Chapter 59 Chapter 59 Bald Butter. (Second update)...
There were five orange-red river crabs on the plate, the sharp spines on their claws still glistening with water, and ginger vinegar on the silver plate next to them. Just looking at it would whet one's appetite.
Several people picked up the crabs and quietly peeled off the shells, revealing the crab roe.
"Look at this crab, it's so fat!"
"They are really fat. Look at each one, the roe is almost squeezed out." Linzhi opened the crab shell, took out the crab heart, crab stomach and crab intestines with a silver spoon and discarded them, then opened the crab legs, dipped them in a little ginger vinegar, and put them into his mouth.
In an instant, my mouth was filled with a sweet and fresh taste that even the ginger vinegar couldn't cover up.
Lin Zhi's brows relaxed: "Sure enough, this first bite has to be steamed."
"That's right," Shopkeeper Wu nodded repeatedly, picking up one and breaking it open. "If you've eaten anything else—drunk, spoiled, salty, or sweet—then you won't be able to appreciate the unique sweetness of steamed crab."
"Shopkeeper Wu knows how to eat!" Lin Zhi gave him a thumbs-up. "If you had eaten something strongly flavored first, your taste buds would have been overwhelmed by the aroma of alcohol and spices, and then the steamed food would have seemed bland, a waste of the quality ingredients."
"Only by eating the steamed crab first can you know the quality of the crab. Once you have a good idea of it, you can try other cooking methods."
Song Jiaoniang suddenly realized, "The same goes for the Matsutake Chicken Soup we just had. It was followed by two side dishes and then the venison flank."
Lin Zhi nodded: "That's right."
After the five people finished eating the steamed river crabs, their eyes turned to the other two crab dishes.
Start with a spoonful of crab-flavored egg custard. The egg custard underneath is delicate and smooth, and paired with the sweet crab soup topping, it’s so delicious that you’ll want to swallow your tongue.
The four of them didn't have time to comment, they just focused on eating. If the crab-flavored egg custard made them want to just pour a bowl of rice, spread the egg custard on top, mix it up, and then eat it, then the crab fried rice cakes that followed were a completely different experience.
The aroma of crab and glutinous rice permeates your mouth. The rice cake, brimming with the sweetness of the crab meat, is soft and chewy yet granular, with distinct strands of crab meat. The first bite is the glutinous texture of the rice cake, followed by the savory and salty flavor of the soy sauce and spices, before finally revealing the sweet and plump crab.
The aroma of the ingredients surged and showed off in the mouth. The taste of the symphony made the four of them unable to stop, and they kept eating one bite after another.
"I can't eat anymore--" The first one to give in was Song Jiaoniang. She had a big meal at Juyoulou before, and then ate a piece of soft cheese. Now she had three consecutive meals of crab meat. Now she felt her stomach was so round that she couldn't even sit up straight.
"I can't take it anymore—" Then, Madam Yu began to struggle. Although she hadn't eaten a big meal, she had been drinking and eating with her friends and family, and it had been a lively day. Now she was burping and struggling to pick up a piece of rice cake.
Just as her chopsticks were about to approach the piece of rice cake, another pair of chopsticks fell on it, picked it up mercilessly, and disappeared into Shopkeeper Wu's mouth in one gulp.
Madam Yu: “……!!!”
Facing Madam Yu's angry glare, Shopkeeper Wu felt aggrieved: "Didn't you say you couldn't do it? That's why I helped you eat!"
Lin Sen and Manager Wu, as professional shoplifters, cleared out a plate of fried crab and rice cakes, and then collapsed in their chairs.
Linzhi happened to go into the kitchen to check the crab shell oil that had just been boiled.
"Are there any more dishes later?"
"Burp! I, I can't eat anymore."
"Sister Zhi—Sister Zhi, don't do anything else." Seeing that the situation was not good, Song Jiaoniang hurriedly raised her voice and shouted.
"I know." Lin Zhi's voice was faintly heard from the kitchen, but as the fragrance became stronger, Song Jiaoniang couldn't stop worrying, and struggled to get up and go to the kitchen.
Linzhi was holding a spatula, stir-frying the crab oil and adding ginger slices.
