Chapter 1699: First Bowl Of Mutton Soup
“Although the mutton kebab we had in the grassland was delicious, I like the one Boss made more. Have I… already become someone with extreme tastes?” Miya said embarrassedly as she licked her lips.
“I think the way we ate in the grassland suits me more in comparison,” Elizabeth said with a smile after she tried the mutton. Her taste preference was probably the mildest out of everyone.
“But Uncle Mag is so impressive. He learned it only after watching that grandpa do it once, and even invented a new roasting method.” Anna admired Mag. She felt that she was very stupid for not being able to learn how to make the beef kebab yet.
“Anna, you’re still young. When you grow a little older, it would be easier for you to operate the kitchenware, and that’s when you’ll start picking things up quickly,” Mag told Anna with a smile. She was a very hardworking young fellow and a pretty fast learner. The only downside was that because she was too young, she would have to stand on a little stool to reach the grill, not to mention grabbing many bamboo skewers in one go with her little hands.
“I have officially decided that from today onwards, I am going to split half my love for beef kebab to mutton kebab,” Babla announced. After that, she took a bite of the mutton, and immersed herself in the joy of chewing.
“Rather positive feedback.” Mag looked at the ladies who were enjoying their roasted mutton, and also tried a skewer himself.
His control over the fire was a lot worse compared to Eddie’s. After all, it was his first time roasting mutton, and it was insufficient to just follow his experience with beef kebabs. The surface of the mutton became too hard, and the meat was rather dry.
However, the fresh and tender meat concealed the flaw in his skills, and cumin and chili powder were also miracle tools to cheat one’s taste buds with the flavor so that the problem with fire control could be overlooked.
Salt alone is the best way to do it indeed. The more Mag thought about it, the more he could understand the mastery in Eddie’s simple roasting techniques.
He had already received the recipe for the mutton kebab, and it seemed like he would have to train himself well in the test field for the God of Cookery tonight.
However, for someone with extreme tastes, cumin and chili powder would be the soul of all food. The freshness of original food was no longer able to satisfy his experienced tongue.
Mag only gave himself four points for this set of roasted mutton. It was far from passing and a huge gap to perfection.
“Miya, pour me a glass of beer,” Mag told Miya, who was eating, as he placed the beef on the grill. How can you leave out beer at a barbecue?
“Okay.” Miya got up, and smilingly asked the others, “What drinks do all of you like?”
“I would like some beer too. The extra cold kind,” Irina said with a nod.
“I want be— juice.” Babla met Mag’s gaze and changed her order to juice obediently. She snorted softly, and indignantly said, “I’ll be of age in half a month!”
“Then wait for half a month,” Mag replied calmly. No alcohol for those underage. That was the limit.
The fire and smoke from the barbecue and everyone’s laughter and chatting made the entire restaurant extra warm.
Elizabeth took a sip of red wine, and smiled when she saw everyone smiling.
How interesting. She’d never thought that there would be a place that could make her lower her guard and smile happily with others after her mother passed away.
She found her younger sister, and also a group of… friends.
To her, that used to be wishful thinking, but now it was the people by her side.
No one here cared about who was sitting on that ice throne. That was not even as important as what was for breakfast tomorrow.
After a few rounds of barbecue, the pile of food was cleared, and so was the large barrel of alcohol at the side.
Because that roasted half goat did not taste authentic enough, Mag gave it up straight away. Such things could not be learned by watching indeed.
Gina performed a merfolk dance for everyone, and compared to her sweet voice, her rather stiff moves made her appear a little cute and clumsy, making everyone even more enthusiastic.
Everyone danced and sang, and that was when many hidden talents were uncovered to everyone’s surprise.
“Alright. We’ve finished the barbecue today.” Mag placed his empty glass down with a smile, and told everyone, “But, the highlight of the show is at the back. Let me introduce everyone to the new product that we’ll be launching tomorrow: mutton soup.”
“New product?” Everyone looked at Mag in shock. They did hear Mag mention making mutton soup, but because they were too focused on the roast mutton, they did not really care about it. Now, it seemed that the mutton soup was the one that Mag really cared about.
“Miya, give me a hand.” Mag walked into the kitchen. The moment they entered the kitchen, they were greeted by a rich smell of mutton.
Perhaps it was because they’d had the various spicy barbecue foods, but this waft of fragrance was rather refreshing.
“Smells great. Is this the smell of the mutton soup?” Miya’s eyes lit up the moment she walked through the door. She looked at the huge pot on the stove in surprise.
“Set up 13 soup bowls. I’ll mix the dipping sauce,” Mag told Miya before he went to take a stack of small dishes.
Mutton soup had to go with the spicy powder dip. It was made up of dried chili, soybeans, peanuts, star anise, bay leaves, and other spices stir-fried with salt. After that, the salt would be sieved out, and the spices would be crushed with a cleaver. Then, cooked sesame and a ladle of the salt used previously would be added again and mixed together to make a perfect Szechuan-style spicy powder dip.
Miya had already finished setting up the bowls. Mag switched the stove off and opened the lid.
Steam started rising, making the kitchen look magical.
For the mutton soup to be good, it had to be simmered over a small flame for an entire night.
Mag did not have much time, so he used a pressure cooker to decrease the cooking time.
The thick soup was milky white, and just the smell alone was rich and refreshing. There wasn’t a hint of gamey mutton smell.
“Looks not bad.” Mag smiled. He sliced the cooked mutton at the side into thin slices before scalding it in a pot of boiling water. After that, he placed the meat into the bowls, and poured the milky white mutton soup in. Lastly, he added some coriander, and a bowl of fragrant piping hot mutton soup was done.
The fresh green coriander floating on the milky white milk, in addition to the mutton that took up half the bowl, looked and smelled absolutely delicious.
“Alright, bring it out.” Mag brought out two trays and placed eight bowls of mutton soup on them before bringing the soup out of the kitchen. Miya followed behind with the remaining bowls.
Everyone could not sit still as they waited impatiently. When they saw Mag and Miya exit the kitchen with the bowls of piping hot soup, their eyes lit up.
The milky white mutton soup looked very rich. The fragrant smell of meat and coriander wafted over as the steam rose, making everyone, who just had barbecue and beer, salivate.