Chapter 32: Origin of the Soup Dumplings
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
The customers who had eaten the Soup Dumplings spoke highly of the dish but the grandma that was brought along by the grandpa appeared quite discontented.
With an impatient looks on her amiable face, the grandma said while pulling the grandpa, “Darling, let's not waste our time here anymore. If he doesn’t offer them, then we just don’t eat.”
“Never mind. Let me ask again,” the grandpa thought that his wife didn’t like the noisy and bustling surroundings, thus he patted her hand that was grasping his clothes and said gently.
“I didn’t mean that,” the grandma hurriedly denied. She knew from the expression on her husband’s face that he had misunderstood her.
“You see, this young man doesn’t look like a business man. How could he do business like that? I don’t think his food can be so delicious. Let’s go.”
Once he heard that, the grandpa knew his wife had lost her patience. She definitely felt displeased and was in a bad mood because they had come here twice but still failed to eat the Soup Dumplings. He then made a guarantee to his wife, vowing devoutly.
“This young master definitely has superb culinary skills. The steamed bun I ate in the morning was perfect. The skin was so thin and transparent that even the tasty gravy and tight stuffing inside could be seen. Furthermore, the skin was strong enough to be picked up with chopsticks, but it broke easily once you give in a soft poke. The gravy was also unbelievably delicious.”
“What do you think? Shall we wait for a while?”
The grandma standing beside him noticed his face turning red when he described the dumplings. He even swallowed his saliva unconsciously while describing the gravy. She knew better than others how much her husband cared about his image and manner.
“Look at you. You are speaking as if you ate ginseng fruit. Ok, ok, I’ll wait,” the grandma compromised reluctantly.
“This is far better than that tasteless ginseng fruit,” the grandpa replied, smiling.
“Young master, how about providing two servings for my wife and me?” the grandpa started to persuade again.
“Sorry, I really can’t,” Yuan Zhou refused decisively, without the slightest hesitation.
It was among Yuan Zhou’s expectations that many people would order the Soup Dumplings. After hearing their detailed descriptions, even he himself would like to have one. The introduction of the ingredients by the system still lingered in his mind. With those top-grade ingredients, the Soup Dumplings were guaranteed to be tasty.
The system read, “The meat is taken from the extinct Xiang pig of Wuzhi Mountain.”
“Xiang pig of Wuzhi Mountain originated from the Wuzhi Mountain area in Hainan Island. It is ‘one of the oldest primitive pig breeds in China’. Actually, it also has another nice name, the ‘Amorous Pig”. This animal was the offspring between a domestic pig and a wild boar. It always keeps its snout against the ground while walking, therefore, when seen from behind, this pig seems to have 5 legs. It is also called the ‘Five Feet Pig’ due to people mistaking its snout as another foot.
“The system utilizes the most scientific methods while feeding the pig. It is fed with spirulina platensis, jasmine, leaves of paper mulberry and insects. This way, the percentage of lean meat will be higher; the meat texture gets sturdier, tastier and more tender; the cholesterol is almost nonexistent and it also emits a clean and sweet fragrance.”
“From the day it was born to the day it was slaughtered, its feeding period is twice as long as that of ordinary pigs. The Xiang pig also listens to music and does sports every day. It is allowed to roam freely in the fruit plantation and has special place to expel its wastes. Due to it being allowed to roam freely, the pig is able to fully absorb the selenium elements from soil and water, thus the meat contains abundant selenium elements, along with a high content of lysine and the 3 types of amino acids required by human body as well.
“The system uses only the top-grade pork tenderloin
“You say scientific? You’re the one that is the most unscientific of them all.” Yuan Zhou couldn’t help ridiculing it when he heard the system mention scientific.
Yuan Zhou had already known the ingredients provided by the system would definitely leave him in awe. He then continued.
“You shock me every time. Then what about the pigskin?”
The system read, “Pigskin is taken from the skin on the shoulder and stewed.”