"Sister Zhi, didn't you say you don't want to do it anymore?"
"This isn't for today." Lin Zhi smiled and continued to stir the food, then scooped out a few spoonfuls of crab oil. "The rest needs to be boiled with two more cups of tea, and then soaked overnight."
The crab oil made in this way is top-notch whether it is used alone in cooking or added to crab meat and crab roe to make butter.
However, the peeled crab meat and crab roe cannot be wasted. Besides, Madam Yu and Manager Wu have brought so many things, we can't let them go back empty-handed.
So Linzhi put the three spoonfuls of crab oil he scooped out in the pot next to him, and then added ginger slices.
With the sizzling sound, the aroma of crab oil was instantly stimulated. When the crab meat and crab roe were poured in, the aroma became even stronger and more overbearing, filling the entire kitchen.
The moment she smelled the fragrance, Song Jiaoniang, who had just filled her stomach, felt her mouth water again and couldn't help swallowing.
"Mom, please get me an empty clay pot."
"...Oh, okay." Song Jiaoniang was a little slow to come to her senses, and hurriedly went to the side to find an empty pottery jar.
Linzhi turned off the fire, then put the fried butter into a ceramic jar, put a cork in it, and tied it with coarse cloth.
Lin Zhi lifted the door curtain and saw three people outside peeking in. Seeing Lin Zhi coming out, Lin Sen quickly straightened his posture, cleared his throat, and said, "Sister Zhi, what are you doing in there?"
Linzhi took the pot out, placed it on the table, and replied with a smile: "Here, that's what I'm going to make."
Then she introduced it to Madam Yu and Shopkeeper Wu, saying, "This is crab butter made from crab shells, crab meat, and crab paste. Heat it up later and put a spoonful on the rice and eat it directly."
After a pause, Linzhi thought again: "I can eat it with ginger tea to prevent it from being too cold."
Madam Yu was overjoyed, nodding repeatedly as she held the butter in her hands. Just as she sniffed the aroma, her heart felt like a hundred ants were crawling around. Now that she had the butter, she couldn't wait to take it home and try it.
The next morning, Madam Yu got up early and prepared to cook a pot of rice, and then heated up the rice with butter according to Linzhi's description.
Unexpectedly, when she entered the kitchen, she found that her husband, who should have been buying goods in the market at this time, had returned and was busy cooking in the kitchen.
Madam Yu was silent for a moment, neither knowing whether to laugh or cry. She took two steps forward, secretly punched Shopkeeper Wu, and said coquettishly, "You, you left home half an hour early just to cook? Why don't you usually seem so hardworking?"
Shopkeeper Wu was startled at first, then he laughed awkwardly: "Hehe, that's right, I was thinking about this last night, and I couldn't sleep this morning... And you're still blaming me!"
"You got up earlier than usual, didn't you?"
"Not only do you get up earlier than usual, but I've never seen you cook before!"
The couple kept arguing until one of them's stomach growled. Then they stopped quarreling, looked at each other, and started preparing separately without any prior agreement.
One of them continued to watch the rice, while the other took out the clay pot and poured all the butter inside into the small pot, not stopping until not a drop was left.
Then, Madam Yu carefully moved the pot to the stove and heated it slowly over low heat, stirring it from time to time for fear that it would burn.
As the flames licked the bottom of the pot, the butter inside gradually began to boil and bubble, emitting an alluring aroma.
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle—" Madam Yu covered her stomach, her face flushed.
Then another gurgling sound was heard. Madam Yu was secretly blaming her stomach for being disobedient, but she found that the sound did not seem to come from her.
She and Shopkeeper Wu looked at each other, neither needing to laugh at the other. They just leaned over to the pot and asked, "Is it ready?"
"What did Sister Zhi say yesterday?"
"It seems like they just say heat it up and pour it over rice."
Madam Yu thought for a moment and turned off the fire. She asked Shopkeeper Wu to serve the rice, then scooped up a spoonful of butter and poured it over the rice, then passed it to Shopkeeper Wu: "Here, this is yours."
“More!”
“Almost there!”
"You are so stingy—"
"Then I'll give you a little more." Madam Yu reluctantly scooped up another spoonful: "Is this okay?"
