Knowing time was of the essence, Gan Lan quickly finished her instant noodles and joined the cleanup.
Once they finished cleaning, she patched up the drafty walls and sprayed them with disinfectant. She arranged the tables and chairs neatly, though the furniture looked incredibly wobbly and unstable.
She was completely out of money, so this would have to do for now. Once she made her first pot of gold, everything else would fall into place. After purchasing all the spices and seasonings needed to cook the crawfish, the next step was to catch the Red Demon Ugly Shrimp crawling all over the streets.
Everything around Gan Lan’s shop was abandoned. She had sprayed repellent all around her storefront, forcing the Red Demon Shrimp and other insects to detour around her shop.
Shrimp worked diligently, her speed and efficiency so high that she was practically more useful than three entry-level robots combined. The more Gan Lan watched, the more satisfied she became. However, seeing Shrimp’s middle-schooler-like physique made her feel as though she were employing child labor.
"What are you looking at? Hurry up and work! You’re moving so slowly—are you trying to slack off? How devious!" Shrimp stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Gan Lan while holding a rag stained beyond recognition.
Gan Lan was speechless. She wasn’t slacking off! Her arms were about to fall off from sweeping, yet she was being accused of being lazy. She refused to accept this! But she didn’t dare say it out loud; after all, she still had to rely on Shrimp to catch the Ugly Shrimp.
"Shrimp, let’s go catch Ugly Shrimp. The ingredients and spices will be here soon, and I can’t catch enough on my own." In truth, she was feeling a bit intimidated. The Ugly Shrimp here looked far more hideous, large, and fierce than the crawfish from her original world.
"Are you scared?" Shrimp threw down her rag, eyeing Gan Lan up and down with suspicion. Gan Lan was practically radiating *weakling* energy.
Gan Lan touched her face, wondering if it was really that obvious. She had tried so hard to maintain a serious expression.
"Yeah, they look so fierce, I’m genuinely terrified! But your aura is so powerful, Shrimp. Once you step outside, those shrimp might just throw themselves right into your net!" Gan Lan’s eyes sparkled as she laid the flattery on thick.
"Hmph, at least you have good taste. Watch closely and see how I deal with them!" Shrimp raised her chin proudly and strutted out with an arrogant swagger, not even caring when she bumped into the doorframe.
Gan Lan stared at the now even more damaged door and fell into deep thought. She wondered why there was a wooden door here in the first place. Even the buildings on the street had a distinctly retro style. Yesterday, she had been so focused on the Red Demon Ugly Shrimp and insects that she hadn’t taken the time to properly examine the local architecture. To be fair, her first glance had been enough to make her want to look away immediately, causing her to ignore the buildings entirely. But now, looking at them filled her with a sense of nostalgia, almost as if she had returned to her original world.
After a brief moment of reflection by the door, Gan Lan saw a giant, moving basin heading her way. Looking closer, she realized it was Shrimp. Shrimp was also carrying a temperature-controlled box. If one didn’t look carefully, the massive basin appeared to be walking on its own. Gan Lan hurried over to take the temperature-controlled box and tried to help support the large basin full of Ugly Shrimp. She strained until her face turned red, but she couldn’t lift it even a single centimeter.
"Stop getting in the way," Shrimp said in a disgusted tone. "Also, what kind of trash basin did you buy? The lid is so loose that every time it moves, I feel like those Ugly Shrimp are going to jump out!" The giant moving basin simply bypassed Gan Lan and briskly made its way into the kitchen.
Gan Lan was speechless again. It was her fault; she was just too broke and could only afford cheap goods. Since arriving in this world, she had never felt quite this useless. It was a bit depressing. She figured she could just forget about it. She might not be able to do heavy physical labor, but she could cook! The future of 44 Red Demon Street still depended on her.
