Chapter Twenty-Seven: Something You've Certainly Never Seen

Chu Yun smiled as he spoke. “It does take several months to make soy sauce, and you have to study it carefully—it might even take longer. But who said I bought these beans to make soy sauce?”

Chen Jun asked, “If not for soy sauce, then what are they for?”

Chu Yun grinned widely. “Heh, I’m going to make a kind of delicacy you’ve never seen before. As for what it is, I’ll keep it a secret for now. You’ll find out soon enough, and I guarantee you’ll love it. All you need to do is follow my instructions.”

Chen Jun’s face was full of excitement. “If we can use beans to make a dish we’ve never seen before, that could breathe new life into Festivity Restaurant. After all, beans are even cheaper than rice or flour.”

Chu Yun nodded. “Of course. This is something passed down from the immortals. I heard about this delicacy from a god in my dream, and just hearing about it made my mouth water.”

Chen Jun grew even more excited, his impatience clear. “Brother Chu Yun, what do you need me to do?”

But Chu Yun waved him off. “No rush. We’ll take it step by step. The beans are the second method. The flour is the first.”

Chen Jun turned to the flour. “Brother Chu Yun, are you going to use the flour to create another dish we’ve never seen before?”

That made Chu Yun laugh heartily. “Haha, Chen Jun, you really do know how to draw inferences. You’re right, but to be precise, you have seen it and see it often, but you’ve never tasted it yourself.”

Father and son, Chen Ping and Chen Jun, were instantly filled with curiosity. “What could it be? Something we’ve seen but never tasted?”

“Steamed buns and mantou,” Chu Yun replied.

Chen Ping gave him a speechless look. “Steamed buns and mantou? I see and eat those all the time.”

Chen Jun added, “I didn’t expect you were talking about buns and mantou, Brother Chu Yun. But I trust that your buns and mantou must be very special. I just wonder what makes them unique. If it’s only the filling that’s different, that won’t do… Wait, you mentioned mantou without filling—what kind of buns and mantou are you talking about, exactly?”

By the end, curiosity shone even brighter on his face.

Chen Ping, hearing this, also looked at Chu Yun with deep curiosity, wondering to himself what kind of twist he could possibly put on ordinary buns and mantou.

Chu Yun chuckled. “Heh, I won’t keep you guessing. The buns and mantou I’m talking about are extraordinarily soft—like cotton—no, like freshly fallen snow in winter.”

As he mentioned cotton, he suddenly remembered that cotton didn’t exist in this world, so Chen Ping and his son wouldn’t understand. He used freshly fallen snow as a metaphor instead.

The two immediately understood and exclaimed, “The softer the buns and mantou, the tastier they are. If they’re as soft as new snow, they must be delicious!”

Chen Jun, even more excited, grabbed Chu Yun’s hand. “Brother, if we can really make such soft buns and mantou, Festivity Restaurant’s fame will spread far and wide. Flour is cheap and affordable for everyone. It’s not like the braised lamb at Ten Li Fragrance Inn—only wealthy people can afford that, so word doesn’t spread fast.”

Chen Ping agreed. “Yes, the braised lamb at Ten Li Fragrance is famous, but not many can afford to eat it. Buns and mantou are different—everyone can buy them. As far as I know, the two bun and mantou shops in town do good business. People busy with work often buy them instead of cooking.”

Chen Jun grew even more eager. “Brother Chu Yun, tell me now—how do we make buns and mantou as soft as new-fallen snow?”

Chu Yun replied, “Go fetch the wooden kneading basin from the kitchen and do as I say.”

Chen Jun didn’t even have time to answer before dashing off to the kitchen and bringing the basin back.

Chu Yun directed Chen Ping to scoop flour into the basin, then had him dissolve salt in water to make brine and pour it into the flour. Next, he told him to dissolve sugar in water to make sugar water and pour that in as well.

But as Chen Jun was about to add the sugar water, Chen Ping said, “Yun’er, you already added salt. If you add sugar too, won’t the taste be strange?”

Chen Jun paused, holding the sugar water, and turned to Chu Yun. “Brother, are you sure we should add sugar water?”

Chu Yun nodded. “Add it.”

Then he looked at Chen Ping. “Uncle, only by doing this can we make buns and mantou this soft.”

Chen Jun, reassured, quickly added the sugar water to the flour and looked at Chu Yun. “What next?”

Chu Yun waved a hand. “Nothing else. Just add water as needed, knead the dough well, and let it rest for one or two hours.”

“All right,” Chen Jun replied and set to kneading the dough.

As he worked, the salt water, sugar water, and flour combined, setting off a subtle chemical reaction and forming what legend called baking soda.

Chu Yun knew this not only because he’d excelled in science at school—especially chemistry, where he often scored full marks—but also because his family had been poor when he was young, unable to afford baking soda. They always mixed salt water and sugar water into the dough, which made the steamed buns and mantou soft and delicious.

Perhaps the salt and sugar here were inferior and the resulting buns and mantou wouldn’t be quite as tasty as the ones he’d made before crossing over, but they would certainly be far better than anything found here.

Once the dough was ready, Chen Jun looked at Chu Yun. “Brother, the dough’s ready. Now tell me, how do we use the beans to make the dish we’ve never seen before?”

Chu Yun patted his head. “I almost forgot—we need to soak the beans first. Go bring a wooden bucket and soak the beans, and don’t be stingy with them.”

But Chen Jun hesitated. “Brother, if we soak too many and can’t finish them, won’t that be a waste? After all, we’ve already made dinner and kneaded the dough.”