pjbooks Chapter 228 Wilderness Roasted Rabbit Master
Chapter 228 Wilderness Roasted Rabbit Master
Chapter 228 Wilderness Roasted Rabbit Master
This thing is one of the most common wild animals in North America.
Despite being at the bottom of the ecological niche, they are frequently preyed upon by foxes, lynxes, and birds of prey.
But they can reproduce so easily, especially in the warm climate of Southern California, where they can reproduce 7 to 8 times a year.
Moreover, the gestation period is very short, only 28 to 30 days, with an average of 4 pups per litter.
Even more outrageous, female rabbits can mate again and become pregnant within hours of giving birth to their young.
This means that while it is nursing one litter of pups, it is already pregnant with the next litter, much like a factory assembly line.
In addition, the cubs themselves are "precocious," they are born with fur on their bodies and do not close their eyes. They can move within 24 hours of birth and are weaned and live independently after 4 weeks.
This is the wonder of nature: every species evolves its own path to survive and reproduce, ensuring the prosperity of the entire group.
After hopping around a few times, the hare stopped in a bush to nibble on the grass, completely unaware that a pair of sharp, eagle-like eyes were watching it.
Ma Jieke held his breath and silently took out a carbon arrow, securing the fletching to the wrist-operated release mechanism.
The release mechanism is a core component of a compound bow. It can be simply understood as the pick in guitar playing. Both are designed to replace the fingers, thereby enhancing stability and accuracy.
Since the main string of a compound bow is connected to two pulleys, pulling it directly by hand will cause significant interference to the bowstring.
When the fingers come into direct contact with the bowstring, friction is generated. Furthermore, at the moment of firing, the fingers will inevitably move backward, causing a slight lateral or longitudinal interference to the bowstring.
Even this slightest interference is enough to cause the hunter to miss or miss the target, or even miss a good opportunity.
The problem is solved well by using a release mechanism; simply press the trigger with your finger, and the clamp-like mechanism at the front will lock the bowstring.
The moment it is released, the release mechanism moves backward in a straight line to minimize interference and allow the elastic potential energy to be transferred to the arrow more purely.
It's worth mentioning that, compared to traditional recurve bows, the most strenuous part of a compound bow is not pulling the bowstring to its maximum, but rather when you first draw the bow, when the tension rapidly increases to its peak.
Because initially, it is necessary to overcome the initial deformation of the bow plates in order to drive the eccentric wheel system.
As the eccentric wheel begins to function, the required force decreases, and when the final limit distance is reached, the pulling force drops sharply, requiring only 15% to 30% of the peak force.
Thanks to this ingenious design, Majek can easily achieve long-term aiming, even though the hunting bow he is currently using has a draw weight of only 30 pounds, which is sufficient for hunting most prey.
For beginners, mastering the bow is far more important than strength. If you can't improve your accuracy, blindly pursuing damage is pointless.
At this moment, Ma Jieke was completely focused, staring intently at the peephole on the hunting bow, constantly making technical adjustments.
The perfect moment to hunt is when the main eye, release device, peephole, aiming pin, and prey are all aligned in a straight line. Any oversight in any of these steps will cause the arrow to miss its mark.
During this process, Ma Jie glanced at the skill panel again. The [Focus] icon, which was slightly lit up, was stacking up at a rate of 5% hit rate per second.
When the stack reached 50% full, he released the dispenser without hesitation.
Whoosh! The carbon arrow pierced the air with an astonishing initial velocity. By the time the gray rabbit realized the danger, the sharp arrowhead had already pierced it. It lay on the ground, kicked its legs a few times, and closed its eyes with relief.
Ma Jie quickly ran over, grabbed the cottontail rabbit by the ears, and brought it in front of the camera for a close-up: "Nice, this arrow went straight through its lung area. Looks like it's going to have a good meal. This fat rabbit looks very appetizing."
"What? You're saying bunnies are so cute, why kill them? Everyone likes bunnies in different ways, I just like them braised."
After jokingly posing for the camera, Ma Jieke didn't choose to delve any deeper, since this wasn't a formal competition, but merely a demonstration of his abilities to the interviewers.
Returning to the lakeside via the same route, I found a suitable shooting angle, fixed the action camera, took out a multi-functional wilderness survival knife, and used the tip of the knife to pierce the rabbit's neck below the ribcage, at the entrance to its chest cavity.
As the aorta was severed and blood flowed out, he said to the camera, "Bleeding is the first step in ensuring the flavor of the meat, and this step applies to the vast majority of prey."
