Auntie’s Story Time III

A hardworking family culture that insists on food safety
Hsiu Hung: I heard that you would carry ingredients on a tricycle or something to the shop, right?
Auntie: We always carry on a shoulder pole. Let me tell you. We would carry a bucket of shrimp broth and chopsticks from home. Because we emphasized cleanliness, we wouldn’t wash used chopsticks there. We would put them in a bamboo basket at first. Then, we’d bring them home to wash with dishwashing liquid and dry them under the sun. Only the bowls would be washed there. Therefore, when I finished my breakfast, I had to carry dry chopsticks, washed garland

chrysanthemum, shrimp broth, and braised Duck’s  eggs all on a shoulder pole to the shop.
Then, I would make fire and boil water. Afterwards, I’d  boil shrimp broth and minced pork to the boiling point. Only after all these works could I start to sell noodles.

Hsiu Hung: You can sell noodles at the age of 12?
Auntie: Yes, I totally can! I was very young and skinny, sitting on a small bamboo chair to ladle out noodles. I wished my younger sister and brother didn’t have to go to school in the afternoon, so that they can help me serve noodles to customers while I ladling out noodles. If they went to school, then I had to do all the works: ladling out noodles, putting garnish and serving noodles to customers again and again. At the same time, I felt embarrassed because I wore skirts while customers are sitting on short chairs in front of me. So I always crossed my legs carefully when seated to work.

Hsiu Hung: Did you have menu or bills? How to check their orders after they eating?
Auntie: No, we didn’t have any of those. I was good at memorizing all customers with their orders.
Hsiu Hung: What if there were many customers?
Auntie: I could memorize all of them, like how many bowls of noodles they ate and how many braised Duck’s  eggs they ordered. If I forgot whether they order braised Duck’s  eggs, I’d still count them in. Then, if they didn’t order braised Duck’s  eggs, they’d tell me. The shop wasn’t big enough. We had three tables and four chairs at each table, so it was okay for me to memorize all orders  But if we had bigger shops, I definitely cannot memorize all by myself.

Hsiu Hung: So you did all the works, selling noodles, checking orders, serving and so on. Customers surely felt surprised when seeing you doing all those things.
Auntie: You bet. So customers would ask me about my age. Then, when I said “I am 12 years old”, they were all surprised and said “Wow, you sell noodles yourself at the age of 12?! You are really something else!”

Hsiu Hung: Were there any customers that impressed you?
Auntie: Well, I don’t recall any of them. Our customer are simple-minded and many of them are decent. They won’t cause any troubles. Oh, there was once a customer causing troubles. After 10:30 p.m., the late night movies ends and I went home because there was less customers. Your grandpa continued working till 1:00 at midnight. There was a drunk customer who kicked over our shrimp broth and minced pork. He burned his feet at last.
Hsiu Hung: It’s really hard running a business!

Auntie: I always remembered that it was very cold when I went back home from work. I walked from ZhongZheng Road to ZhongMing street and the cold wind blew along the canal. People at that time tended to sleep early. So, at 10 p.m., there were no people on the street at all. People went home and all stored were closed. And because I wore geta, I was always scared to death by my footstep sound of geta.
Hsiu Hung: Social order was better back at that time.
Auntie: Right, it was. There are more and more weirdos in the society. Perhaps it’s because of drugs.

Hsiu Hung: I heard that there were many Japanese government officials coming to eat. Did you happen to meet them?
Auntie: Well, yes. Like majors or other government officials coming to Tainan, they’d be treated here. And they all missed our Dan Zai Noodles. So your grandpa developed canned minced pork and sold them with noodles. After WWII, Japan surrendered at discretion and Taiwan's sovereignty was passed from Japan to the Republic Of China. Many Japanese tourists would come visit Tainan and bought our canned minced pork.  

Hsiu Hung: Oh right! I also know that many students studying in Japan will come buy our canned minced pork so they can put it on rice. It reminds them of hometown.