Food Intelligence King

Chapter 4: Delicious Treats
the next day.
Chen Zhou works at an architectural design institute.

Bird Company hasn't been able to secure any new projects lately, but they've been tightening their attendance policies more and more.

However, since there wasn't any specific work to do, the first thing we did after arriving in the morning was a Douyin (TikTok) exchange among colleagues.

"Have you seen the news? The conflict between Israel and Iran is escalating, and they say they're about to unleash a major attack!"

"Not necessarily, it's just a small-scale operation."

"Why not? They've already enriched their uranium to that level."

A group of middle-aged men gathered together, discussing science and technology and the international situation, was quite an interesting scene.

The video information I saw on the way here turned into my own insightful observations.

In any disputed area, they rely entirely on their loud voices and unquestionable momentum to win.

The things mentioned above,

If you guys really knew what you were doing, you wouldn't be wasting your time at the company.

But then again, it's just casual conversation.

But Chen Zhou remained silent.

He just kept kneading the clay.

A while later, Lao Song, who was complaining that the company didn't even provide toilet paper, shared another message.

It's said that food blogger Teacher Li has had a falling out with his MCN company. The two sides have conflicting accounts of "only paying 500 yuan for a 10,000 yuan business deal," which has become a trending topic.

As soon as Lao Song finished speaking, other colleagues immediately chimed in:

"I saw it too. Damn it, isn't an MCN just like our design institute? They don't get much money even if they do a project worth a few hundred thousand."

"That's different, we can even owe money."

Chen Zhou stopped making the twelfth fold.

I never expected that my intelligence would be verified here.

However, this piece of information doesn't have any specific connection to me for the time being. I can only treat it as news from the food industry.

However, Chen Zhou was still very happy to have received concrete verification.

Having something to rely on in one's heart

Chen Zhou started to take his current job less seriously.

During lunch break, I planned to sneak home to continue researching my steamed buns.

Chen Zhou's lunch buddy noticed his unusual behavior today—he was quiet all morning and didn't even eat lunch at the company.
Old Song is always eager to find out things, and this time he certainly wasn't going to let it slip by:

"Xiao Chen, aren't you eating at the company today?"

Chen Zhou whispered, "I have something to do, I need to go out for a bit."

Song Liwei put on a reassuring expression, saying, "I'll call you if anything happens."

Actually, he was a little dissatisfied with Chen Zhou's reply of "I have something to do." So, he spoke to Chen Zhou in an older brother's tone, giving him instructions and trying to make his presence known:

"You young people, stop making things difficult all the time. It's just a bit tough now, but when I was your age..."

"Thanks, Brother Song." Chen Zhou quickly interrupted Master Song's spellcasting.

Old Song joined the company a few years earlier than me, so he's my senior.

When the company was doing well, everyone was highly motivated to make money together, and Chen Zhou even had the mood to chime in with a few words.

Now, they're all waiting to be fired in the office.

Chen Zhou really didn't have time to listen to Lao Song speak in that tone anymore.

Slipping out of the company, Chen Zhou rode his electric bike straight to the vegetable market near his residential area.

The most important ingredient in meat buns is meat.

It's worth choosing carefully.

The Xingfu Farmers Market near my home serves four or five surrounding residential communities, benefiting tens of thousands of residents.

Its size is quite large even in a coastal city.

In addition, its proximity to home made it Chen Zhou's first choice.

However, he doesn't go shopping very often. It's only recently, because the company has been struggling and business is slow, that he's been able to work regular hours and has had more free time.

Walking through the bustling crowd, Chen Zhou headed towards the meat section.

Unexpectedly, I was stopped by someone as soon as I passed the first stall.

"Hey bro, wanna buy some meat?!"

The person asking the question spoke in a harsh tone, much like a taxi driver hailing passengers outside a train station. Coupled with their thuggish attire, they weren't exactly likable.

Then I thought about how my daughter would instinctively grab my hand whenever she saw this person whenever she came to the market with me.

Chen Zhou's impression of him worsened.

Ignoring his question, they walked straight to the other shops.

The meat for mincing should be three parts fat and seven parts lean, with the front leg being the most suitable.

Today, Chen Zhou continued his experiment. After careful selection, he bought two and a half pounds of scallions and then bought some more.

Back home, he followed yesterday's procedure to let the dough rise and started preparing the filling.

The precise ratio on the recipe is one pound of minced meat to two ounces of water.

This water is certainly not just plain boiled water.

It has the functions of removing fishy smells and enhancing aroma.

So it also contains crushed ginger and garlic.

Total quantity controlled, added in stages.

Chen Zhou leaned closer and took a sniff.

The pungent aroma of ginger and garlic effectively suppresses the pork's fishy smell; its effect is already evident even before steaming.

Chen Zhou admired him.

Cooking experience is sometimes accumulated through a series of little tricks.

Yesterday's "add sugar to leaven dough and add milk to knead dough" and today's "ginger and garlic water" have all been very helpful to Chen Zhou.

The seasoning was nothing special.

It's nothing more than soy sauce, MSG, sugar, and salt.

The only thing to note is that the recipe clearly states "do not add cooking wine." The buns are sealed tightly, so the smell of alcohol would be difficult to dissipate.

The minced ginger is mixed together with the minced meat, and the scallions are saved to be added when making the buns.

Stir in one direction until the meat filling is well-coated and absorbs the seasonings.

Finally, drizzle with sesame oil to finish.

Chen Zhou put the minced meat into the refrigerator.

The meat filling, after being soaked in water, is moist and plump; freezing it makes it even easier to wrap.

In addition, he also has to time things so he can clock out and wait for his wife and kids to come home for dinner.

at night,

Freshly steamed meat buns were served on Chen Zhou's family's dining table.

Overall, it is white, tender, and soft, but the shape is slightly different.

The little girl has a limited vocabulary, so I have to point and describe her with my fingers:
"Yesterday's bags were colorful, today's bags look like this, this, and that."

But the substance is actually quite good.

After gently breaking it open, the steam carrying an even richer aroma of meat wafts out.

The inner skin, after absorbing the broth, turned a dark brown color, while the meat filling in the center was rolled up together and glistened with oil.

Just looking at it makes your mouth water.

Blow on it twice before eating.

The soft dough, the juicy filling, the rich meat and the savory aroma of scallions, ginger and garlic all come together.

Eating it brings a sense of satisfaction and peace of mind.

"These steamed buns are quite delicious."

Lin Yifan commented as follows.

But as she spoke, she realized that while she was busy eating steamed buns, Chen Zhou had already gone back to the kitchen to work.

After eating a steamed bun and seeing her husband's serious expression, Lin Yifan's opinion that Chen Zhou would lose money setting up a stall began to change.
'Selling steamed buns at a street stall seems to be actually quite profitable.'

But she always felt embarrassed when she spoke of her warm encouragement.

She could only brew a cup of goji berries late at night and bring it to her husband, who was still busy.

"Don't forget to drink."

Chen Zhou took the water glass and felt the warmth of his wife's care, but the half-full glass of goji berries also somewhat dampened his middle-aged confidence.

Do I need to put in so much?
(End of this chapter)