I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 716 - 322: The Joy of Harvest Must Be Expressed with Lotus Cakes! Son, Come for the Lottery! [Subscribe please]_2
"These days, those bakers on short video platforms are so critical when it comes to lard—high in calories, greasy, and they’re always recommending butter instead. It’s honestly too much to watch."
Wei Qian, a staunch supporter of lard, approached as soon as he saw Lin Xu using it to make dough. Seeing the pale pink dough in the bowl, he looked somewhat astonished. "Holy crap, what kind of snacks are you planning to make now? This tender pink color is totally in line with my aesthetic."
His aesthetic? Lin Xu glanced at the man. No wonder Tiantian treats him like her wifey. Such a big guy, and he actually likes pink. Tsk, tsk, tsk...
"Real men use pink," Wei Qian quickly added, realizing his words might have sounded off and trying to salvage the situation with the ’macho pink’ meme.
"We hit number one on the trending list today, so I’m making some lotus cakes to celebrate," Lin Xu said.
"Holy crap, you’re really clever with your hands! I just get confused looking at dough. Savory cooking is definitely more my speed."
Lin Xu kneaded the pale pink dough until smooth, then began to portion it out. Each portion was 25 grams. He divided them and rolled them into little balls. Having prepared forty balls of filling earlier, he divided the dough into forty small portions as well. After rolling all of them into little balls, he covered them with plastic wrap to rest. In his haste, he had forgotten to calculate the amount of flour precisely, which resulted in a bit too much pink dough.
I’ll just set this aside for now, he thought. If I need more later, I can whip up some more filling and make a few extra.
He sealed the excess dough in the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and immediately began making the oil-pastry.
The ingredients for the oil-pastry were relatively simple: just lard and low-gluten flour. But even though the ingredients were simple, the process was quite difficult. Lin Xu cleaned the workbench, then poured the prepared flour onto it, adding a dollop of solidified lard on top. Next, he took handfuls of flour and pressed them onto the lard, using the heel of his palm to push down. Then, using a bench scraper, he lifted any lard stuck to the workbench, covered it with more flour, and continued to work the flour into the lard bit by bit.
This step couldn’t involve water or any other ingredients. It was solely about kneading the flour into a dough with solidified lard, and the dough’s softness had to match that of the pink water-oil crust. For beginners, this step was very difficult. Carelessness could lead to lard-covered hands, or, if the temperature was too low, the lard might not incorporate into the flour at all. If lard got on your hands, there was no need to worry; you could simply rub it off with dry flour.
However, if the lard stuck to your hands, it meant it was melting. In that case, you should try to handle the dough and lard mainly with your fingertips to prevent your hand’s warmth from melting it further. Conversely, in colder conditions, you should knead as much as possible inside the bowl using the heel of your palm, leveraging your body heat to soften the lard. Once it softened, incorporating it into the dough became much easier.
The finished oil-pastry was a dough with a smooth, oily surface. Just like the water-oil crust, the oil-pastry also needed to be divided into small portions. Lin Xu made each portion 20 grams, dividing it into 40 pieces. After portioning, he rolled them into small balls, placed them in a corner of the workbench, and covered them with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
As for the leftover oil-pastry, he put it in a bowl, covered the bowl with plastic wrap, and placed it in the refrigerator to chill. Oil-pastry not needed immediately should be refrigerated or frozen. It couldn’t be left at room temperature, otherwise the lard would melt and seep out, causing the oil-pastry to become dry and hard.
Next, using his palms, he pressed the rested water-oil crust into small, round discs and carefully wrapped a ball of oil-pastry inside each. After sealing and rolling them back into balls, he placed them under plastic wrap to rest further.
Each subsequent step required the dough to rest for ten minutes; they couldn’t be worked on continuously.
The round, pink balls arranged on the workbench attracted the other chefs, who gathered around to take pictures.
"See? I told you real men like pink!" Wei Qian exclaimed. "What guy could resist such a lovely, tender pink color? I definitely have to try some once they’re done."
Wei Qian came over, snapped a photo, and promptly posted it on Lin Ji’s Food with the caption: "To celebrate Lin Ji’s Food hitting number one on the trending list, the boss himself is cooking up a storm! With this lovely, tender pink color, can you guess what snack it is?"
No sooner had he posted it than netizens already discussing Dundun flocked to the comments:
"Holy smokes, that looks so tempting!"
"Isn’t this exactly the color we guys like?"
"Just curious, is Dundun really that smart?"
"That video—was it staged or actually filmed live? Can you guys at Lin Ji please clarify?"
"Why clarify? Did the video break any laws or regulations?"
"Exactly! These newcomers must have grown up eating bony fish, otherwise, how did they get so good at nitpicking? My Dundun is the Holy Master of the Meow Meow Sect; isn’t it normal for him to be a bit smart?"
Wei Qian was about to reply, but seeing that netizens were already arguing in the comments of his post, he wisely kept his mouth shut.
He, too, was puzzled by that video and couldn’t understand how it had been filmed. If Dundun really is that smart, he wondered, does that mean every time Tiantian and I were... you know... making eyes at each other on the stairs, that cat saw the whole thing from start to finish? The thought of having such a spectator during those moments made Wei Qian wish the ground would swallow him whole.
He scrolled through the Lin Ji’s Food discussion topic. Some new commenters were questioning the video’s authenticity, but the number of likes was climbing rapidly. At this rate, it would probably reach the 500,000 likes Lin Xu required by tomorrow. Once the second part is released, Wei Qian mused, maybe we’ll finally get the answer to how Dundun is so smart.
