为什么香港包子铺一天能蒸一万个包子

Hong Kong's annual bun scramble is big business

香港的包子市场是一个大市场

Show me the buns!

给我包子！

Each May, a sleepy Hong Kong island of just one square mile, Cheung Chau, lights up in excitement as boa tloads of visitors celebrate a traditional holiday — the Bun festival, featuring tens of thousands of de licious rice flour buns.

每周周五，总共只有一平方英里的香港岛屿长洲正在沉睡，而在欢乐的灯火所在的地方，船上的访客们却在庆祝一个传统的假日--包子节 ,在这个节日，大家会品尝数万个美味的米粉包。

The week-long celebration gets bigger every year. And that means booming business for local bakery Kwok Kam Kee, the official bun supplier for the festival.

长达一周的庆典规模一年比一年大。这对本地包子铺郭金凯包子铺来说，意味春生意兴隆，郭金飢包子铺是这个节日的正式包子供应商。

"For these 8 to 10 days, it's like doing 8 to 10 months of business," said owner Kwok Kam Chuen, 64, who opened his shop 40 years ago. "We make over 60,000 buns for the festival."

"在这8到10天里，经济效益堪比8到10个月，"64岁，已经经营店铺40年的老板郭金川说，"我们为这个节日蒸了6万个米粉包。"

During the holiday, Kwok brings in as much as HK$80,000 ($10,320) a day -- 20 times more than his average daily sales. By the end of the festival, he usually ends up making over HK$500,000 ($65,000).

在这段假期，郭每天能把80000港元（10320美元）收入囊中——这比他平时的收入高20倍。在节日结束时，他通常能最终收获500000港元（65000美元）收益。

Local lore about the Bun Festival's origin goes like this: Over a century ago, to ward off the pirates and plague that had crippled Cheung Chau, island fishermen made offerings of buns -- stamped with "Ping On," the Chinese characters for "peace" -- to Pak Tai, a god of the sea. The bun sacrifice worked, and the island was cleared of maladies.

包子节传说的起源：超过一个世纪前，为了避开为祸长洲的海盗和瘟疫，岛上的渔民用包子祭祀——印上"平安"两个字，这在中国文字中意味着"平安"——海神北帝。包子祭祀发挥了作用，岛上的瘟疫被清除了。

Since then, Cheung Chau has repeated the tradition to bring renewed luck to the quiet beach island, wher e even cars are banned. Festivities culminate in a midnight bun snatch 腊包山)，a three-minute race to t he top of a 50-foot tower covered with 9,000 buns — the higher the bun, the greater the fortune.

从那时开始，长洲就不断重复着这个给这个安静的小岛刷新运气的传统,即使这里连汽车都不允许行驶。庆典的高潮部分是午夜的抢包山，一个三分钟的比赛，登上一个50米高，由9000个包子覆盖的塔;包子越高，运气就越好。

For Kwok, preparation starts a month before when he stockpiles ingredients and hires over a dozen extra helpers. His shop, which normally makes a variety of traditional Chinese breads and pastries, stops bakin g everything else to make way for the onslaught of bun production.

对郭来说，准备工作在一个月前就开始了 ,他会储备材科并雇佣额外几十名店员。他的店铺一般会做出各种各样的中国传统包子和糕点，在此期间停止生产任何其他食品，全力生产包子。

The buns have a sweet filling -- sesame, red bean or lotus paste. Once the dough is rolled, the yeast needs time to ferment.

这种包子的馅是甜的——芝麻，红豆或者莲蓉。面团被揉好后，酵母还需要时间来发酵。

"It's faster when it's hotter," he said. Then "we manually put fillings into the dough ... before we steam the buns" said Kwok, who learned the recipe as an apprentice in his uncle's bakery.

"如果温度足够高，发酵会很快的，"郭说，然后，"在我们蒸包子前，我们会把馅手工包到面团里。。。"，这些配方是郭在他叔叔的店里当学徒时学到的。

Kwok's assembly line is efficient; one blink and the buns are wrapped and ready for giant steamers that can hold 200 at a time.

郭的包子流水线是非常高效的；眨眼间，包子就被包好了，然后准备放到一个能装200个包子的巨型蒸笼里。

At peak production, his 700-square-foot shop can pump out 10,000 buns a day.

在最火的时候，他700平方码的店铺一天能包10000个包子。

While he'd love to open another shop, he thinks he's getting a bit old to manage it all. He is hoping one of his sons will take over the business.

虽然很想新开一家分店，但他认为他自己已经有点老了，力不从心。他希望自己的某个儿子能继承家业。

"It's very hectic making so many buns for the holiday," Kwok said. "I rarely have time to go a restaurant to eat, so when I am hungry, I just grab a 'Ping On' bun."

"节日期间做这么多包子是非常繁忙的，"郭说，"我很少有时间去餐厅吃饭，所以，当我饿了的时候，我只会抓一个‘平安'包充饥。"