"Ah ah ah so painful!"
The little brat Wilder curiously poked a crab, and was immediately tightly pinched by its two large claws. He hopped on one leg while running in circles, his mouth screaming incessantly.
Kaelen hurriedly held him firmly to prevent him from running around wildly. He broke a stiff branch and carefully prodded the crab's claw joint, and the crab immediately dropped with a thud. Wilder, with tears welling up in his eyes, licked his painfully pinched leg, his eyes brimming with tears:
"Kaelen, I want to eat it! I must eat it!"
Kaelen burst out laughing, not forgetting to take the tree branch and swat the fleeing crab; the crab immediately rolled over.
[Help me process this pile a bit. Do it like this...]
Kaelen instructed Sane on how to clean the fish and peel the shrimp. Sane watched for a moment, nodding to indicate he understood.
Without needing to use a rock to knock the fish out, he directly grabbed the tail of a nearly ten-kilogram fish, slammed its head straight into the rock wall by the river, and then the claws on his hands extended; with a few swift slashes, the fish was cleaned of its scales and internal organs.
Throwing the fish scales and organs into the large basket, Kaelen threw it back into the river, predicting another batch of delicious fish tomorrow. As for the peeled shrimp shells and shrimp heads, Kaelen kept them, wrapping them in a large leaf. This thing, taken back, steamed, then sun-dried and ground into fine powder, would become a new type of spice.
As for the crabs, Kaelen taught the cubs to hold tree branches to let their claws pinch them, then throw them into his woven basket.
The fish and shrimp, except for being slightly larger than the fish in his past life, were mostly very familiar species; but the crabs had colorful patterns on their shells. He was afraid they might be poisonous, so before verifying, he couldn't let the children eat them.
After the fish and shrimp were cleaned, laid out on a mat lined with many large leaves, Kaelen tested the bone knife against the fish's body.
With a fish weighing nearly ten kilograms, he couldn't grill it whole; that would cause the fish meat to cook unevenly. He tilted the knife, carefully filleting two thick, pure white slabs of fish meat, then scored diagonal lines on the surface of the meat so the spices could penetrate more easily.
He crushed a few wild ginger roots, added his exclusive pepper and Thick Mushroom Sauce, then used his hands to rub it evenly so the thick spice paste seeped into every fiber of the meat.
Sane stood to the side, his eyes glued to the nimble hands of the small Sub-Beast. He quickly understood the intention, proactively going to gather firewood to start a fire and finding a very flat rock slab, washing it clean, and then placing it over the roaring flames.
By the time the pile of fish and shrimp was processed, the rock slab was already burning hot; Kaelen placed the marinated fish slab on top.
"Sizzle sizzle..."
The sound of fish fat oozing out and sizzling on the rock surface, blending with the pungent aroma of mushroom Thick Mushroom Sauce, wild ginger, and a hint of the spicy pungency of pepper, immediately billowed up. The little brats who were noisily playing in the water instantly fell silent, simultaneously gulping down their saliva, and gathered in a circle around the fire.
Even Sane, a beastman warrior who always prided himself on his self-control, couldn't help but take a deep breath. This smell... was so fragrant it made his stomach churn in protest!
While waiting for the fish to cook, Kaelen wasn't idle. He gestured for Sane to start a new fire, placed a skull pot containing lard on top, then chopped the fish bones into small segments and put them into the pot to fry.
This pot was made from the skull of a Level 1 Iron-Armored Buffalo; the bone surface was very thick and the size was large. After being reprocessed by Uncle Cassian, it was no different from an iron pot in his past life.
When the fish bones turned slightly yellow, Kaelen poured his water skin in until it covered the bones, then took a few sour apples and a handful of sweet berries, asking Sane to crush them and throw them into the pot, added a little salt, and covered it with a wooden lid. Sane looked curiously at the wooden pot lid, feeling quite fascinated.
