Kitchen Xiuzhen, Chapter 51 – Fermentation & Proofing
Translated by Prosperousfood.com
Rehosted by Gumihou at kitchennovel.com
Notes from Gumihou
“This is not a spiritual dish!”
“It is a spiritual ingredient. A self-made spiritual ingredient!”
Wang Xi’s hands were trembling with excitement, as he stared at the dough.
Right now the golden dough is very eye-catching, and everyone looked at in amazement.
It is golden in colour, round, and flushed with spiritual energy as it released a bright hue of colours every now and then.
From all positions, it seems to be so bright.
They were at a loss for words as they basked in the glow of the spiritual ingredient.
Nie Ji and Ma Fei were astounded and rendered speechless.
Even the noodles master [Li Nuohai], maybe he…. could not create such beautiful dough?
After all, he had used a top quality wheat to make his noodles – [Heavenly Snow Jade Wheat].
This wheat only grows in places that are filled with spiritual energy and requires snowy weather to germinate and grow. Each stalk of [Heavenly Snow Jade Wheat] is filled with massive amount of spiritual energy, and is much better than the common [spiritual wheat] that Luo Xiu had taken out.
Luo Xiu managed to use the most common ingredients to create a dough that was even more impressive than the dough created from [Heavenly Snow Jade Wheat]. This skill is totally unheard of in the Country of Fine Cuisine.
“Wow!”
Ma Fei swallowed hard. He could not help admitting that Luo Xiu is indeed impressive. Now he understands why divine Chef Wang Xi is so polite to this lad.
Just his skills alone are enough for the big clans in the country of fine cuisines to invite him to join their ranks.
“The ingredient is ready. The next … is the main dishes?”
Nie Ji stood at one side and mumbled. He wants to see the final dish that Luo Xiu had cooked.
With such amazing ingredients, the dishes that he made would be very close to the level of spiritual food. He may even create a spiritual dish.
“No, frankly speaking, the dough is the first step, but is not good enough!”
Luo Xiu did not immediately use the dough to create the steam bun. He took a plate and placed the shiny golden dough into it.
“This is still not enough?”
This is the second time that Nie Jie asked this question.
This dough is already shining with bright light. Still, it is not perfect?
“That’s right, I still need to ferment the dough and proof the dough [1]!”
Another two strange words that no one had heard off before.
Of course, for the bakers, these two words are very common. To knead a dough well, you must control the fermentation and the proofing. This is compulsory.
The fermentation process is to ensure that the taste of the flour product is better, and to increase its nutrition value. This will make the dough even better.
While the dough is undergoing the process of fermentation, it will undergo a chemical reaction that caused the dough to expand slightly and taste better.
Luo Xiu had placed the [Insect nectar] into the dough, and folded it a few times. The [Insect Nectar] is embedded into the dough.
Proofing the dough is the process in which the final rise of dough undergoes, which takes place after being shaped into a loaf, and before it is baked. It involves an additional step to make the dough better, or to give it some time to cool.
An effective proofing process made it easy for the baker to add additional steps in the bread making process. It can change the texture to make the final product more chewy, soft, delicate or smooth.
This is also a step that could not be skipped.
While everyone was not paying attention, Luo Xiu took out a secret box. He placed the plate into the box and sealed it. In this way, the dough will not have any contact with air.
The golden light temporary fade from sight.
“Hu…. The first step, “Kneading the dough”, is completed!”
Luo Xiu heaved a sigh of relief. Although he had done this many times in the past, this time is different.
After all, it is the first time that Luo Xiu had done this in this world, using a different type of ingredients and custom-made devices. It is not easy to complete each stage without a single mistake.
For a commoner like himself, using spiritual ingredients to make [Perfect] spiritual dishes is a huge challenge.
“Challenge…..”
Luo Xiu smiled. He loves challenges, be it his past life or now.
He put down the staff.
“Ka Dang!”
The staff dropped onto the counter, and a sharp ringing sound rang out.
From the sound, you can tell that the staff is made of metal.
Luo Xiu’s right arm is quite sore and numb. The “Bai Luo Snake Encirclement skill” placed a high level of stress on the body. If not for the fact that his body was improved when he sucked the spiritual energy from the spiritual stones, plus his constant practice of the skill in his past life, he could not effectively draw out the power of this skill.
