Chapter 64: Stir-fried field mice, the smell is so delicious that it makes you dizzy!
Mingdai and the other three were also very excited when they returned to the shed area. They left the food they had dug out for the time being, waiting to be picked. The field mice could be processed, so they made some today to supplement everyone.
Ming Dai looked at the gray-yellow field mouse with some hesitation: "Sister-in-law, how are we going to eat this?"
Huang looked at the pile on the ground with a smile: "Fry it and eat it. This thing needs to be stir-fried, otherwise it will have a fishy smell."
Ming Dai nodded: "Then let sister-in-law take care of it. I don't know how to do this."
Mrs. Huang picked up a pile of yellow mice on the ground and said, "I'll do this. You kids don't know how to peel it. The skin of a field mouse is thinner than that of a normal mouse, so it's not easy to peel. We have a lot of people, why don't we all do it?"
If Aunt Huang were here, she would definitely scold her daughter-in-law for squandering money.
But Mingdai readily agreed. They only dug a small hill today. According to Mrs. Huang, there was another hill near the farmland that was bigger than this one and the number of field mice there might be more than today's.
"Okay! You go and take care of it. I'll find some ginger and garlic cloves. I think I brought some chili peppers too."
Mrs. Huang nodded with a smile. It was all thanks to Xiao Ming, the educated youth, who cooked the meal. If her mother-in-law had come, she would have been lucky enough to have a pot of vole soup!
Where can you eat stir-fried food?!
While Mrs. Huang and Liu Guoqiang were taking the field mice to the river to deal with them, Mingdai also scooped out suitable grains, washed them with water in the bucket, and started to cook dry rice.
Now they don’t consider two dry meals a day a luxury!
Zhou Sinian went to the back where things were kept and took out two pieces of steamed cakes, chewing them while roasting them over a fire.
Mingdai found three pieces of old ginger and four or five heads of garlic and started processing them.
By the river, Liu Guoqiang took a machete and chopped off the heads, claws and tails of the voles one by one, and then threw them to Mrs. Huang to skin and gut them.
Mrs. Huang used a pair of scissors to cut open the vole's belly and hollowed out the internal organs. Then she separated the flesh from its limbs and slowly pulled down along the spine. Soon the skin was peeled off.
Once everything is processed, it's time to get off work.
The two of them ran back in a hurry, and they were so happy when they saw the big basket of vole meat!
Mingdai had already cooked the dry rice and put it in a clay pot to stew. She also cut a large pot of radishes and prepared to stew them.
The field mouse meat arrived, and Mingdai asked Zhou Sinian to cut the field mouse in half from the spine. The field mouse was not big to begin with, and if it was chopped into small pieces, there would be no meat to eat, only bones.
What's more, it's easier to share it with everyone this way, half a piece per person, and no one will feel like they're at a loss.
The big pot was reheated and Mingdai scooped out a large scoop of lard and put it into the pot.
This time, Mrs. Huang didn’t think it was a waste and decided to stir-fry the field mouse to make it delicious!
When the oil was hot, Mingdai added a handful of peppercorns, three star anises and two pieces of cinnamon, stir-fried them for a few seconds, and then put the chopped field mouse in.
“Sizzle!!”
The pleasant sound of water and oil colliding in the pot was heard, and waves of steam rose up.
Mingdai took out the spatula and started stir-frying. When the sound of the oil died down, she put in the chopped ginger and garlic cloves. Thinking that people here couldn't eat spicy food, she added a handful of chili peppers.
After stir-frying a few more times, the spicy aroma came out. Zhou Sinian stretched his head to look into the pot and saw that the field mouse meat, which was pink just now, had turned into a burnt yellow.
Mingdai took out the soy sauce she brought with her, poured a bowl of it into the pot, stir-fried it evenly, then added water to cover the field mouse meat and started stewing.
"Zhou Sinian, increase the heat and start stewing!"
