Chef Hua-Chapter 561: Episode 300 Li Yunzi_2

"I know, I’m sorry, I really forgot the time!" Wang Zhanrui apologized repeatedly before she could finish speaking, and placed the large basket on the ground, "You might as well come and see, this is really great stuff!"

"What?"

Hua Xiaomai, puzzled, walked over and peeked into the bamboo basket.

Inside, crammed together, was a basket mostly filled with small crabs, each only the size of a thumb but still very lively. Small in size, yet full of vigor, they waved their mud-covered pincers non-stop.

"These are..." Hua Xiaomai couldn’t help but squat down for a closer look, "Aren’t these just crabs? Are they... caught from the paddy fields? They’re so small, what use could they possibly have?"

Wang Zhanrui let out a chuckle, "It seems you really don’t know! Yes, calling them crabs isn’t wrong, but at Lingquan Prefecture, they’re called ’Li Yun’."

"Li... what?"

"Just watch."

Wang Zhanrui casually picked a small crab and placed it on the ground, only to see it slowly crawl forward, its large pincers held over its head as if saluting someone.

"This thing is apparently called ’Handshake Crab’ because its two pincers look like they’re saluting, showing great manners. At our place, we just call it ’Li Yun’."

He grinned, "These little creatures love to burrow into mud holes beside paddy fields. Recently, as the weather has cooled down, they roam around searching for food to prepare for the winter and become plump. I merely had some free time in the afternoon and decided to try my luck, but I never expected to find them here in Fire Knife Village!"

"So... have you been in the paddy fields all afternoon?" Hua Xiaomai, filled with doubt, couldn’t help but widen her eyes, "But these... Li Yun, each only the size of a thumb, what can they be used for?"

Okay, this feeling of being overwhelmed was not pleasant, making her seem quite ignorant, but... from the beginning of her culinary studies to now, she had truly never heard of an ingredient called "Li Yun"!

"Don’t overlook its size, its flavor is incomparable to ordinary crabs." Wang Zhanrui patiently picked the Li Yun back into the basket, clapped his hands, and said, "Now is the perfect time to eat them. Mince them, mix them with Shao Wine and marinate for ten days to half a month, and you have Li Yun Cake, both fragrant and savory, ideal for pairing with rice and wine; besides, you can peel the roe from the female crabs to make a sauce, which, once you try it, you’ll want more!"

You must be joking.

Hua Xiaomai incredulously swept her gaze over Wang Zhanrui’s face.

For such thumb-sized crabs, how many would need to be peeled to yield a dish of Li Yun roe for cooking?

Though making a great dish is always worth the effort, this was just too exaggerated!

Seeming to sense her disbelief, Wang Zhanrui laughed again, "You havn’t seen Li Yun Cake, so naturally you wouldn’t know its benefits. I will start cooking now, and after the guests have left, if you’re interested, you may stay a bit longer. I will peel some Li Yun for you to taste, and you will understand why I value it so much."

As he spoke, he chuckled again, "Right, I need to give you a heads-up. Just nowI discovered that in the rice fields near Daoxiang Garden, there are many plump Li Films. These things have been staying in the rice fields for a long time and damaging the crops, so I found a few people in the village and asked them to dig up as much as they could. Later, they will all be delivered to our shop, and I’ll pay each of them twenty wen. If you think this money is wasted, I will pay it myself later and won’t let you spend it."

Hua Xiaomai couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

The earlier part of his talk was all well and good, so why did he have to add that last bit? Wasn’t it a good thing that he was willing to source new and exotic ingredients for the shop?

"Then you go ahead and be busy," Hua Xiaomai said, not wanting to argue endlessly about this matter, nodded her head, and went to the front hall.

...

At the beginning of the hour of Hai, the restaurant’s guests had all left, leaving muddy footprints on the blue stone floor of the hall, Qing You and Ji Xiang, along with several helpers, were energetically cleaning up.

Meng Yuhuai brought an umbrella to pick up Hua Xiaomai and Old Lady Meng. Upon entering, he heard that Wang Zhanrui was busy preparing exotic food in the kitchen, which piqued his interest, so he sat down at the table to wait.

This wait lasted for half an hour.

Hua Xiaomai had always been low on energy and had started to feel sleepy. In order not to dampen Wang Zhanrui’s enthusiasm, she had to persevere. About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea later, Chef Wang finally came out, joyfully holding a small wine cup.

"Taste?" He placed the cup on the table and smiled at Meng Yuhuai.

The freshly peeled "Li Yun" was reddish-brown, fine as sand, each grain glowing faintly, looking indeed fresh and lovely. If one leaned in a bit closer, one could immediately smell a faint aroma of alcohol.

"I just soaked it in Shao Wine and added some salt, just like that, and the taste is already very good." Wang Zhanrui handed Hua Xiaomai and Meng Yuhuai a pair of chopsticks each, "Peeling this stuff is too laborious, so you two just taste it. When I’m free, I’ll slowly peel all the ones that came today."

Dubiously, Hua Xiaomai dabbed a bit with her chopstick and hesitantly placed it in her mouth.

A soft, mellow flavor imbued with the scent of wine immediately blossomed on her taste buds, exploding like fireworks, filling every corner of her mouth.

With a gentle bite, the Li Yun gave a slight crackling sound between her teeth, slippery and soft, permeating everywhere, even the gaps in her teeth were filled with its rich and unusual fragrance, tender and mellow, fresh and lasting.

Hua Xiaomai was stunned by the taste, too surprised to speak, her chopsticks reaching for more, but Meng Yuhuai blocked her hand from the side.

"How can you eat more of something so cold?" he smiled, curling his lip, "It’s all mine now."(To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket and monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)

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