The dinner that Feng Yifan prepared for his family was still very exquisite, and the dishes were also very rich.
Feng Yifan prepares every dish with great care.
Especially today, in order to reward his three lovely daughters for the paintings they drew for him, Feng Yifan specially made very delicate goldfish steamed dumplings for his three daughters, and paired them with a bowl of very delicious crepe wontons for each of them.
Goldfish steamed dumplings are made to look like goldfish. Because the dumpling skin has been boiled, the dumplings appear slightly transparent. Minced ham is used to decorate the goldfish's eyes, and a little bit of pumpkin puree is added to the tail for color.
The steamed goldfish dumplings look as pretty as fresh little goldfish.
As for the crepe wontons, the key lies in the wonton wrapper, which must be very thin.
Therefore, Feng Yifan makes all the leather completely by hand.
Use medium-gluten flour to make wonton wrappers, add a little bit of salt, then add egg white, and finally add room temperature water to knead the dough.
Make sure the dough is kneaded until it is smooth enough, then shape it, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
The filling is made of pork and shrimp.
Feng Yifan does not add any MSG or chicken essence to the wonton filling. He only adds salt, sugar and pepper, and adds scallion and ginger water in small amounts several times, and then beats the pork in one direction to make it sticky and firm.
Beat the pork filling, then mix in the diced shrimp, and finally add a little sesame oil.
The filling is actually not complicated, and is not much different from the filling of large or small wontons.
Perhaps the only difference of Feng Yifan is that his wonton fillings do not contain MSG, chicken essence or the like.
The key to crepe wontons lies in the very thin wonton wrapper.
After mixing the filling, the dough has been left to rest, and then Feng Yifan starts to roll out the dough.
The rolling of the wonton wrapper is also very sophisticated. The dough needs to be rolled out slowly and thinner over and over again. The final large piece of dough is so thin that it is almost transparent, and you can even see the words on the book underneath through the wonton wrapper.
Then cut the wonton wrapper into small square pieces.
Feng Yifan rolled out a lot of dough, and let his apprentice watch the whole process.
After the skin was ready, he said to Lin Ruifeng, "Did you see that? We are selling this crepe wonton tonight. You can also sell this in the evening in the future."
Lin Ruifeng couldn't help but feel a little strange: "Why do you only sell more at night, Master?"
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Because the children are all out of school at night, if we sell more wontons, we can attract more children to eat."
Hearing what his master said, Lin Ruifeng suddenly understood.
Feng Yifan went on to say, "Also, you can reduce the amount of roast meat at night, or even not sell it if you are too busy. It is better to eat lighter at night."
Lin Ruifeng was really surprised that his master would think of not selling those roasted meats.
Seeing his apprentice's surprised expression, Feng Yifan smiled and said, "We don't specialize in selling roast goose, roast duck, and roast meat. Those are meant to be paired with fried rice and noodles. We also sell wontons in the evening, so there's no need to add those greasy things."
Lin Ruifeng had to admit that his master was really willful. He just did whatever he wanted.
Feng Yifan has actually taught his apprentices how to make wontons many times, and today he taught it again.
"How about the crepe wonton wrapper? Put the wrapper on the palm of your hand first? Then apply the filling like this, and then press inward with your middle finger? Then press inward with the side of the filling spreader, and then squeeze it like this, and that's it? A wonton is ready like this."
Feng Yifan slowed down and demonstrated two more moves to his apprentice, and then asked the apprentice to start doing it himself.
At the beginning, Lin Ruifeng was indeed not very good at wrapping, but he gradually mastered the trick.
Although Lin Ruifeng is not as skilled as Feng Yifan, who can't just hold it in his hand and do it, he can gradually wrap it well.
Feng Yifan wrapped a part of it and asked his apprentice to continue wrapping it slowly while he steamed goldfish dumplings for the children.
Of course, we also have to prepare a few side dishes for everyone. After all, besides the children, there are other adults who also need to eat.
As for side dishes, Feng Yifan kept it relatively simple and just stir-fried a few exquisite vegetarian dishes.
Then added two meat dishes that were not so strong in flavor? Also prepared some shredded pork with mustard greens for my father and father-in-law to drink with a little wine.
The preparations here were almost done, and the apprentice had also wrapped a lot of small wontons. Then Feng Yifan took the steamed dumplings out of the pot first, and then started to cook the small wontons.
Also prepare a few bowls, put salt, pepper, a little bit of lard, small shrimp skins, and seaweed in the bowls, and pour in chicken soup to dissolve all of these.
Finally, put the cooked wontons into a bowl, add some shredded egg skin, drizzle with a little sesame oil, and sprinkle with chopped green onions. Then a bowl of wontons is ready.
Everything was ready, and Feng Yifan and his apprentice walked out of the kitchen carrying trays.
