Chapter 424: Chapter 389: I’m Not Doubting You, I Just Want to Verify

Huang Jun turned back to the kitchen...

Aunt Li greeted him with a smile, her eyes glittering with an unmistakable hint of "gossip," and asked, "Chef Huang, so, what did Miss Yang want from you?"

"Oh~"

While washing his hands and disinfecting them, Huang Jun casually replied, "She wants to invite me along with the family for an outing this weekend."

"Huh?"

Aunt Li couldn’t help but show an expression of surprise that suggested, "Oh, this is gossip I didn’t even have to pay for." "Really? Why did Miss Yang suddenly have this thought? You two..."

Even Aunt Lin showed the same surprised expression, and their eyes were filled with inquiry.

Huang Jun instantly understood their misconception: "彡(-_-;)彡"

Hmm, is gossiping a woman’s instinct?

He helplessly explained, "Miss Yang’s dad tasted my scallion oil braised chicken and liked it a lot, so she just wants to express her thanks."

"Oh, so that’s how it is!"

Aunt Li laughed knowingly, and then playfully teased, "Chef Huang, your cooking skills not only conquered our taste buds but captivated Miss Yang’s heart and her dad’s heart too."

Aware of Aunt Li’s implication, Huang Jun couldn’t help but sport a trio of expressions that said, "I didn’t, I’m not, don’t talk nonsense," and responded, "Aunt Li, don’t talk nonsense, we’re just friends."

"Alright, alright, friends, just friends."

Aunt Li and Aunt Lin exchanged a glance, with a hint of understanding passing through their smiles.

Wait a minute!

When did Chef Huang make "scallion oil braised chicken," how come they didn’t know?

The two looked at each other and saw traces of doubt in each other’s eyes.

Aunt Li couldn’t help but curiously ask, "Chef Huang, when did you make scallion oil braised chicken? How come we haven’t tried it?"

Aunt Lin nodded in agreement on the side.

Huang Jun laughed and said, "I haven’t made it at school, of course, you haven’t tasted it."

"Then how did Miss Yang and her dad taste it?" Aunt Li pursued.

Oh dear...

Could it be meeting the parents?

If that’s the case, wouldn’t that be moving too fast...

However, nowadays young people either aren’t in relationships or quickly move towards marriage once they start dating, so it’s normal for things to progress quickly...

But speaking of which...

When did the two of them get together?

Aunt Li’s little imagination quickly expanded into a drama in her mind, her eyes sparkling with a deeper "gossip" glow.

Seeing Aunt Li’s expression, Huang Jun instantly realized she had mentally constructed a twenty-episode "kindergarten romance" drama at this moment.

He shook his head helplessly and continued to explain, "On Saturday, Miss Yang brought some fruit over to my house for Qingqing and Weiwei, and in return, I invited her to stay for dinner, and let her take a box of scallion oil braised chicken home to reheat the next day. I didn’t expect her dad to like it so much."

Aunt Li laughed and said, "Chef Huang, I hope you don’t mind me speaking out of turn. I think Miss Yang is really a great person, and since you both are currently single, maybe..."

Huang Jun smiled slightly and interrupted Aunt Li’s imagination, "Aunt Li, I appreciate your kindness, but we’re simply and purely friends right now, not in the way you’re thinking. Plus, our focus should be on preparing the dessert, right?"

"Oh, yes, yes, the dessert, the dessert is important, otherwise we’ll run out of time." Aunt Li suddenly realized, nodded quickly, and then said, "Chef Huang, the mangoes you need, Aunt Lin and I have already peeled and placed them on the counter in the work area..."

"Alright, thank you..."

Huang Jun nodded, then put on his mask and entered the work area.

"Chef Huang, I’ve already cut the mangoes into cubes for you." Qian Guoxiang reported to him as soon as he walked in.

"Okay, got it! Thank you!"

Huang Jun responded, while his eyes had already settled on the large basin of cubed mangoes on the work counter, the golden flesh exuding a tempting glow, each piece uniform.

He nodded with satisfaction and began preparing this morning’s dessert—Snow Puff.

This is a popular treat, known for its soft and sticky outer shell, rich filling, and delicate texture.

But he’s not content with the traditional method, always thinking about bringing some surprises to the kids to make them like the dessert even more. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Therefore.

He decided to play with the shape, making it into cute little tiger shapes.

Abbreviated as cute tiger snow puff.

The kids will surely love them so much they won’t want to eat them...

He mixed glutinous rice flour, corn starch, and a small amount of powdered sugar in a large stainless steel basin, then added milk and a splash of coconut milk, using a mixer to carefully blend until the batter was smooth and had no particles, displaying a silky texture like flowing cream, delicate and inviting.

After mixing, he let the batter flow gently through a sieve, leaving behind pure and flawless batter.

This step is crucial.

It can make the batter’s texture finer, providing a solid foundation for subsequent steaming.

Once sieved, he covered each container with the filtered batter with plastic wrap, a protective layer preventing moisture intrusion, thus ensuring the batter’s quality wouldn’t be affected.

He took a toothpick and poked several small holes in the plastic wrap.

These small holes will allow steam to evenly penetrate during steaming, ensuring an even heat distribution to prevent the formation of hard lumps.

At this point.

