Chapter 78 Braised Crayfish (Part 2)
People here have never eaten this kind of crayfish, which was also within Jiangyou's expectations.
People are shaped by the land and water they live in. Due to customs, religion, cooking methods, or even simple laziness and inability to cook, many early Westerners only ate a few common foods. Fish without fins or scales and most animal offal were not in their diet.
This isn't to say that foreigners don't eat crayfish. In fact, it's quite popular in places like New Orleans, where they cook crayfish with onions, celery, corn, and potatoes in a "crawfish boil," which is then shared with family and friends, along with beer.
Jiang You believes that whether a dish becomes a classic depends not only on its flavor and how it's prepared, but also on the first person to "dare to take the plunge." Once someone develops the right recipe for a dish, others will follow suit.
If there were no such warriors, or if people got upset because they didn't master the correct handling methods at the beginning, then all sorts of unfounded rumors such as "devil's curse", "fruit of hell", and "punishment of God" would follow, causing people to become more and more fearful and even more afraid to explore the unknown.
Jiangyou wants to recreate the glory of the internet-famous crayfish in this magical world with a poor food culture, and Andre and his friends are the best guides.
Smiling, she placed the crayfish on a large wooden plate and picked one up as a demonstration: "Look, this is how you peel it."
The white bony claws grabbed the lobster's skull and lifted it up, revealing the rich, yellow roe inside. She twisted it gently, removing the gills and legs from the head, leaving only the white shrimp meat and the bright yellow shrimp paste. She had already used magic to test the shrimps here, and they did not contain heavy metals or any toxins, so she could eat them with confidence.
The carapace of the shrimp body is even easier to peel. You only need to twist off the scales on the sides and tail, and you can easily lift off the entire shell. The complete lobster tail is white with pink patterns, and it bounces a few times along with Jiangyou's movements.
Although most of the people present had never seen or eaten this kind of shrimp, just the sight of the beautiful pink shrimp meat awakened the instincts in their blood little by little.
"Oh, this meat looks like shrimp," Lolita exclaimed in surprise. "Under such an ugly shell, there's such beautiful shrimp meat!"
Jiang You dipped the peeled shrimp meat in some of the sauce on the plate and put it into her bowl. He said lovingly, "Try it. If you like it, eat it a few times and you will find the shell beautiful."
She finished speaking, then turned around and saw Andrei, Jericho, and Aunt Wolf already taking the initiative, diligently trying to peel the shrimp. The human knight and the little squire, taking advantage of their race, were much more adept at peeling shrimp than the furry Aunt Wolf.
Aunt Wolf: “…” Ma Claw!
Even the vegetarian beavers looked eager to try it, but Jiangyou was afraid that they would get an upset stomach, so he silently pushed the plate towards his companions.
As usual, the cautious Andrei used every detection spell he knew on the lobster, confirming it was safe to eat before carefully biting into the head. The first thing he felt was the golden shrimp paste slowly melting on his tongue, its rich, oily aroma spreading throughout his mouth.
The rich taste is hard to describe with just salty, sweet or fresh...
Complex, rich, and mellow... For no apparent reason, Andrei was reminded of the peanut butter his mother used to make, a childhood favorite. But the shrimp roe was even better than peanut butter; he could even taste a hint of the sea.
"This is clearly a freshwater shrimp..." he muttered, taking another bite. This time, he tasted pure shrimp meat.
The springy, sweet shrimp meat is similar to river shrimp, but thicker and firmer. While the flavor is a bit bland, the soy sauce-based sauce makes up for it.
The sauce transforms the original blandness into a light and elegant sweetness. The two flavors, one salty and rich, the other sweet and elegant, are like a gentleman embracing an aristocratic lady, dancing at a ball.
He couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to soak the shrimp meat in the thick sauce and eat it together with the roe.
So the knight reached out to the plate again and chose a target full of shrimp roe. He carefully peeled off the shell, not wasting a drop of the delicious yellow food. He even learned to dip the shrimp tail in sauce without any instruction, thus ensuring the integrity of the shrimp head and roe.
When he opened his "huge mouth of the abyss" and "stormily inhaled" the entire plump, reddish-brown sauce-covered magic lobster, he felt as if a storm had set off on his taste buds. Various flavors danced and fought on the tip of his tongue, vying for his attention. When this storm of taste dissipated, the fresh and sweet shrimp meat was like a ray of dawn that reappeared on the horizon after the storm, dispelling all the dark clouds that had been left behind.
The previous storm seemed like a beautiful dream, and as the shrimp meat rolled away those flavors, his tongue was once again ready to welcome the next taste bud carnival.
"How is it?" Jiangyou asked as he peeled a shrimp for Aunt Wolf, saving her from the wet and sticky hell of shrimp peeling.
Aunt Wolf finally had a taste of the delicious shrimp meat and said with emotion: "The shrimp meat is really delicious, but the shell is too difficult to peel."
Jiangyou glanced at Auntie Wolf's furry paws, damp with sauce, and couldn't help but feel a little like laughing, but she felt it was inappropriate. Suddenly, she recalled the embarrassing moments of the past decade, and it took all her might to suppress her laughter.
...Well, how about adding a shelling service during the evening business hours? Considering the labor hours, we can charge one more silver coin per serving.
"It's delicious." Andrei, his mouth full, managed to squeeze out these few words. "Sell this tonight. I'll be there to show my support."
"So what do you think is a suitable price?" asked Jiang You.
She had never participated in the witches' carnival, but according to her experience in her previous life, food was generally sold at a slightly higher price at such tourist attractions and festivals. The magic crayfish itself was an invasive species, and the beavers were eager for her to catch them all. The cost was only the time she spent during the day.
The cost of sauce for making such a pot of crayfish is also very low. Jiangyou only needs to price it at five nickels per pound of crayfish to make a profit, but she feels that there is no need to set the standard so low.
"Many nobles, wealthy people, and immortal races will come to the Midsummer Carnival," said the knowledgeable Aunt Wolf. "If the price is too low, they will look down on you. I would sell it for at least two silver coins."
"Three silver coins a pot, I'll buy it." Andre said.
"This is so delicious, three silver coins will really do the trick!" Lolisa nodded vigorously. "Dwarves and dragons don't like to carry small change. They have big appetites and plenty of money. You don't have to be polite to them!"
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