I Transmigrated Into A Fantasy World To Farm And Build Houses!-Chapter 250: Pickled Vegetables

"I was planning to wash these eggs to salt for later use. Since you’re here, hurry up and give me a hand. Remember to be gentle so you don’t break the shells."

Eric pointed to the baskets of eggs in the house and said with a smile.

Nowadays, ordering the beastmen to work had become increasingly natural for him. Grass and the others were also accustomed to the routine, finding stools to sit down and help wash the eggs.

Eric found a few clean rags and instructed them to wipe gently with the rag if they encountered stubborn dirt.

"Don’t worry, we aren’t as clumsy as Sam; we won’t break your eggs," Michael couldn’t help but laugh reassuringly upon hearing Eric’s repeated worried instructions.

Eric scratched his cheek and laughed along.

Max also intended to sit down and help, but just then Eric ran to the yard to hug a large iron pot into the doorway, so he stood up to go help carry it.

As soon as he stepped out, Grass and Michael exchanged meaningful glances and smiled.

Kevin looked blankly at the two exchanging glances and suddenly smiling. He was about to speak up and ask when Grass selected an unwashed duck egg and quietly stuffed it into his mouth.

"Make another sound and I’ll switch it for this one," Grass threatened coldly, holding a bird egg of unknown name that was two sizes bigger than the duck egg.

Wild chicken eggs here were equivalent to ostrich eggs in Eric’s previous life, and wild duck eggs were a size larger than wild chicken eggs, so Grass’s threat carried significant weight...

Kevin had to submit, struggling to remove the duck egg from his mouth, spitting a few times, and running to the water jar Eric had prepared to rinse his mouth, not daring to utter another word.

Outside in the yard, Max had set up the large iron pot. Eric threw a fireball at the bottom of the pot and filled it with water.

The most important step in salting eggs was boiling the brine. The ratio had to be precise so the salted eggs wouldn’t be too salty or spoil.

Spices like star anise and cardamom were soaked for a while then fished out and put into the pot with the water so the boiled brine wouldn’t be bitter.

The ratio of water to refined salt was 5:1. Eric added salt based on the amount of water he had measured, then covered the pot to let it boil for a while.

The heat radiating from the fireball made the air noticeably warmer. Eric stretched comfortably: "Max, you haven’t eaten either, right?"

Max smiled, looking down at him: "I came over right after patrol; I guessed you wouldn’t eat at the collective cafeteria."

"You guessed right. Then let’s finish boiling the brine and make food, then go to class after eating," Eric smiled sheepishly.

Max naturally followed his words and nodded in agreement.

Once the brine was boiled and the spice residues removed, Max followed Eric’s instructions and carried the iron pot to the side to let the brine cool completely.

Inside the house, Kevin was trying to wash the last egg with a miserable face, silently complaining in his heart why he had tagged along with Grass and the others. If he had known, he would have eaten and gone home to sleep.

"Wow, you guys washed them really fast, and clean too!"

The ceramic jars were filled with spotless white or pale green eggs. Michael was carrying the dirty water out. Eric looked around and praised sincerely.

Grass held a broom to sweep the dirt from the house into the yard; hearing this, she looked up and smiled at Eric.

Beastmen were indeed quick workers, and with many people, the strength was great. If he had to salt the eggs alone, he would probably be busy until dark. Now that the most troublesome step was done, the remaining tasks would be much easier.

Eric went down to the cellar and brought out a jar of white liquor. He carefully scooped out a basin and poured it evenly over the eggs in the ceramic jars, ensuring every egg was bathed in white liquor.

After pouring the liquor, Eric lifted the ceramic jar and shook it gently, then decanted the white liquor inside into another ceramic jar filled with eggs. He repeated this until all the eggs had been rinsed once with liquor.

Eggs easily spoiled if washed only with water, but rinsing them with a layer of liquor allowed them to be stored longer and prevented white mold from forming during salting.

The liquor-rinsed eggs needed their surfaces dried. Eric couldn’t wait, so he directly used Wind magic to blow dry all the eggs in the ceramic jars.

The brine had also cooled down. It was just in time for Max to pour it into each jar, stopping when it covered the topmost egg.

Eric covered the jars and sealed the gaps with yellow mud. Left like this for over a month, they would be ready to eat, guaranteeing every egg would have red oil flowing and be perfectly salted.

Keeping so many ceramic jars in the warehouse took up space, so Max and Michael, along with the others, carefully carried each jar down to the cellar for him.

"So in over a month, there will be salted eggs to eat. Then I’ll cook a pot of plain congee to eat with them," Eric envisioned a beautiful life, gently patting his beloved ceramic jars. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"We have to wait a month to eat?" Kevin drawled in disappointment.

Eric nodded with a beaming smile: "Good food takes time."

Speaking of which, Eric suddenly remembered the pickled cabbage he had salted earlier and ran to the corner of the other wall to check his pickle jars.

Michael looked in the direction he ran, saw the large ceramic jars, and said with a twitching mouth corner:

"Wait for good weather to fire some more jars for Eric; his jars here are probably almost used up."

Grass nodded in agreement.

"It’s a good thing the Dwarves dug him a large cellar; otherwise, where would he put it all? If kept in the tent, it would definitely freeze, and Eric’s house can’t hold this much," Kevin clicked his tongue, staring at the assortment of food in the cellar.

They had been to Eric’s cellar many times; inside were many fruits, food, and things they gathered. It didn’t seem like much then, but looking back now, it was quite a lot.

Over there, Eric had lifted the stone pressing the pickles and excitedly tasted a piece of pickle leaf that had turned golden.

"It’s ready to eat! If left a while longer, the flavor will definitely be richer!"

The pickled vegetable was crisp, with a sweet, refreshing aftertaste - exactly the flavor Eric loved.

Later when he worked and lived in a rented room, it wasn’t convenient to pickle vegetables. The pickles bought outside tasted weird; some were bitter, others had white vinegar added directly, sour enough to sting the throat, completely unlike the naturally fermented flavor made at home.

The beastmen, having never eaten pickled vegetables, smelled the pungent sour odor and couldn’t help but take a step back.

Michael asked worriedly: "Is this really edible? Eric, don’t eat random things or you’ll get a stomachache."

Kevin craned his neck to look at the turbid water in the jar, remembering clearly that the green vegetables the Ox-Head tribe gave had turned withered yellow, and said in shock:

"Our tribe has enough food and clothing now; there’s really no need to eat these rotten, smelly vegetable leaves."

Kevin’s words caused Eric, who was tasting the pickle, to choke, coughing for a long time before recovering.

Max hurriedly patted his back, turning his head to shoot a sharp glare at Kevin.