Qian Guoxiang had already preheated the steamer, steam swirling, creating a perfect environment for steaming the batter.

Huang Jun placed the containers covered with plastic wrap and pierced with holes into the steamer, steaming them over medium heat for about 20 minutes.

The steam swirled and rose inside the pot, gently enveloping each container, causing the batter to gradually become soft and springy under the warmth.

During this time, Huang Jun was not idle either; he turned around and engaged in the task of preparing the cream.

He added a suitable amount of sugar to the fresh cream and whipped it with a mixer.

As the mixer rotated...

The cream gradually became fluffy, its volume slowly expanding until it formed stiff peaks.

He observed the changes in the cream until it could stand up in peaks, its texture fine and smooth, light as clouds, before he stopped.

"Assistant Chef Qian, put this cream into the piping bag," Huang Jun instructed as he handed the whipped cream to Qian Guoxiang.

"Okay!"

Qian Guoxiang responded promptly and skillfully, quickly taking over the cream and starting to load it into the piping bag.

When the steaming time was up...

Huang Jun took out the steamed glutinous rice balls one by one.

For a moment...

The workspace was filled with steam, the fragrance of rice wafting through the air.

He quickly added butter to the steaming hot glutinous rice balls, swiftly stirring with a spatula, allowing the butter to melt quickly under the heat and penetrate evenly into every corner, adding a delicate buttery aroma to the rice balls.

When the rice balls cooled to a suitable hand temperature, Huang Jun and Qian Guoxiang both donned disposable gloves and began kneading and stretching the rice balls.

Each knead made the dough smoother, each stretch made it more bouncy.

Before long, the dough gradually became soft and elastic.

On the tabletop, a layer of toasted glutinous rice flour was spread to prevent sticking.

Huang Jun placed the rice dough on it, gently kneaded it even, and then divided it into several equal parts, each identical in size, as if cut by a machine.

"Chef Huang, these doughs look all the same size, about how many grams are they?" Aunt Li asked curiously, leaning in.

Huang Jun responded indifferently, "No more, no less, exactly 40 grams!"

"Each one?" Aunt Li couldn’t quite believe each small dough ball could be so precisely weighed.

"Of course! If you don’t believe me, you can weigh them..." Huang Jun invited with a smile for Aunt Li to verify.

"Chef Huang, I’m not doubting you, I just want to verify~"

With a smile, Aunt Li brought out an electronic scale, wiped it clean, and then picked a few small dough balls to weigh.

The scale’s display screen quickly showed "40.0 grams" each time, without a fraction of difference.

"Wow, they really are all 40 grams!"

Aunt Li praised, "Chef Huang, your hands are more accurate than scales!"

"That’s right, his hands are the scale, and his eyes are the ruler," Qian Guoxiang said with a look of admiration.

Huang Jun smiled, unfazed, and picked up a rolling pin, pressing flat and rolling out the rounded rice balls with smooth, rhythmic motions, turning each piece into a thin skin with a slightly thicker center.

Next was the wrapping step. Huang Jun placed the rice skin in the palm of his hand, squeezed some cream into the center, gently placed mango pieces inside, then squeezed some more cream to cover them, and finally pinched the edges together like dumplings, gently rolling it into a ball, completing a perfect Mochi.

After wrapping, Huang Jun sprinkled a thin layer of toasted rice flour to prevent sticking and placed them on a tray.

He used a small brush dipped with a bit of water to gently attach the pre-prepared small ears, drew Mochi’s features with chocolate, made small tails with extra dough, and meticulously drew patterns with chocolate...

...

"Squeak~"

The taxi came to a smooth stop by the curb, making a slight friction sound.

After paying the fare, Jiang Shuihan pushed the car door open and briskly headed towards the entrance of Dorami Kindergarten.

The reason she came was not to conduct a school exploration live broadcast, but to fulfill Liang Yinqiu’s request.

At this moment, upon seeing that Lv Pengfei was not yet at the kindergarten entrance, Jiang Shuihan immediately understood that he hadn’t arrived yet.

Therefore...

She sent Lv Pengfei a message, succinctly informing him that she had already arrived and asked when he would get there.

The reply she received was: stuck in traffic, will be there soon.

In that case!

There was nothing to do but wait patiently for a while~

After waiting for about 5 minutes, Lv Pengfei finally appeared in her line of sight.

"Brother Peng, over here..."

Jiang Shuihan waved to him.

Upon hearing, Lv Pengfei saw Jiang Shuihan and immediately broke into a joyful smile, approaching her.

He said apologetically, "Shui Han, sorry for keeping you waiting!"

"No worries, I just got here too!" Jiang Shuihan replied with a smile.

Lv Pengfei thought for a moment and voiced his curiosity, "Didn’t Director Liang ask us to come around 10:30? Why did you change your mind and come early?"

Jiang Shuihan explained, "I woke up early today, so I thought I’d come early and prepare a bit in advance."

"Really?"

Lv Pengfei looked at her with a face that seemed to say ’I don’t quite believe you.’

"Alright, alright, I thought coming early might let me sneak a breakfast since I’ve heard Chef Huang’s snacks are really something."

"Why didn’t I think of that? Shui Han, you’re so clever!" Lv Pengfei realized, showing admiration on his face, and promptly urged, "Let’s go, let’s go in now..."

"Okay!"