Midnight Foodstore Episode 26- 27 review

[Episodes 26- 27] Grandma's piano recital

Featured food: Xiao Long Bao- Chinese steamed soup dumplings

We're heading into the backstory of some of the regular diners now... I read a comment somewhere and it said that they were not interested in the backstory of the regulars. I beg to differ. I am interested in the lives of the regulars at the diner, why they hang out there and their preference to certain foods...

Previously this series had featured Ah Long's background and now it is about Ah Xian, the close sidekick of Ah Long. The story starts off with Ah Xian not feeling well, coughing and all... Ah Dao (If you remember is the fisherman wearing the broad horizontal striped shirt) brought in the catch of the day, some crabs. The diner boss suggests to make some traditional soup dumplings and everyone was so excited... everyone except for Ah Xian. He makes an excuse for not feeling well and left the diner...

Few days later, Ah Xian was about his usual business (erm, I presume it's their usual!) collecting overdue debts from borrowers. He and two other members were at this man's house but that man had no money to pay the debts back. While the two sidekicks were (sort of) threatening the man to pay up, Ah Xian notices a piano in the house. 

He started to play a few notes on the piano and realised one of the key sounds was off. He felt the bottom of the key area and the next thing he did was totally unexpected. Ah Xian told the man that his debts were off and he was taking the piano. The two sidekicks were shocked and yes, they had to move the piano! Haha!! 

Ah Xian brings the piano back to the office but Ah Long said there was no space for it. I really love the two sidekicks here, poor things! They had to move the piano again!! Aigoo!! Yes, you guessed right, Ah Xian brought it to the midnight diner... The diner boss's expression is funny too haha!

Now, you're wondering what is with Ah Xian and the piano?! Well, you're about to find out... ;D One night at the diner, a young woman ordered some steamed dumplings. Omoo, those cute piggy dumplings are just too pretty to eat! After eating, she notices the piano there. She did the same thing as Ah Xian did earlier at the man's house, she played a few notes and felt the bottom area of the keys. Surprised, she asked the diner boss whose piano it was... and just at that moment, Ah Xian came bursting into the diner. 

They stared at each other and then Ah Xian started to bolt out of the diner. Hahah!! This part was too funny, she chased him one round around the block and ended back at the diner. Apparently she knew Ah Xian and she was once his piano partner. Her name is Hu An Qi and she used to have piano lessons at Ah Xian's house when she was young. Their teacher was Ah Xian's grandma. That piano was the same piano that they played when they were young... it belonged to Ah Xian's grandma...

She had lost contact with Ah Xian ever since his grandma passed away and said that his grandma had left some money with her for his education. Ah Xian said he doesn't need the money anymore as he is a street gangster (sort of!) and she was shocked. An Qi tried to persuade him to think about his future and continue to pursue music (playing the piano) but Ah Xian said a firm no. Everyone there that night was confused but didn't dare to ask what happened... 

Couple of nights later, Ah Xian was alone in the diner and he started to tell the diner boss the whole story...

Apparently, Ah Xian... or full name, Jin Zhi Xian comes from a good background. His parents passed away early and he was brought up by his grandma. His grandma is from a rich family hence she knew how to play the piano. She used that skills to offer piano lessons in order to bring up her grandson. Ah Xian would practice playing the piano while his grandma would be busy in the kitchen making the soup dumplings. Yes, now we know why he didn't want to eat the dumplings earlier at the diner...it made him remember his grandma... aww... :'(

Time goes by and now Ah Xian is a teenager. One afternoon, while Ah Xian was coming home from school he noticed a speeding car rushing by... He wondered what was going on and then realised that car had hit his grandma and sped off. His grandma passed away that night... Omo! He wandered on the street that night and spotted the same car that had hit his grandma. He took a traffic cone and wanted to smash the car but a group of gangsters beat him up instead... One of them was the owner of the car... Ah Xian passed out on the pavement. It was not clear exactly what happened after that, possibly that he couldn't take the shock and lived on the streets before he was rescued by Ah Long...

