Food Intelligence King

Chapter 124 Making Steamed Buns Starts with Kneading the Dough; The Old Rolling Pin Arrives
In the kitchen, Ms. Lin was preparing a large batch of mixed vegetables for tomorrow. She noticed that her husband had taken the car keys but hadn't gone out, which made her a little curious.

"Didn't you say you wanted to go to the flea market?"

Chen Zhou replied, "No need to go, they're doing a live stream there, I bought it online."

"Ah."

Ms. Lin was actually a little curious as to why her husband was so fond of old things.

"I've noticed you've bought quite a few old things lately, like this kitchen knife and that old pot from the shop?"

Chen Zhou laughed and said, "As the old saying goes, new clothes are worse than old ones, but old friends are worse than new ones."

Ms. Lin turned her head and glanced at it, feeling that the sentence was not quite appropriate.

"The old saying goes, 'It's a double-edged sword,'" Chen Zhou explained.
"I feel that people are not as good as old friends, and things are not as good as old ones. You develop feelings for things after using them for a long time. This is especially true when you spend a lot of time with people."

Ms. Lin smiled faintly, said nothing, and focused on the side dishes in front of her.

The little girl wanted to join in the fun: "Daddy, am I new or old?"

Chen Zhou picked her up and examined her for a moment.
"Both new and old."

The next day, the R&D team from Maixiangji accompanied the delivery driver to the community canteen.

The two arrived early, almost at the same time as Chen Zhou and the others.

The man, Mr. Mai, introduced himself to the group.

Engineer Yan from the R&D department is tall and wears glasses. He comes from the manufacturing plant and has now been assigned to the distributor.

Strictly speaking, they are not from the same company as the distributor.

He was specifically responsible for accompanying the distributors to various partner units and merchants to investigate customer feedback during the usage process.

If needed, we can also provide some technical support.

Engineer Yan frequently visits clients in person and is very familiar with his company's products. He told Chen Zhou:
"Mr. Chen, actually, many of your peers are quite interested in you. After finding out that you use our company's products, they switched to Maixiangji as well. You're almost becoming the benchmark for steamed buns."

With a population of at least ten million, Haibin City must have countless steamed bun shops.

Of course, there's more than just one community canteen.

Chen Zhou smiled and said, "Your flour is still of more consistent quality."

"That's true." Engineer Yan nodded rather modestly.

He does work in research and development, so he's quite confident in his factory's products.
"The reason why flour is said to have gluten is because the two types of proteins in it, when mixed with water, form a resilient network structure."

Leavening dough involves the gas produced by the fermentation of yeast filling the network structure, causing the dough to expand and grow larger from the outside.

Different products have different proportions of gluten protein, thus catering to different needs.

Chen Zhou was originally a science and engineering major, so he hadn't forgotten all his math, physics, and chemistry knowledge. He could understand the other person's explanation in a relatively simple and easy-to-understand way.

My junior sister is a multi-disciplinary talent.

All the subjects available for study were humanities subjects like accounting and human resources, and what Engineer Yan was talking about was outside her area of ​​knowledge.

However, she greatly admired the other person's speaking style, so she would still listen attentively for a sentence or two.

Aunt Zheng, Aunt Zheng doesn't have time to listen.

Chen Zhou then explained the specific operational details to Engineer Yan:
"At the beginning, when I was setting up a stall, I sold a small amount of goods, and it was just enough for one person to keep busy."

Later, after opening the shop, we added a dough-kneading machine and hired our auntie to come over. We also improved the workflow.

Engineer Yan nodded: "The breakfast shops are all quite busy, but the pace of life in this coastal city is still quite leisurely."

People always say, "It's not about the money, just have some fun."

Chen Zhou has a deep understanding of this.

"In the past, when we were in a hurry, we would put in more yeast and sugar to make it ferment faster. Now, the shop prepares the dough at night and refrigerates it overnight."

Engineer Yan nodded:
"Yes, adding sugar provides nutrients for the yeast in the early stages of fermentation. This is not necessary for overnight low-temperature fermentation, as sufficient fermentation time will produce unique flavor compounds."

"You're so professional," Chen Zhou continued.
"The next day is a second awakening process."

When I get to the market in the morning, I take the dough out and put it in the dough mixer. I knead it until smooth on high speed, which only takes a few minutes. Then I can divide it into portions.

As Chen Zhou spoke, he pointed to Aunt Zheng in the shop. She was doing it just like that.

Engineer Yan nodded: "Yes, using the dough kneading machine again in the morning helps to release the air from the dough. Under normal circumstances, commercial yeast fermentation, with proper temperature control and a relatively stable pH, does not require the addition of alkali."

"This engineer really understands me," Chen Zhou laughed.

"My aunt and I both live in this neighborhood, so we can just come over once in the evening."

Using a machine to knead dough saves effort.

But when it comes to actually making the steamed buns, it's all done by hand, and that can't be replaced.

Engineer Yan nodded in agreement: "It really can't be replaced. If we change the machine, the business will collapse."

Chen Zhou prepared the filling and began to wrap the buns.

He invited:

"When the steamed buns are ready, you should all try them. The R&D department is coming over; we should at least do some in-depth research, right?"

"That's true."

Engineer Yan handed over a small bag of premium flour as a small gift for returning customers.

Then he nodded.

He suddenly realized that he didn't need to provide any technical support; he was just there to freeload a steamed bun.

It's almost become a nodding machine.

Soon, the first batch of steamed buns was ready.

Engineer Yan arrived early today and had a reserved seat.

After taking the two plates of steamed buns, he began to savor them carefully.

The steamed buns look clean and white, with soft and fluffy dough that feels very elastic when you hold them in your hand.

Press your lips against the bun, applying slight pressure.
The teeth first feel a soft resistance.

Bring the dough together from top to bottom and slowly squeeze it until it deforms.

Even when you smell the aroma of wheat and fermentation up close, your teeth will eventually break through the dough.

Kneading and proofing the dough are complicated steps, but all for the sake of this satisfying and substantial experience.

Once you bite into it, the filling releases a rich, meaty aroma.

It tempts people to continue tasting.

The next taste experience belongs to the steamed buns.

All Yan could say was that the taste truly lived up to its reputation.

Besides the signature fresh meat, he also tried the soup dumplings.

The dough is still made with flour from our own company, it's unleavened, thin, and you can tell it's a medium-gluten dough.

It's quite chewy and has a slightly translucent sheen, so I guess they added some starch.

Sip the piping hot broth; it's delicious and nourishing.

Engineer Yan glanced at the delivery driver across the street; the driver wasn't responsible for product tasting.

They were already eating until their mouths were greasy.

Engineer Yan laughed, thinking to himself: I should suggest to the distributors that they add steamed buns to the canteen, wouldn't that be nice?

in the kitchen,
Chen Zhou received two positive reviews from Maixiangji +1.

Soon, the peak dining season arrived, and the community canteen began its busy day. The two sides didn't exchange many more words.

By morning, the battle-damaged rolling pin I bought yesterday had also been delivered to the store.

Old items aren't always functional, but they carry sentiment and emotion that new things can't replace.

(End of this chapter)