Breakfast was fish head soup stewed all night in a large pot; the spreading aroma awakened everyone's hungry stomachs.
Fortunately, they brought along a large iron pot. The fish heads were fried golden in fat, sprinkled with a little ground ginger and onion to remove the fishy smell, cooking into a soup as white as milk and rich in fat. Tasting it, there was no strong fishy smell; on the contrary, it was extremely fresh and sweet. Eaten with crispy toasted bread, it was a rare hearty breakfast in the middle of the forest.
Fish meat roasted directly over the fire sizzled with dripping fat, the skin golden and fragrant. Because the spotted silver carp were large enough, the small bones seemed few and the meat was thick; even eating large bites, one did not worry about choking on bones. The guards ate until they were satisfied.
