Chapter 62: Sour Cabbage Fish

After waiting about thirty days, Zhang Fan could no longer hold back. He couldn't help opening a vat of pickled vegetables; as soon as it was opened, the strong sour aroma hit his nose. This drew Fei Er, who had been sitting aside eating jerky as a snack, to get up and come over to look.

Seeing that the pickled vegetables were ready, Zhang Fan started thinking about sour cabbage fish, sour cabbage rice noodles, sour cabbage beef, sour cabbage buns… The more he thought, the more his mouth watered. Unfortunately, he hadn't found wheat yet, so he couldn't eat buns for the time being. Thinking this, Zhang Fan sucked in his saliva, then took out a few pieces of pickled vegetables from the vat.

He looked at his wristwatch, seeing the hour hand pointing at eleven and the minute hand at twelve. At that moment, Bakel and Mo De also returned with their game. Seeing Bakel holding the game and several big fat fish, his eyes lit up! Haha, it's exactly what you think of comes! Such days are simply too pleasant!

"Haha, you're back! Perfect, the pickled vegetables are ready too. Let's have something different today—alright, let's start preparing lunch!" After saying that, he pulled Fei Er and together they carried the pickled vegetables into the kitchen. Bakel and Mo De had already smelled the strong sour aroma before even entering the courtyard gate. Now seeing Zhang Fan and Fei Er carrying the pickled vegetables into the kitchen, what else could be unclear? So the two silently brought their game and entered the kitchen together.

At that moment, Zhang Fan and Fei Er in the kitchen had already washed and chopped the pickled vegetables clean with water. After Bakel and Mo De brought the fish in, Zhang Fan had the two male Beastmen chop the fish into chunks and then wash them clean. The two worked very quickly; in just a few minutes they chopped the fish into suitably sized pieces as Zhang Fan required. After the fish was processed, the two male Beastmen left the kitchen to go outside and barbecue meat.

In the kitchen, Zhang Fan looked at the already chopped fish and had Fei Er start the fire. When the stone pot began to smoke, he used a bamboo spatula to scoop several large chunks of animal fat into the pot. Then he took out sweet potato flour, mixed it with water to make a batter, and coated the fish pieces in the batter. When the oil in the pot was about seventy to eighty percent hot, Zhang Fan dropped the battered fish pieces into the pot to fry.

When the fish was fried to about seventy percent done, he added an appropriate amount of water with a ladle, then put the cleaned pickled vegetables into the pot, covered it and began to simmer. After the sour cabbage fish was cooked, Zhang Fan lifted the lid, used a wooden spoon to ladle some broth into a bowl and tasted it. Feeling it was about right, he signaled to Fei Er that he could eat, and also told Fei Er to put out the fire and come over to taste. After tasting it, Fei Er liked it. He also said that when he returns home he wants to try making sour cabbage fish too!

When the sour cabbage fish was being placed into a ceramic jar and brought out, Bakel and Mo De's grilled meat was also finished. Zhang Fan put the sour cabbage fish into a smaller ceramic jar, filled it to the brim, and then had Bakel deliver it to his parents.

After Bakel returned from outside, lunchtime began just like that!

This sour cabbage fish turned out very successfully. Not only did Zhang Fan and Fei Er love it especially, but the two male Beastmen, Bakel and Mo De, also liked it a lot. Moreover, according to Bakel, Lei Ya and Di Er also liked it. Di Er even said he would have Lei Ya go pick some cabbage to bring back, then ask Zhang Fan to teach him how to make pickled vegetables and spicy pickled cabbage to eat.