Chen Qingsheng looked at Xiang Yang.
Xiang Yang was puzzled, "What are you looking at me for? Aren't you in charge of all the seasonings on the ship?"
Chen Qingsheng had no choice but to look at Zhang Qicheng again, "There are lemon wedges. Many of our crew members like to eat barbecue, and seafood barbecue cannot be without squeezing a few drops of lemon juice on it, but I don't understand what this basil and thyme seasoning is."
Zhang Qicheng didn't know how to explain it, so he just said, "Basil is a seasoning, and thyme is a spice."
Xiang Yang did know a little bit. He had read some information about basil. "Basil is a plant of the genus Lamiaceae. It likes warm and humid environments and generally lives in subtropical areas. It is not cold-resistant or drought-resistant. Its stem is square, with many branches on the upper part. The surface is usually purple-green. The leaves are opposite, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, with acute or acuminate tips, cuneate bases, sparsely serrated edges or entire margins, and pus spots on the bottom. It is widely distributed in tropical areas of Asia, Europe, Africa and America. It has a special fragrance after stir-frying, and is very chewy and crispy."
Chen Qingsheng suddenly realized, "Isn't that pickled mustard tuber?" Then he looked at Zhang Qicheng, "We don't have this."
Xiang Yang: “…”
Chen Qingsheng: “… ”
Basil sounds very similar to pickled mustard tuber, but in fact it is quite different from the real pickled mustard tuber.
However, Xiang Yang's ship did not have this item prepared.
Zhang Qicheng had to give up the basil. He stir-fried the onion shreds, green onion segments, red pepper and mashed garlic, then added the chopped green crab and stir-fried until cooked. He seasoned it with lemon juice, fish sauce, light soy sauce, salt and sugar, and finally put the crab on a plate and garnished it with lemon wedges.
When Xiang Yang smelled it, his appetite immediately increased.
However, Zhang Qicheng and Chen Qingsheng were still busy, and Xiang Yang felt embarrassed to eat alone.
After Zhang Qicheng finished stir-frying the crab roe, he started to steam the crab roe.
He first asked Zhang Qicheng to wash the onions and cut them into sections, wash the ginger and cut it into slices, and then cut half of the ginger slices into minced ginger.
Zhang Qicheng killed the crab roe himself, cut off the crab claws, cut out the crab heart, cut the crab claws into two pieces and cracked them, and chopped the crab shell into small round pieces.
After completing the previous preparations skillfully and quickly, Zhang Qicheng placed the crab claws on the bottom of the plate, arranged the crab hearts one by one around the crab claws to form a circle, placed the crab shell on the top, placed the crab roe one by one in the crab heart, and then placed the remaining crab roe on each small piece of crab shell.
After finishing all this, Zhang Qicheng shouted to Chen Qingsheng, "Add raw onions and ginger and steam them in the steamer. Let's try the spicy stewed crab first. After we finish the spicy stewed crab, the steamed crab will be ready to eat."
Chen Qingsheng quickly put in the prepared ingredients and then put it into the steamer.
Xiang Yang was curious when he saw this and asked, "Brother Zhang, I heard that crab roe is very rich in fat, so when steaming, even the legs cannot be broken, otherwise the fat will be lost. Why did you deliberately break the crab shell, chop the crab into pieces and then steam it?"
Zhang Qicheng laughed and said, "Those who don't eat crabs often think it's nutritious. But who am I, Brother Zhang? I've had too much nutrition a long time ago. Now when I eat, I only care about taste and health."
Xiang Yang was quite speechless, but he felt that what Zhang Qicheng said was correct.
"Okay, try it out and have a taste of my profits." Zhang Qicheng said with a smile.
Xiang Yang nodded and picked up a crab roe to taste it.
Unlike ordinary crabs, the crab meat of the spicy stewed crab is a bit chewy and harder than ordinary fish. It seems like shrimp meat, but not as tight or smooth as shrimp meat. It feels a little rough, but very fragrant. Although it looks oily, it is not greasy at all when eaten.
"The craftsmanship is impeccable." Xiang Yang gave a thumbs up.
Zhang Qicheng said generously: "Drink, my cooking skills are nothing special. When I have time, I will take you to Li Chao's hotel to taste it. The skills of a five-star chef are really good."
Xiang Yang smiled and neither agreed nor refused.
After eating a crab roe, Chen Qingsheng stood up and said, "Captain, Boss Zhang, Lao Xu, you guys eat first. I'll go cook some swimming crabs for the crew."
Xiang Yang took out his phone and checked the time. "Let's finish eating first, it's still early now. If the swimming crab is cooked for too long, it won't taste good."
"This." Chen Qingsheng hesitated.
Xiang Yang knew what Chen Qingsheng was hesitating about. He smiled and said, "Captain, am I the kind of person who eats all the good things by myself? If you like it, eat more. Next time, I will take you to catch crab roe so that everyone can eat enough at once."
Only then did Chen Qingsheng sit down awkwardly.
Xiang Yang smiled. As long as it was something he was willing to eat, he would share it with the crew. He even shared the more precious sea cucumbers and abalone with everyone. For a mere crab roe, was he really worried that if Chen Qingsheng ate one more bite, he would have to eat one less bite
After a good meal and a good drink.
Xiang Yang burped, and he looked at Zhang Qicheng, seemingly unintentionally saying, "Brother Zhang, I see that you and Brother Chao don't seem to value this crab roe very much. Normally, when you see any valuable seafood, you and Brother Chao would tell me to keep it and never eat it. But Brother Chao took the initiative to let us eat this batch of crab roe, and you even cooked it yourself."
"What do you value?" Zhang Qicheng took a puff of his cigarette. "We have too little crab roe. If we buy from outside, we don't have enough customers. The profit is not as much as the shipping cost and the loss during transportation. If we get a dozen top-quality crabs and keep them in a water tank for the guests to see, after the exhibition, we probably won't make much money in the end. After all, the quantity is too small."
Rich people who really like to eat crabs don't order a few crabs at a time. They order several times during a meal and order more after they finish eating. Customers often sit there all night and spend tens of thousands of dollars on a meal. There are only a dozen butter crabs, and they are gone after they are finished. When they order again, you say they are out of stock. Wouldn't that make the customers unhappy and damage your reputation? "
Xiang Yang was silent for a long time, hesitating whether he should tell Zhang Qicheng that there seemed to be a lot of crabs under this sea. At least he encountered a group of crabs when he went down first.
But after thinking about it, Xiang Yang decided not to say anything, because he was not sure about the exact number of crab roe in this sea area, and even if there were enough crab roe, it was impossible for Xiang Yang to come to this sea area just to catch some crab roe every time he went out to sea.
Zhang Qicheng smiled at Xiang Yang and said, "When you see crab roe, just catch it. I still say the same thing, don't go out of your way to look for it. You won't find it, and you don't know the price for it. I know several deep-sea fishing companies that have been killed by this little thing."