Chapter Sixty-Eight Shrimp Dumplings
Xiaoming's homeroom teacher, Ms. Zhang, was somewhat surprised when she saw the message sent by Xiaoming's father.
To be precise, it was extremely unexpected.
The story of rebellious students turning over a new leaf has been featured in the news, and she has encountered many such cases herself. The motivations that lead rebellious students to change their ways vary; some want to attend the same high school because they are in a relationship, while others have experienced setbacks.
In short, this was the strangest reason she had ever seen in all her years. Teacher Zhang chatted with him for a couple more minutes before turning off her phone.
Before going to sleep, she kept thinking about just how delicious the little restaurant that Xiaoming's father had mentioned, the one that could bring Xiaoming back from his misguided ways, must be.
—
Because she was making roast goose, she got up earlier than usual on the first day of the National Day holiday. She prepared a drying room early, bought the iron hooks needed for roasting the goose, and even contacted the goose farm owner the night before to have him kill some geese and deliver them.
As soon as the door opened, the owner of the goose farm came over with more than a dozen slaughtered geese. The owner of the goose farm was a woman, and she greeted Yu Miaoyin, "Boss, the geese you ordered are all slaughtered, come and take a look."
The owner of the goose farm has complete confidence in her geese, which she sells to major restaurants. At least half of the geese used in the roast goose dishes in Yuncheng come from her farm.
“Okay.” Yu Miaoyin counted the number.
Grandpa Xu was passing by and peeked over to see what was going on. Seeing the geese that had already been slaughtered, Grandpa Xu asked in surprise, "Wow, Xiaoyin, are you making roast goose today?"
"Um."
Hearing Yu Miaoyin say that, Grandpa Xu rubbed his hands together like a fly and said with great anticipation, "Alright, alright, I was planning to go have breakfast, but it seems I don't need to. I'll just wait for your meal."
Grandpa Xu spoke with a local accent, which the Tencent boss immediately recognized. A small restaurant popular with locals might be a hidden gem. The Tencent boss asked, "Is the food at this restaurant delicious?"
"Of course, once you've tasted Xiaoyin's cooking, you'll never want to eat anything else. I can't even imagine how delicious the roast goose is."
Roast goose is served in all the major restaurants in Yuncheng, and some even make it their signature dish. As the owner of a goose farm, she has eaten quite a lot of roast goose. In her opinion, Yang's Teahouse is the pinnacle, and no other restaurant can compare.
Hearing him speak so seriously, the Tencent boss asked, "Can it compare to Yang's?"
"It's absolutely unbeatable, I'm not bragging..." In Yu Miaoyin's eyes, Grandpa Xu really was exaggerating, praising her as if she were the only one of her kind in the world.
Anyway, Yu Miaoyin was quite embarrassed. She smiled and said, "I open for business around 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. If you want to try it, you can come at those times."
The Tencent owner found it strange, but Grandpa Xu's words were nothing short of a veiled provocation, as if she would regret it for the rest of her life if she didn't come and eat at this restaurant.
She noted the time in her mind and drove away.
After the two left, Yu Miaoyin and Aunt Zheng worked together to prepare the goose and make roast goose. A good goose is essential for good taste. The geese delivered by the goose farm owner were of very high quality, with evenly distributed subcutaneous fat, making the roast goose absolutely fatty but not greasy, so delicious that it would make your mouth water.
After stuffing the hollowed-out goose with fried garlic, thirteen-spice powder, dried tangerine peel, and other ingredients, the opening is sewn up and left to sit for a while to allow the spices to penetrate every inch of the goose meat.
However, the processed geese still need to be "inflated" to separate the skin from the fat, creating a "hollow" effect. Yu Miaoyin quickly inflated all the geese, scalded the skin with hot water, rinsed it with cold water, then drizzled it with crispy skin glaze before taking it to the drying room to air dry.
Taking advantage of the time, Yu Miaoyin removed the pits from the pickled plums she bought, mashed them into a paste, added some water, sugar, and lemon juice, and simmered them in a pot to make plum sauce, which would be perfect to eat with roast goose later.
