随园食单37 ‍ Chinese Cooking Book‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍袁枚‍‍‍‍ ‍躍龍 / 辣椒王 译

躍龍

炒蟹粉

Stir-fried Crab Roe

以现剥现炒之蟹为佳。过两个时辰，则肉干而味失。

Freshly peeled and stir-fried crab is best. If left for two hours, the meat will dry out and lose its flavor.

剥壳蒸蟹

Steamed Crab with Shell

将蟹剥壳，取肉、取黄，仍置壳中，放五六只在生鸡蛋上蒸之。上桌时完然一蟹，惟去爪脚。比炒蟹粉觉有新色。杨兰坡明府，以南瓜肉拌蟹，颇奇。

Peel the crab, remove the meat and roe, and place them back in the shell. Place five or six crabs on top of raw eggs and steam. When served, the crab is intact, except for the claws and legs. It has a fresher appearance than stir-fried crab roe. Prefect Yang Lanpo famously mixed crab with pumpkin meat, which was quite unusual.

蛤蜊

Clams

剥蛤蜊肉，加韭菜炒之佳。或为汤亦可。起迟便枯。

Pick out the clam meat and stir-fry with chives. It can also be used in soup. If cooked too late, it will dry out.

蚶

Grilled Clams

蚶有三吃法。用热水喷之，半熟去盖，加酒、秋油醉之；或用鸡汤滚熟，去盖入汤；或全去其盖，作羹亦可。但宜速起，迟则肉枯。蚶出奉化县，品在蛼螯、蛤蜊之上。

Grilled clams can be prepared in three ways. First, spray them with hot water until half-cooked, then remove the shells and marinate them with wine and soy sauce. Second, boil them in chicken broth, remove the shells, and add them to the soup. Third, remove the shells completely and use them in a soup. However, they should be cooked quickly, otherwise the meat will dry out. Grilled clams from Fenghua County are considered superior to blood clams and mud clams.

蛼螯

Clams

先将五花肉切片，用作料闷烂。将蛼螯洗净，麻油炒仍将肉片连卤烹之。秋油要重些，方得有味。加豆腐亦可。蛼螯从扬州来，虑坏则取壳中肉，置猪油中，可以远行。有晒为干者，亦佳。入鸡汤烹之，味在蛏干之上。捶烂蛼螯作饼，如虾饼样，煎吃加作料亦佳。

First, slice the pork belly and simmer it until tender. Clean the clams, stir-fry them in sesame oil, and then cook the pork slices and broth together. Use plenty of soy sauce for flavor. Adding tofu is also acceptable. The clams come from Yangzhou; to prevent spoilage, the meat inside the shell is removed and placed in lard for transport. Some are dried, which is also good. Cooking them in chicken broth yields a flavor superior to dried razor clams. Pounding the clams into cakes, like shrimp cakes, and frying them with seasonings is also delicious.

程泽弓蛏干

Cheng Zegong's Dried Razor Clams

程泽弓商人家制蛏干，用冷水泡一日，滚水煮两日，撤汤五次。一寸之干，发开有二寸，如鲜蛏一般，才人鸡汤煨之。扬州人学之，俱不能及。

The Cheng Zegong merchant family made dried razor clams by soaking them in cold water for one day, then boiling them in boiling water for two days, removing the broth five times. A one-inch dried clam would expand to two inches, resembling a fresh razor clam, before being simmered in chicken broth. Those from Yangzhou who tried to imitate this method could not achieve the same result.

鲜蛏

Fresh Razor Clams

烹蛏法与蛼螯同。单炒亦可。何春巢家蛏汤豆腐之炒，竟成绝品。

The cooking method for razor clams is the same as for crab claws. They can also be stir-fried alone. He Chunchao's family's stir-fried razor clam soup with tofu was considered an exquisite dish.

水鸡

Water Chicken

水鸡去身用腿，先用油灼之，加秋油、甜酒、瓜、姜起锅。或拆肉炒之，味与鸡相似。

The water chicken is prepared by removing the body and using only the legs. First, it's seared in oil, then cooked with soy sauce, sweet wine, melon, and ginger. Alternatively, the meat can be shredded and stir-fried; the taste is similar to chicken.

熏蛋

Smoked Eggs

将鸡蛋加作料煨好，微微熏干，切片放盘中，可以佐膳。

Simmer eggs with seasonings until slightly dried, then slice and arrange on a plate. Serve as a side dish.

茶叶蛋

Tea Eggs

鸡蛋百个，用盐一两，粗茶叶煮两枝线香为度。如蛋五十个，只用五钱盐，照数加减。可作点心。

Use one hundred eggs and one ounce of salt, then boil two incense sticks' worth of coarse tea leaves. For fifty eggs, use only five mace of salt, adjusting the amounts accordingly. Can be served as a snack.