RPS – Chapter 5 Hibiscus Stew

These past few days, Li and the others had hunted quite a few animals, so they got a decent share—every day they received a large chunk of meat. Li Feng would use a stone knife to cut the meat into smaller pieces. The stone knife wasn’t as sharp as an iron one, so he could only slowly grind the meat apart. Then he washed both the meat and the hibiscus flowers in a clay pot and set them aside.

There were no pots here yet, so he had to use clay vessels for cooking. He found two or three relatively flat stones and placed them in a triangle near the firepit at the mouth of the cave. Then he used a relatively wide and shallow clay pot as a cooking vessel. He gathered some dry grass to ignite the fire, followed by dried wood and twigs.

Li Feng filled the pot more than halfway with water, then put the meat in to boil. Once it came to a boil—this was usually when you’d add scallions, ginger, garlic, cooking wine, etc.—but since there was nothing like that here, he only added salt. After that, he let it simmer gently. Once the meat was cooked through, he simply added the washed hibiscus flowers and simmered it a bit more.

Once it looked about ready, Li Feng extinguished the fire, leaving just a bit of kindling burning. Then he went into the cave to carry the little one out—sunlight was good for babies, helping with calcium absorption and sterilization.

Maybe the little one sensed his “mom” carrying him. He wriggled slightly and opened his eyes, his tiny mouth bubbling with saliva. His big black eyes looked at Li Feng, and he actually gave a little smile, prompting Li Feng to shower him with kisses. The baby’s white, tender cheeks were soon covered in drool and kiss marks.

After helping the baby relieve himself, Li Feng checked the stew—it was perfectly cooked. Just then, Li, who had been out hunting with the tribe, returned, carrying a few rabbits and wild chickens. They were still alive, though barely.

Li Feng thought, If they’re still alive, maybe I should try raising them. Who knows—maybe we’ll get eggs and more meat in the future. After all, rabbits multiply like crazy.

“Feng, what did you make today? Isn’t it usually roasted meat?” Li asked curiously. Wasn’t everyone eating grilled meat? This boiled meat seemed light in flavor and not very tasty. Why would Feng decide to boil it? But… it actually smelled pretty good.

“Nothing much, I just felt like having something boiled today…” Li Feng nearly forgot that the people here didn’t really eat boiled meat. Roasting was the norm.

“It smells great!” Li opened the clay pot, and the aroma of stewed meat with steam wafted out.

Li Feng muttered to himself, If only I had some scallions, ginger, or garlic, it’d be perfect. But even with just salt and hibiscus flowers, the stew smelled amazing. After days of grilled meat, this change in flavor was a real treat.

Speaking of salt—Li Feng had been pretty surprised when he first saw it here. He hadn’t expected them to have discovered salt already. Before people figured out how to harvest salt, they used to rely on drinking animal blood for sodium. According to the memories from this body, there was a place nearby that had it. In fact, the tribe had settled here precisely because of the salt source and the abundant forest.

Originally, the tribe didn’t know what salt was. They noticed that many animals gathered near a patch of barren white “rocky soil.” Herbivores would frequently lick and eat the soil there, while carnivores hunted the herbivores and drank their blood to obtain salt, so they didn’t consume the soil themselves.

When Li and his people chased prey to that area and saw so many animals there, they figured that if herbivores could eat something, it was probably safe for them too. So when there weren’t any predators around, they collected a few pieces of the white substance and brought it back. They tasted it—it was weird and not delicious—so it ended up forgotten in a corner. Lucky for Li Feng.

He knew the area likely contained rock salt—a natural form of salt that didn’t require ocean evaporation to produce. Judging by the crystals, it was likely high-purity well salt, ready to be eaten. He just happened to use it while cooking today.

The chunks of meat were large, each about the size of a fist, with a mix of fat and lean. The rich aroma made Li Feng’s mouth water. Not his fault—it was already noon, and this was his first meal of the day. People here didn’t seem to eat breakfast. Plus, he had just gone to relieve himself, and his stomach was totally empty, already growling.

He fed the baby some meat broth he’d set aside earlier—unsalted and lukewarm, perfect for the little one. Li grabbed a chunk of meat as well and, without waiting for it to cool, took a bite. Hmm! There was even broth inside the meat—biting into it released juicy flavors, blended with the scent of hibiscus. It was tender and delicious.

Li Feng also picked up a chunk by hand—there were no chopsticks here. He hadn’t found any bamboo yet, nor any suitable wood to make substitutes. Most woods tasted bitter, and when inserted into hot meat, the bitterness got worse. After a few failed attempts, he gave up. Once he found bamboo, he’d be set—both for eating and for crafting.

“How did you make this? It’s really good!” Li’s handsome face carried a faint, hard-to-spot softness as he asked.

“Uh…” Li Feng scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. This was the simplest recipe ever—he literally just added salt and hibiscus flowers. “I only added some salt and those flowers,” he said, pointing at the white salt crystals and the flowers in the pot.

“Hm? You can eat this stuff like that?” Li asked, holding up a salt crystal. Could this thing really make meat taste so good?

“I was just trying it out… didn’t expect it to turn out this tasty,” Li Feng muttered awkwardly. It’s just salt, why the big fuss?