Seeing that Er Ya had almost recovered and Ye Zi had rested well, Huang Jingyu casually remarked:
"Let's go back, today was too exciting."
Actually, the leaf wasn't tired at all; it hadn't expended much energy.
Er Ya is still a little shaken, and the best way for her to recover right now is to rest in a warm shelter.
But they had just finished hunting a bear, and the three of them were still enjoying the breeze on the beach.
Upon hearing this, Ye Zi picked up her coat, put it on, and then grinned:
"Go back and deal with the bear first, then we'll go back and eat its paws."
After saying that, he started to prepare the prey, gutting it and throwing away the internal organs, and then cleaning it again when he returned to the camp.
On the way back, Yellow Whale was armed with a bow and arrow, ready to deal with any emergencies, while Er Ya carried fishing gear. Ye Zi took care of all the prey by herself.
He carried a black bear on his right shoulder and held sea fish and prey he had caught on the way in his left hand.
Then he strode towards the camp.
Back at the camp, they looked at the prey they had just caught. Putting aside everything else, the bear meat alone weighed over 200 pounds, which was more than the three of them could eat in a short time.
Although the temperature wasn't high, it was still above freezing during the day. We had to find a way to preserve the more than 200 kilograms of bear meat, otherwise it would spoil.
That would be a waste, and in the wilderness, wasting food is a mistake.
"Old Huang, we need to build a meat-smoking shed," Ye Zi said helplessly.
Once the temperature drops, there's no need to worry about this at all, because no matter how much meat there is, it will freeze solid.
Now that we have so much meat, we have to make do with it.
"We definitely need it, but it seems we have the time."
"No problem. We'll have roasted bear paw today. You cook, and I'll take care of the rest."
The yellow whale readily agreed.
First, peel off the skin from the four bear paws. Actually, you don't need to do that. Just boil them in hot water and then remove the fur.
However, the yellow whales planned to grill them, not steam them, mainly because they didn't have the facilities for steaming.
There was only one pot, no lid, and no steamer, so they could only use a roasting method. Boiling bear paws was not practical because the pot was not big enough to cook one bear paw at a time.
The three of them finished eating the boiled bear paws, probably around midnight.
Therefore, grilling is the most convenient option, and you can eat at the same time without having to wait in line.
The bear paws were skinned, and the claws were also removed from the leaves with a knife. These are rare decorative items, and they are quite hard. With a little polishing, they would definitely be a sharp tool.
After handing the bear paw to the yellow whale, Ye Zi first replaced the handle of her axe, which had broken during the bear hunt.
The main reason is that an axe will be needed for the upcoming smokehouse.
Fortunately, there was plenty of wood for heating in the camp. I picked out a piece that looked about right and whittled it a few times with a machete.
A smokehouse isn't complicated; all you need is a tent similar to an Indian tent.
Three main pillars are arranged in a triangle, with vines tied in the middle to some crossbars for hanging meat, and the outside is covered with branches with leaves.
Loosen the branches at the bottom. Pine trees are evergreen, but their resin can burn. If all else fails, use other firewood to start a fire and cover it with a layer of pine branches.
When pine branches are roasted and burned, they produce a lot of smoke, and the smoke contains pine resin. The smoked meat will not only taste smoky, but will also carry some pine resin with it.
Yellow whale roasted bear paw, no other seasonings, only salt, but that's enough. Preserving the original flavor of the food, without adding other seasonings is the simplest way.
After resting for a while in the shelter, Er Ya's psychological trauma from hunting the bear had almost completely disappeared.
After coming out, seeing that Ye Zi and Huang Jingyu were busy with their work, they also came over to help.
One moment he's helping Huang Jingyu roast bear paws and secretly learning the technique, the next he's assisting Ye Zi, handing her a vine or a tool.
After the smokehouse was set up, Ye Zi began to process the black bear, starting with skinning it.
The black bear pelt isn't very big, so it can't be used as both a bedding and a blanket, but it's still quite suitable as a quilt.
It's a bit short, though; both Ye Zi and the Yellow Whale are over 1.85 meters tall.
After removing the head and legs, the bear skin only weighs a little over 1.5 meters, so it can only be used as a blanket for Er Ya.
When leaves are used to break down bear meat, the best choice is, of course, the bear skin.
Ye Zi was in charge of breaking down the meat into strips, while Er Ya was in charge of hanging the cut bear meat into the smoking shed.
When the bear paws were roasted, Ye Zi and the other person had also finished cutting up the bear meat.
The final step is to sprinkle wood ash on the bear skin; the task of scraping off the grease can only be done by leaves and yellow whales.
Because the machete was large and heavy, Er Ya, being a girl, did not have enough strength to wield it for an extended period of time.
The yellow whale's saber was lighter, but it was too sharp and not suitable for Arya to handle.
After sprinkling a layer of warm wood ash on the bear skin, Yezi washed her hands and prepared to eat.
As they sat down by the fire, Huang Jingyu handed him a roasted bear paw; he and Er Ya already each had one.
Ye Zi licked her lips and said:
"The roasted bear paw I've been longing for is finally here! Friends, let's dig in!" After saying that, he took a bite.
Er Ya and Huang Jingyu exchanged a smile and began to feast.
After taking a bite of the leaf and savoring it carefully, I have to say there's a reason why bear paw is considered a delicacy: it's bouncy, smooth, and fragrant.
The bear paw has a pad that is very elastic and has a lot of muscle tissue. Most importantly, the hind paw is not as palatable as the front paw. Bears like to eat honey, and they use their front paws to scoop it out.
So over time, the two front paws inevitably became tainted with the taste of honey, just like how cosmetics are marinated, except that the bear paws were marinated in honey.
After taking a few bites, Ye Zi immediately understood that the yellow whale had given its two front paws to him and Er Ya, and had eaten its hind paws.
Because Er Ya asked the yellow whale if it had smeared honey on the bear's paw.
Yezi took out a knife, cut off the half she had bitten off, and handed over the other half.
The yellow whale didn't refuse and immediately took it and started eating it.
At this point, Er Ya realized that the temperature in Alaska was too low and not suitable for bees to live in, but their habitat was not in a particularly northern region either.
There are indeed many bears here, but the Alaskan region is also quite large.
There are still bees here in the summer, and although bears have fixed territories, their range is also large, so they can always find bees.
With one and a half bear paws in her hand, and given Er Ya's appetite, one bear paw would be enough, Ye Zi picked up the last bear paw.
The heel does taste a bit worse than the forefoot, because it doesn't have the honey flavor and the aroma isn't as strong. However, in terms of bounce, the heel is more bouncy than the forefoot, because the heel is the part of the body that is responsible for stabilizing the body, and its muscle tissue is more developed than that of the forefoot.
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