Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 428: Chapter 263: Natural Bread (2)

"As far as I know, breadfruit is a real lifesaver. Its fruit is sweet and delicious, like a cross between jackfruit and durian. It’s also packed with starch, which you can probably guess from the name."

"This thing only grows in the tropics, and it’s not native to Central America. That means, who knows how many years ago, some immigrant or stowaway carrying a breadfruit must have lived or passed through here and planted this tree, either on purpose or by accident."

He immediately rolled up his sleeves and stretched, eagerly preparing to climb up and pick some more fruit.

’This thing is way rarer than an avocado. It’s practically free points delivered right to my doorstep. It’d be a waste not to take them.’

He’d often climbed coconut trees ten or twenty meters high before, so he was already used to it. A thirty-meter tree just meant climbing a little farther.

Most importantly, he didn’t need to climb all the way to the top. He just had to find a branch he could stand on securely.

His skills, honed from picking coconuts, made him as nimble and agile as a monkey. In the blink of an eye, he had scrambled several meters up the tree, and it wasn’t long before he reached the canopy.

Only when he got closer did he realize that the breadfruit tree’s branches were also incredibly thick.

’It made sense, though. A single breadfruit weighs two to four pounds. A tree this size can produce hundreds of them at once. If the branches weren’t strong enough, they probably would have snapped under the weight long ago.’

He moved carefully along the branches toward the end of the limb, choosing spots near the forks to spread his weight across as many boughs as possible.

He ignored the ones lower down. His target was just the area within arm’s reach.

"A ripe breadfruit has a greenish-yellow peel, gives off a distinct fruity aroma, and is soft to the touch. Any that don’t match these characteristics are unripe."

"Unripe ones can’t be eaten raw; they can be irritating or even toxic. They have to be cooked before you can eat them, in an oven, for example."

’There’s about a day and a half left in the competition. These breadfruits are huge; honestly, if I pick too many, I won’t be able to eat them all. It’d be a total waste.’

’Okay, here’s the plan. Since it was such a rare find, I’ll eat one myself, bring one for Erica, and one for Andre. I’ll just pick three.’

After putting three round, heavy breadfruits into his bamboo basket, his steps became noticeably heavier, and he hurried back toward the trunk.

As he hugged the trunk and made his way down, his gaze swept over the surroundings from his high vantage point, looking for anything else worth taking back.

And with that glance, he made an incredible discovery.

When he first arrived, all his attention had been on the breadfruit tree, and he hadn’t paid much mind to his surroundings. Now, scanning the area from above, he immediately spotted a patch of strange, sapling-like trees dozens of meters away.

He called them strange mainly because they had sapling-like trunks but were covered from top to bottom in palm-sized leaves, like an herbaceous plant. The spacing between each layer of leaves was almost perfectly uniform, much like wild ginger.

Even from such a distance, and with just a quick glance, he immediately identified the plants.

They were a very common ingredient in Western cuisine, and also a popular raw material for trendy desserts in Great Xia’s culinary scene in recent years.

Cassava.

He climbed down from the tree and ran over without a moment’s delay.

Each of the cassava plants was over two meters tall; the tallest was even three meters. They really did look like small trees.

"The really tall ones like this have definitely been growing for over a year. They’re too fibrous and are only good for extracting starch. If you want to eat them, it’s best to pick the ones that are about as tall as a person, which have been growing for less than a year."

He chose a shorter one. No preparation was needed; he just bent down, grabbed the cassava stalk near the base, and pulled straight up as if he were pulling a radish.

Maybe it was because he’d just climbed that giant tree and hadn’t fully recovered his strength, but with that first pull, the cassava didn’t move an inch. The ground didn’t even bulge.

’Heh, I don’t believe this. Give me five minutes, and I’ll show you what’s what!’

「Five minutes later.」

With most of his strength recovered, he tried again. Planting his feet firmly and bracing his legs, he used the principle of a deadlift and, with a single powerful tug, yanked the entire cassava plant out of the ground, roots and all.

’To be honest, this was the first time he’d ever seen a cassava plant. He’d only ever seen processed cassava starch before.’

"I wonder how many of you watching the livestream have had our Great Xia’s bubble tea. The ’pearls’ in it are made from the starch of this thing, mixed with brown sugar."

"Besides that, cassava starch can also be used to make mochi, which is a paste-like dessert often eaten with other things. You can also just boil it into a sweet cassava soup, which is very popular in the southern part of Great Xia."

"Most importantly, I’ve heard that peeling cassava is incredibly satisfying. In a bit, we’ll see just how satisfying it is."

’Time was limited, and he didn’t want to waste the entire last day or so working. It was time for a break.’

He chopped off the cassava stalk, leaving only the long, tuberous roots at the bottom, which looked a lot like sweet potatoes.

On his way back, he couldn’t wait and grabbed one of the breadfruits from his bamboo basket.

’This thing smelled absolutely incredible. While it didn’t have the stench of durian, it had a rich, fruity fragrance that was constantly tempting him.’

He didn’t need any tools at all. The peel was so soft that he could tear it right off with his fingers, just like peeling an orange.

The breadfruit’s skin was also very unique, covered in countless honeycomb-like pentagons. After tearing it open, he saw that the flesh inside actually had the same fibrous texture.

What was different was that the flesh looked exceptionally soft and tender. A part of it even pulled away in long strands as he tore off the peel, like a perfectly ripe durian after you’ve taken a bite.

He didn’t peel the whole thing, just a small, palm-sized section.

He had intended to use his combat knife to cut off a piece to try, but the fruit was as soft as cream. It didn’t need cutting at all; he felt like he could just scoop it out with a spoon.

Making a spoon on the spot was impossible, so he just leaned in and took a bite.

"Holy shit?!"

He was right on the money. The moment the breadfruit entered his mouth, it melted like cream. It was sweet and soft, with a flavor somewhere between durian and jackfruit.

With just one bite, his eyes lit up. He felt as if most of the energy he’d expended on his journey had been replenished in that single moment.

He devoured a third of it in one go before letting out a satisfied burp, still wanting more. Cradling the fruit in his arms, he continued on his way.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t eat more, but the breadfruit weighed over three pounds, and eating so much of the sweet, rich fruit in one sitting had truly pushed him to his limit.

He might have been able to keep going if it were chilled, but at room temperature, he just couldn’t.

When he got back to Andre’s shelter, he didn’t see him, but the fire was still giving off residual heat. He must have gone out.

He left one of the breadfruits at Andre’s place, putting it in a conspicuous spot. There was no need to leave a note.

As soon as he saw it, the guy would know who brought it.

Instead of heading toward the Mangrove Forest, he took the long way around over the hillside back to Erica’s place.

"Hey, little glutton, look what I’ve got."

Erica, who had been lying under the bamboo shelter at the cave entrance fiddling with something, heard Lin Chen’s teasing voice and shot up, looking over curiously.

When she saw the strange, head-sized round fruit in his hand, a flash of confusion crossed her eyes.

"What’s this?"

"You don’t recognize it?"

This time, it was Lin Chen’s turn to be surprised.

"Aren’t you a forest guide? You don’t even recognize a basic edible fruit?"

"How many times do I have to tell you? I only know the ones in the North American Forest. I don’t know much about other regions."

Erica didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed. She unceremoniously took the strange, honeycomb-patterned fruit from his hand.

The moment she brought it close, a rich, fruity fragrance wafted silently into her nostrils.

Her eyes lit up.

"It smells amazing!"