Insert faith and eat life

[Creating Worship with Hands] The Story of Ha Dumplings

Interview/Lin Minwen

Photography/Lin Minwen, Ruan Xuanmei

Song Zhongkui and Zhang Tongning make good use of the ingredients created by God.
Lead employees to make healthy and delicious dumpling meals.
While serving it to the guests,They also presented their respect for God and life.

Welcome to "Ha Dumplings"!

Soft white lace curtains frame a bright window. Inside the window are soft white engraved tablecloths, like a blank canvas, with colors sprinkled on bit by bit. Pink carnations are supported by pink-green leaves in a small vase on the table, and dark green, deep purple, and orange are covered in large and small containers.

Is this a studio or art shop? Or a coffee bar or bakery?

There is a lot of traffic on Sanmin Road in Xindian District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. If you don't slow down, you may miss this store. Pushing open the white wooden door and taking a step, it's like Alice falling into wonderland. String poetry accompanied by the warm fragrance freezes the time.

"Welcome to "Ha Dumplings"!" Owner Song Zhongkui's bold voice greets every guest.

Yes, this is a dumpling restaurant.

But this restaurant not only sells dumplings, but also sells health tips and beliefs.

Why is it called "Ha Dumpling"? The proprietress Zhang Tongning said: "First, I am from Harbin; second, eating healthy and delicious food makes me laugh; third, hallelujah praises the Creator."

This is the reason for the name of the restaurant and also the belief of the owner in running the business.

Build a delicious relationship and lock in happy memories

For several consecutive afternoons, every time it was time for a nearby elementary school to finish school, there was a little girl standing outside the window of "Ha Dumplings", her hands covering her eyes, wanting to find out. One day, the girl dragged her father in and sat at table No. 3 in the corner. Tong Ning handed over the menu and introduced the fruit and potato salad, fresh mushroom soup, colorful vegetable dumplings or crystal wontons included in the set meal.

The father said that his daughter insisted on coming to "Snow White's House" to eat and see. When the dumplings were served, I saw my father clasping his hands behind his back, watching his daughter eating with gusto.

The attentive Tong Ning looked at it and understood in her heart that her father considered the expense and would rather let his daughter enjoy the delicious food alone. It was past meal time and there were not many guests. Tong Ning went to the table to chat with the father and daughter. She said naturally: "Today the kitchen has developed a few new dishes. I would like to know the guests' reactions and opinions. Can you help me taste them?"

After a while, small plates and cups containing cold noodles, wontons, and chicken soup were served one after another. Dad raised the chopsticks and tasted it, and a smile suddenly broke out on his face. He hurriedly said to Tong Ning who was standing aside: "It's delicious, it's so delicious!"

The father and daughter carried each other's dishes, not caring about the burning of the food, and were too busy taking one bite after another. In the gloom, Tong Ning seemed to see again the scene in Harbin where the whole family gathered to make dumplings on New Year's Eve many years ago.

The overwhelming white snow outside the window is sprinkled with red firecracker shavings; the room is steaming, and the rhythm of chopping stuffing is like the sound of drums welcoming the new year. Kneading dough, skin, stuffing, kneading, big pot of water gurgling on the stove...

In an era of material scarcity, white flour and meat were not common sights on ordinary family tables. For Tong Ning, who comes from a family of doctors, the family tradition of making dumplings is a symbol of happiness and prosperity. "Ever since I was a child, I have always felt that making dumplings is a very joyful thing," she recalled.

Not only that, dumplings have also become a bridge "connecting interpersonal relationships."

During the Cultural Revolution, when my father was imprisoned, my mother always brought coriander dumplings to visit, so that the inmates could get a little warmth and hope in the dark prison cell.

During her years in the countryside, Tong Ning used her acupuncture and medical knowledge to help local farmers. The villagers treated him to dumplings in return, and Tong Ning also rolled up his sleeves and made dumplings together. After returning to school and entering medical school, I often took my classmates from the south home to eat dumplings.

