Mountain God’s Forest Farm – CH84

Chapter 84: Filtering Fruit Vinegar

Ying Kongtu had been quite fond of visiting the vegetable market recently.

Outside the market, many villagers from the townships below carried all kinds of local specialties over to sell.

The handmade rice noodles they had bought before had been purchased outside the vegetable market.

Aside from handmade rice noodles, all kinds of handmade tofu, dried vegetables, sweet potato starch noodles, and so on were also delicious.

They carried the fragrance of natural food, all the kind Ying Kongtu liked.

That day, Ying Kongtu even saw fruit jam being sold at the market.

He suddenly remembered that there were still two bottles of mountain raspberry vinegar in the attic. After returning home, he went up to the attic to fuss with the mountain raspberry vinegar.

The mountain raspberry vinegar had already been fermenting for some time.

This kind of aerobic fermented vinegar had fermented perfectly in the cool, well-ventilated attic. The moment he went upstairs, he smelled a sour, fragrant, and refreshing fruit aroma.

He then scooped out a little with a spoon and tasted it. This batch of vinegar had indeed almost finished fermenting.

So he went down to the kitchen, took some clean gauze and new sealed jars, and brought them upstairs. He planned to filter out the vinegar, then let it settle and ferment again. That would make the fruit vinegar taste softer, mellower, and more fragrant.

Wen Zhongshan had originally been chopping firewood in the courtyard. Seeing his movements, he asked, “Need help?”

“Come!” Ying Kongtu agreed decisively. “It really isn’t easy for me to hold the gauze by myself.”

Wen Zhongshan came over and went up to the attic with him to filter the mountain raspberry vinegar.

After fermentation, the mountain raspberry vinegar was a faint pink. Its fruit fragrance was still rich, and it smelled wonderful.

Wen Zhongshan asked, “How do you eat mountain raspberry vinegar? Mix it with water?”

“Yes, just mix it with water and drink it. Later, we can pour some in to make honey water. Besides drinking it with water, it can also be used to dress cold dishes. It gives them a special fresh fragrance.”

Wen Zhongshan found it a little hard to imagine that this fruit vinegar could actually go with cold dressed vegetables.

Ying Kongtu said, “You’ll know once I mix some for you later.”

The two quickly filtered out two large jars of vinegar.

The fruit pomace left after filtering did not need to be thrown away either. They raised so many animals on the mountain; the pigs, chickens, and Ba-snake pigs could all eat it. Nothing would be wasted at all.

Ying Kongtu poured out a little vinegar, planning to taste it today.

There was no more honey at home that had been nourished by divine power, but the batch of acacia honey they had harvested before was still there, so they could still make a little honey water.

This kind of honey water was also very satisfying as a drink. At the very least, it tasted better than commercially sold fruit tea and honey water.

Ying Kongtu had only just finished making the honey water when the furry ones at home returned.

They entered the house in a line.

The other furry ones all looked fine. Only Shuangzhong seemed somewhat dejected, walking in last with its wings folded, without any of the majesty of a golden eagle.

“What happened?” Ying Kongtu held a cup. At one glance, he could tell something had happened to them, and he could not help asking with amusement.

“Jiu.” Shuangzhong gave a dispirited cry.

After it became an adult golden eagle, it actually no longer cried out loudly at home. Instead, it softly went, “Jiu.”

Perhaps because it felt secure now, it did not need to confirm its position through its cries, nor did it need to make intimidating calls—that kind of calling was tiring too.

But when it cried “jiu jiu” like this, it sounded even more pitiful.

Ying Kongtu looked at Tiaozhu, asking with his eyes what had happened.

Tiaozhu licked its mouth somewhat happily. “Meow-ao.”

Tiaozhu cried a few times, and Ying Kongtu roughly guessed what it meant.

After Shuangzhong’s strength increased, it mischievously went to provoke Xian Niao, and then Xian Niao pressed it under its paw.

Its feathers had fallen out too.

Tiaozhu added.

That was fairly normal.

An increase in divine power did not mean an increase in skill.

Xian Niao was a wolf king, and its combat techniques ranked at the top among all the little mountain gods.

Even if the bear mountain god could rely on strength and a massive body to become the most terrifying little mountain god, in terms of combat skill, it might not necessarily compare to Xian Niao.

