Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 384 Frying Fish

Xu Xiaoyan carefully retraced her steps. When she came, her attention was entirely focused on what was ahead, and she wasn't as sensitive to her footing.

Now, walking back, the direction has changed, the perspective has changed, and those places that didn't seem problematic when we came suddenly appear somewhat dangerous from a different angle.

One section of the passage had a slightly sloping surface covered with a thin layer of slippery mud. She had come uphill and was walking steadily.

On the way back, it turned downhill, and she felt like her feet were about to slide forward. She had to walk sideways, shuffling step by step, afraid that she would slip and fall.

Slipping in a place like this is no joke. The ground is covered with sharp stones and calcified debris. Falling down can result in anything from minor scrapes and bleeding to serious fractures.

Fortunately, all was well and they made it safely back to the giant salamander pool.

The pool remained unchanged, and the giant salamander had reappeared sometime earlier, lying motionless on a flat rock by the pool.

Xu Xiaoyan glanced at her watch. It was 5:10 PM. She started walking towards the sinkhole.

The discovery of the deep pool should have been a good thing, as the water source would be a huge benefit to her future survival, but at the same time it made her very uneasy.

Deep waters are abysses, especially bottomless abysses, which instinctively evoke fear in people.

She was just a kind-hearted person who wanted to survive in the apocalypse, so she would not step into the abyss a second time unless absolutely necessary.

The reason she had to brave her fear to investigate the passage was to confirm the inlet and outlet of the water. This information was so important that she had to verify it even though she was scared.

The outlet and the inlet may sound like just a difference in direction, but their underlying meanings are vastly different.

If it's an outlet, no unknown creatures will flow in with the water, which will calm her down a lot; otherwise, it will make her anxious and uneasy.

The further you go, the brighter the passage becomes, the warmer the air gets, and the damp, cold atmosphere unique to karst caves gradually fades away, replaced by the fresh scent of plants and trees and the smell of earth in the sinkhole.

Xu Xiaoyan pushed aside the bushes at the cave entrance and crawled out. A touch of orange-red afterglow still lingered on the western cliff top.

She plopped down on the sofa, letting out a long breath, but her mind was still replaying the bottomless surface of the deep pool.

No, she had to do something else. She couldn't keep thinking about this. She needed to do something to calm her nerves, so she took out two frozen fish from her spatial storage. These were the catch she had obtained while ice fishing in Linchuan City. The fish had long bodies, fine scales, and a silvery-white sheen.

She placed the two fish on the stone platform under the bamboo shed. Although the temperature in the sinkhole was much lower than at noon, it was still around 27 or 28 degrees Celsius. After the frozen fish left the low-temperature environment of the space, a layer of fine water droplets quickly formed on their surface.

The frost began to melt, and the fish's body went from hard to soft. She squatted in front of the stone platform, rolled up her sleeves, and began to clean the fish.

Xu Xiaoyan used the back of the knife to scrape against the direction of the fish scales, scraping again and again. The silvery-white scales fell down one after another, spreading a thin layer on the stone platform.

Then she used the tip of her knife to make an incision in the fish's belly, reached inside, and gently removed the internal organs. The fish's internal organs were still slightly cool, and the fishy smell was not strong; instead, there was a faint, refreshing fragrance of river water.

She cleaned the fish's gills and rinsed its belly inside and out twice with clean water until the water became clear and there was no trace of blood.

Xu Xiaoyan used a cleaver to make decorative cuts on both sides of the fish. The blade was angled and cut into the fish meat, reaching just to the bone. The cuts were evenly spaced, about one centimeter apart. The cuts on the fish resembled fish scales, revealing the snow-white, tender fish meat inside.

She rubbed a thin layer of salt and cooking wine on the fish and marinated it for about ten minutes to let the flavors penetrate.

After everything was ready, she took out an induction cooker and a non-stick pan from her spatial storage. The induction cooker was brought from her home in Xuan County; it was a small, household tabletop cooker with a black microcrystalline panel and a knob-style heat control.

The pan was a flat-bottomed non-stick pan, about thirty centimeters in diameter. Then, she took out various seasonings such as oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar from her storage space and lined them up on the stone table.

The power supply box is located in the corner of the bamboo shed. It has plenty of power, enough to not only fry two fish, but also stew several months' worth of food.

She plugged the power cord of the induction cooker into the socket of the power box, pressed the switch, and the induction cooker made a soft "beep". The numbers on the panel lit up. After placing the non-stick pan on it, she turned it to high heat and waited for the pan to heat up.

About three minutes later, she poured a spoonful of oil into the pot. The golden oil slowly spread across the bottom of the pot, and as the temperature rose, the noodles began to tremble slightly, and a layer of fine ripples appeared on the surface.

When the oil was about 60-70% hot, she carefully slid the two fish into the pot, and a sizzling sound filled the bamboo shed as steam and oil mingled together.

The moment the fish touched the hot oil, the edges of the flesh immediately curled up slightly, and the color changed from translucent snow-white to opaque milky white.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't rush to flip it. Instead, she turned down the heat and let the fish fry slowly in the pan. The fish skin gradually turned golden and crispy under the heat of the oil, with slightly charred edges and a rich aroma.

She carefully flipped the fish over with a spatula, and the other side was also fried until golden brown and crispy. The cuts made with the knife opened up in the oil, and the fish meat turned slightly outward at the cuts, revealing the tender, snow-white flesh inside. The edges were fried until crispy, while the middle was still tender and smooth, with distinct layers.

The fish was fried, but instead of taking it out of the pan, she started making the sauce.

She used a small bowl to pour in two spoonfuls of light soy sauce, a spoonful of white sugar to enhance the flavor, a little vinegar, and half a bowl of water. She stirred it with chopsticks, and the sugar slowly dissolved in the soy sauce. The liquid in the bowl changed from dark brown to reddish-brown and shimmered with an amber luster under the light.

Slowly pour the sauce along the edge of the pot, allowing the fish to fully absorb the broth, then turn up the heat to reduce the sauce.

The broth thickened and changed from light brown to dark reddish-brown. As the spatula gently pushed the fish, the thick broth drew dark lines on its surface, and the cuts made with the spatula were filled with broth.

After the stew was almost done, she turned off the induction cooker and carefully placed the two fish into a white porcelain plate with a spatula. The two fish lay side by side, their bodies intact, with a thick, reddish-brown sauce clinging to their golden, crispy skin, which glistened in the evening light.

She carried the plate to the edge of the bamboo shed, put it down on the small coffee table in front of the sofa, sat down, picked up her chopsticks, and took a bite.

The moment the fish touched her tongue, her eyes narrowed involuntarily. The fish skin was crispy, and when she bit into it, the crispy outer skin cracked between her teeth, releasing the aroma of oil locked in by the high temperature.

Beneath the skin lies snow-white fish meat that melts in your mouth with the touch of your tongue. The salty, sweet, sour, and savory flavors of the sauce unfold in layers in your mouth, blending perfectly with the sweetness of the fish meat. It neither masks the original flavor of the fish nor diminishes its richness.

Xu Xiaoyan sat under the bamboo shed, facing the gradually darkening twilight in the sinkhole, eating bite by bite, slowly dispelling the chill that had accumulated by the deep pool.