Chapter 160 Everyday Life (Part 3) Stewed Meat, Spoiled Beasts Have the Best Life...
Their family doesn't have many seasonings, so there's not much room for Lai Yi to experiment. He can only teach the flowers simple and convenient dishes.
Stewing meat is easy; the important thing is how to remove the meat's natural gamey smell.
Although beef is difficult to cook, the resulting broth will have a beautiful milky white color, and the tender, stewed beef will be both fragrant and delicious. It's a must-have dish for Laiyi during winter.
"First, we need to remove the gamey smell from the beef. The most important ingredients are ginger and scallions, which are still available in the market. You can stock up on some, otherwise these things will be hard to find in winter, and the price will double."
Hua nodded, carefully noting down every seasoning or ingredient that Lai mentioned.
"Besides ginger and scallions, you can also buy more garlic. Beef with garlic slices is also very delicious."
After mentioning the most important side dish, Lai began explaining to Hua how to stew the meat.
"Don't stew the meat directly. Fresh meat contains a lot of blood foam, which will affect the taste of the broth. Blanch it using my method, then briefly fry it before adding water and simmering it. Depending on the heat, add the ingredients after one or two hours, and simmer for another half hour. Once the aroma comes out, it's ready to eat."
Do you have potatoes or carrots?
"Ray asked."
"There are some potatoes, but not many carrots."
"It doesn't matter, it's just a side dish. You can add radishes or potatoes to the broth, which will give the broth a different flavor."
Hua and Mu, the two good students, nodded vigorously.
"Hua, I see you have some chili peppers. How do you usually use them?"
"Let's roast it and eat it."
"To roast and eat?"
"If you roast it directly over a fire, it will release its aroma. If you eat it directly when it snows in winter, you will sweat."
The shepherd explained.
Goodness.
Lei was surprised by how crudely the orcs ate chili peppers; they really didn't know anything about food.
"Hua, have you ever thought about grinding these dried chilies into powder and sprinkling some on the meat when you're grilling it?"
Hua's expression now was as if she had discovered a new continent.
"You can eat it like that?! Lei, you're amazing!"
"Ray, your idea is brilliant!"
Mu also joined in the teasing, and Laiyi felt very awkward.
It's just an ordinary seasoning, so why are you acting like you've created some earth-shattering masterpiece?
"Lay, how do you make that braised beef?"
"This is a bit difficult, and we don't have the right ingredients in the kitchen. Let me teach you how to make steamed egg custard, which you can also make for your future children."
Upon hearing the word "child," a blush appeared on Hua's face.
She and Hou had been together for many years, and it was time to have a little bear cub. She had been looking forward to the arrival of a child, especially after seeing how adorable Li was.
After Lai said that steamed egg custard was something that children could eat, Mu became very attentive.
Do you have any bird eggs?
"have!"
Hua lifted the animal skin, revealing a large basket of bird eggs hidden underneath. Lai then explained how to make steamed egg custard, which the two remembered very carefully.
By this time, Hou had already packed the hay. Lai and Mu went out to see, and were so startled they almost tripped and fell over.
It must be said that orcs are a very honest and sincere race. A huge stack of hay, at least 1.5 meters high, was piled up in the back of Lai's wagon, securely fastened inside with thin ropes. I really don't know how they managed to do that.
Even after all this, Hou was still complaining that Lai's truck bed was too small and couldn't hold enough.
Because Hou had given them so much hay, Lai felt embarrassed to pay the original price and gave them an extra five silver coins, which Hou firmly refused.
On the way back, Mu explained to him that this was the spirit of the contract between beastmen.
The agreed-upon amount is the final amount.
I can give you more goods without you having to pay extra. However, you cannot negotiate the price that has already been agreed upon.
Lei felt that he had benefited greatly from this trip.
They not only bought enough fodder to get through the winter, but also gained the friendship of the beastmen Shepherd and Flower.
Lai dropped the shepherd off at a village near his home and then drove home.
In winter, it gets dark earlier than usual. Even though I get home quite early, it's already very dark.
Ray unloaded the mule cart by himself and fed the mules a lot of broken grain.
It walked for most of the day and brought back so much hay. This big guy has really worked hard, so we should reward it.
"Lay, where did Li go? Why is he so late coming back!"
Tata angrily questioned Rae, expressing her dissatisfaction that he had left her at home.
He promised to take me everywhere he went! Lei is a big liar!
"I went to another village to buy hay. Don't be angry, Tata, I didn't mean it."
"snort!"
The little monster deliberately let out a loud hum.
"Tata, I brought back some beef. I can stew it for you tomorrow."
When Lai left, Hua packed a lot of beef for her, saying it was to thank Lai for teaching her how to make delicious stew and steamed egg custard.
Beef, hehe~ Stewed meat, hehehe~
"snort!"
"Should we stew potatoes or radishes tomorrow?"
Ah, stewing potatoes will make the soup thick, which is delicious for dipping steamed buns or steamed rolls, and it won't mask the original flavor of the beef.
However, stewing it with radish will make the soup taste even more unique, and the texture will not be too thick.
