Chapter 6 It smells so good!
Li Xiang grew up in the mountains and is an expert at finding and identifying mushrooms.
Soon, Li Xiang harvested some small mushrooms and big-foot mushrooms.
In particular, the big-foot mushroom is not only delicious, but also has certain medicinal value. The base of the stem of this mushroom is swollen, a bit like a big foot, hence the name. It is also a common edible mushroom in the mountainous areas of Sichuan Province.
It has several aliases, such as white beef liver, mountain black antler, white beef head, and some people just call it mushroom.
"Hey~, there should be goods in that place!"
Li Xiang noticed that there were several cracks in the soil about two meters away on the left, as if something was about to "break out of the ground", which immediately caught his attention.
There were a lot of weeds around, so Li Xiang used the long stick to whip the area around to drive away any snakes that might be lurking in the grass, and then he slowly walked over.
He squatted down, put down the stick, and used his hands to dig up the soft soil. Sure enough, he found many black lumps, as big as potatoes, but obviously not potatoes.
It's soft and fluffy, and feels great in the hand.
A total of seven or eight were dug out. After one of them was wiped clean, exquisite black marble cloud patterns were revealed.
“Black truffle!”
Li Xiang's lips curled up slightly, revealing a knowing smile.
This black truffle is actually very precious, especially in Europe, where the French and Italians love to eat it the most. There is a saying that "one gram of truffle is worth one gram of gold". Each kilogram of truffle is sold for up to 10,000 yuan, and some are even sold for tens of thousands of yuan, which can be called "black diamonds". However, in China, well, it also has a popular name, called "pig arch mushroom", which was used to feed pigs in the past.
Since knowing the high price abroad, the price of this thing has also risen, and it has been praised as a "delicacies". Many Europeans will secretly come to buy it and then sell it to Europe at a high price.
The name "pig-pugging mushroom" is actually very descriptive, because pigs like to find this kind of thing to eat. They use their noses to push it out, and then chew it in big mouthfuls.
Wild boars cannot eat fine bran, so the boar mushroom was naturally not considered a delicacy in China before. Among all the mushrooms in the southwest, it was ranked at least outside the top 20.
But there is a detail, not all pigs can find and like to eat it, only sows.
So if you want to find pig-rooted mushrooms, it is best to lead a sow up the mountain.
Because the pig arch mushroom emits a smell similar to the secretion of a boar in estrus, it is extremely attractive to sows.
Some people claim that the truffles from Europe have a gasoline smell, which is a unique selling point, and that the reason they are eaten is because of this gasoline smell. Without this "soul smell", truffles like those from China can only be fed to pigs and cannot be compared with truffles produced in Europe.
In fact, this is not the case. Li Xiang once discovered that Chinese truffles lose their freshness after being stored for a long time and also develop an unpleasant gasoline smell.
The smell of gasoline can be a selling point? Can't you find a good word for it?
But it’s hard to say, some people just like it.
Domestic truffles and European truffles are actually similar in appearance, taste, nutritional value, etc. The only difference may be the degree of maturity.
Due to the high selling price abroad, the harvesting time and standards are better controlled because it is more precious. But in China, it is just dug up casually, and some are dug out when they are still very small, so the taste is naturally different.
Li Xiang speculated that the reason why some Europeans do not recognize Chinese truffles is that they are afraid that the introduction of a large number of truffles here will affect the price of their local truffles.
Wouldn’t that mean the price would be as cheap as cabbage? Of course, if there is profit, there will be exports, but just like diamonds, the sales volume is controlled.
Although the tricholoma is not particularly delicious and Li Xiang doesn't really like to eat it, he put it in the backpack because its current domestic selling price is around 500 to 600 yuan per kilogram.
There are actually still many mushrooms on this mountain, but Li Xiang has already harvested most of them. He looked at his phone and headed back home. If he didn't go back, he would not be able to make it in time to stew the chicken with mushrooms.
