Chapter 174 Everything Can Be Grilled on Stone
Shen Lie and his friends finished their meal very quickly. After a little preparation, they were ready to leave the valley. They were the same group of people from the morning, only Shen Jin was missing.
Sang Luo saw him off before he left. Chen Lie whispered, "In the morning, we went hunting, setting traps and picking wild vegetables along the way. It took us an hour. This time, we will go straight to the destination, which should be much faster. However, since we are hunting in ambush, we may not be able to calculate the time when the wild boars are out and about. If we are delayed a little longer, it will be easy to expose our valley when we come back with torches at night, or we will have to spend the night outside. Don't wait and don't worry. We have spent the night in the deep mountains and old forests before, so we can handle it ourselves."
At this point, his eyebrows and eyes were tinged with smiles: "If that's the case, let's eat the stone barbecue you made another day."
When Sang Luo raised her eyes, she met his smiling eyes, and her heart seemed to be gently touched by something.
It was very light, but the aftereffect was long. Until Chen Lie and his group reached the cave on the high ground and left the valley, Sang Luo pressed her chest, and there was still a very strange soreness there.
The feeling was strange, but Sang Luo knew what it meant.
She thought she was struck by the tenderness and affection in Chen Lie's expression.
Is it emotion?
She realized belatedly that whenever Chen Lie went out, he would always tell her about his itinerary and return date in detail. Did he look at her like this in the past?
At first it was a warm and pure joy because of the water she prepared, but later on, some other emotions were added to it, and she didn't even notice it.
Then she remembered that he was originally going out and was not even sure whether he would need to spend the night outside. When she said she was going out to find slate, he did not even mention preparing water. He accompanied her to find slate, catch fish, and test the slate.
Thinking of the smile on Chen Lie's face that had been on his face almost all the way, Sang Luo finally tasted something different.
I could faintly hear the sound of my own heartbeat in my ears.
Thinking randomly, he returned to his cave. Shen Ning listened to the footsteps and poked his head out of the kitchen with a piece of freshly washed ginger in his hand.
"Sister-in-law, is this piece of ginger enough?"
"That's enough. Wash some garlic and grind some peppercorns for later use." Sang Luo collected her thoughts and prepared dinner with Chen Ning.
She wanted to use the stone slab to grill or fry various meats. Today's chicken is obviously more suitable for frying.
She didn't hide her work, and taught Shen Ning how to remove bones, how to loosen meat, and how to marinate.
They lived in the valley, and all food ingredients were precious, so when they removed the bones they did not really remove all the meat, but instead left some meat and bones.
"If you want the fried chicken to taste good, the meat needs to be marinated for an hour or two. Xiao Jin and his friends can't eat greasy food that's hard to digest, so the chicken can be fried later. When your eldest brother and Dashan come back, we can stew a pot of chicken soup first. The meat on the chicken bones, plus the chicken head, chicken wings, and chicken feet, are great ingredients for stewing soup."
The Shen family had dinner today at Shen Zheng as usual. They used the meat, bones and leftovers from three chickens, plus the fresh mushrooms that Shen Jin and Shen Lie had picked that morning, to make a half-pot of delicious chicken soup. They also added red dates from the Xu family and two mulberry vines. The aroma made the Xu family members next door, who were eating wild vegetables and stewed tofu, drool.
The Chen family, the Lu family, and the Shi family also had pheasants. Sang Luo took two bowls and asked Shen An and Shen Ning to deliver a bowl to the Xu family and the Zhou family respectively. When the brother and sister came back, they also started to eat.
Drink chicken soup for dinner. It tastes sweet and fresh, and comes with both meat and vegetables. It is the lightest and most nutritious dish.
"Let's eat this first, and then we'll make barbecue when your eldest brother comes back later."
None of the little ones were unwilling. Not only did they have to eat barbecue, but they also had chicken soup for dinner, which was half a pottery pot. After two bowls per person, even Chen Tie, who always felt hungry, had his stomach filled.
What is there to be dissatisfied about?
…
After dinner, there was almost no sunlight in the valley. Each family stored their food, and the children had nothing to do. They waited for the sun to set and the sky to get dark. The younger ones ran to the Shen family because they heard that they would play house with stones and cook meat at night!
They had used stones to light fires to fry leaves many times, but this was the first time they had seen meat being cooked, so they came and squatted early.
Mrs. Chen and Qin Fangniang were delighted to see the commotion, and they also came over to Sang Luo to watch the fun. Mrs. Chen was very curious about the stove and the stone slab, and asked Sang Luo, "Is it better to use this to make things than a clay pot? Wouldn't the soup leak out?"