The fish on the rock slab was seared on one side; Kaelen carefully used a wooden spatula to flip the fish over. Taking advantage of the fish fat that had flowed out onto the rock slab, he poured in shredded fresh mushrooms and wild vegetables and stir-fried them quickly.
When the mushrooms and vegetables just wilted, Kaelen poured in all the marinated shrimp meat. The high temperature quickly turned the shrimp into an eye-catching orange-red color.
Finally, he drizzled the mixture of sour apple and berry juice on top, and sprinkled a pinch of coarse salt.
The aroma of cooked shrimp blending with the refreshing sweet and sour taste of wild fruits awakened all the senses. The sauce bubbled vigorously, clinging tightly to each shimmering fiber of shrimp meat.
"Gulp, gulp!"
The little cubs surrounding the fire gulped down their saliva, throwing all their prejudices against Kaelen to the back of their minds; each and every one sat cross-legged, holding bowls hastily made from leaves and sharpened skewers, sitting and waiting to be fed.
Kaelen found it funny, picking up the cooked shrimp meat and distributing it for them to eat first. He brought out his two wooden bowls, picked up shrimp into the bowls, and then handed one to Sane along with a spoon. Sane was slightly stunned for a moment, then calmly received the bowl of stir-fried shrimp, clumsily using the spoon to scoop a shrimp into his mouth.
"Oh Beast God! So delicious! Kaelen, so delicious!" Beside Sane, Wilder had also devoured almost his entire bowl of stir-fried shrimp, praising incessantly while eating. Sane did not deny the kid's words. He truly didn't expect the thing that almost everyone on the continent despised would, through Kaelen's hands, become such a delicious dish.
The rich sweetness of the firm, chewy shrimp meat and the juicy fresh mushrooms blended with the elegant sweet and sour taste of the wild fruits. The ginger and the pungent spicy pepper had completely blown away the nauseating fishy smell of seafood that Beastmen always hated. Even the stir-fried wild vegetables accompanying it were surprisingly delicious.
Kaelen smiled, beginning to use the wooden spatula to scoop all the grilled fish onto a rock slab lined with clean leaves, then carefully removed the fish bones, picking up a piece for the young Sub-Beast Lucian beside him.
Lucian hesitated for a moment, then opened his small mouth to bite the piece of fish, chewing lightly. His eyes lit up, and his fluffy tail behind him also swayed, showing his owner's mood was very good.
Seeing his whole group of friends staring at him, Lucian said softly: "Very delicious, even more delicious than the red dish just now."
The cubs began to no longer hold back, attacking the fish dish together. Kaelen had taken the opportunity to set aside a bowl of shrimp and three large pieces of fish for himself and Sane. He didn't eat much, so that amount was saved for Sane. Sane's heart didn't know what flavor it felt, being both touched and conflicted.
Actually, it was just him thinking too much; Kaelen saving a portion for him was simply because he remembered Sane's effort in helping him prepare the fish and start the fire.
Handing Sane's portion to him, he skewered the remaining shrimp onto skewers, a piece of shrimp then a piece of mushroom; after making five or six skewers, he put them all on the flat rock slab to grill. During that time, he took the opportunity to both eat and flip the shrimp.
He distributed all of these grilled shrimp to the little brats.
The fish soup in the pot had turned a milky white color; the rich aroma lingered along the riverbank, drawing the curiosity of a few tribesmen who were nearby. However, upon seeing Kaelen among the group of beast cubs sitting by the riverbank, they all automatically turned their heads away, completely having no intention of coming over to greet him.
However, there were still a few beastmen who couldn't suppress their cravings, edging closer to Sane to ask for a bite.
With only a little bit of food, not even enough to fill the stomach, Sane replied bluntly: "You even want to fight over cubs' food? If you want to eat, wade into the river and catch it yourself."
"Huh? Go into the river to catch it? You mean those stinky, bony water beasts down there?"
The beastmen grimaced for a while, but actually transformed into their beast forms and jumped into the river.
They also wanted to know why this stinky, fishy thing could be cooked into such a fragrant dish!