"Boss Li, I've long admired your name."
The leading figure on the passenger ship was a burly man with a tanned complexion. Against his dark skin, his eyes seemed even brighter than those of ordinary people.
Seeing Li Ying approaching from afar, the man clasped his fists in a rather hearty manner, exuding a kind of worldly air of a wandering knight covered in dust.
Li Ying bowed slightly and said politely, "Brother, you've come from afar. May I ask what you need from me?"
The man didn't beat around the bush with her. He grinned, showing his yellow teeth, and said, "Boss Li, the taste of your canned food is truly wonderful."
"Our brothers make a living by the sea. We're planning to sail farther on the next trip, but we're afraid of getting scurvy. So we were thinking of buying more of your fruit canned food and stocking it on the ship."
Since they were customers who wanted to place a large order, Li Ying naturally welcomed them all.
"However, you know, as fishermen, we don't have much silver on us. So we'd like to ask if we can use the whole ship of sea shrimps as payment in exchange for your fruit canned food?"
Zhang Lu, standing by, explained, "A Ying, our village's canned food is always in short supply. Many regular customers have already recognized us and are clamoring for us to launch more new flavors. I thought the sea shrimps were fresh, so I brought them back..."
Li Ying nodded, but there was a faint sense of unease in her heart.
The matter of the canned food factory needing to launch new products had been reported to her by Mrs. Zhang and several "sales ministers" a few days ago.
But she had been busy helping Lu Xunguang set up the coffee shop and didn't have the time to deal with it.
Although with her daughter's good luck, her business path had been smooth sailing, it was a bit too much of a coincidence that just as she was thinking about developing new flavors, a fishing boat from a neighboring village came and offered sea shrimps.
Seeing her deep in thought, the strong man said again, "We know Boss Li is an open - minded person. We won't hide anything from you. These sea shrimps we brought are all fresh today. You might as well check the goods first?"
Zhang Lu also said, "A Ying, I've checked them in advance. They're really good."
The canned food factory's business was booming and in short supply. Both the manpower on the production line and the fish catch as raw materials were in urgent need of an increase. Li Ying put aside her slight suspicion and decided to go and take a look first.
There were several bamboo cylinders half a person's height piled on the deck. A few sea shrimps jumped out restlessly and bounced on the deck.
The eyes and shells of the sea shrimps were transparent. Even more pleasing was that there was a hint of crimson in the shrimp heads, obviously rich in shrimp roe. They were indeed top - grade.
"What do you think, Boss Li? If you can barely take a fancy to them, our brothers can come and deliver fresh seafood every now and then in the future!"
As he spoke, a boatman picked out two palm - sized sea shrimps, boiled them simply, and presented them to Li Ying like treasures.
The shrimp meat was elastic, firm, and sweet with every bite. The shrimp roe was so rich that it was like swallowing a mouthful of seafood - flavored cream mousse.
With the dock laborers and Zhang Lu and others keeping an eye on, it was unlikely that these unfamiliar fishermen would cause any trouble. Li Ying nodded and finally agreed.
She also selected some of the top - quality ones and cooked them herself.
She split the sea shrimps along the back, carefully removed the shrimp veins, marinated them briefly with rice wine to remove the fishy smell, then fried them until the shrimp balls turned red and took them out for later use.
Then she cut the potatoes into finger - thick strips and fried them twice over low heat together with the red - skinned peanuts.
The outer skin of the French fries was golden and crispy, while the inside was soft and glutinous. The peanuts were crispy, each one infused with the fresh aroma of shrimp oil, leaving a lasting aftertaste.
She then pounded two heads of garlic into minced garlic in a stone mortar, added a little water to make garlic juice.
She put the sliced cucumbers, French fries, and shrimp balls back into the pot, poured in the garlic juice and minced garlic, seasoned only with salt and sugar, and cooked until the garlic juice thickened. Then she could sprinkle in the fried peanuts and take it out of the pot.
All the ingredients were coated with a rich garlic aroma. The greasiness of the French fries was completely gone. They absorbed a little of the soup and, although a bit soft, were not unappetizing. The cucumbers still remained fresh and crispy.
The little bit of salt and sugar seasoning brought out the sweetness of the sea shrimps even more. The peanuts added a nutty oiliness to the mouth.
This dish of garlic shrimp balls, like the garlic - fried fish, although simply seasoned, had a unique flavor that left one with a lingering aftertaste.
The smaller sea shrimps were washed, the sharp shrimp spears were cut off, and the shrimp veins were removed. Then they were marinated with oyster sauce, pepper, sesame oil, and ginger slices.
Li Ying planned to make another dish of fried shrimps in the style of "Typhoon Shelter". The shrimps shouldn't be too big, otherwise they would be difficult to fry thoroughly and the taste would be less than ideal.
She also took a large amount of raw garlic and minced it. Then she evenly coated the marinated shrimps with a thin layer of cornstarch, fried them until the outer skin was golden, took them out, and fried them again to ensure they were completely cooked.
The kiln built for making desserts and baking cakes for the coffee shop had also been used to bake some bread occasionally. Now she crumbled the bread into breadcrumbs, put them in the pot, and stir - fried them until they were full of the rich aroma of wheat and crispy in the mouth.
She added a little shrimp oil, stir - fried the minced garlic until it turned golden, then added the fried shrimps and breadcrumbs, stir - fried them evenly, and sprinkled with a little chili rings and scallions for decoration.
Although these two dishes seemed to have similar seasonings, they tasted completely different when eaten. The kitchen was filled with a strong aroma. Not to mention Granny Sun and A Man, even Mian Mian lying in the small cradle was babbling.
Sea shrimps were a very common thing in the fishing village, and most of the time they were just boiled simply. Mrs. Zhang and the others didn't expect there to be such cooking methods. After tasting her cooking, they all praised it highly.
"However, A Ying, although the fried shrimps in the style of 'Typhoon Shelter' taste good, the key is the crispness. Most of our canned food is soft. I'm afraid... it's not suitable?"
Mrs. Li also chimed in, "Yes, the garlic shrimps might be barely okay, but we'd have to remove the fried peanuts. The flavor would probably be greatly reduced."
Li Ying was quite satisfied to hear what they said. She smiled slightly.
What she wanted were never employees who only knew how to follow orders blindly and work hard stupidly.
"Don't worry. These two dishes are just new products to be sent to the restaurant. I have other plans for our canned food factory."
Only then did the two of them feel relieved. After dinner, the fishing boat had already unloaded all the sea shrimps, loaded a ship of fruit canned food, bowed politely to Li Ying, and set off to leave.
"A Ying, I watched carefully. They didn't play any tricks, and the quantity was accurate. They're really worthy partners to cooperate with."
Zhang Lu patted his chest and vowed. Li Ying knew he was an honest man and would never play any tricks in front of her. She had to suppress that indescribable sense of unease in her heart.
She changed her clothes and personally demonstrated to several production team leaders how to handle these sea shrimps.
She slowly removed the shrimp spears and the sandbags in the shrimp heads, cleaned out the shrimp veins, and even cut the spines at the shrimp tails into flat ends.
Since they were going to be made into canned food for sale, they had to be processed very cleanly.