Actually, small birds like bamboo partridges don't accumulate much fat, but unfortunately, I'm currently short of supplies.

I brought a jar of badger oil with me, but I usually don't use it to eat. It's good for cleaning external wounds and promoting wound healing.

In the wild, this is, in some ways, even more precious than food.

Before rendering the oil, I need to process the bamboo shoots that have already been peeled and chopped into large sections.

After I boiled a pot of water and blanched the bamboo shoots, they immediately became soft, lost their bitterness, and instead emitted a fresh bamboo fragrance.

The next step is to render the oil.

The chicken fat from the two bamboo chickens was rendered out in less than a minute by the high heat, leaving only a few clumps of popcorn-like oil residue and clear, orange-yellow chicken fat that emitted a unique aroma.

There are only three birds anyway, so just a little oil will make them easier to stir-fry. Why use so much oil? People are too busy trying to lose weight and cut back on oil.

If an ordinary person were to cook this wild game, they would definitely chop it into small pieces before stir-frying it.

However, this approach is precisely the wrong one. Doing so can only bring out its fragrance, but it cannot bring out all its essence.

Moreover, cooking these small poultry and game requires careful control of the heat; it cannot be too high or too low.

If the heat is too high, the meat will quickly become tough and burnt; if it's too low, the chicken won't be properly cooked and will taste bland, greatly diminishing its flavor.

The correct way to do it is like this: the two bamboo partridges and the dove are about the same size. At this point, I directly cut off one of the bamboo partridges from its head to the base of its neck.

Next, cut the bamboo chicken breast along the ribs on both sides to divide it into two parts.

It's important to note that you absolutely must not use a horizontal cut to chop, otherwise you'll damage the integrity of the chicken breast.

Next, you cut off the left and right thighs of the bamboo partridge along the hip bone, leaving only the spine and a pair of wings.

First, remove the chicken wings and set them aside. Then, process and dispose of the remaining bamboo partridge and the dove using the same steps.

Now we need to sort these processed meats and put them into several piles for later use.

The neck and spine are grouped together, large pieces of chicken breast are grouped together, bone-in thighs are grouped together, and chicken wings are grouped separately.

First, stir-fry the neck and spine, because they will be used to make broth, so they need to be stir-fried for a long time.

Next, add the large pieces of chicken breast. These pieces are the thickest and hardest to cook, so add them to the pan second and stir-fry until they turn white.

Secondly, add the bone-in thigh meat. This meat cooks faster than chicken breast, so adding it a third time is just right.

After stir-frying for a while, add the remaining chicken wings and stir-fry together.

Chicken wings are the easiest to burn or overcook among all the ingredients, so they should be added last, after the heat has been turned down to medium.

After stirring for a while, all the meat that had been added at different times was fully sautéed in the hot oil, without overcooking any of it.

At this point, apart from the neck and spine parts of the meat that were used for broth, which were fried until they were quite dry and charred, the rest of the meat had a uniformly golden-brown exterior, and the inside still had a springy texture when pressed with a spatula, presenting a crispy exterior and tender interior.

After frying the chicken, I put it in a bowl and set it aside for later use.

While there's still a little bit of oil left in the pot to moisturize my lips, I sliced ​​the blanched bamboo shoots into thin pieces and added them in to stir-fry.

Because of the lack of oil, the bamboo shoots made a crackling sound in the pot, just like setting off firecrackers during Chinese New Year.

The bamboo shoots changed color quickly, from white to somewhat translucent. Then I added water until the pot was half full, covered it, and waited for it to boil.

About ten minutes later, I lifted the lid of the pot and a fresh bamboo fragrance wafted out, which was refreshing and invigorating.

Put the stir-fried chicken into the pot, cover it, and continue to simmer over medium heat. After about twenty minutes, the aroma from the pot will be irresistibly wafting out.

Top had already taken the initiative to wash the dishes. It was holding two sets of bowls and chopsticks, staring longingly at the bubbling chicken in the pot, tears involuntarily streaming from the corners of its mouth.

The moment I lifted the lid, the aroma exploded and filled the air. The chicken was now tender enough to fall off the bone, soft but not mushy.

The thinly sliced ​​bamboo shoots, after absorbing the white and yellow broth, become crystal clear, resembling pieces of warm and soft Hetian jade.

A slight smile appeared on my lips; now it was time for the final touch.

I put the prepared fresh bamboo fungus into the bubbling pot and stirred it slightly. The boiling broth churned inside the bamboo fungus, and the pale golden broth overflowed from the fungus.

An indescribable flavor also blended into the chicken soup.

The aroma here is like that of concentrated shiitake mushrooms, and when paired with the delicacies from the mountains, the taste is simply amazing!

Looking at this masterpiece, I couldn't help but swallow hard. I had completely forgotten when I last ate chicken stew with mushrooms.

It must have been when I was a child. Back then, my family would pick mushrooms from under the pine trees. We called them "congjun" (丛菌), and they had a unique pine scent.

The chicken used was a wild pheasant hunted by my grandfather. The result of stewing it together was just as good as the one I use now. Chicken stew with mushrooms is indeed very delicious!

Top, who was standing to the side, had been itching to get out of there, seeing me standing there dumbfounded.

At that moment, it was already holding two sets of bowls and chopsticks and had no free hands. In its haste, it kicked me in the butt.

His displeased expression seemed to say, "You idiot, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and get the bowl. My arm is getting sore from carrying this gold bowl."

I snapped out of my daze and glared at Top, pretending to be angry. Top puffed out his cheeks and stared back at me like an angry child.

We glared at each other for less than five seconds before I burst into laughter through my tears. I patted Top's puffed-up face and took the bowl from its hands.

I sprinkled the last handful of salt into the pot, stirred it, and the dish was completely finished.

Seeing how anxious Top was, it must be hungry. I filled its bowl to the brim and handed it to it with a smile, saying...

"You little rascal, eat slowly, be careful it's hot."

Top took the food from my hand, and at this moment he no longer had the angry, puffed-up look of a toad. He calmed down again, looked at the food in the bowl, picked up a bamboo fungus with his chopsticks, and put it in his mouth.

The next moment, the pixels in Top's eyes increased several times over, and they became sparkling.