The soy sauce in the town's seasoning store was brewed with fresh meat and was extremely expensive. Usually, she never dared to buy it. Every time, she just mixed salty sauce and oyster sauce on her own as a makeshift substitute.
For this Sanbei Chicken, Li Ying gritted her teeth and bought a small pot of it. She also specially got a small jar of sesame oil.
She fried the ginger slices until they were slightly yellow in the sesame oil to bring out their aroma. Then she added scallions and garlic. After they were fragrant, she put in the chicken pieces and stir - fried them until the skin and meat turned golden.
The aroma of the chicken fat and the sesame oil mingled together. Just taking a deep breath, Granny Sun felt her gluttony awakening.
Next came the preparation of the sauce for the Sanbei Chicken. She added ten spoons of rice wine, four spoons of soy sauce, and two spoons of rock sugar. She brought it to a boil over high heat and simmered it until the rock sugar melted and the sauce thickened. The chicken became soft and flavorful. Then she drizzled a circle of sesame oil over it.
Each piece of chicken was coated with a shiny layer of oil, glistening with a rosy amber luster.
She added basil and simmered it for a while. Just before taking it off the heat, she added one last spoonful of rice wine.
The wine had a sweet aroma but was not intoxicating. The sesame oil and the basil blended to create an indescribable complex fragrance.
"Granny Sun, please help yourself." Li Ying said with a smile.
Just the ingredients like the rice wine, sesame oil, and soy sauce were already quite expensive. Granny Sun took the chopsticks, feeling a strange sense of nervousness.
The chicken pieces were cooked to perfection. The meat was firm yet tender. The golden skin locked in the juice. It tasted sweet and had the mellow fragrance of the rice wine.
As for the so - called "basil" she had never heard of before, it was truly the finishing touch, just as A Ying had said!
She couldn't describe the taste of the plain - looking green leaves, but her chopsticks seemed to be possessed as she kept picking up piece after piece.
Li Ying felt a bit more relieved. But considering that tastes vary, after a brief thought, she also added some basil to the usual stir - fried clams.
Sure enough, after the two of them had eaten and just set up the stall, the laborers curiously gathered around.
"Madam Li, this dish seems to be something we've never seen before?" a laborer asked.
Li Ying greeted them warmly, "Sir, you have good eyes! This is a new dish I'm planning to introduce recently. I've specially chosen a rare spice. I don't know if it suits everyone's taste. This basil - stir - fried clams is on the house today. Please help me taste it?"
As she spoke, she filled a laborer's bowl with the stir - fry and finally added a spoonful of clams on top.
Although the clams were delicious, they needed to be shelled, which made it inconvenient to eat heartily. Usually, the laborers would only buy a portion to enjoy with wine at home after work.
But today, the bucket of basil - stir - fried clams was the first to empty!
At first, the laborers just took a cautious taste, but once they tasted the strange and alluring aroma of the basil, they seemed to be under a spell and couldn't stop.
"Madam Li! When will you start selling this dish? Considering I'm an old customer, you must save a portion for me. No, two portions. No, three portions!"
"I want some too! Madam Li, don't be partial!"
The laborers' eager voices rose one after another, as if they were afraid she would miss them.
Li Ying smiled sweetly and promised them all. She also took the opportunity to advertise for Deji Hall.
"These days, the owner of Deji Hall has rented the theater and invited everyone to watch plays and have snacks. At that time, I will also sell basil - stir - fried razor clams as snacks. They are perfect for both tea and wine. Please come and support me!"
The laborers readily agreed without hesitation. After satisfying their appetites, they left in twos and threes.
With the clerks from Deji Hall coming to buy stir - fries, she closed the stall earlier than usual.
Seeing that the wooden buckets were almost empty, Li Ying apologized to a customer in front of her, "Sir, today's dishes are all sold out. I'm really sorry. Please come earlier tomorrow."
She looked up and unexpectedly saw Lu Xunguang's dusty face.
Both of them were stunned for a moment.
Granny Sun, seeing this, felt a bit guilty for no reason.
This man had helped A Ying several times. He just came a bit late today, and there was no food left for him... How could this be acceptable?
She held Mianmian in her arms and was anxiously standing by.
The little baby seemed to sense her mood and waved her little fists restlessly, babbling and whining.
Li Ying came to her senses and gave him a bright smile. She calmly took out a snack box from the secret compartment of the bamboo cart and handed it to him.
"Brother Lu, I thought you weren't coming today."
When he opened the lid, there was a portion of Sanbei Chicken inside. The stir - fried octopus and scallop slices with scallions were on the other side, his usual favorites.
"New dishes?" he asked casually and then without hesitation picked up a large piece of meat and put it into his mouth to chew.
Li Ying looked at him expectantly.
"Very special. You've added a rare spice. Those wealthy families will surely like it."
For some reason, only after getting his personal approval did Li Ying finally completely relax and smile brightly.
Lu Xunguang quickly finished his meal, washed the snack box and returned it to her. But he didn't leave in a hurry. After she closed the stall and the laborers had left in twos and threes, he finally asked in a deep voice, "You're going to catch razor clams?"
Li Ying didn't expect that he had also heard her advertisement. She nodded indifferently.
"I'll go with you." He said in an undeniable tone.
Although Li Ying herself didn't care about the Qin family's gossiping, she was worried that as an ancient man who adhered to propriety, Lu Xunguang would avoid suspicion for the sake of his reputation.
Now that he had offered on his own initiative, she generously nodded and agreed.
The three of them drove the mule cart back to the village.
Lu Xunguang was tall. Holding the reins of his black horse, he walked with a free and easy gait. Looking at his back, Li Ying couldn't help but think of those top - notch martial arts masters in the novels who could kill a man in ten steps and travel a thousand miles without leaving a trace.
These wild thoughts continued until Granny Sun got off the mule cart. She found two colander - like strainers as big as the bottom of a pot from the kitchen and stuffed them into their hands.
"Razor clams usually gather on the same beach. They're the easiest to catch. As long as you find the right spot, scoop up a handful with this strainer and then shake it in the sea water to wash away the sand. What's left will be all razor clam meat."
As she explained, Granny Sun also found a strainer and headed straight for the beach.
Mao Mao was lying in the small bamboo basket like a pillow, tightly hugged by Mianmian. One of her little legs was resting on its soft belly.
Mao Mao flicked the tip of its tail, lazily opened its eyes, took a glance at Li Ying, and let out a long - drawn - out "meow".
Li Ying knew that this little creature had some special abilities. Seeing its expression, she didn't dare to be negligent. She subtly led the group in the direction the little sick cat had pointed.
Sure enough, the three of them didn't have much trouble finding the beach where the sea snails lived.
Li Ying imitated Granny Sun. She bent down and scooped up a big handful of sand. Holding the heavy strainer with both hands, she went to the shallow beach nearby to rinse it.
The big waves washed away the sand. In a short while, only a handful of small sea snails and some broken shell fragments were left in the strainer. When she poured them into the bamboo bucket, they made a crisp clinking sound, like copper coins falling into a money bag.
Li Ying was overjoyed.
Catching sea snails was much easier than looking for clam holes all over the beach!
At this rate, they would be able to return with a full load soon!
However, in less than an incense - burning time, the excitement on her face disappeared.
Who would have thought that catching sea snails would be such a strenuous physical task!
Shaking the strainer back and forth in the sea water to wash out several pounds of sea sand, after just three or four rounds of work, she felt that her forearms were so heavy, as if filled with lead, that she could hardly lift them.