Of all the ones Shuangzhong could provoke, why did it have to provoke Xian Niao?

“So that’s what happened?” Ying Kongtu looked at Shuangzhong with some sympathy. “Don’t be upset. I’ll give you honey water.”

Xian Niao said steadily, “Awoo.”

Shuangzhong drooped its head and went to the end of the line, letting out two “jiu jiu” sounds from its throat.

Ying Kongtu poured honey water for them. “This is honey water made with the mountain raspberry vinegar we brewed last time. Try it first. If you’re not used to it, I’ll make pure honey water for you.”

The texture of the mountain raspberry vinegar was very gentle. Within its softness, it also carried a rich fruit aroma. When mixed with acacia honey to make honey water, the taste was very unique.

The main thing was that it had a wonderful sense of collision.

Especially after ice cubes were added, it was icy, cool, and sweet, with a faint sourness that was not too obvious. The flavor was very layered.

The most wonderful thing was that it possessed both floral and fruity fragrance. When tasting it, those notes were hard to capture, making one unable to resist taking sip after sip, unwilling to stop until one could clearly taste what the flavor truly was.

The furry ones’ senses of taste and smell were very sharp, so they actually loved this rich flavor even more.

Wen Zhongshan had not expected mountain raspberry vinegar mixed with honey water to taste like this either. “I thought they would taste strange when mixed together.”

“They won’t. As long as the ratio is adjusted well, it won’t turn out strange.” Ying Kongtu took a comfortable sip. “Actually, it’s also very good mixed into cocktails. I’ll make some for you to try one day?”

As they were sitting in the courtyard chatting, someone came over and knocked on the door.

“Kongtu?” The person outside called, “The chicken feet you ordered are here.”

“Coming.” Ying Kongtu handed the cup in his hand to Wen Zhongshan and asked him to hold it for the moment, then went to the door to receive the chicken feet.

The chicken feet he had ordered were from the local free-range chicken shop at the foot of the mountain, the one they often bought from.

Although these chicken feet were relatively expensive, they all came from free-range chickens and had been collected over the past few days. If used to make pickled chicken feet, one could taste the fragrance of chicken.

Frozen chicken feet were rather fishy, and their whole family was very sensitive to smells.

So Ying Kongtu had specially bought this kind of chicken feet, planning to pickle them into sour-spicy chicken feet to try.

After Ying Kongtu returned, he took the cup from Wen Zhongshan’s hand and drank all the honey water in it in one gulp. “Come, come, come. Light the fire. I’ll pickle the chicken feet now.”

Wen Zhongshan followed behind him. “Do we also need to go up the mountain to pick some bird’s eye chilies?”

“We’ll blanch the chicken feet first, then go pick them.”

“Awoo—”

As Ying Kongtu was speaking, Xian Niao cried from behind him.

He turned back to look and immediately understood what Xian Niao meant. “You’re saying you can go pick them?”

“Awoo.”

Ying Kongtu smiled. “That works too. Be careful not to get burned by the spiciness. I also need some scallions and cilantro. Pick some water spinach while you’re at it.”

“Awoo.” Xian Niao agreed.

And so, after finishing the honey water, the furry ones all stood up together and lined up to go up the mountain to pick vegetables.

Xian Niao even specifically carried a basket in its mouth, looking extremely well prepared.

Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan watched their backs leave, then returned to the kitchen to prepare the chicken feet.

They first cut off the nails of the chicken feet, then put them into a pot of cold water, added ginger slices and cooking wine to blanch them. After that, they took them out and placed them into an ice basin filled with plenty of ice cubes.

Ying Kongtu brought over two small knives. “Just now, I was thinking that if we had to go up the mountain to pick vegetables, we might not have time to debone the chicken feet. Since we don’t need to go up the mountain, let’s debone them.”

Wen Zhongshan took a small knife. “This is the part I’m good at.”

Among their furry ones, aside from Xian Niao, the other furry ones all risked getting stuck if they ate chicken feet that had not been deboned.

If the bones inside could be removed, Ying Kongtu would feel more at ease when they ate them.

Deboning chicken feet was not difficult.

Ying Kongtu thought that if the two of them slowly deboned them, they could finish in a few dozen minutes.

