Chapter 404: Chapter 316: Simultaneously Rolling Ten Wrappers, Masterful Skills!

Fresh pigskin needs to have excess fat scraped off the surface; it can either be scraped raw or blanched before scraping, whatever is convenient.

The scraped pigskin becomes much thinner than normal, and any remaining fat must be trimmed away.

What’s left is all collagen, with not a bit of fat, ensuring the resulting broth is not greasy.

The steps for making the broth are simple: clear water and pigskin, a few peppercorns, ginger slices, and scallion knots to remove the smell, with a bit of cooking wine if you like, provided it has no flavor that would affect the taste of the broth; if unavailable, leave it out.

Bring to a boil over high heat for ten minutes to fully extract the collagen from the pigskin, forming a light milky broth, then lower to medium heat and simmer for twenty minutes.

After simmering, place the pigskin and broth into a blender to break it up, then strain it with muslin to get a rich, flavorful pigskin jelly soup.

Add a little salt and chicken essence for flavor, then chill and set in a quick cooler.

The principle of the quick cooler is similar to a refrigerator, but it has a smaller space, faster cooling, and comes with a fan circulation system.

The process originally requiring an hour in the fridge is shortened to five minutes in the quick cooler.

However, Zhao Shun estimates that given the cooling power of the freezer here, it might solidify in thirty minutes. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

It’s so cold in there that thinking about it makes you shiver.

Once the pigskin jelly is chilling, he immediately begins working on rolling out dough skins.

With hundreds to feed, each needing at least five dumplings, he has to prepare at least two thousand skins, getting ahead before setting up the stall helps.

Fortunately, he only needs to make them; selling is handled by Dais and Elsa, making things much lighter, allowing them to make and sell at the same time.

It’s nearing half-past five now, with another hour and a half before setting up the stall.

This means he needs to prepare at least a thousand skins in an hour and a half and some dumplings ready to steam before opening.

However he calculates it, he doesn’t see how he could complete this task alone, so he calls Old Chen for help.

The preparation for the crested dumpling is simpler, with the filling mixed and dough divided, the rest requires no attention.

They must be fried and eaten fresh to be tasty, with no chance of re-frying and no advance preparation possible.

"Old Chen, after you finish the filling, come help me roll out skins!"

"Alright~"

Under Daniel’s intrigued gaze, Zhao Shun pulls out a huge mound of dough from the nearby box and slams it onto the table, creating a dull ’thud’ that makes the entire metal workbench tremble slightly.

The plastic scraper slides through casually, and with just a few gestures, the dough is rolled into fine long strips.

He grabs one end of the dough, seemingly casually pinching little portions and tossing them onto the board.

At first, it seems nothing, but as the number of dough pieces increases, Daniel’s entertained smile slowly fades, replaced by disbelief.

Why do these little dough balls all look about the same size?

Can casual pinching be so precise?

As if to confirm his thoughts, Zhao Shun quickly pinches through an entire strip of dough, grabs several dough pieces and weighs them on the kitchen scale, each weighing between ten and eleven grams, definitely not less than ten grams.

He nods in satisfaction, muttering, "Glad the skills aren’t slipping; feels like I haven’t done this for half a year."

"What’s this, the dumplings?"

Old Chen, just arriving, glances at the dough pieces on the table, looking surprised as he also notices their nearly identical size.

Even he can’t guarantee pinching as precisely despite his ten years of experience as a seasoned cook.

This 22-year-old lad’s skills surpass his?

However, Old Chen, good-natured, knows dough is Zhao Shun’s forte while others barely his strength; they complement each other.

He dusts his hands with flour and grabs a handful of dough pieces before him, sprinkling flour on the table.

Pinching the dough piece with his left thumb, he lightly flattens it; with a push and pull of the rolling pin in his right hand, his left fingers subtly vibrate as the dough piece obediently spins in his hand.

In a few blinks, chubby little dough balls transform into thin, circular skins like cicada wings.

"Is this thickness alright? Might it be too thin?"

He seldom makes dumplings, usually learning from others, only occasionally when the kids are home.

He’s never made soup dumplings, though he’s eaten them a few times, so he’s uncertain.

Zhao Shun glances at the skin in his hand, nodding, "Around the edge can be thinner, the center is about right, just apply pressure at the start while rolling, then ease off, no special techniques."

With seasoned restaurateurs, some things click immediately.

When Old Chen rolls out the second skin, the edge is almost translucent, needing careful handling lest it tears.

