Chapter 1665
Dealing with the Forest Frogs
After Wang Li finished speaking, Wang An added with a smile:
"Yeah, we just picked the big ones to catch, and that's how we each caught most of the water bream. Otherwise, we would have brought back two sacks of them. We released all of them. The small ones don't have much meat, so it would have been a waste to catch them."
Upon hearing what Wang An and Wang Li said, Wang Dazhu and his wife both nodded with great satisfaction.
Wang Dazhu looked at Wang An and then at Wang Li, and said somewhat seriously:
“Yes, you two are doing it right. We, the Wang family, would never do something that would cause someone to die out.”
After a pause, Wang Dazhu said with an air of seriousness:
"It was just the other day, or even the other day, when I saw Niu Dafei from the Niu family catch half a bunch of ants. I saw that many of the ants he caught were about the size of quail eggs."
At this point, Wang Dazhu shook his head helplessly, then continued with a puzzled expression:
"Such a tiny thing, just a layer of skin, what do you think he'd do with it? It'll shrink before you even put it in the pot to stew, there'll be practically nothing left. Sigh, there's just no way to deal with it, there are all sorts of people."
As he spoke, Wang Dazhu shook his head again, clearly disapproving of Niu Dafei's approach of causing the forest frogs to die out.
After Wang Dazhu finished speaking, everyone sighed, but no one said anything, mainly because they didn't know what to say.
Many people in this world are like this; they are selfish to the extreme, leaving no way for others or any other creatures to survive.
After a while, Liu Guilan slowly said:
"Let them do whatever they want. We should just mind our own business. Why are we talking about what they're doing? We can't do anything to them anyway."
Wang An also said with a smile:
"Yeah, whatever, let them do what they want."
And so, the meal passed by with everyone discussing Hashma.
After finishing his meal, Wang Li couldn't wait to head home. His portion of frogs, bear paws, and bear meat hadn't been delivered yet, and if he delayed any longer, many of the frogs at the bottom of the bucket would likely die.
Wang Li wanted to tie the bucket, bear paw, and bear meat to his motorcycle, but Wang An stopped him, saying:
"Why bother with all this trouble? Just ride my sidecar back, and then leave your motorcycle at my place."
Wang Li scratched his head and said:
"Yeah, that's true. It'd be so much easier for me to just ride your sidecar. Hehehe, Fourth Brother, what time should I come over around noon?"
Wang An thought for a moment and said:
"Around 4:30, by the time we finish picking up the ants, we can still eat."
Wang Li nodded, agreed, and rode off on his sidecar.
After Wang Li left, Wang An walked over to the large basin containing the forest frogs.
The frogs that Wang An and Wang Li collected were probably the last batch to enter the mountains, because normally, frogs in Heilongjiang Province start emerging from the water and entering the mountains from the end of April or the beginning of May, which is the time for spring plowing.
Normally, by mid to late May, all the forest frogs have finished entering the mountains.
Wang An found a small stool, placed it next to the basin, picked up a forest frog, and began to give it a thorough cleaning, inside and out.
These forest frogs are mostly large, weighing around one or two ounces each, making them very easy to handle.
These frogs, which have just come out of the water and haven't eaten yet, aren't actually dirty. You just need to rub them in the water and rinse them several times.
Locally, people have long established a complete set of procedures for dealing with forest frogs.
Cleaning the forest frogs is the first step in processing them.
If you're going to eat them, you can stew them directly while they're still alive this season. However, people who are more particular about their food will remove the frog's internal organs and intestines before cooking. If you're not going to eat them immediately, then they need to be further processed, namely dried into dried frogs.
The method for making dried forest frogs is also very simple: first, wash the cleaned forest frogs with salt to remove the mucous membranes on their bodies, and then kill the forest frogs.
However, killing forest frogs doesn't require using a knife; you can simply scald them to death with hot water.
However, it is worth noting that the water used to scald the frogs should not be too hot; water at 60 or 70 degrees Celsius is most suitable.
If the water temperature is too hot, it will burn the skin of the forest frog.
After scalding the frog to death, use scissors to cut open the corners of its mouth, remove its internal organs and black membrane, and then wash it carefully until no more blood flows out.
Finally, string the drained frogs together and hang them up, or lay them flat on a wooden board to dry.
However, it is worth noting that when drying forest frogs, you should ensure that there is plenty of sunlight, but you must avoid direct sunlight, as direct sunlight will cause the forest frog oil to seep out.
Of course, this is the normal way to dry frogs, and it's how most people in the area deal with them.
Another method of drying is to immediately extract the frog oil between the frog's hind legs and abdomen after killing it, allowing the frog oil and frog body to dry separately.
This kind of dried frog can be preserved for a longer time, and frog paste can also be steamed and eaten separately.
As for eating dried forest frogs, it's even simpler. Just soak them in water for 24 hours. After soaking, the forest frogs can be stewed or fried, and you can eat them however you like.
The same applies to frog oil. Soak it in water beforehand, then add some seasonings and steam it in a pot. It's very delicious and highly nutritious.
While Wang An was washing the forest frogs, Mu Xueqing and Huang Li also brought their two little babies over.
The two little ones weren't afraid of the forest frogs at all; they ran to the water basin and each grabbed one.
Seeing this, Mu Xueqing quickly called out:
"What are you two doing? Put it down! It's all sticky and dirty!"
The two little ones looked up at their mother, but instead of obediently putting the frog down, they held onto it and giggled at Wang An.
The two little ones laughed, and Wang An laughed along with them. As he laughed, Wang An asked the two little ones:
"You two want to eat now?"
"Hehehe, wait a minute. After Dad cleans them, he'll bake them for you to eat."
Seeing that her two children were being disobedient, Mu Xueqing stepped forward, snatched the frogs from their hands, and threw them into the basin of water.
They also said:
"I just washed you all, and now you're grabbing everything. Can't you stay clean for a little while?"
At this, the two little ones immediately protested and burst into tears at the same time.
But Mu Xueqing showed no mercy to the child, and sternly reprimanded him:
"Don't cry, hold it in."
At this moment, Mu Xueqing perfectly embodied the rough and uncouth nature of a typical Northeastern woman. (End of Chapter)