After completing the disembowelment, Ma Jie got up and walked back, tearing off a few dead vines from a redwood tree, fixing them to a low sapling, and then binding the rabbit's legs with the vines to create a simple suspension system.
At this moment, the rabbit's head and wound are facing downwards, which can control the bleeding to the greatest extent possible.
While waiting, Ma Jieke didn't sit idle. He picked up some stones and piled them into two rows, leaving a fire starter in the middle. The outdoor barbecue grill was now complete.
Next comes skinning, which is the most technically demanding step. You need to first make a circular cut around the ankle with a knife, and then carefully separate the skin from the flesh with the back of the knife. The whole process is like taking off a rabbit's socks.
When you get to the rump, use a knife to cut the thin membrane connecting the skin and the meat, and a complete rabbit leg will be peeled out.
Then, following the same procedure, after treating the other hind leg, grasp the already peeled rabbit skin with both hands and pull it downwards forcefully.
The skin will naturally separate from the body. When you get to the front legs, make a ring cut at the joint and remove the front paws along with the skin.
This scene looks quite brutal; the rabbit skin is peeled all the way down to the neck, and then the entire rabbit head is cut off with a knife.
Rabbit heads are usually discarded, at most used as trap bait, as seen in "Living Alone in the Wild".
None of the contestants tried cooking rabbit heads during the show.
However, Ma Jieke chose to keep the rabbit head, as it is an excellent source of energy whether it is slowly roasted over an open flame or stewed in a pot.
Rabbit brains and bone marrow, in particular, can provide abundant fat, calcium, and collagen.
After skinning the rabbit, Ma Jie gently cut open its abdomen and removed its heart, liver, lungs, stomach, intestines, and other internal organs. He placed them on a stone slab and said, "A healthy rabbit's liver should be deep red and smooth. If you find white spots or lymph nodes on it, it's a sick rabbit. No matter how hungry you are, don't risk trying to get it to eat."
"Look, fresh rabbit heart, it's quite chewy, and the other offal is the same, all of them are edible, so don't waste them."
"Note that this dark green organ attached to the liver must never be eaten. It is the rabbit's gallbladder. Be extremely careful when opening the abdomen and removing the internal organs. If you break it, the bile inside will contaminate the entire piece of rabbit meat. This is the only part of the rabbit that cannot be eaten."
Arranging the internal organs one by one on a cleaned stone, Ma Jieke, carrying the processed rabbit, said: "Now we have a whole rabbit. We can either cut it up and eat it, or we can roast it whole. I choose the latter. Please stay tuned."
Next, Ma Jie took the rabbit to the lake to clean it, paying special attention to the pelvic area, as not cleaning it properly would seriously affect its taste.
Although it is lake water, it is quite clear because it is far from urban pollution. However, it is only suitable for processing food and cannot be drunk directly.
*Scrape...scrape...scrape...* As the back of the blade scrapes against the magnesium flint at high speed, the scraped metal fragments, upon contact with the air, burst forth with sparks reaching temperatures as high as 3000 degrees Celsius.
Sparks flew onto the dry wood chips, sending up a plume of white smoke. Watching the dazzling little flame, Ma Jie carefully added more igniter and then filled it with the collected branches.
Facing the raging fire, Ma Jie pointed the camera at the stone grill and became increasingly skilled: "Family members, when collecting wood in the wild, never choose pine or spruce. These types of wood contain a lot of resin, which will produce black smoke and a pungent bitter smell when burned, releasing harmful substances that contaminate food. The best wood is fruitwood, which will produce a fruity fragrance when burned, giving food a unique flavor."
"If you can't find fruitwood due to limited resources, using oak like I do is also a good option. Oak is hard, has sufficient heat, burns stably and for a long time, and can also add some flavor to food."
"Pay attention, make sure to wait until the wood is fully burned, covered with a layer of white ash, and completely carbonized before roasting. This way, the roasted rabbit can retain its freshness to the maximum extent."
With everything ready, Majeke inserted a peeled and sharpened oak branch into the rabbit's anus, along the inside of its spine, and out of its mouth.
Then, I took out some table salt from the survival supplies and gave the rabbit a salt bath massage. This way, the salt would penetrate into the meat and marinate it.
As for other seasonings? Don't even think about it. The only seasoning provided for players in "Wilderness Solitary Living" is salt, and you have to start getting used to it now.
However, as long as the ingredients are fresh, seasoning with only salt is actually better than sprinkling on a bunch of random spices, allowing you to taste the most original flavor.
