It was getting late, so Jian Mo lit two oil lamps specifically for cooking.
Under the dim yellow glow of the lamps, Qing Kuo swiftly diced the meat.
Jian Mo, on the other hand, ground spice powder and prepared side ingredients. He had never cooked Woolhorn Beast meat before, but judging by the smell, it seemed quite gamey. It would require a generous amount of spice to marinate.
Watching from the side, Qing Kuo remarked, “I think your collection of spice powders is the most complete in the entire tribe.”
Jian Mo glanced at the row of spice jars on the shelf and, for once, didn’t refute. “You might be right. Most of it I gathered myself, and Wu Jiong brings some back for me when he goes out. You and others pitch in too when you spot something. Over time, it’s built up.”
Qing Kuo grinned, “Spices are most useful in your hands. Giving them to others would be a waste.”
Jian Mo laughed. “You only say that because we’re close.”
Qing Kuo shook his head. “I thought the same even before we got close. So, how are you going to cook the Woolhorn Beast meat?”
Jian Mo explained, “A dry pot stir-fry. I’ll heat the stone slab and fry it quickly, keeping it on the slab to stay warm.”
With meat of this quality, it needed heavy seasoning and high heat for it to be appetizing.
Jian Mo was efficient, and by the time Wu Jiong and the others finished processing the meat and carried it back in large clay jars, he was nearly done cooking.
There were six people eating tonight, and Jian Mo and Qing Kuo prepared five dishes and a soup. The portions were generous, but with three adult beastmen at the table, it would likely all be eaten.
Two of the dishes were made with Woolhorn Beast meat. Aside from the dry pot stir-fry, Jian Mo also prepared a stew with pickled vegetables and the beast’s organs, which was bubbling in the hearth.
Ban Ming entered the room and immediately sniffed the air. “Smells amazing!”
Jian Mo brought out warm bowls and chopsticks. “Then make sure you eat a lot. Don’t leave leftovers.”
Rolling up his sleeves, Ban Ming grinned. “You underestimate me! With me here, how could there be leftovers?”
Everyone sat around the hearth, even the small cat Ban Jiu, who had his own little bowl filled with a milder meat patty.
Ban Ming’s first move was to grab a hefty portion of the stir-fried Woolhorn Beast meat and stuff it into his mouth. Blowing on it to cool, he exclaimed, “Delicious! Brother Jian Mo, your cooking is incredible. This is the best Woolhorn Beast meat I’ve ever had!”
Skeptical, Jian Mo took a bite himself. The meat was coarse, tough to chew, and not particularly flavorful, though the gaminess and odd odors were subdued, and the smokiness of the wok helped. It wasn’t bad.
Qing Kuo praised, “Jian Mo, your skills are unmatched. I think you could make anything taste good.”
Jian Mo replied modestly, “Not really. There are some dishes I can’t cook well.”
As they chatted, Jian Mo kept an eye on Wu Jiong’s expression out of the corner of his eye.
The light from the hearth flickered, so they hadn’t lit additional oil lamps. Wu Jiong’s face was partially obscured in shadow. Though he kept his brows from furrowing, his expression was clearly displeased.
Beastmen had sharp senses of smell, and Wu Jiong was particularly picky about food. He seemed not to like Woolhorn Beast meat at all.
This explained why, during their honeyblock gathering trip, they had seen so many Woolhorn Beasts, yet Wu Jiong had made no attempt to hunt them.
So, he didn’t like them, after all.
Jian Mo found it amusing to watch Wu Jiong struggle to swallow the meat.
Glancing around to ensure the others weren’t paying attention, Jian Mo leaned closer to Wu Jiong and whispered, “If you don’t like it, give it to me.”
Wu Jiong whispered back, “No need.”
Ignoring him, Jian Mo deftly took the meat from Wu Jiong’s bowl. “I think the Woolhorn Beast meat is alright. You can eat something else.”
Before Ban Ming and the others could tease him, Jian Mo had already returned to his seat, acting as if nothing had happened.
