Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 477 - 389: Black Gold Lava Bun, the Impact of Salted Egg Yolk

"This egg tart tastes pretty good, the balance of all the ingredients is handled quite perfectly."

"It highlights the egg and milk aroma while reducing the sweetness, making it not overly rich on the palate."

The three of them nodded while eating, carefully examining the cross-section of the egg tart after biting off most of it, before finally putting the remaining half entirely into their mouths.

For freshly baked desserts like this, the happiness level experienced by taking small bites versus big mouthfuls is completely different.

Before finishing the first egg tart, they eagerly continued to send the second one into their mouths, not even needing to drink any cola.

Usually, with desserts like these egg tarts, you’d have to sip some iced cola after a few bites to ease the richness, otherwise, it would be overwhelmingly greasy.

Enjoyable as they are, they are indeed sweet and oily, so you can’t have too many.

But with this Great Xia-improved egg tart, there’s no such concern; they even felt like they could eat five or six without feeling overwhelmed.

Seeing the Head Chefs shamelessly stuffing egg tarts into their mouths, the others dared not hesitate, reaching out one by one, afraid they’d miss the chance if they were too slow.

In an instant, the entire hall was filled with the rich aroma of egg and milk.

The more they smelled it, the more it enticed them; despite having eaten for two hours straight before, they found themselves growing hungrier.

Zhao Shun, who’d disappeared into the back kitchen after laying down the egg tarts, quickly returned, this time pushing out a tray cart filled with beautifully crafted, small, intricate pastries of various shapes stacked on different levels.

The group hadn’t even swallowed the egg tarts in their mouths, their gazes instinctively drifting toward the cart.

They watched Zhao Shun take out tray after tray from the rack and lay them on the table for everyone to help themselves.

Snow-white fluffy buns, completely black bread with three golden stripes, unknown pastries wrapped in puff pastry, and small spring rolls with surfaces that looked like they’d been bound by fried noodles...

"I’ve seen this one in a restaurant before!"

Marchello quickly grabbed a snow-white little bun, its tactile feel was excellent; when pressed down hard, the surface would immediately rebound, exuding a light wheat fragrance.

"I think it’s called... char siu bao?"

"Oh yeah, now that you mention it, it does look familiar, but aren’t char siu bao the ones with three grooves on the surface?"

"Huh? What’s this one then? I’m sure I’ve seen steamed snacks in this shape more than once."

While Marchello and Raphael were busy discussing the pastries, Nagishiro Sho had already grabbed one and started tearing it apart without hesitation.

Although it looked fast, his movement instantly slowed upon revealing the filling.

Through the small tear, a thick, golden liquid in a semi-flowing state could be clearly seen.

"?"

For a moment, he doubted whether his eyes were deceiving him.

This steamed pastry, which looked like a bun, actually had a liquid filling?

While he wasn’t new to flowy-centered desserts, those were typically chocolate-based, baked until the surface solidified and the inside remained semi-cooked.

But this bun-like thing clearly had a different material for the outer skin and filling.

Did they wrap solidified liquid directly into it?

He was no longer the ignorant person he used to be; ever since he started studying Great Xia culinary videos daily, his mind had accumulated a lot of peculiar knowledge.

This included the techniques for making soup dumplings or stuffed bao.

Although unsure of the exact method used for this steamed dessert, it was likely something similar: freezing the liquid filling into a firm state before wrapping it.

During steaming, the outer skin would naturally expand, and the filling would melt into the current semi-liquid state due to heat.

Carefully tearing it into halves to avoid spilling the filling due to excessive force.

His actions quickly attracted the attention of Raphael and Marchello, who glanced at the pastry in his hand, then showed an expression of sudden realization.

"So that’s what it is!"

"I was wondering why it seemed so familiar. The filling seems to be sweet cream, right?"

Sweet cream?

Nagishiro Sho hadn’t had much Cantonese dim sum before, so he leaned in for a sniff, and sure enough, was greeted by a strong milky aroma.

Taking a small bite, the soft, fluffy bun seemed to melt on his tongue, and the thick liquid inside indeed tasted like sweet cream, just as they’d said.

The bun’s overall texture and flavor were slightly more ordinary compared to the egg tart from earlier. The only highlight was the element of surprise when biting into the filling, like opening a mystery box.

He inexplicably felt that this dessert might be popular among kids and would make a great breakfast option.

Instinctively, he turned his head towards Lisa not far away, raising the half-eaten bun and giving her a thumbs up.

Lisa had been watching with eager eyes; seeing his gesture, her eyes lit up as she visibly swallowed, clearly unable to resist the temptation.

