Xue Huan took him to process the crayfish they caught in the morning.
First, all the crayfish needed to be rinsed several times under strong running water. There were no taps in this era, but this didn't bother Xue Huan.
A sink was built next to the well, and there is a water outlet at the other end of the sink. As long as water is added to the sink continuously, this outlet can be used as a faucet, and water flow with different impact intensities can be obtained by pressing it.
The task of fetching water naturally fell to Pei Ji, while Xue Huan was responsible for washing the crayfish.
After rinsing, the crayfish need to be processed one by one, and she demonstrated it to Pei Ji.
Although they had been washed by water several times, the crayfish were still lively and jumping around. So in order to prevent her hands from being pinched by the crayfish's claws, Xue Huan quickly grabbed a shrimp and pinched its back. In this way, no matter how powerful the crayfish was, it could not pinch her.
Then use a toothbrush to scrub the water outlet continuously to remove the long whiskers of the crayfish.
At that time, toothbrushes were available and very popular.
Then, remove the shrimp thread and place it in clean water soaked with vinegar. Xue Huan suddenly had an idea and dropped two drops of spiritual spring water into it.
Xue's mother and Xue Jun also joined in.
Although they were a little afraid of the ferocious-looking crayfish, they were encouraged by Xue Huan's clean and efficient technique and felt that crayfish were not that scary after all.
So Xue Huan divided the work among the four people, including herself. She was responsible for removing the whiskers of the crayfish, Pei Ji was responsible for removing the shrimp thread, and Xue's mother and Xue Jun were responsible for cleaning the crayfish.
After working for nearly an entire afternoon, I finally finished processing a pot of shrimps.
Although these shrimps look a lot, anyone who has eaten shrimps knows that they are not filling at all, they are just for the taste.
Not to mention Pei Ji and Xue Yao, two big eaters, even she, a girl, can easily eat four or five kilograms.
Spicy crayfish is also called thirteen-spice crayfish, which means that thirteen seasonings are needed to make it, including dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, scallion whites, garlic, ginger, cooking wine, soy sauce, salt, white sugar, chicken essence, white pepper powder, pepper salt powder, and oil.
She has plenty of dried chili peppers, and Sichuan peppercorns, scallions, and garlic are also very common, but there is no cooking wine, white sugar, chicken essence, or pepper salt powder at that time.
However, these can either be replaced by substitutes or she can make them herself. Cooking wine can be replaced with rice wine or Huadiao. The function of cooking wine is to remove the fishy smell of ingredients, while rice wine is rich, fragrant, sweet and mellow, making it the perfect substitute for cooking wine.
White sugar can be replaced with rock sugar.
The main ingredient of chicken essence is MSG. Xue Huan once made MSG by hand using dried shrimps and mushrooms. Although it is not as fine as that produced in the factory, the taste is just as good.
When Ye Diao invited her to be the chef, she made a jar herself, and now there is still a lot left.
As for pepper and salt powder, it is even simpler to make.
Pour Sichuan peppercorns, black peppercorns and cumin powder into a pot and stir-fry over low heat until the aroma comes out. Then add an appropriate amount of salt and stir-fry until slightly yellow. Grind into powder, the finer the better.
This step was quite time-consuming, and her hands were so scratched that they were peeling.
The powder obtained is pepper and salt powder. Adding a little to stir-fries or stews will give it a unique flavor.
Among them, black pepper, white pepper and cumin are relatively expensive spices at this stage, and few people use them as seasonings in cooking.
Even if ordinary people have money, it is not easy to buy them, because when spice shops purchase more precious spices, they will not display them openly, but will reserve them for regular customers.
When Ye Diao invited Mr. Feng to a banquet and asked her to be the chef, she had a selfish motive when she listed the spicy crayfish dish. She wanted to use his help to collect all the seasonings for cooking crayfish.
The Ye family ran a spice shop, so they easily took out a lot of it.
Xue Huan used up part of it to prepare for the banquet, and originally wanted to ask him to buy the rest. However, Ye Diao of course refused to take her money and directly gave her more than ten kilograms of each item.
So now she has ready-made seasonings to use when making Ma Xiao.
She planned to make two flavors: spicy and garlic. Considering that crayfish don't care about being full, she had to prepare a separate staple food.
Just make steamed buns, steam a big pot, and then eat them with lobster soup. It is absolutely delicious and filling.
The task of kneading the dough was given to Pei Ji. He was strong and the dough in his hands was like a toy that could be kneaded at will. It was done in a short while.
While the dough was resting, Xue Huan had already put the crayfish into the pot.
Cooking crayfish requires a lot of preparation work in the early stages, but it is not difficult to actually cook it.
She first washed the scallion whites and cut them into chopped green onions, removed the roots of the garlic, washed it and cut it into slices, peeled the dried ginger, washed it and cut it into shreds, and removed the roots and stems of the dried chilies with scissors and cut them into thin strips.
Once the ingredients are prepared, add a tablespoon of oil to the pan.
"Fire." She gave the order.
Pei Ji, who was in charge of the fire, added firewood into the stove in an orderly manner.
Before, he was taught that "a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen". Not to mention making a fire, he had never even entered the kitchen once. But now, he has been trained by Xue Huan to be an expert in making fire, and he has a very good grasp of the temperature.
Xue Huan said he wanted a big fire, so he immediately started a big fire.
When the oil in the pot was heated over high heat, Xue Huan added peppercorns, and immediately there was a sizzling sound.
"Turn to low heat."
When the oil is simmering, add the dried chili strips, stirring occasionally. Once the chili strips have just turned a yellowish-red color, increase the heat back to high. Then, add the previously prepared shredded ginger, garlic slices, and chopped green onions, stirring occasionally until fragrant.
At this time, the crayfish can be put into the pot.
The crayfish have been dried, but many of them are still alive, some even jumping around, and after being put into the pot, they even want to crawl out.
Xue Huan quickly poured rice wine into the pot, and after a few swishing sounds, she poured in half a pot. She then stir-fried the rice wine vigorously, then added soy sauce, salt, and rock sugar, and stir-fried them together for about five minutes.
After such a fierce operation, the crayfish in the pot are basically dead.
She added a bowl of boiling water, covered the lid and simmered it on low heat until it was flavorful.
At this time, Xue's mother had already kneaded the steamed buns, and the water in the pot on the stove had boiled, so Xue Huan put the steamer on it.
The aroma of hemp wafts out in waves, making people drool.
Pei Ji, who was lighting the fire for her, stared at the pot in front of him. Xue Huan stuffed a piece of dried meat into his mouth to satisfy his craving.
Pei Ji chewed the chewy and spicy dried meat, and the glutton in his stomach was barely appeased, but the aroma of the dried meat was so overbearing that he wanted to devour it immediately.
"Hanhuan, how long will it take?"
When he was in the palace, Pei Ji, as the legitimate prince, was very well-behaved in his words and deeds, whether he was eating, sleeping or studying. He would never do anything like urging people to eat.
But here, he no longer has to follow any rules, and doesn't have to worry about saying something wrong and causing speculation from all sides.
In this way, the lively side of his nature gradually emerged and he lived like a real child.
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