Free Web NovelChapter 694: Chapter 614: Come Forth, the Budget Crab-Stuffed Orange
The small knife gently pierced the orange peel, and as the juice from the peel splattered, a rich orange aroma began to spread.
After Wang Fan scraped the pulp into a bowl, the cutting board was filled with orange bowls hollowed out and emptied.
Seeing the remaining oranges, he did not continue to hollow them out. Instead, he uncovered the cloth from another big tub and took out Zhuhai hairy crabs, placing them on a steaming tray.
These hairy crabs are green crabs, also in season in November, each weighing about 175 grams. They are all plump female crabs with tender meat, and even with the System Mall’s bonus, each costs 20 yuan.
With these two ingredients, the dish he was preparing was obvious, the crab-stuffed oranges recorded in Mountain Home’s Pure Offerings, except he wasn’t following the recipe exactly as it was written.
Prince Matt had never been to Huaxia before and had barely eaten Chinese food, so the dish was completely unknown to him. He had no idea what Wang Fan was preparing, but it did not stop him from watching Wang Fan cook with great interest.
Over forty crabs went into the steamer, along with carrots and potatoes, and he continued the laborious task of emptying the rock sugar oranges.
"Ding."
The integrated device emitted a soft chime just as Wang Fan finished emptying the rock sugar oranges.
The rock sugar orange pulp was all placed in a bowl, with its smooth and delicate flesh resembling sparkling orange-red gems. Some even had a faint reddish hue, as if gently brushed by the setting sun.
The pulp was very full, emitting an enticing luster, its abundant juice enveloping the flesh, and the rich orange aroma would make one’s mouth water even from a distance, fully showcasing its unbeatable strength as the first fruits of the season.
Wang Fan put the bowl full of orange pulp and the orange peel bowls into the food preservation box, a tool that had been with him from the beginning and was still glowing with function.
After taking out the crabs, carrots, and potatoes, he mashed the now incredibly soft carrots and potatoes into a carrot-potato mash while the crabs cooled. This carrot had a significant purpose in cost-saving to lower the price.
Wang Fan’s next actions made Prince Matt and his entourage widen their eyes in amazement.
Prince Matt often ate crabs, but he never peeled them himself, as chefs or servants would handle that for him.
Usually, from the time a crab was served to when it was completely peeled, it would take seven or eight minutes or even longer, with the fastest chefs taking at least five minutes.
But what was he witnessing now?
Such a large crab was reduced to a pile of shells and a bowl of crab meat in just over half a minute?
The prince couldn’t hold back and whispered to Liu Feng, "My dear friend, is this your newly developed robot?"
Liu Feng shook his head, "Although he’s indeed fast, he’s not a robot we developed."
The prince was clearly skeptical, "Don’t lie to me, I know your latest developments are neither public nor for sale, but if you’d sell this to me, I would pay this amount."
He then held up one finger.
Liu Feng knew what price this implied, something that would only make a wealthy person extend a hand, definitely requiring billions. But he could only reply with a wry smile, "This really isn’t a robot. We Huaxia people are relatively quick at dismantling crabs. For me, it generally takes just over three minutes to take one apart."
As they chatted, Wang Fan had already dismantled five crabs, and the remaining crab shells were at a point where even a dog would shake its head.
"What a miserly way to eat!"
Liu Feng sighed internally.
Thinking back to when his wallet was thinner, eating crabs would achieve this effect too, but now he earns a bit more, and it’s rare that he can dismantle them so cleanly.
Wang Fan was adept at dismantling crabs; he had practiced it before when making crab yolk buns, and with improved body control, he achieved a second speed boost in dismantling crabs.
At his current speed, entering a crab-dismantling competition would absolutely secure a landslide first place.
While Wang Fan cut bamboo shoots, Prince Matt and his entourage exchanged knowing smiles.
"That’s the way to cut it. Whether fruit or vegetable, only the middle part tastes good."
"I’ve always heard Huaxia people say we cut fruit like wealthy people wielding swords. Don’t they have similar sword skills among Huaxia as well?"
