Call Me Daddy

Su Tianyuan glared at his old man, but Su Aobai made a gesture of agreement.

He realized that he was there to do menial labor, so he gritted his teeth and moved the plate of yams in front of him.

“Put on gloves, or your hands might get itchy.” Su Quangen washed the red dates while instructing his grandson on how to peel the yams.

“Yes, peel it like this, don’t use too much force. These fresh yams are thin and brittle, easy to break. Oh dear, you’ve peeled too much flesh. How about I do this, and you wash the red dates?” Su Quangen watched his grandson’s peeling technique with some concern.

Not for his grandson’s sake, but for the yams being mistreated.

Su Tianyuan was oblivious, seeing his grandpa nervously watching him, he glanced triumphantly at his father beside him.

Too bad, he was met with a pair of eyes that seemed to smile but wasn’t really smiling.

But his movements were just too slow, leaving the yam unevenly peeled with pits and bumps. Either he missed a small piece of skin here or gouged too deep into the flesh there. By the time he finally finished peeling that piece of yam in his hand, it was in a sorry state.

Yams oxidize quickly; if not peeled and placed in water quickly to block air, they easily turn purple or black. And for making yam date cakes, the color of the yam is highly critical.

[Dragon Lake Department Store]: This grandson doesn’t look capable at all. Seems like he’s never been in a kitchen before. What’s up with this old man? Is he going to let the family’s skills die out in his generation?

[Little Snow]: That’s a bit harsh. There are plenty of people nowadays who’ve never been in a kitchen. Who says parents who are chefs have children who must know how to cook? Maybe the host and his son never planned to be chefs in the first place. If that’s the case, why bother learning to cook?

Su Tianyuan’s skills on display indeed surprised the audience. For anyone who’s ever used a peeler themselves, they wouldn’t have turned the yam into such a mess.

Su Aobai remained silent and took out a yam from the frame. Since the camera mainly focused on Su Quangen and Su Tianyuan, only Su Aobai’s hands appeared.

Over the past few days, everyone had become familiar with these slightly chubby hands. Besides Grandpa, these hands had the highest appearance rate, often grabbing some seasonings and tossing them into the pot from time to time.

At first, Su Aobai’s movements were a bit awkward, but soon he demonstrated perfect control of the peeler. With a few swift strokes, a tender white yam was tossed into the nearby basin of clean water.

Su Tianyuan stared wide-eyed at the scene unfolding before him.

Was this really my lazy and clueless old man?

“It’s not that difficult,” Su Aobai added casually, still looking at his astonished son.

[Little Snow]: I give full marks to this showing-off technique.

[Chicken Pecking Rice]: Judging by my over 10 years of experience peeling apple skins, the host should be a master capable of continuously peeling apple skins in one go.

[2333]: Why does it feel like the host is hiding his true skills!

As the almost ghost-like peeling scene appeared later, everyone exclaimed [666!].

***

“How did you do that?” Su Tianyuan asked incredulously. Clearly, in the past, his old man and he had always eaten fruits that his grandmother had peeled and cut into pieces. How did Dad acquire such proficient peeling skills?

And at the beginning, his father’s movements were just as awkward as his.

“Hahaha, your dad, he’s gifted, naturally cut out to be a chef.” Su Quangen had no doubts at all. Since his son had an extraordinary talent for taste, why couldn’t he have a superb talent for knife skills?

There were always a few people who, despite just starting something, could perform more skillfully than many who had practiced for a long time.

“Xiao Yuan, don’t compare yourself with your dad. Let’s practice slowly.” His grandpa sighed with satisfaction at his son’s excellence, comforting his young grandson with kind words.

Unfortunately, these were not the words Su Tianyuan wanted to hear. At this stage, the man before him wasn’t his father but a mountain he intended to overthrow.

His grandpa’s attempt to comfort him by advising not to compare himself to his father only fueled his determination. He was determined to surpass the proud man before him.

Seeing his son’s excellence sparked Grandpa Su’s natural inclination to show off his knowledge once more.

