Hunting Wilderness: Starting with the Butcher

Chapter 57 Hot Pot with Lamb - They can eat so much!

They say "plans can't keep up with changes," and Yuan Linghan originally planned to go fishing by the lake after his hunting trip. But he didn't expect that while hunting a wild goat, he would also get a ferocious North American gray wolf as a bonus.

There are over a hundred pounds of meat in total, and we definitely need to process it properly tonight. Although the temperature is low at night, if the fresh mutton and wolf meat are not processed properly while they are still fresh, even if they are smoked later, the taste will likely be greatly diminished.

Carrying the wolves and sheep back to camp, Yuan Linghan first boiled water and brewed himself a pot of berry tea. With the successfully fired ceramic pot and cups, he finally experienced the joy of drinking tea. Before, when he drank tea in his homemade wooden bowl, he always felt it lacked a sense of ritual.

After finishing the sweet and sour berry tea, Yuan Linghan found three spare pieces of solid wood, tied them together with vines and parasol rope, and then set them up as a tripod. He then hung the hunted wild goat on the tripod.

This made it easier for Yuan Linghan to skin the goat. There was a wooden worktable that had been set up in advance when the shelter was built. After skinning the wild goat, the meat could be placed on the worktable for cutting.

Some fresh meat is reserved for dinner, while the remaining cuts of lamb must be smoked immediately. Only in this way can the fresh lamb be kept from spoiling. The gray wolves, of course, receive the same treatment.

Looking at the skinned sheepskin and wolf pelt, taut and secured to the wooden wall of the shelter, Yuan Linghan smiled and said, "Compared to the rabbit pelt before, with these two animal pelts hanging here, the shelter finally feels a bit like a hunter's cabin."

The cut mutton was placed on the previously remade smoking rack. Yuan Linghan had also rebuilt the fire pit beneath the smoking rack, making it larger and deeper to accommodate more charcoal.

The more charcoal there is, the longer the fresh meat on the smoking rack can be smoked. Combined with fresh pine branches used to trap the heat, the smoked meat has a subtle pine aroma, making it taste even more delicious.

They kept the specially removed lamb tenderloin and a large piece of wolf ribs for trying. The lamb was used for soup and hot pot, while the wolf ribs were used for grilling. Although the portions were a bit large, it wasn't a problem for Yuan Linghan.

After all, he had just hunted two prey, and his energy was quite depleted, so what was wrong with having a more substantial dinner?

As night fell, Yuan Linghan deliberately moved the stove used for cooking dinner outdoors. After lighting the campfire, although the mountain wind was somewhat chilly, the cold was dispelled by the roaring fire.

The previously reserved lamb offal was now being simmered in a soup pot. Yuan Linghan, sitting by the makeshift stove, occasionally skimmed off the foam that rose to the surface. When the soup was boiling hot and turned whitish, he brought over the sliced ​​lamb tenderloin.

Although there are few seasonings, to be precise, only a little salt, you can pick up a slice of mutton and dip it briefly in the soup before eating it while it's hot. It's the most tender meat from the goat, and even without much seasoning, the flavor is still delicious.

After taking the first bite, Yuan Linghan feigned surprise and said, "As expected of the most tender meat on the lamb, it only needs to be briefly blanched to lock in the sweetness of the lamb. With a little salt, this hot pot lamb is indeed delicious."

After saying this, Yuan Linghan sped up the cooking of the meat slices. What looked like a large plate of meat was devoured by him in a very short time. Paired with the cooked mutton offal soup, this could be considered "using the original soup to digest the original food."

After finishing the hot pot lamb, they reserved some lamb offal broth and sprinkled it with rosemary, a herb familiar to Westerners, onto the grilled wolf ribs. Confirming the ribs were cooked through, Yuan Linghan smiled and said, "Now let's try the taste of wolf meat!"

