Chapter 195: Chapter 195: Spring Is Here, Let’s Have Some Spring Rolls

After the official Douyin account of “Jiang University Seventh Dining Hall” was launched, two notifications were posted, which was like dropping two bombshells among the netizens.

In just two hours, there were hundreds of comments left in the comment section:

“Register an ID number? Just to reserve a private room for a meal, isn’t this a bit too much?”

“Too much? They already said it’s to prevent scalpers from causing trouble!”

“These scalpers really are everywhere nowadays, even thinking of buying and selling private room reservations, it’s so annoying!”

“I heard someone say last time that a tycoon spent 5,000 yuan just on transfer fees to get a private room!”

“Rich people really have money, I’m envious!”

“…”

“Ahhh! I even set an alarm clock to wake up early tomorrow to call and reserve a room, and now they’ve suspended reservations!”

“Oh ho! Now we’ll have to wait, at least half a month!”

“It’s only been two days since opening, and the private rooms are booked out for half a month. Tsk tsk tsk, how popular is this place?”

“I also run a restaurant. Should I tell you that I can take reservations every day, but often don’t receive a single call for two or three days?”

“Haha, that’s hilarious! You should reflect on whether the food at your restaurant tastes good or not. If you invite the chef from Dining Room No. 7 to your place, you’d be counting money until your hand cramps!”

“…”

The comment section was exceptionally lively, and as a result, the follower count of the “Jiang University Seventh Dining Hall” account surged rapidly. Within these two hours, the number of followers reached over a hundred thousand.

Among these netizens, only a small portion had tasted the dishes at the Seventh Dining Hall. After trying it once, they became staunch supporters and highly recommended its deliciousness to others.

More of them were ordinary people without much money or leisure; they just loved food. Although they didn’t have the chance to taste it themselves, watching it was like eating it.

Seeing others enjoy and gobble it down in delight, while it couldn’t make the food in their bowl taste better, at least it boosted their appetite and let them take a few extra bites, right?

Then there were some who were eager to make a move. As soon as they have the chance, they will undoubtedly rush here without hesitation.

The ability of “Jiang University Seventh Dining Hall” to attract followers made Hua Xiaoling extremely envious as she watched.

She had worked hard, using all sorts of methods, and took a long time just to break ten thousand followers on her Douyin account.

But now, “Jiang University Seventh Dining Hall” surpassed her in less than two hours.

And looking at the trend of this data growing, maybe in another day or two, it might even break through three hundred thousand!

This was an achievement she couldn’t even dare to dream of!

As Hua Xiaoling thought about it, she suddenly raised her hand to cover her chest.

Her heart really hurt!

…

Jiang Yu didn’t really pay much attention to the “Jiang University Seventh Dining Hall” Douyin account at all.

To him, it’s just a channel for releasing restaurant information, how many people follow is not important.

Because the targeted customers of Dining Room No. 7 have always been just a small portion.

Only eight private rooms exist in the first place. Even if they are full, they can only serve eighty people in one meal, so what use is there in having tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers?

Because Jia Dequan brought a chef back to the first-floor kitchen, it was no longer just Lu Shuwu and Jiang Yu in the evening; Xiaojia also stayed to help in the kitchen.

Initially, having Xiaojia able to stir fry was considered quite good, but unexpectedly, he was also skilled in making pasta.

With three people working together, it was naturally much faster, and it wasn’t even ten o’clock at night when everyone stopped and went to rest.

It was a rare chance for Jiang Yu to sleep so early, and he woke up naturally, opening his eyes only to find it was just five in the morning.

The habit formed over the past six months had already become a biological clock. Now he feared that even if he stopped being a chef, his habit of waking early wouldn’t change.

Jiang Yu took a deep breath lying in the warm bed, then quickly sat up, dressed swiftly, went to the washroom to freshen up, and promptly went downstairs to the first-floor kitchen.

At this time, the kitchen was already brightly lit and steaming with heat.

Lu Shuwu was sitting by the workbench, quickly wrapping soup dumplings.

His bun-wrapping skills had improved a lot; the soup dumplings he made were not only the same size, but each one looked exquisite, just like a work of art.

Seeing Jiang Yu arrive, he glanced up and said with a smile:

“Why not sleep a bit more? Now with Xiaojia here to help, we can manage, and soon, others will also arrive.”

“I can’t sleep. I wake up myself at five o’clock.”

While Jiang Yu was speaking, he turned and saw Xiaojia washing the rice, preparing to cook porridge. Jiang Yu thought for a moment and said,

“We now have several chefs who can make breakfast at our dining hall, so I think it’s time to diversify our breakfast offerings.”

“Hmm? What should we add?”

“It’s a pity we don’t have a commercial soy milk maker right now, otherwise, with freshly fried crunchy you tiao, many people would love it.”

Jiang Yu shook his head and laughed,

“Since we can’t make soy milk and you tiao, let’s make spring rolls, just in time for spring.”

“Eating spring rolls to welcome the new spring is indeed quite fitting for the season.”

Lu Shuwu nodded and continued,

“But, inside the spring pancakes you need to wrap vegetables, and whether the vegetables taste good or not really affects the taste of the spring rolls.

