Chapter 186: Beancurd Skin Bun
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Now that he had to wait a few hours for it to freeze, Xu Le said to Lu Yuxi, “Let’s have breakfast. Are you coming?”
“What are you going to make for breakfast?”
“I’m not cooking anymore! I’m so tired!” Xu Le smiled as he said, “It’s too troublesome. I’m not intending to go to the shop for a few days after I’m done with this dish.”
His overly straightforward words made Lu Yuxi giggle. “Then let’s go, ask your parents what they’re eating.”
“Alright!”
After Xu Le asked, the two of them went straight to Uncle Bai’s store. They took a taxi from home to the store and almost had to cross half the city.
“Uncle Bai, a small steamed bun, two bowls of dumplings, two beancurd pudding, and salted egg yolk meat dumplings.”
“Oh, it’s you guys?”
Uncle Bai smiled and said, “Come in and sit.”
The air in the open-air courtyard was obviously better. Lu Yuxi gestured and said. “Let’s sit here. I’m so hungry. Please serve the dishes quickly.”
“Sure.” Uncle Bai said happily, “I recently learnt a bun recipe. Do you want to try it?”
“Learnt?” Xu Le was interested. “What bun?”
“Beancurd skin bun.”
Xu Le nodded and said, “Give me one serving.”
“Beancurd skin can even be used in making buns?”
Lu Yuxi looked puzzled. “It’s so thick. Will it taste like beans when it’s added to a bun?”
“Let’s see when Uncle Bai serves it.”
Xu Le was not sure if the beancurd skin mentioned was used for the filling or the outer skin. As the two of them were chatting, a huge force slapped on Xu Le’s back, causing him to cough and turn around to glare at the other party.
Li Shengsheng’s hand froze in midair. “I forgot you had become smaller. Oh, are you okay?”
“You almost slapped my lungs out.”
Xu Le rolled his eyes and couldn’t be bothered to hold him accountable. “You’re here for breakfast too?”
“Hmph, the two of you didn’t even call me up to eat.”
After sitting down, Li Shengsheng said, “What did you order? I want to eat too.”
Then he picked up the handwritten menu from the table and scanned it from top to bottom. “Do you guys have any plans next?”
“We’ve been recording a tutorial on a dish recently,” Lu Yuxi replied casually. Then, she said, “I remember that there was a Xinjiang spicy fried vermicelli at the school gate previously. I wonder if it’s still open? Recently, I’ve been eating especially bland food. I crave something spicy.”
Li Shengsheng narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, “Just get the person beside you to cook whatever you want to eat. Why do you have to specially look for a shop?”
He teased. Xu Le agreed and nudged Lu Yuxi and said, “Who are you looking down on?”
At this moment, Uncle Bai’s buns were served. It was a serving of soft and tender steamed xiaolongbao and a serving of beancurd skin bun.
The fried beancurd skin was used on the outside, and the filling inside could be vaguely seen under bright light.
“The rest can wait for a while. I’ll serve the buns first. Eat them while they’re hot.”
“Uncle Bai, which recipe did you learn from?”
“Oh, you don’t even know that? Think again. Anyway, it’s from a famous book.”
As Uncle Bai spoke, Xu Le carefully looked at the beancurd skin buns and said, “It’s from the Dream of the Red Chamber, right? I remember that I seem to have flipped to this page.”
“That’s right!” Uncle Bai said happily, “There are so many people coming and going, but you’re the first to guess it. Alright, take this serving of buns as a treat from me. Hurry up and try it.”
Lu Yuxi said, “When you said that it was beancurd skin just now, I was still thinking that since the beancurd skin was so thick, it must have been incorporated in the filling.”
“They’re called differently in different places. The one you’re talking about is thousand sheets beancurd skin. This one is fried beancurd skin with a green binding on it. It should be chives dyed with boiling water.”
“Yes, yes, yes! That’s it. I followed the recipe described in the book and tried a lot of variations before the taste was right. The skin is soft and tender, and the filling is huge and tight. Try it.”
Uncle Bai’s face was filled with enthusiasm. Lu Yuxi tried to bite into the beancurd skin bun and the gravy immediately seeped into her mouth. The mushrooms and vegetables were fragrant and there was a crispy texture.
“That’s nice! It tastes fresh.”
Li Shengsheng frowned in disgust. “What kind of description is that? How can it be fresh?”
As he spoke, he stuffed one into his mouth as well. The gravy exploded in his mouth. The seasoning was very light, but it was very delicious and sweet.
Xu Le said, “He must have chopped the prawns and mixed a small amount of pork fillings, green onions, and ginger water. The crispy ingredient is the fresh lotus root. The mushrooms, supplemented with oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, and pepper must have contributed to the flavor. Finally, after wrapping it in fried beancurd skin, tie it with hot and soft chives leaves.”
His method was exactly the same!
Uncle Bai widened his eyes in surprise. After a long while, he said, “We must be from the same line of work!”
“But you’re missing something.” Uncle Bai was about to keep him in suspense.
Xu Le savored it for a while and said, “It’s meat jelly. After the soup freezes, take it out and cut it into pieces. You have to wrap it in the bun as soon as possible. This way, after it’s steamed, the juice will be abundant and the soup will be delicious.”
Uncle Bai was shocked again. This time, not only had the secret recipe that he had been researching for half a month been seen through at a glance, but he was also shocked that Xu Le, who looked like a child, was already good at cooking.
After praising him, he turned around and went in to get the beancurd pudding.
Lu Yuxi’s eyes darted around a few times and she said silently, “Don’t dampen Uncle Bai’s confidence. It wasn’t easy for him to come up with a few dishes. He must be angry that you exposed all his cooking methods.”
“Ah… have I?”
Xu Le was stunned and shook his head. “Do you think Uncle Bai is a child?”
“You’re a child!”
Lu Yuxi retorted.
Soon, the salted egg yolk meat dumpling and beancurd pudding were served, along with two bowls of wontons that one could never get tired of.
Then, the food that Li Shengsheng ordered was served. “Glutinous rice dumplings and sweet beancurd pudding. This is the right way to live. The food you two eat is too much. Um, meat dumplings and salty beancurd pudding are not meant to eat together!”
Xu Le and Lu Yuxi tacitly ignored him. The glutinous rice was firm, and the salted egg yolk was smooth and fragrant. The fat of the pork belly melted and seeped into the glutinous rice, so it was oily and fragrant. It was not greasy at all.
The beancurd pudding was soft and smooth, and the spicy oil on it was especially fragrant. The small wonton was as hot and tender as ever. When he took a bite, it comforted his soul.
“Mmm~ It’s delicious!” Lu Yuxi pointed at the meat dumpling and said, “My family has only eaten sweet dumplings since we were young. Later on, we came here and couldn’t bear to part with it after tasting a mouthful of meat dumplings! From then on, we no longer eat sweet ones!”
Li Shengsheng snorted and lowered his head to continue eating his sweet beancurd pudding.
After breakfast, Xu Le packed some food for his parents. When he stood by the roadside and hailed a taxi, the three of them saw the street slicker “flying” past them and speeding on the sidewalk.
Li Shengsheng’s gaze only retracted after they disappeared at the end of the road. “If not for the fact that I can’t be injured, I would definitely be one of them!”
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