Xu Jianguo held up something in his hand and called his sister, "Sister! Look at this!"
The tentacles wrapped around her hand were obviously an octopus. When Xu Manman saw that thing, the only thing she could think of was stir-frying it over high heat.
"Be careful, don't let it run away. I'll fry you a plate of it tonight."
After hearing this, those who had eaten Xu Manman's cooking and those who had not, filled up the wooden barrel that Xu Manman brought before the tide rose. There were more than ten pounds of oysters alone, and there were also many conchs.
Xu Jianbing caught a fish in the reef ditch, and later caught three octopuses, enough to stir-fry a dish.
The group returned with a full load. Xu Manman went home, went upstairs to wash her face, and changed into a pair of loose cropped pants. The lower half of her original pants was wet by the sea water.
After going downstairs, Xu Jianbing and Xu Jianjun changed their clothes and were sorting out the seafood they had picked up today by the faucet in the yard.
"Big Brother, Second Brother."
Xu Jianjun leaned over and looked over, "You're just in time, Manman. What are you going to do with this fish?" He was holding a knife and was about to start slaughtering it. The subsequent operations had to be decided based on the chef's needs.
"I'm going to steam it. Second brother, just clean it. No need to cut it into pieces."
Xu Jianjun was processing the fish while Xu Jianbing was sorting out today's catch into basins. He sorted the sand out of the fish that needed to be spitted out. After sorting them out, he looked at his sister and asked, "What are you going to do with this? Are you going to dig out the oyster meat?"
"No need, big brother, just brush the shell clean."
Okay, we'll listen to her. After the others finished, they gathered around to help clean up. Xu Jianguo, Chen Feng, and Xu Jianan didn't squeeze in. They took the crushed laundry soap and scrubbed the shells she picked up one by one.
Chen Feng rubbed the thumb-sized shells in his hands, "Manman, what are you using these for?"
I was halfway through washing when I remembered to ask her this.
"I want to save enough to string together and use as a door curtain."
Xu Jianguo observed the shell in his hand and asked, "Does this need to be drilled?"
"Yes, I have decided to leave this task to you."
Xu Jianan smiled and said, "I'll finish this little thing for you tomorrow, but this shouldn't be enough, right?"
"It's not enough. Let's pick some more when we have time. There's no rush anyway."
After they finished cleaning up, it was not long before time to cook. Xu Manman went to the kitchen to look at the existing seasonings and side dishes, and quickly ordered the menu.
He took out garlic, ginger, onions and other side dishes and asked his brothers to divide the work and prepare them. Then he asked people to go to the vegetable garden at the back to pick peppers, eggplants, beans, loofahs, and cut a bunch of water spinach.
After all the side dishes were in place, Xu Manman heated the oil in a wok and officially started cooking, with a row of apprentices standing behind her.
Put the conch into a pot with ginger slices and blanch it. Pour the boiling water out and rinse it with cold water. Take out the conch meat, slice it, and cook it into soup with the loofah.
My cousin had already cut the crabs into pieces in advance and cut off the sharp corners and other inedible parts. Xu Manman marinated them with scallion, ginger water and rice wine, then coated the cut parts with cornstarch, fried them in a pan until they were shaped, and added the seasonings after they changed color.
The octopus was also blanched in water first, then stir-fried with onion, ginger, garlic and bean paste. She brought the bean paste directly this time, and the one she sent was still on the way.
As for oysters and fish, it is much simpler. Spread the garlic sauce prepared in advance evenly on the oyster meat after opening the shell, and steam them in a pot.
As for the sea fish, Xu Manman's initial plan was to steam it, but after thinking about it, she decided to braising it. She added the local fermented black beans, which she found in the cupboard. It has a unique flavor and can well cover up the fishy smell of the sea fish.
When my aunt came home from get off work, the table was filled with dishes: conch and melon soup, stir-fried crab, stir-fried octopus with sauce, steamed oysters with garlic, braised fish with fermented black beans, salted fish and eggplant casserole, stir-fried green beans, and cold-mixed water spinach.
Xu Jianjun watched his mother come back and walked up to his sister to take credit, "Mom, all the dishes on this table were made by Manman." He saw it with his own eyes and swallowed his saliva. They were so delicious.
Li Fang was also amazed when she saw the table full of delicious dishes. Although she heard her two sisters-in-law praising Manman's cooking in her heart, the impact of seeing it in person was still different.
Pushing her son aside, Li Fang rubbed Xu Manman's freshly washed, still cold hands, "Guan, you're really capable. You worked hard cooking today. From now on, let your brother do the dirty work. Girls should avoid inhaling cooking fumes and soaking in cold water."
"Big Mom, I know. This is a good opportunity for me to teach my brothers how to cook new dishes. Next time, I'll let them cook these dishes."
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