“Sister Lu, you really did a great job improving this dish,” Huang Shenghao complimented his teammate, but Lu Xinyi brushed it off with a smile. Just like their previous Drunken Chicken, there wasn’t much difference in the original recipe by the Ji family.

The two entrees didn’t help the diners to decide easily. How could they choose when both dishes were so good that it was hard to pick only one between them? Even when la Reverie’s Garlic Butter Chicken Breast and Oriental Bliss’ La Mian with Braised Pork Belly in Pork Bone Soup wasn’t enough to have a tie-breaker between two restaurants.

It was a good thing that each serving wasn’t served in full serving, or else the diners would be too full to eat the next dishes to be served by both restaurants.

In the end, they could only hope that the last two dishes would be able to determine the end of the competition. As for the desserts and steamed buns made by Lu Xinyi, Tian Lingyu was the first one to take the first taste much to Huang Shenghao’s surprise.

“Don’t tell me you are worried that it wouldn’t taste good,” he chuckled.

Tian Lingyu raised a brow on him before taking the lid of the bamboo steamer. The thick steam rose from inside, concealing the steamed buns.

They could hear some gasps from the diners and audience as they uncovered their bamboo steamers.

“What is this called?” Someone asked.

“Let’s see…” His companion checked the menu on their table and read it out loud. “The Seven Stars of Summer?”

Inside each of the bamboo steamers sat seven different coloreds steamed buns forming a circle around a black steamed bun, which was considerably larger than the rest; this view left the diners flabbergasted. The seven-colored buns had the same weight and sizes. It seemed that each bun had a different filling from the rest.

“A black steamed bun?!”

“Wait. Look at these tiny steamed buns too! They’re so colorful!”

Even Tian Lingyu and Huang Shenghao were impressed at the steamed buns made by Lu Xinyi. The buns were steamed to perfection. It was soft, fluffy, and pillowy; sinking one’s teeth into it was absolutely amazing and delightful.

“What is this called, Sister Lu?” Huang Shenghao asked. Taking the orange-colored steamed bun, he took a bite from it; and his taste buds were greeted by the delicious taste of crab roe. His mouth was overwhelmed by the liquids from inside—sweet oceanic nectar from the crab itself.

From the first bite, it induced his eyes to roll to the back of his skull and made involuntary noises from deep within his soul. He couldn’t remember experiencing the same bliss when he’d eaten the original bun from the Ji family’s recipe.

The orange crab roe inside the bun was shiny and very aesthetically appealing. It was also considered as the pinnacle of roe food, which had found great prominence in both Eastern and Western cuisine.

Huang Shenghao was surprised that Lu Xinyi was able to retain its soft and rubbery texture. When blended or cooked in a liquid, crab roes dissolved easily. He tasted not only crab roe but also crab meat inside. Adding the crab roe also ensured great flavor. The texture was unique both in appearance and feel. It added a soft and chunky touch to the filling of the bun.

“I never thought we could use crab roes in a steamed bun,” he told Tian Lingyu.

“It has a distinct appearance and flavor, which makes it great for many fine recipes; and there are still wide and endless possibilities for you to enjoy the goodness of roe,” Tian Lingyu commented. Taking a side glance towards his sister, he wasn’t surprised to see her bored expression as she yawned at the corner.

It was not easy to pick roe from the crab–one needed to be a pro at disassembling the body to do that, but Lu Xinyi managed to do the job without asking for their assistance.

Next, Huang Shenghao took the yellow-colored steamed bun. He gave it a quick sniff before taking a bite.

“Pumpkin bun!” he exclaimed upon chewing and tasting the hot steamed bun.

Pumpkin puree was mixed in with the dough to make the yellow buns to give its nice yellow color and sweetness. Even its filling was made with pumpkin.

Meanwhile, the purple bun from the set was made from sweet potatoes. The red bun was spiced up with Szechuan pork, and the green one had the freshness and slight bitterness of green tea. Garlic had left the diners asking for more of the gray bun.

The brown bun was filled with a rich, gooey chocolate filling inside which was so irresistible not to eat. Last but not the least was the signature bun of the Ji family which had a mildly sweet and savory taste.

All the diners and Huang Shenghao felt that they were experiencing nirvana on earth brought by these seven delicious buns.

The lone black bun on the steamer was the star of the dish. Its glossy, smooth, and perfectly pitch-black color was enough to pique the curiosity not only of the diners but also the spectators watching the competition between the two popular restaurants.

One diner had chosen to cut the black bun on her plate, curious to see what was inside and what greeted her was the luscious golden filling that oozed with aromatic flavors. Her heart sang at the sight of that molten lava golden goodness!

The ‘molten lava’ was none other than the ever-popular salted egg yolk custard filling. It wasn’t runny unlike the original version of Oriental Bliss. Its uniqueness stemmed from its oozing creamy filling in the middle of the bun, not unlike that of a molten lava cake. It was normally served hot in order for the filling to remain soft.

Lu Xinyi enjoyed watching the look on diners’ faces when, upon biting in, the dumpling burst inside their mouth; the rich, warm broth washed over their palate. Their reactions come in threes: bulging eyes, laughter, and a slurred ‘Ohmigod’ with hands covering their full mouths.

She had fixed the consistency and the complex flavors from the original recipe. For this Stygian Golden Lava Bun, the quantity of each ingredient used was crucial to achieving the right texture she was aiming for.

Making the dough was straightforward. The method was similar to making bread, except it also contains baking powder, in addition to yeast. For this bun, she increased the amount of sugar by 10 percent.

Once she increased that sugar amount, the yeast would work much slower and would take much longer to proof the dough. This gave her brother and Huang Shenghao enough time to finish their dishes without worrying about the steamed buns being overcooked.

Steamed custard buns were usually made with yeast dough. Fermentation of sugar in the dough by the yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae helped the dough to rise. Steaming them for too long, the filling would explode. She also had to keep in mind not to open the lid while steaming, or else the buns would collapse.

Wrapping the filling of these buns was the most challenging part for Lu Xinyi. She encountered two challenges while doing it. First was some fillings were sticky and difficult to handle, and the other one was the filling leaking if the bun was not sealed correctly.

In the end, she decided to stick on the general rule on making steamed buns which was to use one part of the filling with two parts of dough for each bun.