Corn Steamed Dumplings
Lin Qiujiao fought back her cravings as she scooped rice onto the side.
Her rice paddle had only moved a couple of times before her eyes uncontrollably drifted back toward the pot, her throat bobbing at the sight of the Steamed Chicken with Mushrooms inside.
It was even harder when she began portioning the chicken into the lunch boxes. It was a true test of willpower!
Once all the chicken was steamed, they began preparing the shredded potatoes.
Ye Daxian truly had a bit of a gift for knife skills. Perhaps it was because he had cut so many potatoes the night before and found his rhythm, but today’s shredded potatoes were a notch thinner than yesterday’s.
Ye Congxi stood by to guide him. "Add oil to the pot. Get it good and hot, then swirl the oil around to coat the pan."
"Can… can I do it?" Yesterday's shredded potatoes had been a failure, so Ye Daxian gripped the handle of the wok tightly, feeling extremely nervous.
Ye Congxi said, "Just give it a try. Do as I say, and if it still doesn't work, we'll just eat it ourselves."
Ye Daxian heated the oil, his gaze already locked onto the prepared aromatics. Just as he was about to toss them in, he heard Ye Congxi say, "Pour the oil out."
"Huh? Aren't we about to stir-fry? Why pour it out?"
"Pour it. Listen to me."
Ye Congxi continued, "Now, add fresh oil… alright, stop, that’s enough. That much oil is plenty for a bowl of shredded potatoes. Too little and it won't be fragrant; too much and it'll be greasy. Get a feel for this amount."
In Chinese cooking, there weren't many hard and fast rules; it all came down to feel, and one got better with practice.
"Now add the chili and garlic," Ye Congxi explained casually. "Heat the pan first, then add the oil. Adding the food to 'cold' oil like this prevents it from sticking."
Ye Daxian had a sudden realization. "Oh! No wonder the bottom scorched yesterday. Those potatoes were stuck so hard I couldn't even flip them."
The hot oil brought out the spiciness of the chili and the fragrance of the garlic. Smelling the aroma, Ye Daxian’s eyes lit up.
Yes, yes, yes, this was the effect he wanted.
As he stir-fried happily, he looked at the flames rising from the gas stove and couldn't help but marvel, "Stir-frying over a high flame really is different. The fire is even blue."
Their wok at home was large, but the honeycomb briquettes were only the size of a bowl’s mouth. The heat they produced was limited to that small area, and it certainly wasn't as satisfying as stir-frying on a gas stove.
Ye Congxi watched the shredded potatoes in the wok. Once the timing was right, she immediately added salt and a splash of vinegar.
A shimmering golden batch of Sour and Spicy Shredded Potatoes was successfully finished.
Today’s new lunch boxes had three compartments.
Lin Qiujiao had already portioned out the rice and the Steamed Chicken with Mushrooms. Next, she spread the shredded potatoes into the other compartment, snapped the lid on neatly, and placed it into the foam box.
The little bit of food remaining wasn't packed. The three of them gathered around the small table and began eating heartily.
The chicken was tender, and the mushrooms were saturated with the savory flavor of the chicken juices. Lin Qiujiao drizzled some sauce over her rice and ate until her lips were glistening with oil.
After finishing their meal, the three of them pulled their cart out to set up the stall.
The moment they arrived at the factory gate, Song Yu was already there waiting expectantly.
She had finished work early today and had been thinking about lunch all morning. She wanted the Steamed Chicken with Mushrooms, yet she also worried about not having Braised Pork Belly to go with her rice.
Seeing Ye Congxi and the others, she hurried over to get her lunch box, picking up her colleague’s portion as well.
Ye Congxi had brought a notebook today. "Do you want to pre-order for tomorrow?"
Song Yu quietly cracked open the lid of her lunch box.
The aroma of the mushroom chicken and the Sour and Spicy Shredded Potatoes wafted out together. The tender, smooth chicken leg meat mixed with dark, glossy mushroom slices emitted an enticing color, garnished with bright green scallions that worked up quite an appetite.
Song Yu took a deep breath of the fragrance and made an immediate decision: "Yes!"
After paying, Song Yu headed back with the lunch boxes.
Coincidentally, her colleague had just finished work, and the two of them went to the cafeteria to find a place to sit.
Song Yu picked up a piece of chicken. The meat was so tender it practically melted in her mouth, falling off the bone with the slightest nudge. The softened mushrooms were full of savory, fresh flavor with every chew.
She then scooped up the sauce from the bottom and drizzled it over her rice.
Although it didn't have the same visual impact as the dark soy-brown of the Braised Pork Belly, the taste wasn't lacking at all. Indeed, someone with good culinary skills could make anything delicious.