The camera zooms in, showing the whole rabbit placed on a stone grill, with Majeke slowly rotating the branches to ensure its skin is heated evenly.
The baking process is quite slow, taking at least 40 minutes to an hour.
During this time, Ma Jieke kept talking, saying whatever came to mind.
"Family members, when roasting rabbit, do not let the flames touch the rabbit meat. The correct procedure is to maintain a distance of 15 minutes from the residual heat."
A distance of about centimeters.
"If possible, a stone grill is the best solution because the stones will also be heated, resulting in more even heating and ensuring that even the edges and corners are heated."
"
'
He talked on and on, and then spontaneously sang an old Chinese song.
This is also part of the test; it's not enough to just know how to survive in the wild, you also need to have a sense of the camera and the ability to create entertaining moments.
After all, this is a reality show, not a documentary. Many of the contestants in the auditions were quite talented, but they failed to make it to the interview stage because their submitted materials were dull and uninteresting.
Ma Jieke had previously recorded "Warehouse Treasure Hunt King" and participated in the entire live broadcast, so his experience in this area far exceeds that of ordinary people.
"The time has come, family. Now is the moment to witness a miracle."
An hour later, the air was filled with the rich aroma of roasted meat. Ma Jieke held a survival knife and made a cut at the thickest part of the thigh. Clear meat juices flowed down the skin, revealing the tender and succulent meat inside, covered with a golden crispy crust—the rabbit skin that had been roasted until crispy.
"Wow, the Golden Legend! Come on, everyone, let's eat first, ah..."
"Oh, what are you thinking? I was just being polite."
With a sly grin on his face, Ma Jieke took a big bite of the plump rabbit leg.
The first bite reveals a crispy outer skin with a rich, caramelized aroma. Once you bite into it, the rabbit meat reveals a translucent, tender pink color, and you can clearly feel the juices bursting in your mouth, mixed with a subtle saltiness and the natural sweetness of the rabbit meat. The texture is distinct and not at all dry.
Although most people associate rabbit meat with dryness and toughness, a rabbit roasted with skillful techniques will never be like that.
Ma Jieke summarized it as "high first, then low".
The rabbit meat is first roasted at high temperature to quickly lock in the juices on the surface, forming a crispy outer shell.
Later, the process is switched to slow roasting at medium and low temperatures, allowing the heat to slowly penetrate the interior, cooking the rabbit meat thoroughly without "forcing" out the juices.
Of course, just knowing the theory isn't enough; you also need repeated practice to roast a delicious rabbit.
Perhaps because he did it himself, Ma Jieke found the roasted rabbit to be exceptionally delicious, and quickly finished off a large rabbit leg.
"Woof woof." Bruce stared longingly from the side, making a protest like a dog, drooling all over the place.
Ma Jie had no choice but to tear off the other rabbit leg and generously toss it to it.
Actually, I brought the dog out just for safety reasons. In case we encounter a wild animal attack in the wild, at least we'll have a helper.
If one is to officially participate in the show, the dog is not among the equipment options provided by the production team.
After all, in wilderness survival, besides fighting hunger and cold, the most important thing is the feeling of loneliness and helplessness. Many survival experts have failed because of this. They have sufficient food reserves and their shelters are extremely sturdy, but they break down because of missing their families and loneliness, which leads to their withdrawal from the competition.
After finishing the rabbit leg, Ma Jieke faced the camera, twisted off the rabbit's head, forcefully broke the rabbit's head in half, and stuffed the tender rabbit brain into his mouth with his fingers.
If he were live streaming right now, the chat would be full of question marks. After all, foreigners have never seen anything like this before. Even in China, this kind of eating habit only exists in certain regions.
"It's so delicious, family! This is the freshest rabbit brain I've ever eaten."
After finishing, he posed for a close-up shot and continued to gnaw on the remaining rabbit meat.
After finishing the whole big fat rabbit, Ma Jie licked his fingers contentedly, unbuckled his belt, and peed on the fire.
Of course, having only voice-over without any specific shots is also a crucial step. A skilled hunter would never leave any hidden dangers for nature.
"Family members, that concludes today's video. Welcome to watch next time."
After stopping recording, Ma Jie stretched his body a few times and had just finished packing his things when a red light suddenly flashed before his eyes, and a conspicuous skull mark lit up clearly on the large map.
Next to the skull is a note: "A mentally unstable person."
Holy crap, they're here already?
Without a doubt, this must be the mental patient who keeps Sheriff Dave up at night.
Its current location is in East Los Angeles, and it is still moving slowly. Judging from the map, its destination is clearly in the direction of Poor Street.
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