爲什麼香港包子鋪一天能蒸一萬個包子

Hong Kong's annual bun scramble is big business

香港的包子市場是一個大市場

Show me the buns!

給我包子！

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.

每週週五，總共只有一平方英里的香港島嶼長洲正在沉睡，而在歡樂的燈火所在的地方，船上的訪客們卻在慶祝一個傳統的假日--包子節 ,在這個節日，大家會品嚐數萬個美味的米粉包。

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.

長達一週的慶典規模一年比一年大。這對本地包子鋪郭金凱包子鋪來說，意味春生意興隆，郭金飢包子鋪是這個節日的正式包子供應商。

"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."

"在這8到10天裏，經濟效益堪比8到10個月，"64歲，已經經營店鋪40年的老闆郭金川說，"我們爲這個節日蒸了6萬個米粉包。"

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).

在這段假期，郭每天能把80000港元（10320美元）收入囊中——這比他平時的收入高20倍。在節日結束時，他通常能最終收穫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.

包子節傳說的起源：超過一個世紀前，爲了避開爲禍長洲的海盜和瘟疫，島上的漁民用包子祭祀——印上"平安"兩個字，這在中國文字中意味着"平安"——海神北帝。包子祭祀發揮了作用，島上的瘟疫被清除了。

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 臘包山)，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.

從那時開始，長洲就不斷重複着這個給這個安靜的小島刷新運氣的傳統,即使這裏連汽車都不允許行駛。慶典的高潮部分是午夜的搶包山，一個三分鐘的比賽，登上一個50米高，由9000個包子覆蓋的塔;包子越高，運氣就越好。

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.

對郭來說，準備工作在一個月前就開始了 ,他會儲備材科並僱傭額外幾十名店員。他的店鋪一般會做出各種各樣的中國傳統包子和糕點，在此期間停止生產任何其他食品，全力生產包子。

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

這種包子的餡是甜的——芝麻，紅豆或者蓮蓉。麪糰被揉好後，酵母還需要時間來發酵。

"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.

"如果溫度足夠高，發酵會很快的，"郭說，然後，"在我們蒸包子前，我們會把餡手工包到麪糰裏。。。"，這些配方是郭在他叔叔的店裏當學徒時學到的。

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.

郭的包子流水線是非常高效的；眨眼間，包子就被包好了，然後準備放到一個能裝200個包子的巨型蒸籠裏。

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

在最火的時候，他700平方碼的店鋪一天能包10000個包子。

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.

雖然很想新開一家分店，但他認爲他自己已經有點老了，力不從心。他希望自己的某個兒子能繼承家業。

"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."

"節日期間做這麼多包子是非常繁忙的，"郭說，"我很少有時間去餐廳吃飯，所以，當我餓了的時候，我只會抓一個‘平安'包充飢。"