Paired with a Bowl of Dumpling Soup
Not to mention the matter of the troublemaking man, Sun Miao drove the food cart and arrived at the place the Auntie had mentioned. This shop had not only not gone out of business, but on the contrary, it was steaming upwards day by day, and the storefront had expanded a great deal. On the signboard, it was still the name that the Auntie had mentioned. As for whether the boss inside had changed, Sun Miao also did not know.
This was already a fresh food supermarket; she walked in and looked for a while before she found the seafood section. Sun Miao looked for a while but did not see any Mackerel, and after asking a salesperson, the other party instead gave her the boss’s phone number. On the phone, the boss told her that he had live Mackerel on hand, and asked to see whether the quantity Sun Miao wanted was large or not.
Listening to the boss’s tone, he most likely regarded Sun Miao as some kind of restaurant purchaser.
Sun Miao answered directly, “I…… I only need one or two a day, I suppose.”
“……In that case, wait a moment, I’ll find someone to deliver them to you.”
“I might want to pick them out myself.”
“……Then I’ll give you an address, you can come over directly.”
It was apparent that the boss did not really want to take her business, but adhering to the principle of “one who doesn’t make money when it’s available is a tortoise egg1,” he still gave her the other address. Sun Miao discovered that the road was quite far, in another district. Fortunately, Sun Miao had come in the food cart; otherwise, an electric scooter might not have had enough battery for a round trip.
Sun Miao drove for a long time before arriving at the place.
The boss let her go in and choose, and seeing the way she selected them, he knew that she truly understood a thing or two. The look in the boss’s eyes made Sun Miao understand: he still thought she was a restaurant purchaser, coming to pick a few first, with a large order to follow.
However, Sun Miao really only wanted two.
Sun Miao said, “I’ll come again tomorrow, see you later, boss.”
“Alright.”
Sun Miao went to buy flour, pork, and other ingredients, then returned home. This time she bought three Mackerel fish, their sizes slightly different, for a total of over 20 jin, which would yield 15 jin of meat. She estimated she could make 1000 dumplings; she and Su Ruixi would eat some first, deducting 50 dumplings at most, and the rest would be perfect to sell tomorrow.
Actually, it would have been better to choose Mackerel of over 8 jin, but after picking through the Mackerel at the boss’s place, she only managed to find these three relatively good ones. There was no helping it; although she was in a coastal city now, there was truly no seafood.
As soon as Sun Miao got back, she started making the Mackerel dumplings. The Auntie was still tidying up in the house at this time and hadn’t left; seeing Sun Miao’s activity, she came over and asked if she needed help. Sun Miao shook her head; it wasn’t that she didn’t need help, but that the Auntie’s skills were not good enough, so it was more reliable for her to do it herself.
Sun Miao first made the Mackerel dumplings that she and Su Ruixi would eat, making 50 of them. She and Su Ruixi definitely couldn’t finish them all, so she gave ten to the Auntie. After instructing her not to touch the dumpling wrappers and filling she had set aside, Sun Miao then packed up the boiled dumplings and set off directly to find Su Ruixi.
As it turned out, the two of them indeed couldn’t finish them. Sun Miao was considered to have a relatively large appetite, and she only ate fifteen. Su Ruixi’s appetite had improved recently, but as a result, she ate even less than Sun Miao, eating only thirteen.
But Su Ruixi looked at the Mackerel dumplings in front of her and wanted to keep eating.
It wasn’t her saying it, but it was truly the first time she had ever eaten such delicious—fish-filled—dumplings.
The moment she heard Sun Miao say that these were Mackerel dumplings, made with fish and pork, no matter how much Su Ruixi trusted Sun Miao, she was still a little hesitant.
Fish filling—could that possibly be delicious?
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Sun Miao’s cooking skills, she purely didn’t trust the concept of fish filling. She admitted that the fish balls Sun Miao made were delicious. They were both chewy and didn’t have the slightest fishy smell; she could eat several in one go every time. But fish-filled dumplings were different; she simply couldn’t imagine what the texture would be like.
Like the fish balls from before, would one bite be exceptionally Q-bouncy? But that outer layer of dough skin, what would that taste like?
Carrying this doubt, she still picked up her spoon and scooped up a dumpling.
Strangely, Sun Miao hadn’t bought the type of takeout box specifically for dumplings, the kind with individual compartments, but just an ordinary, rectangular takeout box used for dishes. The white, plump dumplings were stuck together, yet they didn’t stick to the point of being impossible to pull apart, where even the dumpling skin would be torn by the adjacent dumpling.
Although they were stuck together, each one was distinct. Su Ruixi didn’t understand why, and just found it a bit incredible.
But for Sun Miao, this was a point that the system required her to achieve. This places great demands on the chef who boils the dumplings. First is the water temperature and time; one must wait for the cold water to boil before putting them in the pot, and as soon as the dumplings are cooked, they must be taken out immediately. At the same time, there is a little trick, which is to sprinkle a little salt while boiling.
The dosage of salt also needs to be precisely controlled. Too little is useless, as they will still stick together; too much will cause the dumpling soup to become salty and not taste good.
Only with precise control can they turn out like this.
The dumpling lay quietly on the spoon, a single large, white, and plump one, looking very cute. It was larger than an ordinary dumpling, so on the spoon, it appeared even bigger than the spoon. The spoon was a bit unsteady holding it, and Su Ruixi was a little worried it would fall off.
But the dumpling was plump and round, yet its center of gravity was very stable; it didn’t even move a bit.
The skin of the dumplings Sun Miao boiled was smooth, and when the office lights fell on it, it made the dumpling skin appear even more sparkling and translucent. Looking again, the dumpling skin was also very thin, and one could vaguely see the pink and green filling inside, but upon closer inspection, one could only see the white skin.
