Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 382: Chapter 240: Nervous Robert

"If it was truly dangerous, they’d probably have turned into skeletons by now, you know what I mean?"

Robert was stunned. Thinking it over, he realized the person on the phone had a point.

He had wanted to say more, but for a moment, he didn’t know what else he could say. This was, after all, a matter for the Government of Panama to handle. If they weren’t in a hurry, why should he, a foreign host, be in such a rush?

His only wish right now was simple: for the entire production team to finish filming safely and return to civilization as soon as possible.

Hanging up, he judged from the unhurried attitude on the other end that they probably wouldn’t take this very seriously. They would certainly send someone to the scene to observe, but he couldn’t say how long that would take.

’No wonder the Darien Rift is a paradise for criminals. The officials here have no intention of getting involved. No, we can’t stay here too long. I’ll have to set a deadline for the contestants.’

’When the deadline hits, the survival game will end immediately, and we’ll calculate the points on the spot.’

He glanced at the date. Today was the twenty-seventh day.

He didn’t rush to set the deadline. Instead, he went back inside and told his staff to compile a status report on all the contestants as soon as they woke up. He then went back to bed himself.

’No matter what, I still have to sleep. A lack of rest will only impair my judgment.’

...

When Lin Chen woke up, the sun was already high in the clear sky.

The first thing he did after getting up was move the embers outside. He washed his soaking wet clothes and hung them up to dry, and also spread out the two diving suits on branches.

He washed the utensils he brought back last night, placed them in a bamboo tube, filled it with water, and set it over the fire to boil. Although seawater was salty, there were still many bacteria that could adapt to that environment. High-temperature sterilization was a necessary step.

Then, he opened the toolbox and took out all the tools one by one, laying them out.

"Wrench, hammer, nails, nuts, bolts, pliers, screwdriver, small hacksaw, tape, electrical wire, magnet, flashlight..."

There were many items, but they were all quite small. He figured things like the tape, wire, and flashlight were probably useless by now.

Even if the flashlight was waterproof, its battery would definitely be dead after all this time. The production team wouldn’t provide him with batteries, so it was as good as scrap.

The basic repair tools, on the other hand, were more useful. At the very least, they would make it easier for him to build some furniture.

Besides the tools he recognized, there were some things in the box that he couldn’t make heads or tails of. They were probably specialized yacht tools or some other professional equipment that only a mechanic or someone in a related field would recognize.

He rinsed these tools with fresh water as well and laid them on the ground to dry in the sun to prevent rust.

He could use a stone or some sand to grind away the rust on some parts. It wasn’t a difficult task.

’Ah... I’m starving.’

Just as he finished laying out all the tools, his stomach started growling. He was so hungry his stomach felt like it was touching his spine.

Swimming was already one of the most energy-consuming activities, and diving was even more demanding.

Being in the sea for an hour and a half straight was comparable to the physical exertion of swimming continuously for two hours.

On top of that, he had been digesting for a few hours before the swim, and he had slept on an empty stomach until now. All in all, he hadn’t eaten for at least fourteen hours.

He fought back his hunger and first poured the water off the surface of the second batch of sweet potato starch. While it was still damp, he dug out all the starch, piled it onto a banana leaf, and spread it out to air-dry in the sun.

’What should I make for breakfast?’

He licked his dry lips, staring at the wet lump of sweet potato starch and the fresh seafood as countless delicious dishes flashed through his mind.

GROWL~

Another protest erupted from his stomach.

’Forget it. I won’t make anything that takes too long. Filling my stomach is the priority. I’ve decided—I’ll make *tiao pi*!’

*Tiao pi* is the Sichuanese name for a thin flatbread made from sweet potato starch.

This stuff was the hottest item at the local night market barbecue stalls. They could sell tens of millions in a single night, and it became so popular that barbecue shops all over the country rushed to copy it.

