Ding Suqin was quick with her hands and feet, and soon cleaned all the side dishes.
Xu Hao was busy handling the side dishes.
"Suqin, can you quickly wash the swimming crabs? We’ll need them for lunch," said Huang Tao as he worked.
"Okay!"
She put on rubber gloves, held a brush in one hand, and deftly picked up a swimming crab by its belly to wash it clean under running water.
That caught Xuanxuan’s interest.
She quickly left Mimi, ran over, and squatted beside the big basin filled with the crowding swimming crabs.
Wow~
The crabs are so cute~
Her big, beautiful eyes were full of delight. She couldn’t resist stretching out her chubby little hand to touch them, but hesitated at the sight of their big claws.
She looked like she wanted to touch them but didn’t dare.
Ding Suqin saw this and felt a twinge of worry, quickly and softly said, "Xuanxuan, don’t touch the crabs with your hands, and don’t try to grab them. If their big claws pinch your hand, it’ll hurt a lot."
"Oh oh~"
Xuanxuan quickly withdrew her hand.
She looked frightened but unwillingly glanced back at the swimming crabs in the basin.
Not far away, Huang Yide noticed the longing in his granddaughter’s eyes and thought for a mont before gently asking, "Xuanxuan, do you want to play with the crabs?"
Xuanxuan nodded and said, "Mm."
Wanting to play, as a grandfather, he naturally had to think of a way.
"Wait, let grandpa figure sothing out for you."
Soon, he found a long chopstick for her, planning to let her tease the swimming crabs with it: "Hold this, so you won’t get pinched."
"Thank you, Grandpa!"
Xuanxuan took the long chopstick and started teasing the swimming crabs.
The chopstick in her hand had just reached the crab’s mouth.
It reacted as if shocked, suddenly raising its two big claws and eight legs, ready for battle.
Seeing its fierce appearance,
she was so frightened she quickly pulled back the chopstick.
"Xuanxuan, don’t be scared. You’re holding a long chopstick. It can’t pinch you," Huang Yide said with a smile.
Hearing this, Xuanxuan’s courage grew, and she went back to teasing the crabs with the long chopstick.
As grandpa said, it couldn’t pinch her!
So then...
She poked this one, then that one.
She was having a lot of fun.
Huang Yide was worried that playing with these swimming crabs might make them less fresh, which would be a big loss.
"Xuanxuan, grandpa will pick one out for you to play with, okay?"
"Okay!"
She nodded, pointing to the largest swimming crab, "Grandpa, I want this crab."
"Alright, grandpa will catch it for you."
He reached in and grabbed the swimming crab his granddaughter had chosen.
To prevent it from escaping and becoming hard to find,
he found a piece of string, tied one end to one of the crab’s big claws, and gave the other end to Xuanxuan so she could lead the crab around.
And so.
Teasing the crab turned into walking the crab.
The fun increased...
Xuanxuan happily walked the swimming crab around the restaurant.
"Dad, grandma, look..."
"Wow, Xuanxuan is walking a crab! So impressive..."
Song Cailian looked up and laughed cheerfully.
She could guess, even with her toes, that this must be Old Huang’s idea.
Xu Hao and Ding Suqin also couldn’t help but smile.
Huang Tao saw her having such fun.
It reminded him of his own childhood.
Every sumr, he would go with friends to the creek at the village entrance to catch fish and shrimp.
Once the water receded, they would look for crabs under the pebbles.
Big or small, they’d catch them all and bring them ho.
Then they’d put them in a basin and find the next day they were all gone...
Those were truly happy days, and now looking at today’s kids.
Though they have many toys, they’re getting far from nature,
Most of their understanding of fruits, vegetables, and animals cos from books.
They rarely have the opportunity to explore on their own.
Even if they occasionally have the chance, it’s never quite the sa.
Sigh!
Different tis, different joys.
But given the chance to engage, he still wants Xuanxuan to explore.
"Dad, can I keep this crab?"
"If you like, you can keep it," Huang Tao agreed with a nod.
Is that okay?
What will you feed it?
Song Cailian looked exasperated but amused.
anwhile, Huang Tao took the six plumpest swimming crabs he’d set aside earlier to prepare stead swimming crabs, as a side for lunch.
To prevent the crab roe and crab paste from leaking during steaming, and to avoid broken legs,
he used a needle to stab near the crab’s mouth.
This way, it wouldn’t move, thus avoiding broken legs and leaking roe.
They go in the pot with cold water, with the crab lid down, to prevent leaks.
Because sudden heat can cause the crab roe to seep out through the cracks.
When heated gradually from cold water, the crab roe solidifies on the lid, preventing leakage.
"Haozi, keep an eye on it. Once the water boils, turn off the heat after 10-12 minutes."
He ntioned a reminder, then took the cut pieces of blue crab from Xu Hao, marinated them with salt and white wine, and started preparing the crab stir-fry with rice cakes for lunch.
This stir-fried rice cake!
As a specialty food of the South, it’s a childhood mory for Huang Tao.
The white, soft, and glutinous rice cakes themselves have no flavor.
The most common way is to add various vegetables, shredded at, dried shrimp, and cook or stir-fry them, which taste great.
The simplest way is to put nothing, cut them into pieces, steam them in a stear, and dip them in sugar to eat.
The brown sugar lts into the moist, white rice cakes.
Sweet and glutinous, it’s a simple yet delicious al.
