Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 275: Chapter 191: Cold-Dressed Roasted Pepper Green Mussels, Popping Sea Grapes (Part 2)

Grilling over an open flame, however, required careful distance control. The black smoke from the burning wood could easily blacken the pineapple’s surface and impart a bitter taste, so he needed to watch it constantly to prevent any mishaps.

"I’m putting you in charge of grilling the pineapple. Sound good?"

Erica lifted her chin and slapped her chest confidently.

"If I burn it, I owe you one!"

’Owe me one by picking another from the field next to my cabin?’

’Thanks a lot!’

The oyster shells slowly opened, revealing the plump, tender white flesh inside.

He tucked slices of ginger and wild garlic underneath the oyster flesh. Then, with a flick of his combat knife, he severed the adductor muscle connecting the flesh to the shell, making it easier to eat later.

The coconut milk inside the coconut shell also began to boil. He stopped cooking it, picked out the Green Mussel meat, and tossed it into the roasted pepper relish he had just made. He gave it a few quick stirs, ensuring the sauce thoroughly coated every crevice of the mussel meat.

With the mussel meat gone, only about a third of the coconut milk remained in the shell, and it was visibly and rapidly reducing as it boiled.

In about a minute, the liquid in the shell had evaporated until only a fifth of it was left.

He placed a flat, palm-sized stone into the fire. After heating it until the air above it began to distort, he ladled a spoonful of clean coconut milk onto it.

"TSS~"

A large cloud of steam instantly billowed up from the scorching hot surface of the stone, carrying with it the rich, sweet scent of coconut.

With quick eyes and deft hands, Lin Chen used his combat knife to scoop up the chopped red and green peppers and spread them on the stone.

The not-yet-evaporated coconut milk acted as a non-stick agent. Using his combat knife as a spatula, he quickly tossed the diced peppers to keep them from sticking and burning.

Just as the moisture on the stone’s surface was about to completely evaporate, he ladled on a spoonful of the concentrated Green Mussel broth.

The diced peppers, which had just started to char and turn golden-brown from the high heat, were instantly deglazed. The charred brown bits on the stone’s surface rapidly dissolved into the hot broth, creating a savory sauce that coated the peppers.

They didn’t need to be cooked for long—two or three minutes was enough. He then moved them back onto the banana leaf to set aside.

"The oysters are about done. Let’s take them off to cool for a bit. And this roasted pepper and Green Mussel salad is ready too."

Lin Chen grabbed a handful of chopped coyote cilantro and sprinkled it into the bamboo tube containing the Green Mussels. A few casual tosses, and the dish was complete.

Grilled oysters were nothing special; anyone surviving by the sea could think of that cooking method. But the roasted pepper and Green Mussel salad was another story entirely.

Just from its appearance, you could see the roasted red and green peppers, flecked with charred, dark-brown bits of skin, had been pounded into fine shreds. They were completely blended with the other seasonings, releasing a unique aroma.

The plump, orange-yellow meat of the Green Mussels and their black-fringed edges seemed to serve as mere decoration, creating the illusion that the roasted peppers were the main star.

The two of them used twig chopsticks to pick the oysters off the grill one by one, placing them on a banana leaf to cool. Erica astutely placed the pineapple on the grilling rack, which would create appealing, dark-brown grill marks in a crosshatch pattern.

Erica didn’t have that much patience. She left the last few oysters for Andre to handle.

As for herself, she used her twig chopsticks to pick up a plump piece of Green Mussel meat, topped it with a helping of the two-toned roasted peppers, and even carefully added a few leaves of coyote cilantro before lifting the whole thing to her mouth.

The moment it entered her mouth, the unique smoky aroma of the roasted peppers, combined with the flavors of various herbs and spices, washed over her. The exceptionally smooth and tender texture of the peppers, in particular, made her eyes light up.

Just as Lin Chen had said, roasted peppers were a common preparation in Western cuisine, but they almost always used bell peppers—the non-spicy kind.

After being roasted and peeled, bell peppers were typically used to make sauces or chopped into small pieces and added to various stews and soups; they were rarely served as a side dish on their own.

In fact, the unique flavor of roasted peppers was quite popular among diners.

Lin Chen’s version, however, was a mix of the familiar and the foreign. It had the sweet smoothness of roasted peppers but also the heat of chili peppers, though it wasn’t overwhelmingly spicy.

Most importantly, being roasted directly over a charcoal fire imparted a rich, smoky char flavor that bell peppers roasted in an oven could never replicate.

The fresh mussel meat had soaked up the sauce. One bite released an intense burst of flavor: the sweet umami of the seafood mixed with the fresh scent of citrus, the depth of the allspice blend, the pungency of the roasted peppers and wild garlic leaves, and a faint fruity aroma.

With just one bite, she was completely conquered by this flavor she had never experienced before.

"Is this the style of true Great Xia cuisine? It’s completely different from the dishes I usually eat. Compared to a dish from a Great Xia restaurant, how authentic would you say this is?"

"About a six or seven out of ten," Lin Chen answered without hesitation. "Cold-tossed dishes in Great Xia cuisine typically use soy sauce, garlic, and vinegar as the primary seasonings. Depending on the region, other ingredients like millet chilis, sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and chili oil are also added."

"You’ve had sashimi, right? The flavor of soy sauce is irreplaceable. Also, in Great Xia cuisine, spices like cinnamon bark aren’t usually added directly to cold dishes. They’re typically added in spice packets containing dozens of ingredients when making braised or stewed dishes."

"The spices we most commonly add to our dishes are chili peppers, cumin, and Sichuan peppercorns. Sichuan peppercorns are a spice that looks a lot like black peppercorns, but when you eat them, they create a numbing sensation on your tongue and lips."