Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 138 - 118: Manners, Mind Your Manners!

The outer layer of unknown potato chips alone is so delicious, she could hardly imagine how tasty this dumpling must be.

As the most famous food from Great Xia, dumplings are known by most city dwellers, and frozen dumplings are even sold in foreign supermarkets. It's only those who live in rural small towns who might not have a concept of them.

She naturally had eaten many dumplings before, including Great Xia fried dumplings, Japanese fried dumplings, and Korean fried dumplings. The latter two are, in her view, almost like fried dumplings. Only the dumplings from Great Xia, the origin of dumplings, were the most delicious.

But the kind in front of her was entirely new, something she'd never seen before.

She wasn't foolish; she blew lightly into the small skylight a couple of times and carefully bit a hole in the corner.

The dumpling skin was strong, with noticeable hardness, similar in texture to the hardness of pasta, and the bottom was pan-fried to a golden, crispy finish.

Before she could savor the texture of the dumpling skin, a hot, savory broth quietly flowed into her mouth through the notch, making her shiver from head to toe.

Fortunately, she had smartly blown a few times into it earlier, and the temperature had just reached the limit she could bear. Just a few more degrees, and she felt as if the lining of her mouth and her tongue would swell.

The broth was incredibly savory, more so than any rich soup she's ever had, mixed with the aroma of meat, oil, and seafood, with a faint chicken broth flavor it seemed.

After swallowing a mouthful of broth, she tilted her head back in a lingering manner and sucked hard, actually managing to suck out a bit more broth.

The few foreigners nearby were still gnawing on the crispy ice flower shell. Seeing her actions, they all became cautious as well, afraid of getting burned.

Elise, who usually didn't have the habit of eating breakfast, clearly felt a warm flow continuously moving down her throat into her stomach after drinking the savory broth, making her feel warm all over and opening up her appetite.

With the "broth assassin" gone, the remaining filling posed no threat.

She had been craving those two plump shrimp for a long time!

She opened her mouth, loosened her jawbone, and took a couple of bites of the huge pot sticker, before finally stuffing the whole thing into her mouth.

As her teeth sank in, the springy and firm black tiger shrimp meat resisted the intrusion like a spring but ultimately couldn't withstand the force and was neatly cut in half.

The unique texture of fresh shrimp was immediately recognizable, neither floury nor dry, full of chewiness, almost as if it still had a hint of vitality jumping around in the mouth.

Her teeth continued to meet the soft meat filling.

In stark contrast to the springy shrimp, the meat filling had almost no elasticity, like hamburger meat cooked in broth, with every gap filled with juice, which melted with a gentle press of the tongue.

The unique sweetness of several vegetables had long been mixed into the juice, the sweet freshness of carrots, the fragrant aroma of chives, combined with the crispness of celery and the tenderness of minced meat.

Several completely different textures and flavors intertwined and merged, combined with the crispy feeling of the pot sticker bottom and the chewiness of the top part, forming a perfect balance.

Summarizing in her mind for a long time, Elise only came up with two words:

Delicious!

The original fried dumplings were already so good; imagine if they were paired with these two sauces beside them, how good they would taste!

She had experienced the power of this spicy sauce, especially mixed with garlic paste and used to dress noodles; it was utterly delicious, as evidenced by the two portions of noodles she practically inhaled yesterday.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel gratitude towards her good colleague, Vanessa.

Luckily, that woman liked to take advantage of little things, preferring expensive foods, nearly finishing all the seafood while not touching the noodles at all.

Otherwise, she really wouldn't have had her fill.

Today's sauce might not have the addition of garlic paste, which surely made it much spicier, but isn't there vinegar to cut the spice? Vinegar can certainly neutralize the heat to some extent.

She straightforwardly poured both vinegar and spicy sauce into the box, giving it a simple stir, then picked up a pot sticker and dipped it into the spicy sauce, letting the bottom soak up the red chili oil.

The originally golden brown ice flower now soaked with red oil looked increasingly enticing, and just by looking, she could feel the spiciness.

