The pies were fried in mutton fat, with a crispy and fragrant outer crust.
The filling was minced mutton, and the wild onions and pepper just right masked the muttony smell.
One layer of dough and one layer of filling, the fragrance of wheat and meat overlapped layer by layer. Paired with a bit of Chinese vinegar, it was fatty but not greasy, leaving a lingering fragrance in the mouth.
No wonder Master was willing to stay in this humble fishing village. He even voluntarily gave away his jade - bone fan that he never left without!
This Miss Li's cooking skills were really remarkable!
Without hesitation, building the tandoor was truly a strenuous task. At the moment, he felt extremely hungry. No longer caring about being elegant while eating, he devoured the whole plate of mutton - fat pies.
After the meal, Su Buchi naturally went to find his master and was busy asking about his whereabouts in the past few days. Lu Xunguang got up quite naturally to clear the dishes.
With nothing else to do, Li Ying simply focused on preparing the marinade for the roast whole lamb in the kitchen.
Aman had good taste. The meat of these goats had no muttony smell and was very tender, truly top - grade.
Bay leaves, star anise, scallions, ginger, and coriander were cut into large pieces and stuffed into the goat's belly all at once. Then it was sewn up with a thick hemp rope. After that, wheat flour, egg liquid, salt, cumin, and Chinese prickly ash powder were mixed into a golden batter and evenly spread on the goat. After marinating it overnight, it could be roasted in the tandoor.
She made even cuts on the mutton to help it absorb the flavor. The weather was hot. Even though the night breeze in the seaside fishing village was a bit cool, Li Ying didn't dare to leave the whole goat to marinate in the hot and humid kitchen.
With great effort, she finally managed to drag the goat into the space. Before she could catch her breath, she turned around and saw Lu Xunguang staring at her intently.
Oh no!
An alarm bell rang in Li Ying's heart instantly.
Such a big goat suddenly disappeared without a trace, and Lu Xunguang had witnessed the whole thing. How could she explain this?
Li Ying forced a smile and managed to squeeze out a sentence from her throat with all her might, "Brother Lu..."
Lu Xunguang just stared at her.
He seemed to be waiting for her to speak first.
But how could Li Ying explain it clearly?
Could she just say, "Hey, guess what? I'm a time - traveler. This is my storage space. It can not only store a roast whole lamb but also has 100,000 coconuts in it! Surprised?"
For such a strange and supernatural thing, it would be kind of Lu Xunguang to just pour a bucket of black dog blood on her!
Li Ying's smile became even more forced. For the first time in her life, she stammered and couldn't say a word.
Just then, as luck would have it, there was a double whammy. Aman's voice came from the door.
"Sister, I have something to discuss with you! Eh?"
Aman looked at the two with strange expressions and then at the empty kitchen, asking doubtfully, "Sister, where's the goat?"
Li Ying groaned inwardly. Seeing a look of suspicion appear on Aman's face, she heard Lu Xunguang say calmly, "Ayin was worried that the mutton would easily spoil if left in the kitchen. My room is well - ventilated and cool, so I moved the mutton there to marinate it."
Aman suddenly understood.
No wonder. The firewood room he slept in was drafty and indeed the coolest place.
The little bit of doubt in her mind disappeared immediately. She quickly grabbed Li Ying's hand.
"Sister, I have a way to make the goat taste even better!"
Lu Xunguang didn't say anything more. He got up and said, "You two sisters chat slowly. I'll go back to my room to sleep first. Ayin, sweet dreams."
Li Ying watched his back and finally let out a sigh of relief. But then, an indescribable uneasiness welled up in her heart.
He had helped her cover up without a second thought, which was something Li Ying had never expected.
How much did he actually know?
On the day when they encountered the storm and were stranded on the desert island, she had cooked a pot of noodle dumplings and then over - enthusiastically collected a lot of tomatoes. Had this man already noticed something then?
This was no joke! It seemed that in the future, she needed to be more careful!
"Sister, sister!"
Seeing her in a daze, Aman quickly called out.
Li Ying then pulled herself back to reality and asked, "Raise goats? What's your plan?"
There were no pastures in the town. Raising goats was no easy task.
Aman seemed quite confident. She said that the goats could be raised on the barren mountain north of the town. She and Shihu had already been there to check. There were many herbs like plantain on the mountain, which were not very rare, and few villagers went to pick them.
Goats raised on the mountain and fed on herbal medicine would have more tender meat. Not only would there be no muttony smell, but their warming and tonic effects would also be even better.
Aman looked at Li Ying confidently and promised, "Sister, don't worry. Aman will surely not disappoint you!"
Li Ying was convinced by her words. She just didn't know if the locals were used to eating mutton. After a moment's thought, she nodded and agreed, "If the roast whole lamb is well - received by the diners at this food festival, I'll do everything as you say."
The next day, the tandoor was already dry.
Li Ying dragged out the goat, tied it to an iron rack, and watched Lu Xunguang hang the mutton in the tandoor with her own eyes.
She also hung a few tender chickens, a circle of naan bread with fancy patterns, and several roasted mutton buns beside it. Then she filled the tandoor with charcoal and the fire blazed.
The villagers had never seen such a bold way of eating. They were all amazed and stood around discussing. Yan Lianzhi always had confidence in Li Ying's cooking skills. He pulled Su Buchi to sit in the corner, pouring and drinking by himself and enjoying it to the fullest.
It took a full three hours to roast the mutton until it was done. Li Ying carefully climbed onto the tandoor, and a strong aroma of meat rushed towards her.
She finally brushed a layer of "crispy water" made of honey and Chinese vinegar on the mutton. After baking it for a while longer, the whole mutton was roasted to a jujube - red color. When a small knife gently tapped on the crispy skin, it made a clear sound.
"Ayin, be careful. It's hot."
After Lu Xunguang's concerned reminder, he took out the roast whole lamb and placed it on the long table that had been prepared.
Li Ying usually cooked seafood and mostly preserved the original flavor of the ingredients.
But this roast whole lamb, as soon as it was on the table, emitted an unprecedentedly strong aroma of meat, which was completely different from braised pork belly, stewed beef tendon, and donkey meat.
The aroma of cumin and chili was like a nimble little snake, getting into everyone's nostrils. Everyone present swallowed their saliva involuntarily.
Li Ying took a deep breath. With a sharp small knife, she cut from the goat's neck to its tail. The "click - click" sound of separating the skin and meat unabashedly released the signal of a feast.
"For this roast whole lamb, we first split the back, cutting from the head to the tail, to wish our Wulin Conference Food Festival a smooth journey!"
"The second cut is a cross from left to right, to wish every family in our fishing village a perfect life!"
After she neatly cut the roast goat into large pieces, every fisherman got a piece of the roasted meat. Paired with the naan bread with a strong wheat fragrance and the plump roasted buns, when they took a bite, the scalding mutton fat burst in their mouths, making their eyes water from the heat!
But they seemed to be possessed. They couldn't put down the meat in their hands. Everyone became a hungry wolf, wishing they could chew and swallow the bones!