He was so enthusiastic that he would go out with a basket on his back every afternoon after school. Even if he couldn't find many wild vegetables, he would bring back a bundle of firewood.

So much so that I couldn't even go to sell eggs on Sunday morning. I couldn't help but ask them, "Third Brother, Fourth Brother, it's Sunday tomorrow, why don't we rest in the morning? Look, we have so many dried wild vegetables at home."

"Mianmian, you can rest if you want, we can't," Third Brother said.

"No, that won't do," Fourth Brother said.

Why?

Seeing that my third and fourth brothers didn't want to talk about it, I became even more curious, so I said, "Tell me, third brother, fourth brother."

"All right"

Fourth Brother, defeated, said that he then heard:

"Actually, it's nothing much. It's just that for about a year recently, my brother and I were always hungry. In the mornings, when we left for school, we would grab a cornbread bun from the market to take with us and eat when we got hungry. When we came back at noon, my second sister noticed that two buns were missing and asked us who took them. We nodded and said that we had taken them all. We explained that we got hungry early in the morning after practice at school. My second sister still cooked the same dishes, but at first she ate less herself. Eventually, my eldest brother found out and started eating less too, giving the extra buns to my second sister. From then on, my eldest brother and second sister got hungry before noon every day."

It's not that we're really short of food lately; my second sister told my mom that we heard it from her. Aunt Liu said that even if my eldest brother eats the grain he bought sparingly, it will only last for three months, and that's only if we add the wild vegetables we dig up every day. If we have some oil or something, we can eat less grain.

"This is something my third brother and I discussed. We decided that after Sunday morning, we wouldn't go out partying anymore. We'd see if we could go down to the main road at the foot of West Mountain and catch some wild chickens or something."

"I see."

“Mianmian, you can’t go, you know? It’s not that we don’t want to take you, but although it’s not far from Xishan, if something happens, the two of us can at least climb trees, but we really can’t handle it with you,” Third Brother said hurriedly.

"Okay, but..."

"But what?" Third Brother asked.

"After summer vacation starts, you two take your little sister there. You can play at the foot of the mountain. You two can go hunt pheasants and rabbits. Oh, and does Aunt Zhou know you two are going to West Mountain?"

"Yes, I know. Even my eldest brother, second sister, and Aunt Liu know about this."

So you just didn't know?

"Mianmian, we didn't mean to hide it from you," Fourth Brother said, leaning close to me.

"I know you mean well, but we've already agreed to do it together during summer vacation."

"I know, I know, my eldest brother and second sister will go too."

"Alright then, you can go ahead, but don't go too far in."

"knew"

After my third and fourth brothers finished speaking, I went to Liuzhi Hutong alone, and then to the hospital.

It's really surprising that my third brother, who used to only know how to play all day, and my fourth brother have started to become sensible. That's great.

From then on, Mom made us practice our aim with slingshots every morning after martial arts practice, a hundred times a day. After practicing for more than a month, my third brother accidentally killed a pheasant by sheer luck, and he showed it off to everyone, even to Uncle Shen, who wrote a letter specifically to tell him.

Finally, Uncle Shen asked Uncle Fang to take us hunting in the mountains during a few days of rest during the summer vacation. We would set traps and dig snares. Starting from that summer, we were able to eat meat every few days.

Aunt Zhou also told us, "From now on, when we hunt, if we get a pheasant or a rabbit, we'll eat it in two portions. If we have more than one, we'll salt it and save it for winter or when there's no meat, understand?"

Fourth Brother replied, "I know."

"How do we do that?" Sister Nan asked.

"When we have an extra one, I'll show you how to do it. I'm not saying this because I'm afraid you won't remember, but because I'm afraid you won't do it well."

"oh"

A few days later, my third and fourth brothers came home and proudly showed off a pheasant and two rabbits from their baskets, saying that they would say this at dinner that evening:

"My older brother hunted both the pheasant and the rabbit. We stir-fried one rabbit, and kept the pheasant and the rabbit. Mom, after dinner, you can call us salted meat."

"Wow, you guys are really good! Impressive!"

Cured meat is a common food in daily life. It is made by curing with salt and is a popular food that satisfies the taste of the masses. Good cured meat is delicious and can be preserved for a long time, so it is loved by many people. In fact, we can make cured meat ourselves. Here is a method for you.

Ingredients:

Meat (pork, chicken, duck, goose, fish, etc.): 100 grams; Salt: 14-16 kg of meat

Production method

1. Raw Material Selection: Cured meat raw materials are divided into two types: bone-in and boneless. For bone-in cured meat, depending on the part of the raw meat, it is selected as slices, small pieces, or hooves and legs. Slices refer to the pieces after removing the head, tail, and legs; small pieces refer to rectangular pieces of meat weighing about 2.5 kg each (legs and feet refer to pig legs with claws).

2. Finishing: Remove scraps of meat, blood, lymph nodes, and bits of fat. To allow the salt to penetrate, make cuts every 2-6 cm on the meat, with a salt concentration generally one-third of the meat's volume. The size and depth of the cuts depend on the temperature and the thickness of the muscle. If the temperature is above 15°C, make larger and more numerous cuts to speed up the curing process; if the temperature is below 15°C, make smaller and fewer cuts.

3. Salting: Generally, salting is done in three stages: the first is initial salting, the second is coarse salting, and the third is final salting. Initial salting involves evenly coating the surface of the raw meat with a layer of salt. The next day, coarse salt is applied, ensuring even distribution. A suitable amount of fresh salt is inserted into the incisions, and the meat is neatly stacked. After 4-5 days, the stack is turned over, the layers are swapped, and more fresh salt is sprinkled on top. After about 7 days of final salting, the stack should be turned over again, and a small amount of salt should be applied. The finished product is obtained after approximately 25 days of this three-stage salting process.

4. Salt Fixation: Cured meat can be stored in a -5°C cold storage or submerged in brine at 24-25°C. If the brine becomes cloudy or develops an off-odor, it indicates spoilage and the brine must be boiled again before use. Cured meat tastes quite delicious and contains a high amount of salt. Salt can inhibit the growth of bacteria and microorganisms, and cured meat also has this effect. Cured meat is high in protein, which can promote the growth of damaged cells and help maintain the body's acid-base balance.

Therefore, eating cured meat is not only a taste enjoyment, but also a spiritual enjoyment. Moreover, cured meat is not very fat, so eating it regularly will not cause obesity, and it will also help stabilize your body's endocrine system.

That's how we learned to marinate meat, and it was from this...