Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Chapter 1117 has no depth whatsoever.
At that time, rural areas were relatively poor, so every household had very simple seasonings. Besides salt and soybean paste, they also had Sichuan peppercorns picked from the mountains, as well as homegrown scallions, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers.

Of course, these seasonings were sufficient for daily use. For example, MSG, which is commonly used in later generations, was not bought by most families at this time, mainly because they couldn't afford it. As for chicken essence, oyster sauce, and thirteen-spice powder, they had never even heard of them in rural areas at this time.

However, it must be admitted that although many seasonings were unavailable, the stewing seasoning, or rather, the braising seasoning, that Wang An prepared was absolutely top-notch for this time of year.

As the aroma began to fill the air, Wang Li finished dissecting the remaining meat. He sniffed hard and suddenly said to Wang An:
"Fourth Brother, I feel like cooking fish is completely unnecessary. Your stewed meat smells so good! With this beef, who would want to eat fish?"

Actually, although the beef was too lean and there wasn't much meat on the bones, Wang An still insisted on stewing beef bones because, apart from not being easy to stew until mushy, as long as more lard was added, the taste would definitely be good.

At the very least, this stuff tastes better than wild boar meat.

After Wang Li finished speaking, Wang An looked at Wang Li with a half-smile and said:
"Whether you want to eat or not, it's still you. Why are you so domineering? Hurry up and cast your net."

At Wang An's command, Wang Li gave an awkward smile and went to the warehouse to find fishing nets to catch fish.

To be honest, although Wang An believed that his stewed beef bones and offal would be delicious, whether he could stew the whole pot of beef bones and meat until they were tender and mushy when Wang Dazhu and the others returned from the fields was an unknown.

So if the meat isn't quite cooked by then, you can eat some fish to tide you over.

Of course, as the old saying goes, "eat raw or cooked food while it's hot," and after such a long stewing time, the beef is definitely cooked, it just might not be very tender.

While Wang Li went to catch fish, Wang An was also busy. He put a few pieces of firewood into the stove and then went to prepare the seasonings for stewing the fish.

With so many people eating, dishes like boiled fish and sweet and sour fish are unlikely to be available. The simplest and easiest way is to stew.

Just as Wang An was preparing the stewing ingredients, Mu Xueqing came out, drawn by the aroma. She sniffed, swallowed hard, and asked Wang An:

"Xiao An, what are you doing? This smells amazing."

Wang An smiled and said:

"How about we stew beef bones and offal? Let's go munching on beef bones and eating offal, what do you say? Want some?"

Mu Xueqing sniffed again and said with great emotion:

"Mmm, I want to eat it, it smells so good!"

Admittedly, even Wang An himself felt that the flavor was perfectly authentic, without a single flaw.

As she spoke, Mu Xueqing walked over to the large pot of stewed beef bones. Looking at the bricks on the lid, she turned to Wang An and said ingratiatingly:
"Xiao An, can you give me a piece to try first? I want to eat it as soon as I smell it."

Because of her pregnancy, Mu Xueqing has developed a voracious appetite and eats a lot at every meal. Even Wang An's appetite is no match for hers.

What's really amazing is that although Mu Xueqing has a huge appetite, apart from her big belly, her body and face don't look fat. She just looks a little fuller than before.

Looking at Mu Xueqing's gluttonous expression, Wang An said helplessly:

"The meat isn't cooked yet, wait a little longer, my dear wife."

Mu Xueqing agreed and stood by the stove, staring at the pot lid as if her staring would speed up the cooking of the meat.

Without going to see Mu Xueqing again, Wang An continued with his work.

Whether you're stewing lean beef bones or fish, the only essential ingredient is oil, preferably animal fat, and you need to use plenty of it; otherwise, the meat won't taste good.

However, less than two minutes later, Mu Xueqing called out to Wang An again, "Xiao An, is the meat cooked?"

Wang An was slicing ginger, so he didn't look up and said:

"No, let's wait a bit longer."

Mu Xueqing didn't answer, but continued to stare at the pot lid.

It was clear that Mu Xueqing was really craving it; she kept swallowing her saliva to stop it from spilling out.

After slicing the ginger, Wang An continued preparing the other seasonings, but Mu Xueqing couldn't help but say again:

"Xiao An, hurry up and get me a piece, I'm so hungry for it."

At this moment, Mu Xueqing was like a child, without a trace of profundity.

Wang An glanced at his watch, estimated the time, and said in a coaxing tone, as if speaking to a child:

"Wait a little longer, honey, just 10 more minutes. In 10 minutes I'll give you a whole piece of beef liver and beef intestines to eat."

Older beef like this is not easy to stew until tender, and even the offal is not easy to stew until tender. However, compared to other cuts of beef, beef liver and intestines, although they are not easy to stew until tender, can be cooked faster.

Mu Xueqing glanced at Wang An, then pouted and remained silent.

Soon, Wang Li returned with the fish. To be honest, this guy really knows how to eat, because he only had two fish in his hands. In his left hand, he was carrying a large salmon that weighed at least 15 or 16 pounds, and in his right hand, he was carrying a sturgeon that weighed about 20 pounds.

Upon seeing the two fish, Wang An immediately said in an annoyed tone:

"You're really good at picking fish. There aren't many sturgeon this big in the whole pond, and you still managed to catch one. There are plenty of carp and grass carp, just eat them. Why did you have to catch such a big one?"

In those days, Heilongjiang Province had abundant water resources, as evidenced by the saying "beating roe deer with sticks and scooping fish with ladles," but precious fish like sturgeon still accounted for a very small percentage.

Every time Wang An cast his net to catch fish, even if the net was full, he would only catch a few sturgeon; the vast majority of the fish were common fish such as grass carp and common carp.

There's no way around it; this stuff is delicious and valuable, so it's been heavily overfished everywhere.

After Wang An finished speaking, Wang Li didn't seem to mind, and instead said with a grin:
"Of course I have to be good at choosing! I haven't had fish in ages, so if I'm going to eat it, it has to be good, hehehehehe."

Wang An glared at Wang Li and said one word helplessly:

"grass"!
I don't know why, but when fishing in the river, no matter how expensive the fish is, I don't feel bad about catching it. But when the same expensive fish ends up in my own fishpond, I feel a little reluctant to part with it. That's strange.

Seeing Wang Li leave the fish there and prepare to leave, Wang An immediately called out:
"Hurry up and clean the fish for me, what? Are you waiting for me to clean it?"

Wang Li gave an awkward smile, picked up a knife, sat down, and began scraping fish scales.

Just then, Mu Xueqing said:

"Xiao An, ten minutes are up."

(End of this chapter)