Food Intelligence King

Chapter 3: The Rare Information of Fresh Meat Buns

Chen Zhou has always been in charge of making decisions at home, and the two of them discuss them together.

After finishing tidying up in the evening, Chen Zhou briefly discussed his future plans with his wife.

"Honey, I'm thinking of opening a small restaurant. The construction industry isn't doing well right now, and staying at the company is just a waste of time, it's pointless."

This set of rhetoric was nothing new to Lin Yifan.

She had heard her husband mention "opening a small restaurant," "delivering takeout," "live-streaming e-commerce," or "writing online articles."

After all, her husband is someone who can't sit still.

During the more than six months that performance bonuses were suspended, he also put these ideas into practice.

But the current economic environment is sluggish, it's difficult to switch careers, and nothing is easy to do.

This time, when Lin Yifan learned that Chen Zhou was actually going to open a store directly, although she still didn't explicitly express her opposition, her eyebrows furrowed even more tightly than before.

You need to rent a shop to open a store.

This alone would cost a lot, requiring us to use our family savings.

Once the money is invested, you'll definitely have to quit your job and focus on running the business.

The restaurant business is tough, and he has no experience. If he jumps in headfirst, he'll definitely lose everything.

This house can't withstand any major disruptions right now.

Even if life is a little tight, we can still live a stable life.

After much deliberation, Lin Yifan suggested to her husband, "How about we set up a stall first and give it a try?"

Chen Zhou, who was looking through steamed bun recipes, was quite confident in his entrepreneurial endeavors thanks to the food information he had gathered.

However, although opening a shop was his plan, given Chen Zhou's current financial situation and culinary skills, starting directly was indeed taking a big step.

He agreed with his wife's statement.

"That's a good idea, let's start with setting up a stall."

Lin Yifan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Chen Zhou's answer:

Setting up a stall won't result in much financial loss.

So what does wanting to run a catering business have to do with repairing tractors?
The book "Practical Tractor Repair Guide" details common problems encountered during tractor use, such as steering wheel vibration, engine emitting blue smoke, and difficulty starting.
Chen Zhou, of course, didn't look at these things.

He was studying that steamed bun recipe.

The yellowed paper was covered with densely packed small characters.

From kneading the dough to preparing the filling, and then to the techniques for wrapping the buns, it is very detailed.

It even specifies how much water to add to a pound of flour, and how much scallion to use for a portion of minced meat.

Chen Zhou couldn't help but sigh:

"This profession is truly different."

When cooking at home, there's no quantifiable standard; you can only rely on your intuition.

So whether it's too salty or too bland, too old or too young, there are many variables.

Professional chefs sometimes say "a little salt" or "a little sugar," but their "a little" is the result of practice and experience; it's the old saying that practice makes perfect.

In preparation for setting up his stall, Chen Zhou looked around and wrote down the ingredients he needed.

Flour, pork shoulder, scallions, light soy sauce.
The steamed meat buns made by the chef of state banquets didn't actually use any precious ingredients.

Chen Zhou paused for a moment when he saw "5g Yichang yeast".

Yichang yeast?

Chen Zhou took out his phone.

A search revealed that the brand is now called Angel.

What started as a small local factory has now grown into an industry giant.

Judging from the name of the yeast, this recipe was written at least thirty years ago.

Chen Zhou took a picture of the recipe and carefully tucked it back into the book.

This recipe is about 30 years old.

It might even have some collectible value.

However, setting aside its hidden value, the phrase "Cook Well" written in slightly larger font at the end of the recipe was enough for Chen Zhou to cherish.

He seemed to be able to imagine:
The story of a young apprentice who wrote this sentence on a recipe and then used it to motivate himself step by step to become a chef for state banquets.

Cooking well was this master chef's original intention.

It's mine now!

Looking at the recipe, Chen Zhou was eager to try it. He could also update the information in a few days.

This is a good time to make good use of the time and prepare properly.

He went to the kitchen, found the electronic scale, and began to operate it according to the precise proportions.

1 pound of flour, 1 packet of yeast, and 5 grams of sugar to promote fermentation.

Simply mix well and add water.

The recipe has crossed out "one pound of flour and half a pound of water" and replaced it with "four ounces of water and one ounce of milk".

This chef, who specializes in state banquets, is constantly refining his recipes.

There's not much to say about this step.

The key is to keep kneading until your hands, the dough, and the bowl are all smooth.

Set the dough aside to ferment.

Chen Zhou began to study the techniques for making steamed buns.

When it comes to steamed buns, there's an old saying: "Thin skin, generous filling, and eighteen pleats."

However, in the recipe's finger technique section, eighteen finger techniques are only considered acceptable. Twenty-four are required to be considered professional.

Since he was going to do it, Chen Zhou wanted to do it well.

He looked at the dough in front of him that hadn't risen properly and suddenly remembered the toys the kindergarten had bought a few days ago.

So he called his daughter:

"Tao Tao, let Daddy play with your clay."

The little girl was naturally happy to agree, and even made a small request:

"Then let's play together."

The little guy's even starting to negotiate. Chen Zhou glanced at the remaining milk. "Then you..."

Before Chen Zhou could finish speaking, Chen Taotao had already taken it.

Gudu Gudu Gudu~
"You'll be a tomboy someday too." Chen Zhou pinched Tao Tao's little cheek and helped her wrap dumplings with modeling clay.

The dumpling skin is thin, while the bottom is thick.

Therefore, the dough should be rolled out thicker in the middle and thinner around the edges.

After filling the bun, hold it with one hand and use the thumb and forefinger of the other hand to lift and pinch the dough together at the top.

Chen Zhou had some basic knowledge of making noodles, and after trying it a few times, he became more and more adept at it.

I made several colorful buns, and their shapes gradually approached the standard.

Peach is a bit slow.

Her little hands moved one after another, clearly unable to keep up with Chen Zhou's speed.

Seeing that most of the clay had been used up, he could only concentrate on kneading while saying to Chen Zhou, "Hey Dad, wait for me."

After half an hour.

Once the dough has risen, it will stretch and honeycomb-like when gently pulled.

As the dough is stretched, you can smell a fermented, sour odor.

"Adding sugar really worked well; it swelled up in just one go."

However, the dough had risen, but there wasn't enough time to buy fresh meat filling.

Fortunately, we are currently in the practice phase.

Chen Zhou simply divided the dough in half, rolling one part into a wrapper and using the other part as filling. He continued practicing the technique.

It was fine when using playdough, but when I switched to real dough and added Peach, the kitchen became even more cluttered.

On her little hands, on her face, on the table.
Flour got everywhere.

Ms. Lin walked in from the living room with a smile and began to clean up after the little girl.

However, upon seeing the white flour buns Chen Zhou was making, she fell into deep thought again:
Silver thread rolls? Steamed buns? Can setting up a stall really work?

midnight.

Chen Zhou was woken up by someone pushing him.

I had just groggily opened my eyes when I heard my wife's voice, "You still have to go to work during the day."

"Yes, it's Friday, isn't it?" Chen Zhou withdrew his hand and symbolically tucked the summer blanket around her. Turning over, he muttered to himself:
"I even dream about making steamed buns."

(End of this chapter)