The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 390 Hot

Qin Huai clicked on the video tutorial for lotus root starch balls and started watching.

To be fair, lotus root starch meatballs are not a very high-end, difficult, or threshold-level snack. This snack is one of those snacks that looks very delicate, beautiful, and difficult, but is actually very easy to make. Even a novice can make it by following the recipe and video tutorial.

Of course, this type of snack can be very difficult to make, but you just have to put some effort into the filling.

Lotus root powder meatballs are a standard sweet dessert. If you want to make them exquisite and luxurious, and meet the standards for consumption by the empresses in the palace, the difficulty and complexity may be close to the three sweet fillings of the four-happiness dumplings.

But Master Jing's version of lotus root powder meatballs is obviously not so troublesome, because there is no such condition. Complex fillings must be matched with complex ingredients. Master Jing's version of lotus root powder meatballs is just a small thing he made to solve the family conflict of his apprentice. The filling is the simplest lard and sugar filling.

Because the ingredients were not abundant, both lard and sugar were precious in that era, so each lotus root powder meatball in Master Jing's version was very small, like a pocket-sized one. The color was not pink and transparent or burnt yellow and bright like the normal traditional lotus root powder meatballs, those colors were exclusive to high-end models.

The lotus root powder balls made by Master Jing are very traditional, white and a bit darker, between brown and tea color. The balls themselves are crystal clear, smooth and translucent.

The production process is not too difficult.

The filling is very simple to make, just like most white sugar and lard fillings, except that dried osmanthus is added. Mix the three ingredients together and knead them into small balls the size of a thumb tip, and the filling is ready.

The rest is the lotus root powder.

Qin Huai had never made lotus root starch snacks, and was not particularly familiar with lotus root starch. His greatest understanding of lotus root starch came from when Qin Luo was in elementary school. At that time, Qin Luo especially liked to go to the store at the entrance of their school to spend a few dollars to buy a large bag of cheap lotus root starch, boil water, brew and stir it, and eat it as a snack.

At that time, Qin Luo was still obsessed with sitting in front of the TV and watching cartoons. Every day before the cartoons started, he would boil water to make lotus root powder, and then hold the bowl and eat while watching.

Qin Huai also tried some of it and thought it tasted OK. It didn't have any special taste, just sweet, with a faint fragrance of lotus root powder, and it had a very smooth texture and a unique flavor.

Since he didn’t know much about it, Qin Huai was even a little surprised when he saw Master Jing’s method in the video tutorial.

How to put it, it was a little different from what he had imagined.

Qin Huai thought that the lotus root powder balls should be made by first making the filling and then wrapping the filling like making four-happiness dumplings.

It turned out not to be.

Master Jing's lotus root powder was given by Uncle Zheng Da, and it is probably homemade pure lotus root powder. Of course, whether it was given by Uncle Zheng Da is still in doubt. Qin Huai roughly saw from the details of the dishes that it should be Uncle Zheng Da who gave the lotus root powder to Zheng Da's family, and then Zheng Da silently gave the lotus root powder to the master.

The lotus root powder made at home could not be as fine as the one Qin Luo bought in the convenience store.

Qin Huai looked at the hands in the video tutorial, which were obviously Master Jing's, and scooped the lotus root powder from the bag and rolled it into dough with a rolling pin. Then he took out a bamboo tube from the cabinet, put the stuffing that had been rolled into small balls into the bamboo tube, sprinkled lotus root powder into the bamboo tube, shook it, rolled it evenly, and then put the rolled small balls into a pot of boiling water for two or three seconds at most, took them out and continued the above steps.

This process of rolling, blanching and rolling again was repeated three times. The time and amount were controlled very well each time. The lotus root powder balls rolled out at the end were of different sizes, but they were basically small and round, and looked very delicate.

The last step is naturally to cook them. As Qin Huai expected, the lotus root powder balls are cooked in a pot of clear water and can be fished out when they float.

The freshly cooked lotus root powder balls are gray in color, and the outer circle is very translucent. When placed in the sun, they look like illuminated exhibits in a display cabinet, and they are translucent from the inside out.

After the lotus root starch balls were cooked, Master Jing added a little sugar and honey to the soup for seasoning, giving the soup a light yellow tint and making the color of the final lotus root starch balls look like a mixture between gray and brown.

Finally, sprinkle with dried osmanthus flowers for garnish, and a grade-A lotus root powder meatball is ready.

After watching the video tutorial, Qin Huai felt that he might not have understood this dessert very well. This dessert is not difficult, but it is a bit troublesome to say it is simple. Overall, it is relatively simple. Only the part of rolling the lotus root powder balls is complicated. The parts that can be difficult are not difficult, such as the fillings.

But this dim sum is grade A.