Honestly, I’m pretty okay with cooking meat, but when it comes to vegetables, especially mixed ones, I’m really not good at it.

To avoid having the spring rolls on the counter left untouched, boss, how about you make a bit and show me first?”

“Why don’t you just say you want to eat them? No need to say all that nonsense!”

Jiang Yu glared at him and said with a hint of annoyance,

“Let Xiaojia wrap the soup dumplings, you go knead some dough for the spring pancakes, and I’ll go see what vegetables are in the prep room.”

“Alright!”

Lu Shuwu responded happily, clapped the flour off his hands, and ran over to call Xiaojia.

Jiang Yu went to the prep room, looked through the fridge, and picked out seven or eight kinds of vegetables like red peppers, green peppers, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, scallions, and cilantro.

After washing these vegetables, he cut them all into thicker shreds.

The vegetable shreds cannot be cut too finely, or they’ll become mushy, lose their chewiness, and turn into a messy blob, making the spring rolls inedible.

After cutting the vegetables, Jiang Yu took some ham and tenderloin, washed them, and cut them into shreds too.

With the ingredients ready, he took them to the kitchen area, heated the oil, and started stir-frying.

Spring roll, also known as spring pancake, spring platter, or thin pancake, is a traditional food during festivals in Huaxia, popular all over the country, especially in Jiangnan.

It has a long history, evolving from ancient spring pancakes.

Spring pancakes are thin pancakes made from flour, usually eaten wrapped with vegetables.

Initially, spring pancakes and vegetables were served on one plate, called the “spring platter.”

The Tang Dynasty’s “Four Seasons Treasure Mirror” recorded: “On the day of the start of spring, eat radishes, spring pancakes, and lettuce, called the spring platter.”

From the Song to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the trend of eating spring pancakes grew, with people preparing small dishes or various stir-fries to eat with the pancakes.

Eating spring pancakes at the start of spring symbolizes welcoming spring and hoping for a good harvest in folk culture.

The vegetables wrapped in spring pancakes are not hard to make; just cooking them well with proper seasoning is enough, the key lies in the sauce preparation.

In essence, spring pancakes are somewhat similar to Ludong Province’s scallion pancakes.

However, the filling in scallion pancakes is relatively simple, while spring rolls require more variety. Adding a layer of secret sauce makes the flavor significantly richer.

The reason Lu Shuwu asked Jiang Yu to make them first is because he cannot make a tasty sauce.

After stir-frying the vegetables, Jiang Yu looked back at Lu Shuwu and saw that he had already cut the rested dough into small balls and rolled them into round thin pancakes, then said to him:

“Make more pancake skins, divide them into two parts, fry one part with fillings, and cook the other part into spring pancakes, spread sauce, and wrap with fillings.”

Lu Shuwu was taken aback: “Isn’t it too troublesome? Aren’t spring rolls all fried?”

“Fried ones are high in calories, girls might not want to eat them. Cooked pancakes are healthier, but boys don’t care, as long as they’re tasty.”

“No wonder every time during meal service, girls always say you’re so thoughtful.”

Lu Shuwu couldn’t help but laugh slyly,

“Even though you’re not on the first floor anymore, your stories are still everywhere down there!”

“You and your big mouth!”

Jiang Yu glared at him again and turned back into the prep room, taking a large jar to start making the sauce.

This sauce takes quite some time, and he doesn’t have time to do this every day, so since it’s cold now, he decided to make a larger batch.

A while later, after he brought out the prepared sauce, Ma Guoqiang, He Chunxiao, and others all arrived.

In the kitchen, a group gathered around the work table, wrapping dumplings or making steamed buns, bustling with energy.

Ma Guoqiang had arrived earlier and already helped make a large pile of pancake skins.

The skins were paper-thin and snowy white, with a hint of golden color on the side that touched the pan, releasing a fragrant smell of toasted flour, making everyone, who hadn’t had breakfast, even hungrier.

“Boss, is the sauce ready?”

Seeing Jiang Yu come out with a large jar, Lu Shuwu’s eyes lit up, and he said somewhat sheepishly,

“Uh, everyone seems a bit hungry, how about we try the cooked spring rolls first?”

Jiang Yu turned to see everyone eagerly watching him, so he nodded and placed the jar on the work table, saying:

“Help yourselves.”

“Everyone, don’t fight! I’ll go first, I’ll go first!”

No sooner had he spoken than Ma Guoqiang had turned off the stove.

He immediately rushed forward, grabbed a still-warm pancake skin, spread some of the freshly made sauce, used chopsticks to pick some vegetables, and wrapped it all up.

As soon as the spring roll was wrapped, he couldn’t wait to bring it to his mouth and took a big bite with a “chomp.”

After several big bites, barely swallowing the food in his mouth, Ma Guoqiang couldn’t help but exclaim with his mouth full:

“These spring rolls are amazing, the pancaking skin is soft and chewy, the vegetables inside are fresh and crisp, and the sauce is the soul of the spring roll. Even without the filling, it’s delicious just dipped in the sauce!”

Everyone else was already tempted, and seeing Ma Guoqiang’s eating and hearing his words, they couldn’t resist any longer.

One by one, like cats smelling fish, they all rushed forward…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep