Chapter 3: Is it malnutrition?
Almost every modern Chinese person knows that ginger can remove fishy smells.
However, Yu Yan was still unfamiliar with the beast world and was afraid of being treated as an alien, so she could not reveal her origins.
He swallowed the soup in his mouth, smiled, and said indistinctly, "I saw the root of the fish and other stems together and thought they were edible, so I just mixed them up casually. I didn't expect that my combination would make the fish not fishy at all. I'm so lucky."
Feng Gui knew what he was like before, so he didn't suspect anything and nodded, saying, "You're really lucky. If you cooked fish like I do, it definitely wouldn't taste this good. Maybe you heard the tribe mention the use of the root of the hand when you were playing in the tribe, and then you remembered it."
Yu Yan: "That makes sense. Many of our tribe's bird and beast people are merchants. They travel all over the country and probably know more about cooking techniques."
Feng Gui: "That's right."
He picked up a piece of stir-fried wild vegetables with his chopsticks, chewed it, and his eyes lit up slightly.
"This wild vegetable is delicious! It even has some scallion roots in it?"
Yu Yan: "Yes, the pieces I cut here are big enough to pick out easily."
Feng Gui exclaimed in amazement: "After adding the root of the hand and stir-frying it together, there was no bitter taste at all."
Yu Yan: "Ah, that might not just be due to the roots of the wild vegetables. I also blanched the wild vegetables before stir-frying them."
Feng Gui was slightly taken aback: "Do wild vegetables need to be blanched? We used to just wash them and boil them or stir-fry them."
When this was mentioned, Yu Yan's expression became more serious.
"Yes, you see, after I blanched them, the wild vegetables weren't bitter anymore, right? This bitterness might be because the wild vegetables contain toxins, which blanching can remove."
He wasn't just making things up. During his months rotating through the emergency room, he treated several patients who had suffered food poisoning from eating wild vegetables.
He would carefully explain to them each time that wild vegetables contain harmful substances such as oxalic acid, nitrite, and alkaloids, and that they must blanch them before eating them.
He knew that the people of the beast world were physically strong, and since they lived by hunting and gathering, they shouldn't be poisoned by eating wild vegetables.
However, it's definitely better to eat less if you can reduce the amount of toxins in your stomach.
Not to mention, blanching can also remove the bitterness.
Seeing Feng Gui deep in thought, Yu Yan softened her tone and suggested:
"Father, since blanching isn't difficult, let's blanch everything before eating from now on?"
Feng Gui smiled and said good-naturedly, "Okay, whatever you say."
Today we were short on time, and the stems that Yu Yan steamed were still very fibrous, dry, and not tasty.
However, the fish soup he cooked, the grilled fish, and the stir-fried wild vegetables he made were all very delicious.
He and Feng Gui had a great appetite and ate all the food, their stomachs were so full.
After finishing the meal, Feng Gui didn't let Yu Yan lift a finger. He used the remaining embers in the stone stove to heat some water and wash the dishes.
Yu Yan went to the stream and first used a simple toothbrush made of willow twigs (which she had bitten off one end) to dip in some large grains of salt and brushed her teeth.
Then I washed my face and rinsed my body with water.
It was late spring, and the temperature wasn't very low, but the stream water was particularly cold.
Yu Yan got goosebumps from the cold and shivered twice when she put on the straw skirt. She thought to herself that when she had the means, she would definitely make herself a big bathtub and boil water for a bath every day.
When they returned to the ginkgo tree, Feng Gui had already packed everything up and said to him, "You go back to your nest first, I'll wash up and come back."
Yu Yan: "Okay."
He climbed up the rattan ladder to the bird's nest, lay down on his little straw bed, and sighed contentedly.
Before long, the wind returned and quietly moved to the other side.
Yu Yan had very poor sleep quality in her previous life, and even medication didn't help.
He thought he would have trouble sleeping tonight after lying down for so long during the day, but after eating his fill and feeling warm in his stomach, and listening to the rustling of the wind through the trees, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and soon he drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, dappled sunlight shone through the gaps in the bird's nest.
Yu Yan was half asleep and felt uncomfortable with the light, so she wanted to find something to cover herself up.
He rummaged around with his hand a couple of times, then touched the animal skin blanket beside him, only to find it too heavy.
With a thought, he transformed his two arms into wings and then covered his head completely.
This time it's fine. The wings provide excellent shade, and he had another nice nap.
In a half-dream, half-awake state, he seemed to hear Feng Gui chuckle softly, something flapped its wings and flew away, and the bird's nest quickly became quiet.
When I opened my eyes again, it was already broad daylight.
When Yu Yan transformed her wings back into arms, she saw several pure white feathers fluttering down from mid-air.
He twitched the corner of his mouth and picked up the feather: "Am I losing feathers? Am I malnourished?"
The feathers felt so soft that he couldn't bear to throw them away. He collected them and placed them on the inside of the bed.
Peeking over the straw curtain, I saw that Feng Gui was indeed not there.
He slept so soundly that he didn't even have a dream.
He stretched and walked out of the bird's nest, climbing down the vine ladder.
Just as she was about to land, a voice suddenly called out from behind: "Yu Yan!"
