Chapter 180: Steamed Buns and Soul Fire (Part 2)
Making steamed buns is also very simple. Mix flour, sugar, and water, add yeast, and use chopsticks to stir the dough into a ball.
Kneading dough with the claws requires a bit of skill, but as long as the amount of water is right, the dough will quickly become smooth and manageable. After getting the hang of it, Takumi found the feel quite interesting.
After kneading the dough repeatedly until it's smooth, your hands are smooth and the sides of the bowl are smooth, it's time to place it in a warm place, cover it with a cloth and let it ferment until it doubles in size. When you peel it open, you'll see beautiful honeycomb-shaped bubbles and smell the aroma of fermentation.
Once fermented, the dough is poured out, rolled into long strips, and cut into shaped pieces. Steamed buns in the north are typically round, while those in the south are cut into curved rectangles. To save time, Jiangyou simply cuts the long dough into pieces and arranges them on a steaming cloth, leaving ample space between each piece to allow for the final fermentation.
When this step was achieved, Nasha came to work in the store, and Jiangyou called her over and completed the final step together, putting the fermented steamed buns in the steamer.
Twenty minutes later, the entire brewing workshop was filled with the fragrant aroma of wheat. Jiangyou turned off the stove, but did not open the lid immediately. He simmered it for another five minutes before removing the lid. Naxia looked at the big white buns and exclaimed, "Wow!" "It's white bread?!"
"It's steamed buns." Jiang You picked up a piece with chopsticks, put it on a plate and handed it to her: "You haven't had breakfast yet, try this."
Jiangyou shoved the plate into Naxia's hands and turned to go to the brewing room. Naxia didn't understand why, but the aroma of the big white steamed bun filled her nose. She couldn't wait to pick it up, blew on it, and took a big bite.
"Mmm, so soft!" She moaned happily, "This is the first time I've eaten such soft bread!"
"Hey, try this." Jiang You came out holding a glass jar of black unknown object. Na Xia took a look at the jar and saw brown and black bean-shaped objects inside. She couldn't help but ask curiously, "What is this?"
"Fermented black beans are delicious." Jiang You took out a clean spoon, scooped some fermented black beans, and put it on Naxia's steamed bun: "There are many ways to eat this sauce. Try the taste first, and I will teach you other ways later."
Naxia sniffed the food nervously, then mustered up the courage to pick up the steamed bun, including the fermented black beans, and took a bite. Then, she let out a sound even happier than before. She cupped her cheek, her face ecstatic. "How can something this delicious exist?! It's even better than peanut butter bread!"
"Hey, I also like peanut butter with steamed buns." When she reminded him, Jiang You couldn't help but recall the taste of peanut butter. She smiled and said, "Let's make peanut butter next time!"
"Wow, manager, how come you know everything? You're amazing!"
The two of them happily ate, one holding a steamed bun and the other holding a soul fire. A few minutes later, they noticed three heads popping out of the kitchen door. As the brewing workshop's financial sponsor and partner, Andre was the first to ask, "Little Bone, what delicious food have you made again?"
"Hey," Jiang You took out a few plates and picked up a steamed bun for each of them, "The steamed buns I told you about before."
Andrei also remembered: "Is it the food you mentioned... that is very similar to my soul fire?"
"BingBong~ You got it right~" Takumi scooped a spoonful of fermented black beans into each plate and handed them to the three people in turn, "You can try it with this sauce~"
As they were talking, there was a noise at the door of the store. It must be Brother Wolf delivering the meat.
"Well, I have to go see what kind of meat Uncle Wolf sent today." Jiangyou ran out of the kitchen with a clatter. Seeing this, Naxia quickly swallowed the remaining steamed buns on her plate in one gulp, puffed out her cheeks, chewed and followed her footsteps.
Winston glanced at the large white 'bread' on the plate, then glanced at Andrei with interest: "...is this the taste of your soul?"
Andrei had already picked up the steamed bun and took a big bite: "Don't mention it, this is quite delicious."
Jericho nodded vigorously: "It tastes better than brown bread!"
He licked a mouthful of fermented black beans, his face instantly twisted, and his black cat hair exploded: "But I don't like this bean very much."
"Hmm, I think it's quite good." Winston also tasted the black fermented black beans. "It's a little salty, and has a very special flavor. Hmm, the smell is stronger than the soy sauce before."
Except for Jericho who lost to the fermented black beans due to his racial characteristics, everyone else accepted the food tasting well, especially the Chinese sugar-free white bread, which was unanimously loved by everyone.
However, the meat delivered today is still offal and pig's head, so soy sauce chicken and soy sauce spare ribs cannot be made for the time being, but steamed buns with braised food and steamed buns with pig's head can be arranged.
"I'm leaving for Melori City tomorrow afternoon, and the dishes I'm going to make today are exactly the same as yesterday," Takumi patted Naxia on the shoulder and announced happily, "So today Naxia will be the head chef, and I'll be in charge of overseeing and assisting."
Naxia hadn't expected to face a test so soon after her second day on the job, but she knew this was a good opportunity to prove to Jiangyou that she was capable of running the store independently. She swallowed nervously and excitedly, rolling up her sleeves and saying, "I'll do my best!"
The diligent girl swiftly carried the offal and the pig's head to the backyard to wash them, while Jiang You waved at Jericho: "Jerricho, do you want to learn how to make a drink?"
Jericho's eyes lit up instantly: "I want to!"
"That's perfect. I was worried that Nasha would be too busy in the store! Cocktail making is quite easy to learn. Just follow this recipe. You should be able to do it after watching me try it once." According to Andre, Jericho was to stay and help look after the store. After all, the partner's servants were his own people. Jiangyou planned to let Jericho share the bar work to reduce Nasha's burden.
So for the whole day, Jiangyou repeated the process of teaching and acceptance. Fortunately, although Jericho knew nothing about cooking, he was quite talented in cocktail making because he was used to doing servants and housework.
After a whole day of special training, Naxia was still a little unfamiliar and flustered, but she was able to remember the recipes she learned yesterday and successfully reproduced yesterday's braised dishes. Several pig heads were also processed and braised perfectly, becoming today's hot-selling pig heads, pig ears and pig tongues.
As for Aunt Wolf, she is still a very reliable waitress. She is outgoing and eloquent, and she can always make the guests laugh. She can handle any trouble with ease, turning big things into small things and small things into nothing.
Jiangyou felt that with these reliable employees around, it shouldn't be a problem for her to leave the store for a few days.
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