The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The landlady heard that he wanted quite a lot. If he ate in the store, she couldn't give him so many eggs and wheat flour: "This is not a small amount."

Min Xi said, "I bought it from you. How much is it?"

"Give me 2 pence." The landlady said after a moment's hesitation. In fact, staying in their shop for one night only cost 7 pence, and two meals were included.

Min Xi scooped out two bowls of wheat flour and said, "The flour may be a bit much. I'll give you 3 pence. We'll need some oil and salt later."

"Okay." The landlady did not refuse. She took the money and looked at Min Xi with some confusion. Why did he have to cook it himself when there was ready-made food?

Min Xi scooped up some water and kneaded the dough. Yun Ji washed the shallots and said to Min Xi, "Let me knead it?"

Min Xi shook his head: "I'll do it. Dry the leeks and beat the eggs and fry them."

"Okay." This was not a difficult task for Yun Ji, as he often cooked their own meals.

Yunji fried and mashed the eggs, drained the leeks, chopped them up, mixed them with the eggs, added salt and a little oil, and mixed well. The dumpling filling was ready.

Min Xi had also kneaded the dough and had started rolling out the dumpling wrappers.

While the landlady was stirring the vegetable soup, she watched them knead the dough into balls like magic, roll it into small pieces, and then turn it into plump little white balls with lace edges.

"Is this the way you eat it in China?" asked the landlady.

"Yes, it's called dumplings. You can try it later." Min Xi said while making dumplings.

The landlady was somewhat impressed by the two Chinese men. Although they were young, they were able to work skillfully in the kitchen, which was better than British men.

Soon, Min Xi and Yun Ji finished wrapping the dumplings. With nearly two pounds of flour, they made eighty or ninety dumplings. They were all quite large, except for the lack of eggs.

Min Xi glanced at the unused frying pan next to him and said to the landlady, "Can I borrow your frying pan?"

The landlady was trying to get the soup pot off the stove and said, "You can use it. I don't need the frying pan today."

Min Xi originally planned to boil the dumplings, but now changed his mind and decided to fry some of them.

When they brought the boiled dumplings and fried dumplings to the restaurant, they found that there were several people sitting at a table eating in the restaurant. In addition to the landlord couple and their two children, there were two young men with unshaven beards and a bit unkempt. They should be tenants of the store.

They were eating vegetable soup with black bread and chatting about something.

Min Xi looked at the food in his hand, and put a plate of fried dumplings and a plate of boiled dumplings on the table: "Madam Landlady, this is our Chinese food, it's called dumplings, you can try it too."

The landlady looked at the food on the table in surprise: "Oh, thank you! Is there enough for you?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "That's enough. It's enough for the two of us."

He gave one third to the landlord, and it should be enough for him and Yun Ji to eat about thirty dumplings each.

It was already dark, and the light was dim because of the candles in the restaurant. The two young visitors looked up at them, but did not recognize that they were Chinese, so they did not look at them for long. They were just very interested in the food they served. One of them scooped a golden fried dumpling with a spoon and put it into his mouth. He took a bite and exclaimed: "My God, it's so hot!"

Having said that, he did not spit it out. Instead, he opened his mouth and took a few breaths of cool air before eating the fried dumpling: "Landlady, what is this? It tastes so special!"

The landlady picked up a dumpling with a fork and said, "This is food made by the two Chinese guests themselves. They said it's called dumplings."

Another young man asked, "Is it delicious?"

The guy who was scalded earlier nodded: "Hmm, very delicious." He then picked up the dumplings again.

His companion quickly forked one and said, "Let me try it, too."

The man who ate the fried dumplings first did not rush to eat this time. Instead, he looked towards Min Xi and Yun Ji and asked the landlady: "Are they Chinese?"

"Yes. They said they were from China, and they do look different from us," said the landlady.

The man put his hand on his companion's shoulder: "Daniel, let's go over and say hello."

"Wait a minute." The companion was tasting the fried dumplings in small bites. He felt the fragrance at the first bite. When he ate the filling, he felt a fresh aroma. For him who had never eaten leeks, the taste was a little pungent, but he had to admit that it was delicious.

He finished the fried dumpling and put down his fork: "Let's go, let's go say hello."

Min Xi and Yun Ji were eating dumplings when they suddenly noticed two people beside them. Looking up, they saw that they were the two guests who had just had dinner with the landlord.

"Hello! My name is Charlie Anderson. I'm a tenant here and a student at Oxford University. Are you really Chinese?" The guy who was scalded while eating dumplings was the first to say hello.

