The female workers in the canning factory had long trained their nimble hands on the "assembly line", so cleaning the prawns was definitely a piece of cake for them.
In the simmered tomato sauce, mix in soy sauce, yellow rice wine, oyster sauce, rice vinegar and an appropriate amount of brown sugar. After tasting for the right saltiness, pour in a little cold water and stir well to make the sauce.
Stir - fry scallions, ginger and garlic in hot oil, then add the sea prawns. Stir - fry until they turn golden. Pour in the sauce, simmer over medium heat until the prawns are well - flavored, then turn up the heat to thicken the sauce until it thickly coats each prawn.
The tomato - flavored braised prawns in oil are sweet, sour and appetizing, not overly salty, and can be eaten on their own. They are especially popular among children.
Children would suck the sweet and sour sauce clean, not caring that their faces were smeared dirty, looking like little kittens. Then they would quickly peel out the springy prawn meat. It seems that this not - so - decent "messy" way of eating is the most suitable.
Li Ying wrote down the ratio of the sauce and gave it to Mrs. Zhang. She also reminded the female workers that all the sea prawns used in the dishes must be fresh and alive.
As for those prawns that had just died due to lack of oxygen, they were quickly shelled, the backs were slit open and the mud veins were removed.
Coat the prawn meat evenly with a thin layer of starch. Gently beat the prawn meat into large fan - shaped pieces with a small wooden mallet. Shake off the excess starch, then put them into boiling water, blanch them quickly over high heat, and immediately fish them out and soak them in cold water.
The beaten prawns processed in this way are all flat and uniform. The starch paste firmly locks in the moisture, and the prawn meat is cooked to perfection, crispy, fresh, tender but not tough.
Stir - fry scallions and ginger in hot oil, then add the beaten prawns. Season with sugar and salt. After stir - frying until fragrant, pour in chicken broth to enhance the flavor, and thicken with starch.
Before serving, sprinkle a little white pepper. Each beaten prawn is coated with the steaming chicken broth, extremely smooth, sweet with a hint of spiciness, and fragrant with a touch of freshness.
If the prawn meat is completely mashed into a sticky paste, it can be made into sizzling prawn sliders. Brush them with black - pepper barbecue sauce. Compared with the light - flavored beaten prawns, they have a different flavor.
The beaten prawns and sizzling prawn sliders are most suitable for sale in the night market. Mrs. Li took a couple of bites and praised again and again, "This is great. In this way, these freshly dead prawns won't be wasted!"
Seeing that this batch of live prawns was of excellent quality and there was nothing wrong with them, the new product of the canning factory, "Braised Prawns in Oil", was in short supply as soon as it was launched. Only then did Li Ying finally feel a bit less on guard.
"Boss Li, how about it? Our cooperation is finally a go, right?"
The captain of the prawn - catching boat grinned and gave Li Ying a confident smile.
Imperial Envoy Lin and his wife also praised her highly, "Boss Li is noble - minded. You not only helped the villagers in the fishing village live a better life, but also treated the prawn - catching boats you've never met before equally and generously. You can rest assured that after I return to the capital, I will report this matter to the current emperor and commend you well!"
Li Ying didn't really care about these false reputations. She made an appointment with the prawn - catching boats for future delivery times.
Qi Lebang, Song Heng and others now all relied on her. They were afraid that Li Ying would suffer losses in the prawn - purchasing business, so they sent their clerks to guard the dock day and night to support Li Ying.
Now that the matter was settled, they didn't stay any longer and left one after another.
Li Ying was grateful in her heart. She wrote down the recipes for garlic - flavored prawn balls and fried prawns in fermented breadcrumbs without reservation and gave them to Jueweifang and Zuixianju.
Imperial Envoy Lin considered himself an elegant and refined scholar. A gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, so he didn't want to listen to Li Ying and others talking about cooking. Instead, he went to find Su Buchi.
"Mr. Su is highly talented in literature and is also a favorite student of the venerable Mr. Yan. I've long admired your name. I've been staying in the fishing village for several days, and today I finally have some free time to chat with you."
He spoke in an official tone and slowly started the conversation.
Su Buchi frowned slightly.
Yan Lianzhi avoided officialdom like the plague. Influenced by him, Su Buchi naturally also kept his distance from this Imperial Envoy Lin.
Imperial Envoy Lin noticed his aloofness, but just thought he was young and inexperienced, lacking in vision. It was inevitable that he seemed a bit petty in dealing with people, so he became even more amiable.
"The current emperor is eager to seek talented people. Since Mr. Su has received the true teachings of the venerable Mr. Yan, you must have great talents and can be put to good use."
"If Mr. Su is interested in becoming an official, I'm willing to recommend you to the emperor."
There were also quite a few curious scholars on the dock. Hearing what Imperial Envoy Lin said, they couldn't help but feel envious.
Why didn't this good fortune that seemed to fall from the sky and make their ancestors proud happen to them!
If they could be recommended by Imperial Envoy Lin, they could skip the complicated imperial examinations and directly become officials in the capital!
This was the lifelong dream of many scholars!
Seeing many envious and even jealous looks on him, Su Buchi just smiled indifferently.
"Thank you for your kindness, Lord Lin. However, I'm used to being idle. My meager knowledge has failed to live up to my master's teachings and is really not worth mentioning. A person like me who is ignorant and incompetent is really not suitable to be an official. I'm ashamed of your appreciation."
He bowed his hands. His words were polite, but his eyes showed a sense of neither over - deferential nor over - assertive.
His determined and unwavering tone was obvious. The scholars couldn't help but secretly scold him for being ungrateful in their hearts.
Imperial Envoy Lin felt a bit embarrassed. He seemed not to have expected that Su Buchi would completely ignore his overtures.
After a long time, he finally forced out a smile and said reluctantly, "Mr. Su is being too modest. You are well - read and extremely talented. You are even qualified to hold my position as an imperial envoy."
"Mr. Su is as pure as the moon and used to being a carefree person. You don't want to be entangled by us worldly people. We can't force you to do otherwise."
He didn't know what else to say. He could only watch helplessly as Su Buchi bowed slightly and then left gracefully. There was a faint look of displeasure in his eyes.
He was just an ordinary commoner, yet he dared to put on airs in front of him. He was really audacious and ignorant of his own limitations.
He would be leaving for the capital soon. Since they didn't see eye to eye, he went back to the post - house to pack his luggage without further ado.
As for Li Ying, she learned from the discussions of the scholars in the town that Su Buchi had actually rejected such a good opportunity. She couldn't help but feel a bit sad.
"Miss Li, you've come just in time. I've troubled you for several days. Now that everything has been settled and the fishing - village school is on the right track, this time, I really have to resign."
Li Ying saw that his mind was made up. She also knew that Su Buchi was not an ordinary person who would be content with a small fortune and was willing to stay in a corner. She couldn't keep him, so she could only promise to take good care of Yan Lianzhi in the future and wish him a smooth journey ahead.
"Little Uncle - Master, I've been taken care of by you and have no way to repay you. At least, please give me a chance to prepare a farewell banquet for you."
Li Ying spoke sincerely. Su Buchi couldn't bear to refuse anymore and had to agree.
The dishes on the table were all the ones Su Buchi usually liked. Li Ying remembered the saying in the village that "eat dumplings when going out and noodles when coming back". She cheered herself up and personally prepared the dumplings for his farewell.