Chapter 271: Roasted Steamed Bun Slices
The final conclusion is that, whether it’s the fuel that the Xiang Family bought or the fuel stored in the A Bite of China Club warehouse at school, neither can be used to bake bread or cake, so Ainuo and Ouyang Yating can only help contact manufacturers to purchase some fuel that has no special effect against certain substances.
However, this means the afternoon baked bread plan probably won’t make it in time.
“How about making some snacks? We can eat them while watching that documentary live stream in the evening.”
Ainuo suggested.
This relatively reliable suggestion received raised hands in full agreement from Ouyang Yating and Liang Gong. As for Xiang Chuan, she skipped the hand-raising vote step entirely and began thinking about what to make.
“Ainuo, Yating, if our roaster maintains high temperature state, it will easily cause the energy to act directly on starch-based foods, right?”
Xiang Chuan asked.
“Yeah, if we use this fuel to make these bread foods, even with your information, it’s hard to control the precise temperature values, and if we need to add other ingredients later, it could lead to uneven heating.”
Ouyang Yating replied.
“Then, if the goal isn’t baking bread, can we use this energy to roast things by lowering the temperature?”
“For roasting other things, just use normal temperature…”
“No, I want to roast starch-based things.”
Xiang Chuan blinked her eyes, then turned and waved at Little Star One and Little Star Two waiting on standby nearby, gesticulating animatedly as she directed them to fetch things.
“What does she mean?”
Ainuo looked at Ouyang Yating and Liang Gong with a bewildered expression, and the two of them had the exact same look.
Half a minute later, Little Star One and Little Star Two brought over two plates of… steamed buns.
“Didn’t you always say in the club that after dinner it’s not suitable to continue taking in a large amount of carbohydrates?” Ainuo reached out and pinched a steamed bun on the plate; it was still warm. “But I remember you often eat french fries and potato wedges in Xiang Xue sister’s live stream room, right? I remember you said potatoes are also starch? Hmm?”
“Once made into french fries and potato wedges, they’re not staple food anymore; they count as snacks.”
Xiang Chuan huffed, picked up a steamed bun and placed it on the cutting board, took out her compressed laser cutter, and sliced the steamed bun into thin slices about one centimeter wide.
“What is this for? Roasting meat and putting it in the steamed bun later? This isn’t suitable to eat after dinner, is it?”
Ouyang Yating leaned over to look at these neatly sliced thin pieces, puzzled.
“That would be meat wrapped bun, which is pretty tasty. We can try it after pork and soy sauce are mass produced, but we can’t make that thing now. These are for roasting later. Slice the steamed buns and roast them to make roasted steamed bun slices. In some ancient regions, these were also called steamed bun slices. They’re great whether dipped in sauce or sprinkled with sugar.”
As Xiang Chuan spoke, her hands didn’t stop; she picked up the eggs on the side, cracked them into a bowl and stirred them into egg mixture, then brushed it onto the steamed buns spread flat on the baking pan. Once she finished brushing, she immediately had Little Star help put the baking pan back into the roaster, then started figuring out with the three others how to adjust the temperature.
“Lowering it a bit doesn’t matter.” Xiang Chuan touched her chin. “After all, the steamed buns have already been steamed once, and the surface egg mixture will roast easily too. The key to roasting steamed buns is to dry out the moisture inside, ensuring the roasted steamed bun slices come out crispy and dry.”
The three exchanged glances, pondered for a bit, referenced the 200-degree oven temperature for ancient roasted steamed buns, and finally set the roaster’s barbecue area’s temperature to around eighty degrees. Since it was secondary heating, the time was also controlled to about five minutes.
The moment the roaster was opened, a familiar aroma of roasted wheat flour and a faint fried egg scent wafted out. When Little Star One placed the roaster on the dining table, all four people craned their necks.
Fortunately, the roasted steamed bun slices, which had no technical complexity, didn’t fail. Xiang Chuan picked up a piece with chopsticks and tasted it; the crunchy steamed bun slice snapped with one bite. The most direct sensation in the mouth was fragrance and crispiness, but since no seasoning was added, the surface egg mixture layer only served to add color, contributing an extra layer of egg fragrance to the aroma without much impact on the taste.
Xiang Chuan scooped a small spoonful of sugar and sprinkled it evenly over the steamed bun slice, then took another bite.
How to put it… it was a bit like eating old-style cookies sprinkled with sugar on the surface. Xiang Chuan thought expressionlessly.
This gave her new inspiration. Since they had a roaster, they could make cookies too—cream-flavored ones, sugar-sprinkled ones, scallion oil-flavored ones, all could be arranged.
While thinking, Xiang Chuan kept munching nonstop on the roasted steamed bun slices at hand, making the three beside her drool.
From their club president’s expression, they knew the roasted steamed bun slices had at least not failed. They too picked up their chopsticks, each grabbing a piece to taste, then showed the same subtle expression as Xiang Chuan, starting either to imitate her and look for sugar or simply have Little Star Two fetch the other seasoning bottles.
No way around it—modern youth whose three meals a day were already monopolized by the A Bite of China Club, school cafeteria, and Yue Xiang Restaurant, how could they tolerate roasted steamed bun slices that had nothing but crispiness and no real flavor?
And this is it—if after the seasonings are mostly ready they start making Cantonese cuisine, what will modern people do? Xiang Chuan, who had long snapped back from her daydreaming, saw the three in their embarrassed state and thought darkly to herself.
——
In the end, the entire afternoon the A Bite of China Club spent not doing proper work but roasting steamed bun slices.
Xiang Weiguo and Lin Minzhi, returning home, were startled to see the mountain of roasted steamed bun slices piled in the kitchen insulated cabinet. Upon learning the four were preparing snacks for the evening documentary live stream, both couldn’t help laughing.
“It’s just one documentary—how much can you eat? And didn’t you say, Xiao Chuan, that one episode is over forty minutes? Can you finish these in forty minutes?”
Xiang Weiguo teased.
Ouyang Yating and the other two lowered their heads a bit embarrassedly. The entire afternoon they had been tinkering with what temperature would roast perfect steamed bun slices faster and better, so one plate after another went into the roaster, and the person in charge, Xiang Chuan, never called a stop. By the time they came to their senses, the small mountain of roasted steamed bun slices was piled as high as Xiang Chuan herself.
Making so many roasted steamed bun slices—what a waste if they can’t finish them. So at this moment, Ouyang Yating and Ainuo exchanged looks, planning to send some to their own homes after dinner. Their families were large; one or two pieces per person would quickly finish them off.
“A lot? I’m still worried there won’t be enough.”
Xiang Chuan dropped the bombshell casually, slurping noodles at the dining table as she replied.
“Right, Father, did you see the message I sent you at noon? Have those arrangements been set up in advance?”
Xiang Weiguo nodded.
“I’ve already notified all the eateries under us to prepare sufficient quantities of ingredients, and contacted the cooperating logistics company to prepare for the evening delivery business… but, will that many people really order takeaway? If they want night snacks, they can just come to the store, and save on delivery fees.”
Hearing this, Xiang Chuan couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth: Now with unmanned AI robot delivery, delivery companies still charge midnight delivery fees?
“There should be people who suddenly want to eat during the broadcast slot… but most of the demand to handle will be delivery in that time slot. As for afterward, it depends on how you negotiate with the logistics company.”
As she spoke, Xiang Chuan glanced at the time display on her personal terminal. It was now 6:32 p.m.
Less than an hour and a half until the first episode of A Bite of China live stream.
