After watching the video tutorial for the first time, Qin Huai sent a message to Cheng Gong to inform him of what to prepare for tomorrow. However, after sending the message, he watched the video tutorial again and again, ended up staying up late, and woke up late.
When Qin Huai woke up the next day and saw the time, his first reaction was that it was fortunate the flight had been rescheduled to the evening; otherwise, he wouldn’t have made it to the morning flight.
Cheng Gong found a parent-child kitchen very close to the hotel for Qin Huai. Qin Huai had been to parent-child kitchens before and was quite familiar with them. The parent-child cooking activities at Chen Huixi’s school were held in such a kitchen, and Qin Huai’s first side task was also completed in one.
Cheng Gong was quite generous to have booked the whole place for Qin Huai, though it might have been Han Guishan, President Han, who was generous. Because as soon as Qin Huai had steamed the green beans and mashed them into a paste, Han Guishan and Wang Jing arrived.
According to Han Guishan, he and Wang Jing happened to be nearby handling some work and thought they’d drop by since they knew Qin Huai was making Green Bean Cake here today.
In response, Qin Huai gave a knowing smile and expressed understanding, acknowledging that President Han is truly a busy man who can still remember where Green Bean Cakes are being made despite his hectic schedule.
Han Guishan and Wang Jing each took a small chair, sitting far from the cooking station, dutifully waiting to eat.
Qin Huai couldn’t help but marvel at how well-timed this couple was.
The process of making Green Bean Cake isn’t difficult; it’s even very simple, one could say. Qin Huai’s method of soaking peeled green beans for six hours, then steaming and mashing them into a paste is already considered a very complex, ancient method for making Green Bean Cake. For ordinary people who want to make Green Bean Cake at home, they can just buy ready-made green bean powder, skipping all the time-consuming steps.
After mashing the green beans into a paste, you need to fry them. Add an appropriate amount of butter into the pot and let it melt. Using butter to fry the green bean paste, from a food pairing perspective, is better than traditional vegetable oil as butter naturally has a milky aroma, making it more suitable for making Green Bean Cake.
In terms of the times, using butter to fry Green Bean Cake was absolutely a novel method back then.
Qin Huai was diligently stirring the green bean paste, and when the melted butter was fully absorbed into the paste, starting to emit the fragrance unique to Green Bean Cake, he added sugar.
The aroma in the kitchen got stronger and stronger, with the sweet scent intermingling with the green bean fragrance; Han Guishan couldn’t help but smack his lips just by smelling it.
He and Wang Jing really were just nearby, thinking they’d stop by since Qin Huai was making Green Bean Cake here.
Of course, it would be even better if they could have a bite or two.
Han Guishan wasn’t particularly interested in Green Bean Cake; it was his wife Wang Jing who loved it. Wang Jing enjoyed Green Bean Cake with less sweetness, particularly liking to put the ones bought outside into the fridge for a few hours.
According to Wang Jing, the cold Green Bean Cake has a better texture; the grainy feeling melts on the tongue like eating ice cream.
Han Guishan didn’t understand this.
He thought the Green Bean Cakes Wang Jing bought were all so tiny, and he was afraid they’d crumble if he held them a bit tightly between his fingers. Eating them, beyond the green bean flavor and refreshing taste, there weren’t many features. To be fair, cold Green Bean Cake tastes a little better than the regular ones, but only a little.
Not to mention, Wang Jing likes Green Bean Cakes that aren’t too sweet, making them feel bland when eating seriously as snacks at home. They lose their appeal when treated like proper desserts.
But now Han Guishan started to understand a bit.
The fragrance, the rich bean aroma is truly appealing!
Just smelling it makes it seem delicious!
"Jingjing, isn’t Green Bean Cake just like an egg tart, especially tasty when freshly baked? So this Green Bean Cake shouldn’t be put in the fridge, but eaten while it’s still hot!" Han Guishan asked.
This question stumped Wang Jing.
Long ago, Wang Jing worked as a waitress in the State-owned Restaurant, mainly responsible for eating private meals, not preparing them. The restaurant didn’t really sell snacks, mostly just buns and mantou, so Wang Jing wasn’t sure how Green Bean Cake was made.
Wang Jing was led astray by Han Guishan.
"So that’s how it is." Wang Jing suddenly understood, "It seems Green Bean Cake shouldn’t be refrigerated; it should be eaten fresh out of the pot in the future."
The couple both had an epiphany, sitting on their small benches, eagerly waiting and watching the green bean paste being stirred in the pan.
Qin Huai, who was stirring the green bean paste: ...
Are President Han and his wife... hungry?
That shouldn’t be the case; didn’t they prepare a lot of Four Happiness glutinous rice, Three Meat Buns and Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns yesterday? Could it be that they’re too busy to have breakfast?
It must be that way, indeed, those whose last names are followed by ’President’ never have it easy.
After finishing stirring the green bean paste, it’s time to mold and demold it.
Since butter was added during the stirring process, there’s no need to grease the molds additionally; they release the printed shape easily.
The parent-child kitchen has prepared molds, so Qin Huai went to get them.
Seeing Qin Huai fetch the molds, Han Guishan couldn’t sit still. After hesitating for a moment, he stepped forward directly, "Master Qin, can we eat the Green Bean Cake while it’s hot now?"
Green Bean Cake eaten while hot?
Such niche text, such unfamiliar words.
Qin Huai froze for a moment, seeing that Han Guishan really wanted to eat, and thinking of Han Guishan’s usual dining style, felt that President Han wasn’t someone who would be concerned about presentation, nodded, "In theory, you can, but usually Green Bean Cake should be demolded before eating."