Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 577: Chapter 489: Give and Take, The First Taste of Baozi in Life

"The third dish is the three-flavor chicken, using corn kernels, diced mushrooms, and ground chicken."

"Starch is added here, consistent with the meat marinating technique, so it looks sticky."

"Oh, I see!"

Both of them had a sudden realization, and their hearts started to anticipate the actual taste of these buns.

They originally thought marinating was only for stir-frying, but finding it could be used for fillings sparked Chris’s creative ideas.

If this filling were used instead of many meat pie fillings, would the texture be completely different?

After marinating, shredded and sliced meat becomes tender and smooth, so what changes will ground meat undergo with the same technique?

The more she thought about it, the more she anticipated, she eagerly looked at Lin Chen: "Chef, can we start boiling water to steam the buns?"

Upon hearing the words "steam buns," all the chefs perked up their ears.

Lin Chen keenly noticed this scene and nodded with a smile: "Go ahead, half a pot of water will do, you don’t need much."

As Chris excitedly went to boil water, the chefs also naturally placed the already wrapped buns into the steamers.

It was their first time seeing this unique tool, so they took a few extra glances and then realized the interior had a hollow gap structure, no wonder it could be stacked so high in the video.

Stacking layer by layer was equivalent to building a ventilation duct, allowing the hot steam to spread upwards layer by layer, ensuring each layer of food could be heated.

This was much more effective than putting a pot of water in the oven, and more efficient too.

Reflecting on it, it seemed Western cuisine didn’t have any dishes needing steaming, maybe just steaming vegetables?

With this small amount of water, the boiling time is indeed shorter than boiling a big pot of water, saving a lot of time.

Lin Chen’s sharp observation quietly absorbed the reflective thoughts of everyone, he didn’t say anything, pretending as if nothing happened, urging everyone to move quickly, and to load the buns into the steamer and start steaming.

He himself then brought over a bag of stuff resembling dried grass from the storeroom shelves, grabbing a handful and throwing it into the pot.

"What is this...?"

Chris, by the pot side, curiously picked out two strands and scrutinized, a bit uncertain: "Dried pine needles?"

"Yes," Lin Chen tossed in another handful of pine needles, "Pine needles are considered a medicinal herb in Great Xia, with a unique fragrance, typically used in steamers instead of cloth to give buns a plant aroma."

"But here, since no restaurant uses such materials, even the Great Xia Supermarket doesn’t stock them, suppliers seldom have them, and this bag was stored away from a previous chance encounter."

"This amount isn’t enough to fill up a hundred steamer trays, but boiling it in water can also release the aroma of pine needles, just not as intense as the other method."

"If you want to get pine needles at home, you can’t just use them straight off the tree, some simple processing is required; if interested, you can search online for related videos."

"By the way, after today, likely Lucas will include some educational segments during editing, you can wait for that too."

Infusing the aroma of pine needles into the buns to add a unique flavor?

Everyone secretly perked up their ears, as if imagining many dishes using spices and herbs already.

Like the classic herb-roasted lamb chops, or meats smoked with various herbs, etc.

Those dishes use strongly fragrant herbs, such as sage, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, and others.

Besides these common herbs, fruit wood leaves are also frequently used.

Like pine needles, leaves from ordinary trees haven’t been tried for cooking before.

"Later, I must carefully taste to see if steaming with pine needle water gives the bun skin a special fragrance."

"If pine needles work, do other tree leaves work too? Leaves with distinct scents might all work, right?"

"But chef said not to use them directly, are they poisonous? That’s quite a hassle, needing to learn about plant knowledge."

They calculated their own little plans in mind, bringing over steamers filled with buns.

Magna, dozing off at the outside dining table, faintly smelt a subtle fragrance in the air.

He thought he was hallucinating from hunger, coupled with extreme drowsiness, his brain didn’t react at all.

After being dazed for a while, the aroma became stronger and stronger.

Initially, he didn’t realize it, as the incremental aroma was elusive.

Until at a certain moment, he inhaled a rich wheat aroma, his breath suddenly paused for two or three seconds.

"Hmm?"

His heavy eyelids, as if filled with lead, strained to open a slit, regaining his senses bit by bit.

"What time is it?" He propped himself up against the table, tapping the side-screen of his phone.

"Five o’clock?"

"How long did I sleep..."

He scratched his head in confusion, frowning, trying to retrieve lost memories from his mental arsenal, when a rich bun aroma once again wafted past his nose tip.

