Chapter 104: 92

Chapter 92 Chargrilled Rabbit (c)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

 

In the middle of a dark, endless void…

Floated a man in clothes so dark that it seemed to blend into the void around him. [1] Even with his eyes closed, one could tell the sheer amount of concentration from the creases between his brows. The moment the clouds and mists hiding the Spiritual Beast Mountain Range thinned out, a bright light radiated straight up from the forest. The man’s eyes opened suddenly. There was joy in those phoenix eyes as he declared, “Found you at last.”

[1] In a sudden flash, he disappeared.

[1] The space which he had occupied swiftly concaved and began to shatter

 

The Ninth Realm

[2] After boys skinned and dressed the three rabbits, Shiyu had San Pang flash freeze the blood inside the rabbits and draw it out to remove excess blood and smell from the animals. [2] She then rubbed oil infused with minced garlic, ginger and chilli as well as a little salt onto the rabbits. She also made cuts on the fleshier bits of the rabbit to ensure a more even cooking and for better flavour penetration. Meanwhile, Xiao Qi had been preparing simple stick frames for the rabbits. After seasoning the rabbits and putting them into frames, Shiyu got ready to roast them when Fat Cat suddenly appeared.

[3] Shiyu looked at Fat Cat with his black, puffed up fur and flashing fangs in confusion. Just what-

[3] Suddenly, the air next to them shivered and warped. The next thing Shiyu knew, she was looking into a dark void. Fat Cat leapt in front of her, his fur had puffed up so much that he looked almost twice his usual size. Shiyu unconsciously stepped back and just happened to see Old Gu step forward. He too was glowering at the void.

Shiyu held her breath and tensed herself. Ready to throw down her Fire Beads and run away at any second.

Then, quite suddenly, Fat Cat’s fur settled and Old Gu disappeared.

Shiyu blinked.

Okay… what just happened?

“What’s going on?” Shiyu asked: Why are you two so tensed just now? [4] She looked around, but none of the others was nearby. They had gone off with Wen Xian to ‘commune with the Ancient Trees’. Feng Luo was especially eager to try and establish a good relationship with the trees here. Perhaps persuade them to accept him and give him his own Wood Spirit Essence…

“A bit of the void just collapsed,” Fat Cat said. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, “It’s human-caused.”

Shiyu made a weird noise and flapped her hands. Luckily, she had already put away her Fire Beads, “What do you mean someone… did someone b-break the void?” her voice went a little high pitched at the end.

Space was a huge formless thing. It’s like trying to break the air. Except air is made up of particles that could be broken, but the void is basically nothingness. How do you break nothingness? How powerful do you have to be to break nothingness?

It’s too scary to even think about, ah!

Fat Cat flashed a disdainful glance at her, “Your Cultivation is too low, that’s why you can’t feel it.”

“… …” alright, she probably deserved that slap in the face…

Never mind, let’s look on the bright side! Fat Cat was powerful enough to sense a rip in the cosmos so he must be very strong! She has another big thigh by her side so let’s hug it! Hug it happily, ah!

Fat Cat gave another disdainful sniff at her before disappearing. Since neither Fat Cat nor Old Gu appeared to be worried about the rip in the void, Shiyu decided not to think about it either. Let’s continue making this Chargrilled Rabbit!

When it comes to questing and camping, one of the must-eat food is campfire roasted rabbit! [5]

Nevertheless, Shiyu was too much of a chef and a foodie to bear a plain fire-roasted rabbit. [5] Which might be delicious to half-starved campers, but frankly speaking, meat roasted over a fire without proper seasoning or technique could just end up becoming a half-burnt, half raw, smoky mess…

Shiyu was never without proper seasoning and spices, [5] thanks to her space ring and secret space. She could also whip out a pan and stove, but they’re camping now, so it would ruin the atmosphere to set up a stall here. Anyway, back to the seasoning thing. The rabbits were stretched out nicely in frames, were generously seasoned with salt and some flavoured oil. She was about to grill them when her eyes caught sight of the colourful pile of fruits…

[5] Oh, why not?

[5] Setting the rabbit aside, she picked out a few of the fruits and carved out a little slice to check their taste. Sweet, some were a little tart, but most were very sweet and juicy. Shiyu picked out some of the sweeter ones and chopped them up quickly with her knife. [6] Then she threw the cubed fruits into a pot and place it next to a small campfire to slowly reduce it into a fruit sauce. The sugar and acid from the fruits will help cut through the grease and gaminess of the rabbit.

Now for the actual grilling. It would take a long time to grill over the normal campfire as she would have to control the heating and make sure not to burn the outside without cooking the insides. Therefore she elected to use her Blue Spirit Fire which she has absolute control over. They had skinned and prepared three rabbits, so Shiyu held the [7] three frames and focused her fire.