Sitting in the dim light, Wu Jiong’s ears turned a little red.
Qing Kuo noticed but said nothing. Ban Ming and the others were entirely oblivious.
Ban Ming turned to Jian Mo. “Brother Jian Mo, the chopsticks in your tribe are really convenient. Once you’re used to them, you can pick out exactly what you want, much better than grabbing with your hands.”
Di Ya added, “Using hands burns your fingers.”
Ban Ming agreed enthusiastically, “Exactly! And spoons aren’t great for picking specific bites either.”
Jian Mo smiled. “As long as you like them. Eat as much as you want.”
The six of them managed to finish all five dishes and the soup.
Full and satisfied, Ban Ming patted his stomach and bade farewell with the equally stuffed Ban Jiu in his arms. “Brother Jian Mo, your cooking is amazing. We’re heading back now. Next time, come to our place for a meal!”
Qing Kuo waved them off. “Hurry back inside. It’s cold out. No need to see us off.”
Perched on Ban Ming’s shoulder, Ban Jiu wagged his little tail. “Goodbye, Brother Jian Mo!”
Soon, Qing Kuo’s family left.
Looking at the two large jars of meat still in the yard, Jian Mo turned to Wu Jiong. “The meat doesn’t seem too bad. Let’s figure out what to do with it tomorrow?”
Wu Jiong glanced at the jars without agreeing or disagreeing.
Jian Mo grinned and nudged him. “Come on, let’s bathe and get some sleep. A whole day outside is exhausting.”
Wu Jiong replied, “You go first.”
Jian Mo didn’t argue. “Then fetch me more water.”
Last night, still in good spirits, Jian Mo had thought the two jars of meat looked fine.
But by the next morning, the smell of gaminess made him realize how difficult it would be to deal with.
Wu Jiong didn’t like the meat, and Jian Mo wasn’t particularly fond of it either.
With so much of it, who knew how long it would take to finish?
Should they trade it with others? But everyone in the tribe had been given Woolhorn Beast meat. Who would want to trade?
Jian Mo felt a bit melancholic.
While sunning himself in the clearing, Qing Kuo, aware of Jian Mo’s dilemma, suggested, “Didn’t you say you could make it into preserved meat? That might improve the flavor.”
Jian Mo sighed. “I doubt it would work. The meat is too lean, no fat. Preserved meat without fat won’t be very flavorful.”
Hearing about Jian Mo’s indecision, others in the tribe offered their suggestions:
“Fry it into chunks? If you can fry fish, meat should work too!”
“Maybe pickle it into salted meat? Slice thinly when you want to eat it—it’s great with tubers.”
“Boiling it in brine could work.”
“Haha! Isn’t your house famous for eating anything? But Jian Mo is such a good cook that this might not suit him.”
Jian Mo thanked everyone for their ideas, clasping his hands in mock gratitude. “I think I’ll make meat rolls.”
The moment he said that nearly everyone perked up their ears.
Qing Kuo asked curiously, “What kind of meat rolls?”
Jian Mo explained, “Haven’t you done this before? Stuffing meat into casings to make sausages.”
Qing Kuo asked in confusion, “Isn’t that just preserved meat? Didn’t you say you didn’t want to make preserved meat?”
Jian Mo shook his head. “It’s not preserved meat; it’s sausages. I’ll grind the meat into a paste, season it, and then stuff it into casings.”
Originally, Jian Mo thought about making starchy sausages, but considering how precious starch was in this world, he dismissed the idea. Instead, he decided to make pure meat sausages, using extra meat to compensate.
The others, intrigued by the idea of a new dish, eagerly offered to help and watch.
Jian Mo led them back home, planning to process the meat.
“This is too much to cut by hand,” he said. “I’ll take it to the stone mortar and pound it into a paste. It’ll be a hassle to carry, but it’s much better than cutting it all here.”
Seeing Jian Mo load the meat into a basket, Qing Kuo remarked, “What’s so difficult about that? I’ll call Ban Ming to help.”