"Crack"

Once again, she made an opening on the side of the pot sticker, sucking out the delicious broth inside.

"Hmm?!"

The sourness of Chen vinegar came suddenly like a tsunami, catching her completely off guard.

Before she could react, the hot butter base launched a charge, spreading the rich butter aroma in her mouth first, before the spicy flavor began to emerge.

In just two or three seconds, she felt her tongue tip and lips starting to feel numb and tremble.

This level definitely surpassed yesterday by a considerable margin.

"Whew..."

Being already spicy, coupled with the piping hot meat broth made it even spicier, instinctively sucking in cold air.

"Whew ha... whew... ha..."

"Not spicy... really not spicy... whew..."

She looked around, hey, everyone was the same, cheeks flushed, sweaty foreheads, constantly sucking in cold air.

Instantly, her heart felt a lot more balanced.

Especially the guy who had previously boasted about wanting to try the normal spicy level of Great Xia, his whole face red like he'd been drinking, beads of sweat visibly dripping down from his forehead.

"Come, sweet iced soybean milk, 2 Euros a cup, perfect for cooling down and cutting the spice~"

Lucas saw his opportunity, unloading two boxes of soybean milk and loads of ice from the dining cart, filling one 500ml drink cup after another.

A box of soybean milk is only 1 liter, meaning two cups, making this price quite a bargain.

Previously, selling oysters made money off cola, but selling pot stickers today made money off the dumplings.

A single pot sticker selling for 3 Euros was a steal considering its size and the delicate craftsmanship. Just the two peeled and deveined black tiger shrimp gave diners a sense of value for money.

Actually, subtracting the labor and utilities costs, the cost per piece was just a few cents, leaving all the rest as profit.

In the foreigners' perspective, labor cost is the most expensive.

But in the eyes of Great Xia People... that's hands-on entrepreneurship and building wealth through sweat and toil!

"Quick, get me a cup!"

"I want one too, the colder the better!"

In the blink of an eye, six cups of iced soybean milk got sold, and even those who hadn't yet had their turn to buy went ahead with preparations.

"Ha~ refreshing!"

"It's so satisfying drinking iced soybean milk. It's sweet, smooth, and cuts the spice."

"With this stuff on hand, I feel like I can eat five more!"

"No wonder they say if you want to eat the food of a particular country, you must eat what the locals make themselves. I've finally realized why—this dumpling is definitely the best I've had in my life!"

The group, with a bite of pot sticker and a sip of iced soybean milk, stood near the window to shelter from the rain, only half a meter away from the queue, making those waiting feel a kind of torture, wishing they could take a knife to those damned guys.

If you're going to enjoy, just enjoy without all the commentary, can't they keep their mouths shut?

Within this short time, Elise had already savored three pot stickers.

Glancing at the stovetop where steam was rising from the frying pan, her eyes turned slyly as she quietly moved to the side, made a circle around the railing, re-entered through the entrance, and queued behind Gray.

The rest were too busy stuffing their faces and didn't notice any change around them.

Not until the fastest eater stuffed the last pot sticker into his mouth and, while enjoying the simultaneous crispy and juicy sensations, opened his eyes to see the empty brown paper box, clearly unsated.

Looking up.

He spotted the sexy, sun-kissed front desk girl with curly hair standing at the rear of the queue, munching pot stickers, greasy all around her mouth.

"?"

He was stunned for two seconds, turning his gaze to Lin Chen, who had just lifted the pot lid, and the golden crispy pot stickers inside the pan, his expression drastically changed.

No time to waste, he slipped aside the barrier and squeezed in, standing behind Elise.

The head chef was right; this dish was best eaten fresh out of the pan, the flavor wasn't nearly as stunning when slightly cooler.

His actions instantly alerted the other diners. They seemed to realize something, their expressions changing on the spot.

Bending over here, leaping over there, all squeezing towards the queue, not a single one taking the long way from the entrance.

Gray couldn't bear to watch anymore and shouted, "Hey! Mind your manners, guys, show some manners!"