[7] Blue flames ran up from her hand over the wooden sticks towards the rabbits. Shiyu narrowed her eyes as she controlled the fire carefully, making sure not to burn the wooden sticks or overcooking parts of the rabbits. Which was quite difficult to do with one rabbit, but she now has three in her hands. Soon, the air was filled with the fragrance of grilling meat and grease began to drip from the rabbit and into the pot of bubbling fruit juice.

[2] When she judged the rabbits to be about three quarters done, she placed them on a large plate and flexed her fingers. Whew! It’s certainly tiring to hold all three rabbits up like that. Not to mention the mental and spiritual strain of continuously controlling her Spiritual Fire on three targets at once. The fruit juice had turned into a sticky fruit sauce by now. The oil that had dripped into the pot help keep the sauce viscous without added water, just perfect for a barbecue sauce. Shiyu took out a brush and swirled it through the sauce. It coated the brush in a satisfying manner.

[2] Shiyu generously applied the sauce onto the grilled rabbits. Because of the sugar from the sauce, when she next grill the meat again, the sauce would crystalize and harden. Turn the barbecued rabbit into something like a rabbit tanghulu. It a very extravagant way of grilling that combines sweet and savoury and pushes the limits of high-end barbecue.

Naturally, just Chargrilled Rabbits alone won’t be enough.

Shiyu quickly heated up a pan and made several pieces of simple water and flour crepes while she let the rabbit rest and allow the sauce to harden further. Once the crepes were done, she set out some wild fresh greens. Shiyu split the rabbits apart in the large bowl, stacked the crepes on another plate and set out the wild greens on the side.

Tonight’s dinner was Chargrilled Rabbit with simple crepes and fresh wild greens.

[9] The rabbit was satisfyingly crisp and flavourful, the sauce leaving smears on their lips. Instead of plates, they picked up the pieces of rabbits with the crepes, which were a little stiff and flavourless, but worked perfectly well as an edible napkin. When their mouths started to feel a little too rich from the sweet and savoury grilled meat, a handful of fresh wild greens soon cleansed their palate. Allowing them to enjoy the delicious sensation of Chargrilled Rabbit all over again.

“When it comes to expeditions,” said Feng Luo, “I will always choose the one Little Shi goes. As long as we’re with Little Shi, there’ll be some excellent meat to eat.” Everyone heartily agreed with Feng Luo.

In fact, on outdoors expeditions like this, one should expect to ‘Sleep Under the Dew and Eat What the Wind Brings [10]’. However, when luck included a creative and innovative cook in your party, whatever the wind brings you will be turned into delicacies.

“How excellent. Next time when someone tries to buy your friendship with gold and silver mountains, all I have to do is bring out a few good meat dishes,” said Shiyu with a laugh.

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“Even if you don’t bring out anything, you’re still my friend. After all, how could the help you’ve given me ever be repaid with gold or silver?” said Feng Luo. Suddenly, he remembered grandfather’s cheeky remark and his face twitched. He coughed a few times before saying “That is… I shall go and Cultivate first. However, please know that you will always have a friend in Feng Luo and the Feng Clan.” Then, he scuttled off.

Lin Fan shook his head and laughed at his friend’s antics. Then, he turned to Shiyu, “What are your plans for the future?”

“Wu…” Shiyu thought for a while. “I’d like to travel, I guess.” Aside from the Eastern Empire, there were several hundreds of other smaller countries scattered across the Ninth Realm. Each country has its own unique culture and properties and the Eastern Empire was just one of them.

“Then let me accompany you! I too wished to travel the world,” said Lin Fan.

“Are you going to remain in this realm once you’ve broken through to Divine Transformation Stage? After all, travelling the world can’t be accomplished within a year or two,” Shiyu countered.

“I…”

“In the future, once you’ve ascended to the Eighth Realm, you can open the path for Feng Luo and I. If we can’t catch up to you, let’s meet at Heaven’s Realm. Of course, these are all plans for the future. We’ll all need to gather strength in order to break off the shackles of this world first,” said Shiyu thoughtfully as she stared up at the sky. There was no moon tonight and the stars were very beautiful.

“That’s right. Very well.”

As their little fire gradually died away, Lin Fan and the rest began to crawl into their chosen corners to sleep. Shiyu could not fall asleep. If she wants to follow in Lin Fan’s footsteps, she must hurry and catch up. The gap between those with talent those without were just too wide. Her situation was too weak compared to the others.

