Chapter 46: Quirky and Eccentric

At eight o’clock that evening, Jiang Qiuqiu started her livestream right on time.

As usual, her livestream was bustling. "I’m Jiang Juju. Welcome, everyone, to my stream. Today’s menu is roast bird." She was planning a "One Hundred Ways to Eat a Gugu Beast" series for the fall, so for now, she was taking Gugu Beast dishes off her menu.

The name of today’s dish was rather uninspired, but it couldn’t be helped. She hadn’t been able to find anything called a "duck" here. The species she’d found that most resembled one was simply known as a "bird," so "roast duck" had to become "roast bird."

#Roast??? Are we getting a new cooking method today?!#

#I’m more worried about the ingredient. Are birds even edible? I ate bird once. It was a genuine childhood trauma.#

#Did the person above misspeak? You dared to eat this bird as a kid? It was probably an adulthood trauma!#

#...Now that I think about it, it was an adulthood trauma.#

When birds were first captured, many brave souls in the Federation tried to eat them. They used various cooking methods—boiling, electrolysis, distillation—they tried it all. And then—

Since their nutritional value was no better than Nutrient Liquid, and their texture was even worse, birds were quickly reviled by all interstellar people.

Now, only the most high-end restaurants ever use them, and the rest have been relegated to tourist attractions on breeder planets, kept merely for display.

#You could probably write three books on how bad it tastes.#

#I’ve realized Juju just loves to take on these challenging ingredients!#

"Alright, without further ado, let’s process this bird meat with Juju."

"To make roast bird, we need to choose a fairly fat one like the one I have here." Jiang Qiuqiu hefted the duck, showing off its ’abundant’ fat.

#...I have a feeling that’s the part that tastes disgusting!#

#That stuff is gamey and greasy. It tastes awful.#

Many people in the comments were recoiling from the sight of the fat.

They said it was the one thing they hated eating the most.

Unprocessed or poorly handled fat is indeed greasy, but when prepared correctly, it’s actually quite delicious. Plus—

Jiang Qiuqiu let out an "Oh~," her tone a little mischievous. "So, does that mean none of you will be eating the skin after it’s cooked?"

"You wouldn’t know since you’ve never tried it," she explained. "After roasting, the excess fat from the skin seeps into the meat. The skin itself, which was soft, becomes incredibly crispy. Eating it together with the meat creates a much richer, more complex texture."

"I had no idea you all disliked it so much. In that case—" Jiang Qiuqiu waved a hand in front of the camera and said ruthlessly, "I’ll just peel the skin off. That way, you can all just eat the meat."

#!#

#???#

#No, don’t! We were just kidding! If Juju’s hyping it, you know it’s gonna be a masterpiece! We believe the roast bird you make will be delicious, even the fat!#

#Please don’t peel the skin!#

#(｡•﹃•｡) Streamer, don’t tempt us like this! Waaah, hurry up and start cooking, I want to eat it already!#

#It’s late and I haven’t eaten yet. I was waiting to ’eat’ your food along with my Nutrient Liquid.#

#...#

As more and more voices ’begged for mercy,’ Jiang Qiuqiu broke character and burst out laughing.

"Okay, okay, I was just joking. Since you’re all hungry, let’s cut the chit-chat and get started on this fat bird."

Jiang Qiuqiu took out a large cleaver. "First, let’s get rid of the unwanted parts."

With a CHOP, the duck’s tail was gone.

Another CHOP, and the head was gone.

After she chopped off a few more obtrusive bits, a neatly trimmed duck appeared front and center on camera.

Her technique was so deft and efficient that it was actually quite satisfying to watch, but the audience—

#? I thought Juju was a delicate maiden.#

#This ’delicate maiden’ made meatballs before. When she was mincing the meat... ummm, she wasn’t very delicate at all.#