Page 21 of Dragons & Dumplings

"I think we're done," Nate says, carefully extracting the pot from the steamer. "Now we need to crush them."

"Crush them?" I echo.

He nods. "Hand me the knife?"

I grab it from the block and hand it to him, watching intently as he removes the egg yolks from the pot and puts them onto a board. He pushes the flat of the knife against them and they squish easily. After repeating the motion a few times, he pushes the remains into a pan.

"What now?" I ask.

"I think we make a custard the normal way," he responds. "Will you check the recipe?"

I nod and grab the piece of paper with his handwriting on it. "Yes, we just need to add the ingredients, then cook it."

"We can do that," he says as he pops the pan on the stove and leaves me to stir while he gets the ingredients ready for the dough. I pay close attention, knowing that any slip, even for a moment, could end in disaster. It isn't until the custard has thickened, and tiny bubbles appear at the edges that I remove it from the stove.

"Do you think we should try it?" I ask Nate.

"Maybe."

"I'm curious," I admit.

He passes me a spoon and I dip it into the pan, getting a small amount of it so I can taste. My eyes widen as the salty sweetness hits my tongue.

"That's good," I say. "Salted caramel good."

"You can't just say that," he responds, using his own spoon to swipe a taste. "Oh, that is good."

"Father would love that. I think he might want you to keep making salted custard if he tries this."

"If it goes well, maybe we could use it for some other custard dishes," he says.

"We should."

"But after we've done this one. I'm going to put this in the ice house."

I nod and let him leave, taking the time to wash my hands and look over the ingredients he's got ready for the dough. It isn't dissimilar to those that we used for the other dough, or for the breads we make here, but it's still interesting to put together.

I check the recipe and get the yeast mixture ready.

"Ah, good, you got started," Nate says as he comes back into the room.

"Just the yeast," I respond. "Is this going to be any different from the one we made the other day?"

"I think so, we're steaming it when we've assembled them, rather than baking them."

"Oh, right." I can't believe I forgot that.

He shrugs. "It's just what Lady An's cook said we were supposed to do." He empties the right amount of flour into a bowl, and adds the yeast mixture after checking that it's ready.

When he puts the bowl in front of me, I take it as an indication that I'm the one who is supposed to be kneading the dough this time. The dough is still rough when he gestures for me to stop and adds a bit of butter.

"How long do I need to knead for?" I ask.

"Not long. Just make sure the butter is mixed in, and then it's time for proving."

"Oh." That's not a method I've used before getting the recipes from Lady An's cook, but I like the idea of finding out if it's going to work or not. The pork buns worked perfectly, and they used a similar method, even if it wasn't the same.

I put the dough into a proving box and cover it, sliding it over to the perfect spot by the oven.

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