Chapter 106 Tomato Beef Stew
As soon as I entered the house, I saw four dogs gathered around the stove. Little Gua wanted to stick his head into the stove.
I took a dry towel and sat on a small stool to wipe the four dogs' bodies.
After drying them, I took off my socks and put my feet on the stove to warm them.
Even though I was wearing thick snow quilts, standing in the snow for so long still made my feet quite cold.
Once my feet were warm from the heat, I stepped back, lay down on the soft sofa, and covered myself with a small blanket.
He could easily reach the book he was reading halfway through by reaching up, and he read the novel while listening to the crackling of the fire in the stove.
After watching for a while, I noticed the dogs on the ground were very quiet. I turned my head to look at them and saw them sleeping on their little mats by the fire.
After reading only one more page, I started to feel drowsy and fell asleep in no time.
The sky was dim, but the fire was blazing, casting a warm and comforting glow on me and my dog.
I woke up feeling warm all over.
I'm a little hungry. On a snowy day, you should eat something warm, so I'll have a tomato and beef brisket stew.
By this time, the kang (heated brick bed) had cooled down, so we quickly reheated it and added some water to the pot.
Pick out a piece of beef brisket from the refrigerator, soak it in water to thaw, and then cut it into pieces.
Rinse two frozen tomatoes with water, and peel and dice a potato.
First, blanch the beef brisket in boiling water, then remove it from the water.
Pour oil into a wok, add chopped green onions and sauté until fragrant, then add the beef chunks and stir-fry continuously.
Add some star anise, cinnamon, and other spices to the pot, then add water and simmer together.
After the beef brisket had been stewing for 40 minutes, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of beef.
Take the beef out and put it into a casserole dish. Add tomato chunks and potato chunks, along with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and a few pieces of rock sugar. Place it on the stove in the east room to stew.
Don't throw away the broth; keep it in a bowl and use it to mix with rice to feed the dog later.
Steam the rice for about 20 minutes until it's cooked, and the tomato and beef stew is also ready.
I placed the casserole directly on the table with a rag as a base. The room was already filled with the aroma of tomato and beef brisket stew, and now that I lifted the lid, the fragrance was even stronger.
The red frozen tomatoes had melted into the broth as it simmered over the stove, and the brown beef brisket and golden potatoes were all soaked in the crimson soup.
Pick up a piece of beef brisket, blow on it gently to cool it down. The areas where the muscles and tendons intersect have already absorbed the broth. Put it in your mouth and chew, releasing a rich beef flavor.
The potatoes were also delicious; besides being soft and glutinous on their own, they absorbed the flavors of tomatoes and beef brisket.
The red broth was so thick it clung to the spoon. After blowing on it to cool it down, the sweet, sour, salty, and savory flavors blended together wonderfully.
Scoop the beef brisket, potatoes, and broth into a bowl, mix it thoroughly with the rice, and you have a sticky, hot rice soup. After eating a large bowl to my heart's content, I was finally full.
There's half a pot of tomato and beef brisket left, but I'm not going to feed it to the dog. There's a lot of beef broth left in the kitchen today, so I'll just soak rice in the broth and make two big bowls to feed to the dog and the wolf.
The tomato and beef brisket can be saved to make tomato and beef brisket noodles tomorrow morning.
After getting everything ready and feeding the dog, I took the beef soup with rice to see the mother wolf.
The mother wolf was eating, and the wolf cubs were stumbling and crawling towards the food bowl.
Then I made a miraculous discovery: the wolf cubs were already able to eat, which meant that their mother would bring them back to the pack after a while.
After finishing his meal, the little wolf cub climbed onto my trouser leg, whimpering and wanting a hug.
Picking up the wolf cub and stroking its head, it really looks just like a dog, even in personality; it's very affectionate.
After teasing the little wolf for a while, I went to the west room and found a handful of red dates, which I then roasted on the stove in the east room.
Once the aroma of the red dates wafts out, slowly scatter them on the ground until they're no longer too hot to handle, then wipe them clean in your hands.
Find a nice mug, cut some red dates in half and put them in the mug, add a little black tea, and pour in boiling water.
I turn on a TV series and watch it while sipping jujube tea.
The aroma of roasted red dates blends perfectly with the fragrance of tea, making it exceptionally delicious.
Pick up a charred date; the outer skin is slightly crispy, and when you squeeze it open, you can see the sticky date flesh inside. Take a bite, and you'll find it sweet, sour, soft, and chewy—perfect for a snack while watching TV.
After finishing one cup of tea, have another one poured.
Finally, I couldn't resist using a toothpick to pick out the red dates that had been soaking for a long time.
The red dates had swelled up considerably after being soaked in the tea, and they tasted almost like they were bursting with juice.
The outer layer has lost its sweetness; you can only taste the sweetness by chewing it carefully and reaching the very center.
Although the dates weren't as sweet after being soaked in water, I still looked forward to the last bit of sweetness. Suddenly, I felt that this principle was similar to finding joy in the midst of hardship in a poor and mundane life.
When I woke up the next day, the snow had finally stopped, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of snow, enough to cover up all traces of autumn.
The snow in the yard isn't deep because it was cleared yesterday; I reckon the snow on the mountain must be quite deep.
When I was little, my dad told me that after a heavy snowfall in the mountains, people would go down to catch rabbits and pheasants, because they said that rabbits and pheasants were easiest to catch at that time.
On a whim, I decided to give it a try.
I'm planning to bring all four dogs with me, and I'm worried that it might be too cold outside and cause a repeat of the snowball rolling incident, so I've dressed all four dogs in clothes.
I shouldered the largest hiking backpack, filled two thermos cups with water, grabbed my crossbow, and set off.
The easiest path is the hillside leading to the vegetable garden. Climb the hillside, cross the vegetable garden, and walk into the mountains.
The snowfield was mostly flat and very smooth, with virtually no animal tracks in front of me. I decided to walk further in.
As I was walking, I suddenly saw a series of footprints. I was so excited that I quickly ran down to the ground and squatted down to observe what kind of animal it was.
It looks somewhat familiar; it's bigger than a rabbit, smaller than a wild boar, and a bit like a dog.
Okay, suddenly I caught a glimpse of the little melon running in the lead, these are its footprints.
I was speechless for a moment, but I kept walking. After a while, I finally found some real footprints.
The footprints were very small, but they stretched quite far out, so they must have been from a rabbit. My family used to keep a rabbit once, so I have some recollection of rabbit footprints in the snow.
My dad said that if you follow the footprints, you'll have a high chance of finding the rabbit.
I followed the footprints for about seven or eight hundred meters, and then the footprints disappeared. I squatted down in the snow and carefully searched for the rabbit hole, and I actually found it.
It was a hole about the size of a bowl, extending into the interior; the outside was a snow hole, and the inside was a dirt hole.
I shone a flashlight inside, and it seemed to be empty; I couldn't see anything.
It's so strange, how come I can't find it even though my dad said so?
Undeterred, I looked around and saw other footprints on the other side of the rabbit burrow, indicating that it had run away from the other side of the burrow.
Since we were already there, we continued chasing after the rabbit, following its tracks.
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