The dumplings are served, come and, get them!!! Translated…
The sounds of firecrackers started coming on, I'd, held tightly onto the bamboo poles, not letting my guards, down, waited until that string of the final firecracker burned out, was the start of getting rid of the old, to usher in the, new. My father took the three of us, young children with him, in the smokes, stepped over the ground's worth of red paper shreds, like how we would, march in, as we tested the highest in the tests in the olden times. Then came my mother's hollers, "here comes the gold nuggets, here they, come!", and the cold winter night, that steam-rising plate of dumplings, that feel of the joys we all shared, the warmth of the families, is still, very well and lucid in my, mind.
serves up...photo from online
There's the saying of, "the best comfort is lying down, the best tasting, are the, dumplings", the dumplings are already an ordinary delicacy in Taiwan today, from the south to the north, we can get them, anywhere, and anytime too. But, I imagine, that there's no one who's so persistent about the dumplings as my own mother had been: the dough needed to be on the softer side, and it takes a very long time for the dough to, rise. The fillings needed to get chopped up repeatedly until mush, with the vegetables in season, mixed in, the onions, the gingers, give the scent and the spice. With her four fingers, pinching the dough together, then, a huge gold nuggets is produced, that's with a full filling, and thin shell. Later, the water needed to be broiled up, with the lid closed on the pot, for the fillings to get cooked fully, and the doughs, with the lids opened. And that was why my mother's dumplings are so, delicious.
When I was younger, left home, went to Europe, that old butcher's shop on that small street with the dark green pebbles, was very impressive to me. With the various meats, the beef, pork, sheep, and the fatty ground meats in the glass display casings, with the balance hung right in the middle, to the sides, were the sausages of wide varieties, as well as the dried red peppers one by one, and the cloves of garlic, braided.
First time I was there, the owner lifted up his chin, then, stared at my coldly, without a single, word. I'd pointed to the ground meat, then, it was like he'd met an old friend, started, getting, conversational, then, after he'd weighed the amount, he'd added a pinch more. Don't know if it were to make the customers feel more welcome, or he was, affected by my eastern courtesy, since that time, every time I'd gone to purchase from him, he'd always, interacted with me kindly, and that confused me. A very long time later, I'd learned, that to appease to the butcher, you need to purchase all the ground meats from him, so, the leftover ground from the whole were, all grounded in that, pile.
one made, ninety-nine, to, go...photo from online
As for the dough of the dumplings, I can, only, make them myself. Because I couldn't read the labels of the packets of flour, I'd misused the kind of flour, fitted for making the breads, and had to, add a ton of water, to get the dough going, and, as I'd, pinched them into smaller pieces, readied to roll them, it'd felt, off, then, I couldn't get the dough to roll out. As I'd, rolled from this end, the other end kept on, curling back, and no matter how much forces I'd used, it just won't, budge, and, all of my classmates, who were, waiting to be served the dumplings were, laughing their asses off.
As I'd returned back to Taiwan, because my mother is elderly, we'd no longer had the opportunities to have the dumplings she'd made like before. A short while ago, she'd had a stroke, which made her immobile down one side of her body, and it was hard for her to speak, and for a very long time, she'd, refused to say a word, and only nodded or shook her head to answer our, inquiries.
New Year's Eve as usual, but, soon as the right out of the broiler dumplings were served, my mother who'd not spoken for a very long time started, lifted up her hand, and said, "here comes the gold nuggets, here they, come!", it'd made me feel warm inside, and I'd, immediately, placed one in her bowl. Looking at her slanted lips, and I couldn't, cover up the joys I'd felt, but, my nose, it'd, soured, and, the tears, came out.
And so, this is, the food that's, home to you and your, families, and, this is a Chinese tradition, that we all have dumplings, because the shape resembled that of the gold nuggets, which symbolized that we will have enough wealth for the upcoming, year.
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