Chapter 51

Of course, Jiang Wan couldn’t tell her cousin the modern version of the story. She simply said that she had accidentally seen an ancient recipe and now wanted to give it a try.

Yin Ning was curious about the delicious and fragrant oyster sauce and was afraid of missing any important steps.

But in the end…

It was all about tending the fire, boiling, and stirring.

Once the oyster meat shrank a little after boiling, her cousin scooped it all out. After that, her cousin didn’t do anything else, just sat in front of the stove, staring at the fire.

Yin Ning was getting drowsy from watching, her eyes half-closed, almost dozing off on her cousin’s shoulder. She didn’t wake up until her cousin stood up.

“Cousin, is it ready?”

“It’s almost done, I’ll stir the broth a bit.”

At that point, the liquid from the oysters in the pot had slightly changed color and become a bit sticky, but it still wasn’t the deep reddish-brown color of oyster sauce. It needed to simmer for at least another fifteen minutes.

Jiang Wan was very patient, watching the broth’s transformation.

What had started as a full pot of liquid had now reduced to less than a quarter. It probably wouldn’t even fill the oil jar on the stove.

It might be a little less, but concentration means quality, right?

Once the rest of it is boiled, there should be about a pound, right?

When Jiang Wan did live streaming, she had made oyster sauce before, but she only used five kilograms of oysters then, and the result was just a little bit of broth left at the bottom of the pot, with barely any flavor left.

The oysters they had today were much bigger and of better quality than the ones she had before. Still, she was a bit uncertain because she hadn’t boiled it down to the final stage yet.

After another fifteen minutes, Jiang Wan turned off the heat for now.

Yin Ning followed her cousin eagerly, wanting to try the oyster sauce.

If she hadn’t seen her cousin cook it with her own eyes, she really wouldn’t have believed that the watery oyster juice could turn into this thick, sticky oyster sauce.

“Cousin, can we use the oyster sauce to stir-fry dishes?”

Jiang Wan nodded instinctively, then realized what her cousin meant.

She was asking if oyster sauce could replace the oil they usually use for stir-frying.

“Cousin, I told you before, oyster sauce is used as a seasoning. Just because it has the word ‘oil’ in its name doesn’t mean it’s the same as cooking oil for stir-frying. Want to try it?”

Jiang Wan dipped her chopsticks into the sauce and offered it to her cousin.

Yin Ning took a small taste. Her first reaction was that the oyster sauce, despite having no added salt, tasted salty. Then she noticed its rich umami flavor.

It was smooth, with a deep, aromatic taste—she was pleasantly surprised.

“Cousin, did you add salt while I was sleeping?”

Jiang Wan shook her head, tasting it herself before answering, “This is the first batch. I didn’t add any salt. The saltiness must be from the oysters themselves.”

There were some things Jiang Wan couldn’t explain clearly, so she just let it slide with a simple answer.

The flavor of this batch of oyster sauce was similar to the one she had made before. It still had that fresh, unique oyster flavor. It would definitely be great for cooking!

She took out a clean jar that she had prepared earlier and scooped the oyster sauce from the pot into it.

The jar was a two-pound ceramic container, and even after filling it, it was still far from halfway full.

She decided to continue boiling the rest.

The remaining oyster meat would probably need to be boiled in two batches, so Jiang Wan sent her cousin out of the kitchen.

It was just too hot in there, and her cousin had already seen how it was done, so there was no need to stay in the kitchen with her.

After the second batch of oysters was cooked and scooped out, Jiang Wan added salt to it.

The first batch had no salt because she wanted to taste the natural flavor. The second batch had salt added, partly to make cooking easier later and partly to extend the shelf life of the oyster sauce.

Homemade oyster sauce with added salt, when sealed and stored at low temperatures, could last up to six months or even a year without spoiling.

However, the island was hot, and with this weather, the sauce would probably last only three months in sealed containers. After opening, it needed to be used up quickly.

Sigh…

She missed modern refrigerators, air conditioners, and the two drawers of ice cream she had stocked up on before the incident.

Jiang Wan swallowed her saliva quietly, took the cooling cloth her cousin had prepared for her to wipe her face, and sat back down to tend the fire.

Fifteen minutes later, Yin Huaixi and Song Wenhui, who had been out selling snail meat at the dock, returned.

Today, Song Wenhui was particularly happy.

She had been in charge of all the communication during the snail meat transaction, and she had even learned how to read the scales.

Previously, they sold snail meat by the jar, but now it was sold by the pound.

Each jar contained about fifteen pounds, and they sold for five cents per pound. Today, they sold two jars for a total of 150 cents!

That was thirty cents more than before!

Making extra money made everyone happy.

What made her even happier was that a mat embroidered by her daughter was bought by a stewardess for seventy cents.

After deducting the cost of the thread and needle, they made about sixty cents in profit!

At that moment, she couldn’t help but regret not paying more attention to her embroidery in the past.

If she had embroidered with more care, maybe she and her daughter could have been embroidering mats together, and their family’s life would be getting better and better.

“A Ning! Wanwan! Come out and have some candy!”

When they heard their aunt calling, Jiang Wan quickly responded.

“I’m in the kitchen!”

She checked the fire, wiped her sweat, and ran outside. Though she wiped her face, her small face was still flushed from the heat. It was clear she was feeling the heat.

In an instant, Yin Huaixi understood that his daughter had been making oyster sauce and felt a pang of sympathy. He poked her on the forehead.

“Couldn’t you have waited for me to come back to make it? Why do you have to do everything yourself?”

“I couldn’t wait, Mom. It takes a long time to make. I’ve only finished one batch.”

As Jiang Wan spoke, she walked over to her cousin’s side.

She saw the cloth in her hands, which was made of much better material than before.

“Hehe~ Aunt, my cousin’s mat must have earned a good amount, right?”

Song Wenhui smiled, her eyes full of warmth, and nodded. “Yes, it earned money. Your mother and I were lucky. As soon as we entered the embroidery workshop, we met a stewardess from a wealthy family. She took a liking to your cousin’s mat and paid seventy coins for it.”

“Seventy coins!!”

Yin Ning’s hands trembled when she heard the price. She couldn’t believe that the simple mat she had embroidered could sell for seventy coins.

“Aunt, is what my mother said true?”

Yin Huaixi nodded firmly and praised her without hesitation. “A Ning, you’re really impressive. The mat with the fish playing among the lotus leaves caught the stewardess’s eye right away. She said the mat was full of charm. The owner of the embroidery workshop also looked at it and then came to us asking for more mats from you. This shows how exquisite your embroidery skills are. You’re such a clever and talented girl.”

Yin Ning’s ears turned red from the praise, and her heart felt as sweet as if she’d eaten honey.

Jiang Wan had planned to tease her a bit more, but when she turned and saw the rising smoke from the stove, she suddenly remembered what was important.

“Aiya! My oyster sauce!”