Chili, Yam, Stew

"Boiled fish—"

"Like stewed meat?"

After hearing Chang Xia say that they were eating boiled fish, Root and Nan Feng immediately became anxious. Boiled fish. They had cooked it before, and even the rough beasts could not accept the taste.

Root cleared his throat and whispered, "Chang Xia, I think the fish balls are delicious. Why don't we… continue eating fish balls at noon?"

"The fishball is fresh, sweet and chewy. It's delicious," the Mu Qin chimed in.

Soon, Nan Feng and Nuan Chun and the others spoke up one after another to dispel the idea of Chang Xia cooking boiled fish.

Haha—

Chang Xia threw back her head and laughed.

How could she not guess their thoughts with their expressions?

"My boiled fish is different from the tribe's," Chang Xia said with a mysterious smile. When Nan Feng returned with the wooden bucket, she shouted for Shan Kun to cut the fish and marinate it with salt, ginger, onions and sour fruit juice. Nuan Chun squatted beside her and peeled and cut the yam according to Chang Xia's instructions. She wanted to stew the meat with yam. The slices had to be thin to be easy to cook.

Shan Kun and Ya Dong held the bone knife and gestured.

"Is this okay, Chang Xia?"

"Yes."

Seeing that it was hopeless to stop her, Nan Feng could only give up. Her thoughts turned to Shan Kun, who was handling the fish, and she said decisively, "Shan Kun, leave some fish for me. I want to make fish balls."

"Uh! Okay." Shan Kun opened his mouth to mention Chang Xia, but, when he met Nan Feng's serious expression, he chose to remain silent.

With Chang Xia's personality, this Boiled Fish would definitely not taste bad.

Chang Xia wouldn't cook something disgusting.

However, Nan Feng was too determined, so Shan Kun could only nod.

Root and the others didn't agree, but reminded Shan Kun and Ya Dong to keep more fish for fish balls. They all liked fish balls very much.

They thought that as long as they made enough fish balls, Chang Xia would have no chance of making boiled fish.

Shan Kun smiled awkwardly and sliced two seven to eight kilograms of black carp. The remaining fish meat was chopped into fish meat paste by Nan Feng and made into fish balls.

Chang Xia's mouth twitched as she watched silently.

Was she that unreliable—

Chang Xia washed the ginger, onion, garlic, chili, pepper, and other ingredients one by one, then used a small vine sieve to store the dripping water as a backup. The sliced fish and egg whites on Shan Kun's side had already been marinated. Similarly, the meat for stewing and frying were all cut.

With the stone pot, Chang Xia no longer worried about cracking it.

The hand that swung the spatula was full of strength.

Boiled fish was usually a fresh grass carp. White Lake, where Chang Xia found the most herring, certainly had something to do with the fact that she only knew herring.

Boiled fish was best served with dried chili. It made the taste more spicy and fresh.

Unfortunately, apart from the lantern peppers sent by her clansmen, Chang Xia had yet to have a chance to leave the tribe to go out and pick peppers. She was still a long way from poverty.

She boiled hot water in a stone pot and added salt. Then, she boiled the prepared cabbage and radish, scooped it out and spread it on the bottom of the bowl. The radish had been cooked for a while in a pot of stew and yams. It had a spicy smell when it wasn't cooked.

Carrots. Chang Xia liked ripe ones.

It would be best if it was the kind that would rot with a light pinch. It was soft and one could taste the sweetness of the radish with a single bite.

The heated stone pot was stir-fried with chopped lantern peppers, minced garlic, ginger, and so on. When the fragrance was produced, the fish head and fish filet were placed in it and stir-fried well. Finally, a piece of good fish meat was added. There was no soy sauce, wine, or sugar. Chang Xia replaced it with dried sour fruit meat and stir-fried it a little. Finally, she added boiling water and submerged the fish.

Gulp!

Chang Xia didn't look up as she heard a gurgle.

She saw Nan Feng and Nuan Chun standing at the side, staring blankly at the fish meat boiling in the stone pot. Her expression was no different from the roasted meat that Shan Kun and Ya Dong had prepared for Chen Rong in the morning.

"This smells so good!"

A thousand words was simplified to three by Nan Feng.

Looking at the boiled fish in the stone pot, Nan Feng regretted her decision.

It smelled so good, and it had to be better than fish balls.

If she had known that Boiled Fish was so fragrant, she would not have stopped Shan Kun and Ya Dong from making them. Was it too late to regret now?

Nuan Chun blinked and said, "Chang Xia, your boiled fish smells so good."