Unexpectedly, it did not take a few dozen minutes at all. Wen Zhongshan used the knife quickly and skillfully.

He could debone several in a single minute.

In the end, Ying Kongtu simply put down his knife and only kept him company by chatting, too lazy to work anymore.

After fussing for half a day, the bone fragments he removed were still not clean. It was far easier to admire Wen Zhongshan deboning chicken feet.

Wen Zhongshan was truly far too skilled with a knife. A few minutes later, a large basin of chicken feet had been fully deboned.

Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan then prepared the sauce together.

The furry ones spent a little longer than expected picking vegetables on the mountain.

Ying Kongtu thought they were not skilled at picking vegetables and had stayed on the mountain for a long time.

Unexpectedly, when they returned, it was still Xian Niao leading the group, with Shuangzhong following at the very back.

However, Shuangzhong had not walked back. It had flown back.

In its two talons, it was also clutching two lively cold-water fish.

“You went to catch fish too?!” Ying Kongtu exclaimed. “So fast!”

Xian Niao glanced at Shuangzhong. “Awoo.”

It meant that Shuangzhong had caught the fish.

Shuangzhong was proud and cried loudly, “Kiki!”

Now that Shuangzhong was an adult, its eyesight was better and its flying speed was faster. When fish surfaced, it directly dove down, catching one fish in each claw without ever missing.

Ying Kongtu hurried over to take the fish.

Wen Zhongshan came over and took a look. “They’re bigger than the fish most people catch.”

Ying Kongtu glanced at Shuangzhong. “Why else would I say Shuangzhong is amazing?”

Standing outside, Shuangzhong looked even prouder.

Ying Kongtu asked for Shuangzhong and the others’ opinions. “Can we eat grilled fish today?”

“Kiki!”

“Shall we make one spicy grilled fish and one mountain-raspberry-vinegar sour-spicy grilled fish?”

“Kiki!”

“Meow-ao!”

“Awoo!”

The little fellows were all very interested in grilled fish. Ying Kongtu specially said to Tiaozhu, “For the spicy grilled fish, I’ll only add a tiny bit of chili. I won’t make it that spicy.”

Tiaozhu came over, rubbed Ying Kongtu’s knee, and even hooked its tail around him.

Wen Zhongshan went to clean the fish.

Ying Kongtu arranged charcoal in the courtyard and grilled the fish directly.

Cold-water fish were more fragrant than ordinary fish, and the charcoal they used was hardwood charcoal. Once the grilled fish had just developed crispy edges, the smell was already very fragrant.

The furry ones’ attention was completely drawn over. They no longer had any mood to play. They squatted in rows beside the grilled fish, all staring at the fish with bright eyes.

Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan brushed all kinds of seasonings onto the grilled fish.

The fragrance grew richer and richer.

Dart watched from the side, shiny drool flowing down and dripping directly onto the ground, forming two long hanging trails.

Waiting for the fish to finish grilling was extremely difficult.

It was not until after one o’clock that they finally ate the grilled fish.

At this time, the pickled chicken feet had also absorbed the flavor perfectly. Ying Kongtu gave the furry ones a version with reduced seasoning and let them eat off to the side.

Mountain raspberry vinegar was very delicious whether used to pickle chicken feet or make sour-spicy grilled fish. It had a unique sour fragrance, somewhat similar to lemon, but the flavor was softer and carried a pleasant fruity aroma.

The furry ones’ eyes all lit up.

Ying Kongtu sat at the table and watched them wolf down their food. He turned his head and whispered to Wen Zhongshan, “Good thing you removed all the bones. Otherwise, with the speed they’re eating at, they really might get something stuck.”

Wen Zhongshan placed a chopstickful of boneless fish belly into Ying Kongtu’s bowl. “This piece of fish doesn’t have any bones either.”

Ying Kongtu glanced at the furry ones beside them who were eating with full concentration, then said softly with a smile, “I like this kind of treatment.”

Author’s Note:

Dart is a little kitty who bullies the soft and fears the hard.

It is fine if Ying Kongtu says it is fat.

But if Wen Zhongshan says it is fat, it will walk over with absolute, perfect casualness, stomp hard on Wen Zhongshan’s foot, leave a cat paw print on his shoe, and run away.

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