Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 345 The filling is dense and sweet after frying

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Masters make vegetarian meals every day, but have you ever made gluten cakes, steamed cakes, or fried pancakes?"

Several people didn't understand why Shen Yu asked this, and nodded: "Yes, we did. Our daily meals are pancakes and grain rice. Sometimes we also fry some oil cakes and vegetable cakes."

"It's not that difficult. Several of us can do it, and we can do it quickly and well."

When Shen Yu heard them say this, he felt more relieved.

She pretended to be relaxed and said lightly: "Then what do the masters have to be afraid of?"

"The method of making Huasu cake is actually similar to that of making gluten cake. Once it is done, fry it in the same way as frying oil cake and it is done."

Several people were skeptical, but seeing Shen Yu's relaxed look, it seemed really simple, so they said, "Then let the girl do it for us, and we will learn from her carefully."

Shen Yu nodded, asked for an apron, tied it on, rolled up her sleeves, went to the basin next to her to wash her hands, and prepared to start frying the stuffing again.

In Shen Yu's eyes, Wen Yuan's homemade red bean paste filling can only be regarded as a semi-finished product.

She took the half bowl of prepared bean paste and squeezed it with her hands. It was dry, rough and loose, and could not be formed into a ball at all.

I picked up a little and tasted it. It only had the slightly bitter bean aroma of the red beans, and almost no sweetness at all.

Shen Yu walked to the stove and opened the lid of the pot. The iron pot was very large and had been scrubbed clean.

The kitchen that cooks vegetarian dishes only uses not much oil, so everything looks very clean. The pots, stoves, and spatulas are all very big.

Shen Yu poured the bean paste into the big pot. Monk Yan Xin, who was the first to back out, hurried forward and sat in front of the stove and said, "Miss, I'll light the fire for you."

Shen Yu nodded, and without being polite, he directly ordered: "Simmer over low heat."

As he said this, he scooped a few tablespoons of vegetable oil from the side into the pot and started to crush it with a large spatula.

Because the pot and stove were big, and there was a lot of bean paste filling, Shen Yu found it a bit difficult to use.

Another monk named Yan Qing stepped forward and said, "Miss, why don't I do it? You just watch from the side and teach us how to do it."

"We have a lot of people here, we eat a lot, and we have a big pot and stove. It's hard for you, a girl, to fry."

Shen Yu was more than happy to do so and quickly gave up his seat.

Yan Qing took the spatula and, as Shen Yu said, continued to crush the red bean paste filling in the pot, slowly mixing it evenly with the oil poured in.

Only when the filling began to become delicate and smooth did Shen Yu add granulated sugar little by little.

After stirring evenly, Shen Yu took a small plate, and Yan Qing used a spatula to scoop up a small ball of bean paste filling and put it in.

Shen Yu took the bamboo chopsticks, picked up a small piece, waited for it to cool down a little, then put it in his mouth and tasted it.

The red bean paste filling that has been re-fried with oil and sugar becomes dense, silky and sweet, which is completely different from the dry and bitter bean taste of the filling before it was fried.

Shen Yu asked Yan Xin to put out the firewood at the bottom of the pot, and Yan Qing quickly took the basin and scooped out the fried bean paste filling from the pot.

Shen Yu picked up a few pairs of bamboo chopsticks and brought the plate of cooled red bean paste to Monk Wen Yuan.

Wen Yuan and several monks who were watching nearby came over. Each of them took a pair of bamboo chopsticks, picked up some stuffing and started to taste it.

Wen Yuan's eyes widened as soon as he ate it: "How come this stuffing tastes so good after just a simple stir-fry?"

"The original filling had a bitter taste of beans. I thought it was supposed to taste like this. No wonder the people disliked the cakes I made with this filling."

Shen Yu couldn't help but feel sympathy for those people who donated money for incense and offerings but had to eat such cakes.

After tasting it, Chef Xu nodded and said, "The stuffing fried in this way is soft and smooth, and not too sweet. It tastes really good."

Wen Yuan was in a good mood and couldn't help but say cheerfully: "This kind of filling will be much more delicious even if it is made into pancakes. Master will definitely be happy this time."

After tasting the sweetness, Wen Yuan hurriedly said, "Miss Shen, should I also fry the jujube paste filling I made in this way?"

As he said this, he asked someone to bring the date paste filling over.

Shen Yu picked up a little with a bamboo chopstick and took a look. He couldn't help but frowned: "Master Wen Yuan, why don't you remove the jujube skin for this jujube paste filling?"

Wen Yuan was stunned: "Isn't it okay to remove the pits? Aren't dates eaten with the skin on?"

Shen Yu's face was full of confusion and he didn't know what to say. The other party was at least forty years old, and he couldn't ask him if he had ever eaten cakes with date paste filling. It seemed too rude.

Shen Yu's face turned red from holding back. Chef Xu beside him explained, "Master Wen Yuan has been a monk since he was young. He has rarely eaten cakes and pastries from outside. Moreover, some cakes from outside cake shops have sheep fat added in them, which monks cannot eat."

Shen Yu then understood why these monks seemed so unfamiliar with cakes and pastries, as if they had never eaten them or made them before.

It turned out that the cakes and pastries at that time still had mutton fat added to them, but it was hard to tell without tasting it, so I had to choose not to eat it.

Think about it, modern cakes and pastries are made by adding butter or lard, so they can’t be considered vegan cakes.

Shen Yu thought about it and had to explain seriously: "If it is pickled candied dates, you don't need to peel them before eating, because after pickling, the skin of the dates becomes soft and delicious."

"But to make the jujube paste filling, the red dates are cooked and then mashed. The jujube skin is still hard and feels rough when eaten, so you have to use a strainer to remove the jujube skin so that the jujube paste filling can be smooth."

Wen Yuan looked serious and eager to learn: "That's easy. Yan Qing, go get the strainer and peel the jujube paste again."

Yan Qing agreed, turned around and took the fine yarn filter, and together with another monk Yan Mo, they quickly pressed and filtered the half basin of date paste filling again.

Wen Yuan picked up a little bit of the filtered stuff and found that it did not have the rough texture of the original stuff. He asked Shen Yu, "Miss Shen, can this jujube paste stuffing be used like this?"

Shen Yu shook his head and said, "It also needs to be fried with sugar and oil just like the red bean paste filling just now."

Wen Yuan raised a new question: "Sugar is added to the red bean paste filling because the beans have no sweet taste."

"But the date paste filling is made of big red dates, and dates are sweet by nature. Why do we need to add sugar to it? It would be too sweet."

Shen Yu watched Yan Qing pouring date paste into the pot, adding an appropriate amount of oil, and signaled Yan Qing that he could start frying.

Then he answered Wen Yuandao: "Dates are very sweet, but after being made into date paste, their taste will be much lighter."

“If it is wrapped in cakes and fried, it will become even lighter, so it also needs to be fried with oil and sugar.”