Yet, she didn’t say anything or make a move, just stood quietly next to her father, patiently waiting, with her pretty eyes filled with longing and anticipation.

Nagishiro Sho tossed the other half of the liquid-centered bun into his mouth, refraining from grabbing a second one, and instead reached for the neighboring black-and-gold bun.

Personally, he wasn’t very interested in desserts like this; he mainly sampled them for the experience, focusing more on the combination of dessert ingredients.

He held the black-gold bun with both hands, gently tearing it open.

"Hmm?"

Seeing the filling inside for a split second, he wondered if he was hallucinating.

How could it be golden liquid again?

Could these two buns taste the same?

No, impossible, absolutely not!

As the crack widened, the heat from the middle started to rise, carrying with it a rich, savory aroma.

It’s actually savory??

This moment, he quickly ran through all known ingredients in his mind, but couldn’t think of any that was golden and carried a savory scent.

He closed his eyes, flaring his nostrils, and used the power of his Divine Nose.

Salty taste...

Salty taste...

Gradually, he seemed to feel this scent was somewhat familiar, like he had smelled it somewhere before.

Such a peculiar taste couldn’t be from any ingredient he had tasted before but rather from an unknown material.

If talking about unknown, then only the ingredients Lin purchased today seemed unfamiliar to him.

Wait, today?!

A flash of inspiration came to mind, Nagishiro Sho suddenly opened his eyes.

"Salted duck egg yolk?"

That’s right, it must be this!

Only the egg yolk is golden and emits a faint savory aroma.

They actually stuffed salted duck egg yolk into the dough to make desserts?

Oh, wait, things that aren’t sweet can’t be called desserts, this thing should be classified as snacks.

"What, what, is this salted duck egg yolk filling?"

The two Head Chefs beside were savoring the details of the leaking custard bun, and hearing his exclamation, their interest piqued.

Leaking custard is of no technical challenge to chefs of their level, they could unravel it in minutes.

But the leaking salted duck egg yolk, an unheard-of ingredient, just thinking about it got their adrenaline pumping!

They too weren’t interested in eating a second custard bun, hastily grabbing and tearing open a black gold lava bun.

The golden liquid inside at first glance seemed no different from the previous leaking custard bun, but upon closer inspection, one could discern countless tiny particles mixed in the liquid.

Clearly, these particles must be the crushed state of the salted duck egg yolk.

With the tip of the tongue, gently taste.

A rich savory flavor instantly exploded, carrying a faint hint of egg yolk aroma, eating it didn’t feel like what egg yolk should taste like, rather more like an indescribable complex seasoning.

If they hadn’t seen Lin Chen peel each egg yolk with their own eyes, they’d truly find it hard to believe that pickled duck egg yolk would taste like this.

This salty flavor was rather peculiar, to those who had never tasted it, at first, it was somewhat hard to accept.

As this savory taste slowly spread in the mouth, tasting it for a while, it became slightly better.

With the flavor fading, the mouth retained a unique sandy texture.

This peculiar flavor left the three a bit bewildered, exchanging glances, faces full of confusion.

"Lin, you say this taste is one of the popular seasonings in Great Xia now?"

"Yes, indeed, like salted egg yolk crayfish, salted egg yolk baked pumpkin, salted egg yolk porridge, salted egg yolk lava buns, salted egg yolk crackers, salted egg yolk fries, etc., it can be used in appetizers, main courses, snacks, and desserts alike."

"......"

The three exchanged another glance, silently stuffing the lava buns into their mouths.

The reason this flavor could trend in the gourmet nation surely had its own merits, they found it strange because they weren’t used to it, maybe eating a few more bites would reveal its wonders!

Previously, they only tasted the filling alone, this time eating it with the soft dough, the flavor unexpectedly underwent a subtle change.

This black gold bun’s dough texture was somewhat similar to the leaking custard bun before, but with more resilience, somewhat like fresh toast fused with bun skin.

Masticating released a rich wheat aroma, and in the conversion by saliva amylase, waves of sweetness formed, perfectly balancing the savory filling’s saltiness.

"Indeed!"

"I knew this pairing had its logic, indeed, it shouldn’t be eaten alone."

"Eating the whole bun immediately made the taste much more delicious, the unique sandy texture and savory sweet flavor mixed together certainly provides a delightful surprise for guests."

"I think this flavor is suitable for limited consumption, eating too much might feel greasy, perhaps making it into sauce or thick soup with different ingredients might yield unexpected effects."

"Dried and ground into powder, mixed with Parmesan and sprinkled on salad might also be great."