Chapter 43: Delicious Food

  Jiulang and Houtou came over in the afternoon, then went back and forth with Lin Bei again, although they had to hurry, it was almost dark by now.

  Two men stared at Lin Bei eagerly, with Hu Tou even rubbing his belly. Lin Bei thought to himself, "It's not even time for dinner yet, and these guys are already addicted."

  The pheasant tastes really good, very fresh and tender, this is the authentic wild flavor. However, Lin Bei has been eating it every day now, so he's getting a bit tired of it. The hunters, on the other hand, are not tired of it at all. Every time they don't finish the pheasant meat, they carefully wrap it up and take it away. This really makes Lin Bei feel puzzled and can only sigh that ancient people were indeed very frugal.

  In fact, these hunters rely on the mountains to eat, and they see a lot of wild game, but in reality, they don't eat much themselves. Relying on the mountains means that the land they cultivate is limited, so their income is low. As a result, they need to use hunting as a way to obtain necessities for their families, and also save some money. Otherwise, if they get injured, it would be a big problem, because in any era, medical treatment has always been very expensive, and there are always unscrupulous doctors around.

  So they can eat some game here in Linbei, they think it's quite good. Those who come to hunt are all young and strong, just the right age to eat well, and they can have a hearty meal. They think Linbei is simply paradise.

  Lin Beigong obtained five wild chickens plus a fat rabbit. He had to eat half of these foods himself, as his appetite was quite large now and he had to eat three or four wild chickens every day. However, Lin Beigong could also go several days without eating anything.

  After returning, he threw the wild fruits to Jiulang and Hututou. Lin Bei saw Bian Fuzi standing in front of a wild jujube tree. In Lin Bei's heartache, he raised his hand and picked a jujube, leisurely putting it into his mouth.

  Sister Ni, he didn't even dare to eat it.

  These sour jujubes in the north are really not willing to eat, the sour jujubes are too small, and there are still cores inside. It's particularly troublesome to eat them one by one, so Lin Bei is preparing to wait until the sour jujubes are all red before using them to squeeze juice or make wine. Every day, Lin Bei guards them, not letting the birds come over to steal them. Who knew that he could prevent external thieves but couldn't prevent internal ones? Lin Bei can't say anything about it, otherwise, it would seem petty.

  Bian Fuzi's eyes narrowed as he ate, and he seemed to be about to reach out to grab something. Lin Bei hastily touched him with his tail.

  The young man turned around and said with a smile: "Sir, the fruit here is quite flavorful. I'm delighted to see it, please don't mind me."

  Lin Bei pretended not to hear and wrote: "Let's eat first, Jiulang and the others made beggar's chicken."

  "What is this 'called flower chicken'?" asked Bo Niu Zi Qi.

  "Master, the dish of Beggar's Chicken is a method taught by adults, and it tastes extremely delicious." Jiulang quickly cut open the pheasant and rabbit: "Adults, how should we cook this wild rabbit?"

  Lin Bei brought back the rabbit because they had seasonings now, this mountain wild rabbit was so fat it was dripping with oil, and roasting it would be perfect, also with Bian Fu Zi around, he could translate Lin Bei's words.

  "Wild rabbit, remove head and tail and internal organs, wash clean, cut the meat a few times, apply salt, soy sauce... what's this soy sauce? Is it sauce?"

  Originally no soy sauce? Lin Bei quickly checked the seasonings, there was salt, in a bottle was something sour that should be vinegar, and another one was in a ceramic jar, but what was this black lump with a rough surface?

  "Sir, this is meat sauce made from draft cattle, these are Sichuan peppercorns, and this is plum sauce made from green plums. And what's this? Wheat sugar? It seems they put some thought into it - the Sichuan peppercorns, plum sauce, and wheat sugar all come from the Central Plains; we don't have them in Nanyue."

  Lin Beidou nodded, so add the meat sauce and maltose. Bian Fuzi let out a sigh after finishing reading: "Sir, just this maltose is already worth more than a wild rabbit."

  "Was maltose really that expensive? Lin Bei still insisted, after all, they had to have a good meal. Bian Fuzi didn't try to persuade him anymore."

  The flames grew stronger, and Jiulang and Huti followed Lin Bei's instructions to create a simple frame. They used a pine wood stick to pierce the wild rabbits from head to tail and placed them on the fire to roast, constantly flipping them over. Once the oil came out, they slowly applied the seasonings layer by layer. Although it was their first time doing this, they couldn't help but be busy and flustered. Fortunately, Lin Bei was in charge, so they probably wouldn't go wrong. Moreover, Lin Bei wasn't afraid of wasting food, and even if they ended up burning the rabbits, they could just roast again next time. Lin Bei was quite optimistic.

  "This method of roasting is quite similar to that of the Tujue people outside the Great Wall. Have you been to the regions outside the Great Wall?" Bo Fu Zi was indeed very knowledgeable.

  Lin Bei thought for a moment and nodded, he had indeed been there before.

  The aroma of the roasted meat quickly spread, and Jiulang and Houtu swallowed their saliva. Bian Fuzi was also amazed, never expecting that food cooked in this way would have such a unique fragrance. Compared to this method, the Han people's cooking methods suddenly seemed clumsy.

  "Don't stop, keep turning, it's not good yet, but the fire can be smaller now, come on slowly, and it will be almost done in half a time unit." Half a time unit is equivalent to one hour.

  Roasting a whole wild animal takes quite some time, especially when it needs to be roasted until the outside is crispy and the inside is tender. By the time the wild rabbit is done, the pheasant will already be cooked.

  Dig out three wild rabbits and distribute them among the three people, with Lin Bei keeping two in front of him.

  Diu Diu and Qi Qi are calling again, they are calling for 'mother' to feed them. Lin Bei is too lazy to go back to the river to catch shrimp and crab again. He picks out a piece of meat, lets Jiu Lang tear it into very small strips, then wraps it in leaves and climbs up to the top of the wooden house, letting the two little ones eat their fill.

  "This is for feeding the little bird." Jiulang saw that Bian Fuzi didn't understand, so he explained: "Sir doesn't know where it came from, but now the little bird has almost grown up."

  Bian Fuzi thought it was strange in his heart, would the demon still raise small birds? It really overturned his understanding. It seems that the demon lord in front of him is indeed as Jiulang said, with a very good nature. Looking at the beggar chicken in front of him, the mud had already been knocked off by Jiulang, and the fragrance was overwhelming, making people's fingers move. Bian Fuzi added another sentence in his heart: "And delicious food."

  Bó Fū Zǐ at this time already considered Lín Běi to be relatively acceptable, because good food in many people's hearts is not bad, whether it's human or demon.

  When the roasted rabbit was finally done, Bian Fuzi took a bite and almost swallowed his tongue. As a Han Dynasty person who was used to eating boiled food, he really thought this kind of roasted food was the best in the world. Jiulang and Hututou couldn't bear it, while Lin Bei was very generous, dividing the wild rabbit into four portions, letting the three men eat their fill at once.

  What a pity there's no wine; otherwise we could talk about life, discuss our ideals, or sit and ponder the meaning of it all - that would be perfect.

  PS: The collection and recommendation are really growing too slowly, new books need care from everyone.