▲How did a Harbin doctor come to Taiwan to open a dumpling restaurant? Because she met Taiwanese businessman Song Zhongkui!

Mainland bride, Taiwanese wife

But how could a doctor from Harbin open a dumpling restaurant in Taiwan? Because she met Taiwanese businessman Song Zhongkui, the scene was a hotel in Guangzhou on a rainy night.

Tong Ning went south for a business trip. After a long day of work, she returned to the hotel for dinner. It rained for several days, making travelers feel even more lonely. I don’t know why the kitchen has been slow to serve food. I saw a male guest at another table who was also alone, and the two started talking.

Zhongkui was wearing a crepe shirt that day and his trousers were soaked. He had a beard that was about three days long. His desolate appearance was very different from that of ordinary Taiwanese businessmen with a good reputation. It turned out that his luggage had been robbed and he only had some cash and documents on him. The cheerful Tong Ning offered to "lend" a pair of pants to Zhongkui. Even if she left her address and phone number, she did not expect him to contact her.

A few months later, the man who met by chance appeared again. Not only did he return the borrowed things, but he also continued to travel back and forth. At a time when cross-strait exchanges are in the ascendant, Tong Ning's romance with Zhong Kui continues to heat up. Despite the fierce opposition of her family, Tong Ning put aside her career, family ties and familiar environment to become a Taiwanese daughter-in-law.

Although love is sweet, it cannot resolve cultural differences and tangled in-law relationships. She took off her doctor's white robe and put on a floral apron, bearing the contempt of the neighbors for mainland brides. She was unwilling to put down her figure to serve her husband's family, so she could only stay away from her. Zhongkui goes out on business all year round, and Tong Ning, who has no relatives around him, feels lonely.

One day, while Tong Ning was walking down the street with her children, she passed by the Xindian Fair and faintly heard poetry floating around, so she went in to find out what was going on. Unexpectedly, the melody of "Jesus' Friend" started playing, and she couldn't stop crying. It was obviously a completely unfamiliar place, but it made her feel like she was home. When she first heard Master’s wife explain the beautiful relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the Book of Ruth, she felt curious, excited, and moved, as if she had discovered a new world.

Tong Ning decided to open her heart and invite Jesus into her life. She gradually became good friends with her mother-in-law, and her relationship with her sisters-in-law also improved. Zhongkui saw all this and started going to church together.

Not only make a living, but also ignite "new hope"

As the hymn says, God never promised that the sky would always be blue and the fragrance of flowers would last forever. Affected by the financial crisis, Zhongkui's career entered a dark period, and Tong Ning was forced to take up the skill of making dumplings with tears in his eyes as a means of livelihood until Zhongkui found a job and the family's financial situation became somewhat stable.

Making dumplings is no longer a matter of subsistence. Tong Ning has turned the production of dumplings into an enterprise, using this method to educate rehabilitated people who have just left the prison life, allowing them to acquire skills and become a new hope for reentering society.

Unexpectedly, the little dumpling factory opened a door of good news for Tong Ning. When Taiwan's Ministry of Justice learned about the expertise of this mainland bride and Taiwanese daughter-in-law, they even invited her to teach cooking inside the prison walls. Tong Ningyi used his care and organization in his past medical practice to compile and compile forty recipes for noodles, side dishes, and braised food.

At the end of the five-week course, which lasts seven hours a day, five days a week, the families of the inmates are invited to attend the graduation ceremony. An 80-year-old aunt knelt down in front of Tong Ning to thank her because her 60-year-old son, with his drug-trafficking and drug-taking hands, actually made food for his mother for the first time.

Not only are the dumplings touching, but Tong Ning’s respect for things and people makes her a spokesperson for the gospel. Working with the Rehabilitation Fellowship, she even entered an AIDS cell to teach cooking and spread her faith. Tong Ning began to realize that when she dedicated her dumplings to God, just like the child in the Gospels who dedicated five loaves and two fish with pure faith, the wonderful and powerful God not only kept her from starving, but also blessed many people.