He stepped outside and shouted, and Ban Ming soon arrived with some young beastmen to assist with carrying the meat.
With the extra hands, Jian Mo went to the cave and fetched the frozen fat he had been saving to render into oil. He figured it was perfect for the sausages.
A crowd of people accompanied Jian Mo to the stone mortar, asking, “What’s the next step?”
Jian Mo instructed, “First, clean the mortar thoroughly.”
Before he could move, several people fetched water and scrubbed the mortar clean with dry grass. “What’s next?” they asked eagerly.
“Put the meat in and pound it into a paste,” Jian Mo replied.
Although the paste could be made by hand, it was too time-consuming and tedious. Using the mortar was much more efficient.
Jian Mo added the fat and lean meat into the mortar, pouring in fruit wine and spice powder. “Now, pound it.”
The young beastmen volunteered enthusiastically. “Brother Jian Mo, you take a break. We’ll do it.”
With their boundless energy, they began pounding the meat with the large wooden pestle, each stroke powerful and steady.
Jian Mo stood by with a wooden stick. After each pound, he stirred the meat inside, ensuring it mixed evenly.
This required quick reflexes and perfect timing to avoid disrupting the rhythm of the pounding. After observing for a while, the others declared they understood the process and took turns helping Jian Mo.
Swinging the wooden stick repeatedly left Jian Mo’s hands numb. When someone replaced him, he gratefully stepped aside to rest.
After a while, Jian Mo signaled for them to stop. He washed his hands, then reached into the paste to pick out the tendons and membranes.
The Woolhorn Beast’s meat was coarse and filled with sinewy tissues. In no time, Jian Mo had removed half a bowl of them.
Qing Kuo peered into the bowl. “Are you throwing those away?”
Jian Mo shook his head. “I’ll give them to Chirpy. It won’t mind.”
Qing Kuo nodded approvingly. “It’s convenient to have a winged beast.”
Once the sinews were removed, Jian Mo asked the others to continue pounding. Before long, the chunks of meat turned into a smooth, fine paste that was impossible to grab by hand.
Using a large spoon, Jian Mo transferred the paste into a wooden basin and set it in the snow to cool. Then they started on the next batch.
Everyone worked in harmony, quickly repeating the process.
Meanwhile, Jian Mo fetched the casings and asked the group to help wash and scrape them clean of fat. Then, he began stuffing the meat paste into the casings.
When his supply of casings ran out, others brought more from their homes to help him.
Since these were tasks everyone was familiar with, the work proceeded smoothly.
Before long, the batches of meat paste were transformed into strings of pure meat sausages—Jian Mo had been sparing with starch, after all.
Looking at the pale pink sausages, Qing Kuo asked, “What now? Hang them to dry?”
Jian Mo laughed. “No need to dry them. We’ll cook them and then freeze them.”
Qing Kuo was skeptical. “Won’t they spoil? And why freeze them after cooking?”
Jian Mo wasn’t entirely sure. Based on his experience, cooked and frozen sausages seemed to keep better. “Let’s try it and see.”
So, they brought out a large pot, lit a fire, and began boiling the sausages on the spot.
The sausages were lowered into boiling water, and before long, they solidified into Jian Mo’s familiar pink sausages.
Scooping one out, Jian Mo carefully cut it open. Thanks to the added fat, the sausage glistened with an oily sheen. A gentle squeeze released juices imbued with a rich, meaty aroma.
He took a bite, and to his surprise, the sausage tasted wonderfully familiar. The flavor, enhanced by the peppery spice, reminded him of black pepper sausages.
It was delicious.
Jian Mo’s eyes lit up as he savored the flavor. He hadn’t expected to eat sausages again in this lifetime, let alone ones so tender and flavorful.
Noticing his expression, the others couldn’t help but ask, “How is it?”
Jian Mo snapped out of his reverie and smiled. “Try it for yourselves.”
He shared the cooked sausages, and no one held back.
“Huh, this is completely different from what I expected. There’s none of that toughness from Woolhorn Beast meat.”