Cutting open a piece of roasted rib meat, Yuan Linghan tried to bite off a piece and chewed it, saying, "The taste isn't as good as I expected, but for me in the wilderness, it's still a rare treat."

The meat tastes a bit gamey, and the muscle fibers are rather coarse, making it quite difficult to chew, somewhat like eating beef jerky, but the flavor isn't as good. It seems that in the future, I'll need to stew wolf meat for a longer time to make it taste better.

Although the wolf meat didn't taste as good as he had expected, Yuan Linghan, being in the wilderness, still wouldn't waste this precious food. Given his current physical condition, while wolf meat was unpalatable, it was extremely nutritious, and naturally, he couldn't let it go to waste.

After Yuan Linghan devoured the roasted wolf ribs, he also finished the pot of mutton offal soup. Any other contestant would have felt stuffed after eating so much food, but for Yuan Linghan, it was only about 80% full.

This shows that as Yuan Linghan's physical fitness continues to improve, his demand for high-energy foods is also increasing day by day!

After finishing dinner, Yuan Linghan didn't return to the shelter. Instead, she sat by the campfire drinking berry tea. The lamb, which had been smoked first, had basically completed its first round of smoking. Next up were the wolf meat, which had also been cut into strips.

Yuan Linghan couldn't sleep soundly until he had properly smoked all the wolf meat. Only after all the wolf meat had been smoked a first time and he was sure it wouldn't spoil in the short term did he carry the smoked jerky back to the shelter. He checked the surroundings to make sure it was safe before he finally rested.

Meanwhile, seeing Yuan Linghan's impressive progress, many members of the "Living Alone in the Wilderness" program team felt that this young man from Xia Country was very likely to become the final champion. However, the other contestants were also quite strong.

The only regrettable thing was that on the second day of the show's routine checks, another contestant pressed the emergency button. The reason was simple: the contestant had a persistent high fever and diarrhea, making it impossible for them to continue the later challenges.

Many contestants who saw the rescue helicopter from the show remarked with a sigh, "Sigh, it seems someone else has dropped out."

Logically, one should be happy to have one less competitor. But since their debut, these so-called wilderness elites have truly experienced the cruelty of the show. Any unexpected event could render all their preparations futile.

However, Yuan Linghan didn't care too much about this situation. To him, whether the other contestants persisted or withdrew was of little concern. What he needed to do at the moment was to stockpile as many supplies as possible before the snow fell.

When Yuan Linghan woke up the next day, he still first lit the outdoor fire pit. After the open flame was extinguished and only charcoal embers remained, he put the mutton that had been smoked the day before back on the smoking rack. After drinking his morning tea, he routinely checked the ropes.

Even though we hunted a wolf and a sheep yesterday, hunting will inevitably become more difficult with winter approaching. It's always good to stock up on food. Even a small rabbit is still meat!

After checking the snare traps, Yuan Linghan found that two more rabbits had been caught. He sighed, "Looks like that lynx is really determined to get back at me. Oh well, I'll figure out how to deal with it after the snowfall!"

After expressing his feelings, Yuan Linghan carried the remaining rabbits and pheasants that hadn't been harmed back to the shelter. After cleaning them, he stewed a pheasant and served it with Jerusalem artichokes for breakfast. His appetite later astonished even the viewers.

"This Xia Kingdom contestant really knows how to eat! He eats a whole pheasant and a lot of Jerusalem artichokes in one meal. No wonder he has to collect as much food as possible before the snow, just like a squirrel. With that appetite, he probably eats several pounds of meat every day!"

"During the long winter, which lasts for more than two months, food reserves are crucial in addition to coping with the extreme cold. I previously thought that this Xia Guoren had a high probability of becoming the champion. Now it seems that it is still full of suspense. He can eat too much."

Being in the wilderness, the greater the need for food, the greater the pressure on supplies. Although Yuan Linghan has stockpiled a considerable amount of supplies in advance, if he continues to eat like this, the food he has stockpiled will likely not last long!