Taipei Good News Radio held a "Creative New Year Dishes" competition, and Tong Ning once again won first place with her unique skill of making dumplings. Zhongkui just lost his job at this time. The two prayed and felt that God was leading them to build their own business, so they decided to open a dumpling shop. Opening a store is not just to make a living, they pray to use it as a base to spread the gospel and demonstrate their faith.

Premium ingredients, healthy dumplings

Xindian District is bustling and bustling, and there are many restaurants. It is not easy to find a store in a suitable location. One day while walking along Sanmin Road, they saw "For Rent" on a dilapidated door. The couple felt that the location was suitable and the size was suitable, so they began to inquire about it. However, the surrounding stores repeatedly warned, "This place is not good and nothing can be done." Zhong Kui and Tong Ning were stunned when they saw the decaying decoration inside, but then they prayed, since it was Jehovah who built the house, do they still need to worry?

During the renovation, they prayed for workers to come, which cost very little money and time. The ten square meters of space is divided into food preparation, cooking and dining areas; the large window facing the street is hung with white lace curtains, and the table is covered with lace tablecloth. When Tong Ning came up with the idea, he must have been thinking about the Belarusian style of his hometown in Harbin.

The entire white wall exudes a soft luster, which is not the usual pattern in ordinary restaurants. The red paper with the signature dishes on it makes a single huge poster stand out even more.

Green celery, purple cabbage, red and green peppers, yellow pumpkin... more than a dozen kinds of vegetables and fruits are gorgeous and bright, just like a painter's palette. Posters are not for decoration, they are for teaching.

▲Vegetables that are pleasing to the eye are gifts from the Creator. "Ha Dumpling" believes that eating healthy and delicious food will make people laugh.

Tong Ning, a former doctor, studied nutrition and preventive medicine and knew that diet has a great impact on health. However, modern people live busy lives and only seek convenience for three meals. How can they maintain the intake of whole grains, vegetables and fruits throughout the day? How to provide customers with balanced nutrition in a dumpling meal has become Tong Ning’s test and mission.

Generally, the amount of vegetables in dumpling fillings is limited, and the vegetable juices are usually squeezed out before adding the stuffing to avoid water from burning the dumpling wrappers. This will result in the loss of a lot of water-soluble vitamins and phytochemicals in the vegetables. Tong Ning studied and studied, tried and tried, and finally developed three-color crystal wontons and ten-vegetable colorful dumplings wrapped in ten-grain whole-wheat dumpling wrappers.

When Zhongkui and Tong Ning introduce dumplings to customers, they will point to the large poster on the wall, explaining that the dumplings contain purple cabbage, carrots, etc. These eye-pleasing vegetables are gifts from the Creator, allowing people to eat them to enhance their resistance, antioxidants, and radiate vitality from the inside out.

The finest beef tenderloin and fish meat, unbleached scallops, etc. used in the store are all five-star restaurant quality ingredients. Only shrimps that have not been soaked in medicinal water are used, and ozone purified water is used to wash vegetables and cook dumplings.

There is a theological perspective behind the persistence of "Ha Dumplings". "Why do you present such good things to your guests? Because God gave us his son first." Tong Ning, the proprietress, believed so.

Excellent dumplings, excellent staff

"Ha Dumplings" not only puts colorful and nutritious vegetable and fruit posters on the wall, making colorful and delicious food, but also you can see that the employees in the store often wear colorful and eye-catching silk scarves on their heads, adding a bit of exotic style to the traditional dumplings. . Most of them are foreign brides.

Tong Ning left the mainland to become a daughter-in-law in Baodao, and experienced the loneliness and hardships of foreigners. Over the years, she saw foreign brides from Southeast Asia struggling to survive in an environment where they did not understand the language and had different customs. When "Ha Dumplings" opened, she and Zhong Kui were determined to give them job opportunities, hoping that through their financial contribution to the family, they would gain respect from their families and create a safe haven for them like their "natal family."

