a great reputation and the dishes were worth trying, so why did the dumplings look so... bad?
It shouldn't be.
"Eat quickly, why are you standing there?" Xia Xi urged him, supporting her cheek, not noticing that the dumplings she had mended still ended up with the filling exposed after being put into the pot.
Xu Yanfeng bit off half of it in one bite. The skin was very thin and smooth, and the filling tasted very good. The lotus root cubes were crispy and tender, the bamboo shoots cubes were delicious, and the corn kernels were sweet. It was paired with meat of the right amount of fat and lean meat, with rich layers and not greasy at all.
"Is it delicious?" Xia Xi asked him expectantly.
Xu Yanfeng ate the remaining half, and upon hearing this, he looked at her sideways. She asked this as if she was the one who made the dumplings... His thoughts suddenly turned to this, and he was stunned. He carefully observed Xia Xi's expression and found a handful of flour on her left cheekbone.
He suspected he had seen it wrong, so he rubbed his fingertips against it and found some flour on his fingertips. "Did you make these dumplings?"
Xia Xi didn't expect that he would guess it. How could he be so smart, Xu Yanfeng? He was so amazing.
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