Chapter 38

The two little sisters stayed up late talking quietly, and the next morning, they both got up a bit later than usual. Fortunately, the low tide was also delayed, so after having breakfast, they were still able to make it to the beach to gather sea creatures.

This time, Jiāng Wǎn didn’t go. She stayed home to help her uncle process the pile of spicy conchs they had gotten earlier.

It was lucky that the pile of spicy conchs had been brought into Yīn Níng’s room, as the collapsed wall didn’t affect them. The water in the basin hadn’t been changed, but it seemed to be fine. When she checked on them, they were all still very fresh. After soaking for two days and expelling the sand, they were now clean and ready to be cooked.

Jiāng Wǎn dumped them out and gave them another good wash. After cleaning off the slime and mud, she placed them into a large iron pot to boil.

She added a few slices of ginger and a bit of wine, then started boiling them on high heat.

Yīn Huaishan’s leg was immobile, so he could only sit in a chair and do some of the lighter work. After the conchs were cooked and cooled in water, he carefully used a bamboo skewer to remove the meat, discarding the liver that could cause discomfort.

This task was easy but a bit tedious.

After painstakingly picking out half a basin of conch meat, the second batch was ready.

“Wanwan, you’re not planning to sell these conch meats in the city, are you?” Yīn Huaishan asked nervously as he continued picking the meat.

He admitted that his niece’s cooking skills were good, but these conchs had just been boiled with ginger and wine—there was only a slight reduction in the fishy smell. It would be hard for people to want to pay for them, right?

“Of course not,” Jiāng Wǎn replied. “I still need to make the sauce.”

She had come prepared, having bought plenty of seasonings and spices. Although it wouldn’t be as comprehensive as modern ingredients, the combination of flavors she had planned would definitely surprise the people here.

At the moment, the third batch of conchs was still boiling, so she focused on preparing the other ingredients she needed.

Garlic, cilantro, carrots, and a bunch of small limes.

In the modern world, cilantro and small limes would be the most expensive ingredients, but here, small limes were the cheapest.

Lizhou Island never got very cold, with abundant rainfall and plenty of sunshine. All kinds of fruits and vegetables grew exceptionally well, with some even maturing several times a year.

Like seafood, many of the fruits and vegetables were too perishable to be stored, so most of them were only eaten by the islanders, making them very affordable. Small limes were especially cheap because they were so sour that most people couldn’t eat them.

The bag of small limes her mother had brought her only cost four wen for dozens of them. On the other hand, vegetables were slightly more expensive—five carrots cost six wen.

Originally, Jiāng Wǎn didn’t need the carrots for the dish, but since there were no chili peppers or bell peppers here, the sauce would only have green but no red, which felt off. So, she decided to add the carrots.

In any case, carrots were very nutritious, so adding them would only be beneficial.

Jiāng Wǎn squatted by the bucket, quickly washing everything and chopping it all up for later.

At this time, her uncle was still carefully picking out conch meat. His hands, which were usually used for writing, seemed a bit underutilized for this task, but there was no other option.

The dish she was preparing was called “Pickled Seafood in Sauce.” She would boil the conchs, then soak them in the sauce to absorb the flavor.

It was a perfect cold dish for the summer, both delicious and appetizing.

Typically, the conchs would be boiled and soaked, and people would use toothpicks to pick out the meat while eating. But since she was planning to sell them, and since people already didn’t like eating conchs, she couldn’t have them use toothpicks to pick out the meat. That would make it harder to sell.

So, she decided to do the extra work of picking the meat out herself and soaking it. Once customers tasted the flavor and returned for more, she could skip this step and let them pick the meat themselves at home.

Two hours later, all the conchs were cooked and were now soaking in cold water, waiting to be picked.

Jiāng Wǎn cleaned the pot, boiled some water, and then took out the two new jars she had bought, washing them thoroughly. These jars would be used for soaking the conch meat, and she needed to scald them with boiling water first.

Once the containers were ready, she began preparing the sauce.

She poured in a pound of soy sauce, half a pound of vinegar, three tablespoons of sugar, and two tablespoons of sesame oil…

It was a shame she didn’t have any oyster sauce.

As Jiāng Wǎn was about to think more about the oyster sauce, she suddenly heard her uncle calling her, and she was distracted, forgetting about it. When she returned to the kitchen, she saw the remaining ingredients and continued working.

She added minced garlic, shredded carrots, cilantro, and the small limes to the mixture. After that, she added some cool boiled water, the kind they usually drank.

The two jars of sauce were almost ready. She tasted a little, and if the salt wasn’t enough, she could add more. The essence of these sauces was the small limes. The thick sauce was balanced out by the fragrant lime juice, giving it a tart yet slightly salty flavor that was very refreshing to eat.

Although there were no chili peppers, the conch meat itself had a bit of spice, so this minor flaw could be overlooked.

Once everything was ready, Jiāng Wǎn poured the conch meat her uncle had already picked into one of the jars to soak, then joined him in picking more conch meat.

By the time the tide started coming in and her mother and aunt returned, she and her uncle had already picked out half of the conchs. The rest was finished in less than two quarters of an hour by the five of them working together.

The two jars were now completely filled, and Jiāng Wǎn scooped some out to let the family taste.

Yīn Huaishan had been craving it, so he immediately grabbed a bamboo skewer and poked a piece of conch meat.

The conch meat, the size of a thumb, was coated in sauce. The moment he took a bite, the fruity and sour flavor hit him first, followed by the combined taste of the other seasonings. A slight spiciness from the conch meat added to the taste, and it was absolutely delicious!

At that moment, Yīn Huaishan felt like composing a poem, but sadly, no one was interested. The whole family was happily poking and eating conch meat.