What a sad story... I feel for Ah Xian! :'( Now back in the present, Ah Long realised that Ah Xian had to deal with his past in order to move forward. He secretly visited An Qi, who is a classical pianist and decided to help Ah Xian. Meanwhile, Ah Xian was fed up with the piano and asked the two sidekicks to get rid of it. Hahah!! These poor boys! Ah Long met them outside the diner and didn't say anything but "Mmm." Damn, I like this Ah Long so much... man of few words! XD

Ah Long set up Ah Xian to be at the diner and An Qi was there as well. Upon seeing her, Ah Xian wanted to leave but Ah Long blocked him. He even asked the two sidekicks to bring back the piano! Hahah!! Ah Xian was so furious to see the piano and the two guys said it wasn't their fault but just obeying Ah Long's orders. Ah Xian sat down and the diner boss brought out the soup dumplings...

It was really hard for Ah Xian to face his past, he finally took a bite of the dumplings and started to cry... Aww...

The story ends well... Ah Xian finally agreed to be An Qi's partner for a part of her performance... Wow, who knew a street gangster could be a classical pianist?! I really like this part, it makes us think twice about judging people by their looks.

It was a good closure for Ah Xian... He decided to return the piano to the man and the happiest ones were the two sidekicks! Hahah!! No more moving that damn piano... XD

There's no recipe for the soup dumpling but it looks delicious! I want to have some now... Oh man! ;'(

Midnight Foodstore Episodes 25- 26 review

[Episodes 25- 26] Jiang soy sauce

Featured food: Soy sauce on plain rice 

I'm back! It's been awhile since I last wrote on the Chinese re-make of Midnight Diner. We're past the halfway point of this series and if you are wondering why my review is different from the online episodes... It's because I'm following the sequence aired by my local cable TV. I do believe this is the correct order as you will see in later episodes certain conversations refer to the stories aired previously. 

Okay, back to the story! This story is about a special soy sauce made by an old man named Uncle Jiang. The diner boss only uses the soy sauce made by him and it is very delicious! It starts off with the diner boss cooking several dishes with the soy sauce as one of the ingredients. 

He offers free taste testing of the soy sauce and the regular diners are eventually hooked to its taste! They wait patiently for the diner boss to open for business as well. Hahah!!

Unfortunately one day Uncle Jiang was admitted to the hospital (or old folks home? I'm not sure) for some lung infection. He eventually fell into a coma and all is at lost because there was no one to make that special soy sauce anymore. The diner boss was down to the last jar and all the regulars started to limit each other to one serving each... Oh dear.. :( 

A young man showed up at the diner not long after that and everyone recognised him.... He is Joseph Wonder, a famous fashion designer. The diner boss didn't recognise him but he realised that he is Uncle Jiang's only son named Jiang Da Shan. 

The diner boss told Ah Shan about Uncle Jiang's condition and served him a simple dish, plain white rice with the special soy sauce. Ah Shan ate it and the memories with his father came rushing back. He visited the soy factory the very next day where he grew up... 

Ah Shan had always dreamt about fashion, even from an early age he would mess about with the soy bottles creating designs. This irked Uncle Jiang very much as he intended Ah Shan to take over the soy business. But Ah Shan continued his passion secretly at night while his father was sleeping. He would cut out pictures of models from the newspaper and paste it in a scrapbook. He even made his first clothing, a yellow sweater for his father... 

One night, Uncle Jiang was so furious when he discovered the cut out newspapers and he burnt all of Ah Shan's scrapbooks. Ah Shan was so angry he ran away from home and never came back...until now. 

Ah Shan returned to see his father and wanted to leave but he felt remorse and somewhat guilty, so he decided to stay on to take care of him. He had a sudden inspiration for a design collection and his girlfriend also arrived just in time to give him the moral support he needed. 

Don't worry! It's a happy ending... ;D Ah Shan's design collection was ready and he decided to use the soy factory as the fashion show venue. I really love this part, the regulars at the diners were actually the models! Hahah!! Ah Long looks so cool but I'm not digging the clothes though... :P Even Uncle Xiao is in on the action! 

Ah Shan's fashion show was a success and now the world knows of his roots in the soy factory. Uncle Jiang awakes from his coma and is back making soy sauce again. Hurrah! The ending scene shows Ah Shan cycling on his childhood bicycle and chatting with the diner boss. He has decided to stay (and possibly?) made the soy factory as his home base... He will continue to design clothing and also help out his father. Aww! 

It's strange to see this story featuring a food ingredient rather than a dish like the rest of the stories. However, it is quite nice as well... There were other dishes featured here such as the simple fried rice and pig trotters.