Traveling through various miniature worlds with a small restaurant

Chapter 187 The Bizarre Post-Apocalyptic World 4

Lin Xiaoqian raised an eyebrow: "You underestimate my culinary skills, don't you? Do you think I'd have trouble selling my food?"

They also tried the steamed buns made by the townspeople today. It wasn't that they were bad, but they were absolutely tasteless.

With Lin Xiaoqian's current culinary skills, she can easily surpass everyone else.

“However…” Lin Xiaoqian thought for a moment and then said, “What you said makes sense. Let’s try selling them in town first. If we really can’t sell them, then we’ll think of a way to sell steamed buns outside.”

After the renovation, the restaurant now has an elevator on the fourth floor that goes directly to the kitchen on the first floor, which is very convenient.

After taking the elevator to the kitchen on the first floor, Lin Xiaoqian rolled up her sleeves, put on an apron, and began preparing the fillings.

Several households they visited today made meat buns, and Lin Xiaoqian also planned to make meat buns, but instead of fresh meat buns, she made braised meat buns.

First, prepare the filling. The meat is carefully selected hind leg meat, with a fat-to-lean ratio of 7:3, and is diced into small pieces.

Put the diced fatty meat directly into a cold pan and stir-fry over medium-low heat. You need to stir constantly during this process. Soon, oil will sizzle and pop out of the pan. Fry out the excess oil and cook until the fatty meat turns into a tiger-skin pattern.

Use a strainer to scoop out the diced fatty meat from the pot and set it aside temporarily. Sauté the chopped ginger in the lard in the pot until fragrant, then add the diced lean meat to the pot and stir-fry quickly to separate any pieces that are stuck together, preventing the meat from clumping together.

After the lean meat changes color, add white sugar and stir-fry until the sugar softens and melts. Then add the fatty meat that was set aside and stir-fry together. During this process, add a little white wine to remove the meaty smell and stir-fry until it turns a wine color. Then add oyster sauce to enhance the flavor. Finally, add sweet bean sauce and stir-fry until fragrant. Add an appropriate amount of thirteen-spice powder and stir-fry until evenly mixed before turning off the heat.

Pour the stir-fried meat into a large bowl to cool. While it's cooling, chop some scallions, prepare the seasonings according to the recipe provided by the system, and put them all into the meat. During this process, you need to use your hands to lift and spread the filling out to mix it evenly, rather than stirring and kneading it. Otherwise, the juices in the filling will be lost, and the texture will not be as tender and juicy.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Xiaoqian began preparing the dumpling wrappers.

Select high-quality high-gluten flour, dissolve an appropriate amount of yeast and sugar in warm water, pour the solution into the flour while stirring with chopsticks until the flour becomes flocculent. Then, transfer the dough to a work surface and knead it with both hands. Under her skillful hands, the dough gradually becomes smooth and elastic.

The kneaded dough was placed in a warm corner to wait for it to slowly ferment.

While the dough was fermenting, Lin Xiaoqian and Zhuang Damao began preparing steamers, tableware, and other items.

The two of them methodically prepared everything, and the dough was almost ready to ferment.

Lin Xiaoqian gently pressed the fermented dough to release the air bubbles, then rolled the dough into a long strip and cut it into small, evenly sized pieces.

She picked up a small dough ball and rolled it out with a rolling pin into a round wrapper that was thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges. Lin Xiaoqian's technique was skillful; she quickly spun the wrapper in her hands and soon rolled out a neat, round wrapper.

Lin Xiaoqian scooped up a spoonful of filling and placed it in the center of the dough. Her fingers deftly pinched the edges of the dough, folding and pleating it with fluid, graceful movements. In the blink of an eye, a plump, round bun with evenly pleated edges appeared before her.

Jiang Shuang watched intently from the side and couldn't resist trying it herself. However, while her hands were better suited for touching guns and shooting people, making dumplings was a different story.

Fortunately, Lin Xiaoqian and Zhuang Damao were quick with their hands, and soon the steamer was filled with rows of neat buns.

Lin Xiaoqian placed the steamer basket into the steamer and turned on the heat to steam.

As steam rose, the kitchen was filled with the rich aroma of meat and wheat.

Twenty minutes later, the buns were cooked. Lin Xiaoqian opened the lid, and steam rushed out, revealing plump, white buns with translucent skins that allowed glimpses of the tempting meat filling inside.

Mo Ying couldn't wait to pick up a bun and take a bite. The soft and chewy dough, with just the right amount of elasticity, made it irresistible to chew it slowly.

Immediately afterwards, the delicious juices burst in your mouth, the rich aroma of meat mixed with the mellow savory flavor of the sauce. Each diced meat is tightly coated with the thick sauce, and the fatty meat, after being stir-fried, becomes golden and crispy, with the fat fully rendered out, yet retaining its unique mellow aroma, making a "crunch" sound when chewed.

The lean pork cubes are tender and juicy, absorbing the essence of the sauce while retaining their original chewiness. The two complement each other perfectly, creating an amazingly rich and layered taste.

The scallions add a refreshing touch to the rich flavor, making the overall taste of the bun more balanced, fragrant but not greasy.

"Delicious! It smells so good!"

"This is what steamed buns should be like!"

The group ate their fill in one go, with Mo Ying eating more than a dozen steamed buns by herself.

"Ding—" The bell at the door rang.

Jiang Shuang put down the steamed buns and said, "You guys eat first, I'll go check on things."

She walked out of the kitchen and saw a little boy, who looked about seven or eight years old, wearing a yellow short-sleeved shirt, standing in the store, tilting his head back and sniffing with a look of utter delight.

"It smells so good!" He looked curiously at Jiang Shuang at the kitchen doorway: "What are you doing?"

Jiang Shuang thought he was probably attracted by the aroma of the steamed buns. A child from a family in town smiled and replied to the little boy, "Little friend, we're steaming steamed buns."

"Steamed buns?" The little boy blinked. "The steamed buns you make smell much better than the ones everyone else makes."

For some reason, Jiang Shuang felt a pang of tenderness whenever she saw this little boy, and wanted to give him all the good things in the world.

"Shall I get you some to eat?"

Before the little boy could speak, Jiang Shuang returned to the kitchen, picked up a small bamboo basket, and started filling it with steamed buns.

Everyone else looked confused. Lin Xiaoqian took a bite of her steamed bun and asked, "Sister Shuang, who is it?"

Jiang Shuang didn't look up or say anything.

She quickly filled a basket with buns and ran out, handing the basket to the little boy.

The little boy's eyes lit up instantly, and he took the basket and ran out of the restaurant.

Lin Xiaoqian and the others felt that Jiang Shuang's behavior was a bit strange, so they got up and walked out of the kitchen, but only saw that the restaurant door was closed, as if someone had gone out.

Jiang Shuang was standing in the store with her back to them.

Lin Xiaoqian walked up to Jiang Shuang and asked, "Sister Shuang, who's here? Who did you give the steamed buns to?"

Jiang Shuang looked confused and asked, "Who? Has anyone come?"

The others exchanged bewildered glances. Liao Zhuang asked, "The doorbell rang just now. Did you come out and see who came in? Where is everyone?"

Seeing Jiang Shuang's bewildered expression, Lin Xiaoqian's doubts deepened.

She asked softly again, "Sister Shuang, don't you remember anything?"

Jiang Shuang frowned, trying hard to recall, but she couldn't remember anything about it. Her eyes were full of confusion and unease.