While noticing its indifferent tone, Yuan Zhou thought that maybe the pig skin was nothing special, thus he merely gave a dry laugh after hearing it.
After a while, Yuan Zhou thought of the key ingredient, the wheat. While he was cooking, he found that not only did the flour have a pleasant fragrance, but also had a decent amount of gluten. No matter how thin the skin was, it didn’t break easily. Yuan Zhou’s excellent skills were one of the reasons, but 0the quality of the wheat also played an important role.
“Then where does this breed of wheat come from?” Yuan Zhou had already gotten used to the pleasant surprises by the system.
The system read, “This breed of wheat is from the Hetao Area in Inner Mongolia. After careful comparison and analysis between 100 thousand wheat grains, the best quality of wheat is selected and then planted in order to make sure the content of wet gluten reaches a the standard level of 35-39.”
“The breakdown of the protein in the wheat is: 49% gliadin; 39% glutenin; 4% albumin and 8% globulin.”
“Ok, fine, fine. I don’t want to know the source of the ginger anymore.” Yuan Zhou said weakly.
………
“Boss Yuan? Boss Yuan?” The man in a suit had been pleading Yuan Zhou to offer him another serving of Soup Dumplings. After speaking until his lips were dry, he found that Yuan Zhou’s mind had wandered off.
“No.” Yuan Zhou refused him even more decisively this time. Even he himself couldn’t eat the Soup Dumplings now either, so these customers had better settled for the Egg Fried Rice.
“In that case, please give me one serving of the Egg Fried Rice Set.” The man in suit decided to order the set meal, which he usually couldn’t afford, when he found there was no chance for him to eat the Soup Dumplings. The price of 288RMB was indeed expensive, thus he could only eat the set meal once.
“Hey, you finally gave up, huh? Shall we leave now?” The grandma held the hand of the grandpa whom she was standing with and then said.
“No, I still want to try something else. Ok, let’s taste the most expensive one.” The grandpa lost his temper. He didn’t believe the Egg Fried Rice would taste better than the Soup Dumplings, making Yuan Zhou choose sell Egg Fried Rice rather than Soup Dumplings.
“You stubborn old man.” The grandma understood her husband’s stubborn character. So she just grumbled while pulling the grandpa’s clothes.
“Young master, give me two servings of the set meal.” While pretending not to hear, he said to Yuan Zhou.
When Yuan Zhou found that everybody had to eat the Egg Fried Rice like him, he felt slightly better. After everybody gave their orders, he went back to the kitchen and started to cook.
The grandma didn’t have much expectation. After all, she was not fond of Egg Fried Rice as they were fairly greasy.
Some customers who realized that they wouldn’t be able to eat the Soup Dumplings left immediately, while some others stayed and prepared to try some dishes.
“Boss Yuan! Why didn’t you call me when you opened the restaurant this morning?” At that moment, Wu Hai entered the restaurant in a hurry. He had disregarded other affairs and now only wanted to eat something. It felt unpleasant to go about on an empty stomach for a whole day.
“Brother Wu Hai, the boss said he doesn't serve Soup Dumplings in the evening.” The man in a suit, again being the first, answered Wu Hai.
On hearing that, Wu Hai became speechless. He stared with great anger at the man in the suit. Again, it was this guy who told him he was not able to have lunch at noon and then not able to eat the new dish in the evening. This guy must be the one who brought him misfortune.
Although he didn’t intend to answer him, he still replied perfunctorily considering that this guy was giving him a kind reminder, “How do you know?”
“All of us were waiting for the Soup Dumplings.” The man in a suit pointed at the several people sitting beside him and several other people waiting behind him.
“Fine,” Wu Hai said, grinding his teeth.
“Boss Yuan, I want a set meal. I can stand and eat,” Wu Hai said to Yuan Zhou, who was busy with cooking.
“Be ready in a moment.” Yuan Zhou turned his head and answered, then turned back to continue the cooking.
Standing aside, Wu Hai started to wait for his set meat, holding his stomach due to hunger.