Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 402: Chapter 250: Ultimate Enjoyment (Part 2)

He planned to set up a heating system for the bathtub first. Keeping himself healthy was his top priority.

’The four sides of my tub are now enclosed by bamboo walls, so it’s almost watertight. The only spot where water will soak the ground is on the side with the drainage channel.’

’Heating the water in the tub by boiling it one pot at a time is unrealistic. I don’t have a container big enough for that anyway. I’ll have to bury the heat source in the ground, heating the soil like I’m roasting a chicken, which will in turn heat the water.’

’What if I just dig pits next to the other three sides and bury the charcoal inside?’

’That seems risky. If the earth between the fire and the tub is too thick, heat transfer will be too slow. But if it’s too thin, the wall will probably collapse. It’s not worth the risk.’

The tub might not have looked like it held a lot, but the weight of the water was substantial. And since it wasn’t perfectly sealed, some water was bound to seep into the surrounding soil.

If he hollowed out the dense soil around it, a collapse would be highly likely.

He circled the bathtub a few times before inspiration struck.

’I’ve got it!’

’Preventing a collapse is simple. I just need to brace it with some support struts as I dig. And the issue with the heat source... that’s simple too. I was overcomplicating things.’

He muttered to himself, visualizing the modified bathtub’s structure in his mind.

’I don’t need to hollow out all three sides. Just digging three tunnels will do. That will maintain the integrity of the surrounding soil while also heating the water as quickly as possible.’

Mere daydreaming wasn’t going to get it done. He immediately set to work, starting to dig.

The bamboo tube that had served as a hoe could now be used as a shovel. The relatively sharp edge of the bamboo cut easily into the earth, and its curved shape was perfect for scooping out the soil.

The only minor problem was that maneuvering it became more difficult the deeper he dug.

He quickly overcame this problem with a simple solution: digging at an angle.

Tunnels just a little wider than the bamboo tube weren’t enough to cause a collapse. This was the wilderness, after all. The soil was interwoven with a dense network of weed roots that acted as a natural reinforcement, increasing its strength and load-bearing capacity.

It took an hour to dig three narrow tunnels, each about a meter deep. He then took the charcoal he had already lit and pushed a few pieces into each of the three tunnels.

He didn’t need to seal the openings. The principle of smoldering charcoal was based on insufficient oxygen, which caused an incomplete combustion reaction. However, it couldn’t be completely devoid of oxygen, or it wouldn’t burn at all.

The depth of the tunnels limited the amount of available oxygen. Combined with the fact that hot air rises, smoke would drift out of the openings, which in turn would severely restrict the inflow of fresh oxygen. This created a low-oxygen environment, fulfilling the conditions required for the charcoal to smolder.

The advantage of smoldering charcoal was that it burned for a long time at a high, stable temperature. A normal-sized piece of charcoal could burn for at least several hours—many times longer than a piece of wood of the same volume.

Once the heat source was in place, he left it alone and went to grab a handful of potato strips. These had been steamed three times, sun-dried three times, and coated with mango juice. He spread them evenly on a grill rack to roast slowly.

The skin of the semi-dried potato strips was wrinkled. The air-dried mango juice had solidified on the surface, giving them a tempting golden hue.

As they roasted slowly over a low fire, they gradually turned a toasted brown, a change that was especially noticeable on the skins.

To enhance their aroma, he had used coconut water instead of fresh water for steaming. This imbued the potatoes with the faint, fresh scent of coconut.

The steamer was actually quite simple. He took a section of bamboo, knocked out the inner nodes, and rested it between two forked branches to hold it in place. He cut a small window in the bottom, just big enough to be covered by a coconut shell.

Next came the lengthy steaming process. He piled the potato strips inside the bamboo tube and covered it, allowing the steam to spread naturally throughout the interior. After steaming for about ten minutes until they were cooked through, he could take them out to sun-dry.

He then repeated the process: sun-drying them until they were about 60 to 70 percent dry, steaming them again, and then continuing to dry them in the sun.

