Although she had received the gift from Princess Yongning, Li Ying had no intention of using it rashly.
Princess Yongning was just a woman in the harem, and Li Ying still had doubts about her capabilities. She had to test the princess's skills herself before deciding to cooperate with her.
The emperor, as the Son of Heaven, was extremely suspicious and changeable. By now, he probably regarded Li Ying as a temptress who bewitched the emperor. If she were to suddenly offer a solution to the flood in Jiangcheng, she might be suspected of colluding with the princess and charged with interfering in state affairs as a harem woman. That would be a huge loss.
After much thought, Li Ying realized that the only thing the emperor approved of her was her cooking skills. If she wanted to speak up, she had to use this as a breakthrough.
Having made up her mind, Li Ying calmly went to pay a visit to Empress Pei.
Empress Pei already favored Li Ying. Thanks to the gift of a jar of live little petrels and sponges, she now thought even more highly of her.
At this moment, the empress was holding the young prince and chatting with the empress dowager to pass the time. When she heard that Li Ying had come, she quickly ordered someone to offer her a seat.
Li Ying didn't dare to be negligent. She bowed respectfully and greeted the empress. Then, in a soft voice, she said, "Your Majesty, after I returned to my cabin, the more I thought about the dangerous place where the goose barnacles grew, the more worried I became."
Currently, the emperor was on a southern inspection tour. In order to gain the emperor's favor, all the officials were vying with each other to contribute generously.
However, the flood in Jiangcheng couldn't be resolved overnight. After the emperor returned to the capital, what would happen if another disaster struck?
It couldn't be that they always relied on the capital to dispatch food and supplies for relief, could it?
How could Empress Pei not understand this truth? When she heard Li Ying mention this, a thin layer of worry clouded her face.
She was eager to share the emperor's burden, but...
She knew that Li Ying was always a resourceful person. Since she brought up this matter in front of her, she must have already had a solution. She quickly handed the young prince to the wet nurse and asked eagerly, "Does A Ying have any ideas?"
Li Ying said softly, "The flood disaster may not be easy to solve in a short time, but I do have some ideas about the lack of food for the people in Jiangcheng."
Without beating around the bush, she confidently took out a small jar.
Inside, there was a small gray crab, waving its pincers leisurely, completely unaware that a great disaster was about to befall it.
"Your Majesty, please take a look."
Empress Pei had seen this kind of small crab before. The people in Jiangcheng usually called it "mud crab". It was extremely small, and its shell was thick and hard. It wasn't suitable for cooking, unless it was coated with batter and deep - fried in boiling oil.
Even if the crab shell was fried until it was crispy, there wasn't much meat in the mud crab, and it tasted dry and tasteless. Moreover, during a famine year, ordinary people were so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat. How could they be willing to use a large amount of oil to fry such an unremarkable thing?
It was a young maid who, seeing that the young prince was very fond of the jar of little petrels Li Ying had sent, specially picked up some mud crabs from the seaside to amuse the young prince.
Empress Pei asked suspiciously, "Does A Ying plan to teach the people to cook these mud crabs for food?"
There were countless mud crabs the size of pebbles hidden on the mudflats in Jiangcheng. You could easily grab a handful just by turning over a rock. They were really easy to obtain, but...
Li Ying said softly, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I also want to share the emperor's burden. Since I've presented these mud crabs, I'm sure I can cook a dish that will satisfy His Majesty. I just hope that Your Majesty can put in a good word for me in front of His Majesty."
Empress Pei trusted her cooking skills and readily agreed.
With the empress's approval, Li Ying calmly washed her hands and began to prepare the live little crabs.
This basket of mud crabs was caught for her by the people arranged by Princess Yongning. Now they were scrambling to crawl in the bamboo basket.
Li Ying was "ruthless". She picked up a stone mortar and mercilessly mashed all the cleaned little crabs into mud.
At this moment, the mud crab paste looked gray, just like a puddle of mud. It really wasn't presentable.
But Li Ying took out a clean white gauze cloth, put the mud crab paste into it, and carefully filtered out the crab meat paste.
The filtered crab shells only needed to be boiled with clean water. After clarification, it would become a pot of extremely delicious broth. Crab meat was naturally sweet and had the unique salty taste of the sea. There was no need for additional seasoning, and the flavor was natural.
Turn the boiling broth to a low heat. Then, take a spoon, scoop up the filtered crab meat paste in the bowl, and carefully pour it into the broth.
The crab paste was coagulated by the warm broth and became smooth round slices. Take a bite, and the crab flavor was rich. The taste was extremely delicate and smooth, just like a piece of tender tofu that melted in the mouth.
This dish of "mud crab tofu" wasn't very difficult to make. But in the clear broth, the slices of crab meat tofu were floating, looking very elegant and delicate. No one could ever associate it with the gray - faced mud crabs.
Mud crabs were very easy to obtain, and this dish had a very soft texture, suitable for both the old and the young.
If you added some green vegetables and cooked them together, the soup would be even more delicious in terms of color, aroma, and taste.
Such a dish would be unique even if it was served in front of the emperor.
For the remaining mud crabs, she could make a bottle of mud crab soy sauce.
Similarly, mix the washed and mashed mud crabs with rice koji, clean water, and sea salt, and ferment them in a warm place for a month.
The protein in the mud crab meat gradually released a unique umami flavor under the passage of time. After filtering out the crab shell fragments, the mellow mud crab soy sauce was extremely delicious whether it was used as a dipping sauce or for stir - frying bean vegetables. It was truly a delicious dish in the world.
Li Ying carefully sealed the porcelain bottle of fermenting mud crab soy sauce in a warm and dark place. She also quickly prepared several other dishes. Coincidentally, Lu Xunguang sent someone to find some beak barnacles. She cooked them according to the method she used before and presented them to the emperor for inspection.
The emperor seemed to be used to her presenting a constant stream of new and fresh dishes every day. He slightly squinted his eyes and was taking a nap.
Li Ying introduced each dish gently. When she came to the "mud crab tofu", she deliberately paused.
"Your Majesty, these mud crabs live in the estuaries where saltwater and freshwater meet. Although they look cute, they like to eat the roots of rice fields, which is very harmful to the farming livelihood of the people in Jiangcheng."
"I had an idea and made this dish of mud crab tofu. Firstly, it's safer to eat this than to harvest goose barnacles in the huge waves. Secondly, we can also catch the culprit for the reduction of rice yields. It's really killing two birds with one stone."
Hearing her words, the emperor finally opened his eyes and waited with great interest for her to continue.
"Your Majesty, I know I'm just an ordinary person, but I also want to share your burden..."
The emperor interrupted her coldly before she could finish her humble words.
"If you have any other ideas, just speak up. If you're wrong, I won't blame you!"