novelraw Chapter 297 - 279: To Win a Person’s Heart, You Must First Win Their Stomach
Chapter 297 - 279: To Win a Person’s Heart, You Must First Win Their Stomach
After Huang Jun entrusted Qingqing and Weiwei to Xie Jianing, he turned towards the park gate, preparing to head to the kitchen to make breakfast for the kids today.
But just after a few steps...
The sound of crying and wailing rose from the gate, and the teachers were busy and overwhelmed; each wished they could multiply themselves to handle the chaotic scene that seemed endless in soothing.
Just watching it can give you a headache!
Huang Jun once again felt the difficulty of the teachers and immediately realized that compared to these little rascals, his two precious daughters were simply angels!
Thinking of his two precious daughters, he couldn’t help but worry that these little crybabies’ negative emotions would affect his two treasures.
His feet couldn’t move.
He turned around and clapped his hands towards the crying children, shouting, "Kids, stop crying, soon it’ll be time for breakfast. Uncle Chef Huang is going to the kitchen to make caramel pudding now. If you want some, be good and follow your homeroom teacher into the classroom, okay?"
This statement was made.
The children, who were crying, suddenly stopped, and the crying halted abruptly.
They raised their tear-streaked faces and looked at Huang Jun, their eyes filled with anticipation and disbelief: "Really? Uncle Chef Huang, are we really going to have your caramel pudding for breakfast? Is it really made by you?"
At this, Qingqing turned her head, her childish face full of pride: "Of course it’s true, my dad never lies!"
Weiwei chimed in afterward: "Yeah, my dad is the best; he always keeps his promises!"
Huang Jun nodded with a smile: "Of course it’s true, kids, Uncle Chef Huang will personally make the most delicious caramel pudding for you. Now, please follow your homeroom teacher into the classroom. After a while, you will be able to taste this delicious breakfast."
"I love pudding the most."
Tong Tong was already drooling at the mere mention of "caramel pudding," but worried it might be a trick. Now that Huang Jun’s words matched the teachers’, he beamed, expressing his joy.
When the little guy finished speaking, the other children at the gate were also influenced by his mood and started shouting:
"I like pudding too!"
"Me too!"
"Caramel pudding is the best!"
Great!
That’s the effect we want!
Huang Jun smiled and seized the opportunity to guide them further: "Since you all love caramel pudding so much, quickly follow your teacher into the classroom and wait, okay?"
"Okay~"
After all, the children are still young. Hearing him equate "caramel pudding" with entering the classroom, they happily grabbed their class teacher’s hand and obediently said, "Teacher, let’s go to the classroom and wait for Uncle Chef Huang’s caramel pudding!"
"That’s right, just like that, you kids are amazing!"
With Huang Jun’s praise, the children walked cheerfully into the school with their teachers, looking forward to the "caramel pudding" for breakfast, waving to Huang Jun as they went: "Uncle Chef Huang, quickly make the caramel pudding, we’re waiting for you~"
Tsk tsk tsk~
We must say, only Huang Jun’s culinary skills can so easily soothe this group of little foodies’ hearts!
The teachers from all classes looked at Huang Jun with admiration and gratitude.
The parents shared their sentiments!
Indeed, if you want to win someone’s heart, first capture their tastebuds; this saying applies perfectly to children...
And amid the children’s repeated reminders and the parents’ expressive looks, Huang Jun headed to the kitchen.
Arriving at the kitchen.
He greeted Qian Guoxiang and others, then changed into his cooking clothes, washed his hands, and went to the workspace, ready to make today’s breakfast—caramel pudding.
He poured a suitable amount of granulated sugar and water into the pot, turning on the heat slowly to simmer.
The sugar and water in the pot started to bubble lightly under the heat, making a series of soft "sizzling" sounds.
As the flames flickered...
The liquid in the pot gradually turned from clear to pale yellow, and then further deepened into an enticing dark brown, with the rich aroma of caramel filling the workspace.
Huang Jun kept an eye on the changes in the pot, holding the panhandle and shaking the pot occasionally to ensure the sugar syrup heated evenly.
At this moment, a spoon should not be used to stir, to avoid disrupting the formation of caramel.
When the syrup completely turned into tempting caramel color, he quickly turned off the heat and steadily poured hot water into the pot, careful to avoid splattering caramel.
The caramel syrup in the pot boiled fiercely with the addition of hot water, but he remained calm, gently shaking the pot handle to make the caramel liquid smooth and fluid.
After the syrup calmed down, a pot of bright, fragrant caramel syrup was ready.
Then, he poured the caramel liquid into the molds, gently shaking them to distribute the caramel evenly on the bottom, then placed the molds into the freezer for a moment to let the caramel set.
"Chef Huang, I’ve beaten the eggs..."
Qian Guoxiang carried over a large tray filled with eggs to the workbench.
"Okay, put them here!"
Huang Jun added an appropriate amount of sugar to it.
This sugar is crucial for the egg mixture’s setting; the amount should not be too little.