"My boiled fish will definitely taste good." Chang Xia raised an eyebrow at Nan Feng, her expression smug and proud.

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she said, "Tribal fish is usually cooked directly or added with wild vegetables and roots. How can they be as careful as you?"

She had also heard from Chen Rong that when cutting the fish, she had to throw away the things in the fish belly and tear off the black parts. The fish scales could be scraped or not, but it depended on whether she ate them or not. In this case, Chang Xia had to scrape off the fish scales.

They had no means of removing the stench at all.

The taste of the fish cooked was naturally self-evident.

"The fishy smell is strong, so we naturally have to handle it carefully. Unfortunately, there's no soy sauce and cooking wine. Otherwise, it would be even better." As Chang Xia spoke, she poured the cooked fish into the bowl with the cabbage and radish.

Finally, she poured oil and stir-fried the chopped chili peppers together. This time, she dried the chili and changed its color. The rich spicy fragrance poured over the fish along with the hot oil.

Instantly, there was a sizzling sound.

They listened to the sound and smelled the spicy fragrance.

Everyone began to swallow repeatedly.

Spicy fragrance. It was the first time Root and the others had smelled it. Their noses itched and they wanted to sneeze, but their mouths kept secreting saliva.

"This smells better than roast meat!"

"I've decided that boiled fish is my favorite food."

In an instant, everyone was in no mood to chat. They squeezed at the table and stared at the Boiled Fish on the table. The shallow-bottomed pottery bowl was about the size of a wooden basin. They looked at the colorful Boiled Fish in the pottery bowl.

What were fish balls?

For a moment, they forgot about them.

"Not so fast," Chang Xia said. "Let's finish the other dishes first."

She nimbly poured the sliced fried meat into the stone pot and stir-fried it. After stir-frying the meat, she added wild vegetables and stir-fried them with salt. The pot beside her that was boiling meat and yams was steaming. It was as domineering as the fragrance of boiled fish, but also very tempting.

On the other side, Chen Rong turned the roasted meat over in his hands.

The rich fragrance of roasted meat, the stimulating spicy fragrance of boiled fish, and the fresh and sweet fragrance of stewed mountain herbs filled the air above the beast lair.

Root and the others put down their work and hurried over to help.

Mu Qin and Nan Feng put the fish into the pot while Nuan Chun was in charge of the fire. The fried meat had already been cooked and placed aside to wait for the oil temperature to drop before pouring it into the washed clay pot for storage. Of course, she did not forget Chang Xia's promise of fish balls and fried meat. She specially stored them in a clay pot and would bring them back when Ya Dong returned to the tribe.

This way, when he wanted to eat it, he could eat it directly or after some processing.

Just now, Root said that the tribe would go out hunting in the future.

He could prepare some fried meat and fish balls in advance so that he wouldn't have to worry about going hungry while hunting.

A moment later.

After cooking, everyone sat around the long table.

"Come, let's eat." Chang Xia called out, and everyone lowered their heads to eat. No one could bear to look up, and they saw the chopsticks on the table take off. Chang Xia turned around and scooped soup for Chen Rong. "Chen Rong, eat more yam stewed meat. Try to eat the other dishes as little as possible."

"Chang Xia, after I cough up blood… my body will be fine, really," Chen Rong said seriously.

From time to time, the beasts would gasp.

Obviously, the first time he ate chili was spicy. However, even if it was spicy, no one could bear to not eat it. The foodie trait did not differentiate between country and race. Anyone who ate chili would be infatuated with it.

"This is hot. What is this—" Root's mouth, swollen from the heat, looked at Chang Xia with a piece of chili.

Chang Xia answered, "Chili."

"Right. Where'd you get the chili?" Root asked.

"From my people. I don't know where the peppers came from." Chang Xia shook her head, gazing at Root. "Chief, when you get back to the tribe later, help me ask around. Chili peppers can be used to cook a lot of things, like chili fried meat, chili fried bird eggs, boiled fish, boiled meat…"

Hearing the names of Chang Xia's dishes, everyone knew that chili was definitely a good thing.

They had to pick more.

Mu Qin looked at Nan Feng, who said, "I've never seen chili around the tribe."

"Neither have I," Nuan Chun agreed.

Ya Dong and Shan Kun shook their heads in the same way. They all knew the plants near the tribe. The lantern pepper looked special. If they had seen it before, they would have remembered it.

"This thing is most likely from the Psychedelic Forest…" Root said quietly.

Instantly, everyone fell silent.