“Of course not; it’s pounded into a paste. But it’s surprisingly springy! Who knew paste could be so bouncy? And so juicy, too.”
“It’s incredibly fragrant! None of the other Woolhorn Beast recipes had this kind of aroma.”
“It’s amazing. Not at all what I imagined. No wonder it took so much effort to make.”
“This way of cooking is so unique. Jian Mo, do you have any other methods like this?”
“I need to make some at home too. This doesn’t taste like Woolhorn Beast meat at all.”
Hearing their praise, Jian Mo let them experiment freely. After all, they had all watched the entire process, and he had nothing to hide.
Qing Kuo turned to Jian Mo and said, “This is really good. Let’s keep the recipe a secret and not let it spread to other tribes.”
Jian Mo nodded. “I don’t mind.”
Everyone else agreed eagerly.
The neighboring tribes, though they got along well, each had their own secret recipes. Tribes with more unique recipes tended to be more prosperous, so it made sense to keep this one from spreading to others.
Jian Mo didn’t mind; he followed the tribe’s decision.
After everyone had a taste, Jian Mo handed a few sausages to each person who helped make them and then stored the rest. The two large jars of meat had been transformed into two large jars of sausages, looking far more appetizing.
Unfortunately, he only had half a jar of pepper spice powder left. He’d need to find time to trade for more from other tribes.
The group spent nearly the entire day making sausages.
That evening, Jian Mo greeted Wu Jiong, who had just returned, with a mysterious smile. “I made something new for you to eat today.”
Wu Jiong had already heard about it. “Sausages?”
Jian Mo chuckled. “How are you always so well-informed? But we’re not boiling them tonight—we’re grilling them.”
It had been a while since they’d simply enjoyed grilled food. Jian Mo placed a large stone slab over the firepit, brushed it with beast fat, and laid out prepared meat, sausages, and tubers to grill.
This method was simple and convenient, allowing them to eat as they cooked without the food getting cold.
The sausages, having already been boiled, cooked the fastest. Once they developed a crispy, golden-brown surface, they were ready.
Jian Mo grabbed a skewer he had prepared earlier, speared a sausage, and handed it to Wu Jiong. “Try this. It’s nothing like our usual grilled meat.”
Wu Jiong took a careful bite. The sausage’s springy texture, rich flavor, juicy burst, and the slight spiciness of the pepper spice created an explosion of taste in his mouth.
He stared at the sausage. “This is Woolhorn Beast meat?”
Jian Mo, looking a bit smug, asked, “How is it? Tastes much better like this, doesn’t it?”
Wu Jiong took another bite. “It’s delicious. If we’d known about this cooking method earlier, the tribe’s Woolhorn Beasts would’ve been eaten to extinction.”
Pleased, Jian Mo kept grilling more sausages for him. “I knew you’d like it. Eat as many as you want.”
He placed the cooked sausages near Wu Jiong on the edge of the stone slab to keep them from burning.
The sausages, once grilled, filled the air with a tantalizing aroma that drifted irresistibly to anyone nearby.
Suddenly, Jian Mo heard the sound of someone swallowing.
At first, he thought it was Wu Jiong, but he quickly realized it wasn’t. Wu Jiong wouldn’t do that.
He looked toward the windowsill and spotted a few furry heads. As soon as their owners noticed him looking, they ducked below the windowsill.
Of course, it was the tribe’s little ones sneaking a peek.
Jian Mo stood up and stepped outside. Sure enough, Jiang Xing and a few other children were crouched outside. Waving them over, Jian Mo called, “Come in and eat.”
The children shook their heads quickly. “No need, Brother Jian Mo. We already have food at home.”
Food in the tribe wasn’t overly abundant, and it was considered impolite to eat at someone else’s house. The adults had taught their children not to impose, especially at Wu Jiong’s home.
Seeing their hesitation, Jian Mo smiled. “Your food probably isn’t ready yet. Come in and try some of ours first.”
The children hesitated, clearly tempted by the delicious smell of the sausages, their expressions betraying their struggle.