This repeated process of steaming three times and sun-drying three times locked the coconut flavor deep inside the potatoes. It also allowed the coconut juice to replace the potatoes’ natural water content, enhancing their sweetness.

Most importantly, as the potatoes lost their moisture during this process, the coconut water could seep in, increasing their internal sugar content. Combined with the mango juice slathered on the surface, the final taste would be even more fragrant and sweet, with the fresh aroma of coconut and the fruity scent of mango.

While they were roasting, the potato strips had to be flipped periodically to keep the bottoms from burning.

Once the potato strips had developed a distinct, toasted-brown crust all over, he just had to let them cool slightly to become crispy, and the job would be done.

This slow-roasting process over low heat would take twenty to thirty minutes, depending on the condition of the potato strips.

While he waited, he went to check on the bathtub every five minutes or so, touching the nearby soil and then dipping a hand in the water to see if it was getting warm.

For the first ten minutes, there was no noticeable change. But by the fifteenth minute, the soil around the tub was significantly hotter, and the cool stream water inside was gradually becoming warm.

By the time the potato strips were done, he checked again. The water temperature had already risen to around thirty-five degrees.

At this temperature, dipping his hand in felt distinctly warm, not just lukewarm.

When the temperature reached forty degrees, it was starting to feel a bit too hot to the touch for him, though it was probably just right for most women.

Any hotter and it would likely exceed what most people could comfortably tolerate, posing a risk of scalding.

He quickly packed some dirt into the three tunnels, blocking the entrances to restrict airflow. This would suppress the charcoal’s combustion, effectively halting the heating process.

He didn’t get in right away. Instead, he waited patiently for another half an hour before reaching out to test the water temperature again.

It was still scalding hot!

’It seems that just burying the embers makes it difficult to control the temperature. Plus, the soil is an excellent insulator, so the temperature probably won’t drop anytime soon. If this method won’t work, I’ll have to find a physical solution.’

Add more water!

He installed a new, narrow bamboo pipe—about the thickness of a finger—at one end of the elevated aqueduct above the tub.

He heated it over the charcoal fire for a moment to bend it into a curve. By connecting several such pieces, he created something that resembled a spiral slide at a water park. It ran from the high aqueduct all the way down to the tub’s edge, allowing cool stream water to flow down the bamboo chute and into the bath.

With the constant heating and insulation on one side, and the steady, cooling trickle of water on the other, a balance was struck. The water temperature was finally stabilized within a comfortable range.

Only then did he remove the new pipe from the aqueduct to prevent the temperature from dropping any further.

Beside the tub sat an opened coconut filled with its juice, a handful of fragrant roasted potato strips, a dozen plump grilled oysters, and slices of perfectly ripe pineapple and orange.

He stripped off his clothes and carefully stepped into the tub.

"Ahhh..."

The slightly scalding water was the perfect temperature. It was a long-awaited hot bath, and he could feel the pores all over his body opening up, as if they were greedily breathing in the fresh air and expelling all the long-accumulated grime.

Soaking in the hot water, he picked up a potato strip and popped it into his mouth.

CRUNCH.

The potato strip, with its perfectly crisped surface, made a sound like a potato chip. But because of its shape, the center retained a distinct, soft, and fluffy texture. The mouthfeel was a sublime mix of crispy and soft, and it was incredibly sweet and fragrant.

The slightly charred edges were the finishing touch. Far from detracting from the flavor, the faint burnt taste actually enhanced it, adding a layer of complexity beyond pure sweetness.

Even he, someone who wasn’t particularly fond of potatoes, was blown away by the incredible combination of crispy, soft, and sweet in that single bite.

[Enjoying delicious roasted potato strips by the sea in Panama. Happiness +1]

[Enjoying a hot bath by the sea in Panama. Happiness +5]

He slowly chewed on the potato strip dangling from his mouth, leaning his head back against the bamboo wall. A genuine smile spread across his face as he savored the pleasant sensation of all his pores opening up.