Before they even reached the gate of the Sheng family's house, the dog smelled the scent of prey and started barking.
Zhang Shuzhen and Zhou Qinglan, who were cooking inside, heard this and peeked out, just in time to see Sheng Xiping and the others coming in.
"Hey, what's all this about today?"
"I happened to witness a civet catching a badger. The civet killed the badger, and I, who was lying nearby, seized the opportunity and killed the civet."
Sheng Xiping smiled as he entered the house, hung the gun on the wall, then turned and went to the kitchen, found two enamel basins, and went outside to deal with the civet and badger.
The civet was skinned from head to toe, forming a roll. After removing the excess grease, it was stuffed with straw and other materials and hung in the barn to air dry.
The same procedure is basically followed for badgers, except that the badger meat is coated with a layer of oil, which needs to be removed and stored separately, and then fried in oil when there's nothing else to do at night.
"Mom, are there any big radishes left at home?"
There were three badgers, and quite a bit of meat. It would be a waste to throw them away, so Sheng Xiping asked while he was working.
"What time is it? Where are there any radishes left? There are only a few left in the cellar for seeds, and we haven't planted them in the garden yet."
I reckon they're all mushy and won't taste good. These days, you can't buy rapeseed anywhere; you have to save your own seeds.
Radishes and cabbages are both biennial cruciferous plants.
When the radishes are harvested in autumn, select a few large ones, don't cut off the tops, just twist off the radish greens, then put them in the cellar and cover them with soil.
When spring arrives and the weather warms up, the radishes sprout tender little leaves in the cellar. Then we dig them out and bury them in the vegetable garden.
Radishes will sprout, flower, and produce seeds. The seeds will be dried and stored before being planted again, and this cycle will repeat year after year.
We've been busy with work in the mountains lately, and haven't had time to plant anything in the vegetable garden at home yet, so the radishes we left are still in the cellar.
However, once spring arrives, the radishes lose most of their moisture and become mushy, like cotton wool, making them unpalatable.
"Third brother, go with sixth brother to the cellar and bring up a radish. Don't bring too many, just to add some flavor, otherwise the earthy smell of the badger meat won't be able to be masked."
After thinking for a moment, Sheng Xiping decided to let Sheng Xikang go get the radishes.
Based on Sheng Xiping's understanding of his mother, there must have been quite a few radishes left in the cellar.
Actually, you don't need that many for seed saving. Just take one, regardless of whether it's coarse or not, just to get the flavor.
Sheng Xikang agreed and, along with Sheng Xitai, took flashlights and went to the cellar in the backyard to get radishes.
The two returned shortly afterward, with Sheng Xikang carrying a rather large radish.
Sure enough, tender leaves had sprouted from the top of the radish, and because it was in the cellar without sunlight, the leaves were yellow.
With the weather getting warmer, these meats would spoil if not eaten soon, so Zhang Shuzhen decided to add a dish for dinner: badger meat stewed with radish.
Sheng Xiping chopped the badger meat with a hand axe, and Zhang Shuzhen took it away and rinsed it several times with clean water.
Wash the pot thoroughly, add water, pour in the badger meat, and then add some white wine to remove the fishy smell.
Bring the water to a boil over high heat in a pot, then briefly blanch the badger meat to remove some of the earthy smell.
Take the meat out of the pan, rinse it, then reheat the oil and stir-fry it in the pan. Add the meat and stir-fry, then add Sichuan peppercorn powder, star anise, and soy sauce. Finally, add broth and simmer.
Just as the stew was cooking, Sheng Liancheng and Sheng Xi'an returned home, smelling the aroma as soon as they entered.
"Oh my, what delicious food are you making tonight? Stewed meat?"
Sheng Liancheng was puzzled. He had been very busy lately, and Sheng Xiping hadn't had time to go hunting in the mountains. The meat stored at home for the winter had also been cleaned and dried. Where did the meat smell come from?
"The eldest brother was lucky today; he killed a civet cat and three badgers."
I just put the badger stew in the pot. Dinner will be a little late today, so it'll be perfect to have some meat.
"I'll stew the civet meat in a pot tonight, and tomorrow morning I'll butcher the meat, stir-fry it with chili peppers, and give it to you guys to take as lunch up the mountain."
The meat of the mountain raccoon is firm and doesn't easily become mushy; it needs to be simmered in a pot overnight.
No matter what, since my son went to the trouble of bringing it back, we have to cook and eat it; we can't let it go to waste.
With good food to eat, it didn't matter if it was late, so the men went to wash their hair and faces and change their clothes, and even checked each other to see if they had any grasshoppers on their bodies.
After confirming that everything was alright, he went inside and sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) to coax the child.
Sheng Xinhua can run very fast now, and his speech is clearer than before. When he sees Sheng Liancheng, he calls out "Grandpa" and rushes over.
"Oh, my dear grandson, I haven't seen you all day, have you missed your grandpa?"
Sheng Liancheng held his grandson and kissed the little guy's tender cheek.
Sheng Xinhua had a good appetite and ate a lot, and Zhang Shuzhen took good care of him.
So after weaning, this baby hardly lost any breast fat and didn't look thinner; he was still chubby and adorable.
Sheng Xinhua sat on his grandfather's lap and nodded vigorously at his grandfather to show that he had thought about it.
Sheng Liancheng, however, refused to give up and had to ask again, "Where do you want to go?"
Sheng Xinhua pointed to his chest with his chubby little hand, meaning that he was thinking about it carefully.
This is a skill that Sheng Xinhua recently learned. When asked where he wants to go, he initially pointed to his mouth and ears, but now he can point to his chest.
While Sheng Liancheng and a few others were inside soothing the children, Zhang Shuzhen and Zhou Qinglan quickly busied themselves cooking.
Badger meat is relatively tender and easy to stew. Once the meat is stewed until it's very soft, add the carrots cut into chunks.
Once the radish is tender, sprinkle with chopped green onions and minced garlic, and the dish is ready to serve.
In early spring, the vegetable garden only had newly sprouted scallions and purplish-red chives just emerging from the ground.
Besides the dried vegetables that every household dries in the autumn, wild vegetables like dandelion and shepherd's purse growing in the fields are also edible.
In the past few days, the children have all gone up the mountain to plant trees, and Zhang Shuzhen has to take care of the children, so no one has gone to dig for wild vegetables.
So for dinner I stewed some dried green beans and dried eggplant, made some pancakes, picked some scallions, and had a bowl of sauce. I was just thinking of having a simple meal.
Unexpectedly, Sheng Xiping brought back badgers and lynxes. When a large pot of badger meat stewed with radishes was served, everyone couldn't help but sniff.
"It smells so good."
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