Chapter 255: Forbidden Yellow Oil
Qi Han first brought the female crab in front of him and examined it carefully.
The claws of the cooked female crab were fiery red, almost like flames, and each was as large as both of Qi Han's palms. Upon closer inspection, the edges of the claws glinted faintly, sharp as blades.
The massive claws looked like they could provide a satisfying feast on their own.
The crab legs were remarkably long and slender. Despite being only a palm's width thick, when fully extended, each leg reached the length of Qi Han's forearm. Divided into three segments, the tip of the front segment tapered into a sharp spike, just as lethal.
Such long and plump crab legs surely held a substantial amount of meat.
With this thought in mind, Qi Han picked up a kitchen knife and cleanly severed all eight legs and two claws at the base, setting them aside and leaving only the crab's body.
He then deftly lifted the carapace of the female crab, revealing the rich, enticing crab roe inside.
As soon as the carapace was removed, a powerful crab aroma wafted up, invigorating Qi Han.
Even though it wasn't his first time seeing it, the sight of the crab's body, as large as a washbasin and brimming with luscious orange-red crab roe, made Qi Han unconsciously swallow.
The sheer abundance of the crab roe was visually satisfying, evoking a deep sense of contentment.
For a moment, Qi Han felt the same joy as cutting open half a melon and eating it with a spoon.
Although crab roe and melon flesh have nothing in common, the roe before him...
Really seemed ready to be eaten with a spoon.
However, Qi Han restrained himself. After all, the crab roe was the main ingredient for the Forbidden Yellow Oil, and sneaking a bite was not an option.
Suppressing his appetite, Qi Han swiftly began working.
Using tweezers, he carefully removed the crab's heart, gills, stomach, and intestines. Then, with a small spoon, he scraped all the roe into a bowl.
Next, Qi Han set the de-roe'd torso of the female crab aside with its legs and claws and brought the male crab forward.
Following the same process, he scooped out all the tomalley from the male crab into the same bowl. The rich aroma of crab filled the kitchen as Qi Han moved on to dismantling the crabs.
The typical tools for dismantling crabs are a set of eight specialized instruments: a hammer, mallet, pliers, spatula, spoon, fork, scraper, and needle.
But Qi Han didn't need such a complex array. A small scraping spoon was enough, and his knife could substitute for the other tools.
He started with the massive claws, each as large as two palms. Qi Han swallowed as he summoned his soul power and struck the side of the claw with the flat of his knife, skillfully cracking the shell.
Following the cracks, he gently peeled away the shell, revealing a whole piece of tender, white claw meat. It was wrapped in a thin, slightly pink membrane, glistening in the light.
Unable to resist any longer, Qi Han grinned and took a big bite of the plump, juicy claw meat.
Bliss.
Chewing the tender, succulent meat that seemed to burst with juice, its texture both springy and sweet, Qi Han felt utterly satisfied.
After quickly devouring the first claw, he found himself surprisingly satiated.
The finest ingredients often require the simplest preparation.
Even steaming this crab with just a few slices of ginger delivered an extraordinary culinary experience.
Having indulged himself with one claw, Qi Han resumed his work. He processed the other three claws in the same manner, extracting the meat and placing it in a clean porcelain bowl.
Next, Qi Han turned his attention to the crab legs.
He began by cutting off the longest segment of each three-part leg. Using the remaining leg segments, he pushed the meat out smoothly from the shell.
With sixteen legs between the two crabs, by the time he finished, the porcelain bowl was filled halfway with the extracted meat.
Only the meat in the crab body remained—the white chunks hidden beneath the gills in the two large protruding sections of the torso.
Qi Han folded the crab bodies in half and carefully split them into two parts. Using a small scraping spoon, he meticulously extracted the intact strips of meat.
The structure of the crab bodies resembled a honeycomb, with small compartments each holding a chunk of meat. While it required precision, the process wasn't excessively time-consuming.
Once the meat from both crabs was extracted, the porcelain bowl was nearly full.
On top of the bowl sat the freshly extracted body meat, while the crab legs and claws were hidden beneath it.
After finishing with the meat, Qi Han placed the crab legs and shells into a pan.
Over low heat, he slowly sautéed the crab shells and legs, rendering out the crab oil. Then, he added slices of ginger and poured in oil until the shells and legs were fully submerged.
Simmering the mixture on low heat for an hour, followed by an eight-hour soak, yielded a batch of pure crab oil. This oil, tinged orange-red and exuding an irresistible crab aroma, was carefully filtered and set aside.
The rendered crab oil was added to a pot along with the crab roe and tomalley. Qi Han sautéed the mixture on low heat to extract its flavor, then enhanced it with a splash of aged Huadiao wine for depth. A final touch of salt and pepper completed the preparation of the perfect Forbidden Yellow Oil.
Despite the assistance of the system's advanced technology to accelerate the process, the intricate steps still consumed a significant amount of Qi Han's time. Finally completing the Forbidden Yellow Oil, Qi Han let out a deep sigh of relief.
The alluring aroma of the Forbidden Yellow Oil was a harmonious blend of the crab roe's umami and the tomalley's rich, creamy notes. Overcome with anticipation, Qi Han scooped a small spoonful of the oil and tasted it.
As the robust umami of the crab roe and the subtle richness of the tomalley unfolded on his palate, Qi Han closed his eyes, savoring the experience with a look of bliss on his face.
It was utterly delicious.
With crabs of such enormous size, the resulting Forbidden Yellow Oil far exceeded the needs of one dish of Jade Dragon Tendons, ensuring there would be plenty left for future use.
"Mew~"
Sitting on a partition, Pururu let out a soft cry.
"Do you want some?" Qi Han raised an eyebrow at the sight of Pururu eyeing the pile of crab meat in the porcelain bowl. After a moment, he nodded. "Alright, you can have some."
Pururu, thrilled by the permission, leaped gracefully onto the table. Hunching slightly, the little cat bent its head and began to enjoy the crab meat.
"Mew!"
Crab meat is delicious!
With the Forbidden Yellow Oil ready, Qi Han turned his attention back to the final step of preparing the dish.
Adding two spoonfuls of the Forbidden Yellow Oil to the broth, Qi Han gently placed the sliced dragon tendons into the pot. Covering it with a lid, he simmered it over low heat for about half an hour, softening the tendons to a tender yet not overly elastic texture.
He then thickened the sauce slightly before skillfully plating the dish.
Jade Dragon Tendons was now complete.
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