Chapter 34: You're Supposed to Open a Food Shop, But You Operate at 3 AM

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

After steaming over high heat for 20 minutes, Lu Feng lifted the steamer basket, removed the lid, and a wave of heat carrying the fragrance of crab meat instantly rose up.

The crab shells had already turned a bright red, indicating the crabs were fully steamed.

He set the steamed crabs aside to let them cool slowly.

Taking advantage of this time, Lu Feng still needed to make the chicken broth and simmer the pork skin jelly.

He took out the old hen meat and pork skin purchased from the System Mall, washed them clean with hot water, then placed them into the pressure cooker.

He poured clear water into the pressure cooker, added scallions and ginger, covered the lid, and started stewing.

The chicken broth and pork skin needed to stew for two hours; during this long stretch, Lu Feng could focus on handling the hairy crabs.

Once the steamed hairy crabs cooled, the crab meat and shells would separate, allowing them to be easily removed with scissors and tweezers.

Next came extracting the crab roe.

Crab roe is the most delicious part of the crab; it tastes extremely fresh and savory, carrying a rich seafood aroma — a top-tier delicacy that foodies pursue.

Lu Feng peeled off the flap on the hairy crab's belly, then lifted off the crab's outer shell in one smooth motion.

Plump, full crab roe presented itself before his eyes; just one glance made his mouth water.

Extracting crab roe and crab meat requires no real technique, but it is a rather time-consuming task.

After processing several crabs in a row, Lu Feng felt his fingers go numb.

It was also thanks to the Full-Level Culinary Arts granted by the System that his speed at handling crabs was a bit faster.

Otherwise, finishing all these crabs would have taken at least three or four hours.

After shelling the last hairy crab, Lu Feng set down his tools, feeling his neck stiff.

Next was stir-frying the crab roe.

He took out a wok, added a large spoonful of lard, turned on high heat to warm it, and the lard slowly melted.

Lu Feng held his hand above the wok to gauge the temperature; once the oil was roughly 30% hot, he tossed in the chopped scallions and ginger to fry until fragrant.

Next he poured the crab roe and crab meat into the wok — *sizzle* — a rich, savory aroma instantly permeated the kitchen.

Lu Feng stirred a few times with the spatula; the crab meat and roe began releasing oil, and the fragrance grew even more intense.

He then added seasonings to adjust the flavor, and the aroma nearly made him unable to hold back his saliva.

After a final few tosses, Lu Feng drizzled in a splash of fragrant vinegar, and the aromatic crab roe came out of the wok.

The kitchen was filled with the rich scent of crab roe, drifting out through the shop's hall.

Pedestrians outside had long since caught that unreasonably fragrant smell and gathered in front of Lu Feng's shop one after another.

"My goodness! What is this fragrance! Just smelling it makes my head spin!"

"Looks like Boss Lu has another new flavor today! This aroma simply breaks through the heavens!"

"I can't take it! With such a fragrant smell, I can't even imagine how delicious it must taste!"

In the kitchen, enveloped by the fragrance, Lu Feng felt hungry enough to eat a whole cow.

Clearly it wasn't even mealtime yet.

Staring at the bowl full of stir-fried crab roe before him, Lu Feng swallowed hard repeatedly.

He had never before been so extravagant as to prepare this much crab roe.

At most, he'd go to the supermarket and buy a pack of crab roe flavored instant noodles to satisfy his craving.

This big bowl of crab roe, if used to toss with noodles, slurped down in one mouthful...

No good, can't hold back!

Such supreme deliciousness right before his eyes — not taking a bite would simply be a sin!

Lu Feng couldn't even wait until the time to wrap the crab roe xiaolongbao; he was already suffering from craving right now.

The dough for xiaolongbao couldn't be used for noodles, so Lu Feng took some more flour and swiftly made a portion of hand-pulled noodles.

