ebookland Chapter 218: Soup Dumplings
Chapter 218: Soup Dumplings
Li Laosan asked: "We have so many seaweeds. Can we sell them when the time comes?"
Li Yuer picked up the knife, cut off a piece of seaweed jelly and chopped it into pieces.
"I'm afraid it won't be enough by then. This seaweed jelly can be eaten hot as well as cold."
"Eat it hot?" Li Dalang was surprised. "Won't it turn into soup if it's heated?"
Li Yuer picked up a small bowl, scooped some bun stuffing into it with a spoon, poured in the chopped seaweed jelly, and mixed it again.
"Come on! Let's use this to make dumplings first."
"Xiaolongbao? What kind of bun is that?" asked Li Laosan.
Li Yuer grabbed a piece of dough, kneaded it into a dough ball, and rolled it into a dough.
"Follow me, the dough and wrapper for xiaolongbao are about this size."
Li Yuer's fingers flew and a steamed bun was ready.
"This is xiao long bao. Let's make a pot of xiao long bao first. You will know later whether it tastes good or not and what makes it delicious."
Out of curiosity, several people carefully followed Li Yuer to learn how to make dumplings.
When the first pot of dumplings came out of the steamer, everyone gathered around it curiously to watch.
After the heat dissipated, the plump, white, fist-sized dumplings appeared in front of everyone.
"So cute! The buns look so delicious." The round and white dumplings instantly captured the girl's heart.
Li Yuer picked up a plate with chopsticks, let it cool for a while, and gave each person a few.
"Everyone, please be careful when eating. This is not a seaweed dumpling. The soup dumplings are very easy to burn your mouth. You can use chopsticks to let the soup cool down first."
Li Yuer poked a hole in the dumpling with chopsticks, and the oily soup immediately came out, and the aroma filled the whole room.
The others followed Li Yuer's example and poked a few dumplings.
When it was almost cool, Li Yuer first sucked up the soup through the hole of the chopsticks and then ate the buns.
Others followed suit and were immediately conquered by the deliciousness of the xiaolongbao.
Li Erlang's eyes were full of stars, and he said excitedly: "This is so delicious, how can there be such delicious buns?"
Li Dalang asked in confusion: "They are all made with the same fillings, so why do they taste different just because they are different in size?"
Li Laosan said: "Who said the fillings are the same? Isn't there seaweed jelly in the xiaolongbao?"
"Yeah, why are the buns with seaweed jelly so delicious?"
Guo Qingran thought about it, a look of understanding appeared in his eyes, and he said: "When the seaweed jelly solidifies, chop it into stuffing and wrap it in the buns. When the buns are heated, the seaweed jelly melts and turns into soup, so we have soup dumplings, right, Yu Baoer?"
"Sister Qingran is smart. Yes, that's right. The secret to delicious soup dumplings is the seaweed jelly."
Li Erlang said excitedly: "This soup dumplings are definitely from Xinpu Town, no, it's from Ningzhou Prefecture. Maybe it's the only one in the entire Cangyuan Dynasty. If our family sells soup dumplings in the future, we will make a fortune!"
Even in later times, soup dumplings are still a very famous delicacy. Of course, you can make a fortune by opening a dumpling shop with them.
"So, do you still think there are too many seaweeds?" Li Yuer asked back.
Everyone laughed and shook their heads, "There's no such thing as too much. Maybe it's not enough. We should harvest more seaweed."
While eating the delicious soup dumplings, everyone imagined the scene of the soup dumplings selling like hot cakes.
Li Meir left a plate of steamed dumplings, and when she saw that they were almost cold, she took it to the upper room.
"You guys make them first. I'll send some to Grandma and Uncle to try."
At dinner, Old Man Li and his friends who had just returned from the construction site also got to eat the seaweed buns and soup dumplings as they wished.
Because we didn’t make much the first time, everyone didn’t have enough.
Fortunately, there were meals and cold jellyfish, and everyone ate their fill.
Li Erlang patted his chest and promised that he would definitely bring back more seaweed tomorrow and make more buns, especially xiaolongbao, so that everyone could eat their fill.
When it comes to collecting seaweed, Mr. Cai said, "Leave it to me. I have nothing to do anyway, so I can help with the accounting."
Li Yuer smiled and said, "That's great. What our family lacks most is people like my uncle and cousin who can read and do accounting. You took the initiative to bring them to our door. From now on, the job of collecting seaweed will be left to you."
Of course, he would not let him work for nothing. Li Yuer offered him a salary of one or two taels of silver per month and let Shitou follow him, running errands and doing some physical work.
Mr. Cai naturally refused, but Mrs. Cai made the final decision.
"Brothers should settle accounts clearly. You can't break the rules. You must take what you are supposed to take. I see that you have been in better health recently and your legs and feet are much more nimble. This little job should be no problem for you."
Mr. Cai smiled and nodded, saying, "Doctor Liu's medicine is very effective. After taking it for a while, the half of my body that was originally unable to move has recently regained consciousness, and my legs are not so stiff anymore. I'm afraid my old bones can still work for a few more years and waste a few more years of food."
"Uncle, what nonsense are you talking about?" Li Mei'er pretended to be angry and said, "An old man in the family is like a treasure. You are the backbone of the family, so you will naturally live a hundred years."
Everyone liked to hear this, and Mr. Cai happily ate a few more buns.
He and Mrs. Cai are both old and have bad teeth. They like to eat steamed buns but not pot-sticker buns.
Since Cai Chengping became the accountant of Li's stall, his life has undergone tremendous changes and his mood has become more open.
The Li family’s stall is located in the most prosperous downtown area of South Street. Unlike the shops on the ground, the atmosphere here is more lively.
The streets are bustling with people. After the opening of the sea, there are many more vendors coming and going from all over the country in the market, and a wide variety of goods are on display.
Although Xinpu Town can only attract some mid- and low-end vendors, the variety of goods has greatly enriched people's lives.
The Li family's seafood is clean and delicious, and people line up to buy it every day. However, since the Li family is building a house, a dock and a shop, they are obviously short of manpower.
The ones who set up the stall now are him and Lai Zi regularly. Lai Zi lives in the town, so it is convenient for him to go home. The other two people are not regular. Sometimes it is Shi Tou and Jia Que'er, and sometimes it is two of the three brothers of the Li family.
The busy and fulfilling life helped him quickly recover from his confusion and depression.
Even many of his old customers from the grocery store came here to buy food.
He is very satisfied with his current life. He doesn't have to kowtow to the shopkeeper, nor does he have to worry about gains and losses and be afraid of losing his job.
When you work for your family, as long as you are not greedy, do not covet things that do not belong to you, and do your job well, you should be able to do this job for a long time.
Besides, Brother Yi was growing up, and he needed money to get married and take the imperial examinations. He had just turned thirty, and the Li family's business was much better than that of the grocery store. According to Li Yuer's reward and punishment system, there were many rewards during festivals, which were enough for him to support his family and pay for Brother Yi's studies.
Zhao also joined the shell jewelry business of the women of the Li family and earned more than him. His life finally had hope.