Before she had even touched the shredded potatoes, Song Yu had already finished two-thirds of her rice with the mushroom chicken.
The shredded potatoes were also excellent with rice; this amount of rice definitely wouldn't be enough.
Song Yu thought for a moment. She had originally planned to buy a portion of rice from the cafeteria, but remembering that the cafeteria rice tasted mediocre, she decided to buy a Sprite instead.
Once she finished the rice, she could pair the crisp, refreshing Sour and Spicy Shredded Potatoes with the ice-cold Sprite—how satisfying!
Her colleague was also shoveling food into her mouth. "This is so delicious. The chicken sauce is so fragrant, and the seasoning is just right… how did you find this place?"
"It seems they only started setting up in the last couple of days. I’ve already pre-ordered tomorrow’s lunch." Song Yu wasn't interested in anything else now; she just wanted to eat this family's lunch boxes.
Hearing this, her colleague said, "I need to go pre-order too, before they run out."
After finishing their meal, the two walked back outside the factory.
The small stall was already surrounded by a crowd.
There were repeat customers from yesterday, and others who saw the crowd and came over to see what the fuss was about.
They stood on their tiptoes to peer inside, occasionally catching a whiff of the food's aroma. Their interest was piqued instantly, and everyone wanted a taste.
"Give me one! How much?"
"Where are the chopsticks? The chopsticks?"
"Two yuan fifty per portion. Grab your own chopsticks over there." Ye Daxian was so busy his hands could hardly keep up.
These people were swarming as if the food was free—it was quite intimidating!
But since they were buying his goods, in Ye Daxian's eyes, these people all turned into money.
The layers of lunch boxes dwindled. Soon, as the last one was handed out, Ye Daxian wiped away his sweat. "Alright, that's all for today. We're all sold out."
Wu Lin had finished work late today. He finally managed to squeeze through, only to hear the words "all sold out." He felt as if the sky had collapsed.
"You guys made too few." Wu Lin wouldn't give up and peered into the foam box. "Aren't there two boxes left?"
"Those were pre-ordered by someone else." Fearing he would take the portions meant for Grandpa Liu and Zhang Apo, Ye Daxian quickly closed the lid.
Hearing this, Wu Lin asked, "You can pre-order? Then I want to pre-order one too!"
"Sure," Ye Congxi pulled out her small notebook. "It's the same—one meat and one vegetable, two yuan fifty per portion. Give me a name."
Sigh, what a pity it’s 1992. If it were 2025, it would be so much more convenient to just have customers scan WeChat and start a group chat order list.
"Wu Lin." Wu Lin pulled out his money.
Seeing the pre-order information from others in the notebook, he felt a pang of regret. If only he had known sooner that he could pre-order, he wouldn't have missed out on today's lunch box!
After registering, Wu Lin walked away dejectedly and found a random shop to settle for a meal.
As a result, the more he ate, the more tasteless it felt. His mind was entirely fixed on that lunch box.
Lin Qiujiao had just gone to buy soda when Grandpa Liu and Zhang Apo arrived.
Ye Daxian reopened the foam box. "What took you so long? It was so crowded just now, these two portions were almost snatched away! Luckily I protected them with my life, or there wouldn't even be a chicken bone left."
Zhang Apo said, "Old Li next door is moving. We were helping out and only just finished."
Grandpa Liu looked and saw that the foam box was indeed empty. "All sold out? What time did you get here?"
Ye Congxi had checked the time before leaving home. "Eleven o'clock."
Grandpa Liu looked down at his watch. It was only half-past twelve, and they were already sold out?
He knew that with Ye Congxi’s skills, their family business would surely take off, but he hadn't expected it to happen so fast.
Fortunately, he had given the Ye family a gas stove so he could eat this for a month. It was worth it, truly worth it.
Grandpa Liu pulled out five yuan and pre-ordered tomorrow's meal as well.
Ye Congxi called out to Zhang Apo, "Apo, I just heard you say the neighbor is moving out. Is it on the first floor?"
Zhang Apo replied, "No, it's the third floor, the building right next to mine."
Ye Congxi asked, "Is the place vacant now?"
"Yes. This housing was originally allocated by the factory, but a policy came out at the beginning of the year where employees could buy the units. So they bought it. But now their daughter is working Inside the Pass—don't know what she does, she makes a lot of money but she's incredibly busy. She doesn't eat properly and was hospitalized last month. The old couple discussed it and decided to just move over there so they can take care of her." Zhang Apo was puzzled why Ye Congxi was suddenly asking about this.
Their Yongtou Town was Outside the Pass. This area wouldn't start developing rapidly until after the millennium.