He massaged his sore arms and moved it in a circular motion to get the blood flowing and to ease the numbness.
Wang Xi asked, “The dough, it is not ready yet?”
“En, you need to wait for a while more!”
“Allow the dough to rest for a while. This is because the dough has just been rubbed repeatedly, the gluten is in tension and the toughness is strong.”
“After standing for a while, gluten in the dough is relaxed. This increased the ductility of the dough, making it easier to facilitate the next step!”
After the explanation, Wang Xi looked as if he had understood.
This step is very common for those who frequently bake. But it is not so obvious for those seldom bake.
“This kid is indeed special.”
Wang Xi blinked.
In reality, this step is could allow a dough that did not have much chance to absorb water more time to absorb the water. It could also allow a part of the dough that was not stretch earlier to become as malleable as the dough that was stretched.
Everything he does, Luo Xiu demand perfection.
While giving the dough time to breathe, Luo Xiu did not stop working. He picked up the high-gluten and low-gluten flour and use to it prepare the other two dishes.
Because he was physically drained from preparing the spiritual dough, he wants to keep things simple for their other two dishes. And ‘simple’ is relative.
Because no one had ever seen this method of cooking before.
It is making a cake and coating food with a batter!
The two other dishes that Luo Xiu wanted to make are dishes from the Western and Japanese cuisines – Snow cake and tempura.
“Ready!”
Luo Xiu whisked the flour for making the snow cake and prepared the tempura batter.
When he finished preparing the ingredients, the golden colour dough should be ready as well.
Everyone looked on at Luo Xiu as he took out the box again. They were curious and wanted to know how the final [Perfect] dough would look like.
Even Wang Xi was not exempt from this. Already, he was impressed by Luo Xiu’s skills, and was very curious as to what Luo Xiu call a final product that meets his needs.
Luo Xiu had just opened the box, but a countless number of people immediately stood around Luo Xiu and peered into it. They wanted to see what it was like.
“Sha!”
In the next second, a glaring beam of light immediately shot up.
“Whoaaa?”
“So intense?”
Nie Ji and Ma Fei were stunned.
“The glare and intensity of the light are amazing!”
“It is even shinier than just now!”
“How could he make an ingredient that shines that brightly?”
Some of the people could not open their eyes. The golden light is way too glaring.
And the smell. When the box is opened, it not only release a powerful beam of light, it also released a very thick and mouth-watering odour. Like a bomb that that exploded, the scent of the dough immediately flies outwards and filled the restaurant with its fragrance.
The scent is sweet and thick, and very appetising.
“Bang!”
Luo Xiu turned the box upside down. The golden brilliance of the dough immediately enveloped the Nine Gates restaurant.
Even Luo Xiu’s face seemed to be golden colour under the bright light.
Wang Xi looked at the plate. The dough which was very small and is just half the size of the plate is now big enough to cover the entire plate.
The dough had become bigger.
“What is this?”
Wang Xi could not believe his eyes.
This is the first time he had seen a dough that could swell after resting for a while.
“How did this happened?”
The Divine Chef, the most powerful and learned man in Snow Moon City, was flabbergasted by what he had seen, and could not explain what had happened. He was at a loss for words.
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Notes from Gumihou:
[1] Ahem, proofing and kneading the dough is certainly important, however, I like to point out several interesting steps which our genius Luo Xiu had skipped:One – Yeast – While it’s certainly important to proof and knead dough for softer and better tasting bread, it’s impossible for bread to rise without yeast. If you wish to make the argument that he is using isekai ingredients, let me also point out how surprise Divine Chef Wang was to see the dough rise. Therefore, unless Luo Xiu has yeast infection on his hands…
Two – Egg – I don’t care what type of egg he used, eggs, when mixed with flour results in richer dough. What this means is that the dough is closer to a cake mixture rather than the light steamed bun he was supposedly making. With the added Insect Nectar (honey), he’s basically making a brioche. Except it won’t turn into a brioche because, helloo, no yeast
I’m going to stop now.
^_^
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Rehosted by Gumihou at kitchennovel dot com
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