Although this way of eating has nothing to do with the crab stir-fry we’ll serve at lunch.
But Huang Tao was thinking.
Should he prepare so stead rice cake with brown sugar for Xuanxuan too?!
A sweet treat like this, the little one would surely love it.
Action speaks louder than words.
He looked at Haozi by his side: "Haozi, don’t cut all the rice cakes into strips, leave one piece to cut into rice cake blocks, steam it later, I want to make rice cake with sugar for Xuanxuan."
"Okay, boss."
Xu Hao quickly boiled hot water and, while boiling the water, took a strip of rice cake and cut it into blocks as requested.
This ti, Huang Tao coated the part of the marinated blue crab with exposed at with a layer of cornstarch.
Heated the oil in the wok.
When the oil was 50-60% hot, put in the crab at coated with starch to fry, the cornstarch locked in the nutrients and fresh flavor of the crab at.
When fried to a red color, add the crab claws and shells to the wok for frying.
After the blue crab is thoroughly fried, add the cut rice cakes to fry alongside.
At this point, the starch on the blue crab has turned golden yellow.
And the fresh flavor of the blue crab, under the intense heat of the oil,
Perated from the starch layer, being absorbed by the rice cake.
Scooped out and set aside.
Using sauce made from soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and ginger, the blue crab was colored, and the rice cake was flavored.
Stir-fried on high heat.
Then sprinkled with chopped green onion.
A pot of crab stir-fry with color, aroma, and taste was completed.
When serving, he even took the trouble to arrange it into a crab shape, as a last bit of respect for these crabs.
Ding Suqin, slling the aroma and seeing this blue crab stir-fried rice cake, couldn’t help but say, "This sll is too fragrant, much more than the crab stir-fry sold outside, a completely different feeling."
"Indeed, very fragrant." As a professional chef, Xu Hao gave a very fair evaluation.
"Suqin, Haozi, wash your hands and eat first, let’s have this crab stir-fried rice cake, stead crab, and nutritional fish soup for lunch, okay?"
Huang Tao said with a smile, the two staff in the store can eat whatever they want for lunch and dinner voluntarily, if they don’t like it, they can eat sothing else.
"Okay, okay, thank you boss."
Ding Suqin nodded quickly.
Feeling truly blessed to work in such an environnt.
Xu Hao also had no objections and accepted happily.
When they carried the dishes out, Huang Tao made so sauce as well, as stead crab naturally can’t go without it.
"Tao, what are you busy with? Co out and eat quickly!" Song Cailian called out with concern when she noticed her son hadn’t co out yet.
Xuanxuan also waved at him: "Daddy, co over quickly! We’re about to start."
"Coming, coming..."
Seeing everyone waiting for him to start, Huang Tao quickly sat down, put the sauce aside, and said, "Go ahead and eat, the crab fried rice cake tastes best when hot."
Upon hearing this, everyone began to eat.
Huang Yide tasted a piece of rice cake, his eyes lit up: "This blue crab fried rice cake is simple, delicious, and irresistible, so tasty!"
"Yes! The freshness of the crab transfers to the rice cake; the aroma of the rice cake enhances the crab; they complent each other and add color. Truly delicious." Song Cailian’s eyes sparkled.
Ding Suqin, after taking a bite, also showed a pleasant expression.
But she thought about her own daughter, wanting to set aside so so her daughter could taste this delicacy.
Of course, she would set aside her own portion.
Beside her, Xu Hao took a mouthful to taste.
Every piece of rice cake was coated with the unique fresh flavor of the crab, dancing on his palate, truly "a lingering flavor for three days."
The outside of the crab at was golden and crispy, with a thin and delicate crunch, yet it didn’t affect the inside at all.
The crab at inside remained tender and white, and was still incredibly fragrant when chewed.
"Boss, this crab fried rice cake is so delicious."
It was no flattery, the taste was indeed there, he was rely voicing his genuine thoughts.
"Glad you like it, eat more if you do." Huang Tao smiled.
"Daddy, it’s delicious."
With a serious face, Xuanxuan couldn’t help but give a thumbs up, praising her father.
Receiving his daughter’s praise, Huang Tao’s smile was wide with pride.
He handed a piece of white rice cake, dipped in brown sugar, to Xuanxuan: "Daddy made so rice cake with sugar just for you, give it a try."
"Mm, soft and sweet, delicious..." The little one’s eyes bent in delight.
"ow!"
The forgotten Mimi voiced a plaintive w.
Oh no!
They had forgotten about Mimi...
Xuanxuan said, "Grandpa and grandma, do you want to see Mimi do a backflip?"
Song Cailian and Huang Yide leaned over, a bit skeptical: "Really, a backflip?"
Xuanxuan nudged Mimi with her chin: "Mimi, do a flip."
Mimi: "..."
"Crab fried rice cake doesn’t taste good when cold~" Xuanxuan tempted, lifting a piece of crab fried rice cake.
"ow!"
Mimi, looking disgruntled, proceeded to perform a backflip obediently.
Song Cailian and Huang Yide gaped: "Wow... this little cat is amazing..."
Xuanxuan, keeping her word, shared lots of rice cake with Mimi, even pouring it so nourishing fish soup.
Mimi enthusiastically munched away happily.
Outside the shop, guests began to trickle into the Delicious Restaurant.
The first to arrive was a girl looking like a high school student.
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