The thinly sliced Thunderfire Beast meat cooked first. Eric took the slices of meat from the branch, placed them on a leaf, and handed them to Leo.
Leo hurriedly grabbed a piece and put it in his mouth, not even afraid of the heat.
"You're so amazing! I've never had such delicious grilled meat before!"
After speaking, the little one used his claws to pick up a piece and feed it to Eric. Eric grinned and opened his mouth.
The moment the meat entered his mouth, he was astonished. It was fresh and juicy, the tender and chewy meat locking in a rich, sweet flavor. The meaty aroma filled his mouth, along with a hint of fruity fragrance.
Indeed, with good ingredients, even without many seasonings, it was delicious enough.
Michael was right; the meat of the Thunderfire Beast was truly delicious, better than any livestock meat he had ever eaten in the modern era, in terms of both texture and taste.
It was just that beastmen rarely used eating utensils, at most a spoon. He watched Leo directly grab the meat with his claws, unafraid of the heat, and couldn't help but smile.
The chicken pieces were a bit larger and thus took longer to cook. He propped the meat skewer next to the fire to grill slowly, while he stirred the pot of chicken soup.
The delicious aroma filled the room. The sliced meat and chicken pieces in the soup were cooked through, and the broth had a beautiful golden color.
Eric added some salt to the pot, then tore the gathered wild vegetables into smaller pieces and added them in, covering the pot with a self-made wooden lid to continue simmering.
While waiting, he remembered that there were no bowls in the house, so he ran outside again to find two similarly sized stones. He used the tips of his claws to carve them into two small stone bowls. Although the shape was a bit ugly, he couldn't be bothered to polish them.
He then found a few branches of the same thickness and gently smoothed them with his claw tips, and just like that, he had two pairs of chopsticks.
By now, the wild vegetables were also cooked. The aroma in the air grew even richer, and the meat skewer by the fire was fully cooked as well.
The animal hide at the doorway had been propped up by Eric for ventilation. He saw quite a few beastmen secretly poking their heads out to look around, sniffing the aroma in the air.
The sense of smell of beastmen was too keen. The aroma of Eric's chicken soup mixed with the scent of the grilled meat skewer was something they had never smelled before. Even though they were clearly full, their stomachs still rumbled.
Eric was very hungry too. He had been in this transmigrated world for a whole day and had only eaten half a piece of dried meat given by Leo. His stomach had long been empty.
He sniffed the aroma in the air, thinking to himself that he should make tofu earlier tomorrow. If he added a few pieces of tofu to the chicken soup, he couldn't imagine how delicious it would be.
He had also witnessed the robust bodies of the beastmen today; the tiny amount of toxins in the brine would be nothing to them.
His desire to make activated charcoal to refine the salt was also for the sake of making the food more delicious. The bitter taste of the coarse salt was truly a waste of his excellent cooking skills.
Eric ladled a bowl of hot chicken soup for Leo and gave him a pair of chopsticks. Fearing the little one wouldn't know how to use them, he had also prepared a spoon for him.
However, Eric's worry was completely unnecessary. Although Leo didn't know how to use them, his ability to learn was excellent. Seeing Eric eat with chopsticks, he also clumsily copied the movements a couple of times. At first, he could only use the chopsticks to spear the chicken pieces to eat, but soon after, he was able to clumsily pick things up.
So smart, Eric marveled inwardly. He remembered how he had to practice for a long time as a child to learn how to use chopsticks.
"Leo is so good!"
Cubs needed encouragement. Eric rewarded him with a piece of grilled chicken.
Leo's mouth was stuffed with food, his eyes shining brightly, his little face greasy from eating.
The two cubs finished an entire large skewer of grilled meat, and the large ceramic pot of chicken soup was half-gone.
The appetite of beastmen was no joke. The two cubs in human form ate even more than in their beast forms. After all, their beast forms were still very small. This meal was more than what Eric used to eat in three days combined.
This pheasant had to weigh over 5 kilograms, and the chicken soup and sliced meat combined were also more than 5 kilograms.
Chef Eric, who had been busy all day, finally got to eat and drink his fill.
It was just getting dark. There were cubs playing outside, and warriors practicing their hunting skills. Their night vision was very good, so of course, they weren't going to sleep yet.
But Eric was too tired. The original owner's body had just recovered from a cold, and he needed rest.
Beastmen didn't have beds, only straw mattresses made from dried grass. He found a dry spot, hugged Leo in his arms, and fell into a deep sleep.
...
How could one make tofu without a stone mill? The structure of an ancient stone mill was relatively simple. Eric had seen it in videos from a Chinese blogger, and many farming novels also had descriptions.
Thank goodness he was a beastman, with sharp fangs and claws and a body full of strength.
He carried back two large stones and used his sharp claws to shape them. He then found a suitable piece of wood to serve as a handle, and a simple, ancient-style stone mill was complete.
This stone mill could not only be used to make tofu now, but in the future, it could also be used to mill wheat and other types of rice to remove the husks and grind flour.
The beans, having soaked overnight, had absorbed enough water and become plump. He placed the stone basin under the stone mill, and while pushing the mill to turn, he added the beans and water.
After a while, thick, white soy milk, along with the soybean pulp, fell into the basin. There weren't many beans, so the amount of soy milk produced was not much either.