After the noodles were cooked, he ladled a heaping large spoonful of crab roe over them, and Lu Feng impatiently slurped a big mouthful.

Fragrant! Too fragrant!

The crab roe was fresh, savory, and delicate, melting in the mouth and releasing a rich seafood flavor.

The fine, dense texture brushed lightly across the tip of his tongue; every taste bud on his tongue cheered and leaped.

The sticky richness of crab roe and crab paste carried a hint of sweet fragrance; this taste was simply addictive, with an endless aftertaste.

This was who knows how many times more delicious than the crab roe noodles he bought at the supermarket!

The flavor of this crab roe was truly too delicious; Lu Feng couldn't help adding two more spoonfuls halfway through.

One bowl of crab roe noodles down the hatch, Lu Feng let out a satisfied burp.

Having tasted such ultimate deliciousness, Lu Feng felt completely comfortable all over.

Glancing at the remaining crab roe in the bowl, he still felt a lingering reluctance to stop.

If not for the fact that he still had to make crab roe xiaolongbao in the evening, he would have eaten every last grain of this bowl of crab roe.

After finishing the noodles, the chicken broth in the pressure cooker was also done stewing.

He fished out the chicken meat and pork skin, minced them with a meat grinder into pork skin paste, and placed it into the filtered chicken broth.

Then he brought the chicken broth to a boil over high heat, then turned to low heat to simmer slowly.

When the soup in the pot had reduced sufficiently, he added seasonings to adjust the flavor.

Finally he lifted the pot, and while hot, filtered the somewhat thickened soup into a small basin, stirring continuously with chopsticks.

After the soup solidified, Lu Feng crushed it by hand, added the stir-fried crab roe, and mixed it uniformly — the crab roe filling was complete.

The production process for these crab roe xiaolongbao was far more complex than the ones he'd made the past few days.

Just making the crab roe filling alone took quite a lot of time.

He saw that less than two hours remained until business hours.

Lu Feng then immediately set to work without pause making the fillings for the other four types of xiaolongbao.

Today counted as the longest preparation time since Lu Feng opened for business.

From after eating lunch at noon until nearing business hours, only then did he finish all preparations before opening.

After placing the wrapped crab roe filling xiaolongbao onto the steamer, Lu Feng opened the shop's gate.

The diners outside had long since lined up, stretching their necks waiting — they'd all smelled the crab roe xiaolongbao's fragrance.

The moment they saw the gate open, they immediately began asking in a babble of voices.

"Lu Boss, do you have a new flavor again today? I smelled the fragrance from far away!"

"Yeah, this fragrance is too fragrant! What's the new flavor today?"

"Boss Boss! One steamer per person limited purchase isn't enough to eat! Can we get one steamer of each flavor?"

"..."

Lu Feng stood at the door, listening to the diners' chattering sounds, and did not respond.

Only when the diners' voices gradually quieted down a bit did he open his mouth and say:

"The daily xiaolongbao production quantity is limited; to let more people be able to eat them, the one portion per person limit remains unchanged."

"Then there's today's new xiaolongbao flavor — crab roe, priced at 100 per steamer; other xiaolongbao prices remain unchanged."

Hearing today's new flavor was crab roe xiaolongbao, some diners' eyes lit up one after another.

"Crab roe bao! I love eating this the most!"

"Boss, why does crab roe xiaolongbao cost 100 per steamer? That's a bit expensive!"

"100 per steamer exceeds my ability to bear it; don't blame the xiaolongbao, blame me for being too poor."

"Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand, okay? 100 per steamer is very cheap! Do you know how much one steamer costs in Mo Du?"

"Lu Boss, is the crab roe real crab roe?"

Lu Feng heard this, smiled faintly, and replied: "Crab roe is crab roe; as for whether it's proper or not, I wouldn't know."

The diners heard this familiar-sounding answer and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Finally there's one more matter."

Lu Feng thought for a moment, felt it necessary to tell these diners before him a piece of bad news.