“Many people have heard of this date and yam cake because it’s mentioned in ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’, a classic Chinese novel. In Chapter 11, during the Ning Mansion’s birthday banquet, Xi Feng and Jia Rui’s scandalous affair was discussed. When Xi Feng visited the ailing Qin Keqing, Qin Keqing remarked, ‘Whether it will be good or not will be known in the spring. Now, after the winter solstice, nothing much has changed. I even ate two pieces of the date and yam cake that Madam awarded yesterday, which tasted like it could dispel sickness.'”

Su Quangen and his wife loved watching the old version of ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ and had read the original book countless times, so they knew every twist and turn.

(T/N: Dream of the Red Chamber = or The Story of the Stone is an 18th-century Chinese novel authored by Cao Xueqin, considered to be one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.)

“At that time, Qin Keqing was already very weak and had little appetite, yet she managed to eat two pieces of date and yam cake. It shows that this cake must be delicious. Moreover, yam and red dates themselves are nourishing ingredients that strengthen the middle and benefit Qi. Therefore, besides being delicious, it also has the effect of nourishing the body. Especially for some weak girls, they can try making some at home.”

This was Su Quangen’s second attempt at making this traditional Chinese dessert. He found detailed instructions in his father’s notebook, which made it seem not too difficult. So, he agreed to his son’s suggestion and prepared to make date and yam cakes today to give to every customer who came to the shop.

To prevent any mishaps, early in the morning, he had already practiced several steps.

For the audience in the live broadcast, hearing stories behind these foods was a hobby. The fame of the gourmet food in ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ was immense. Hearing that this dessert had a connection to the novel sparked even more anticipation.

In the end, the yams Su Tianyuan had peeled weren’t used, but Su Quangen didn’t want to waste them and planned to stir-fry them later. After all, his family wouldn’t mind eating them even if they turned dark.

Su Quangen boiled a pot of water and steamed the yams in it after it boiled. The red dates, which had been washed beforehand, were put into another pot of cold water and boiled on high heat. After boiling, the heat was turned off, and they were allowed to simmer for about 15-20 minutes under the residual heat.

After the red dates were simmered until tender, they were drained in a plate to remove excess water. Some crushed rock sugar was sprinkled over them, then they were placed back into the steamer basket together with the previously steamed yams for another 20 minutes.

“Nowadays, people don’t like overly sweet things, so you can adjust the sugar ratio according to your preferences. Many of the customers dining here are elderly, and it’s not good for them to consume too much sugar, so I’ll use a bit less,” Su Quangen explained in detail as he worked.

Upon hearing this, Su Aobai obediently withdrew his hand that had been reaching for some sugar.

[2333]: Hahaha, the newbie chick backed down for the first time.

[Run Little Chicken]: Suddenly feel warm towards the newbie chick. As soon as he heard that it’s not good for the elderly to consume too much sugar, he didn’t stubbornly insist on adding sugar.

[Duck Pecking Rice]: Chick bro, you stole my name!

For the first time ever, seeing the usually stubborn newbie chick yielding without a fight against Grandpa, the barrage of comments in the chat room became even more lively and joyful.

Next, they mashed the steamed yams and red dates together into a paste.

They mixed the steamed yams with sugar and glutinous rice flour to increase its stickiness. The red dates, peeled and pitted, were stir-fried in a pot with lard and a bit of white granulated sugar. After the fragrance emerged, they were mixed together with the date and yam paste and placed in the refrigerator to cool.

“I already made a batch of date and yam paste earlier and stored it in the fridge, or else this demonstration would take too long,” Su Quangen said, taking out the batch he made earlier that morning from the fridge. Now it was time for the final shaping.

He lightly fried some glutinous rice flour in a pan, then applied the fried glutinous rice flour to the molds to facilitate demolding later.

Then Su Quangen took out the yam paste and date paste from the refrigerator in a 2:1 ratio. He rolled the yam paste into balls, flattened them, put a date paste ball in the center, and molded it into a round shape like making dumplings.

This task was relatively simple, and Su Tianyuan felt confident that he could handle it himself.

So he clumsily imitated his grandfather’s method. Unfortunately, what seemed like simple actions were quite challenging. Su Tianyuan tried several times, but always ended up with the filling accidentally leaking out during the final shaping process.

