lcionline Chapter 29 Making Oyster Sauce
Chapter 29 Making Oyster Sauce
The successful first salt production from seawater gave the beastmen immense confidence.
Xiong Fei and Ma Yuan immediately brought out two large stones from the mountains and started polishing them, as if they were full of energy.
Gradually, their work got on track. They had to collect a lot of salt this time, enough for the tribe to use until the end of the snow season. They could only come back again when spring came, so the task was very arduous.
They couldn't stay here too long. No one knew what was going on inside the tribe, and Lin Baiyan was also a little worried about the little cubs in the tribe.
After being away for so many days, he hadn't had any fluffy things to rub.
Lin Baiyan is destined to worry. He always says he's easygoing, easygoing, and that he'll do anything.
In reality, they did not lack any of the concerns they should have.
So Lin Baiyan and Lang Cang discussed it and decided to return in three days.
They need to produce enough salt in the next few days.
However, the process of making salt from seawater is simple, and the group divided the work among themselves.
Lin Baiyan was responsible for collecting firewood and watching the stone pot, while Xiong Fei and Ma Yuanyuan each took turns fetching water.
Lang Cang was struggling with the piece of wood he had brought back.
Lin Baiyan originally intended to shape the wood into wooden barrels to hold seawater, but then he suddenly remembered that they didn't have any tools for storing salt when they returned.
They only brought one deerskin with them when they came out this time. They did manage to collect a few animal hides from hunting over the past few days, but they were unusable without being processed.
So the young man thought of the log that Lang Cang had dragged back. He described it to Lang Cang and asked him to make it into the shape of a half-sized wooden barrel, which could then be sealed with animal hide and carried directly on the backs of Ma Yuan and Lang Cang.
The group divided the work and took turns on night watch. They no longer had time to hunt in the mountains and forests. When they got hungry, they would go to the beach to collect a basket of seafood and cook it with shellfish.
In his spare time, Lin Baiyan also picked up a lot of kelp from the beach. Kelp can be stored for a long time after being dried. They made a simple rack and dried the kelp directly on the beach.
It might not be enough to dry them completely in three or four days, but it should be enough to last until they return to their tribe and dry them a second time.
Looking at the group of small fish and shrimp on the beach, Lin Baiyan felt a little regretful. They couldn't take these things with them. Although it was autumn now, they would have gone bad if they were kept covered up along the way.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him: if they couldn't take it with them, they could dry it and grind it into shrimp powder, and the fish could also be ground into fish powder!
Lin Baiyan slapped his forehead and remembered that he still had some oysters from a couple of days ago. He should get more so he could make oyster sauce when he got back!
This is a great tool for enhancing flavor and aroma! Almost every household in China keeps oyster sauce in their kitchen.
Without further ado, Lin Baiyan returned to the thatched hut, picked up his basket, and headed towards the sea.
Lang Cang noticed his hurried movements, gave Xiong Fei, who was munching on seashells, a look, and seeing that he hadn't noticed him, he simply kicked him to keep an eye on the stone pot, and then followed Lin Baiyan out of the thatched hut.
He quickly caught up with Lin Baiyan. "What are you going to do?"
Lin Baiyan saw that Lang Cang had followed him out, which gave him a good opportunity to recruit men. "I've thought of something really delicious. I'm going to get some oysters now!"
Shrimp powder and fish powder require drying shrimp and grinding them into powder. In contrast, oyster powder is much easier to make, similar to salt production, as it can be directly boiled in a pot.
So Lin Baiyan decided to try making oyster sauce this time.
The morning sea breeze was already a bit chilly. Lin Baiyan was still only wearing the piece of animal skin he had conjured. He unconsciously rubbed his arms.
Lin Baiyan led Lang Cang toward the reef, where the waves gently lapped against the rocks, making a crisp sound.
He took off his straw sandals and carefully put them aside. He had made them a few nights ago when he had nothing to do, by picking willow vines from the mountains. They were just the simplest kind of slippers, but they were much better than hurting his feet by stepping on stones.
The male beastmen found Lin Baiyan's straw sandals, which were exquisitely made, rather novel.
They walk barefoot year-round, and thick calluses have formed on the tops of their feet, but they don't pay much attention to it.
Lin Baiyan explained to them the dangers of going barefoot: the soles of their feet might get scratched, and the young men didn't even want to think about the possibility of encountering some unknown poisonous plant.
Xiong Fei and Ma Yuan were startled by Lin Baiyan's serious appearance, so they followed his example and put on several mismatched pairs of shoes.
At this moment, Lin Baiyan took a deep breath of the sea breeze and looked at the boundless sea, which made him feel more open-minded.
He took Lang Cang's hand and slowly walked towards the rocks below. Lin Baiyan didn't want to go either, but Lang Cang said there was a chance of falling.
Lin Baiyan thought about it and agreed. Even if he could swim, the sea was vast, and falling in would be a disaster for him. It was better to be careful.
The two found a huge pile of oysters on the rocks below, scattered all over the beach, left to bake in the sun.
Lin Baiyan looked at the oysters with heartache; these were all important ingredients for making oyster sauce!
"Come quickly, come quickly," the young man waved to Lang Cang, then took out a wooden bucket and a stone cone from his basket. The stone cone was somewhat curved and resembled a sickle.
He crouched down and pried open an oyster, letting the oyster meat and juice drip into the wooden bucket. Lang Cang followed suit, taking out his bone knife and starting to pry open oysters as well.
No one has ever set foot in this sea area. Perhaps some orcs have seen it by chance, but the power of the sea to devour everything makes them dare not approach it easily.
As a result, these marine creatures thrived under these exceptionally favorable conditions.
The oysters they found on this small patch of beach were densely packed, covering the entire beach like small mountains.
Lin Baiyan excitedly shucked the oysters, filled with anticipation as he thought about the oyster sauce he was about to receive.
The two were indeed very fast, and Lang Cang was very strong, so he could pry open the target almost every time.
The oysters were very large, and the bucket was filled in no time.
Lin Baiyan glanced at them and, finding there weren't many, told Lang Cang to go back and put the wooden buckets down first, then bring a new one.
The two of them were busy for a while, and in the end, they made enough oyster juice and oysters to fill three wooden buckets.
Lin Baiyan didn't use the large pot for boiling salt, since their most important goal on this trip was to bring back enough salt; seasonings were just an extra.
However, they also had their own small stone pots, which were sufficient.
He scooped all the oyster meat out of the wooden bucket and put it into another empty bucket to wash.
Lang Cang started another fire nearby, set up a small stone pot, and threw the cleaned meat directly into the pot to start simmering over low heat.
The water used to wash the oysters wasn't thrown away; it was poured together with the oyster juice and left to settle for a while before Lin Baiyan poured it into the pot.