When they got home, Hickson told Fufu to wait patiently, then went into the kitchen himself.
He washed his hands first, laid out the ingredients and tools in order, and followed the steps from the video step by step.
First, he poured in the seasonings and marinated the meat. He did it neatly and methodically—everything went smoothly.
Then came the step of turning on the heat.
According to the tutorial, both the meat and vegetables needed to be seared first, then stewed. Hickson heated the pan first and put the beef chunks in to sear.
Unexpectedly, the beef chunks shrank and released water the moment they hit the pan, visually shrinking by half in an instant.
Fortunately, he had marinated plenty of meat in advance. Hickson added more.
However, as he added more beef, the meat juices flowed out more and more, quickly flooding the bottom of the pan. What was supposed to be searing turned into stewing.
Hickson paused for a moment. This wasn't what the video showed either…
Well, it wasn't a big problem—just more liquid than expected. Nothing was burnt or anything.
In fact, even Hickson, a vampire with a dull sense of smell, could vaguely catch a whiff of meat aroma from the bubbling pan bottom.
He turned around and saw Fufu had already run over, peeking around the kitchen doorway.
It really did smell that good.
A sense of accomplishment rose in Hickson's chest, and he regained a bit of confidence.
Seeing that the beef was seared well enough, the video said to take it out and set it aside. He thought for a moment, then simply poured it out along with the meat broth.
Then he reheated the pan to sear the bacon, carrots, and onions.
But this time, the moment the vegetables went in, the oil in the pan started crackling and popping violently.
The cub crouching at the doorway let out a startled yelp.
Hickson, on the other hand, remained quite composed, stepping back a few paces with a blank expression.
Oil splattered everywhere around the frying pan—an ordinary person wouldn't have been able to get anywhere near it. Fortunately, he had a unique ability of the Blood Clan—Shadow Weaving.
Hickson summoned a dark shadow, which crawled up to the gas stove and snapped the flame off with a click.
The oil in the pan would take a moment to settle down.
Hickson used this time to comfort the cub, telling Fufu that this was all normal and there was no need to be scared, but also not to come back in—just go play for a while and wait to eat the meat later.
After soothing Fufu, Hickson returned to the stove. The pan had quieted down.
He didn't turn the heat back on right away. Instead, he put in the rest of the vegetables first, then turned the flame back on low.
This time, sure enough, there was no more splattering.
However, after Hickson stirred a few times, watching the vegetable juices accumulate more and more in the pan, he fell into thought again.
Is this… the right effect?
The tutorial said to sear the meat and vegetables, but for him it had turned into stewing the meat and boiling the vegetables…
But then again, this was supposed to be a stew anyway. He'd be adding red wine soon, and the final dish would have broth in it regardless, so it probably wasn't a problem.
So, seeing that the time was about right, he moved on to the next step.
He poured the beef in, then added the red wine and various spices.
However, the moment the beef and red wine went in, the broth that had looked like a reasonable amount suddenly swelled up, filling the entire stew pot and nearly spilling over.
The beef and vegetables swirled around in the deep red liquid as he stirred.
Hmm… Hickson began to sense that something was off.
This didn't look like what he'd eaten as a child either. No matter how he looked at it, this was just a pot of beef soup, wasn't it?
The tutorial said to cook it for a while longer to boil off the wine's alcohol, then reduce the sauce.
The so-called "reducing over high heat" was supposed to be a special cooking technique—the principle being that alcohol and water vapor would evaporate when heated, causing the soup to reduce.
Hickson found this quite reasonable, so he turned the flame up higher and stirred while it cooked.
However, after stirring for half an hour, the soup in the pot had only gone from a full pot to three-quarters full.
He had maintained this motion for so long that even Fufu couldn't help but crawl back to the kitchen doorway, staring at him with confusion.
Hickson knew this couldn't be cooked any longer.
The vegetables in the pot had already started to break apart, and the beef had crumbled quite a bit—if he cooked it any more, it would turn into mush.
He turned off the heat and, bracing himself, carried the pot to the table.
At this point, even with all his confidence, he knew something was off with this dish.
At the very least, this didn't look like a stew—it looked like a soup. A red wine beef soup.
But Fufu didn't seem to care about this flaw. He had already climbed onto his chair by himself, standing at the edge of the table, sniffing at the soup pot with enthusiasm and praising it warmly: "So fragrant, smells so good! Big brother is amazing!"
Hickson had felt a bit guilty at first, but he quickly lost his senses under the cub's heartfelt praise, even starting to feel like he could smell the aroma himself.
That's right—he had put in all the meat, vegetables, and sauce. Whether it was soup or stew was just a matter of how much water was in it. The flavor shouldn't be too different.
At worst, the seasonings would be diluted, making it taste a bit lighter.
No big deal—Winster had even said cubs shouldn't eat too salty food anyway.
So, he perked up and took a small bowl to scoop out meat for Fufu.
But much of the meat in the pot had fallen apart, and he fished around for a long time without getting much solid food out.
Fortunately, the cookware set he'd bought today included a slotted spoon. Using it, he managed to gather a few intact chunks of beef, placed them in the small bowl, drizzled some broth over them, and handed it to Fufu.
"Try it."
Fufu had been looking forward to this for a while. Seeing the meat placed in front of him now, his eyes lit up with excitement.
This meat had a grape-like flavor he liked… it must be delicious!
Fufu scooped up a piece of beef with his small spoon, took a big bite, and then fell silent.
Hickson felt a bit nervous watching him: "How is it? Is it good?"
"Mmm…" Fufu nodded slightly, but his face was expressionless.
Was that good or bad? Hickson felt inexplicably tense.
But Fufu still didn't answer. He just furrowed his brows slightly, looking serious, his mouth chewing continuously.
Hickson was even more puzzled.
He simply grabbed a spoon for himself and tried a piece. But it wasn't until the meat was in his mouth that he remembered he had no sense of taste. The beef entered his mouth with only a faint gamey aroma.
But soon, he understood why Fufu had that expression…
Nothing else—the beef was just way too tough.
Hickson chewed several times without being able to break it down, and finally had to swallow it whole.
The piece he ate was relatively small, but the cub had taken a huge bite of meat. No wonder his cheeks were still puffed out, his eyes wide, his mouth working nonstop.
The cub said nothing, just kept chewing and chewing.
Hickson quickly grabbed a napkin: "Can't chew it? Don't eat it—spit it out."
Unexpectedly, Fufu pushed his hand away and said in a muffled voice: "It's tasty, Fufu can eat it!"
With that, he worked his cheeks even harder, chewing on the two pieces of beef in his mouth.
Hickson felt a complicated mix of emotions.
He had originally assumed Fufu would be a fussy, picky little cub, but never expected the little one to be so tolerant and appreciative of the food he made.
It left him both touched and awkward at the same time.
He folded another tissue and brought it to Fufu's mouth: "Forget it, forget it—if you can't chew it, just spit it out. Big brother will make you something else."
Fufu initially refused, stubbornly insisting on not spitting it out, but after five minutes of chewing, he ultimately conceded and spat out the beef.
After five minutes of the cub's chewing, the beef looked no different from when it went in, aside from being slightly flattened in shape.
The big brother and the little cub stared at that nearly intact piece of beef, then looked at the pot of bland, tasteless soup before them…
Fufu was silent for a moment, then turned his face and said to him with a deeply serious expression:
"Big brother, you didn't do anything wrong. This meat is just meant to be chewed and then spit out, just like bubble gum… delicious!"
With that, he even gave a thumbs up, looking at him with sincere eyes.
Hickson: …
Thank you, that's a great compliment. Please don't compliment me again next time.