Chapter 150 Spicy Snails

The remaining two dishes didn't take much effort, so Sang Yu cooked the rice first.

The braised wild duck over there is almost ready to be served, and the pot can be used to stir-fry vegetables and make soup.

She found that even if the current kitchen had two pots and two stoves, it was not enough.

After all, cooking rice takes up a pot, and if you make a dish that requires a long simmering time, there will be a situation where there is no pot available.

It looks like I'll have to get another pot in a couple of days. It doesn't have to be too fancy, just a small earthen stove made of bricks and stones mixed with soil will do.

I have to buy another pot, which is another considerable expense, so setting up a stall has to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

As the aroma of rice wafted out of the chimney, the people busy in the yard consciously put down their work, washed their hands and prepared to eat.

A family of six sat around the octagonal table, looking at the three dishes and one soup on the table, and subconsciously swallowed their saliva. They were so delicious.

Not to mention the braised wild duck with its shiny red skin and intimidating appearance, the aroma of the spicy snails alone went straight into their nostrils, making them greedy.

"Come and try it and see how it tastes." Seeing that none of them were picking up their chopsticks, Sang Yu took the initiative to greet them.

No one dared to destroy the appearance of the braised wild duck, but the whole plate of snails mixed with dogwood powder was different.

Sang Yongjing, who loves spicy food the most, picked up a big chopstick as soon as he got it, but the round snails were not to his liking. They kept rolling from the tip of the chopsticks back into the plate, and in the end he only got three or two.

He was not discouraged. After putting the food back into the bowl, he picked one up with his hand and put it into his mouth.

Sang Yu had chopped off the snail's tail in advance, and the thin, round cap fell off naturally during the stew. Now, with just a gentle slurry, the whole snail meat can be sucked out.

The snail shell with soup hanging on it entered his mouth. As he sipped it gently, the soup on the shell and inside came into contact with the tip of his tongue first.

The next second, the spicy taste of cornus officinalis and Sichuan pepper burst out, instantly stimulating the tongue to tremble slightly, and the fresh and spicy taste rushed straight to the back of the nasal cavity and the head.

I don’t know if it was because he used the wrong angle, but he couldn’t suck out the snail meat the first time. He adjusted his fingertips and tried again.

With a soft "pop" sound, the snail meat finally came out of the shell.

After spitting out the shell and removing the inedible half of the snail meat, he could finally chew the snail meat with peace of mind.

The main body of the snail meat is crispy, tender and chewy, while the tip of the tail is slightly tough and chewy. After being stewed for a long time, it is very tasty and not dry.

You can taste the juice inside the snail meat when chewing. The freshness of the snail itself mixed with the taste of dogwood seems to be a perfect match made in heaven.

He chewed and swallowed a piece of snail meat unconsciously. The moment it passed through his throat, he felt a little reluctant.

Looking at the soup mixed with oil and spice fragments remaining on his fingertips, Sang Yongjing resisted the urge to lick it and picked up the second snail in the bowl.

Seeing that they were all holding the snails or picking them up with chopsticks and trying to suck them with their mouths, Sang Yu slapped her forehead, she had forgotten something.

"Wait a moment, I'll be right back."

There were still some unused short bamboo joints at home from building the house. She picked up a kitchen knife and with two slashes, she split the bamboo joints into two and then into four.

Then split a small part of it into several thin bamboo sticks, sharpen one end, and then clean them.

When she returned to the main room, she saw that no one had stopped eating. They all put down their chopsticks and were waiting for her. Even Sang Xinghao was just licking his fingers.

She was startled at first, but quickly reacted and said with a smile: "Why don't you continue eating? I forgot about this thing. Give one to each of you and use it to pick out the snail meat."

In the past, every household had toothpicks, and when the prepared snails were served on the table, everyone would naturally use toothpicks to pick them up and eat them.

Although you can eat the snail meat without a toothpick, I always feel that the process of sucking the snail meat is very tiring, and you may even feel breathless after a long time.

Sang Yu was worried that they wouldn't know how to use it, so she thought of demonstrating it herself first. Unexpectedly, they understood how to use it as soon as they saw the bamboo sticks.

Sang Yongjing held a bamboo skewer in one hand and a snail in the other. He first sucked up the soup on the snail and then inserted the bamboo skewer into the snail meat and pried it out with a little force. The whole snail meat then fell out of the shell.

After cutting off the inedible part of the snail, the remaining snail meat is put into the mouth with a bamboo skewer, giving the impression of a skilled gourmet.

Sang Yu: ...Okay, her worries are a bit unnecessary.

Seeing that the braised wild duck remained the same, Sang Yu guessed that they were reluctant to destroy the shape she had worked so hard to create.

I simply took matters into my own hands and took away a piece of duck wing with a bit of breast on it.

The wings of wild ducks are larger than those of domestic ducks, and look a bit like smaller goose wings.

There isn't much meat on the duck wings, and there's a bit of resistance when you bite into them.

The first thing you bite into is the duck skin. The subcutaneous fat has melted slightly after a long time of stewing, becoming soft but not mushy, with a slightly caramelized crispy texture at the edges.

Probably due to the high level of activity, the duck wing meat is obviously more chewy, with distinct strands of duck meat, a bit like beef jerky, chewy but not dry.

The meat is filled with sauce, and there is a slight burst of juice when you bite it. The salty and fragrant taste is accompanied by the unique flavor of wild duck. It tastes somewhat similar to that of pigeon but is richer.

The cartilage at the wing tip is stewed until it is soft, sticky and can be easily removed from the bone with just a gentle suck.

The most important thing is that there is absolutely no fishy smell.

I don’t know if it’s due to the food or the habits, but the roasted wild duck doesn’t have the fishy smell of domestic duck at all, and even has a faint aroma of grains.

While eating it, you can also feel the light fragrance lingering in your mouth.

With Sang Yu taking the lead, the others were no longer so reserved and stretched out their chopsticks one after another towards the braised wild duck.

Sang Yongjing picked up a duck leg for Mrs. Shi and said, "Mom, try the duck meat. I caught it myself."

He actually didn't know which one Sang Yu killed, but there was definitely one that he caught, so he naturally had the confidence to say this.

Mrs. Shi wanted to decline: "Give the legs to the children, one each for Yu'er and Hao'er."

"Grandma, you eat it. I love breast meat." Sang Xinghao reached out and picked up the breast meat with skin on with chopsticks and answered with a smile.

He didn't have any obsession with eating legs, and preferred lean meat to fatty ones. The dry and tough breast meat, which most people disliked, was his favorite.

"Then let Yu'er eat it. Yu'er works hard to cook, so she needs to nourish herself well." Old Mrs. Shi still refused, and was about to pass the duck leg to Sang Yu while speaking.

How could Sang Yu accept this? She quickly said, "Grandma, just eat it yourself. We have a few wild ducks at home. If you like them, we'll kill two more tomorrow and give each of you a leg."

Wild ducks can be sold for hundreds of coins in the city, but if her family likes to eat them, she doesn't have to sell them. She can keep them for herself and she won't be reluctant to do so.

After she said this, Mrs. Shi finally stopped refusing. She poked the duck leg with her chopsticks, tore off the meat bit by bit, and ate it slowly.