Feeling discouraged and about to give up, Su Aobai calmly took the round balls Su Tianyuan had made and flattened them neatly in the molds.

“These ugly ones, let’s just have them for ourselves.”

Even though he was clearly being mocked, Su Tianyuan didn’t feel as angry this time.

He pursed his lips and continued practicing. After a few more tries, he managed to make some date and yam cakes that could be served to the guests.

***

The dine-in customers outside had already been informed of the changes at Su Family’s Snack Shop. Although they felt they might not get the same satisfying meals as before, most understood the age of the two owners and the increased difficulty in maintaining the current level of service.

However, many still couldn’t muster much enthusiasm. When Miao Yinhua initially served each person a portion of the date and yam cakes, many didn’t pay much attention.

“Huh?”

Zheng Zhen was a young white-collar worker in the neighborhood.

Perhaps due to growing up with elderly people from a young age, she had a special fondness for some traditional Chinese pastries, but didn’t quite like the Western-style desserts that young people nowadays favored.

The date and mashed yams cake was pressed into a camellia-shaped mold. When it was turned out, it looked like a freshly bloomed flower, with snow-white mashed yams sprinkled with some toasted glutinous rice flour. Faintly visible was a bit of dark-colored filling inside, making it look particularly enticing.

This pastry, about the size of a baby’s fist, was placed on a small emerald green porcelain plate the size of a child’s palm, making it even more exquisite.

Zheng Zhen hesitated to eat it as it looked so beautiful, but after finishing her meal, she finally mustered the courage to take a bite.

Because it had been refrigerated, both the yams and date paste had a slight chill to them, which was refreshing on such a hot day.

The mashed yams were very fine, partly due to the addition of glutinous rice flour and the inherently sticky nature of yams itself. It was incredibly soft and glutinous, with the date paste in the middle equally delicate and just sweet enough.

Such a large piece of date and mashed yams cake was gone in just a few bites. After finishing the last bite, Zheng Zhen began to regret eating it so quickly.

She licked the inner walls of her mouth with her tongue. Due to the special ingredients, after chewing, quite a bit of the date and mashed yams cake remained in her teeth and mouth. Unlike some annoying sticky foods, the rich flavors of date and yams in her mouth didn’t make Zheng Zhen feel disgusted; instead, she reluctantly used her tongue to lick away every inch of lingering aroma.

She felt that this was probably one of the top three most delicious traditional Chinese desserts she had ever eaten.

Many other diners had similar reactions to Zheng Zhen.

“Check, please!”

An old man, holding a half-bitten pastry, stood up eagerly to pay the bill and head home.

“Such good pastries deserve a cup of Biluochun tea.”

With that, the old man smacked his lips, savoring the taste of what he had just eaten. He glanced disapprovingly at the cold tea provided by the shop, knowing it didn’t match up to the quality of the pastry.

Some neighbors who had initially ignored this complimentary treat noticed his reaction and suddenly realized that perhaps the taste of this pastry was indeed exceptional. After all, this old man was renowned in their neighborhood as a connoisseur of good food.

Su Tianyuan stood at the kitchen door, eyes fixated on the old man who had just stood up.

The date and mashed yams cake he had taken a bite of was the only one he had successfully wrapped.

After being suppressed for so long, Su Tianyuan finally felt a sense of satisfaction. Surely his wrapping was good, which must have enhanced the taste of the date and mashed yams cake. Half of this praise had to be attributed to him.

Once the old man hurriedly left, Su Tianyuan reluctantly returned to the kitchen. There was still a pile of more complicated tasks awaiting him.

“Dad.” Su Tianyuan looked proudly at his own father.

“Later tonight, make sure to watch those segments filmed outside.”

With that proud little look, he almost seemed ready to wag a tail behind him.

“That praised date and mashed yams cake? I made it.”

His eyes blinked rapidly, avoiding direct eye contact with his father but internally pleading, ‘Praise me, praise me!’

“Oh…” Su Aobai carried a basin full of date and mashed yams cakes made entirely by Su Tianyuan.

Su Tianyuan: QAQ the plastic relationship between father and son, truly lacks love.