He took the mixer, gently rotating it in the egg mixture, allowing the sugar to gradually dissolve and perfectly blend with the egg liquid.
Soon.
The originally clear egg mixture turned slightly white, with the sugar completely dissolved within.
Once the egg mixture was ready, Huang Jun started another pot, pouring fresh milk into it.
Turning on the heat to cook milk.
When the milk began to form tiny bubbles and they gradually grew larger, he quickly turned off the heat.
By this time, the milk’s temperature was controlled at about 60 degrees Celsius, the perfect temperature needed for making pudding.
Huang Jun slowly poured the hot milk into the prepared egg mixture and used a whisk to stir quickly, ensuring the milk and egg mixture blended thoroughly.
If you use cold milk at this step, the pudding might end up with bubbles; if the milk is too hot, the egg mixture might curdle.
After stirring, the custard became smooth and silky, though it still had some bubbles at this point.
Huang Jun placed the custard aside, letting it stand for a moment so that the tiny bubbles could naturally dissipate, ensuring the final pudding’s texture would be even finer.
While waiting, he didn’t remain idle; he fetched half a fresh vanilla pod.
He gently scraped the front and back of the vanilla pod with the back of the knife, then split it open down the middle, meticulously scraping out the precious vanilla seeds within.
Although vanilla extract could be used as a substitute, considering this was for children, Huang Jun preferred using all-natural ingredients.
This vanilla pod was excellent, albeit quite pricey!
But for the sake of the children’s health, the expense was worth it.
He often wondered whether the vanilla-flavored ice cream on the market truly contained such precious vanilla essence.
The answer, of course!
Is naturally no!
The freshly scraped vanilla seeds were still attached to the pulp, easily clumping together, so he added a bit of the egg mixture and gently stirred until the vanilla seeds were fully integrated and dispersed.
The dispersed vanilla seed mixture was then poured directly into the custard, which he stirred gently once more for a perfect blend.
By now, the custard was already emitting a faint vanilla fragrance.
Huang Jun took a piece of kitchen paper and absorbed the bubbles from the surface of the custard.
This ensured the resulting pudding would be smoother, with a more perfect texture.
"Assistant Chef Qian, please sift this custard through the flour sieve twice to remove any impurities for me." Huang Jun said to Qian Guoxiang, who was busy nearby.
"Sure thing!"
Qian Guoxiang quickly responded, grabbing the flour sieve and beginning to carefully filter the custard.
Over and over, ensuring the impurities in the mixture were thoroughly removed.
Once Qian Guoxiang had finished filtering twice, Huang Jun also retrieved the pudding cups from the freezer.
Subsequently, he poured the purified custard into a measuring cup, again gently using kitchen paper to remove any remaining bubbles from the surface.
Then, he poured the custard into each of the delicate pudding cups one by one.
With Qian Guoxiang, he then covered the top of each pudding cup with aluminum foil.
This would ensure the baked pudding would have a smoother surface.
Next, he prepared to cook the pudding using the "water bath" method.
He poured hot water at 80 degrees Celsius into the baking tray, ensuring the water level reached about halfway up the pudding cups.
Then, he placed the pudding cups into the baking tray one by one.
He placed the baking tray with the pudding cups into the preheated oven and closed the door.
He adjusted the oven to 140 degrees and set the time for 40 minutes.
As time went by...
The enticing aroma of caramel pudding began to waft through the oven, the perfect fusion of custard and caramel...
...
On the playground.
The children from each class stood neatly in their designated areas, waving their little hands and bouncing on their little feet, earnestly following the teacher’s rhythm during morning exercises.
Every movement looked proper and neat.
Suddenly.
An alluring aroma of caramel pudding wafted over like a wisp of a gentle breeze, entering the noses of every child.
"Wow... it smells so good..."
"Yeah, it’s sweet and fragrant, smells so nice~"
The children were drawn to this aroma, their attention naturally shifting to its source, then they all turned towards the kitchen. Some of the more mischievous kids even couldn’t resist stretching out their little hands, trying to capture the fleeting aroma in the air.
As a result.
The once orderly morning exercise formation slowly began to disperse.
Seeing this.
The teachers from each class endured their cravings and went forward to comfort the kids in their class.
Yang Yuxi and Xie Jianing also walked over to the children with a smile, speaking softly, "What smell did everyone catch? Does it smell a lot like caramel pudding?"
"Yes!"
The children nodded in unison, then couldn’t help but ask, "Miss Yang, is that caramel pudding made by Qingqing’s daddy ready?"
"Yes, it’s almost ready." Yang Yuxi answered with a smile, "But first, we need to finish our morning exercises obediently. Once we finish, the teachers will take you back to the classroom, and we can enjoy the caramel pudding made by Qingqing’s daddy together, okay?"
As soon as they heard they would be able to eat the delicious caramel pudding after morning exercise, the children immediately perked up. Although their movements were somewhat perfunctory, they at least resumed their exercises.
Ah!
This result... one could only say that Huang Jun’s cooking was both a blessing and a problem...