Chapter 1810: Chapter 1810: Refining Oil
This stone pot is quite large, just right for rendering fat.
Xue Ganggang washed the surface of the pork fat simply, and then cut it into small pieces of roughly the same size.
Jue Jue, knowing that her ankle was sprained and she could only put weight on one foot, fearing that her injury would worsen, asked her to sit on a small stone stool to the side to do the cutting.
No matter how sharp the stone knife was, it was not as sharp as her dagger, so she used her dagger to cut the pork fat into pieces.
After cutting them into small chunks, she put all the pieces into the stone pot.
The fire was also lit.
...Rendered over a low heat.
The little leopard, Jue Jue, prowled back and forth, particularly excited.
When Bai Xing returned from the square, the little leopard was exactly on its tiptoes, eyes gleaming as it watched the stone pot, while Xue Ganggang was busy with the spatula, working on the small chunks of pork fat in the pot.
Bai Xing glanced at the pot and saw quite a bit of oil had come out, yet Xue Ganggang was still pressing down incessantly with the spatula, squeezing out the fat from the chunks.
The chunks were starting to resemble pig fat dregs.
Bai Xing didn’t ask anything, just sat at the mouth of the stove, planning to add some wood to the fire.
Xue Ganggang said, “We need a low flame.”
“Hmm,” Bai Xing naturally didn’t stoke a large fire.
Jue Jue hopped beside Bai Xing, “King, I’m eating here tonight. Elder sister said she’ll make me delicious fried fat dregs!”
Bai Xing, “Did you let your family know?”
“I didn’t, eh.”
“Go back and tell them.”
“Oh, oh.” Jue Jue immediately turned back into a little leopard and ran outside to his family’s cave to inform them.
Bai Xing took another look at the pot, the oil was becoming more plentiful, and he felt greasy just looking at it. The fat dregs were getting smaller and darker in color as they were pressed. Jue Jue had said he wanted to eat the fat dregs, but with so much oil…
“What are you going to do with this oil after rendering it?” Bai Xing finally asked. Surely it wasn’t for drinking; that would be far too greasy. He couldn’t stand it, and he didn’t believe she could either.
“Fry food, of course. The best would be vegetable oil for frying, but we don’t have any now, so I thought of animal fat,” Xue Ganggang paused, feeling a little embarrassed, “That is… I can’t really eat boiled wild vegetables.”
Bai Xing nodded, understanding.
So, there would be no boiled wild vegetables tonight, only fried dishes.
He didn’t know how to stir-fry, but since she said she does, he didn’t say anything.
Xue Ganggang said, “Once it’s done rendering, when it’s hard to squeeze any fat from the dregs, it’s time to add salt. Salt will make this pork fat last longer; actually, adding some other things would preserve it even better, but we don’t have anything else now, so just add salt, after all, it lasts longer than just keeping pure fat.”
Bai Xing took another look at the oil in the pot, thinking about how big of a clay jar to use. Seeing that the fire didn’t require his attention for the moment, he went to clean a clay jar of the right size.
Xue Ganggang was quite surprised.
When Bai Xing had cleaned the clay jar, the little leopard, Jue Jue, also came back, having already spoken to his family.
It was safe within the tribe, with patrols everywhere. The little leopard would be fine, and since it was not going to someone else’s home but to that of Bai Xing, the king, his family was naturally reassured.
Soon, the oil was ready, and Xue Ganggang used the spatula to press down on the dregs in the pot, unable to squeeze out any more oil. Only then did she add salt.
When the salt had fully dissolved, she scooped out the fat dregs, first scooping some to let Jue Jue try, and the rest of the fat dregs were put into a stone bowl.
It wasn’t a full bowl, just a flat bowl of fat dregs.
With all the oil rendered out, having this much fat dregs left was already quite good.
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