Chapter – 54
The Beast Husband I Chose Is Really Great!
Jiang Xi didn’t notice Mu Ling’s dazed expression.
She wrapped her arms around Lu Liufeng’s neck and threw herself into his embrace. The cool, clean scent unique to a young man enveloped her, and the arm locked around her waist was firm and powerful.
It wasn’t until she was set back on the ground that Jiang Xi belatedly felt a little embarrassed.
Fortunately, Lu Liufeng showed no sign of anything unusual. After putting her down, he simply rubbed her hair and then turned his attention to dividing up the beef.
Jiang Xi quickly gathered her thoughts as well and began telling him how to portion it.
“The cow’s head needs to be singed over fire later to burn off the fine hair, then scraped and washed clean.”
“The tongue should be blanched in boiling water, then the outer skin peeled off.”
“After taking out the brain, soak it in clean water to remove the blood.”
“The neck meat is relatively tough and sinewy—good for slow stewing.”
“This shoulder section, the part where the rear shoulder connects to the neck, is called chuck eye. It’s good for grilling or pan-searing. Today we’ll slice it for hot pot! The rest of the shoulder meat can be used for stewing or braising.”
“The brisket has a good balance of fat and lean and contains tendons. The tendons need to be stewed until tender to taste good. The brisket can be minced for dumpling filling, but since we don’t have flour, stir-frying it works just as well.”
“The ribs can be grilled directly! On both sides of the chest are ribeye cuts, suitable for grilling or hot pot. The part under the ribs near the belly is flank—since we have potatoes at home, we can make potato-braised beef flank!”
“The tenderloin, also called filet, is the most tender cut on the cow. Be careful with the heat when pan-searing—don’t overcook it or it’ll get tough.”
“The striploin, also known as sirloin, has a firm texture. Cut it about one to two finger joints thick—best pan-seared.”
“The hind leg meat is very lean and rather dry. You can marinate it before stir-frying. Minced and pan-fried works better—good for burgers or dumplings. Of course, we don’t have all the ingredients, so we’ll mince it and pan-fry it into meat patties. We’ll also use some of it for hot pot today.”
“The front leg, also called shank, has lots of tendons. When braised, the grain looks especially beautiful. We’ll make braised beef with this! Later, when eating potato noodles, slicing some on top is delicious!”
“The rump section—rump tip is tender, so slice it for hot pot today. The rest of the rump meat can be slowly dried and made into beef jerky. You can carry it when going out as travel rations.”
“A cow has four stomachs.”
Jiang Xi pointed them out one by one.
“The first three are modified esophagus parts—the rumen, reticulum, and omasum. The last one is the real stomach, called the abomasum.”
“The rumen: the tripe part can be stir-fried, cold-mixed, or made into soup; the hairy tripe is great for hot pot. The reticulum, honeycomb tripe, we’ll braise. The omasum, beef tripe, needs the black outer membrane removed with hot water—once cleaned, it turns white. Today we’ll use it for hot pot, or later for cold dishes or braising. The abomasum—we’ll braise that too!”
“Beef liver, heart, and intestines can all be braised or stir-fried. Beef tendons need a long time to stew…”
“Oh! And beef marrow! Let’s just grill it later. Sprinkle some salt—it’s super fragrant!!”
Yuexi returned carrying the washed vegetables and saw exactly such a scene.
Mu Ling was kneeling by the table, covering his face with one hand, grinning foolishly.
The female lord and Lu Liufeng were standing extremely close together, pointing at the earth bull laid out on animal hide on the ground, saying things that were hard to understand.
Eating beef—did it really need so many details?
Wasn’t it enough to just hack it up and throw it on the fire or into the pot?
Yet Lu Liufeng listened very attentively. He recorded every cooking method the female lord mentioned in his mind, categorizing them into stewing, pan-searing, stir-frying, and grilling.
Especially the cuts she said should be cut thick and pan-seared directly—she called them collectively “steaks”: chuck eye, ribeye, filet, sirloin.
Although chuck eye and ribeye were being used for hot pot today, he thought about cutting a few nice pieces later to make steaks for the female lord.
Lu Liufeng raised his hand, and streaks of wind blades sliced down, perfectly dividing the meat according to her instructions.
Watching this, Jiang Xi felt comfortable all over—even without any obsession with neatness. The cuts were just too beautiful!!
After finishing, Lu Liufeng turned his head and called for Mu Ling to burn the cow’s head.
“Mu Ling—”
But after calling just his name, he fell silent, because Mu Ling was still kneeling by the table.
Yuexi set the washed vegetables down and kicked Mu Ling.
“Lu Liufeng is calling you to help.”
Mu Ling snapped back to his senses. His eyes flickered as he stood up and walked over, then stopped again beside the female lord, sneaking a quick glance at her.
“Wh-what… what is it?”
Seeing him still covering his face, Jiang Xi was startled.
She—she had barely even tapped him, hadn’t she?
Was it… really that serious?
A little embarrassed, Jiang Xi asked him,
“Your face… are you okay?”
Mu Ling quickly lowered his hand, his gaze drifting as he shook his head.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
Jiang Xi was suspicious.
If he was fine, why cover his face?
Lu Liufeng shook his head helplessly and spoke directly.
“Mu Ling, singe the cow’s head, burn off the fine hair on the skin, then scrape and wash it clean.”
Mu Ling responded with an “oh” and went off, a little reluctant.
His mind was filled with the memory of that slap just now—the scent of the female lord rushing toward him…
He really wanted to be slapped by the female lord again…
Jiang Xi went to prepare the spicy hot-pot base.
The fire pit had been modified—one pit was extended outward in parallel to make a second one, so two stone pots could be placed side by side to make a yin-yang (dual-flavor) hot pot!
The pork bone broth had been simmering for quite a while and was already giving off a rich aroma.
But before frying the spicy base, Jiang Xi first rendered a huge pot—dozens of jin—of beef tallow.
Then she used more than half of it to fry the spicy base, frying it thoroughly and portioning it out for storage. That way, next time they ate hot pot, they wouldn’t need to fry it fresh or endure such choking fumes again.
Dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, garlic, cinnamon bark, bay leaves, tsaoko—everything went in generously!!
In an instant, coughing echoed nonstop through the fire room.
Yet no one ran away.
Mu Ling coughed until tears streamed down his face, and all the earlier fantasies in his head turned into tearful misery.
Jiang Xi herself was coughing badly too.
Once it was about right, she hurriedly reduced the fire and then called Yuexi, who had finished cutting potatoes and taro, to help.
“Quick, get me some bamboo tubes. We’ll portion the spicy base into a few tubes. Next time we cook hot pot, we won’t need to fry it on the spot or suffer this choking smoke again.”
Yuexi went into the courtyard to cut bamboo.
The moment he stepped out of the fire room, he took a deep breath. Even with snow and wind swirling, it felt like he had arrived at a holy land.
For the sake of good food, it really wasn’t easy!!
Lu Liufeng raised his hand, and a gentle breeze circulated around the female lord, carrying the choking air, looping once around the fire room before blowing it outside.
Yuexi, who had just taken in a few breaths of fresh air in the courtyard, returned with the bamboo tubes—only to be hit full in the face by a mouthful of choking air.
His beautiful fox eyes instantly filled with tears.
He glanced at Lu Liufeng, suspecting that he did it on purpose.
Only then did Jiang Xi belatedly notice the gentle breeze. Her eyes lit up as she looked at Lu Liufeng.
Thinking to herself:
The beast husband I chose is really great! So capable!!
