Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 274: Chapter 191: Cold-Dressed Charred Pepper Green Mussels, and Bursting Pearl Sea Grapes

Once all the ingredients were prepped, Andre was just about finished weaving the bamboo grill rack.

He picked some embers out of the fire and placed them under the rack, carefully managing the heat to keep the flames from scorching the bamboo.

"Erica, I have a task for you."

"What is it?"

"Arrange these oysters on the rack. Just try to keep them as flat as possible. Fit as many as you can."

"Consider it done!"

Lin Chen used tongs to pull out the peppers, their skins now charred black, from the fire. He stuffed them into a section of bamboo tube and capped it with a bamboo lid.

"What are you doing?"

Erica asked, watching his every move with curiosity as she arranged the oysters on the bamboo rack.

"I’m peeling the roasted peppers," Lin Chen explained patiently. "Roasting changes the flavor of the peppers. The skin acts like a jacket, sealing the juices and flavor inside."

"But after roasting, the skin gets burnt, which affects both the appearance and the texture. Peeling it by hand is a hassle, so by putting them in a sealed container, the steam will soften the skins, making them much easier to peel later."

"Oh, I see. I thought you were making a roasted pepper sauce."

"You mean the kind you’d find in a Western restaurant, right? The base for a Western sauce is olive oil, which we obviously can’t make here. So, I’m going to make the Great Xia version."

He picked up another bamboo tube and added a spoonful of grated ginger, a small handful of wild garlic leaves, two fresh bay leaves, three allspice berries, and a small stalk of lemongrass. He then pounded them vigorously with a wooden stick a few times to fully release the aromas of all the spices.

He sliced open the pineapple he had been saving for the past few days. He tossed in three or four chunks of the fruit and continued to pound them a dozen more times, crushing the pineapple into a pulp before adding a pinch of sea salt to season it.

After steaming for two or three minutes, the roasted peppers were ready. He lifted the bamboo lid, and a smoky aroma wafted out with the steam. Inside the tube, the peppers had gone limp. Their charred black skins were wrinkled and no longer clung tightly to the flesh beneath.

He gave them a wipe with his hand, and the charred skins came off with ease, revealing the tender, juicy flesh of the peppers underneath.

He didn’t need to peel them perfectly. In fact, leaving a few bits of skin behind would enhance the smoky flavor.

He tossed the prepared peppers into the mixture and pounded them for a bit, allowing their juices to seep out and blend perfectly with the other ingredients.

He dipped a finger in to taste it. The spiciness from the ginger and wild garlic leaves was pleasantly tempered by the sweet and sour pineapple. The unique, complex notes of the allspice, combined with the fresh bay leaves, gave the sauce an incredible depth of flavor.

The lemongrass added a subtle, almost ethereal hint of citrus, which, combined with the distinct charcoal flavor from the roasted peppers, created a unique taste that was impossible to describe.

Aside from lacking a bit of sesame oil to enhance the aroma, it was nearly perfect.

He set the finished sauce aside and asked Andre to help him open a few coconuts. He poured the coconut water into bamboo tubes for storage.

He left about half the water in two of the coconut shells. He had Erica shuck the Green Mussels and drop the meat into one to cook, while the other was used for cooking clams.

While waiting, Lin Chen found a banana leaf and cut off a piece about the size of a washbasin. On it, he placed two slices of wild ginger, a stalk of lemongrass, a bay leaf, and one allspice berry.

He grabbed the Lobster, and with a single, swift motion, plunged his sharp combat knife into the joint between its carapace and tail, killing it instantly.

He laid the Lobster flat on top of the spices and then wrapped it up tightly, layer by layer, in the banana leaf.

He swept aside the pile of burning wood from earlier and dug into the scorching-hot earth beneath. He placed the banana leaf-wrapped Lobster into the pit, buried it again, and then piled the firewood back on top.

"This is like how you made Beggar’s Chicken, right? I remember that."

At the sight of this, Andre’s eyes lit up. He remembered the wonderfully juicy flavor of the roasted grouse he’d tasted back in Alaska.

"Oh, right! I remember that now! The one you bury in the dirt, right? I actually tried making it myself once. For cooking in the wild, it really does taste amazing—so much better than just roasting it over a fire."

"Something like that," Lin Chen nodded. "Using a banana leaf adds a clean fragrance to the food. The ingredients I just added will also infuse the Lobster with a unique flavor as it steams, and they’ll get rid of any potential fishiness."

As they chatted, the oysters on the grill began to quietly open, revealing a slight crack in their shells.

Lin Chen immediately grabbed slices of ginger and wild garlic leaves, stuffing a piece into each opened shell.

"In Great Xia, we have a dish called Pressure Cooker Oysters with Ginger and Scallion. A pressure cooker is a special kind of pot that works by changing the pressure inside. It raises the boiling point of water to 110-120 degrees Celsius, which allows it to cook meat much faster."

"Oysters are delicious enough on their own. Too much seasoning just masks their natural flavor. We don’t have a pressure cooker, but grilling them with a bit of ginger and wild garlic leaves adds a subtle touch of flavor without being overpowering. You don’t really need to memorize this particular method, though."

"I’d actually recommend that if you can find any acidic citrus fruits, like lemons, you just eat them the normal way. Once the oysters are cooked, just squeeze a few drops on top. It helps kill bacteria and brightens the flavor."

The oysters had just opened their shells, so they still needed to grill for a while longer. Beside them, the coconut water with the Green Mussels was just beginning to bubble.

With nothing to do for the moment, he thought for a bit, then picked up a few bamboo strips Andre had left over. He sharpened one end of each strip, skewered the two remaining pineapple halves, and propped them up next to the fire to roast.

Grilling pineapple makes it sweeter and less acidic, and it even develops a faint caramel flavor. It’s an ingredient you’ll find in barbecue dishes all over the world.