Oh, no, it’s because I can’t make it as fast as the chicken stewed with bigfoot mushrooms and black truffles!
"Oh my nosy dragon!" Li Xiang covered his chest, feeling a pang of heartache and infinite regret. He couldn't help but wipe the corner of his mouth... sad tears.
Such a wonderful future spiritual pet, beast, why is it so short-lived and ended up in the pot? Just imagine, the end of the world is coming, in the endless darkness, you are riding on a dinosaur that has restored the blood of its ancestral dinosaurs, climbing over mountains and crossing rivers as if walking on flat ground, and with a casual grab of your chicken claws, you can overturn a Lamborghini sports car, how majestic it is.
The Lamborghini sports car has a low chassis and too many limitations, so it is just garbage in the end times. Compared with Li Xiang’s dream car, a four-wheel drive agricultural tractor, it is not worth mentioning.
…
After going up the mountain, Li Xiang also chopped a bundle of firewood and brought it down. The weather will get cold in a month or two, so the family needs to prepare more firewood. If you accumulate a bundle of firewood in normal times, you don't have to go up the mountain in the winter.
There are naturally some requirements for chopping wood. Dead branches and trees are the first choice. Pine, chestnut, fir, and birch are all good choices.
Pine and chestnut are naturally good things. Pine wood has a high oil content and is easy to ignite. The whole body of pine wood is the best firewood, especially the pine needles, which are the best kindling and are known as "lazy people's love".
Chestnut wood is strong and resistant to burning, and its fire is long-lasting and strong. There is a saying in the countryside: "There is no good fire except chestnut wood, and there is no good relative except your uncle."
Although fir wood stores moderate amounts of heat, it produces less ash after burning, making it suitable for use as a side dish on the dining table.
Although birch is not as durable as other firewoods, it has the advantage of burning quickly, producing a large amount of fire in a short period of time, and it is abundant and easy to find. This kind of tree is not valuable, so you don’t feel bad about burning it.
A bundle of firewood almost broke Li Xiang's axe.
"If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. It seems that it is necessary to make a sharp hatchet."
The hatchet in Li Xiang's hand has been passed down for many years. He had seen it when he was a child. Its shape can only be described as ordinary. It is no more than 30 centimeters long and 6 or 7 millimeters thick. It weighs maybe 300 or 400 grams. It has a flat head and is average, but it is small and portable. In fact, he prefers the Gaomi knife.
It was almost ten o'clock when Li Xiang returned home, and he lit a fire and cooked.
His family's kitchen was located in a small tiled house on the side of the front yard. His grandmother was responsible for adding fire, and he was responsible for cooking.
Originally, grandma wanted to come by herself, but Li Xiang said, "Grandma, your eldest grandson is back, so do you still need to cook? Just leave it to me!"
He came back to take care of his grandmother in her later years, not to be served by a grandmother who is over 70 years old.
Today’s main dish is, of course, the chicken dragon.
Blanch the old hen in cold water, wash it with cold water and set aside. Add a small amount of rapeseed oil to the pot, pour in the old hen and stir-fry. Then add water, ginger and a little salt, stew for a while, pour into a ceramic pot, and simmer on charcoal fire.
Then Li Xiang started to stir-fry the vegetables.
The old hen is killed in the morning and the vegetables are picked from the vegetable garden in front. Such fresh ingredients often do not require too much seasoning.
As for the small mushrooms, big-foot mushrooms, and black truffles, they are all freshly picked from the mountains. Wait until the chicken soup is almost done before putting them in and simmering for another ten minutes.
Especially the black truffle, after washing and cutting into slices, the texture is quite beautiful.
The rice is also cooked with firewood. Real firewood rice is much more fragrant than that made in an electric rice cooker.
At the dinner table, Li Xiang looked at the chicken dragon in the basin and decided to observe a minute of silence.
"My future pet, you died so tragically... Master, I'm so sorry..."
A minute later, at the dining table, Li Xiang couldn't stop eating. Wow, it smells so good!
(End of this chapter)
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