The people waiting in the restaurant saw the master and apprentice bringing out the trays, and they were all very excited.
Seeing Feng Yifan giving everyone a bowl of wontons, Yang Zhiyi smiled and said, "I thought there was going to be some big dinner tonight, but it turns out it's just wontons?"
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "There are some side dishes. We should eat something light at night."
Wen Hong immediately said, "That's right, Yifan is right. We can't eat too much at night. This is actually quite good."
At this time, Su Jinrong smiled and said, "Xixi's father, you have to be serious and take a look."
Yang Zhiyi felt a little strange, but he still lowered his head and took a careful look at the wontons in the bowl.
After scooping up a wonton with a spoon, he immediately noticed the difference: "Wow, the skin of this wonton is so thin? And the filling inside is really full."
Chen Shoulin also looked at it carefully and said, "This should be crepe wonton, right?"
Feng Yifan smiled and nodded: "Yes, crepe wontons, I plan to sell more of these at the stall in the evening and reduce the amount of roast goose, roast goose and barbecued pork."
This idea was unanimously approved by everyone, and everyone felt that this arrangement was very good.
Lu Cuiling immediately thought that there would be more children at night: "At night, there will definitely be more children in kindergarten or nearby schools. These wontons are the most suitable for children."
Xixi and Feifei's grandmothers also agreed.
Su Ruoxi said to Lin Ruifeng, "Xiao Lin, it looks like you have one more thing to learn from your master. I'm afraid it's not easy to make these wontons, right?"
Shen Qingluo looked at the wonton on the spoon and said, "This wonton wrapper is really thin. You can't buy wrappers this thin anywhere else, right?"
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "You can actually buy them, but the wonton wrappers made by machines don't have the warmth of handmade wrappers."
Shen Qingluo looked at Lin Ruifeng and asked, "Then can you make this leather?"
Lin Ruifeng said a little embarrassedly: "I, I will try my best to learn from Master."
Feng Yifan said: "It doesn't matter, this skin is not difficult to make, it just may require some patience and time. Ruifeng has the most patience, so it should be possible to do it."
Seeing the adults talking endlessly, the three little girls couldn't wait any longer.
Feng Ruoruo waved her little hand and said, "Hey, Dad, we have to eat."
Yang Xiaoxi also said: "Yes, can we still eat?"
Chen Yaofei said softly: "We are all hungry."
Feng Yifan said quickly, "Okay, let's eat quickly. You three can eat slowly. It might be a little hot. I'll go get some food from the kitchen, and some steamed dumplings specially made for you three."
Feng Yifan hurried back to the kitchen and quickly brought the remaining dishes and steamed dumplings, as well as a pot of wine.
"Come on, today is the first day Ruifeng and I set up our stall, and it was quite successful. Let's each have a glass of wine to celebrate."
The wine is Wang Cuifeng's rice wine, which is not a very strong wine, so it's okay to just drink a small glass.
Feng Yifan poured a glass for everyone, then raised his glass and said, "Thank you all for your support. I wish my and Ruifeng's snack stand will be a booming business."
Suddenly everyone raised their glasses, even the three little girls raised the juice they had prepared.
After everyone had a drink together, they sat down to have dinner.
Because I still have to set up the stall, I naturally can't eat dinner for too long.
What surprised Feng Ruoruo, Yang Xiaoxi and Chen Yaofei was, of course, their steamed dumplings. The steamed dumplings that looked like little goldfish really made the three little girls love them.
Even Shen Qingluo looked on with envy.
"They are so beautiful. I didn't expect my uncle could make such beautiful dumplings."
Feng Yifan smiled and said to the children, "Can you give one to Sister Shen?"
The three little girls naturally agreed immediately. There happened to be four goldfish dumplings, so the children gave one to Sister Shen.
Of course, in addition to goldfish steamed dumplings, there are other crescent-shaped steamed dumplings, but they don’t look as good as goldfish steamed dumplings.
The three little girls held the goldfish steamed dumplings and played with them in their hands for a long time, and were reluctant to eat them.
Su Ruoxi saw it and said with a smile: "Okay, this is food, stop playing and eat it quickly. If you like it, you can ask Father Feng to make it for you later."
Feng Yifan also agreed: "Okay, we will do it again in the future, you guys eat quickly."
Only after Feng Yifan agreed to make it again did the three little girls finally start eating.
The dinner did not take long, and the dishes prepared by Feng Yifan were relatively simple, so everyone finished dinner quickly.
Afterwards, a large group of people helped carry the various ingredients for the evening stall and walked towards the small market where the stall was set up.
The three little girls, Feng Ruoruo, Yang Xiaoxi and Chen Yaofei, each held a small basket in their hands, which contained a few things that Feng Yifan would need for his stall in the evening.
In this way, the three little girls felt that they were useful and were very happy.