Just look at the people around her. As the protagonist, Lin Fan’s future was assured. Feng Luo has an old and well-established clan to back him up and his base talent was not bad, so the chances of him breaking through to Divine Transformation Stage was very likely. Xiao Qi was already a 5th Level Condensation Stage Cultivator at the tender age of 10 without taking any special medicine or drugs. As for Wen Xian, this dark horse actually has something that made the Ancient Trees of the Spiritual Beast Mountain Range love him. There’s a possibility that his background could be even more amazing than the rest of them.

Finally, there’s her, Shiyu. She might have the secret space and ability to grow medicinal herbs, but if she did not Cultivate her body and skills she would be left far behind.

Would you be willing to sit just here and watch as your friends and family move further and further away?

No, definitely not.

Since am not willing, I must work harder.

 

[Gumihou: Work hard, Shiyu. But also, you really don’t know how to barbecue…]

 

[1] Added Details for Dramatic Purposes: Like, isn’t this guy going to be some kind of bigshot in the future? Give him a bit more screen time, lol. Paragraphs also split for clarity and dramatic purpose.

[2] Added Details for Chargrilling Rabbit: Very little information on how the rabbit was prepared beyond ‘Shiyu already processed the rabbit’. Since it doesn’t influence the plot, will rope the others in to help.

[3] Added Details for Logistic Purpose: Appearance of ‘void’ uncertain.

[4] Added Details for Logistic Purpose: Also, where’s everyone else when this thing happened?

[5] Added Details for Descriptive Purpose: This is a cooking novel, after all, decide to lavish some extra love, attention and real facts into this recipe. Also, intersperse some of Shiyu’s stream of consciousness thoughts in here.

[6] Problematic Cooking Fact: Fruit sauce vs fresh fruit puree

Shiyu just ‘chop and mash the fruits into a puree and set aside for later use’. Somehow, it later mysteriously turned into a ‘fruit sauce’ that she could brush over the rabbit…

… you know, Shiyu, this is the time you should ‘reduce a sauce over a slow fire’. Not when you were cooking crabs and- readers may check Chapter 68, Note 3 for the gory details.

… sigh…

You cannot brush fruit juice over anything unless you strain the juice and put it into an atomizer and mist it over the dish. Which I don’t see you doing. By the way, ‘puree’ by definition is ‘cooked food that has been ground, blended or sieved into a creamy paste’. You cannot chop fresh fruit into a ‘puree’. You can only chop fresh fruit into pulpy fruit juice.

[7] Added Details for Logistics and Dramatic Purposes: No mention of how many rabbits there were, so I pulled a number out of a hat. Also, gave more details on how I imagined Shiyu would grill the rabbits with her power aside from ‘directly uses her blue fire on the rabbit meat until the meat is brown and full of fragrance’.

[8] Rant:

Shiyu, I must question your organisation/logistics skill again:

Grill rabbit (how?) > Meat brown and fragrant (Ok) > Quickly take out baking tray (What? This exist?) > Tray is set over a fire (What Fire??) > Toss aromatics onto tray (Where the grease is collected? Sure) > Remove piping hot rabbit and place inside (Inside where?? Also remove from where??) > Make cuts on rabbit (Now?) > Turn rabbit over (On a spit? On tray?) > Rabbit starting to crisp up from being fried on tray (Facepalm) > Apply mashed fruit juice on rabbit

…

As per Note 7, you’ve already ‘brown the meat’

Baking Tray: If you’re going to ‘stir-fry’ the rabbit on the tray with the aromatics, just use a wok next time. Also, you cannot ‘crisp up’ meat on a tray

Fruit Juice: Why bother ’crisping up’ the meat when you’re going to juice it? Also, Note 7!!

Making Cuts on meat: You DO NOT make cuts on cooked meat when it’s still piping hot. Do you know why you’re advised to let steak ‘rest’ after cooking it? It’s to let the protein muscle relax and not let the juice run out. Congratulations, you’ve just made a difficult to cook lean protein even drier!

The only way you can fix this is to throw your overcooked, dry rabbit (stir-fried with chilli, ginger and garlic) into your fruit juice and make a stringy rabbit strew.

Gumihou is so frustrated now.       

*Sob*

Gumihou will have to apply a bandage on this booboo.

[9] Changed Flavour Details Because Recipe Changed: Instead of dry, overcooked and weirdly tasting rabbit that was ‘tender and juicy with a hint of fruity aroma, soft pancakes and crisp fresh greens rolled together in an incredible mouthful of sensation’ which is kind of impossible because a) your rabbit is actually dry and overcooked, b) not really enough to be taken apart to be rolled with anything for five people and a radish.

[10] Sleep Under the Dew and Eat What the Wind Brings – Sleep outside and depending on luck and chance for meals.

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