While Su Ruixi was observing the dumpling, Sun Miao took out two small saucers, then broke open the packets of vinegar, soy sauce, and chili oil in sequence. Su Ruixi doesn’t eat spicy food, so the chili oil was for herself. Sun Miao had put these condiments in plastic bags, tied them in knots, and brought them over beforehand.
Seeing Sun Miao’s actions, Su Ruixi suddenly realized that her office was missing these things.
That’s right, she also needed to prepare vinegar, soy sauce, and so on. After all, Sun Miao made snacks, and in the future, it was inevitable that she would bring her things of this category, such as boiled dumplings, wontons, and the like. She couldn’t have Sun Miao pack them every time, right? That would be too much trouble.
And small saucers, she could also keep a couple in her office. That way, Sun Miao wouldn’t have to run around with small saucers. What if her little electric scooter went over a bump and caused the saucers to break? The saucers breaking was a small matter; Su Ruixi was worried that Sun Miao would accidentally cut her hand on the fragments while cleaning up.
The assistant didn’t know that Su Ruixi was over there again, thinking about how to trick out2 the office.
“Susu-jie, aren’t you going to eat? It’s going to get cold in a bit.”
“I’m eating,” Su Ruixi opened her mouth and put the spoon inside.
Her first bite wasn’t very big, because she was thinking about things like soy sauce and vinegar, only biting3 a tiny tip of the dumpling. The feeling was just like she had bitten off the ear of a rabbit mousse. But because of this, Su Ruixi tasted the ultimate fragrance of the wheat flour4.
This feeling was also quite incredible. Sun Miao’s dumplings were clearly made with wheat flour just like the dumplings from outside, yet the dumplings Sun Miao made had an outer skin that was smooth and elastic, with a very rich aroma of wheat flour, whereas the dumplings from outside were sometimes dry and shriveled.
This wheat flour aroma made Su Ruixi unable to resist continuing to eat; she opened her mouth a little and took a bite. This bite went directly through the dumpling skin on top and the filling inside. It had to be said, the insulated lunch box the assistant bought was quite useful. With this bite, Su Ruixi tasted the scalding hot steam from inside, making her instinctively open her mouth, wanting to let the heat escape.
But very quickly, she closed her mouth again. Instinctively, Su Ruixi did not want to open her mouth wide and let the deliciousness leak out.
The outer skin, naturally, needs no further mention, full of the fragrance of wheat5, and with a few more chews, she could taste the filling inside. The piece she bit off was not large, only about the size of a pinky fingernail, but the contents inside were very rich.
First, taking the lead like a vanguard horse6, was the strongest flavor, the fish, which covered up the flavors of the other fillings. The sea fish was xian7, carrying a flavor that Su Ruixi found hard to describe. She didn’t detect any fishy smell, only the fresh taste of the sea fish.
Following closely were the flavors of pork and chives. Su Ruixi really disliked eating chives, because the taste of chives is particularly strong, and if she didn’t rinse her mouth after eating them, Su Ruixi was afraid of overwhelming others when she spoke to them. Therefore, Su Ruixi basically never ate chives.
The chives in here were not overpowering in flavor. Sun Miao hadn’t used a large amount, and the chives were still tender; eating them gave a very distinct sensation of minced chive leaves. At the same time, because of the seasoning, it carried a hint of spiciness. It was different from the spiciness of chili peppers; it was faint, yet it emitted a unique fragrance.
That was the fragrance of chives. Sometimes, because too many chives are added, it can make the chive flavor seem pungent and foul, but this small amount instead allowed the fragrance to permeate.
After that, came the flavor of the pork.
These three blended together in exceptional harmony and unity, as if they were naturally meant to be put together.
There are many kinds of dumpling fillings, and everyone has their own favorite flavor. Before this, Su Ruixi’s favorite was Vegetarian Three Freshness Dumplings8; they didn’t have the taste of meat, and the minced shiitake mushrooms were particularly addictive. But at this moment, Su Ruixi declared: this was her new favorite flavor!
Next, Su Ruixi began eating with big mouthfuls, finishing one boiled dumpling with three downs and five divided by two9. Just then, Sun Miao placed the dipping sauce in front of her, allowing Su Ruixi to eat with it.
Sun Miao knew Su Ruixi’s preferences, so the dipping sauce was also a light version. A little bit of vinegar, a little bit of soy sauce, and then half a small spoonful of dumpling soup, mixed slightly, was just what Su Ruixi would like.
Su Ruixi abandoned the spoon. She had used a spoon just now because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to pick up the dumpling. But after thinking it over, chopsticks were still more convenient.
The dumpling skin looked sparkling, translucent, and smooth; for this reason, Su Ruixi had chosen the spoon. But when she actually used chopsticks, she found that it was just as easy to pick one up. Su Ruixi dipped it in the sauce and discovered that the flavor changed again.
The originally somewhat small and fresh10 dumpling became savory upon contact with the dipping sauce. But this bit of saltiness made Su Ruixi love it so much she couldn’t put it down, eating one mouthful after another. After a few boiled dumplings had accumulated, Su Ruixi’s mouth became a little bit salty.
Right at this moment, Sun Miao pushed a small bowl over, which contained the milky-white dumpling soup.
This timing was simply perfect!
Previously, Su Ruixi had never thought dumpling soup was anything good to drink. Although its faint flavor suited her preferences, it also had a layer of flour in it, which Su Ruixi found strange, and she thought it was just average after drinking it. At this moment, a mouthful of the dumpling water went down, taking away all the original saltiness in her mouth.
Su Ruixi couldn’t help but let out a “Haa.”
Comfortable.
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