Tata was caught in a dilemma and secretly swallowed.
"Hmm? So my little monster doesn't want to eat stewed beef. Well, I guess I'll just have to put all the meat away and save it for my little brother when he gets back..."
"Radish stew, radish stew! The beast wants to eat it, the beast wants to eat stewed until it's tender and with the meat still inside!"
Tata was so anxious that she kept circling around Lai's legs, and Lai burst out laughing.
"Alright, alright, be a good boy, and I'll let you eat a big bowl of rice tomorrow."
"Good boy, you're the best little monster!"
It has to be said that with the temptation of delicious food, Tata was completely captivated by Lai.
That was a huge piece of beef, at least fifteen pounds, and it felt quite heavy in Lai's hands. It seemed he really had to make braised beef, otherwise it would spoil quickly.
Feeling a bit tired from the journey, Lai decided to leave the dry hay on the truck bed for now and organize it during the day tomorrow.
Feeding the red rockbird, Little Black, and cooking meat for Tata took another hour. By the time Lai finished washing up and lay down in bed, more than two hours had passed.
He was physically exhausted, but mentally fulfilled. Today's experience was very meaningful; it was the first time he had interacted with orcs other than shepherds in this way.
How did such a tall bear transform into a human?
The thick humanoid form is very pure, and there is no trace of orcish characteristics on its body, perhaps it is hidden.
Lei thought to himself.
I was a bit tired today, so I quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, the temperature continued to drop, and you could see his breath in the air; a thin layer of white frost clung to the hay. This didn't matter; the temperature difference between day and night was significant, and the sun would dry it in two hours, so he went off to do other things.
The wooden box for growing vegetables that was hastily put together last winter wasn't very good; it leaked as soon as water was poured in. Lai looked around to see if he could find something more practical.
As temperatures rose, the hay gradually dried out.
Ray untied the rope, and one of them climbed onto the hay and used a pitchfork to throw the tightly bundled hay from the truck bed to the ground below.
The hay from Thick Ley is dried very well, so dry that it can be stored for the entire winter without any problems.
Lai worked all morning on dozens of bundles of hay, and there was still a little bit left to finish. He endured his hunger and neatly arranged all the hay before eating his first meal of the day.
It will be a bit troublesome to do chores after it snows, so Lai plans to take care of all the odds and ends at home in advance so that she won't have to worry about things at home when she goes out to sell vegetables.
In the afternoon, Lai went to Guge's house. The old man was busy tidying up firewood.
With Barnett, the village elder, living alone, the elderly in the village are doing relatively well.
After the autumn harvest season, he would organize the able-bodied men in the village to cut down trees to prepare firewood for the few households with little labor capacity to get through the winter. In addition, he would also give them some food to sustain their livelihood during the winter.
Gug lived alone and was elderly, one of the villagers Barnett took special care of. However, Gug still had a livelihood by selling fruit, so he voluntarily refused the village's food offerings, only accepting free firewood.
Sometimes you really have to accept getting old; Gu Ge feels that his physical strength is not as good as it is year by year.
"Lay, you've arrived."
Gug looked at Lai with a smile.
"Um."
"Did you buy the hay?"
"I brought them back from my friend's place yesterday, and it took me all morning to sort them out."
"well."
Lai started to take the initiative to help Gugge with the work, neatly stacking the firewood together so that Gugge could easily access it.
With young Lai around, the work progressed much faster, and they finished in less than an hour. Lai followed Gug into the house to rest and drank the barley tea that Gug had specially brewed for him.
The house in the Guge family home was as clean and tidy as ever.
How are the trees that were transplanted last year doing?
"Very good, a lot of grapes have been harvested today."
"What about the other one?"
Lai thinks that Gugeti's tree must be the one that Ryan really likes to stay in.
It's strange, really. At this time of year, most of the leaves on other trees should have fallen, but that tree was still green.
He told Guge about the situation, but Guge remained smiling.
"I never expected you could keep it alive."
Lei listened attentively, awaiting Gug's explanation.
"That is not an ordinary tree, but a sapling from the Elf Mother Tree."
Gug told Lai everything he knew, explaining to Lai the common misconceptions people had about the elves.
"The presence of the sapling might help you practice magic."
Guge gave the sapling to Laiyi on a whim. In the human activity area where magical elements are relatively scarce, it is truly remarkable that the sapling was able to grow successfully.
"Take good care of that sapling; it might bear fruit someday."
Lai chatted with Gug for over an hour before going home. For dinner, he cooked beef stew with radish, which Tata wanted. After the dish was cooked, he only scooped some out, leaving the rest to simmer in the pot until it was completely tender before taking it to Gug.
On the other side.
The village elder Barnett's house was always very lively. At this moment, all the villagers who could talk were gathered around the elder's meeting table, with the glass lamp that Temuqi had given to the elder hanging directly above them.
That's how things are. What are your thoughts?
Barnett looked around at the villagers and asked.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-07-10 22:05:40 and 2024-07-10 23:36:16!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: 1 bottle of raincoat;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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