Food Stall: Customers Chase Me across the Country

Chapter 596 - 568: Giant Northeast Steamed Bun Dripping with Juices

"Ring ring ring..."

The simplest alarm clock woke up the napping Wang Fan, who stretched a bit and started working, with the first task being making Steamed Buns.

Compared to the buns he used to make, the large Northeastern-style Steamed Buns truly live up to the "large" in their name, with buns as big as a fist embodying the Northeast’s bold spirit.

Wang Fan prepared two types of fillings for his large Steamed Buns, one being braised beef brisket and the other chive and egg.

He had just prepared the bun skins when people started arriving to wait for the market to open, including farmers selling vegetables and early shoppers.

Those who knew Wang Fan greeted him with a smile, and upon seeing the large bun skins in his hands, couldn’t help but exclaim, "Oh wow, why is this skin so big? Are you planning to make pies?"

Wang Fan shook his head, "I’m making large Northeastern-style Steamed Buns, and the bun skins need to match their large size."

With that, he picked up a skin and scooped a hearty spoonful of filling from the pot, placing it on the bun skin, leaving the onlookers in awe.

"Wow, kid, your bun skins are already big, but I never expected the filling to be even bigger!"

"I’ve been eating steamed buns for so many years and have never seen anyone using such large chunks of meat as filling."

"That single scoop of filling must weigh at least one or two liang!"

"At least an ounce, maybe even more, like one and a half ounces or more."

No wonder they were amazed; Wang Fan’s skills were truly astonishing.

Ordinarily, the bun skins were already large, and the filling scoop stacked into a small mountain. More surprising was that the filling wasn’t minced meat but chunks of braised beef brisket!

Just like the large chunks of beef brisket you usually eat!

The mere sight of those beef chunks being wrapped into buns was enough to astonish anyone.

Despite the large bun skins and generous filling, Wang Fan’s hands were dexterous, completing the beautiful bun-making process with ease as if he were performing a butterfly dance.

The onlookers watched as the bun skins were transformed almost magically into buns and placed directly into the steam basket, causing them to rub their eyes in disbelief.

"Am I seeing things?!

Did I wake up too early and am still dreaming?

I swear I didn’t blink, yet the bun skin turned into a bun in no time and was swiftly placed into the steam basket?"

Wang Fan’s skill grew more refined with each bun, and as soon as the filling touched the bun skin, his hand moved toward the steam basket. By the time his hand reached above the basket, the bun was already complete.

How could anyone not be amazed by such a display of skill?

Shen Bowen rubbed his sleepy eyes and felt much more awake. After all, with someone performing magic right in front of you, it was hard not to be alert.

"What’s that saying again? I just blinked a few times, and whoosh, just like that, the whole steam basket was filled to the brim with round and plump buns!"

If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it!

Shen Bowen thought that even if he sold pre-made buns, he could never match Boss Wang’s speed in steaming them.

As more people gathered, Wang Fan’s steam basket finally started working, with wisps of steam rising and a thick aroma of dough filling the air.

Wang Fan’s buns were folded with densely packed pleats and had no tears, so the meat aroma was less intense than the dough aroma. But anyone who saw Wang Fan making the buns would never doubt their deliciousness.

However, Wang Fan’s buns weren’t cheap. The chive and egg ones were reasonably priced at two yuan each, but the meat buns, except for a half-price discount for those over 60 and free for those over 70, were six yuan each for everyone else.

Boss Wang’s products must be premium quality, a concept deeply ingrained in the customers’ minds, but that doesn’t mean they think a bun is worth six yuan.

"What kind of bun could be worth six yuan each, huh? Throw in a little extra of something, and breakfast could easily cost over twenty yuan!"

"Has Boss Wang gone overboard? Six yuan! What kind of filling justifies that price?"

"Beef? Even beef won’t justify it, the most I could accept is four yuan, not a penny more!"

Shen Bowen listened calmly to the surrounding complaints. These people were new and hadn’t seen Wang Fan’s bun-making show.

Listening to their complaints, not only did he not argue, but he also agreed, "Yes, yes, Boss Wang must be going overboard. I heard today’s breakfast sales will all go to charity. Boss Wang isn’t making a profit, but we mustn’t support this trend of things becoming expensive under the guise of ’charity.’ Let’s just donate money without buying the meat buns!"

After saying this, Shen Bowen couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. It didn’t matter if others believed his nonsense; he himself didn’t, but if even one person did, he might just get to eat two more large buns.

People hadn’t seen Boss Wang stuffing more meat than would fit into the bun skins, though!

While the buns were steaming, Wang Fan was busy making dough strips for fried dough sticks using jasmine water and milk. As the oil temperature rose, the dough strips were dropped into the pot.

Baking powder in the dough quickly caused it to expand at high temperatures, turning the originally small dough stick into something much larger.

Baking soda formed a crispy shell on the surface of the fried dough stick, and as time passed, the originally white dough stick gradually turned golden, giving off a unique aroma of fried dough, mixed with a faint hint of milk and a refreshing jasmine scent, making everyone sniff the air uncontrollably.