Chapter 12 Celery, black fungus and pork dumplings.
On this day, He's mother took the excuse of having something to do at home and came back an hour earlier than usual after taking leave.
The children at home were thinking about the dumplings. Knowing that grandma was going to make dumplings at noon, the younger Guimian and Kejie did not wait for their brothers and sisters to finish school at the school gate, but waited by the fields and followed grandma all the way back.
"You two are so greedy. Only dumplings can make you come back so early." He's mother couldn't help but mutter.
She first went to the well and took out the chilled pork.
Coincidentally, the pork my daughter bought was 70% lean and 30% fat, which is the perfect ratio for making dumplings and buns. This way, the pork will not be greasy or too dry.
Originally, she planned to use only one pound of pork, but when she was cutting with a knife, an idea suddenly occurred to her. Since she had already started making dumplings, she might as well make more. In the end, she cut more and only left about half a pound to stir-fry later.
Then she estimated and measured the flour into a plate and temporarily placed it on the kitchen stove.
The fillings for dumplings, apart from pork, were naturally whatever was available at home. He's mother first soaked the black fungus that Susu brought back last time, which she said was given by her mother-in-law, and then went to the vegetable garden at home to pick a lot of celery, planning to make celery, black fungus and pork dumplings.
He Susu heard the noise and came to the kitchen to join in the fun: "Mom, I won't get involved in kneading the dough and mixing the fillings. I'll just help make the dumplings later. You have to teach me."
Gui Xi and Ke Jie, who were standing on tiptoe to look at the pork on the stove and sniffing hard to get a whiff of the aroma even though it hadn't been eaten yet, nodded in agreement: "Grandma, we want to help make dumplings, too."
"Okay, okay, I'll teach you later." He's mother responded with a smile.
Making dumplings is a happy thing. She put the washed celery on the chopping board, and with the knife she cut it into fine pieces. Then she started to chop the meat.
The knife pierced through the pork and hit the chopping board, making a banging sound. Luckily, the neighbors were all at work, otherwise they would definitely know that the He family was chopping meat.
The pork was chopped until it was soft, and the soaked black fungus was chopped into pieces. Together with the celery, the three were mixed in a bowl. He's mother then began to add salt, soy sauce and other seasonings to prepare the filling.
The next step is to knead the dough. After mixing the flour with water, He's mother controlled the strength of her hands to knead the flour into dough, and then constantly changed the shape to make it evenly mixed.
He Susu looked at it and sighed, "Mom, you are really good. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to control how much water to add. By the time there's too much water, it will become flour water, and I'll have to add more flour. If there's too much flour, I'll have to add more water. I don't know how much I'll waste over and over again."
"You have to be careful when kneading the dough. You are not as casual as me." He's mother smiled helplessly. She kneaded the dough for a long time, then rolled it into long strips, cut it into small pieces with a knife, kneaded it into small round balls, and then rolled it into round skins of appropriate thickness with a rolling pin.
Although the family seldom made dumplings or buns over the years, fortunately there was that one time, which was enough for He's mother to learn all the cooking skills. She can't say that she is proficient now, but at least she can complete it smoothly.
There were too many people to move around in the kitchen, so He's mother simply took the rolled dumpling wrappers and pork stuffing to the dining table in the hall. She demonstrated the movements to Susu and her two grandsons: "It's actually very simple to make dumplings. We hold the dumpling wrappers in one hand, scoop the pork stuffing on top, fold it up, and pinch pleats along the edges, and the dumplings are ready."
He Susu thought it was simple and started to learn how to make dumplings. After a while, she made a dumpling that was not very pretty but presentable. She commented on herself: "The folds are not pretty. I will save them for myself later."
However, Guimian and Kejie were greedy. They stuffed a piece of dumpling skin with meat filling. When they folded it, not only could they not make folds, but they also directly broke the dumpling skin.
Gui Mian: "Grandma, why did my dumplings become like this?"
Ke Jie: "The pork has all run away, what should I do?"
"You two are too greedy!" Mother He shook her head, reached out to take the excess pork filling and put it back into the bowl, then reluctantly wrapped it up with the remaining dumpling wrappers, "You can eat these two dumplings later!"
Even with He's mother's finishing touches, these dumplings looked even uglier than those made by He Susu. Not to mention that the dumpling skins were torn. She had wanted to put more pork filling in them out of greed, but the pork filling she ended up putting in was smaller than usual.
Gui Mian and Ke Jie didn't dare to say anything more and just agreed obediently.
The next time they made dumplings, they used less pork filling to prevent the dumpling skin from bursting again. Even though the folds didn't look very pretty, they still made it. As they became more skilled, they became a little bolder and used a spoon to scoop out as much pork filling as He's mother and He Susu.
He Susu is quite fast at making dumplings. She was quite interested in making dumplings the first time she did it and her progress was obvious. She was becoming more and more skilled at pinching the folds on the dumplings and they were looking better and better.
The four of them quickly made a table full of dumplings. When He's mother saw that there was not much pork filling and dumpling skins left, she went to the kitchen stove, lit a fire, took out a steaming tray, put the dumplings in it and steamed them.
After wrapping the dumplings, Gui Mian took the empty basin and placed it next to the well, while Ke Jie took a cloth and wiped the table clean.