His unfocused pupils suddenly concentrated, springing up to his feet.

"Breakfast ready?!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I was waiting for the buns to steam, almost forgot!"

As he hurriedly ran into the kitchen, a strong, almost tangible wheat aroma greeted him.

This aroma was even stronger than any bun scent he’d smelled before, and he could even catch a hint of meat fragrance.

Magna greedily tilted his head back, inhaling deeply, and made a beeline for the steamer without hesitation.

"Are they ready yet, are they ready yet? Every time I smell this, they’re ready!"

Seeing him, Lin Chen couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Just over a minute left, don’t rush, you’re quite sneaky, coming right when they’re almost done."

"Of course! It’s all about experience!"

Magna rubbed his hands together in anticipation, licked his lips, and scanned around, his eyes landing on the few large bowls of filling.

"By the way, what kind of buns are we having today?"

"This looks familiar, I think it’s pork, right? And then there’s mushroom and greens! Weren’t these made before?"

"You’ve got quite a good memory for an old guy," Lin Chen put down the knife, walked over to take a look at the timer, "The other three fillings are mushroom, corn and chicken, sauced beef, and cabbage."

"Cabbage? For bun filling?"

If it were mixed with meat, Magna could more or less imagine the taste, but pure cabbage with the bun skin...

Could that be tasty?

He didn’t dare ask.

In his heart, he definitely trusted Lin Chen, based on past experiences, anything Lin Chen chose to make wasn’t bad, at most some things might require a little courage or time to get used to.

He couldn’t imagine the taste because he’d probably never had it prepared well.

Yeah, it must be his problem!

Thinking of this, he sneaked a glance at Lin Chen and tentatively asked, "Besides using cabbage in buns, what other ways do you prepare it in Great Xia?"

"In our Western cuisine, besides making salads, we also make sauerkraut, not much else."

"There are plenty of ways."

Lin Chen didn’t even need to see Magna’s expression, he could guess what he was thinking just by his tone.

With a slight smile, Lin Chen said mysteriously, "You can stir-fry it, use it to wrap ingredients, make pancakes, oh, and there’s a very classic cabbage dish for lunch today, it’s probably the most popular way in Great Xia."

"Lunch, huh..."

Magna swallowed, "I probably can’t stay that long, what a pity."

"I’ll save you a portion, when can you come pick it up? Or maybe next time?"

"Alright! I’ll try to come when I make a delivery this afternoon."

After saying this, he patted Lin Chen on the shoulder, "Good buddy! It’s not good to keep freeloading, next time, if my orders are big enough, I’ll give you a ten percent discount!"

"I won’t be polite with you then."

Lin Chen nodded with a smile. Don’t underestimate ten percent, as they say, talking about quality without quantity is nonsense.

A ten-dollar item discounted by ten percent only saves one dollar, but what about something worth ten thousand?

That’s a whole thousand dollars!

For a supplier, the strategy is to keep prices low and sell a lot, often earning only a bit of hard labor fee for a box, with the main aim being to increase volume and expand the market.

Giving him a ten percent discount next time basically means he won’t be earning much, possibly even incurring a loss.

It’s essentially using this money to pay back for the meals eaten during this period.

For people who understand this mutual exchange, Lin Chen genuinely regards them as friends.

There’s no need for formalities among friends, just remember to save a portion whenever making something tasty. There’s no need for too much display, as they’re in it for the food.

"Beep beep beep—"

The timer went off right on cue, interrupting their conversation.

Lin Chen lifted the steamer lid, and a large cloud of steam billowed out.

No longer the ignorant newbie who had never eaten buns before, Magna suppressed his excitement, and, knowing the routine, ran over to pick up a meal box and handed it to Lin Chen.

"I know you’re anxious, but hold on a bit."

Lin Chen waved his hand with a smile, taking out layer by layer of steamers, while signaling the chefs to place more in for steaming.

"This batch is the maiden work of these guys, they should get a chance to taste their first-ever creations."

"But there’s one steamer I wrapped myself, mixed in there, need to find out where it is."

"Don’t just stand there everyone, come and see which ones are yours, hurry up and eat while they’re hot."

The people, who had their attention fully focused, chuckled, put down their work, and hurried to wash their hands, eager to taste what these handmade Great Xia Buns would be like.

"Found it!"

Reopening a steamer, Lin Chen’s eyes lit up at seeing the beautifully crafted buns with neat folds all the same size.

"Magna, which flavor do you want to try?"