Original title: A bowl of small wontons with 12 years of ingenuity
Liu Yu, Pingxiang Daily reporter Li Guidong text/photo
At the intersection of Deng'an East Road and Park Road in Pingxiang, Jiangxi, there is a "Qianli Xiang Wonton" shop. The owner Li Taisuo and Li Weihua relied on their 12 years of unchanged original intention and unremitting struggle to guard this small shop, and warmed thousands of sleepy mornings of Pingcheng people with a bowl of fragrant small wontons, and also let their family live a happy life of harmony.
On December 20, the reporter came to this wonton shop to visit the couple's entrepreneurial story.
At 5:30 in the morning, the bone-chilling cold and night covered the earth, Li Taisuo and Li Weihua pulled up the roller shutter on time and started a busy day. Li Taisuo is a native of Putian, Fujian, and his wife Li Weihua is a native of Xianyou, Fujian, and the couple came to Pingcheng in March 2011 and chose to open a store here after careful investigation. In June of that year, the wonton shop officially opened, mainly selling small wontons with fresh meat.
"I came from a rural area, and my family was relatively poor. At that time, in order to make a living, I traveled north and south to many cities, but my life did not improve. One year, my relatives came to Pingcheng from Fujian to open a wonton shop, and the business was good, and he said that Pingcheng was a good city for opening a shop and starting a business, so he invited me to come. I thought to myself, wontons are a famous food in Fujian, and every household in our area will make them. In addition, the wontons we make are very delicious and full of Fujian characteristics, and it may be promising to open a store and start a business in Pingxiang. Li Taisuo told reporters while moving the stove to the front of the store. After pouring water into the pot, Li Taisuo lit the gas and began to boil the water, wrapping the wontons and boiling the water before the first customers arrived, so that the customers could eat them as soon as they arrived.
When there are many customers, cook five or six bowls at the same time
Wrap ravioli
The couple was busy at the store with their children
To the left of the wonton shop is the dining area. In the middle of the dining area, Li Weihua and two employees are mixing stuffing, pressing dough and making wontons. I saw them gently twist a wonton skin with their right hand, pick it out of the meat filling with a small spoon, and quickly close the wonton skin with their left hand and pinch it, and a wonton is ready. They can make 30 ravioli in a minute. In about half an hour, thousands of small wontons with thin skin as thin as cicada's wings are piled up on the countertop.
The couple and the staff have had a tacit understanding for many years, and after opening the store every morning, they can serve hundreds of bowls of hot wontons to customers in an hour, from making wontons to spreading seasonings and pouring soup.
The small wonton soup sold in the store has a fine filling, and the thin and yellowed alkaline water skin slightly reveals the pink meat filling, and the clear soup is bottom-out, and the aroma is striking. For many regular customers in Pingcheng, it has become a Xi to come to the store in the morning to eat a bowl of steaming wontons and start a good day with the beautiful feeling of the taste buds on the tip of the tongue.
Customers eat in the store
At 5:30 a.m., the wonton shop opened
The couple cooperated tacitly
The biggest feature of Fujian wontons is "freshness", and the spicy Pingxiang people did not accept the light taste of wontons at first. When I first opened my shop in Pingxiang, the business of the wonton shop was not good because it was not a local staple food. Undeterred, the couple continued to explore and experiment, choosing the best ratio among various ingredients and seasonings to determine the unique taste of their store. In order to ensure the smoothness of the wonton skin, Li Taisuo insists on buying high-quality flour, and in order to ensure the tenderness of the wontons, he also insists on buying the freshest pork every day to make the wonton filling. Slowly, the taste of wontons won the recognition of many diners, and the small shop gradually had many repeat customers and regular customers. In the third year of its opening, the couple hired two employees, expanded the storefront from one to two, and expanded the menu to more than 30 types, including noodles, noodles, dumplings, xiao long bao, Fuzhou fish balls, marinated products and fresh products.
"The boss came to a bowl of fresh meat ravioli. "Around 7 o'clock, the number of guests increased one after another. Faced with a large number of customers, the proprietress methodically lined up the bowls one by one and filled the counter, sprinkled with chives, seaweed, dried shrimp and secret seasonings one by one, and then poured the carefully boiled broth to make the soup base first. Then, scoop up a handful of wontons, put them in the soup, and in less than 2 minutes, a bowl of wontons with thin skin and tender filling and rich soup will be delivered to the table.
Mrs. Lee is shopping for pork
Li Weihua is carefully mixing the soup stock
Mrs. Lee was chatting with customers
To the right of the door is the dining area, where there are 8 tables for 4 people, which can accommodate more than 30 customers at a time. During peak hours, the supply of tables exceeds the supply, and customers will sit on the street side with a small stool in front of the door.
"I asked for a bowl of wontons, packed and delivered. "The wonton shop has gone from being rarely visited to being famous, and now the couple often receives takeout calls. Faced with a takeaway order for a small portion of wontons, without saying a word, Mrs. Li rode an electric car and immediately delivered it to the door.
Early in the morning, Li Weihua came to the store to serve the first small customer
Li Weihua is busy every day, but he enjoys it
In the past 12 years, it is with enthusiasm and the spirit of willingness to study that Li Taisuo and Li Weihua have won everyone's recognition in the process of starting a business to make a living and making food, and have gradually integrated into the city of Pingxiang. Every year, they only go back to their hometown in Fujian during the Spring Festival, and most of the time they live in Pingxiang. Their eldest daughter has been employed after graduating from university, and the second daughter came to Pingxiang at the age of 10, studied from primary school to high school, and is now admitted to university. "We're half Pingxiang now. Li Taisuo said with a smile. Now they also have a 3-year-old child who is also preparing to start school in Pingxiang.
Today, the wonton shop has gained a foothold. Whenever someone asks about the entrepreneurial story of the husband and wife, they always say happily: "We just make every bowl of wontons with our hearts, so that more people can taste the taste of their hometown." And it is this kind of perseverance and ingenuity that makes the couple's wonton shop fragrant and fragrant, welcomed by more and more Pingxiang people, and also allows more Pingxiang people to taste Fujian's food culture.
Source: Pingxiang Daily