Food often becomes the key to unlocking memories. Sometimes a sentence or a taste can bring back memories of people or events from the past.

I remember when I was young, my family used to sell dried goods. My parents worked hard every day, and my mom would always come home and bring me and my brother some treats. For example, lychee leaf sticky rice cakes - sticky rice filled with red bean paste, one bite, the fragrance of rice combined with the sweetness of red beans, with a hint of lychee leaf fragrance, even the breath felt like it was coming out of the nose; another common delicacy was steamed bun. Back then, our noses were very sensitive, we could smell steamed buns without even looking. They are sweet and not greasy, sticky and not too sticky.

It's said that snacks and small eats have an irresistible attraction for children. Now, my family has two 'children' – my younger nephew who hasn't started school, and my grandfather, who is responsible for taking care of him. At home, all the bread is finished, so I want to make one steamed bun now.

Today's steamed bun is a little different from what I used to eat on the street. I remember we used to eat corn steamed bun, today I made red date steamed bun (I spent some time in the kitchen, and the ingredients I could use were limited to this one).

Ingredients: 120g red dates, 20g sugar, 200g flour, 4g yeast, 80g milk, 2 eggs, vinegar.

Steps:

1Wash the red dates, pit them, and cut them into small pieces;

2Put the red date meat in a pot, add sugar, and add 300ml of water, simmer over low heat until the water is slightly dry and the red date meat is soft.

3Pour the red dates into a bowl and let them cool for a while, then puree them using a food processor until they are smooth.

If you like a more textured steamed bun, you can ignore steps 2/3 and just chop the red dates into a coarse paste

4Pour the red date paste into a large bowl, add 2 eggs and a few drops of vinegar, add 4g yeast, add milk, and stir until well combined.

5Sift the flour and stir until smooth with no flour particles.

5Cover with plastic wrap and let it ferment until it doubles in size (I used a oven to ferment, it took 30 minutes, at room temperature, fermentation time is generally 1 hour or more in winter, 40 minutes in summer)

Small TIPS: If you don't have an oven, you can boil some warm water and put the bowl in the water, the water temperature should not be too high, or it will cook!

6After the steamed bun ferments, stir and release the air.

7Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the mold with corn oil (vegetable oil) to facilitate demolding, pour into the mold;

8Place in a steamer, cover, and steam for 30 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it steam for 5 minutes before taking it out.

Red date steamed bun is ready. Because the red dates are cooked with sugar, plus they have a sweet taste, you don't need to add white sugar, this sweetness is just right, not too much, not too little!

Finally, let's make a summary:

Generally, when I make steamed buns, I will add a few drops of white vinegar or lemon juice, otherwise there will be a fishy taste, because it contains eggs. Especially when cold, the fishy taste will be more pronounced. Of course, there's also a solution – don't use eggs!