Chapter 73: Ingredient Preparation

"The reason is simple. Besides fishermen, most of the people living at sea were criminals and refugees on the run from the law. You could say it was a real mixed bag of people."

"Because they were marginalized for so long, these sea-dwellers couldn’t live and shop on land like normal people. As a result, businesses that were originally land-based began to spring up like mushrooms on all sorts of fishing boats."

"Brothels, barbershops, restaurants, stores... these marginalized people preferred to patronize the businesses set up on the sea."

"And since these floating businesses didn’t need to go out fishing, they would usually moor in the various typhoon shelters around Hong Kong Island."

"Over time, this created the unique ’typhoon shelter’ culture. The famous Typhoon Shelter Crab originated from these floating restaurants."

"To put it simply, it’s a poor man’s dish that originated in the fishing villages of Hong Kong."

"Of course, those old fishing villages have long since turned into a metropolis, the so-called typhoon shelters have all but disappeared, and the floating restaurants no longer have any connection to fishing villages or the poor."

"The soul of Typhoon Shelter Crab lies in the unique flavor of the fried minced garlic. It’s fragrant and crunchy, with a sweet, crisp, and caramelized taste—crispy without being burnt, crumbly without being greasy."

"The garlicky aroma combines with the spiciness and the flavor of fermented black beans to achieve a perfect balance."

"Even the garnishes are in no way inferior to the main ingredient. Paired with the crisp chunks of crab and that big dollop of yellow roe, one bite isn’t just an explosion of savory deliciousness—it’s infused with the flavor of a bygone era on Hong Kong Island’s typhoon shelters."

As he spoke, Li Xiao had already picked up seven or eight Pine Needle Crab legs and three crab bodies.

Walking over to the cutting board, he set the crab legs aside and picked up a heavy cleaver.

With a few swift chops, Li Xiao’s cleaver rose and fell, and the long crab legs were quickly cut into several smaller sections.

He held up one of the small leg sections to the camera.

"For Typhoon Shelter Crab to absorb all the flavor, the crab can’t be too big. If it’s too large, the flavors won’t penetrate the meat."

"After all, Typhoon Shelter Crab is a quick stir-fry. You have to toss it rapidly in a short amount of time, so if the pieces are too big, the flavor will be uneven."

With that, he picked up one of the crab bodies.

The body of a Pine Needle Crab is relatively small compared to its legs; the entire body was only about the size of Li Xiao’s palm.

Li Xiao:

"The body needs to be chopped into small pieces as well."

"Since each crab is about the same size, you can just follow my steps exactly."

As he spoke, he placed the crab body on the cutting board. He brought the cleaver down lightly along the centerline, splitting the body neatly in half.

Then, with a series of six quick chops,

the entire crab body was divided into six pieces.

He then took another six crab legs and one crab body, chopping them into pieces in the same manner.

With the main ingredient prepped, Li Xiao began to show the other ingredients to the camera one by one.

"To make a good Typhoon Shelter Crab, the other ingredients are just as essential as the crab itself."

"Garlic, breadcrumbs, fermented black beans, scallions, and red chili peppers are all very important ingredients."

"Since we’re using a lot of garlic, you can just buy pre-peeled cloves at the market. It’ll save you a lot of effort."

In the livestream chat:

"What is the host talking about?? Since when do markets sell pre-peeled garlic?"

"How much time does it even take to peel garlic?? The host is just being lazy."

"To be fair, I’ve actually seen pre-peeled garlic at the market. The vendors peel it in their spare time, and it only costs a dollar or two more than the unpeeled kind."

"Around here, we buy garlic in bulk—like, ten pounds at a time—and use it as we go."

"Garlic is something you have to peel by hand to get the right flavor. I wouldn’t even want someone else to peel it for me if they offered."

"Wait, seriously? I thought every market sold pre-peeled garlic. Is it just a thing where I live?"

Li Xiao casually glanced at the stream’s comments and noticed quite a few people saying they couldn’t get pre-peeled garlic where they lived.

At first, he thought the viewers were joking.

But as more and more viewers mentioned it, it slowly dawned on him.

He’d traveled in the north before, but he’d never actually been to one of their wet markets.

He quickly added:

"The wet markets here in Yangcheng pretty much all sell pre-peeled garlic cloves."

"If you can’t get pre-peeled cloves where you are, then you’ll just have to buy whole heads of garlic and peel them yourself at home."

"There’s another ingredient that can be hard to find. You might have to check your local supermarket or a specialty food store for it."

As he spoke, he held up a bag of off-white breadcrumbs.

"There are two kinds of breadcrumbs: one is white, and the other is an orange-yellow kind made with food coloring."

"I recommend using the off-white ones. After deep-frying, both types end up looking about the same color anyway, so there’s no need to consume extra food coloring for no reason."

Next, he presented a bowl of fermented black beans soaking in water.

"You can just buy the pre-packaged kind of these fermented black beans at any store."

"Before you use them, however, you need to soak them. Rinse them clean, then let them soak for three or four hours to make sure they absorb enough water. This will allow their flavor to be fully released during cooking."

After briefly introducing the ingredients, Li Xiao began to marinate the Pine Needle Crab.

Since the crab will be stir-fried quickly and the dish has a very strong flavor profile, the meat will taste bland if it isn’t marinated beforehand.

He placed all the chopped crab pieces into a small glass dish.

He poured pepper, sugar, salt, cooking wine, and cornstarch into the glass dish.

Then, Li Xiao quickly tossed the contents of the dish with his hands.

As he mixed the seasonings and crab meat together, he explained to the viewers:

"The pepper and cooking wine both help remove any fishiness from the Pine Needle Crab."

"The sugar helps bring out the umami of the crab meat."

"The salt provides a base seasoning so the meat isn’t bland."

"The cornstarch’s role is a bit more special. It’s meant to coat the crab meat to seal in the moisture during frying, which keeps the meat tender and springy."

By the time he finished speaking, he was done marinating the crab.

He set the marinated crab meat aside to let the flavors fully penetrate.

Then he started preparing the other ingredients.

The pre-peeled garlic cloves had already been rinsed and dried. Li Xiao didn’t use a knife to mince them.

That would take too much time. He admitted that hand-minced garlic tasted better, but it was also much more time-consuming.