Chapter 280 - 124: Making the Most of a Fish (Part 3)
Xiao Huihui's mouth slightly opened as it caught the scent of fish blood, innards, and oil. Its eyes brightened, seeming quite satisfied with the smell of the fish.
Like a thief, it quickly turned its head to see what its owner was doing. After ensuring he wasn't watching, Xiao Huihui, with unexpected speed for its size, stretched out a paw to hook a piece of white innards from the bucket. Before it could bring it to its mouth, it received a solid knock on the head.
Meow!
Dropping the innards and casting a dissatisfied glance at Chen Zhou, Xiao Huihui sulkily left the wooden bucket, sitting at a distance on the platform, its eyes like magnets, still irresistibly drawn to the bucket.
Only when Chen Zhou placed a lid on the bucket did its gaze shift elsewhere.
…
After much effort to separate the fish's head from its body and to thoroughly drain the remaining blood before washing it clean, Chen Zhou began to descale the fish.
The large fish, now descaled, had lost its earlier splendor, its body covered in scars and divided on the cutting board into three parts — the head, the body, and the tail.
The body was further sliced down the middle, resulting in six large sections stacked together.
After finishing these tasks, Chen Zhou took a short break, drank some water, and ate a little to replenish his energy, also comforting the frightened gray ball.
Then he went to check on the test mice's condition.
Nearly two hours after consuming the food, the mice still appeared very energetic, showing no signs of poisoning.
Based on past experiences with the test mice, Chen Zhou understood that this fish was not poisonous, allowing him to relax and think about how to prepare it.
In many regions, fish heads are a prized ingredient, capable of being made into dishes like chopped chili fish head, fish head claypot, braised fish head, or into nutritious fish soup.
Unfortunately, Chen Zhou was not well-versed in preparing river or seafood, having no idea how to handle this big head, not even knowing which parts of the fish head were edible or tasty. He decided to simply place it in a large iron pot, add a little salt and garlic, and sprinkle some cooking wine to remove any fishy smell, to make a basic fish head soup.
If it turned out delicious, he'd eat more; if not, it would feed the cats and dogs.
The tail had little meat, and he thought of frying it.
The most important part, the fish body, was already divided into six pieces. He planned to turn them into three dishes—one braised, one steamed, and one directly grilled.
A few days ago, he had woven a steamer basket with grass leaves with an 18 cm diameter, but hadn't gotten the chance to use it. Now was a perfect time to test its efficacy while preparing the fish.
As for the can of fish roe, it could be used to make soup or slow-cooked with the braised fish.
Chen Zhou had eaten cooked fish roe before, densely packed within that thin membrane, and chewing it felt like eating millet, very aromatic and firm, with a unique taste.
He was curious to know if these "foreign big fish" roe tasted any different when cooked.
The soy sauce and fine salt from the anniversary gift package were used sparingly, with plenty leftover, just the right amount to prepare this fish. However, of the seasonings "green onion, ginger, garlic, and chili," he only had garlic.
The island's plants resembling chilies didn't provide a similar effect, and there were no traces of green onion or ginger.
However, to enhance the stew's flavor, he had a "secret weapon"—the pickled vegetable packet from a jar of sauerkraut beef noodles.
By sprinkling it into the pot while stewing, it could impart a bit of a sour and spicy taste, and with some psychological suggestion, he could pretend he was eating sauerkraut fish.
Besides the pickled vegetable packet, he also had sauce and seasoning packets from the spicy beef noodles.
Under these simple conditions, producing a modern gourmet meal with a complete balance of color, aroma, and taste wasn't possible, so he resorted to this makeshift plan to satisfy himself.
He quenched his thirst with a sip of water, gazing up at the cloudless blue sky, aware that the fish meat couldn't be preserved for long under such hot temperatures.
To avoid waste, Chen Zhou didn't dare delay. He started a fire, set up a pot of boiling water, and directly began preparing the ingredients and seasonings, cutting the meat and making the dishes.