Chapter 89 Case File 2: Witch Carnival (10)
"Jericho," Takumi called softly, "bring me the shrimp."
"Okay." Xiao Hu, who never doubted anything, agreed and moved the basin of crayfish with the shrimp threads removed to the lich. But then the lich leaned over and whispered, "There's something fishy about that pockmarked, scarred guy standing at the entrance of the alley."
Jericho understood instantly. In order not to alert the enemy, he did not immediately look at the yellow-haired man's location. Instead, he shouted, "Okay, I'll go get it from the warehouse."
He walked to the sink to wash his hands, then casually glanced at the crowd, immediately identifying his target. He then entered the warehouse and disappeared behind the door.
Jiang You scratched her chin. She guessed that the little follower had already climbed out of the window at the back of the warehouse. Then she didn't need to worry about what happened next. The knights of the kingdom would take care of it.
The lobsters in the pot were placed on plates and served to the guests, and a new pot was poured into the pot to continue cooking. After the guests left happily, they had eaten and drunk their fill, and Loris collected the lobster shells and poured them into the empty basket.
The table was wiped clean again, sterilized and disinfected, and then a new group of guests took their seats.
The pockmarked man observed for a moment, then suddenly walked toward the front of the group, pulling something out of his pocket. The next second, his hand was grabbed. He looked up, only to see two tall knights of the kingdom, one on each side, sandwiching him.
"Excuse me." Andrei smiled harmlessly, his large hand tightly gripping the pockmarked man's wrist. With a deft movement, he flinched in pain and pulled his hand out of his pocket. "The Kingdom Knights are investigating a case. Please come with us."
"Why, why do you take me away?" the pockmarked man said in panic. He looked at the crowd, as if he wanted to shout to attract people's attention.
However, Andrei remained unmoved and directly took out a potion bottle from his pocket. The potion bottle had not yet been opened.
Andrei performed an identification spell and narrowed his eyes at the result. "Oh, trying to poison him? Take him back for questioning."
He nodded to Jiangyou from a distance, and together with Gorman, took the pockmarked man away.
"Pretty reliable, huh?" Jiang You muttered. She turned to the customer in front of her, flashing a wide, 32-tooth smile and handing over a bowl of shelled crayfish for takeout. "Thank you for your patronage. That's nine silver coins and a nickel!"
-------
The carnival lasted until three in the morning before it gradually ended. The tired guests disappeared from the square and the streets, but the shop owners' work was still not finished.
Lorisa, Matilda and Aunt Wolf spontaneously cleaned up the messy stalls, tidying up the tables, sweeping the floor, taking out the trash... The crayfish shells filled four or five baskets and were neatly stacked in the alley next to the warehouse.
"We just need to carry this garbage to the bonfire and burn it tomorrow morning." Lolita stretched and yawned. "Ah, I've been busy for so long. I'm a little hungry and sleepy."
Jiang You was well prepared. She put the remaining eight pounds of crayfish into the pot, and then brought out the clay pot rice and braised pork, placing them neatly on the table: "Everyone must be tired! Let's have the staff meal!"
"Eh?! There's food?!" Matilda was overjoyed. She took a deep breath and said, "What a delicious smell! I've been smelling this aroma all night! I can finally taste it!"
They hurried to sit at the table. Andrei and Jericho happened to arrive. Andrei was holding a large fish in his hand. "Oh! Something delicious? Here, the head witch divided the fish. Let's see how to cook it and add a dish for everyone."
Aunt Wolf and the little witches clapped their hands. The two little witches looked at each other and took out their remaining beer: "Come on, let's drink together~!"
"Since we have beer, I'll make some grilled fish." Jiang You thought about it. Speaking of cooking methods for fish, what could be more suitable for a midnight snack with beer than grilled fish?
The crayfish were served on the table, and the big fish that Andre brought was cleaned, de-gilled, de-scaled, and its internal organs removed, then cut in half and marinated with salt, ginger slices, green onions and a little beer.
While the fish was marinating, Jiang You began to stir-fry the base ingredients. He poured peanut oil into a large iron wok, added sliced ginger, minced garlic, chili peppers, and Sichuan peppercorns, and stir-fried them over low heat until fragrant.
"Well, there's no ready-made bean paste."
She thought about it and scooped out a large spoonful of sauce residue from the ceramic jar. This thing is very similar to fermented black beans and soybean paste. After adding chili peppers, it should be able to be used as bean paste. Although the taste is slightly different, it will not be far behind.
After the sauce is fried, add appropriate amount of water, pour in 'light soy sauce' and 'dark soy sauce', and then add a little bit of malt sugar to season and enhance the flavor.
While waiting for the soup base to boil, Jiangyou set up another pot and boiled water.
Before closing the stall, she asked Matilda to help buy new pork belly and sweet potatoes. Now the pork belly and half of the sweet potatoes have been turned into braised pork and potatoes and served on the table, and the remaining sweet potatoes can be used as a side dish for fish.
Cut the sweet potatoes into thin slices, cut the bell peppers and onions into shreds, blanch them in water and put them into the boiled base sauce and continue cooking for three to five minutes, then transfer them to the heated casserole.
After cleaning the empty wok, pour in new peanut oil, heat it up, put in the marinated fish, and fry until crispy and fragrant.
Normally, this kind of "grilled fish" should be grilled, but Jiangyou did not have a grill or oven, so he had to use a tricky method. He fried the fish until it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and then put it into the bubbling casserole.
The fried fish is immersed in the casserole, fully absorbing the delicious sauce. Jiangyou then sprinkles some chopped green onions and coriander on it, pours a spoonful of hot oil, and the aroma immediately fills the air!
"Little Bone, come here!" Andre called her. Jiangyou happily brought the big casserole to the table and was surprised to find that everyone had not started eating yet and were waiting for her.
"Hey, why don't you eat first?" she asked in surprise.
"Of course, we have to wait until the main character appears before we can start our celebration." Lorisa poured her a full glass of beer. "Thanks to you tonight, Matilda and I sold a lot of beer! It's several times more than last year!"
"Thanks to you, we've also apprehended a criminal with bad intentions." Andre also raised his glass. "This is the first time we've stopped a criminal from committing evil before danger arises!"
"Not to mention you cooked so many delicious dishes for us!" Aunt Wolf said lovingly, "Waiting for our chef to take his seat together is basic etiquette! Thank you for your hard work, Xiaoyou!"
"Hehe~!" Jiang You scratched her head and smiled shyly. She raised her glass and said, "Let's celebrate our success tonight together!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