Another said: "My name is Joseph Daniel and I am also a student at Oxford University. Thank you for the dumplings, they are delicious!"

Min Xi stood up and said, "Hello, my name is Min, and this is my brother Yun. We are from China."

Anderson looked at the two of them eagerly and said excitedly, "This is the first time I see Chinese people. Nice to meet you!" He stretched out his hand and shook hands with the two.

Min Xi and Yun Ji also shook hands and greeted them.

Anderson said, "Can I come over and eat with you guys?"

Min Xi nodded: "Of course."

When Anderson and Daniel went over to get their plates, they found that the two plates of dumplings that Min Xi had sent were gone. They had all been divided up by the landlord's family. Only Anderson's plate had one left. Daniel only ate one fried dumpling from beginning to end.

Anderson said, "Madam, you guys eat too fast."

The landlady was cheerful and cheerful: "I thought you didn't want to eat them, so we shared them. I have to say, the dumplings made by those two Chinese gentlemen tasted really good. Our whole family liked them very much. Thank you very much!" After she said that, she nodded to Min Xi to express her gratitude.

Min Xi smiled: "I'm glad you like it."

Anderson and Daniel had no choice but to bring their food to Min Xi's table in dismay. Anderson turned around and said, "Madam Landlady, your cooking skills need to be improved."

If it were any other time, the landlady would definitely say you can do it, but today she was in a good mood and nodded with a smile: "What you said makes sense. I think I should learn from the two Chinese gentlemen."

Anderson and Daniel sat down and chatted with Min Xiyunji. During the conversation, Min Xi learned that Anderson was studying history and Daniel was studying literature. Both of them did not go home during the summer vacation. One was studying historical documents and the other was writing poetry.

The summer vacation has been almost two months, and the two were bored. Now they met two Chinese people, Min Xi and Yun Ji, which was a big novelty for them. When they heard that Min Xi and Yun Ji were here to visit Oxford University, they volunteered to be their guides.

But since they sat down, the black bread and vegetable soup on the plate have not been touched. They are staying in the hotel for a long time, the monthly package, the price is low, and meals are included. In order to make more money, the hotel will definitely not spend too much money on food. Of course, they are not treated harshly, after all, the boss's family also eats with them. Normally, I don't think there is anything wrong with it, but after eating the dumplings made by Min Xi just now, eating the meal made by the landlord's wife is really tasteless, and I can't muster up the appetite to eat a bite.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were eating dumplings while chatting with the two people. As they were chatting, they noticed that the two college students had not touched the food on their plates. Instead, they were looking into their plates intentionally or unintentionally.

Min Xi pushed his plate of fried dumplings in front of them: "You guys eat these, these are enough for me."

Anderson's face immediately lit up with joy: "Thank you!" Then he quickly took a fork to eat the dumplings.

Just now, Daniel waited for a moment and ate one dumpling less. Now he hesitated for a moment and started eating the dumplings as well.

Seeing that Min Xi gave his dumplings to the two men, Yun Ji took the initiative to push his plate in front of Min Xi and said, "Ninth brother, eat mine."

Min Xi grinned at him and pushed the plate back: "No, these are enough for me."

Yun Ji picked up the plate, picked up the chopsticks, and put a few dumplings onto Min Xi's plate.

"Thank you, seventh brother."

After Anderson ate three dumplings, he saw that there were not many left on the plate, so he stopped and asked Min Xi: "How are these made?"

Min Xi said: "It is made of wheat flour and kneaded into dough to wrap shallots and eggs. In China, this kind of food is called dumplings."

"I've never heard of this way of eating it, but it tastes really good," Anderson exclaimed.

Daniel had never eaten dumplings before, so he was very curious about the dumplings on Min Xi's plate: "Why are yours white and ours yellow?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "The methods are different. Yours is fried in oil, which is called fried dumplings. Mine is boiled in water, which is called boiled dumplings. The taste is different."

Daniel looked at it eagerly: "Can I try what the dumplings taste like?"

"Haha, okay." Min Xi picked up a dumpling for him with the other end of the chopsticks.

"Thank you!" Daniel's attention was drawn to his chopsticks again, "Why do you eat with sticks?"

Min Xi explained: "This is a unique tableware in China, called chopsticks. It is equivalent to your knife and fork."

"Wouldn't it be inconvenient to use two sticks?"

"Of course not," Min Xi showed the chopsticks in his hand flexibly, "It's like my two fingers are extended, which is much more convenient than your knife, fork and spoon."