Chapter 508: Chapter 508 Gratitude Chapter 508: Chapter 508 Gratitude Su Yunjin’s family kitchen had everything, flour, pork, condiments, you name it, and perhaps even more complete than what the Chu family had.
Since she had all the ingredients at hand in her room, when teaching Mrs. Chu how to make buns, Su Yunjin didn’t plan on going back to the old Gu residence to teach. Going there would likely mean encountering Mrs. Zhang and those other irritants. Having finally moved out of the old Gu house, Su Yunjin certainly had no intention of going back without good reason.
She would teach Mrs. Chu how to make buns right at her home, which was convenient and saved the hassle of running back and forth with Mrs. Chu.
As Su Yunjin taught Mrs. Chu to make buns in the kitchen, Gu Yan did not linger to watch. After having breakfast, he left the house. As for what exactly Gu Yan went out to do,
Su Yunjin didn’t know.
She didn’t concern herself with what Gu Yan was out doing either. Focusing wholeheartedly on teaching Mrs. Chu in the kitchen, to make delicious buns, it was essential to prepare both the dough and the filling well.
If both the dough and filling were tasty, the buns produced would be delicious. For the dough to be appetizing, mixing the dough was the most crucial step. Only with well-kneaded dough could the bun skins turn out soft and fluffy.
Su Yunjin planned to teach Mrs. Chu how to knead the dough first, then how to make the filling. The proportion of water to flour in kneading dough is very important; if the ratio is off, the steamed buns will not come out soft.
The proportion for making buns is about one to three, normally three bowls of flour to one bowl of water, and the dough needs to be kneaded for a while longer to develop elasticity.
Su Yunjin explained the method to Mrs. Chu step by step. Following Su Yunjin’s instructions, Mrs. Chu kneaded the dough. Once the dough was ready, what remained was the filling.
The filling was also crucial. To cut costs, the ingredients had to be inexpensive. If the filling was too costly,
people in the market wouldn’t be willing to buy, resulting in losses. After weighing the options, Su Yunjin decided to teach Mrs. Chu how to make pork and cabbage filling for the buns.
Both pork and cabbage were not expensive.
Using them as filling wouldn’t drive the cost too high.
The filling was simple. The meat and cabbage were chopped separately, mixed with scallions and ginger, stirred evenly, then rice wine or cooking wine was poured in. If there was no cooking wine, rice wine could suffice; it was all about removing any gamey taste.
After the filling was prepared, encase it in the ready-made dough, shape the buns, and then steam them on the stove. In roughly twenty minutes, they’d be ready to come out.
Mrs. Chu tended the fire beneath the stove. As Su Yunjin lifted the lid off the pot, Mrs. Chu could smell the fragrant aroma of the buns. Watching the freshly steamed buns in the pot, Su Yunjin, despite not having tasted them, knew from their plump and white appearance that they probably tasted good.
She cautiously clamped one with chopsticks and took a bite. Indeed, as she had guessed, the bun skins were fluffy and delicious to taste. Biting into the filling, it too was scrumptious, with the fat running richly inside her mouth.
Mrs. Chu approached Su Yunjin.
Leaning in, she asked, “Third Sister-in-law, how is it? What does it taste like?”
“Little sister-in-law, why don’t you try it for yourself?” Su Yunjin did not tell Mrs. Chu about the taste but let her taste it instead. Today’s buns were all made by Mrs. Chu; Su Yunjin had only explained the method. Mrs. Chu had prepared the dough and filling entirely on her own.
Worried that she might not have done well, as before, Mrs. Chu cautiously took a tentative bite when Su Yunjin suggested she try it for herself, and to her surprise, the taste was much better than her first attempt – by an unfathomable margin.
Just one bite allowed Mrs. Chu to distinctly feel the difference.