Because the "Beggar Chicken" version of the grilled fish is wrapped in a thick layer of Guanyin soil shell, and the fish belly is stuffed with vegetables such as radish slices, coriander and bean sprouts, it is much later than the other crispy version of the grilled fish.
Seeing that the grilled fish would not be cooked in a short time, Su Qingluan simply served everyone a bowl of fish soup to warm them up.
There were a lot of shredded ginger in the fish soup, all of which were cut very finely and evenly by Su Qingluan, so that the spicy taste of the ginger could be fully released into the fish soup, and the original taste of the ginger would be weakened a lot, and it would taste more like other vegetables with a little bit of ginger flavor.
Su Qingluan divided the fish meat into several pieces. The belly was given to the two little ones, and the remaining three adults ate the fish back and tail, which had relatively more bones.
However, it was obvious that the three adults were very skilled in spitting out fish bones, especially Su Guangfu. Although he was not good at speaking, he was an expert at picking out fish bones with his tongue. No matter how fine the fish bones were hidden in the fish meat, as long as Su Guangfu bit them with his tongue, there would be no meat left on the bones.
Su Qingluan was very suspicious that her father was a cat in his previous life, as his tongue would have barbs.
However, it is obvious that the two little guys, Su Xueyan and Su Xuanhe, are not yet experienced in the business of picking out fish bones. Even though the whole family has reserved the best parts for them, they still can't avoid being pricked by fish bones occasionally.
"Grilled fish is still better..." Su Xuanhe curled his lips, "It's so crispy that it falls apart in one bite. You don't even need to pick out the fish bones. You just need to spit out the biggest fish bones."
This time, Su Xueyan also agreed with her brother's words directly, nodding her head like crazy, "Sister, why don't we eat this kind of grilled fish from now on!"
Su Qingluan helplessly tapped her sister's nose: "If you eat this kind of grilled fish every time, I, your sister, will have to turn into an octopus to feed you!"
"What is an octopus?" Su Xueyan opened her eyes wide like black grapes, full of confusion.
Su Qingluan then remembered that according to the level of information dissemination in that era, people in Huaxi Village, far away from the sea, probably had never heard of an octopus in their entire lives.
So she briefly described it: "It's a creature that lives in the water. It has eight legs, each with a suction cup and a big head..."
Su Qingluan was no longer surprised by the image of the octopus, but she still underestimated the impact of "unknown marine creatures" on people of this era, especially children.
Su Xueyan was already trembling as she huddled into Yang's arms beside her. "Mother, there's such a scary monster in the water! Will I get caught by the monster if I go to play by the river?"
Su Qingluan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Octopuses only live in the sea, and they are not monsters. They can be eaten."
"What is 'in the sea'?"
"It's a vast body of water, very far away from us." Su Xueyan breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the word "very far away".
Su Xuanhe was actually terrified himself, but he just secretly grasped the corner of his clothes and didn't go to his parents to complain. Hearing that the terrifying octopus was actually edible, he sighed, "Although Master Zhou talked about the sea, I never knew there were such strange fish in it. Sister, you really know a lot!"
Su Qingluan: ...Actually, octopus is not a fish...But she wisely decided to ignore this question, otherwise there would be more and more things to explain.
However, as for the so-called "knowledgeable", she still needed to maintain her amnesiac persona: "Actually, these are all recorded in the various miscellaneous books borrowed from Mr. Mu - Mr. Mu really has a lot of books at home."
When they heard that it was from Mr. Mu's book, the whole family immediately showed an expression of "I see". Su Qingluan couldn't help but secretly criticize that the impression of Mu Xingzhi as "well-informed and knowledgeable" might have been imprinted on the villagers' minds.
Su Qingluan gave everyone a big bowl of fish soup, and everyone drank it all. Then, after Su Qingluan's constant "inspection", another version of the heavy-flavored grilled fish was finally declared ready to be "served".
Su Qingluan suggested, "We only have a few grilled fish left to eat and half a pot of fish soup left to drink. How about we just remove the oven and eat directly inside?"
Now that the sun has set, the warmth that was originally brought by the sunlight has completely disappeared. Instead, the north wind is blowing more and more frantically, giving everyone countless huge gusts of wind, making people feel increasingly unable to eat.
Everyone thought this was a good idea, so they quickly divided the work and cooperated. Some closed the screen, some extinguished the stove, and even the youngest, Su Xueyan, was busy carrying plates and bowls into the house one by one.
Soon, several people gathered in a warm room, shutting out the howling cold wind. The warmth of the kang in the inner room and the heat of the charcoal basin behind them made the room even warmer.
Guanyin clay is a kind of pottery clay with a very fine texture, but the slow roasting over charcoal fire cannot reach the temperature required to fire pottery.
So even if it was placed on the fire for a long time, the outer layer of Guanyin soil was not particularly hard, and it would break apart in the middle with a slight bend.
In an instant, the accumulated aroma of a large amount of spices and fish meat immediately hit everyone's taste buds.
What's even better is that because of the stickiness of the clay, almost all of the spices on the outermost layer were pulled off, so Su Qingluan didn't even have to bother picking out those small particles of spices.
Su Qingluan pushed the grilled fish in front of her parents: "Let's try this one. How does it taste? It might be a little spicy though!"
Yang smiled and said, "When the weather is cold, it's just right to eat something spicy to warm the body." Then she picked up a piece of fish with chopsticks, and then her eyes lit up.
Su Qingluan took a bite herself and nodded: Although it lacks the crispness of the previous grilled fish, the taste is more spicy and fragrant, with rich layers, because of the large amount of spices used. Sure enough, this heavy taste is suitable for her.
I took a bite of the bean sprouts in the fish belly, and they absorbed the deliciousness of the fish and the spiciness of the spices. It even had a bit of the flavor of a spicy hot pot.
Seeing their parents and elder sister eating with gusto, the two younger ones couldn't sit still anymore and were eager to try.
However, Su Qingluan was very forward-looking and placed two bowls of fish soup next to her.
Needless to say, the result was that the two little guys cried because of the spiciness, their stomachs were full of fish soup, and they went to the toilet all night.
Such days were ordinary and warm, and Su Qingluan had almost adapted to this kind of life with her family gathered around the fire and chatting at night. Until one day, she woke up in the morning and wanted to push the door open, but found that the door seemed to be locked from the outside and could not be pushed open.
But this was impossible—her door was unlocked from the outside.
Unable to get out of the room, Su Qingluan removed the seal on the window and opened it. Then she was shocked - there was a thick layer of snow outside, almost level with the bottom edge of the window!
No wonder he stepped back to open the door - there was such thick snow blocking the outside, there was no way he could push the door open!
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