novelraw Chapter 139: Making the Filling
Chapter 139: Making the Filling
The audience had strong opinions about the small portion size. Jiang Qiuqiu set the kneaded dough aside. "Once the dough is more or less smooth, we’ll cover it with a cloth and let it rest for twenty minutes."
"Since this takes a while and would affect the livestream, I’ve prepared some dough in advance."
The camera panned over to the familiar, massive bowl.
Everyone suddenly felt relieved.
#Whoa, it’s bigger than my head!#
#It’s bigger than several of my heads put together!#
#I used to love elegant little containers, but now, in Juju’s stream, I’m dying to see a gigantic vat!#
"After the dough has rested for twenty minutes, knead it a little more. The surface will become even smoother. This is about the texture you’re looking for."
"We’ll let it rest a bit longer. This will make the dough more pliable when we make the dumpling wrappers later." With that, Jiang Qiuqiu covered the smooth ball of dough.
"While we wait, let’s start preparing the fillings."
’If she was going to make dumplings, just making one kind would be boring.’
#Fillings? What kind of fillings?!#
#Is it our good old friend, Gugu Meat?#
#I don’t want Gugu Meat. Can we have some Bibi Beast Meat?#
The audience all wanted different flavors. Jiang Qiuqiu glanced at the comments, hummed in agreement, and replied, "Of course. To accommodate everyone’s preferences, I’ll be making five types of dumpling fillings today. I’ll put together an assorted platter afterward so you can all pick and choose."
Without another word, Jiang Qiuqiu got straight to making the fillings.
The first filling to make its appearance was everyone’s old friend, Gugu Meat. "For the first one, we’ll make a fresh meat filling. You can choose meat with a seven-to-three lean-to-fat ratio. If you really dislike fatty meat, you can opt for an eight-to-two ratio. After selecting the meat, we’ll mince it."
Mince it, but don’t pulverize it completely.
When Jiang Qiuqiu made fresh meat dumplings, she liked to keep the meat slightly chunky for a richer texture. Her cleaver rose and fell on the cutting board, slowly blending the lean and fatty meat. "Once it’s at this stage, we’ll put the meat filling into a bowl."
The key to a good dumpling filling wasn’t just mincing the meat, but also the seasonings. There was the standard salt and soy sauce, plus some ingredients to neutralize any gaminess. The ginger of this era didn’t have a pleasant texture when bitten into, so Jiang Qiuqiu grated it into a paste. This way, she could add it to the filling to do its job without being noticeable.
"After adding the de-gaming ingredients, we’ll pour in some purified water. Add it to the meat filling in batches as you stir. This will give it a much smoother texture."
"All that’s left is the final step." After speaking, Jiang Qiuqiu walked over to the large wok and lit the fire. An orange flame licked at the large black wok. As the oil she poured in began to bubble, she casually grabbed a pinch of fine, dark-green granules from a spice box by the wok.
A SIZZLE echoed out, followed by an instantaneous burst of a spicy, slightly numbing aroma that made the people gathered around their terminals sneeze. The fans who had experienced her Spicy Blood Tofu reacted immediately!
#It’s that spicy oil!#
"That’s right. Toast the Sichuan peppercorns in the wok to release their fragrance, then pour the infused oil into the meat filling and mix thoroughly."
As she spoke, Jiang Qiuqiu scooped the oil into the small bowl. The moment the hot oil touched the meat, the aroma exploded. Jiang Qiuqiu mixed the Sichuan peppercorn oil and the filling together evenly, then sprinkled in a handful of pre-chopped scallions.
The once-simple meat filling had suddenly become incredibly enticing.
Next up was the Bibi Meat, which had been just as highly requested as the Gugu Meat.
In layman’s terms, it was beef.