Chapter 1104

In the countryside at this time, because it was relatively poor, every household's seasonings were very simple. Besides salt and soybean paste, there were mountain peppers picked in the mountains, as well as green onions, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers grown at home.

Of course, these seasonings were enough for daily use. Things like MSG, which were commonly used in later generations, were not bought by the vast majority of families at this time, mainly because they couldn't afford them. And things like chicken essence, oyster sauce, and thirteen-spice powder were unheard of in the countryside at this time.

However, it must be admitted that although many seasonings were missing, the stewing ingredients—or rather, the braising ingredients—that Wang An stir-fried could definitely be considered top-tier for this time.

As the fragrance began to permeate, Wang Li finished breaking down the remaining meat. Sniffing hard, Wang Li suddenly said to Wang An:

"Fourth Brother, why do I feel like making fish is purely redundant? The meat you're stewing is too fragrant. With this beef to eat, who would still eat fish?"

Actually, although this beef was too thin and there wasn't much meat on the bones, the reason Wang An insisted on stewing the beef bones was that, besides being difficult to stew until tender, as long as you added enough animal fat, the taste would definitely not be bad.

At the very least, this stuff was better than wild boar meat.

After Wang Li finished speaking, Wang An looked at him with a half-smile and said:

"You're the one who wanted to eat it, and you're the one who doesn't want to eat it now. Why are you so damn difficult? Hurry up and go cast the net."

At Wang An's command, Wang Li gave an awkward smile and went to the storage room to find a fishing net to catch fish.

To be honest, although Wang An believed that the beef bones and offal he stewed would be very delicious, when Wang Dazhu and the others returned from the fields, whether he could stew this pot of beef bones and meat until tender was an unknown.

So, in case the meat was still a bit undercooked by then, they could at least eat some fish to tide them over.

Of course, as the old saying goes, "Eat it while it's hot." Besides, after such a long time of stewing, the beef was definitely cooked; it just might not be very tender.

Wang Li went to catch fish, and Wang An wasn't idle either. After adding a few pieces of firewood to the stove, he went to prepare the seasonings for the fish.

There were too many people eating, so methods like boiled fish or vinegar fish weren't very feasible. The simplest and most effortless way was to stew it.

Just as Wang An was preparing the fish seasonings, Mu Xueqing walked out, smelling the fragrance. She sniffed, swallowed her saliva, and asked Wang An:

"Xiao An, what are you making? This smell is too fragrant."

Wang An laughed:

"Stewing beef bones and offal. We'll gnaw on beef bones and eat offal later, how about that? Do you want to eat it?"

Mu Xueqing sniffed her little nose again and said with great emotion:

"Yeah, I want to eat it. This smell is just too fragrant!"

It must be admitted that even Wang An himself felt this smell was absolutely perfect, without a single flaw.

As they spoke, Mu Xueqing walked toward the big pot stewing the beef bones. Looking at the bricks on the pot lid, she turned her head and said to Wang An ingratiatingly:

"Xiao An, can you get me a piece to taste first? I want to eat it as soon as I smell this."

Now, because Mu Xueqing was pregnant, she was incredibly greedy and could eat a lot. She ate quite a bit at every meal, and even Wang An's appetite was no match for hers now.

It was just very magical that although Mu Xueqing could eat a lot, other than her belly being big, she didn't look fat on her body or face; she just looked a bit fuller than before.

Looking at Mu Xueqing, who looked like a total foodie, Wang An said helplessly:

"The meat isn't cooked yet. Wait a little longer, wife."

Mu Xueqing agreed and stood by the stove, staring at the pot lid as if staring at it would make the meat cook faster.

Not looking at Mu Xueqing anymore, Wang An continued to get busy.

Whether stewing beef bones without fat or stewing fish, the one thing you can't do without is oil—preferably animal fat—and you have to add plenty of it; otherwise, the meat won't taste good.

But after less than 2 minutes, Mu Xueqing called out to Wang An again:

"Xiao An, is the meat cooked yet?"

Wang An was cutting ginger strips, so he didn't even look up and said:

"Not yet, wait a bit longer."

Mu Xueqing didn't answer but continued to stare at the pot lid.

It was clear that Mu Xueqing was truly greedy; she kept swallowing her saliva to stop it from flowing out.

After cutting the ginger strips, Wang An continued to prepare other seasonings, but Mu Xueqing couldn't help but say again:

"Xiao An, hurry up and get me a piece; I'm dying of hunger."

At this moment, Mu Xueqing was like a little child, without a hint of maturity.

Wang An looked at his watch, estimated the time, and said in a tone used to coax a child:

"Wait a bit longer, wife. Wait another 10 minutes, and after 10 minutes, I'll get you a piece of beef liver and beef intestine to eat."

For an old cow like this, not only is the meat not easy to stew until tender, but even the offal isn't easy to stew until tender. However, relatively speaking, although beef liver and intestine don't stew until tender, they do cook a bit faster.

Mu Xueqing shot Wang An a sidelong glance, pouted her little mouth, and didn't say anything else.

Soon, Wang Li returned carrying fish. It must be said, this kid really knows how to eat, because at this moment Wang Li only had two fish in his hands: in his left hand, he was carrying a chum salmon—that is, salmon—weighing at least 15 or 16 jin, and in his right hand, he was carrying a kaluga sturgeon weighing nearly 20 jin.

As soon as he saw these two fish, Wang An immediately said with annoyance:

"You're damn good at picking. There aren't even a few kaluga sturgeon that big in the whole pond, and you managed to catch one. There are plenty of carp and grass carp, just eat those. Why do you have to catch one this big?"

In this era, the water resources in Heilongjiang were quite abundant, as can be seen from the saying "hitting roe deer with a stick and scooping fish with a ladle," but valuable fish like kaluga sturgeon still made up a very small percentage.

Every time Wang An cast a net to catch fish, even in a net full of fish, there were only a few kaluga sturgeon; the vast majority were common fish like grass carp and carp.

There's no helping it; this stuff is delicious and valuable, and no matter where it is, it's being overfished.

After Wang An finished speaking, Wang Li didn't care and instead said with a grin:

"I have to be good at picking. It's been a long time since I've eaten fish, and if I'm going to eat, I have to eat the good stuff, hehehe."

Wang An glared fiercely at Wang Li and said one word helplessly:

"Damn it!"

I don't know why, but when catching fish in the river, no matter how valuable the fish is, it doesn't hurt to catch it, but once this kind of valuable fish enters his own fish pond, he feels a bit reluctant—that's strange.

Seeing Wang Li put the fish down and intend to slip away, Wang An called out directly:

"Hurry up and clean the fish for me. What? Are you waiting for me to clean it?"

Wang Li gave an awkward smile, took a knife, sat down, and began to scrape the fish scales.

Just then, he heard Mu Xueqing say:

"Xiao An, ten minutes are up."

(End of chapter)