"Aunt Zheng, have you had breakfast?" Yu Miaoyin asked.
"I've eaten, I cooked noodles at home," said Aunt Zheng.
After washing up, Yu Miaoyin came over to greet the Tencent boss. She hadn't had breakfast yet, and neither had Xiao Tangbao. She didn't know if Xiao Tangbao was awake or not.
Yu Miaoyin borrowed Aunt Zheng's electric scooter, saying, "I'm going to the market to buy some things."
"OK."
She was riding Aunt Zheng's electric bike, not quite sure what she wanted to eat yet, but she was thinking about buying a small electric scooter. Although she preferred to walk to the market, having a small electric scooter would be much more convenient.
Soon, she arrived at the farmers' market. At this time of day, she could buy a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, chicken, duck, fish, and meat. Yu Miaoyin walked around, stopping occasionally, and finally bought some shrimp to make shrimp dumplings when she got home.
When having morning tea in Yuncheng, shrimp dumplings are a must-order item, a staple at every table. Well-made shrimp dumplings are truly authentic. Yu Miaoyin also loves them, but she's too busy running her shop. When she has time, she wants to take Xiaotangbao to experience Yuncheng's morning tea culture.
After processing the shrimp she bought, she diced the shrimp meat into small pieces and then minced it. When cooking, she made sure to thoroughly dry the shrimp meat, as this would make the shrimp meat firmer and better in texture, and also prevent the dough from becoming soggy after the shrimp filling released water.
According to her preference, she added some bamboo shoots, then added diced pork and other seasonings, mixed them evenly with the already thickened and sticky shrimp meat, and set them aside for later use.
Mix wheat starch and potato starch together, add some salt to increase elasticity, and after kneading the dough, divide it into small, evenly sized pieces and put them in a plastic bag to prevent the dough from hardening.
She would take out one dough ball at a time, roll it into a thin sheet, fill it with a suitable amount of shrimp filling, and pinch it into pretty pleats. Aunt Zheng also came to help; she was indeed very good at this, and the pleats she pinched were just as beautiful as those pinched by Yu Miaoyin.
After wrapping all the dumplings, Yu Miaoyin put them in the steamer to steam. She made a lot, thinking that Grandma Chen and Yiling could come and eat together, as well as Grandpa Xu's family. Both families had been very kind to her, and she remembered it all.
"Auntie, could you watch the fire for me? I'm going back to call Xiaotangbao."
As soon as she got home, Xiao Tangbao had already washed up and was sitting there in a daze, looking clean and fresh, wearing a pretty little dress. Yu Miaoyin tied her hair up and said, "Let's go to the shop for breakfast. I made shrimp dumplings."
"Okay." Little Tangbao nodded, her two little tufts of hair bobbing up and down with her movements.
"Let's call Grandma and Uncle Xu." Yu Miaoyin led Grandma Chen by the hand. Yiling was still sleeping and couldn't join them.
When Grandpa Xu heard that there were shrimp dumplings, he was very excited. "Okay, thank you, Xiaoyin. I'll go make a pot of tea."
When having morning tea, the most indispensable thing is this pot of tea. After brewing Pu'er tea in a health-preserving pot, Grandpa Xu went to the small restaurant.
As the saying goes, one should not accept a reward without merit. Grandma Chen kept saying she wanted to give money, and so did Zhou Gui and Xu Changxing. Their whole family came to eat shrimp dumplings, and if each person had one, that would be three dumplings.
Xiaoyin is so kind. She said it's just a meal of shrimp dumplings, and she made a lot, so it's not a problem for us to eat together.
Even so, Zhou Gui still felt that this was not the right thing to do.
As soon as she returned to the shop, the shrimp dumplings were steamed and served. Yu Miaoyin brought them out. Since she didn't run a breakfast shop, she didn't have a steamer basket, so she used a steamer pot, which steamed a whole big pot full.