Sang Luo smiled and said, "Sure. Aunt and grandma will come over tonight to have a look. Let's try it together to see if it's different from the one made in the clay pot. If you like it, take a look. I picked that stone slab for your family. Just take it away."
Mrs. Chen was so happy when she heard it: "Don't tell me, our children are greedy for the food you cook. I really want to come and take a look at it tonight. If it's really useful, I will move away in a while."
While chatting and laughing here, Chen Lie and his group returned to the valley at this moment.
Everyone was waiting for them, and looked towards the entrance of the cave from time to time. A few children were the first to discover it, but they did not dare to cheer, but went back home happily to call their families.
Six baskets were put down one by one. Zhou Cunzheng and his companions were stunned: "So many?"
Lu Sanlang, who came down first, laughed: "There were three wild boars, one big and two small, but they were all shot by Alie and Dashan."
There were originally five wild boars, but the place where they could hide was a little far away, the shooting range was too long, their arm strength was not enough, and their accuracy was also poor. Even his brother missed, let alone them. They just missed with one arrow and scared the wild boar away.
So today they were really just doing some hard work.
When Sang Luo came over to see, Chen Lie had just come down from above. When he saw her, he smiled. He wanted to talk to Sang Luo, but he felt something fishy on his body, so he didn't move forward. He just said, "I'll be back after I divide the meat."
There were precedents for distributing meat, and it was distributed according to work, so the ones who got the most meat were Shen Lie and Chen Dashan. There were three wild boars, the big one was hunted by the two of them together, and the small one was hunted by each of them. They gave some to the brothers who went there, and gave a few pounds to the Zhou and Xu families each to add oil and vegetables. The rest was shared equally by Chen and Chen's families.
We are all familiar with each other, so there is no need to weigh them, just weigh them and take them.
Shen Lie brought back two large baskets of meat, which were piled high. After discussing with Sang Luo, he gave more than 20 kilograms of meat to each family, and more than 40 kilograms of meat to the Xu family, as a thank you gift for the food that everyone had sent to the Shen Jin brothers.
After giving them away like this, there wasn’t much left at home.
Sang Luo thought it was a good idea. She would be busy processing the remaining basket of meat in the evening. Thinking that there would be a lot of children watching the barbecue in the evening, she asked Chen Lie to help her pick a piece of fat and lean meat and cut a strip. Then she let him take a shower and change clothes so that she could have a leisurely meal later.
When the younger ones saw that Sangluo had cut a piece of meat separately, they all started drooling.
"Sister-in-law, are you cooking pork tonight?"
From the perspective of the younger ones, the eldest sister-in-law prepared a lot of food, including chicken legs, chicken breasts, chicken offal, tofu, leeks, mushrooms, cabbage, and several bowls filled with chopped ginger, garlic, leeks, onions, minced Sichuan peppercorns, and dried dogwood, and sauces, not to mention meat.
Although they still didn't know what the meat grilled on the stone slab tasted like, and even though they had just eaten a meal at Shen Shi, the younger ones began to swallow their saliva uncontrollably, especially the three Shen Jin brothers. There was nothing they could do, as they had been terribly hungry in the previous few months.
Sang Luo smiled: "Prepare some, we may not be the only ones to eat it later."
Sang Luo really said it. Sang Luo had just cut the pork belly into thin slices and marinated it when a group of children who had just followed their elders carrying the meat home came running to the Shen family again.
Especially when Shen An and Shen Ning lit the fire, there were big trees above, so the fire could not be seen from above the valley, but the few families living in the valley could see it, and they all rushed over to join in the fun.
Sang Luo was also good-tempered. She smiled and called a few older children in to help move the table out of the house and move a few chairs.
There were not enough chairs at their house, so Chen Ershan, Xu Wenbo and a few other friends went back to their homes and moved out their chairs. It was getting dark, and the excitement in the valley seemed to have just begun.
There were extra stools, so Sang Luo simply placed a few near the stone slab for her to place the ingredients, and she also had a chair to sit on. The barbecue hadn't started yet, but the gear was already set up, attracting the adults from the Chen and Xu families to come out and watch the fun.
When Chen Lie and Chen Dashan came out after taking a shower, not only were the tables and chairs set out outside, but the fragrant aroma of meat was wafting in the air. The children gathered around Sang Luo, snorting greedily.