Although the journey was not long, the three little girls carrying small baskets with their little faces raised all the way looked like they were walking with the wind, which was very interesting.
The group arrived at the stall in the small market. It was still bright outside, and there were more people setting up stalls in the market at night.
Some of the snack shops do not do business at noon and only set up stalls in the evening.
The one that is almost as famous as Su Ji’s may be the sesame seed cake shop that was originally located on the west street.
The shop is also a small storefront on the ancient street. It is not a very big shop, and it only sells sesame cakes, which are the special grass-oven sesame cakes.
Perhaps Caolu Shaobing can be regarded as one of the earliest sesame cakes in China.
Because the stove used to bake the sesame cakes is burned with grass and wood, they are called grass stove sesame cakes.
This Caolu Shaobing shop on the ancient street is also a very old shop.
Perhaps there is only one such Caolu Shaobing restaurant in the whole Huaicheng now.
In the past, the sesame cake shop was on the west street, not next to Su Ji, or even to other snack shops on the ancient street, so there wasn’t much overlap between them.
Now that they have set up stalls, everyone has set up their stalls together.
As the sesame cakes come out of the oven one by one, they really make people want to eat them.
Feng Yifan looked at the pancake and asked Yang Zhiyi and his apprentice with a smile: "Do you know how to eat this grass oven pancake in the best way?"
This question stumped both Yang Zhiyi and Lin Ruifeng.
Yang Zhiyi looked at the round sesame cakes, racked his brains for a long time, and could only shake his head: "I really haven't studied it, but his sesame cakes are indeed famous. I bought one once before, and it was really good, but it tasted a little dry."
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Of course it will dry up, because you are not eating it in the right way."
Lin Ruifeng then asked: "Then Master, how should we eat it?"
Feng Yifan replied: "The simplest way to eat it is to soak the sesame cake in chicken soup. It tastes absolutely first-rate."
Lin Ruifeng suddenly understood, but Yang Zhiyi carefully looked at the other stall and said, "But, it seems that they only sell sesame cakes? There is no chicken soup to go with it?"
Feng Yifan smiled and said to his apprentice: "So this is your business opportunity."
Lin Ruifeng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Oh, Master, you mean we can still sell chicken soup in the future?"
Yang Zhiyi immediately said, "You are so stupid, your master meant that you can use that sesame seed cake with your crepe wontons. Isn't there chicken soup in your wonton bowls?"
Feng Yifan smiled and nodded: "As expected, Xixi's father is more experienced."
The three little girls were listening nearby. When Yang Xiaoxi heard her father being praised, she immediately smiled and said, "Uncle Xiaolin, you are not as good as my father. You need to work harder."
Feng Ruoruo and Chen Yaofei also cheered for Uncle Xiaolin.
Shen Qingluo saw the three girls cheering for Lin Ruifeng, and said to him with a smile: "You are still too young, so the old ones are still the best. You should learn more from Master and Uncle Yang."
Yang Zhiyi was a little proud at first, but then he heard Shen Qingluo call him "Uncle Yang".
He looked at Lin Ruifeng and Shen Qingluo again and couldn't help but say, "Ahem, why don't you just stop calling me uncle? You two can just call me Brother Yang. Calling me uncle always feels weird to me."
Feng Yifan couldn't help but ask, "Does that mean my daughter, Xixi, and Feifei should all call you Brother Yang?"
When Yang Zhiyi was asked this question, he immediately reacted: "Ah, then just call me Uncle Yang."
This sentence caused a burst of laughter from everyone, and the laughter also attracted many stall owners to look over. Then everyone greeted Feng Yifan and then they were busy preparing.
Feng Yifan was not in a hurry to open the stall. Instead, he specially prepared a bowl of wontons for Zhao Daxia who was guarding the stall, and also personally cooked a bowl of rice for Zhao Daxia.
Handing it to Zhao Daxia, Feng Yifan said sincerely, "Sister Zhao, you have worked so hard. You eat first. Ruifeng and I will prepare before business starts."
Zhao Daxia took the fried rice and wontons, smiled and said, "Okay, thank you, boss."
Su Ruoxi ran over and bought two grass-fired sesame cakes. She handed them to Zhao Daxia and said, "Sister, this is definitely not enough. Yifan just said that this sesame cake tastes best when soaked in chicken soup. Your bowl of wontons is chicken soup. Please help us taste it and see if the way Yifan said is good."
Zhao Daxia took the pancake and said a little embarrassedly: "I'm so sorry, I'm a country boy and I have a big appetite."
Feng Yifan said quickly, "I was negligent. Are these two sesame cakes enough for you, elder sister? If not, ask Ruoxi to buy you a few more."
Zhao Daxia quickly said, "That's enough, that's just right. I'll try the way you said to eat it and see how it tastes."