CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41: SPICY PEPPER AND EGGPLANT BUNS

"Boss, how much are the cowpeas, peppers, and eggplants?"

After finishing his morning shift, Wang Fan headed to the market to shop again.

He’s made soy sauce pork buns and pickled cabbage pork buns three times already and is getting tired of them, so today he plans to change the taste.

Beef with scallions and minced meat with beans are good choices. Add fresh eggplants and peppers, and the pepper-eggplant stuffed buns will be something people will know when they taste.

Plus, he can adjust the pricing. After all, beef is not cheap; selling them at 2 yuan each would be a loss.

By then, selling 3 beef buns for 10 yuan and 7 pepper-eggplant and minced meat bean buns for 10 yuan would be just right.

The boss is an elder sister in her fifties, with short curly hair and a loud voice that suggests she’s from the Three Eastern Provinces.

"You’re here, buddy! I’ll give you cowpeas and peppers for 4 yuan per jin and eggplants for 3.5 yuan per jin."

Wang Fan picked up an eggplant and checked it out. The purple eggplant was round and solid, with smooth skin and no dents.

The big sister confidently said, "Don’t worry, buddy. My husband and I choose these vegetables ourselves. Absolutely no problem, if there’s any issue, I’ll replace them anytime."

The sister’s straightforwardness made Wang Fan feel comfortable, and he immediately said, "Give me 5 jin of cowpeas, 5 jin of eggplants, 10 jin of mushrooms, 2 jin of green chili, and 1 jin of carrots."

Upon hearing this, the sister laughed and said, "Alrighty, you buy vegetables just like in my hometown. I’ll give you a discount later."

While speaking, she took out a big plastic bag and swiftly began bagging them.

Soon, she had packed three full plastic bags of vegetables.

"Cowpeas for 3.5, eggplants for 3, mushrooms are a bit expensive at 5.5, green chilies for 4, carrots for 3, and I’ll throw in some scallions and cilantro. Tastes great in wraps."

The big sister slightly struggled to put the bags on the ground, "Are you driving, buddy? I’ll have my husband carry these for you."

Wang Fan quickly replied, "No need, no need, I can carry these myself."

Saying that, he bent down and easily picked up two bags with his left hand and two bags with his right hand.

The original body often exercised and even did some odd jobs at construction sites before Wang Fan transmigrated. He retained the habit of daily workouts and had been grinding stone for a week, making his arms very strong.

The big sister praised, "Buddy, you have good physique! Do you have a girlfriend? I have a niece who is quite pretty."

Wang Fan was a bit uneasy from the sister’s enthusiasm and quickly declined, "No, no, I’d rather not trouble your niece. You take care, I’ll be off now."

He then strode out, as the sister watched him retreat with a happy smile, not forgetting to remind, "Come again next time, I’ll save good veggies for you."

Knowing himself well, Wang Fan understood he is a typical introvert; his limit in interactions is three sentences, whereas his second uncle is a typical extrovert, not just a social expert but more like a social bandit. He now hopes fervently his second uncle can recover soon, so he can peacefully focus on being a chef while letting his uncle handle sales and purchases.

Fortunately, the surgery is scheduled for this Saturday. If it succeeds, it won’t be long before his uncle wakes up.

After buying groceries and beef, Wang Fan went straight home. Upon arriving, he checked the dough he let rise in the morning; it was just right now. After washing his hands, he began preparing the bun stuffing.

Selecting the vegetables, washing them, cutting them, Wang Fan meticulously did every step without any carelessness, finding himself increasingly fond of making delicious food.

He started with minced beef and cowpea stuffing. The first step was to blanch the cowpeas. He didn’t know much about this ingredient, but certainly didn’t want to risk poisoning by eating them raw.

After the water in the pot boiled, he added some oil according to the system’s recipe memory. This step helps make the color of the vegetables more vibrant.

For the cowpeas, Wang Fan simply cut them in halves, and after blanching, put them in a bowl filled with cold water.

Then he began chopping the pork.

Some of the lean pork was diced, while the rest was minced.

While chopping pork, he also minced the beef.

After finishing chopping the meat, Wang Fan carefully cleaned the cutting board and set it aside, grabbing another board for the vegetables.

The cowpeas were now completely cool, so Wang Fan took them out, shook off the water over the basin, and swiftly cut them into small cubes about the size of fingernails.

Next, he diced the peeled carrots, mixing them with the minced pork stuffing.

Following the recipe from memory, he added various spices. Wang Fan began stirring with chopsticks in a clockwise direction.

Only after the meat stuffing was tightly mixed did he stop.

He put the ingredients in a freshness box, stretched his arms and started preparing the pepper-eggplant stuffing.

To be honest, of the three fillings today, this pepper-eggplant one was the one he looked forward to the most.

Don’t even mention minced meat cowpeas, even mushroom beef pales in comparison.

When cooked, eggplant has a texture similar to meat, but much more tender than any kind of meat in the world.

That unique texture combined with perfectly proportioned spices, Wang Fan believes can beat any meat stuffing.

After peeling and dicing the eggplant, he put it in a basin filled with clean water, sprinkled some salt and a dash of vinegar, a way to both marinate and prevent it from turning black. As a chef who pursues perfection in color, fragrance, and taste, he can’t compromise on details.

Placing a smaller basin atop and setting a 10-minute timer, Wang Fan went on to dice the mushrooms.

As he cut, Wang Fan suddenly realized—could he really be a time management master?

He didn’t have a single idle moment during his cooking time, arranging every step clearly and orderly.

Wow... perhaps... a saintly body?

Ha, that’s rubbish.

"Ding ding dong ding ding dong, ding ding dong ding dong..."

As the sound of the alarm came through, Wang Fan placed the diced mushrooms with the beef. The eggplant dicing time was just right.

With his fair and strong hands, he grabbed a handful of eggplant cubes and squeezed them hard. With the sound of water flowing, much of the water from the eggplants was squeezed out by Wang Fan.

This water must be thoroughly removed; otherwise, it would affect the bun dough and the taste.

After ensuring all the eggplant cubes were well drained, Wang Fan took out the green chili.

The chilies were quite large, each almost 30 centimeters long. He cleaned them, and with a few quick cuts, separated the chili’s tail from its body.

Wang Fan felt his control over the kitchen knife strengthening as his chef level rose, creating a sense of connection as he held it.

Slitting open the middle, cutting into strips, then dicing in one fluid motion, finally, with a sweep of the knife, the chili cubes met the eggplant cubes again in the basin.