"Boss, we brought the Qingming fruit pattern molds from home, take a look and see if these will work?"
Seeing that Jiang Yu had finished kneading the dough, He Chunxiao came over, opened the plastic bag she was holding, and took out several wooden molds, smiling as she said,
"A few of these molds I borrowed from a neighbor. I thought the patterns looked pretty, so I brought them all."
Jiang Yu didn’t have any particular requirements for the molds; as long as they made beautiful and delicious Qingming fruit, the pattern didn’t matter at all.
He glanced over them casually, then nodded:
"These will do. Using molds will speed things up. But Sister Chunxiao, please wash these molds and scald them with boiling water for disinfection. We’re about to start."
"Alright."
He Chunxiao, not one to dawdle, responded and immediately turned to get to work.
Ma Guoqiang had already washed his hands and eagerly came to Jiang Yu’s side, saying:
"Boss Xiao Jiang, while Xiao He is still washing the molds, why don’t we start making some savory Qingming fruit?"
"Sure, let’s start. The sweet ones are relatively simpler, we can let the others help Sister Chunxiao make them when they arrive."
Jiang Yu nodded, divided the kneaded dough into two parts, took one part, and rolled it into a long strip, then used a knife to cut it into pieces of equal size.
Not lagging behind, Ma Guoqiang took one of the pieces, placed it in his palm, pressed it flat with a forceful clap of his hands, then twirled it around twice, turning it into a round, thin piece of dough.
Afterward, Ma Guoqiang picked up a spoon, dug a spoonful of savory filling from the mixture bowl, placed it in the center of the dough, folded the dough sides up, and after a flurry of dazzling movements, a big, green "dumpling" was done.
By now, Jiang Yu had also finished cutting the dough into pieces. He turned around and saw the Qingming fruit Ma Guoqiang just made, couldn’t help but brighten up, and praised:
"Uncle Ma, you have quite the skills! This Qingming fruit has a thin skin and a plump filling, so appetizing just to look at!"
Ma Guoqiang felt as if he was floating from Jiang Yu’s praise. He chuckled and said:
"Hey, this is how I’ve made a living my whole life. Without some real skills, how could I make it?"
"Impressive. In pastry-making, I really need to learn more from you and Sister Chunxiao."
Jiang Yu smiled at him, pulled over a chair, and started making Qingming fruit as well.
"Boss Xiao Jiang, you’re too modest. Just your soup dumplings alone, even if I learned for another ten years, I might not pull off that taste. And you want to learn from me?"
Ma Guoqiang was still self-aware enough. He shook his head and said with some emotion,
"I’m just old now. If I were as young as Xiaowu or Xiaohu, I’d pester you relentlessly to become my mentor!"
"Oh, please, not at all!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yu quickly waved his hand, laughed, and said, "Uncle Ma, aren’t you teasing me with such talk?"
The two chatted as they worked, not slowing down a bit. Making Qingming fruit was really only complicated in the initial steps, but folding and forming the filling was simpler.
Both Jiang Yu and Ma Guoqiang were masters in pastry-making; whether wrapping buns or dumplings, their speed was unmatched, so making Qingming fruit was no exception.
In just a few words, they already had more than a dozen Qingming fruit in front of them.
Before long, the other chefs in the kitchen arrived one after another. Apart from Lu Shuwu and Jia Zhibin, who were busy with other breakfast items, the rest began helping to make Qingming fruit.
Even though this batch of Qingming fruit was quite large, with so many chefs involved, it was all completed in just one or two hours.
Once the Qingming fruit was ready, Jiang Yu saw that it was almost time, so he placed the sweet and savory Qingming fruit separately in the steamer and began steaming.
Actually, the filling was pre-cooked, and the dough had already been steamed, so Qingming fruit could be eaten directly without steaming. But Jiang Yu considered that the Qingming fruit contained a lot of glutinous rice flour, which might cause indigestion when eaten cold, so he decided to steam them again.
After all, Qingming fruit, warm and steaming in the mouth, both the texture and taste are much better than when eaten cold.
"Lao Jiang, how long does it take to steam before we can eat it?"
Hu Zhihai was undoubtedly the most idle person in the kitchen.
Knowing that the canteen would make Qingming fruit today, he came over early, but unfortunately, he had nothing to do, just standing by smelling the aroma and swallowing his saliva, his patience tested sorely.
Seeing the Qingming fruit going into the steamer, he couldn’t help but approach and say,
"Hey, I haven’t had many Qingming fruits before. My mom can’t make them. The ones I’ve eaten were all brought by classmates from their homes.
This time, I plan to eat more and make up for the ones I missed out on!"
"Whenever you see something tasty, you always say the same thing."
Jiang Yu glanced at him with disdain, curled his lips, and said, "Let’s be honest, you’re just worried you’ll feel embarrassed eating too much!"
Hu Zhihai chuckled when he heard this: "Oh, don’t say that, no such thing!"