CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 27: STEAMING STEAMED BUNS

The lard poured into the basin quickly cooled down without the support of the flame.

Then from the edge of the basin, a layer of milky white lard began to solidify, spreading all the way to the center of the basin.

Wang Fan’s room, unlike the landlord’s house heated with central heating, had just a small coal stove that barely provided some hot water, so its effect on warming the room was minimal, causing the lard to solidify especially quickly.

He took out a large ceramic bowl, poured in warm water, and then added yeast and some sugar. This was the yeast water used to prepare the dough.

After preparing the yeast water, Wang Fan scooped a portion of the completely solidified lard into the dough basin.

Seeing that the moment was right, the system began to control Wang Fan to knead the dough.

Wang Fan not only watched with his eyes but also carefully felt each step under the system’s control, the force used for kneading, the amount of yeast water, the dough’s form, all were imprinted in his mind and etched into his body. At this moment, Wang Fan truly felt he might possess the Innate Chef Saint Body Daoist Embryo.

Usually, remembering a single English word, memorizing five words all night and remembering even one the next day would be considered good, but all these food-making steps and phrases, he understood them thoroughly just after one go-through.

The highest level of kneading is when the dough, basin, and hands are all clean and clear, and the system clearly achieved this supreme level.

After forming the dough into a ball, not only was the dough smooth and round, but even the basin and hands didn’t have a trace of flour.

The formed dough ball wasn’t small, already the size of a human head before even rising, so Wang Fan covered it with plastic wrap with the system’s assistance.

The time for the dough to rise should not be wasted, it was the perfect moment to prepare the meat filling.

The filling’s main role was naturally played by pork with a ratio of three parts fat to seven parts lean.

This ratio is a summary gained from countless attempts and experience from predecessors.

If there’s too much lean meat, the product becomes dry, tough, stringy, and hard after cooking, affecting its taste.

If there’s too much fat, the dish becomes overly greasy; the fat melts easily during heating, making the filling loose.

Since many ingredients were bought, Wang Fan prepared to make two kinds of steamed bun fillings.

One was naturally the sauced meat filling, while the other he chose was the pickled cabbage and pork filling.

By the time it’s out on a stall for sale, those who get tired of sauced meat can have a pickled cabbage one to whet their appetites, refreshing their palate, wouldn’t their appetite increase and they buy a few more?

After separately adding seasonings, he took out the pre-soaked scallion, ginger, and pepper water, pouring it in while stirring clockwise.

"The water from scallion, ginger, and pepper must be generous. Only when the minced meat is full of this water will the texture be more tender and smooth."

The system explained while executing, each step was orderly and showed great skill.

With Wang Fan continuously stirring, the meat filling soon became sticky, and Wang Fan knew that meant it had reached the right consistency.

With the bun fillings ready, the dough had also risen enough, already more than doubled in size compared to before.

Wang Fan took the risen dough out of the basin, sprinkled a layer of flour on the board, and placed the dough on top.

"The risen dough needs to be kneaded again to squeeze out the air inside. Only then will the steamed buns be soft and chewy."

"The skin for buns should be thin on the outside and thick on the inside."

The system continued to explain, with its hands moving even faster.

Before long, plump and tender little buns were completed.

Wang Fan then put all the prepared buns into the steamer.

Once wrapped, the buns must be steamed directly. If not fully steamed, the moisture inside the filling will seep out, and even if lard is added to the bun skin, it will end up as a soggy mess.

As for how to preserve the steamed buns, that naturally relied on his ingredient preservation box.

Wang Fan thought that this ingredient preservation box was simply magical, in the novel from his past life, at least it would have been of the Ultimate Emperor Weapon caliber.

Locking in freshness for 12 hours is something that current technology absolutely cannot achieve.

Wang Fan’s steamer was neither large nor small, not the super-large steamer like those from Lu Dong, nor the delicate small steamers like those for mini steamed buns from Yuhang.

His steamer was about the size of an adult’s outstretched arms, capable of holding about 50 buns at once.

The steamer had four layers, capable of steaming around 200 buns at a time.

Wang Fan noticed that the system used pork bone broth instead of water for steaming, something he had never seen before.

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation.

About five minutes into steaming, an aroma so enticing it made one drool uncontrollably began to spread.

The steam from steaming buns was particularly visible in this rather cold room, giving the steamer a somewhat mysterious aura.

Smelling this rich aroma, Wang Fan could feel his mouth producing saliva at an alarming rate.

Wang Fan felt that if he had to describe his current state in one phrase, it would definitely be "every second feels like a year."

Steamed rice rolls are all about the rice fragrance, while buns are all about the wheat fragrance, two different raw materials, yet they both irresistibly entice carbon-based life forms with their carbohydrates.

Not to mention, the meat filling, as it cooks, fully integrates with the various seasonings, releasing that irresistible meaty aroma, causing one to feel like committing a crime just by smelling it.

The auspicious time had arrived, it was time to eat.

Finally, after counting down the last number, Wang Fan instantly switched back to manual mode, and after turning off the heat, he directly lifted the top layer of the steamer.

A large cloud of steam rose like a mushroom cloud, and as the steam dissipated, the true form of the buns was revealed.

The small buns, about the size of a child’s fist, sat one by one plump and white in the steamer, with the two types of filling clearly distinguishable from just the appearance.

It wasn’t because Wang Fan made two different shapes, but because, unlike the clean and pure pickled cabbage buns, the sauced meat buns had a significant portion of their white skin seeped with oil, turning a bright brown.

This strong color impact made Wang Fan’s saliva production rate surge by more than fifty percent.

Taking a clean pair of chopsticks and a white porcelain plate from the stove side, Wang Fan couldn’t wait to feast.

He quickly picked out ten sauced meat buns and two pickled cabbage buns from the steamer, which was Wang Fan’s supper.

Wang Fan didn’t rush to put the buns from the steamer into the ingredient preservation box. Compared to the piping hot buns just out of the pot, he always believed slightly cooled buns were the best to eat.

When freshly steamed buns are eaten, the mouth just feels the heat, where’s the extra mind to savor the bun’s deliciousness?

Wang Fan sat at the table, poured some vinegar and chili into a small dish, and then, without using chopsticks, directly picked up a slightly cooled small bun from the plate.

The bun skin was fluffy and soft, pinching it felt like squeezing a marshmallow. With a slight pull from both hands, the fluffy bun skin instantly ruptured.

Then, a rush of bright red oil eagerly spurted out from the tear in the bun.