She poured water into the shrimp basin and carefully grabbed an Ugly Shrimp that was frantically waving its menacing claws. Picking up a small brush, she scrubbed it clean before tossing it into a fresh basin. During the process, she was splashed in the face repeatedly. These Ugly Shrimp were far too lively—lively to a terrifying degree.
By the time she finally finished scrubbing, water dripped from her hair and body. Her fingers had been pinched several times and were now slightly swollen. Preparing just one basin of shrimp felt like fighting a water war. In stark contrast, Shrimp stood beside her perfectly clean and refreshed, not even flinching when she got pinched. Suddenly, Gan Lan felt an intense desire for a body of steel.
She poured clean water into the basin of scrubbed Ugly Shrimp, added a generous amount of salt, and left them to soak for a while. While they soaked, she started making the spicy beef tallow hotpot base and the fragrant spicy hotpot base. She planned to make extra to save for future use. She would need it later for the spicy crawfish—or rather, the spicy Red Demon Ugly Shrimp.
She boiled a large amount of dried chilies in water for about ten minutes, scooped them out, drained them, and then ground them into a chili paste using a blender. Next, she placed the solidified beef tallow she had bought into a pot. Once it melted over the heat, she tossed in washed scallions, cilantro, celery, onions, and garlic, stir-frying them over high heat to release their aromas. Once they were fried to a golden brown, she scooped them out.
"This is the spiced oil," Gan Lan blurted out. She immediately realized she wasn’t live-streaming. Her viewers had no idea what corner of the universe she was currently in, which left her feeling a sudden pang of disappointment.
"Oh, and what is this spiced oil used for?" Shrimp asked dismissively while washing vegetables nearby.
Her question gave Gan Lan a small sliver of comfort. At least she still had Shrimp by her side. However, it was a pity that Shrimp didn’t seem to notice the rich, mouth-watering aroma filling the kitchen, leaving Gan Lan to sigh inwardly.
She poured the large portion of minced red chili paste and a generous amount of ginger into the boiling spiced oil, stirring evenly as she simmered off the moisture over medium heat. Then, she added an appropriate amount of secret chili sauce. Since she didn’t have any douban sauce, she had to use chili sauce as a substitute. She also threw in a large handful of green and red peppercorns; since this was a spicy and numbing base, it needed plenty of peppercorns.
The aroma was incredibly pungent. Gan Lan coughed and sneezed uncontrollably while stirring the hotpot base. She really couldn’t afford a specialized kitchen mask. The one she was currently wearing was dirt cheap and of terrible quality, barely enough to block out spit.
She simmered the mixture for half an hour before preparing the rest of the spices. She placed an appropriate amount of bay leaves, cinnamon, tsaoko, star anise, dried tangerine peel, cardamom, galangal, cloves, lemongrass, angelica root, and dried hawthorn slices into a basin. She poured in a splash of white liquor to let them soak. Then, she dumped the soaked spices into the pot, stirring and frying them before pouring in some beer to enhance the flavor. Adding rock sugar, chicken bouillon, and salt, she stirred everything together and turned the heat from medium to low, letting it simmer for another forty minutes.
Next, it was time to deal with the Ugly Shrimp playing in the saltwater.
Originally, Gan Lan hadn’t planned on deveining these shrimp. However, upon closer observation, she noticed significant differences between these Ugly Shrimp and the crawfish from her original world, even though both were dark red. The former were much larger and far more hideous, while the latter were smaller and less visually offensive. The biggest difference of all was that the Ugly Shrimp were saltwater creatures, whereas her world’s crawfish were freshwater.
Moreover, these Ugly Shrimp loved to run wild on land, which meant they definitely ate all sorts of unclean things. Therefore, deveining them was a must. Not only did the vein need to go, but the sand sacs in their heads had to be removed as well, leaving only the tomalley.
Snipping into their heads and pulling out their veins while they were still alive felt a bit cruel. Gan Lan was somewhat repelled by the idea, but it was unavoidable. Sure, she could wait until they were dead to process them, but then they wouldn’t be fresh, and the taste would suffer.