Chapter 100
At dinner that night, Su Yuanzheng asked his daughter, "Your principal seems to be relenting today. If we don't give him face, will he have a bad opinion of you in the future?"
"No, because I am the first." Su Miao said calmly.
"Ah?" Su Yuanzheng was a little confused.
"Dad, as long as I always rank first, the school leaders will not have a bad opinion of me. Strength is the green light."
…
Breaking News! Breaking News! Ye Han, who had been on a business trip for two months, was finally back, bringing with him a lot of bags, including a foam box filled with goodies that had been shipped all the way back.
The box was opened and placed in Su Miao's yard, and everyone gathered around to look at the hairy crabs spitting bubbles inside.
The transportation industry is not very developed now, and some regional things are rarely seen in other places. For example, the origin of these hairy crabs is quite far away from Yongcheng, and Su Yuanzheng and Su Yu have never seen them before.
Su Yu observed the crab carefully. "This crab is really big! It's several times bigger than the ones in our village river. Aunt Ye, where did you buy it from?"
"We brought quite a lot from Zhejiang, enough for us to eat many meals. September and October are the fattest times, and we can still catch up now," Ye Han said leisurely while drinking iced mung bean soup.
Su Yuanzheng frowned. "I heard that crabs are a bit cold and can't be eaten continuously. It's better to eat them every few days. But how do you keep these crabs alive? Can they live that long?"
"It should... be possible. Look, they are still very energetic after I came back from Zhejiang. My colleague said that if you put them in the refrigerator and feed them some egg yolks from time to time, they can survive for ten days!" In fact, Ye Han didn't quite know how to raise these crabs, but he just wanted to eat them.
"Ten days. So how many days have passed since you bought the crabs and returned here?"
"Um... four days? I can't help it. I have to run some errands and come back. My colleague's car is almost a total loss."
Everyone stared at the crabs in silence. Could it be that they only had six days left to live? With so many crabs, their mouths would be swollen from eating them.
Finally, it was Su Miao, who had a little more experience in his previous life, who came up with a plan: "We untie the crabs' ropes and place them in a larger basin with some water. It doesn't have to be too deep, so the crabs can come out of the water to breathe. Then we feed them some sesame seeds and beaten eggs to prevent them from becoming too thin from starvation."
Everyone nodded and decided to do it this way. They didn't have any other good ideas anyway.
As Su Yu untied the crab with thick gloves, he asked Ye Han, "Auntie Ye, is this the legendary Yangcheng Lake hairy crab?"
Su Miao whispered, "Brother, these are crabs from Zhejiang. Yangcheng Lake is in Jiangsu."
Su Yu said embarrassedly: "As expected, if you don't study today, you will become a fool tomorrow. I have almost forgotten all my geography knowledge."
Ye Han didn't make fun of him for his slip of the tongue, and gently explained, "Actually, hairy crabs aren't just found in Yangcheng Lake. The production areas are quite diverse, including Taihu Lake, Gaoyou Lake, and so on. Zhejiang and Jiangsu both belong to the Taihu Lake production area, and the difference in quality isn't that big."
The problem of preserving the crabs was temporarily solved, but Su Yuanzheng was still confused about how to cook them: "How do you usually eat hairy crabs?"
When it comes to eating methods, Ye Han and Ye Jiayin are very excited. Ye Jiayin said, "Uncle, the most common way to cook hairy crabs is to steam them. The original flavor is very fresh. You can also make drunken crabs and crab stuffed with oranges."
"Steaming, it's easy, but you have to clean it first. How do you clean it?"
"I see they're all tying ropes and using brushes to scrub!"
The two turned to look at Su Yu who was trying to untie the rope and shouted, "Ayu (Brother Yu), please hold on to the rope!"
Finally, there were 10 crabs left untied, so each person could have two at night.
Su Yuanzheng was really unsure about how to cook hairy crabs. He was afraid of wasting such a rare delicacy, so he went to the library during his afternoon break and borrowed a cookbook.
Ye Han went back to rest, Su Yuan was checking the shop, and there was only one big crab and two small ones left to deal with.
"Got it! Here it is! First, prepare half a basin of clean water and an old toothbrush."
"We're ready. If we don't have an old toothbrush, let's use a new one." Su Miao and Ye Jiayin shook the toothbrushes in their hands.
"Okay! Then put some wine in the water and soak it for half an hour to let them spit out the dirt."
Su Yu sprinkled wine on them, and soon they started to spit bubbles. They all found it very interesting and wondered if they were drunk.
Half an hour later, the crab-catching work officially began.
"Hold the crab by its sides and use a toothbrush to vigorously scrub the back, belly and mouth. Then scrub the sides and base of the legs and claws."
Now that the crabs were tied up and couldn't pinch people, Su Miao and Ye Jiayin were not afraid and followed Su Yu to wash them.
Su Yu leaned over to read a book. "Grab the claws and open the abdominal lid, squeezing out the excrement from the inside. To do this, use the handle of a toothbrush to lift the claws from the bottom up at their joints. Then, use your thumb and index finger to grasp the claws firmly along the base. For aggressive crabs, you can press down on them a few times or knock them unconscious."
Looking at a basin of hairy crabs, the three decided to knock them all out.
It was still early after washing the crabs, so Su Yu went to the front to work. Su Miao and Ye Jiayin watched TV together, waiting for the chef to close the stall.
The diners did not disappoint them. At 6:30, all the porridge and cooked dishes were sold out. After Su Yu cooked other dishes, she went to clean up the store and Su Yuanzheng came in to steam the hairy crabs.
Su Yuanzheng carefully watched the steps and then started to do it.
Put water and steamer basket into the pot, add a few slices of ginger, and then put the hairy crabs with their abdomen facing up to prevent the crab roe from flowing out.
The book said that hairy crabs should be brushed with Shaoxing wine, but his family didn't have it, so they used Guilin Sanhua instead, brushing a thin layer on it, then put some perilla leaves and ginger slices on the crab belly and steamed it for 15 minutes.
It was his first time making it and he was unsure about it. He kept checking his watch and didn't dare to leave for even a minute, so he took this opportunity to prepare the condiments.
Just stir shredded ginger, minced garlic, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and a little sugar, and open the lid of the pot as soon as the time is up.
At this time, the crabs have turned orange-red. They are picked up with tongs and placed on a large round plate. They look extremely tempting.
When Su Yuanzheng just entered the kitchen, Ye Jiayin went back to wake up her mother who was catching up on her sleep. When she finished cleaning up, Su Yuanzheng just brought out the hairy crabs.
Seeing that Su Yu was still cleaning up front, Ye Han said to Su Miao, "Miao Miao, go call your brother Yu to come eat first. These hairy crabs are the freshest right out of the pot!"
Su Miao ran to the front and called Su Yu. Su Yu was not used to doing things halfway, so he told them to eat first and not to wait for him.
Su Miao immediately dragged him back to the yard. He shouted anxiously, "Close the door first! Close the door!"
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