When the little girl saw her brother, she was happy: "Brother, come on, come here, sit here."
She found out in the afternoon that her elder brother would be having dinner at Sister Aning's house tonight. The table and chairs were already set out, and there was a seat for her elder brother. The little girl was both envious and excited.
This is much more fun than playing house.
Chen Dashan exclaimed, "Not only does it smell good, but the scene looks so lively."
"Alie, she still has to be your wife!"
Chen Lie was also stunned, then he laughed, and did not sit down, but moved closer to Sang Luo. He saw a stone slab filled with chicken and chicken offal, sprinkled with various white, green and red seasonings and side dishes, and sprinkled with sauce and chopped green onions, which looked very appetizing.
"Can I help?"
Sang Luo waved her hand: "Wait until you learn it. Eat it today. You've been busy all day. Eat with Dashan. This is for eating while it's being grilled."
As they were talking, the grilled chicken steaks were ready. Because there was no knife, the chicken steaks were originally cut into small pieces of suitable sizes. He asked Chen Ning to bring the plate over, and put the pieces on the plate one by one. The first plate was filled with a dozen small pieces of chicken steaks and asked Chen Ning to take it to the children to taste, and then the second portion was served.
There were too many people, so she marinated the chicken from three chickens today. Chen Lie was beside her, helping to pass the plates around, and after a short while, a plate of fried chicken fillets and a plate of fried chicken offal were on the table.
Chen Dashan ate voraciously and praised the food as he ate. As for Chen Lie, Sang Luo was still busy and his mind was not on eating at all. He would come to Sang Luo from time to time.
Chen Ning ran back and started frying pork belly slices and vegetables with Sang Luo.
Mrs. Chen, Qin Fangniang, Old Madam Xu, and Wei Lingzhen were watching from the side and were all amazed: "This is a novel way of eating, and it smells delicious!"
Mrs. Chen was already eager to make a move. Seeing that the stone slab that Sang Luo had given them had been cleaned, she turned around and called out to Old Man Chen and Chen Youtian: "Go pick up some stones, and we'll build one next to it. Fang Niang, follow A Luo's example and go cut some meat and prepare some vegetables."
The vegetables are grown right at the doorstep, they are all ready.
As soon as Mrs. Chen spoke, all the Chen family members started to move. Even Chen Ershan and Chen Xiaoya, who were still sharing the chicken steak, were so excited that they immediately went to look for stones. A group of children also rushed to help.
Then one barbecue stall turned into two barbecue stalls in the blink of an eye. After Sang Luo grilled a few portions, Shen Ning was able to get started. She handed the rest to Shen Ning and then she tasted a few chopsticks herself.
Well, it’s not bad. The spiciness is replaced by dogwood, but the taste is still slightly different. Also, without pepper and cumin, it still lacks soul.
But it is easy to imagine that pepper was brought over from the Hu people, and it might not even be available in the Daqian Dynasty. Of course, even if it was available, it would be worth thousands of coins, and I'm afraid only the noble families and wealthy families could afford it.
As for chili peppers, just like cotton, they don't exist at all. At least there is no such thing in the original body's memory.
However, the chicken steak and various barbecues that Sang Luo thought were soulless were considered extraordinary delicacies by everyone in the valley. A long table was served with various slate-baked dishes. The Xu family members came over to share a few bites. Manager Xu, the owner of the restaurant, had his eyes lit up: "Madam Sang, this is amazing. This way of eating is fresh. If you enrich the ingredients, you can open a food store."
Sang Luo laughed: "Manager Xu, you really are worthy of being a businessman."
If there were chili peppers, pepper, or cumin, she would really consider barbecue, hot pot, and Western food. She could cook a lot of different dishes. But without these soul-condiments, it would just be a fun meal. And that would only happen after the world was at peace and she was able to keep the recipe.
Seeing that Sang Luo finally had time to eat, Chen Lie hurriedly exchanged the dishes he had tasted and found delicious with her, and then he picked up the plate, but was stopped by Sang Luo: "I had dinner at 3 p.m., and I'm not used to eating too much after dark. I just want to have fun at night, so I'll just try a few bites. You guys eat, I'll go help Aunt Arita."
Chen Lie knew that she really didn't eat much at night, so he stopped. Chen Dashan was very happy and said in a hoarse voice: "Sister-in-law, in addition to the family crafts that can make money, please teach my mother the ordinary skills. I really like this one."
Mrs. Chen laughed and scolded: "Is there anything in A Lie's food that you don't like?"
Everybody laughed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
