Universe Infinite Canteen

The previous Two-Headed Hyena, Thousand-Tooth Sand Bream, and Lava Giant Lizard were all quite strange, but they were essentially still within the category of animals.

The Spiked Whip Spider Queen he got this time felt closer to insects, although strictly speaking, spiders are not insects.

Because in the natural sciences, the definition of an insect includes having a head, thorax, and abdomen, six legs, and a pair of wings.

Spiders, on the other hand, have a fused head and thorax, as well as eight legs but no wings, hence they are excluded from the class Insecta.

But in terms of taste, the two are actually quite similar.

Ma Lu had heard that there is a tradition of eating spiders in Southeast Asia, and similar dishes exist in Yunnan too.

There, ethnic minorities would deep-fry the Lumped Sac Ground Spider and Striped Golden Spider, and barbecue the Lumped Sac Ground Spider. It was said that the flavor was quite good.

Moreover, spiders or insects are high in protein content. Since they are far removed from mammals, the viruses they carry are unlikely to infect each other, making them really high-quality, healthy food.

It\'s just that most people still find it difficult to accept psychologically.

Therefore, Ma Lu first dismissed some dishes that looked too visually shocking.

Eventually, pointing to a dish named "Queen\'s Crisps," he asked, "What is this?"

"If you\'re asking about the texture, it\'s probably somewhere between sweet and sour pork and potato chips," was the reply.

"Oh, that sounds quite nice, and it has a Deliciousness Index of ★★☆, the same as Giant Lizard Grilled Sausage. Can you make one for me to try first?"

The ingredients needed for Queen\'s Crisps were not many, and ever since he started his food stall, Old Wang had accumulated a variety of food ingredients and condiments at home. Everything needed for a trial was readily available.

So, Old Wang donned his apron and took the piece of Tailless Scorpion Leg Meat from Ma Lu, heading straight into the kitchen.

He first cut the Tailless Scorpion Leg Meat into 3cm thick slices and coated them with potato starch.

Having lived with Old Wang for so long, Ma Lu had seen a lot of ingredients processed, and although he had never cooked himself, he had gradually become familiar with some basic cooking processes. Watching him work, Ma Lu asked curiously,

"Don\'t we need to remove the gamey taste from this meat first?"

"No need, compared to mammals, spiders and insects have almost no gamey odor," Old Wang replied.

As he spoke, Old Wang took up a rolling pin and started pounding the starch-coated meat slices. He used both hands at a rapid pace, and after about a minute, the meat slice had become almost as large as the cutting board.

At the same time, its thickness became extremely thin, about 1 millimeter, almost as thin as a sheet of paper.

The starch molecules, after being pounded, embedded themselves into the spider meat fibers, with the final ratio of starch to meat settling at 2:8.

Old Wang then cut the thin meat sheet into small pieces with a kitchen knife and started heating up the pan.

He poured some soybean oil into it, waiting until the oil temperature reached one hundred degrees before adding the meat slices into the pan.

Before long, the surface of the meat slices turned a slight golden color, and Old Wang quickly scooped them out to drain the oil.

He then continued frying over low heat for a second time. When the meat was taken out again, the golden color on its surface had deepened, making them look similar to potato chips in appearance.

Ma Lu took a piece and put it into his mouth. The bite was indeed crispy and savory, and since it was made of meat, it tasted even more delectable than regular chips.

Old Wang was right; spider meat had hardly any gamey smell compared to the previous animal meats, and its high protein content made it sizzle with flavor, like chewing on an egg yolk.

Ma Lu originally just wanted to try a piece, but once he started, he found he couldn\'t stop eating.

Afterward, Old Wang chopped onions, tomatoes, green peppers, and a handful of cilantro, mixed them together, drizzled lime juice over them, added a small amount of salt, and made a fresh dipping sauce, which he poured over the Queen\'s Crisps, making them even more refreshing and palatable.

Ma Lu polished off a large plate in less than 3 minutes.

Then, wiping his mouth and still feeling unsatisfied, he said, "Let\'s just make this one, the portion can be a bit smaller. This time the protein content is high, the price needs to go up. Let\'s set it at... 18 per serving. I\'ll go buy the ingredients right now."

"Okay."

Ma Lu went to the market to stock up, and unexpectedly, someone recognized him while he was parking.

A granny carrying two bundles of green onions and a bag of pork ribs walked past him, then suddenly stopped, pointed at him excitedly, and said.

"It\'s you, lad, I know you, your sausages can breathe fire! I\'ve seen them on TikTok!"

"Uh..."

The granny then took out her phone, ready to scan a code, "Perfect, let me try one of your sausages."

"Ah, sorry, if you\'ve seen our videos, you should know that someone else is responsible for the cooking," Ma Lu said, "Moreover, we\'re not open for business right now."

"What are you talking about, roadside stalls don\'t have set business hours. As soon as you park, you can start cooking. Come on, I haven\'t had my breakfast yet," the granny persisted.

"Really, I don\'t even have the ingredients right now," Ma Lu spread his hands.

"This is a farmer\'s market, lad. Can\'t you just buy whatever you\'re missing?" the granny retorted, "Here\'s what we\'ll do, give me a discount, and I\'ll shoot a video to promote you online."

"No need, no need, we\'ve got enough publicity as it is. Actually, I\'ve started to feel it\'s a bit too much."

Ma Lu wasn\'t bragging; it was a heartfelt statement.

In the internet era, the speed of spread for a hot topic can often be exponential.

Ma Lu initially just wanted to use the Lava Giant Lizard Grilled Sausage\'s flame effects to break into the market, to keep the unruly underclassmen obediently spending their money.

College students might find it hard to accept a grilled sausage priced at 16, but a fire-breathing grilled sausage, like a cat that can do a backflip, was endowed with a significance that transcended its identity.

According to incomplete statistics from Shen Yue, ever since the sale of the fire-breathing grilled sausages, the belle of the Classical Literature Society, Little Poetry, had received over eighty orders of the volcanic grilled sausage, and half of them were even sent anonymously.

Little Poetry couldn\'t find anyone to return them to, and as a result, Shen Yue also had her fill of grilled sausages over the past week, burping up the taste of grilled sausages.

And these were just the lovelorn ones; those couples in the throes of passionate love were even less resistant to such trendy knick-knacks.

Can\'t make it to Greece to see the Aegean Sea? Can\'t get to West Gate to buy volcanic sausages?

If you love her, just buy it!

As a result, not only did the volcanic grilled sausage become popular inside Aerospace University but it also quickly spread outside the campus.

The most popular video broke 200,000 likes and had 120,000 shares, making its way onto the local trending list, sandwiched between "Man buys lottery for 100k and wins 200 million" and "Federal Reserve hikes interest rates again."

Then a local food blogger with 5 million followers came to explore the stall, made a video, and posted it on several platforms.

His team\'s filming and editing techniques were clearly more mature, and the arrangement was more entertaining; they knew how to maximize the audience\'s attention. Plus, with the traffic that the big blogger himself brought in, the release of the video thrust the popularity of the Lava Giant Lizard Grilled Sausage up another notch.

Since then, Ma Lu hadn\'t worried about attracting customers again, but at the same time, he began to experience some of the side effects of fame.