Chapter 1357: Boss Hades, Can I Bother You With Something…”
Cooking a scrumptious dish with crayfish wasn’t an easy matter. Even for Mag who was a rare genius, he was still tortured to the brink of death in the test field for the God of Cookery. He had only mastered the dishes after many trials. Giving a group of demons a three-day-long accelerated class to teach them how to make crayfish wasn’t an easy task.
Hence, after Mag gathered 10 members of the accelerated class at the very last minute, he split them into three small groups of 3-3-4. Each group would learn one crayfish’s flavor, and it wouldn’t be the complete version. Instead, they would be learning about the simplified and accelerated version.
Of course, the simplified version was simplified very technically. The spices that were hard to find on the Demon Islands were removed and replaced by some locally produced spices. The cooking methods were then simplified to make the cooking easier while not affecting the crayfish’s taste and texture.
“Thirteen-spice crayfish.” Kitar was rather delighted to hear the team that he was assigned to. Although he could only learn one of crayfish’s cooking methods, as long as he could master it, there would be customers who like it.
“I didn’t expect I would get the spicy crayfish. My favorite is the spicy crayfish,” Ivan murmured, similarly happy. The delicious spicy crayfish had already become his favorite dish. As long as he could master it, it could become the food craze of the rock troll tribe.
The other demons also had an expectant look on their faces. Many of them were the customers of the crayfish restaurant. They were mesmerized by the crayfish’s scrumptiousness after trying it, and they decided to try it after reading the announcement. If they could indeed master it, regardless of whether it was on Carapace Island or on another island, it would be a very valuable life skill.
Mag gestured for them to quiet down before he walked to the pond. He scooped a crayfish out, and said, “Alright, the teams are formed. Now, let us go to the part on how the crayfish is cooked. The first step is to clean and process the crayfish. Firstly, we have to put the crayfish that we bought into clear water and leave them there a few hours…”
Washing, opening the back, deveining. Mag had spent quite some time on explaining how to process the crayfish alone. He even did a detailed demonstration.
Ingredient processing was the beginning of a dish and the most important cornerstone. Even though it was an accelerated class, Mag didn’t want to just get it over with. After all, these apprentices would be bearing his name when they ventured out in the future. He didn’t want to damage his reputation.
As if they could sense Mag’s serious attitude, all the demon apprentices were paying serious attention too. Some even took out a notebook to take down notes.
“Set the processed crayfish to one side, and marinate it with some raw ginger before preparing the ingredients we need. First, let us see what ingredients the spicy crayfish need…”
Then, Mag began to teach them how to cook the crayfish. Chili could be obtained easily on the Demon Islands, but sichuan peppers were rare or even nonexistent. However, the spicy crayfish would lose half of its soul if sichuan pepper was not added. Hence, he had to negotiate with the system and buy some sichuan peppers from it before selling them to the other demons. He would then give them some sichuan pepper seeds to cultivate on their own.
As for garlic crayfish, it was much simpler. Even though the majority of the demons didn’t like to eat garlic, it wasn’t a rare ingredient, and was very easy to cultivate.
As for the thirteen-spice, it was indeed the greatest problem that Mag had encountered.
Obviously, he couldn’t supply the thirteen-spice powder directly to the demons. He would be leaving after a few days, and the distance between them would make it impossible for them to form a relationship of a stable supplier and customers.
Therefore, Mag had to choose dozens of the commonly seen spices from the Demon Islands and mix them according to the system’s recommended amounts and his own experience into the alternate-world version of thirteen-spice.
Frankly speaking, the thirteen-spice that was short of certain special spices was slightly lacking in fragrance and texture, but the aroma was still considered rich, and had achieved the distinguishing feature of numb, spicy, fresh, fragrant, and sweet. It was already very outstanding as a reformulated version of thirteen-spice.
Mag had only taught about the cooking methods of the spicy crayfish before the lunch service started.
“Did you all get it?” Mag asked Ivan and the other two demons.
“My eyes got it.” Ivan nodded honestly.
The other two demons also scratched their heads embarrassedly. Although the boss taught in a very detailed and serious manner, they could only roughly remember the procedures. They were not confident to do it themselves.
“It’s fine. We all have to learn cooking from watching first. You all still have three days. As long as you pay serious attention, you would be able to get it.” Mag smiled. He looked at the time, and said, “If you have nothing else to do in the afternoon, you can watch me cook crayfish at the side. The version that I’ve taught you is a simplified one. As for the complete version, you can watch for yourself. How much you can learn will depend on yourself.”
All the demons’ eyes lit up upon hearing that. They all said they were free to stay on and continue learning.
The lunch service was as busy as usual. As the crayfish restaurant got more and more famous, more and more demons on Carapace Island began to hear that many customers were still coming even though the crayfish were selling at 100 copper coins each. Hence, they all came because they were curious.
Tony and Steve also came to the crayfish restaurant today. After pulling an all-nighter to write his manuscript, Tony slept till noon before he got up. He dragged Steve to the crayfish restaurant as soon as he woke up. He said he had to eat some more crayfish for inspiration so he could better edit his article.
“Steve, you may not believe me, but after writing that manuscript last night, I feel that my life has already reached its peak. I may never write another essay as good as that ever again,” Tony said to Steve excitedly with a pair of dark eye circles.
“You should take me out for a trip when you receive your bonus for this month’s manuscript.” Steve chuckled.
Tony patted his chest, and promised, “Sure. If this article becomes popular, wherever you want to go or eat, just say it.”
“You promised. Don’t blame me for going all out then.”
***
Mag wandered in between the three big woks, and cooked the crayfish with three different flavors at the same time easily.
The 10 demon apprentices watched him diligently from a short distance. Their gazes began to fill with admiration, and their faces were full of awe.
Justin and Gemina went to the crayfish restaurant, and just as they were about to enter, Justin saw the notice at the door. He halted, and curiously asked, “Mother, look? It said you have to give 500 copper coins to register as an apprentice. Is Father hiding money behind your back again?”
“Ha. He’s dead meat.” Gemina smirked coldly, and her gaze locked onto Ivan in the yard.
Ivan, who was watching Mag cook the crayfish intently, suddenly shivered and looked out instinctively. He met Gemina’s killer gaze head-on, and his expression instantly changed slightly. He suddenly realized something, shifted behind Mag in small steps, and whispered, “Boss Hades, can I bother you with something…”