Chapter 21 - A Person Who Knows How to Roast Meat is the Most Handsome
Yu Xiaocao had over ten years of experience with cooking and making braised foods, but she wasn’t skilled in cleaning and preparing game. She could only help on the side by mixing the seasonings. It has been a while since she last ate meat. (Author note: Did she forget about the meat buns?) Thus, it was extremely hard for her to resist the alluring aroma of the roast hare.
Zhao Han wiped the sweat on his face with his shirt. He couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Xiaocao and her younger brother’s eager expressions, “Be patient. We should be able to eat soon. The wild hare I caught today is quite plump, and it will definitely be tasty!”
The grease from the roast hare dripped into the fire, making a sizzling sound. The blazing flame carried the appetizing aroma of the roasted meat into the air. The smell floated throughout the valley, enticing the siblings’ hunger.
By the time the crispy, golden-brown roast hare was finally ready, Yu Xiaocao was already close to drooling! The siblings looked at the steaming roast hare and didn’t know where to begin.
A smile appeared on Zhao Han’s handsome face. He gently shook his head and took out the sharp dagger that he used to peel the wild hare earlier.
After carefully washing the dagger in the stream, he cut off and gave the hind legs to the siblings. The hind legs were the most tender parts of the hare.
There were two young children, so Zhao Han didn’t add too much spicy seasonings on the roasted meats. He gave each of them a hare’s hind leg, which weighed half a catty each. Then, he added more chili powder and cumin on the remaining meat.
Yu Xiaocao felt really envious when she saw that, so she pestered Brother Han to add some more for her too. Even if there was only a thin layer, it was still able to enhance the taste of the roast hare. With bright red lips, Xiaocao was covered in sweat as she ate. It seemed like she still needed to slowly train herself to be accustomed with spicy foods.
Little Shitou was eating his non-spicy roast hare leg as he watched his second sister sucking in cold air and tearing up due to the spiciness. He curiously wondered, ‘If eating the chili pepper is so painful, then why were Brother Han and Second Sister still eating it? He seriously couldn’t understand them. They were obviously just torturing themselves!’
The little fellow took a big bite of the savory hare while lamenting that today was even better than the New Year, ‘After eating big meat buns at noon, he was also allowed to freely eat roasted meat in the afternoon. Was this really not a dream?’
By the time they finished eating the roast hare leg, the ‘beggar’s turtledove’ was also ready. When taking off the thick mud, the turtledove’s feathers were also completely peeled off along with the mud shell. The flavors of the bright red jujube and fragrant spices, which were inside the stomach, had seeped into the meat of the wild turtledove. With a fragrant aroma, it had a crisp and tender texture, which easily melted in the mouth.
Xiaocao and her younger brother had both just finished eating a hare leg, but when faced with such appetizing roasted meat, they couldn’t resist eating more. Thus, they ended up eating too much, and were whining while rubbing their bellies.
Zhao Han looked at them with amusement. After plucking a few large leaves, he cleaned them with water and wrapped the remaining meats within the leaves, “Take these roasted meats back home for Xiaosha and Xiaolian to eat. But be careful not to let Heizi see it, or else, he’ll take it all from you guys!”
Yu Xiaocao noticed that he didn’t eat a lot of the roasted meat and asked with slight embarrassment, “Brother Han, you were busy working all afternoon. Why don’t you eat some more?”