Zhou Sinian did as he was told and went to fetch some firewood. He began to drool as he watched the chestnuts roasting over the fire and listened to the sound of the vole meat frying in the pot.
Just as the aroma of vole meat began to spread, the bell for the end of work rang.
Everyone started running towards the shanty area in a hurry, and of course the people from Liujiawan were running in the front.
The new educated youth had already known that there was vole meat to eat, but they were still very resistant to eating mice, so they fell behind.
When they arrived at the shed area and smelled the overbearing aroma, they instantly thought that mice looked delicious!
Mingdai lifted the lid of the pot and was very satisfied looking at the bright red field mouse meat and the thick soup.
She poured the radish in, stir-fried it evenly, and said to Mrs. Huang outside, "Sister-in-law, it will take a while to be ready. Please wait a moment!"
Mrs. Huang responded with a smile: "Don't worry, if you give them meat, they will definitely agree even if you make them wait all night!"
Mingdai sighed, it was all because of poverty.
Soon, a circle of people gathered around the shed area, including people from Liujiawan and other villages who came to watch the excitement.
Likewise, everyone was slurping their saliva, smelling the aroma of the explosion in the air, and bursts of gurgling sounds echoed in the shed area.
Mrs. Huang announced that dinner would be served in a while, and sure enough, no one objected. Everyone washed their hands first, found their own bowls and chopsticks, sat outside and waited, chatting. No one wanted to go back and rest first.
People from other villages felt a little disappointed when they heard this and thought they could get a piece of the pie, but who knew that the family couldn't even start eating.
They did not dare to stay any longer, for fear that the food in their own village would be eaten up and nothing would be left for them.
Another half hour passed and it was completely dark.
Mingdai turned on the flashlight and lifted the lid of the pot. The aroma immediately wafted out. The people waiting immediately stood up and looked inside the shed.
Mingdai stir-fried the radish for a while, and the large pieces of radish had absorbed all the soup and became mushy when poked.
She nodded to Huang Saozi outside, and Huang Saozi immediately knocked on the iron basin in her hand: "Line up! Eat!!"
Swish, swish, swish!
In an instant, a neat team appeared!
Mrs. Huang swore that she had never seen this group of people so disciplined!
Zhou Sinian, who had been waiting on the side, became anxious and stretched out his big rice bowl next to the stove.
Mingdai picked out the largest piece of field mouse meat for him and filled half a jar with carrot slices. As for the mixed grain rice, she left it alone because he didn't like it. She would give him some hot red date steamed buns later.
Liu Laifu and Liu Laifa stood aside and swallowed their saliva. They had no objection to Yu Mingdai's action of giving Zhou Sinian food in advance.
Just kidding, his wife said that it was all thanks to the madman that we could eat so many voles today!
Those who originally thought they were too hungry now have their stomachs playing the symphony of hunger again.
A bowl of dry rice, topped with a few large slices of radish soaked in soup, and half a vole meat.
Oh my goodness!
In the past, I would never have dared to imagine it!
You know, even if we were lucky enough to catch a vole, we would just roast it for the children at home as a snack. We would never be willing to stir-fry it with a lot of oil!
Not to mention the villagers, even the educated youth were bewitched by the fragrance!
Mrs. Huang lit a bonfire outside and everyone ate around it.
Everyone chewed the field mouse, which had little meat, with great care. With a light bite, the field mouse meat fell off the skeleton, and the spicy and fresh fragrance filled the whole mouth.
Mingdai heated up six red date steamed buns, kept one for herself and gave five to Zhou Sinian.
Watching Zhou Sinian slurping up the whole vole skeleton, Ming Dai also mustered up the courage to give it a try.
It tastes a bit dry at first bite, and indeed like chicken. The fat content is still acceptable because it has been through the winter, but it still tastes a bit fishy overall.
She tried the radish again and liked it more. The spiciness was gone and the aftertaste was a bit sweet, which was different from the refreshing taste of mixed radish. It had more of a mellow meaty aroma, but it also neutralized the greasiness. It was very good.