"Cover that bowl too, so I can take a look."
"...You are such a petty person!"
"You were a little slow to react just now, weren't you? You should have scooped a little more for yourself!" Shopkeeper Wu immediately grabbed Madam Yu's pigtail and glared at her.
"That's not my intention. You're wrongly accusing me!"
"Then hurry up and serve them, I need to compare them!"
"Don't you have any trust in your wife?"
Madam Yu and Shopkeeper Wu argued over whose bowl of butter had more, and the noise even reached the next door.
Lin Zhi, who was busy roasting duck, roasting duck, and roasting duck again, vaguely heard the arguing. She listened for a while and called Song Jiaoniang again: "Mother, listen, is it Madam Yu and Shopkeeper Wu who are arguing?"
"They have a very good relationship..." Song Jiaoniang wiped her hands and came out of the house. At first, she didn't take it seriously, but when she heard what her daughter said, her smile suddenly disappeared and she remained silent.
"You don't believe me—"
"It's not that I don't believe you, but how can I trust you in this situation?"
A conversation that made the mother and daughter shudder with fear.
Song Jiaoniang's eyes widened, and she blurted out, "Wasn't he fine yesterday?"
Then, the next door became quiet again.
Just when the mother and daughter thought the noise had died down, the noise from next door appeared again.
Now, Song Jiaoniang couldn't help it anymore.
She pulled Lin Sen along and rushed to the next room. Before she even entered the house, she started yelling, "Sister Yu, Brother Wu, calm down—"
"Huh?" Madam Yu and Shopkeeper Wu turned around at the same time, looking at Song Jiaoniang and Lin Sen who had rushed in with bewildered expressions: "What?"
Song Jiaoniang and Lin Sen: “……?”
After a while, Madam Yu, who had learned the purpose of the two men's visit, blushed and hit Shopkeeper Wu under the armpit with her elbow: "It's all his fault! He insisted that I put more butter in my bowl and insisted on giving me more."
"It's obviously you who's being unfair!"
"My hand was shaking, didn't I make up for it for you later?"
Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang gradually fell silent. Seeing the two quarreling again, they did not try to persuade them. Instead, they left the drink shop with their hands behind their backs and returned to their own shop.
Lin Zhi was still peeking in when she saw the two men coming out with serious expressions. She immediately asked, "Dad, Mom, why are you still so sullen? Could it be that you couldn't persuade them? What happened to Aunt Yu and Uncle Wu?"
Lin Sen and his wife were silent for a moment, then said in unison: "This is all your fault!"
When Lin Zhi learned the whole story, she was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. She said helplessly, "Even if he was a bald yellow sheep, he wouldn't be like this."
Song Jiaoniang glanced at her sideways and said nothing.
Lin Zhi acted as if nothing had happened and took a look at the crab oil that had been soaked overnight. "We didn't have time to peel the crab meat this morning. Let's have some crab roe cakes during our afternoon break."
Speaking of crab roe, Linzhi can't help but think of another ingredient: salted duck eggs. For example, the later famous dish "Sai Crab" uses salted duck eggs, and the two have a subtle flavor similarity, often used as a substitute or to fill in the gaps.
In fact, there is a record in the "Qimin Yaoshu" of the previous dynasty: "Soak the duck for one month, boil it and eat it, and use it with wine and food." This is the prototype of salted duck eggs.
Later, a poet mentioned that he brought local specialties from Gaoyou, among which was duck. The duck here did not refer to the duck itself, but to duck eggs.
Lin Zhi thought for a moment and then told Lin Sen, "When Dad goes to buy ducks tomorrow, ask the stall owner if he has any salted duck eggs."
Lin Sen smiled when he heard this. "Yes, I saw some today. I'll bring a basket back tomorrow. This salted duck is selling really well. People buy it every day."
"Okay." Lin Zhi nodded, and then asked another question: "What about the pork elbow?"
"Well... you can still buy one or two here and there." Lin Sen said with a bitter look on his face, "It's a bit difficult to say how many people are talking about. They are almost all reserved."
Lin Zhi pondered for a moment, then a flash of inspiration struck her: "...Could it be like Juyoulou? Is it bought by restaurants to be used as soup base?"
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