Chapter 868 - Chapter 868: A Thick Fragrance
Chapter 868: A Thick Fragrance
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Good job. Add half of the crabs to the water once it starts boiling,” Su Binglan said, “Some people might not be able to tolerate spicy food, so they make boiled hairy crabs.”
After some thought, she realized the capital was different from Tenghe Town. The townsfolk had grown accustomed to eating spicy food, but those from the capital had not.
Moreover, the people in the Wei Manor had never eaten spicy food before, so Su Binglan made boiled crabs for them.
After a while, Su Binglan added a portion of crabs to the pot, then added ginger, vinegar, sugar, and the other seasonings. She then stirred them evenly. Later, she opened the pot and fished out the crabs. They could eat the crabs as is, but Su Binglan also prepared a dipping sauce.
Afterward, she prepared to make spicy crabs. She added oil to a pot, then stir-fried some onions, ginger, garlic, and dried chili. Soon after, she added the base of the spicy hotpot and stir-fried it with a small fire to produce the fragrance.
At that moment, everyone in the kitchen could smell the aroma.
“Wow, that smells so good!”
“It does, huh.’
“I’ve never smelled anything so delicious before.”
Everyone began to salivate when they smelled the fragrance. It even whetted their appetites. No one expected the princess to be so good at cooking. Her cooking and knife skills were exceptional when she made some stir-fried vegetables.
She cut the radishes and other vegetables swiftly and precisely. The maids suspected every dish Su Binglan made would taste, look, and smell different. The maids could not help but gulp, excited to try the princess’s dishes.
Su Binglan’s appetite grew as she stir-fried some seasonings. She had not eaten spicy crabs since coming to this world. Fortunately, Su Wenwu had sent over plenty of ingredients.
After a while, Su Binglan added some crab to the pot of stir-fried seasonings.
“Xiao Ling, increase the heat, please.”
“Right away, Your Highness.” Xiao Ling added more firewood to the stove to make the flames more intense.
After continuing to stir-fry the ingredients, Su Binglan added ginger and some final seasonings to the pot. After evenly mixing everything, she added salt, sugar, and cooking wine.
Spicy crabs was a relatively simple dish to make, but it required plenty of seasonings. After adding and stir-frying the dried chili until fragrant, the ingredients would carry a hint of spiciness.
The crabs would taste immaculate after seasoning them well. There were also precise steps to adding the seasonings and frying them. Su Binglan also had to watch and control the heat through Xiao Ling.
Su Binglan smiled as she looked at the crab dish change colors. She said, “All right, this dish is complete, so I’ll proceed with making spicy pravvns.” “Master, are the prawns in these boxes?” Su Chun asked. She had once tried fried prawns with Su Binglan. Su Chun never forgot how fragrant and delicious the prawns were.
Su Binglan nodded. “Yeah, they are. I’ll teach you all how to devein the prawns. Some of you will continue making the dumplings, while the rest will help me devein the prawns.”
Everyone listened to Su Binglan’s instructions. The maids had cooked in the Wei Manor many times but had never seen crabs or prawns. Even the lady in charge of buying groceries had never seen such things in the market.
However, everyone trusted the princess. Before returning to the Wei Manor, the maids and servants heard of the many legends Su Binglan had achieved. They knew everyone called the princess Miss Su and that she had invented dumplings.
The servants and maids also knew about tofu, stinky tofu, and every other thing the princess had invented. Everyone in the capital knew how delicious these delicacies were.
People had to queue up at the shops’ entrances early in the morning to get these delicacies. Otherwise, the shops would sell out immediately. Since these delicacies were affordable, many rushed to buy them.
Many wealthy people lived in the capital. Since they knew how delicious these delicacies were, they would send their assistants to buy them regardless of the prices.
Fortunately, each customer could only buy a limited number of servings. That was why even ordinary folk rushed to buy Su Binglan’s delicacies. If the wealthier folk bought everything, the commoners would never get to try them.
Su Binglan took a small prawn and demonstrated her methods to everyone.
“See this vein? Once you pull at the prawn, you’ll see a line appear.”
With everyone working together, they finished deveining all the shrimp in a matter of minutes. Su Binglan then prepared the condiments, saying, “Xiao Ling, you can restart the fire.”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Xiao Ling hurried to the stove.
Su Binglan added oil to the hot pot, then added Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon bark, large peppers, onions, ginger, and garlic. Immediately after, she began to stir-fry them.
Then, she added the prawns and cooking wine and mixed them until the color changed. Soon after, she added salt, cumin powder, sugar, bean paste, and other seasonings.
After that, she added an appropriate amount of water and let the prawns simmer. Later, she told Xiao Ling to lower the heat.
Su Binglan had made two big pots of spicy crabs and two more large pots of spicy prawns.
“It smells so good.” The fragrance intoxicated everyone. They were just curious as to how they would eat the prawns and crabs because the shells looked hard.
“Let’s cook the dumplings now, and then we can all eat.”
Everyone was moved when they heard Su Binglan’s words. Although they were servants of the Wei Manor, she did not treat them as such. Instead, she taught them how to cook and eat together.
The group made the dumplings quickly and placed them on several plates. Su Binglan said, “All right, everyone, let’s set up the tables and stools in the courtyard. We can have dinner after that..”