The ratings given by the game are not wrong. A-grade snacks are masterpieces, even the simplified versions are made by masters.

Qin Huai felt that there must be something he didn't understand, so Qin Huai read it again, and again, and again.

Then Qin Huai felt that just watching the video tutorial was useless. He didn’t know much about lotus root powder, so he had to understand the ingredients first.

There must be a reason why Master Jing makes lotus root powder balls in this way.

So Qin Huai chose to send a message to Cao Guixiang for help.

Master, help!

According to Qin Huai's description, after he came to Gusu, he set his eyes on lotus root starch balls, but he didn't quite understand how to make them, nor did he grasp the techniques involved, so he asked his dear master for help.

Cao Guixiang called Qin Huai directly back.

"Xiao Qin, your desserts are getting more and more diverse. You even made the famous palace dessert lotus root starch meatballs."

Qin Huai was stunned: "Eh, famous?"

Qin Huai didn't expect Cao Guixiang to use such an adjective. It was the first time Qin Huai heard this word from Cao Guixiang's mouth.

"Lotus root powder balls... do they have any origin?" Qin Huai asked tentatively. Could it be that this snack has some secret, but he is too ignorant to have ever heard of it.

"There is no special origin for this dish. It is just that this dish was once very famous in a restaurant in Peking and was a signature dish. When I was learning cooking, I often heard my master mention it, so I have a deep impression of this dish."

"Signature dim sum?" Qin Huai was really curious.

In his impression, whether he heard from Cao Guixiang or Chen Huihong, the restaurants in Peking all focused on red dishes.

The only restaurant that is good at white pastry is Babaozhai. However, with the personnel changes in Babaozhai, white pastry has long been neglected. When white pastry was not neglected, it had never surpassed red pastry. How could a restaurant have a signature pastry, which is lotus root powder meatballs?

"Do you know Taifenglou?" Cao Guixiang asked. Without waiting for Qin Huai to answer, she answered directly, "You definitely don't know. When I was learning martial arts, Taifenglou had been closed for many years, not to mention you, Xiao Qin."

"When my master was learning his craft, Taifenglou was the most famous restaurant in Peking, and of course, it was also known for its famous desserts. However, at that time, the chef of Taifenglou had a very famous dessert, lotus root powder meatballs, which was almost a must-order dish at banquets. Many women from high-ranking officials and dignitaries liked to know about this dessert, and they competed with each other to compete, which once drove up the price of lotus root powder very high."

"But the lotus root powder meatballs are much more complicated than what you want to learn, Xiao Qin. It takes a lot of time just to prepare the ingredients, and the soup also needs to be specially prepared."

"I don't remember the specific filling, but my master mentioned it once, and I was so greedy at that time that I dreamed of eating that version of lotus root powder meatballs."

"I remember the fillings seemed to include osmanthus, almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, kumquat cakes, candied fruits, fresh fruit pulp, sugar, sesame seeds and the like, anyway, they are all children's favorites. You know, at that time I couldn't eat so many types of snacks during the Chinese New Year, and a small lotus root powder ball has all of them. When I first heard about this kind of snack, I really wanted to eat it in my dreams." Qin Huai understood that the way Master Cao Guixiang taught his apprentices was to tempt the apprentices first, tell them what delicious food there is, and then draw a picture of it.

As for whether this pie can be fulfilled, it doesn’t matter. Let’s lure the apprentice in first.

Qin Huai was complaining in his heart, and Cao Guixiang also mentioned the issue that Qin Huai was most concerned about: "As for the method of blanching you mentioned, I know a little bit about it. It is very difficult."

Qin Huai sat upright and said, "Master, I also feel that the perming process is not as simple as it seems... I mean, it is not as simple as it seems, there must be some skills involved."

Cao Guixiang chuckled twice: "Then I'm going to test you. Do you know the characteristics of lotus root powder?"

Qin Huai:?
"what?"

"You can check it out online. The starch content in lotus root starch is very high, over 85%. As for the characteristics of starch, such as polysaccharides, amylose, and amylopectin, I am not very clear about them."

"You only need to know one thing: amylose has anti-swelling properties, poor water solubility, insoluble in fat, and a high gelatinization temperature, so it is insoluble in cold water but soluble in hot water. On the other hand, amylopectin is difficult to dissolve in water, and when heated to boiling with water, it forms a very viscous gel."

"Do you not understand what I said? That's right, I just looked this up on the Internet."

Qin Huai: ...?
"To put it in terms that our chefs can understand, with these characteristics, the blanching method can better make translucent lotus root starch balls."

"The translucency is for appearance, but it's not just for translucency. This method can make the lotus root powder balls more flexible and elastic, and more chewy. After all, the deliciousness of the snacks made with lotus root powder needs to be felt through chewing."