"Okay, this standard," Zhao Shun nods in satisfaction, glancing at the wall clock, "Speed up; we need a thousand skins rolled by half-past six, leaving half an hour to wrap."

Saying this, he grabs a handful of flour and liberally sprinkles it over the dough pieces, raising his palm to flatten them all.

Front and back sides coat in flour to avoid sticking before grabbing five skins into his palm, rolling back and forth with the rolling pin.

In three seconds flat, five evenly thick round skins are tossed aside.

"????"

Daniel is dumbfounded, his eyes wide.

"What kind of magical technique is this?"

"Huh? I don’t understand~"

Zhao Shun blinked and shrugged, "Go play somewhere else, buddy, I don’t have time for you right now~"

Old Chen was also stunned by his amazing skill, his mouth slightly open, and before he could say anything, Zhao Shun picked up another handful of dough skins.

This time, there were clearly many more than last time, stacked up to almost the width of a tiger’s mouth.

"My goodness, Xiao Zhao, how many skins can you roll at once?"

"My record is ten sheets. It’s nothing special~"

There wasn’t a hint of boastfulness on Zhao Shun’s face, as if he were talking about the most ordinary thing.

"That’s already on the low side, once you know how to roll one skin, it’s just a matter of practice and perseverance to add more."

"My master is the real deal, he can make eighteen dumpling skins in three seconds without using a rolling pin! We’ve been learning for years, and none of us apprentices have managed to learn it."

"E...eighteen dumpling skins by hand??"

"Yeah, but the skin for soup dumplings is much thinner than for dumplings, that method wouldn’t work, I can’t use it even if I knew how, better stick with the rolling pin."

Zhao Shun’s speed was incredibly fast, at least ten times faster than Chen Dongliang’s, theoretically making his skin rolling the most efficient.

But the issue lay in pinching the dough balls.

What looked like a simple technique actually required deep experience.

Whether for bun or dumpling skins, to roll them round, you need to pay extra attention when the dough is in long strips.

Typically, you cut the dough once, then rotate it ninety degrees, ensuring the cutting edges stay consistent.

This way, the cut dough balls are almost round with a little kneading, then you flip them, press down with your palm, and roll them flat.

If you don’t flip it, the skin will come out irregular, a step where beginners often fail.

If you want each soup dumpling to have a consistent size and thickness, the weight of each dough ball must be the same.

Relying solely on feel to control the dough ball’s weight requires significant experience, taking years of practice.

The pinching technique is crucial, too; otherwise, the dough will deform and won’t be round.

He didn’t believe that Old Chen, who couldn’t even roll multiple skins, could replace him in pinching dough balls.

So he had to do it himself, pinching first, then helping to roll the skins, no other way around it.

Daniel knew he couldn’t communicate normally with these two, so he closed his mouth and took out his phone to film Zhao Shun’s amazing dough skin rolling technique.

He dared to bet that this video would definitely be brag-worthy!

Didn’t you see how even their own people were mesmerized?

It’s exactly six o’clock.

When Lin Chen walked into the kitchen, neatly dressed and full of energy, he wasn’t greeted by the orderly kitchen he imagined, but by a crowd of amazed onlookers.

Not only them, but even Jonathan, who was busy nearby, frequently turned his head with a look of amazement.

"What’s going on??"

Lin Chen was a bit bewildered.

Thinking back, wasn’t the breakfast supposed to be soup dumplings and chicken crown dumplings?

Those two foods, they didn’t seem that special, right?

The chicken crown dumpling might have some novelty, but he had made buns before, hadn’t he?

He didn’t speak, quietly slipping behind Lucinda, and tiptoed to peek inside.

Seeming to sense someone behind her, Lucinda instinctively turned around.

"Shh."

Lin Chen put a finger to his lips, "What are you guys watching?"

"Good morning chef! The new hire you brought in is amazing, they can make ten bun skins at once!"

"Ah~ so you’re watching him roll... how many???"

Hearing Lucinda call "chef," Helena, Dais Elsa, and the others stepped aside, making a path.

Lin Chen quickly squeezed in, staring unblinkingly at Zhao Shun’s movements.

Seeing really is believing. What a surprise.

"Wow, pinching dough balls that fast, and almost identical in size, rolling ten skins at once, done in three seconds... and this is just the level of an apprentice?"

He opened his mouth, suddenly feeling a bit inadequate.

Compared to him, what had he been doing all this time?

Fortunately, he hadn’t said he would join in, otherwise after seeing his dough-rolling skills, they’d secretly laugh at him for sure!