Chicken…….
Well, not exactly, but you could say a pheasant is a distant relative of a chicken.
And a golden pheasant could be considered a distant relative of that pheasant.
So, naturally, the first dish that comes to mind is fried chicken.
But unfortunately, this time, I didn’t have the luck to find a mimic plant soaked in oil, so that’s out of the question.
That leaves us with boiling, stewing, or grilling as the realistic cooking methods.
However, pheasant meat has less fat and more muscle compared to chicken, making it quite dry.
Especially if it’s a wild animal, not raised for consumption, it’s even drier.
So, boiling or stewing, which require long cooking times to tenderize the meat, are out of the question.
Naturally, grilling is the way to go.
After deciding on the cooking method, I removed all the feathers from the golden pheasant, cut off its head, and drained all the blood.
Then, I deboned the meat thoroughly.
You could just cut it into bite-sized pieces and eat it while picking out the bones, but since Mari isn’t used to eating meat, I deboned it for easier consumption.
The bones can be saved for making broth later, so that’s actually a plus.
For a regular barbecue, just seasoning with salt and pepper would suffice, but today is a special meat feast.
No way am I settling for ordinary.
I’m going all out, even if it means using up my precious stash of seasonings.
Barbecue, like eating samgyeopsal or other meats in Korea, can be enjoyed just grilled, but today I’m using a rub.
A rub is a mix of spices applied to the meat before cooking, and Korean seasoned ribs can also be considered a type of rub.
Rubs can be dry or wet, depending on whether they contain moisture, and this time I’m using a wet rub.
The base is the rainbow honey I obtained from the last village, which has been useful in many ways.
Honey has a tenderizing effect on meat, making it a great choice for both flavor and texture.
It’ll help soften the dry wild pheasant meat.
After adjusting the consistency with water, I generously added spices like pepper and salt that I’ve been sparingly using during our long journey.
And the pinnacle of bold flavor is spiciness.
I couldn’t find a mimic plant, but I did find some Sichuan pepper during my search and added a small amount.
Ideally, chili peppers would be best, but since I don’t have any, Sichuan pepper will do.
Sichuan pepper is a staple in Chinese cuisine, especially in Sichuan dishes, so it’s a good substitute.
I evenly coated the golden pheasant meat with the rub.
Then, I let it marinate for 30 minutes to an hour to let the flavors soak in.
Meanwhile, I prepared other vegetables for the barbecue and took out some metal skewers from my backpack.
“By the way, I’ve been curious—what are those metal sticks? They’re too short for arrows, and they don’t have tips or fletching…”
“Obviously, they’re cooking tools.”
Metal skewers are great.
They’re portable and can be used to create a makeshift grill by arranging them in a grid.
This completes a simple direct-heat grill.
But the uses of metal skewers don’t end there.
I carefully threaded the prepared vegetables onto the remaining skewers.
Then, I alternated the marinated golden pheasant meat between the vegetables, creating simple barbecue skewers.
After turning all the remaining skewers into kebabs, I placed them over the prepared campfire.
*Sizzle*
The golden pheasant skewers immediately made a sizzling sound, stimulating the ears, followed by the aroma of grilling meat, tantalizing the nose.
Mari, who had been sulking like a child, turned her gaze toward the grill.
“…Gulp.”
“How is it? Looks pretty tasty, right?”
“T-This is completely different from the meat dishes my mom used to make when I was little…”
At my words, Mari, who had been adamant about not wanting to eat monster meat, forgot her earlier protests and slowly inched closer, her eyes fixed on the grill.
“Heh. A human who’s never had proper meat dishes couldn’t possibly make real meat cuisine. This is what real meat cooking is.”
As I said this, I handed Mari a skewer of perfectly grilled golden pheasant, wrapped in a large leaf to keep it from burning her hands.
This is today’s meal—
Golden pheasant barbecue skewers.
.
.
.
Mari, holding the skewer, trembled as she looked at the food in her hands.
‘W-What is this? It’s completely different from the meat dishes I knew.’
In her memory, the meat dishes were the nameless wild bird her mom cooked when she expressed curiosity about meat as a child.
Of course, her mom didn’t know the proper way to handle meat, let alone cook it, and didn’t even know the basic常识 of draining blood from game.
On top of that, all she knew was that humans mainly grill meat, so she just grilled it over direct heat without any seasoning or preparation to remove the gamey smell.
The heat control was a mess, so half the meat was barely edible, while the other half was charred black.
A truly unpleasant contrast.
From the moment she saw its appearance, young Mari regretted asking for meat, but she couldn’t let down her mom’s efforts to cook something unfamiliar for her.
So, she braced herself and took a bite, only to find the meat as tough as boiled vines, with a disgusting, gamey smell she had never encountered before.
After that, she never asked her mom for meat again.
Thus, she believed she disliked meat because of her elven blood.
Even though her body didn’t reject it, she still disliked it as a matter of preference.
That was her perception of meat.
But what about the skewers Kurt made?
The meat, marinated in a rub based on rainbow honey, literally glistened like it was coated in honey, reflecting light and looking utterly delicious.
It was strange.
The skewers had both vegetables and meat, but her eyes were drawn not to the vegetables she had eaten as staples her whole life, but to the meat she had avoided since her bad childhood experience.
*Munch munch*
Suddenly, she noticed Kurt had already handed her a skewer and was eating his own portion.
*Gulp*
‘He’s eating it so deliciously…’
Now, the bad memories of meat and the fact that it was monster meat were gone.
As if entranced, she brought the skewer to her mouth and bit into the golden pheasant meat in the middle, not the vegetable at the top.
The first thing she felt was a strong elasticity she had never experienced with vegetables.
Surprised by the resistance, she put more force into pulling the meat into her mouth.
‘The smell… it’s gone?’
Contrary to her expectation of a gamey smell, the golden pheasant, drained of blood when fresh and marinated in the rub, had no trace of the wild animal’s usual odor.
Instead, she was hit by the flavor of the rub, a mix of spices that attacked her taste buds.
Following that, the deep, rich flavor unique to pheasant meat struck her palate repeatedly.
Pheasant meat has less fat and is tougher than chicken, but it also has strengths chicken can’t match.
An intense meaty flavor chicken can’t replicate.
For her, who was tasting ‘proper’ meat for the first time, it was an irresistible flavor assault.
And the texture?
Unlike the nameless bird her mom cooked when she was young, this meat was springy, neither crumbling nor overly tough, with a satisfying chew that pushed back against her teeth.
‘Ah… I’ve wasted half my life.’
.
.
.
At the strange sound, I turned to see Mari, stuffing her mouth with golden pheasant skewers, crying.
“Sniff… sniff…”
“What? Crying again?”
“I’m so pathetic. I’ve been stuck in that conservative elf village…”
“Ah. That. That’s the second time.”
“Ah! If it’s the second time, you should at least listen once! And give me more skewers!”
“You said monster meat wasn’t good.”
At my words, Mari looked like she wanted to hit herself for saying that earlier and meekly replied, “Hehehe. I was wrong. Give me more!”
“Nah. I’m eating all of it.”
“Ah! Kurt! I was wrong! Please give me your long, hot thing!”
“Hey! Don’t say things that’ll make people misunderstand! Just say skewers!”
And so, the long-awaited meat feast ended successfully, with glowing reviews from the sole guest.