Chapter 60: Braised Rice with Pine Needle Crab

Although Ao Island and Hong Kong Island have transformed into financial hubs and gambling centers—a stark contrast to the fishing industry—some old, dilapidated shops with quiet storefronts still hide in the side streets and alleyways, steadfastly selling a special product: shrimp paste.

Li Xiao picked up a small clump of the water spinach with shrimp paste using his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth.

The next moment, the system’s notification sounded in his ears.

[Congratulations, you have illuminated the 10th entry in your collection.]

[The gourmet entry you illuminated is: Water Spinach with Shrimp Paste]

[This dish’s rating: 91 points [Excellent]]

[Due to its Excellent rating, reward x4]

[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward of 800,000.]

[Congratulations, you have received a stat reward: Stamina +1]

[Congratulations, you have received a reward: Recipe for Water Spinach with Shrimp Paste]

[Congratulations, you have received a reward: A Guide to Selecting Shrimp Paste]

...

Making water spinach with shrimp paste isn’t complicated, but making it well is extremely difficult. It’s one of those dishes that are easy to learn but hard to master.

The leaves of the water spinach are plucked off, leaving only the tender green stalks.

Pork belly is minced and set aside. It serves multiple purposes: adding the savory flavor of meat, neutralizing the fishiness of the shrimp paste, and making the dish more delicious.

The shrimp paste is tempered with rice wine and white sugar. The rice wine helps to remove the fishy smell and add fragrance, while the sugar reduces the shrimp paste’s saltiness.

The key step is to stir-fry it quickly over high heat. This is also why it’s hard to replicate perfectly in a home kitchen, as household stoves have comparatively weaker flames.

Water spinach is a peculiar vegetable; if you’re not careful with the cooking time, it will quickly oxidize and turn black.

Even on a high-heat stove, the stir-frying time can’t be too long, or the water spinach will lose its vibrant green color.

After stir-frying the minced meat until fragrant, the water spinach, which has been soaking in water, is quickly added.

Soaking allows the water spinach to fully absorb moisture, ensuring it stays hydrated and doesn’t wilt easily under the high heat.

The water spinach is tossed rapidly in the searing hot wok. When its color starts to change and it’s just about cooked through, the premixed shrimp paste is poured in, and the stir-frying continues.

Since the shrimp paste itself already contains enough salt and sugar, no extra seasoning is needed, and the dish is ready to be served.

The plate of water spinach before him was clearly cooked with perfect heat control. It was fragrant, emerald green, and mouth-watering.

Li Xiao picked up a small bunch. Every stalk was evenly coated in the pinkish-red shrimp paste, a testament to the chef’s masterful and practiced technique.

This was a dish filled with urban charm and traditional flavor, one that exuded a deep cultural heritage.

After all, even after being thinned, shrimp paste is still very salty. If it’s not stir-fried evenly, some of the water spinach will be incredibly salty while other parts are bland.

From the moment the color-changing water spinach is cooked through and the shrimp paste is added, it’s no more than ten seconds until it’s plated. Any longer, and the water spinach will turn black after it leaves the wok.

While this doesn’t affect the taste much, it certainly affects the customer’s appetite.

When you’re eating out, if you see that your water spinach has turned black, it doesn’t mean it has gone bad—it’s probably just that the chef didn’t master the heat control.

Cooking the water spinach completely within ten seconds is not difficult, but evenly coating every single stalk with shrimp paste in that time is quite a challenge.

Li Xiao put the water spinach into his mouth, and the rich, salty aroma of the shrimp paste rushed into his nostrils.

The unique flavor of the shrimp paste spread across his tongue. A slight fishiness stubbornly remained, hard to dispel even with the addition of rice wine.

However, this fishiness didn’t come from a lack of freshness, but was the unique flavor profile formed after the shrimp meat had fermented.

The situation was somewhat similar to the smell of stinky tofu itself; though pungent to the nose, it’s a wonderful delight to taste.

After fermentation, the small shrimps’ originally light and sweet taste becomes intense. It felt like one bite sent the aroma piercing straight through his taste buds.

The salty, fragrant taste of the shrimp paste paired perfectly with the crisp water spinach, creating an intoxicatingly delicious flavor.

However, the flavor was a bit too intense. The somewhat excessive aroma of the shrimp paste completely overpowered the subtle, fresh sweetness of the water spinach.

Although Li Xiao’s keen palate could just barely detect the unique sweetness of the water spinach, he still felt it was a bit of a shame.

A vegetable dish shouldn’t just emphasize the intensity of the shrimp paste; it should also let you taste the freshness of the vegetable itself.

However, he understood that this dish actually had a very narrow audience. The more intense shrimp paste was meant to cater to those who truly loved it, which made this approach much more understandable.

’If you like shrimp paste, then why not make the flavor even stronger? That’s undoubtedly an acceptable choice.’

Moreover, judging by the system’s score, it was clear that the system also approved of this method.

Li Xiao gave a thumbs-up to the camera.

"A very flavorful water spinach with shrimp paste. The shrimp paste is rich and fragrant, and the water spinach is cooked with perfect heat control."

As he spoke, he picked up a small bunch of water spinach with his chopsticks and showed it to the camera.

"Everyone, take a look. This water spinach has been out of the wok for a while, but it’s still so tender and green, with no signs of turning black at all. It’s a simple vegetable dish, but it’s a real test of the chef’s skill."

「In the live stream chat.」

"The water spinach my mom makes is always blackish. I thought that’s just what it was supposed to look like when cooked. So now you’re telling me it was just the wrong heat control?"

"What the hell is shrimp paste?"

"Water spinach is only good when it’s stir-fried with minced garlic or fermented tofu!"

"Where I’m from, we usually use water spinach to blanch in our snail rice noodles. Water spinach soaked in that snail noodle broth is the best!!!"

"Water spinach with shrimp paste, what a nostalgic dish! The food stalls in Yangcheng and Guan City almost all used to have this dish, but now it’s completely disappeared!"

...

The portion of water spinach with shrimp paste wasn’t large, and Li Xiao finished it quickly. The last main course was then brought over by the waitress.

"Please enjoy your meal, our four honored guests. This is the 5J Ham and Pine Needle Crab Clay Pot Rice."

In front of each person was a small clay pot. The bottom was lined with two layers of lotus leaves—one was a vibrantly colored fresh lotus leaf, and the other was a dried one.

The fresh lotus leaf was on the outside, while the dried one was hidden on the inside.

Taotao carefully used a pair of delicate tongs to gently part the lotus leaves, revealing a bowl of fragrant rice laden with rich ingredients on the inner leaf.

The rice had clearly been stir-fried with egg, and a thick layer of ingredients was spread over the golden grains: red and white shreds of crab leg meat, fragrant and seared shreds of matsutake mushroom, and a few slices of 5J ham, all finished with a sprinkle of verdant green onions.

The entire bowl was a vibrant kaleidoscope of colors and looked absolutely beautiful.

Pine Needle Crab is one of the specialties of the Sakura Country.

This crab is a close relative of the Emperor Crab and the Sakura Long-legged Crab. Their legs are relatively long and their bodies are relatively small, with the crab legs being the main edible part.

However, like the expensive Sakura Long-legged Crab, this Pine Needle Crab also roams the seabed foraging for food.

Because they don’t have fixed habitats or breeding grounds, catching them is very difficult, and establishing a supply chain is an even more arduous task.