Whenever he got hungry at night, he’d scroll through late-night food streams. His favorites were all sorts of dishes from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan that were swimming in red chili oil, which would leave him rolling around in bed with cravings in the middle of the night.

The dish was so popular that even Great Xia barbecue restaurants abroad sold it. But the taste...

After one bite, he basically had to frown and force it down.

Besides grilling, *tiao pi* could be eaten in many other ways.

In soups, stir-fries, wraps...

Just thinking about it made his mouth water uncontrollably.

He quickly sawed off a section of bamboo, put a handful of wet sweet potato starch inside, and added water to mix it into a slurry.

Although he had never made *tiao pi* before, he felt that the batter ratio for most flatbreads was similar. He decided to try a 1:1 ratio first and adjust it later based on the texture.

He brought over the flat stone slab he used for stir-frying, soaked it in water to rinse off the dust, and placed it on the grill rack to heat up.

’The only problem now is that I don’t have any oil. The *tiao pi* might stick to the stone, and the flavor won’t be as good.’

He could accept a slightly worse taste—after all, it was impossible to get a lot of oil in the wild—but sticking was absolutely not an option.

He cut a precious piece of belly fat from his treasured smoked venison. This was practically the only ready source of fat he had.

He placed the venison fat on the stone to heat up slowly. Then, he quickly went back inside, cracked open two small coconuts, and drank his fill of water first.

The remaining coconut meat inside the shells couldn’t be wasted, either. He scraped it all out, then took out the coconut he had left soaking underwater yesterday, drained it, and set it aside.

His only remaining plans were to build furniture and, when he had time, to extract some coconut oil from the meat. He’d get as much as he could; it was better than letting it go to waste.

Heated by the open flame, the stone’s temperature rose quickly, and the piece of venison fat on its surface began to sizzle and release oil.

Using chopsticks, he rubbed the venison fat all over the stone’s surface, leaving a thin layer of grease.

He set the piece of fat aside to use again later.

When the stone’s surface began to emit a steady stream of blue smoke, he gently poured the well-mixed sweet potato starch slurry onto it.

TSSSSSS

The wonderfully tempting sound sizzled in his ears, just as he’d expected.

Lin Chen swallowed instinctively, using a spoon to slowly spread the batter out thin.

He poured very slowly. This wasn’t a pan, after all; there were no edges to contain the batter. Pouring too quickly could lead to wasting the precious starch slurry.

The first one was just an experiment, so he didn’t make it too big. He stopped as soon as it was about the size of his palm.

The batter cooked quickly. The initially cloudy white liquid slowly began to change color, transforming into a grayish-white, translucent solid in just over ten seconds.

He continued to cook it for about half a minute until the whole thing had clearly solidified.

He carefully slid his combat knife under the flatbread, making sure no part of it was stuck before flipping it over.

The open flame was extremely hot. In just that short time, the underside had already developed tempting, golden-brown bubbles.

*Tiao pi* was different from a regular flour pancake. An overcooked flour pancake would just get tiger-stripe patterns, but when *tiao pi* was subjected to high heat, its surface would develop dense, small white bubbles, causing the whole thing to puff up and change its texture.

Soon, the first *tiao pi* was successfully cooked!

The surface of the translucent skin had a glossy sheen of oil and gave off a faint, sweet aroma of sweet potato. Its texture was soft, chewy, and full of elasticity, making one want to take a bite immediately.

He swallowed again. While it was still hot, he spread a layer of oyster sauce on the *tiao pi*, sprinkled it with crushed dried chili and sea salt, rolled it up, and shoved it directly into his mouth.

With one bite, the steaming hot *tiao pi* stretched out like a rubber band and trembled like Jell-O.

The texture of a flatbread made from pure starch was completely different from one made with flour. It was also remarkably different from the semi-finished *tiao pi* he had eaten at barbecue restaurants before.

If he had to describe it, it was the kind of vast, unbridgeable gap between frozen seafood and fresh seafood.