Currently, in Pengcheng, there was still the saying: "Outside the Pass is Africa, Inside the Pass is Europe."
Ye Congxi asked, "Are they planning to rent the place out?"
Zhang Apo hadn't expected this to be her plan. "You want to rent? Alright, I'll give them a call later and ask for you."
Ye Congxi smiled and nodded. "Then I'll have to trouble you."
Zhang Apo took another long look at Ye Congxi.
This child had become much more sensible ever since her father's trip to the Police Station.
Lin Qiujiao returned carrying three bottles of orange soda. The three of them sat under the large banyan tree to finish them before heading home.
Ye Congxi was in the habit of taking a twenty-minute nap at noon.
When she woke up and went outside to splash some water on her face, she saw Ye Daxian pushing his bicycle. "Dad, where are you going?"
Ye Daxian said, "I'm going to buy potatoes. Shall we go set up the stall again tonight?"
Ye Congxi nodded. "Sure."
The morning was a prime time for studying. Ye Congxi had already decided—she wouldn't do breakfast for now, only lunch and late-night snacks.
She needed to pay back those three hundred yuan first.
If they really could rent Zhang Apo’s neighbor’s place, the rent would be another expense.
Money was needed everywhere.
Before leaving, Ye Daxian asked again, "What do you want for dinner? More potato pancakes?"
Ye Congxi had smelled the scent of frying potato pancakes all night yesterday, so she wasn't very interested. "Anything is fine, as long as it's not fried."
Not long after, Ye Daxian rode back.
"I bought corn and pork. Let's wrap dumplings tonight. Take a look at this meat and corn, what do you think?"
He had learned how to pick corn from the old lady next door. After peeling the husks to check, the two ears he brought back had tight, plump kernels that were so beautiful they almost glowed.
As for the pork, he had told the stall owner directly to pick the best meat for dumplings, otherwise, he’d come back to settle the score.
The stall owner, seeing his shock of yellow hair, had quickly given him the best cut of meat.
"It looks good," Ye Congxi nodded.
Ye Daxian was still grinning when he suddenly slapped his forehead. "Oh no, I forgot to buy dumpling wrappers."
Ye Congxi said, "Dad, just go buy some flour nearby. We'll make the wrappers ourselves."
It wasn't until her father returned with the flour that Ye Congxi realized they didn't even have a rolling pin at home.
In the end, she simply took an empty soy sauce bottle, washed it clean, and began rolling.
Lin Qiujiao was shucking the corn while Ye Daxian was mincing the meat.
Once Ye Congxi seasoned the meat filling, the family of three gathered to wrap them.
The dumplings Ye Congxi wrapped were plump and beautifully shaped, while the ones her father and mother wrapped were messy and crooked.
Ye Congxi laughed and took their dumplings. "Let me pinch them for you, or they'll all fall apart once they hit the pot."
Ye Daxian said, "Mine are pinched very tight. The ones that are going to fall apart are the ones your mother wrapped."
Lin Qiujiao wouldn't admit it. "Nonsense. Xiaoxi's are the prettiest, mine are second, and yours are the ugliest."
Ye Congxi smiled and arranged the dumplings on the steamer tray.
Once steamed, the dumpling wrappers became incredibly thin and taut. The plump bellies of the dumplings were stretched into delicious-looking translucent folds by the filling, clear enough to see the texture of the pork and the grains of corn.
The three of them used their chopsticks to pick one up. The fragrance of the filling was mouthwatering. The sweetness of the corn and the freshness of the pork mingled together, and biting into one released a burst of hot meat juice.
Ye Daxian was eating so fast that he had to quickly pucker his lips to catch the juice, lest it drip down.
After finishing the dumplings, it was five o'clock. Ye Congxi went back to her room to study, and Ye Daxian began peeling potatoes.
He sliced enough to fill three large basins today.
As soon as they set up the stall, someone approached.
"I was just wondering if you guys were going to be here today!"
"The potato pancakes I had yesterday were so fragrant, I'm back for more today."
A line gradually began to form in the crowd.
As the crowd grew, Ye Daxian became so busy his head was spinning. In his fluster, he couldn't keep up, so Ye Congxi stepped in to help.
She fried the potato pancakes, sprinkled them with chili powder, and handed them out.
The customer took a bite, and their eyes lit up. Today’s potato pancakes were even better than yesterday’s!
Grandpa Liu strolled over and ordered two potato pancakes. He said to Ye Congxi, "By the way, Zhang Apo asked me to tell you that the family is indeed planning to rent out the apartment. She said if you want it, find a time to go and talk with them."
Lin Qiujiao and Ye Daxian both leaned in, looking a bit dazed. "Rent? Talk about what rent?"