Although the ideal is beautiful, how many small and big things need to be done after opening the store and the front desk? These Vietnamese and Malay sisters don’t know Chinese characters, and they don’t know how many grams a kilogram has. How can we teach them which vegetables are needed in what fillings, the ratio of meat to vegetables, etc.?

When I walked into the workshop at the back of the store, I saw a large poster posted in the kitchen. There were also various vegetables on the poster, but these pictures were cut by Tong Ning from newspapers and magazines, and text descriptions were omitted in order to "show pictures". She also patiently and repeatedly taught food cleaning, storage, and even personal hygiene habits.

▲The store insists on using five-star restaurant quality ingredients, and also uses purified water to wash vegetables and cook dumplings.

▲Colorful vegetable and fruit posters and black and white paintings by artists are hung on the walls, creating a unique eating space.

This is not just a technical transfer, but an expression of respect for the guests. Eating food into the stomach not only satisfies you, but also affects your health. If it is not prepared sincerely, no matter how good the ingredients are, no matter how delicious the food is, it can only cause harm. Every dish you handle is a work of art, including every "part" of ingenious design, carefully and skillfully assembled, and then presented to the guests refreshingly and elegantly. The philosophy of Zhongkui and Tongning is to benefit every guest physically, mentally and spiritually. They also require and treat their employees in this way.

▲Each dish seems to be a work of art, presented to the guests refreshingly and elegantly.

The "staff meeting" is like a group fellowship. It starts with a song to warm up the atmosphere, then claps and sways, creating a lively and lively atmosphere. The table was filled with exquisite pastries, and while enjoying them, Zhong Kui and Tong Ning thanked everyone. They praised everyone's good performance and also pointed out the shortcomings to review together so as to find ways to improve. Tong Ningruo also took the initiative to apologize if she was angry with employees. Finally, we ended with a prayer, asking God to continue to help and bless every member of the store.

Zhongkui and Tong Ning firmly believe that they not only focus on high-quality dumplings, but also on high-quality members. Because God first loves people and gives them His image and likeness, no matter their origin, everyone is a treasure in God’s eyes.

Before the Dragon Boat Festival last year, the shop owner and his wife were thinking about how to reward their employees. Although giving out gifts is practical, it lacks some thoughtfulness. Besides, these sisters are not wealthy and have never enjoyed anything good. They decided to send imported large cherries. The fresh, plump purple-red fruits were heavy in their hands, and they could already taste the sweetness before they even entered their mouths.

There are so many restaurants in Taiwan, and you have to be unique to survive among them. "Ha Dumplings" focuses on the three excellences - excellent hygiene, excellent service, and excellent quality, to build its reputation. The glass windows are covered with small cards with responses from customers: "It's so delicious!" "I've never eaten such delicious dumplings!" "My child doesn't eat vegetables, but he ate all the ten vegetable dumplings!"

When Typhoon Morocco brought serious disasters in 2009, "Ha Dumplings" also produced vegetable noodles mixed with Tong Ning's homemade sauce and sent them to the disaster areas, so that the victims could eat balanced nutrition and refreshing deliciousness in "Ba Ba Noodles".

Song Zhongkui and Zhang Tongning of "Ha Dumplings" lead their employees to make good use of the ingredients created by God and sincerely make food by hand. When they serve it to the guests, they also show their respect for God and life.

Making dumplings is their way of worship; this restaurant is a temple of worship.

Vegetable Dumpling Ideas
1. When cutting vegetables, the knife should be sharp and cut straight up and down. The smaller the cutting surface, the better.
2. Add a little olive oil and lightly toss the vegetables to seal the cut surfaces.
3. Add salt to the minced meat and fish, rather than directly to the vegetables. 4. Mix a small amount of ingredients.

Journalist profile

Lin Minwen devotes herself to literary ministry and focuses on writing and editing.