章 557: Chapter 557: Advantages of Explosive-Tailed Skrewts (Edited)
"Look, it looks good." Tom waved the Blast-Ended Skrewt meat proudly in front of Hermione, showing off his achievement.
The Blast-Ended Skrewt that Tom had quickly treated wasn't as disgusting or repulsive as when it was alive. The meat of the Blast-Ended Skrewt even appeared translucent and glossy. However, Hermione had a vivid impression of how the Blast-Ended Skrewt looked before it was treated, with its horrifying appearance, so she recoiled even though it looked like shrimp meat.
"Keep that away from me!" Hermione involuntarily flinched.
Tom quickly checked Hagrid's location and saw that he was comforting Hannah, whose finger had been burned. It was evident that Hagrid was doing his best to mitigate the negative effects of the Blast-Ended Skrewt. But just when they thought the situation was calming down, Michael Corner, Tom's roommate, let out a piercing scream.
"It stung me!" A thin thread of blood oozed from Michael Corner's wrist; he had clearly been injured by the poisonous spine on the back of the Blast-Ended Skrewt. Hagrid quickly moved away from Hannah and approached Michael, carefully wrapping his wound.
"Don't worry, I can assure you they're not venomous." Hagrid reassured Michael as he bandaged him.
"Not venomous?" Tom's eyes lit up; that was good news. See, Blast-Ended Skrewts have their advantages! Hagrid's words made sense. A shell-covered species capable of causing explosions wouldn't have the drive to develop the "venom" ability.
The shell of an adult Blast-Ended Skrewt was tough enough to deflect spells; they looked like small tanks. However, the current Blast-Ended Skrewts were still in their juvenile stage, and their shells weren't as hard as shrimp shells, as long as one was careful not to get pricked.
"Aguamenti!" Tom rinsed the Blast-Ended Skrewt meat in his hands. The original Blast-Ended Skrewt meat had a nasty smell of rotten fish and shrimp, but after removing the soft shell, washing off the mucus, and gutting it, that smell disappeared entirely.
"Incendio!" After cleaning the Blast-Ended Skrewt meat, Tom stepped back a few paces and conjured a fire in a corner, then placed the prepared Blast-Ended Skrewt meat over the fire to slowly roast.
Tom instinctively felt that Blast-Ended Skrewt meat wouldn't taste too bad. Especially these recently raised Blast-Ended Skrewts by Hagrid, they had barely had time to ingest strange foods.
As for appearance, why worry so much? This was just a kind of explosive shrimp.
Blast-Ended Skrewt meat wasn't very resistant to roasting. After just a few seconds over the fire, the crab meat turned as white as snow and emitted a fresh seafood aroma. Tom removed the meat from the fire, brought it to his mouth, blew lightly, and chewed, experiencing an explosion of fresh and crispy flavor in his mouth. The lightly roasted Blast-Ended Skrewt meat was crispy and flavorful, sweet and delicious. It was a unique taste that Tom had never tried before, so he ate several portions and swallowed the Blast-Ended Skrewt's body in one gulp.
The texture of the Blast-Ended Skrewt's body was similar to that of a lobster, but the tail had a completely different texture, similar to bone marrow. It had a crispy outer layer and a soft, fatty marrow with an oily aroma inside.
When the Blast-Ended Skrewt was alive, it smelled nauseating, but the clean and pure meat had no strange odor, whetting Tom's appetite.
"Too bad it doesn't have any seasoning. If I could make a sauce with soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and garlic..." Tom looked longingly at the box full of Blast-Ended Skrewts.
Hermione witnessed the entire process of Tom capturing and consuming the Blast-Ended Skrewt, and she was stunned.
"Are you sure this can be eaten?" After the shock wore off, Hermione felt a concern: they shouldn't be eating random magical creatures!
"Don't worry, Hagrid said Blast-Ended Skrewts aren't venomous." Tom's common sense told him that it was unlikely for creatures of this kind in their ecological niche to be venomous. Rather than worrying about theoretical and hypothetical poisoning, Tom was more interested in the taste of Blast-Ended Skrewts.
Can you make sushi out of this? Will the taste change when they're adults? These were questions that needed to be explored.
"Do you want to try?" Tom looked at Hermione and then at the drawer full of Blast-Ended Skrewts, feeling a bit unsatisfied.
Hermione hesitated. On one hand, her common sense told her she shouldn't try food of unknown origin, but on the other hand, there was Tom's cordial invitation. Seeing Tom's expression, it seemed like he was really enjoying it.
"Well, I've eaten seafood like lobsters many times, but are you sure you can treat Blast-Ended Skrewt the same way as a lobster? After all, 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' doesn't mention this creature, and 'The Book of Potions and Magical Draughts' doesn't record any characteristics of Blast-Ended Skrewt meat." Hermione began to recall the books she had read, trying to find some information about Blast-Ended Skrewts, but she failed.
"The lack of record means it doesn't have any special magical value or relevant importance. Keep in mind that dangerous and venomous magical creatures have already been discovered and recorded by ancient wizards," Tom said, feeling a bit of respect for the ancient wizards. However, it was regrettable that the ancient wizards hadn't recorded the taste of various magical creatures.
Tom pulled out another Blast-Ended Skrewt from the drawer. This time, he didn't rush to open it and carefully examined this strange creature. His dragon-hide gloves and long-sleeved wizarding robe were extremely useful in preventing burns from the Blast-Ended Skrewt's tail or being pricked by the spines on its back.
After observing for a moment, Tom had to admit that it was really hard to find the mouth and eyes of the Blast-Ended Skrewt. He then decapitated and cleaned the head and entrails of the Blast-Ended Skrewt, skillfully turning it into a pile of quivering meat.
"I'm still having trouble accepting this," Hermione said, unable to forget the initial appearance of the Blast-Ended Skrewt. Trying this was quite a challenge for her.
"But I didn't see you rejecting snails from French cuisine," Tom pointed out, holding the peeled and washed Blast-Ended Skrewt meat as he approached his fire.
After a few seconds, a pile of roasted and steaming crab meat emerged from the fire.
"To... I'm also afraid of live snails." Hermione defended herself, but with Tom's analogy, her acceptance of the Blast-Ended Skrewt suddenly increased.
Looking at Hermione, who had honestly moved closer to him, Tom knew it was the right time; Hermione was just too embarrassed to ask for food.
"There you go, open up!"
"Wait..." Hermione tried to say something, but Tom was faster and shoved the Blast-Ended Skrewt meat into Hermione's mouth.
Mmm!
The freshly taken-out Blast-Ended Skrewt meat was a bit hot for Hermione, but... it really had a magical aroma!
She quickly chewed on the Blast-Ended Skrewt meat while vigorously exhaling, as if the Blast-Ended Skrewt came to life in her mouth and was battling with her tongue.
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