The other person's voice wasn't loud, but Yu Yan was so focused that she stumbled and almost fell.
Fortunately, he was agile and managed to land on the tree trunk.
Turning my head, I saw a handsome and composed young orc leading a lively and cheerful boy towards us.
The one who called him was that young boy.
Yu Yan searched through the original owner's few memories and found that the young boy was the original owner's playmate, named Shuoxing, a five-year-old beastman.
People in the beast world grow up quickly. Five-year-old Shuoxing looks and is mentally similar to an eight- or nine-year-old boy in modern times.
The beastman beside him looked somewhat like him; he must be his adoptive father, Xin Yu.
Xin Yu's partner, Shuo Xing's father, happens to be the same Cang Feng clan chief he met last night.
Yu Yan met their gazes and asked in confusion, "Xin Yu, Shuo Xing, are you here to see my father-in-law? He left early this morning and I don't know where he went."
Before Xin Yu could speak, Shuoxing, with her short, dark gray hair, ran towards him.
"No! My father and I came to find you!" Shuoxing glanced at the bird's nest above and asked him, "Why didn't you just fly down from there?"
Yu Yan smiled, too embarrassed to admit she wasn't brave enough to fly, and quickly changed the subject:
"Looking for me? What's wrong?"
Xin Yu looked about the same age as Feng Gui, but was a head taller than Yan Yu. With black hair and black eyes, she was tall and had long legs. Even though she was wearing a very ordinary straw skirt, she was still very pleasing to the eye.
He looked over and said shyly, "I wanted to ask you how you make fish soup."
"Ah..." Yu Yan looked around. "Aren't you in a hurry? Go sit on that rock over there first. I'll go wash my face and come right away."
Xin Yu: "No rush, no rush, you go first."
Shuoxing waved to him, "I'll be waiting for you!"
Yu Yan quickly resolved the hygiene issue and ran into Feng Gui when she returned.
He had a faint salty smell of seawater on him, and he was carrying three fish in each hand.
The sea fish had already been processed; water was dripping from it, and when the sunlight shone on it, the flesh was white and translucent.
"Father, you went to the beach again?" Yu Yan asked.
"Yes," Feng Gui nodded with a smile, "We're having fish again this morning?"
Yu Yan: "Okay!"
As they spoke, they walked to the ginkgo tree, and Xin Yu and Shuo Xing stood up.
"Why did Xin Yu and the others come here?" Feng Gui asked.
Yu Yan replied, "You came to ask me how to make fish soup."
Upon hearing their conversation, Xin Yu said, "Yes, last night after Cang Feng came home, he told us that Yu Yan's fish soup was especially delicious, and that Shuo Xing was so craving it that he wanted to drink it first thing this morning."
"Cangfeng went to the beach and caught a few fish. I marinated them with my hands and then made soup."
"The root of the hand is really useful. The soup is no longer fishy, but the color is the same as clear water. Cangfeng drank it and said that it doesn't taste as good as yours."
"I just wanted to ask if we've overlooked any steps?"
Ignoring the fact that her father had exposed her shortcomings, Shuoxing nodded repeatedly: "Yes, Father said that the soup you made was milky white, and the fish inside was tender and fragrant. Why can't we make it like that?"
Upon hearing this, Feng Gui also looked at Yu Yan with curiosity.
Yu Yan suddenly realized: "Ah, that's because the fish I used for the soup was pan-fried."
Xin Yu: "Fried fish?"
Feng Gui's expression changed: "I remember now, those two fish did indeed have signs of being fried."
Yu Yan: "Yes."
Fearing another wasted trip, Xin Yu humbly asked, "How did you fry it? Did you use animal fat? High or low heat?"
Yu Yan thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll do it for you directly."
Xin Yu immediately said, "That's great! I just happened to bring some hand-roots with me. Shall I chop the vegetables and marinate the fish?"
Yu Yan smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll trouble you."
Xin Yu waved his hand: "We should be the ones troubling you."
Feng Gui: "I'll go start a fire."
Shuoxing looked around and took over Yu Yan's task: "Then I'll go fetch water!"
Three adults and a teenager worked together.
Slicing, marinating, starting a fire, washing the pot... everything was done in an orderly manner.
After everything was ready, Yu Yan walked to the earthenware pot and reached out to test the temperature of the pot from a distance.
A piece of solidified animal fat was scooped from the jar with a wooden shovel and slid into the pot.
Next, slide the fish down the side of the pot. The moment the fish touches the oil, it sizzles and releases a strong, fresh aroma.
Yu Yan fried the two fish together. He worked slowly and deliberately, and when the fish were almost done, he flipped them over one by one.
Feng Gui and Xin Yu stood on either side of him behind him, studying diligently.
"You can take them out when they're fried to this consistency." Yu Yan brought over a ceramic bowl and scooped both fish into it.
Then wash the pot, boil water again, and start cooking the soup.
He also emphasized a few key points: "You have to wait until the water boils before adding the fried fish, otherwise the soup won't be dark enough and won't be flavorful enough. After that, keep simmering over high heat for about..."
He wanted to say ten to twenty minutes, but the beast world didn't have the concept of "minutes," and he was momentarily speechless.
Shuoxing, standing not far away, raised his hand high: "I know, I know!"
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