After washing her hands, Jiang Yu started to knead the dough. She was skilled at it and her hands were quick. After a while, she had kneaded a dough of moderate hardness and softness, and covered it with wet gauze to let it rise.
Gu Qingli watched from the side. When Jiang Yu picked up two kitchen knives and prepared to chop the stuffing, she was so scared that her heart skipped a beat. She quickly stepped forward to stop him: "Sister-in-law, take care of your stomach. I'll do it." Although she had never done this before.
Jiang Yu put the kitchen knife on the chopping board: "Sister-in-law, do you know why I like to cook?"
"Uh..." Gu Qingli looked at the two sharp kitchen knives and racked her brains to think of a response.
Jiang Yu wasn't testing her. Seeing her face as if she was facing a great enemy, she felt helpless: "Because I think cooking by myself is a very happy thing."
"This may seem strange to others. Cooking is tiring and troublesome, and many people don't like it. But from the preparation of ingredients to the proportions of seasonings, every step is handled by yourself, and the food you make will also be imbued with your own thoughts. This is perhaps why people often say that homemade food is the most delicious."
What she didn't say was that her experience in the orphanage before she transmigrated into the book had made her have an inexplicable obsession with food. She always felt that she would feel more at ease if she was in control of her food.
Gu Qingli has always strictly required herself to be generous and decent since she was a child, and rarely shows her thoughts on her face, but at this moment, she had a stunned expression on her face.
"Let me put it this way, have you ever tried to cook for yourself?"
Gu Qingli shook her head.
"Did your mother ever cook for you?"
Gu Qingli lowered her head and thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes, when I was very young and sick, my mother made porridge for me."
I have the impression that my mother was not very good at cooking, so in the past, either my grandmother or my father would cook at home.
It had been so long, and Jiang Yu probably couldn't get any more information out of him, so he gave up and said directly, "I still remember when I was a kid and sick, an elder who was very kind to me personally cooked for me. It wasn't some fancy meal, though, with big fish or meat. It was just simple white rice porridge with some chopped vegetables, a little salt, and a few drops of lard. But to me at that time, it was the most delicious food in the world."
"When I grew up, I always thought about the food I had eaten when I was sick, but for some reason I just couldn't make the same taste myself. Even if I went to a state-owned restaurant, I couldn't find food that I liked. Later I realized that it was because the person who cooked the porridge was thoughtful that made me feel at ease."
Gu Qingli listened quietly, not quite understanding what was said.
"Actually, the food and porridge I made weren't exactly delicacies. Maybe it was because A-Yao watched me make them and saw my sincerity, so he felt at ease while eating them."
After she finished speaking, she happened to see Wen Yanqing coming to her, so she pulled him over to help chop the meat.
Before Gu Qingli could come to her senses, Wen Yanqing suddenly dropped his knife and started chopping the meat.
She was startled and took a few steps back silently.
The process of mincing can remove the blood from the pork little by little, which enhances the flavor and retains the texture of the pork itself. It will not be as soft as that minced by a machine.
The meat to be used should be pork belly with alternating fat and lean meat. Chop the tender white fat and bright red lean meat slowly and evenly. The resulting meat filling will be rich in flavor, tender and not dry.
Seeing that there was nothing to do, Jiang Yu picked up a cabbage that had lost its moisture in the corner of the kitchen, took out the heart of the cabbage, chopped it up, and squeezed out the water to prevent the meat filling from being too watery and affecting the taste.
In addition to cabbage, she also prepared many fillings with different flavors.
The sound of Wen Yanqing chopping meat was a bit noisy, which attracted Wen Zizhao and Wen Ziyao who were having fun outside. They peeked at the kitchen door and saw Gu Qingli standing inside. They were very disappointed and winked at each other, intending to retreat.
Jiang Yu had just finished preparing the cabbage and was about to season the minced meat that Wen Yanqing had chopped. When she was taking out the sesame oil bottle, she caught sight of two small figures and quickly called them over.
When Wen Zizhao heard Jiang Yu calling his name, he paused, turned around and looked at Qingli carefully.
Unexpectedly, Gu Qingli did not blame them, but just smiled at them.
Wen Zizhao was brave and ran into the kitchen when he saw this. Wen Ziyao couldn't hold him back and pursed his lips helplessly.
"Aunt, what delicious food are you making?"
"Dumplings." Jiang Yu said, "Go wash your hands quickly, let's make dumplings together."
Wen Zizhao laughed when he heard this, and ran to wash his hands, leaving Wen Ziyao standing by the kitchen door, unable to go in or out.
Jiang Yu: "Ayao is going too."
Wen Ziyao did not leave immediately, but looked at Gu Qingli's expression first.
Gu Qingli nodded: "Go."
Only then did Wen Ziyao slowly leave.
When they came back, Jiang Yu had already made the dough neatly. He played with the rolling pin in his hand. With a press and a turn, the dough was rolled into thin circles, and one after another flew out from his hands.
After Jiang Yu made the dumpling wrappers, all that was left was to wrap the dumplings.
She asked Wen Yanqing to move the things to the hall so that everyone could make dumplings together.
After sitting down in the hall, Jiang Yu spread the dumpling wrapper in the palm of his hand, picked up a piece of meat filling and placed it in the center. He dipped his fingers in water and drew a circle on the edge of the dumpling wrapper. Then he pinched it and his fingers flew, and a plump dumpling was wrapped.
Gu Qingli imitated her movements and made one, but her hands were not very good at it, so the dumplings she made were similar to Wen Zizhao's.
She was a little embarrassed, but Jiang Yu certainly wouldn't laugh at her. She patiently slowed down and taught her again.
Wen Yanqing's skills are second only to Jiang Yu, and he is already a master. He can make dumplings into different shapes according to the fillings.
It was the first time for Wen Zizhao to make dumplings in his life. It was like discovering a new world. He wanted to make the dumplings look like buns with lots of fillings.
Wen Ziyao sat quietly beside Jiang Yu, learning carefully without blinking. His learning results were quite good. The dumplings he made were neat and tidy, and after just a few, he was able to make them look good.
Mr. Wen has given up trying again because of his last experience making dumplings.
As for the others, they were busy arranging and cleaning the courtyard.
At first, Gu Qingli was a little uncomfortable, but later, when she heard Wen Zizhao and Jiang Yu chatting and laughing, her body gradually relaxed, and the dumplings in her hands became more and more beautiful. In the end, she could make good-looking dumplings without deliberately shaping them.
Wen Zizhao wanted to ruin the dumplings, but Jiang Yu stopped him: "You make them yourself, eat them yourself."
Wen Zizhao looked at his dumplings, then at Jiang Yu's, and gave up.
Wen Ziyao was slow at wrapping the dumplings, and it took him a long time to scoop out the filling carefully. He couldn't accept too much or too little, and he looked very serious.
After hearing Jiang Yu's words, he counted the size of the dumplings he had made, fearing that he would have too many and not be able to finish them.
When the number he counted was not much, a smile appeared in his bright eyes, and he could play for a while longer.
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