The first pot of dumplings was steamed in the kitchen. Not only the two children, but even He Susu and her mother were looking forward to tasting the dumplings later.
Before the dumplings were finished steaming, there was a knock on the door. Mother He muttered, "It's still early in the morning. Your father and his family shouldn't be off work so early."
Then I heard someone shouting outside: "Are you there, little sister? Come and open the door."
When He's mother recognized Xiuxiu's voice, she said happily, "It's your elder sister." She ran to open the door.
He Susu raised the corner of her mouth. She guessed that her elder sister's return meant that there was a follow-up to the work at the meat processing factory.
Guimian and Kejie also went to greet the guests. They had a good impression of the aunt. Every time she came back, she would bring them delicious food. They loved the canned yellow peaches last time, which were sweet and icy.
When He's mother opened the door, she found that not only her eldest daughter had returned, but also her eldest son-in-law. "Xiu Xiu and Cheng Li are back, come in and sit down."
He Susu smiled and called out, "Big sister, brother-in-law."
Guimian and Kejie also shouted: "Aunt, uncle."
He's mother asked: "Where are Haohao and Juejue? Why didn't they come with you?"
He Xiuxiu explained: "They both went to the kindergarten."
He's mother was puzzled: "Why did you send them to the kindergarten?"
There are no kindergartens in the countryside. The kindergartens in the county town are open to facilitate those parents who have to go to work and have no one to take care of their children at home. My eldest daughter is at home on weekdays, so it is not her turn to send Haohao and Juejue to the nursery.
Gu Chengli smiled as he allowed his wife to tell his mother-in-law the good news.
He Xiuxiu smiled and said, "Mom, I'm going to work in the meat processing factory soon. Haohao and Juejue are not young anymore, so it would be good to send them to a nursery to help take care of them."
"What?" Mother He's eyes widened in surprise, then she became happy, "Xiu Xiu, are you going to work at the meat processing factory? Tell me what's going on."
She knew how long her eldest daughter had been dreaming about getting a job.
The group walked into the living room and sat down, and He Xiuxiu and her mother talked about the origin of this job.
He's mother never expected that it was Susu who told her about the job at the meat processing factory. She kept saying, "That's good. The meat processing factory is a good job. Xiuxiu, you can get this job, so work hard."
He Xiuxiu looked at her younger sister and said, "I have to thank you for getting this job."
Gu Chengli nodded in agreement. Nowadays, there is a shortage of jobs in the county. He has been trying to find a good job for his wife for many years but to no avail. It is better not to do those hard jobs with low wages. This job in the meat processing factory is like a blessing from heaven. What is rare is that He Susu is willing to give it to her elder sister, which makes Gu Chengli look at his sister-in-law with new eyes.
He didn't have a good impression of his sister-in-law before, but now he has completely changed his opinion.
It was almost noon, so He Xiuxiu naturally did not come empty-handed: "Mom, we bought a pound of pork. You can fry it for lunch. Dad and the others must be hungry after working in the fields."
Mother He smiled and said, "You came back so soon, why did you buy a pound of pork? You came back at the right time. We just made some celery, black fungus and pork dumplings. We'll be steaming them and eating them later."
Originally, I had planned that if the whole family ate dumplings at noon, there would be some left over to give Susu a snack later. Now that my eldest daughter and son-in-law are here, I can’t treat my son-in-law badly since he rarely comes. I’m afraid that the dumplings won’t be enough, so I’ll have to cook more dishes later.
He Xiuxiu asked in surprise: "Is there any happy event at home?" Flour is hard to buy, pork is hard to buy, and these white flour dumplings are not something you can eat whenever you want.
Mother He said happily, "It can be considered a double happiness for our family. You got a job at the meat processing factory, and three of Susu's articles were selected by the magazine the other day. She got the royalties and wanted to celebrate. It just so happened that a classmate had a way to buy flour and pork, so we planned to have dumplings for lunch."
He Xiuxiu had heard her younger sister talk about writing articles before, and she didn't have much hope, but she didn't expect to be selected by the magazine. She looked at her younger sister and said sincerely, "Congratulations, Susu, I'm eating dumplings today thanks to you."
Gu Chengli was also surprised. He didn't expect that his usually lazy sister-in-law had this ability. He also congratulated her.
He Susu said modestly: "It was also good luck. The article I wrote just happened to suit the taste of the magazine editor, so I earned some royalties."
Mother He got up and went to the kitchen to busy herself. He Xiuxiu wanted to help, but was rejected by her: "You rarely come back, how can I ask you to busy yourself in the kitchen? Sit down and chat for a while."
Soon the He family came back. He's father was naturally happy to see He Xiuxiu and her husband come back. After washing his hands, he sat in the hall and talked to his son-in-law. The eldest and second brothers He were there with them.
Zhao Miling and Qian Chunhe went into the kitchen to help. When they saw the plates of steaming dumplings, they couldn't help swallowing their saliva. They also couldn't help muttering in their hearts: This aunt and her husband really know how to pick a good day to come back. With two more people coming to eat such delicious dumplings, there are fewer dumplings that would originally end up in their mouths.
Guifang, Guixi and Kerou couldn't help being distracted in class in the morning. After finally getting home from school, they were envious when they heard Guimian and Kejie excitedly share the process of making dumplings. They went to the kitchen to see the dumplings, but were sent out to take the dumplings on the plate.
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