"What exactly is he cutting? We don’t seem to have it back home."
"I recognize potatoes and carrots, but this I don’t know."
Liu Feng educated them, "What Boss Wang is cutting now is winter bamboo shoot, a very common vegetable here. As they grow, they become moso bamboo, which is one of the giant panda’s main foods."
Hearing about giant pandas, the prince’s entourage lit up, "Oh! I know pandas. Jingjing and Sihai are with us. I visit them often."
"Pandas are so adorable! But two are just too few. Could you help us apply to rent a few more?"
"Indeed, and build a new panda pavilion."
Liu Feng responded with a helpless smile, "We are not in charge of that, and I can’t make that decision. Let’s watch Boss Wang cook. Perhaps the deliciousness will appear suddenly."
Upon learning that the winter bamboo shoots could grow into bamboo, Prince Matt became even more interested in the dish Wang Fan was preparing.
He was an ardent panda enthusiast, and anything pandas liked to eat must be delicious.
The most tender parts of the bamboo shoots turned into slices under Wang Fan’s knife, then into extremely fine threads. The skillful knife work amazed Prince Matt and his entourage so much that the prince directly took out his phone to record a video.
In their culinary habits, it’s rare for anyone to slice ingredients this way.
"His sword skill is amazing. Was he a highly skilled assassin before?"
"Certainly an assassin, otherwise, who would practice such formidable blade techniques?"
"An assassin turning into a chef, the occupational span is quite wide."
Listening to the wealthy chatting, Liu Feng felt no need to intervene; explaining was futile, they wouldn’t believe him anyway.
However, seeing is believing. Judging by the knife skills and the series of actions just now, Boss Wang’s ability to make such a big name for himself is genuinely impressive.
After finishing with the bamboo shoots, Wang Fan started slicing sand ginger. Once peeled, the sand ginger sliced looked like small golden nuggets spread across the cutting board.
He heated the oil in a pot, and the sand ginger bits were added in. Just as the fresh ginger aroma was being released, Wang Fan poured some aged vinegar in.
"Sniff, sniff..."
Liu Feng sniffed hard in surprise, as he seemed to catch a particularly rich crab aroma, even richer than when Wang Fan had been dismantling the crabs.
But the crabs weren’t on the table, so where was the smell coming from?
With only Wang Fan’s pot being suspicious, how could ginger powder and vinegar produce this effect?
Prince Matt looked at Wang Fan’s pot in amazement, "Is this magical Eastern magic? Why do I smell a strong crab aroma from the pot when there are clearly no crabs in there?"
As Wang Fan poured carrot mash into the pot, he explained, "When the ginger powder and vinegar blend, it gives off a distinctive aroma similar to the fresh fragrance of crab."
"Oh, that’s amazing!"
After his admiration, Prince Matt curiously asked, "But why not just use crab directly?"
"Because it’s expensive!"
The thought flashed simultaneously in the minds of Wang Fan and Liu Feng.
In the past, hairy crabs were fine, but suddenly one year, the prices skyrocketed, soaring to a point where most people couldn’t afford them.
But neither gave an explanation, as the word "poor" likely didn’t exist in the wealthy’s vocabulary.
What Wang Fan made today was a budget-friendly crab-stuffed orange. Although many substitutes were used instead of genuine ingredients, he believed the taste and texture might surpass those made purely with real ingredients.
Carrot for crab roe, potato mash for crab powder, mushrooms for crab leg meat, bamboo shoots for crab body meat. Then sprinkle some pure grain Huadiao wine, add some aromatic vinegar when the vinegar flavor is strongest, dilute with water, season with salt and sugar, then add some ginger paste, stir evenly, and finish with another spoonful of aromatic vinegar.
The rich savory aroma gushed out like a tide, wave after wave, impacting Prince Matt and his entourage.
"Wow, what is this? (╯▽╰) It smells so good."
Prince Matt took a deep breath with his eyes closed, a look of ecstasy spreading across his face.
"Magic, it must be magic. Even the fattest crab doesn’t smell this good!"
"He’s indeed the man my brother speaks highly of, a true culinary magician."