Qin Huai understood.

“So the most critical step in making lotus root starch meatballs is actually blanching them. The fillings only make a difference in taste, and blanching determines the soul of the lotus root starch meatballs.”

"That's right." Cao Guixiang said, "The fact that you can find that the perming step is crucial shows that there is nothing wrong with your thinking. Go ahead and do it boldly. As for how to perm it specifically, it's up to you."

"Master Cao, I am a pure red case chef. I am not very good at this kind of white case dim sum. I will have to study it for a few days to find out what the secret is."

Qin Huai smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Master. I will also work hard on my research. If I encounter any problems that I really can't overcome, I will ask you for help."

"You should also go to bed early and stop staying up late playing with your phone. You were still sharing mini-app games with me at 3 a.m. last night."

Cao Guixiang was shocked: "Ah? I shared it with you? I clearly shared it with Lao Wang, oops, I must have clicked the wrong one."

Qin Huai hung up the phone amid Cao Guixiang's annoyance, and watched the video tutorial of lotus root starch balls twice before leaving the room to wash up.

Shi Dadan had already gone back and Wang Gensheng had also gone to rest. The computer was not on the dining table in the living room, so it was probably taken into the room by Wang Gensheng. This shows the caution of a professional accountant.

Qin Huai fell into a deep sleep after a simple wash. He planned to go to Huang Ji to make some lotus root powder balls tomorrow.

Of course, chicken noodle soup must be made before making lotus root powder meatballs. Huang Ji’s chefs and Zheng Siyuan have been waiting all day, and it would be unreasonable if they get up late again tomorrow.

The next day, Qin Huai got up very early. When he got up, Wang Gensheng had already gone out, probably for a morning jog.

Uncle Wang is very health-conscious and insists on jogging in the morning regardless of whether he has a delicious breakfast or not.

When Qin Huai arrived at Huang's, Zheng Siyuan was not there. It was a rare opportunity for Qin Huai to be the door opener. He made a quick inspection of the kitchen and found two large bags of new lotus root powder on the shelf. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that Huang Anyao's business ability had really improved and his work efficiency had become so high.

Maybe because they came too early, Qinhuai had already kneaded the noodles but no second person came to the kitchen. Adhering to the principle of finding something to do if you have nothing to do, Qinhuai started making lotus root powder balls directly.

The lotus root powder prepared by Huang Anyao was very fine and did not need to be rolled again carefully with a rolling pin. Qin Huai just rolled it once for the sake of courtesy.

The filling is very simple, just mix sugar, lard and some dried osmanthus, it is almost not difficult at all.

Not to mention, the process of making the dumplings is quite healing and stress-relieving. It gives me the same joy as playing with plasticine in elementary school.

Qin Huai was having a lot of fun making the dumplings.

Soon we came to the step of perming.

Huang Ji definitely doesn’t have such a primitive tool as a bamboo tube, and there is no bamboo tube rice on Huang Ji’s menu. However, if you just want to roll lotus root powder balls, you don’t necessarily need a bamboo tube. There are many props in the kitchen that can be used to roll balls.

Qin Huai searched in the cabinet and found a more suitable small iron tube. As soon as he took it out, Zheng Siyuan came.

Zheng Siyuan was a little surprised to see Qin Huai coming so early today. He was even more surprised when he saw the noodles already kneaded on the chopping board.

However, Zheng Siyuan was not very concerned about why Qin Huai came so early. His attention was completely attracted by the row of small meatballs on the chopping board and the iron tube in Qin Huai's hand.

"What are you going to do?" Zheng Siyuan asked.

"Lotus root powder balls." Qin Huai was still looking down at the iron cylinder he had just found. He shook it in the air to get a feel for it. When he felt it was okay, he looked up at Zheng Siyuan, "Master Zheng, are you okay?"

"Yesterday, Dong Shi sent me a message telling me that Master Zheng had been in the kitchen making double crab buns until 8pm, shocking everyone. When will he come today? When the lotus root starch balls are ready, I would like to ask Master Zheng to taste them for me."

When Qin Huai asked this, Zheng Siyuan immediately switched back to his expressionless face: "My dad is not coming today."

"He just sent me a message saying that the dog had diarrhea this morning and he was going to take the dog to the veterinary hospital. He didn't know when he would be able to come."

"You have a dog at home?" Qin Huai was shocked.

Zheng Siyuan sneered: "No, it's our neighbor's dog."

"My dad volunteered to take the dog to the veterinary hospital and no one could stop him."

"Yesterday I thought he had thought it through and was going to pick up his cooking skills and become a dim sum chef. Now it seems I was overthinking."

"My dad is still my dad. He hasn't changed at all. Even the excuses he makes are so lame."

Qin Huai:......

(End of this chapter)