Jian Mo gently ruffled the hair of the child closest to him. “Your parents all helped me make sausages today. It’s okay to come in for a taste; you won’t get scolded.”
The little ones muttered their thanks. “Thank you, Brother Jian Mo.”
After leading them inside, Jian Mo snapped off the sharp tips of the skewers before handing the sausages to the children. “Be careful, they’re hot. Eat slowly.”
The children, holding the sausages with both hands, ate with a squirrel-like daintiness.
Knowing they were just being shy, Jian Mo couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
After they finished eating, the children quickly thanked him and returned home.
Jian Mo enjoyed feeding the kids and didn’t dwell on it.
The next morning, however, the parents came by in droves, wanting to learn how to make sausages.
Puzzled, Jian Mo said, “But you all helped make them yesterday. You saw every step of the process. You should know how to do it.”
Zhou Fu, looking distressed, admitted, “We thought so too. Early this morning, we took our materials to the stone mortar to make some. But the taste came out completely different from yours.”
Jian Mo thought for a moment. “Did you add fat? Without fat, sausages don’t taste as good.”
They nodded vigorously. “We did.”
“Was it three parts fat to seven parts lean meat?”
When Jian Mo made the sausages, he had intuitively added fat in that ratio without explicitly mentioning it. He realized now that he should have.
Sure enough, Zhou Fu and the others looked at each other in dismay—they hadn’t noticed the proportions.
Jian Mo continued, “Fat can have a bit of a smell. I pre-boiled mine with spices and salt before freezing it. If you didn’t do that, it might affect the flavor.”
He rattled off several other small tips, all things the sub-beastmen hadn’t considered.
By the time he finished explaining, Jian Mo was a bit parched. “You should be fine now. Just follow yesterday’s process exactly.”
The sub-beastmen nodded eagerly and went back to work.
Jian Mo thought the matter was settled and turned to his own tasks.
To his surprise, they returned in the afternoon with more sausage-making materials. “No matter what we do, our sausages don’t taste as good as yours. Why don’t we just trade these materials for some of your sausages?”
Taken aback, Jian Mo hesitated. “But we don’t have that many sausages to spare.”
They immediately countered, “Then let us help, and you can make more!”
Jian Mo was speechless.
The sub-beastmen persisted. “How about this? You provide the technique and spices, and we’ll provide the materials. Once the sausages are made, we’ll split them half and half.”
Jian Mo felt this was a bit unfair and was reluctant to agree.
But they coaxed and cajoled him, insisting, “This isn’t unfair at all! If anything, we’re getting the better deal.”
“Exactly! Your sausages are too good. We’re dying for another batch. Please?”
In the end, Jian Mo couldn’t resist. “Fine, but I’ll supply the spices and oversee the process. You’ll need to follow my instructions.”
The sub-beastmen cheered, promising to comply fully.
Jian Mo’s cooking skills far surpassed theirs, and even with the same method and ingredients, his sausages were on another level.
Eventually, more people came to him for help making sausages. By the time his spice powder was entirely used up, the sausage-making craze in the tribe subsided.
Jian Mo had stockpiled so many sausages that they filled an entire cave. It was too much for the jars to hold, so he lined the cave floor with dry grass and stored the sausages there.
Still, leaving such a large quantity of food in a distant cave made Jian Mo uneasy.
Rubbing his wrist, Jian Mo told Wu Jiong, “I’ve asked the tribe’s children to patrol the cave, but it still doesn’t feel secure. I’m considering taking some sausages to trade with other tribes for supplies.”
While sausages were delicious, they couldn’t eat them every day for a year. There was no way the tribe could consume that many.
Wu Jiong nodded. “What do you want to trade for?”
Jian Mo sighed. “Spice powder and honeyblocks are the priority. After all the sausage-making, my spices are nearly gone, and I’ve run out of pepper spice entirely. We’ll need to restock as soon as possible.”
Wu Jiong suggested, “Then let’s head to the Meng Shui Tribe first. They have abundant supplies.”
Thanks for the chapter! Everyone is adorable, lol