It was already late afternoon when Lu Chuan arrived home. He hurriedly grabbed his tools and went to the backyard to start building a donkey shed.
Xu Han drank a glass of water and immediately got busy.
The meat from yesterday has all been washed, but we haven't started marinating it yet! Since there's still time, let's start marinating the meat first.
I went to the kitchen, took out some salt from the storage space, and started making the ingredients needed to marinate the meat.
Today, Xu Han plans to make three flavors of preserved meat: one plain flavor, which is simply cured with salt; one spiced flavor; and one spicy flavor.
Pour salt into a pot, add Sichuan peppercorns, Sichuan peppercorn oil, and bay leaves and stir-fry. When the salt turns yellow, the spices will also be dry and crisp. Take out a portion of these to make five-spice powder.
Then I added some more chili peppers to the pot and continued to stir-fry until the aroma of the chili peppers was released. Only then did I start to serve them, keeping these for making spicy dishes.
Place the scooped-out seasonings on a cutting board and crush the spices with a rolling pin. This will make the marinade more flavorful.
After the seasonings cooled down, Xu Han brought out a large wooden barrel and started marinating the meat, putting each type of meat into three different wooden barrels to prevent the flavors from mixing.
Spread a layer of white wine on the meat; this will help it last longer.
Make sure to apply the product thoroughly, making sure to cover every nook and cranny.
Then add an appropriate amount of seasoning to the meat, spread it evenly, and massage it in to make it more flavorful.
Xu Han marinated chicken, duck, fish, and rabbit in three different flavors each, while the beef was only marinated in its original flavor. It's delicious to just slice it and eat it as a cold dish.
Wait until it gets colder, then marinate some steaks or other cuts of meat, and marinate them in different flavors.
After coating all the meat evenly, cover the wooden barrel with the brine and place it in the main room to marinate. Turn it over every day to ensure the rest of the meat is also coated with brine and marinated evenly.
After marinating for about seven to two weeks, you can take it out to air dry. You can decide the time based on the condition of the meat.
After the marinating was finished, it was already dark. Xu Han went to the backyard to check how the donkey shed was being built and whether it was properly covered.
Upon arriving at the backyard, they saw that a new donkey shed had already been built, and Lu Chuan was doing the final cleanup work.
The donkey shed was built next to the chicken coop, with one side against the wall and the other two sides blocked off with bamboo. The roof was thatched.
The supports are made of bamboo buried in the ground, and only very thick, old bamboo is selected, which is sturdy and durable.
To facilitate rainwater dripping, the top was specially designed with a slope, extending directly outside the yard, so that rainwater can flow directly outside when it rains.
The bamboo on both sides was stacked very neatly, each one buried in the ground, so it wouldn't fall over even in wind and rain.
Seeing Xu Han come over, Lu Chuan said, "In a few days, when it gets colder, we'll add a layer of straw mat to the front of this structure. When we're not using it, we can roll it up. We can also hang some insulation on the walls on both sides, otherwise the donkey will definitely freeze."
“Okay, this is very convenient. We won’t be afraid of wind and rain. The thatch outside has already turned yellow. We can cut more and weave it into curtains to hang up.” Xu Han agreed.
"Our newest member doesn't have a name yet! Let's give it a name! What should we call it?" Lu Chuan asked.
“Look how much it loves eating corn! Why don’t we call it Corn?” Xu Han said, pointing to the donkey that was enjoying its corn.
Lu Chuan laughed and said, "That works. The puppies are all food names, so it matches perfectly."
The donkey beside it grunted and snorted, seemingly quite pleased with the name.
And so the name of the new member was decided. Xu Han stroked Yumi's head and called out "Yumi". Yumi enjoyed the mistress's touch and was very well-behaved.
After tidying up the backyard, the two went back to the front yard together. It was completely dark by then, and it was time to make dinner.
Xu Han wanted to eat barbecue today, so she started preparing it.
First, clean the meat and other meats thoroughly, then marinate them for 15 minutes with the secret sauce.
Then prepare some lettuce to wrap the meat later, and take out some fish and shrimp.
Take out a lot of all the vegetables that can be used for grilling, so it will be convenient to eat them later and save you from having to cook them fresh.
In addition, Xu Han washed some fruit and got some fruit wine, ostensibly to celebrate the addition of a new member to the family.
After everything was prepared, Lu Chuan lit the charcoal fire and brought it all into the main room. He then took out the baking pan that Xu Han had specially ordered for him – a round iron plate with a slight curve.
She put the meat on the charcoal fire and started grilling. Although she was busy every day, Xu Han put a lot of thought into the food she ate.
In years of famine, besides making sure you have enough to eat, the main thing is to make sure you eat well.
Otherwise, what's the point of going through all that trouble every day to find food in the mountains? Of course, you can't neglect your stomach when you have the means.
Add some oil to the baking pan, spread it with a brush, and then put the meat directly on it. It will change color instantly from the heat.
Xu Han's slices of meat weren't very thick, so they cooked quickly. After dipping them in the sauce and taking a bite, she exclaimed, "Mmm! This is the taste! It's so delicious, you should try it!"
Lu Chuan quickly followed Xu Han's instructions and ate a piece, sucking on it as he ate, "Delicious, it tastes different from the ones baked in the summer."
“Yes! In the summer, it’s grilled directly over charcoal, but this is grilled on an iron plate, so it doesn’t have the aroma of charcoal.” Xu Han said as she placed some more meat on the grill plate.
She added, "The charcoal we use at home now is leftover from cooking. With the weather getting colder, shouldn't we buy some more charcoal?"
"No need to buy, I can make it myself!" Lu Chuan said, eating the grilled meat without looking up.
Now it was Xu Han's turn to be surprised! "What? You can make charcoal?"
Although Xu Han had watched short videos about charcoal burning, she had no experience or knowledge of it. She only knew the general process, but she didn't know how to do it!
But Lu Chuan actually said he could do it! This is such a pleasant surprise! Just how many other skills does this man have that I don't know about?
"Our home is too far from the foot of the mountain. We need a lot of charcoal for fire-making in winter, and it's very troublesome to buy charcoal. We have to carry it up little by little by manpower, which is too much effort."
When my father was alive, he specifically found a family that knew how to make charcoal and paid to learn the craft, but promised that he could not do this business for a living and could only use it for his own family. That's why they taught him.
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