"They're so beautiful!" Grandpa Xu exclaimed after taking a sip of tea. The shrimp dumplings had translucent skins with a faint pink hue, and the filling inside was faintly visible, making one's mouth water.
"I'll give it a try. I rarely make breakfast, so I don't know if it will taste good," Yu Miaoyin said.
Before even tasting it, the group thought to themselves, "They rarely make this, but they can make it like this. Imagine how amazing it would be if they cooked it properly!" If Xiaoyin opened a teahouse, these shrimp dumplings would definitely be a walking advertisement.
Yu Miaoyin started eating first, and then the others began to eat. The shrimp dumplings were slightly hot, which was the best time to eat them. The springy shrimp meat was very fresh and sweet, making your tongue tingle. The bamboo shoots and pork inside also made the shrimp dumplings more flavorful.
The natural flavor of shrimp meat blends with the crisp sweetness of bamboo shoots. The chewy shrimp pieces, coated with delicate minced meat, melt in your mouth, without a trace of fishiness, only a refreshing sweetness. Even the shrimp dumpling skin is delicious.
Grandpa Xu took a sip of tea. The tea was very mellow, and the aroma of the tea and the lingering freshness of the shrimp dumplings filled his mouth. "If Xiaoyin could open a morning tea shop, I could get up at six o'clock every day to eat."
Little Tangbao also enjoyed the shrimp dumplings. They tasted really good. They looked bland, but they were incredibly fresh. The shrimp meat was very springy, and they were mixed with diced bamboo shoots and pork. The bamboo shoots were crisp, and the pork added a touch of oiliness, making them extra fragrant. The filling was very generous, and they were quite satisfying to bite into.
Moreover, the shrimp dumplings my sister made were so beautiful, like white jade.
Zhou Gui and Xu Changxing agreed, saying, "Being able to eat breakfast made by Xiaoyin in the morning really gives us a lot of motivation."
"The teahouse doesn't just have shrimp dumplings, it also has chicken feet, steamed dumplings, siu mai, and char siu buns. They all smell so good." Grandma Chen tasted the thin and chewy shrimp dumpling skin, and then bit into the bouncy, fresh, and juicy shrimp meat. Thinking of other delicious foods, she still drooled.
"Yes, it would be great if Xiaoyin could make brunch," Xu Changxing said, as if making a wish.
"Let's also make some late-night snacks, then we'll have all four meals covered," Zhou Gui said.
Yu Miaoyin laughed as she listened, thinking, "Why does it sound like everyone is making a wish to me?"
She mainly cooks lunch and dinner now. As for the chicken feet that everyone mentioned, she might make some when she has time. But there are so many delicious foods, and there are so many ways to cook a single ingredient. A piece of pork can be prepared in many different ways, such as steaming, boiling, frying, braising, stir-frying, roasting, stewing, smoking, baking, etc. So it's hard to say when chicken feet will be on the menu.
—
At the Yu family home, today is National Day. Yu Guang and his mother both got up relatively late, but they were surprised to find that Xiao Ming had gotten up early and was even memorizing vocabulary words!
Startled, Yu Guang rubbed his eyes repeatedly before daring to confirm. Yesterday, he was still somewhat skeptical, thinking that his son's enthusiasm was just a passing fad and he would give up soon. But today, he was certain: Xiaoming, his son was serious!
The food at that small restaurant really had a miraculous effect; it could actually turn a hopeless student back to the right path and make Xiaoming determined to take the entrance exam for the top high school, just so he could eat there every day!
He clasped his hands together and silently prayed, "Heavenly spirits and earthly spirits, thank you for your blessings and divine intervention. Our Yu family has made something of itself! I guarantee that in a few years, our ancestral graves will be emitting auspicious smoke!"
Yu Guang thought that, in some mysterious way, the small restaurant he went to by mistake gave him a new direction and changed his son into a different person.
This little restaurant is great! Yu Guang decided to take him there every day to eat the delicious food. Perfect timing, he was really craving it too.
However, Yu Guang thought about it and wondered if Xiao Ming, who really liked the food at this restaurant, might choose to repeat a year of high school because of it.
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