Culinary God in Wilderness

"That smells amazing. What is that?"

The three of them were lost in the wonder of the lamb skewers when a man’s voice suddenly called out from beyond the fence.

A dark face was peeking through a gap in the fence.

Seeing Lin Chen look over, the man grinned from ear to ear, his pearly white teeth reflecting a dazzling light.

"Hei’s here? Get in here, eat while it’s hot!"

Daniel, still tearing off huge bites from the skewer in his hand, walked over to open the gate for the man. In reality, it was just a matter of moving a piece of wood propped against the corner of the fence, revealing a gap just big enough for a person to slip through.

"Nice to meet you, Lin. Just call me Hei."

The man was about 1.8 meters tall, with the strong build one would expect. Even bundled up in a thick down jacket, you could tell he had a well-trained physique.

"Is that really okay?"

Lin Chen reached out to shake his hand and could clearly feel the thick calluses on the man’s palm—the mark of someone who works out.

"Nothing wrong with it. My name’s Blake, so calling me Hei is no problem. The kids have all called me that since I was little. I’m not like those overly sensitive types."

"Oh, I see. That’s a relief, then. To be honest, we Da Xia People often call Black people we see on the street ’Hei,’ haha."

"What a coincidence!"

After exchanging just a few sentences, Lin Chen’s impression of the helicopter pilot had already improved immensely.

It was easy to tell from his eyes and tone that he was a big, straightforward guy with a simple heart. People like him were often the easiest to get along with.

"You’re a little late. Let me heat these up for you. It’ll only take a few seconds."

As he spoke, he placed the two remaining lamb skewers back on the grill. At the same time, he took the package from Hei’s hands, spread it out on the snow, and glanced over it.

Besides some basic seasonings he had chosen earlier, there were red and yellow bell peppers, two large scallions, and two yellow onions.

These vegetables were common in Western cuisine, along with others like celery, carrots, and broccoli.

"Old Robert told me to bring down some random ingredients. I don’t know much about it, so I just grabbed a few common things. Are these okay? If not, I can go get more."

"They’re fine. More than fine, actually."

Lin Chen nodded quickly and gestured for him to come closer. "It’s warmer over here. Relax, make yourself at home. We Da Xia People believe in being good hosts to guests from afar."

"Alrighty~"

Hei didn’t stand on ceremony and immediately moved closer to the fire, his round eyes glued to the skewers on the grill, almost getting lost in them.

They had to get up early for every routine inspection. To accommodate the contestants’ schedules and not disrupt their plans for the day, they barely had any time for breakfast.

At most, they’d have a piece of toast dangling from their mouths, grabbing a quick bite during the flight and calling it a meal.

From outside the fence, he had smelled the rich aroma of grilled meat and seen those two old-timers, Robert and Daniel, shamelessly devouring skewers. He couldn’t hold back any longer.

"Alright, here, eat up. Careful, it’s hot. Eat it while it’s fresh. In this cold, it’ll be stone-cold in less than two minutes."

Lin Chen had barely finished speaking when Hei had already fiercely yanked off two large chunks of meat, immediately leaving two black marks on either side of his mouth.

"Hiss... hoo... haah..."

Opening his mouth to let out a few puffs of hot air, Hei tilted his head and spun in a circle a couple of times. "So hot, so hot..."

"Eat slower. You’re acting like someone’s going to steal it from you."

Ariana walked over, disgruntled, and poked him hard on the shoulder with a long, slender finger.

"Eating food that’s too hot can increase the risk of esophageal cancer. Then you’ll never be able to eat grilled or fried food for the rest of your life."

"It’s that serious???"

Hei was shocked. He subconsciously wanted to spit out the meat in his mouth, but stopped just as it reached his lips and clamped his mouth shut.

"It’s fine. It cools down fast in this weather. Didn’t Chef Lin say so?~"

He grinned cheerfully, flashing a set of white teeth so bright they nearly blinded Lin Chen.

"Oh fuck, holy shit, why is this barbecue so different from any I’ve ever had before?"

"How is it so juicy and tender at the same time? And this strange aroma..."

"That’s the smell of the charcoal fire," Daniel said, hooking an arm around his shoulder and leading him to the other side of the fire. "Don’t bother Lin while he’s cooking. We’ll leave as soon as we’re done eating. Stay too long and we might get complaints from the audience."

"Oh, oh, right, no problem!"

Ariana, however, didn’t leave. She stood there quietly, not saying a word, tearing off small bites from her skewer while her curious gaze never left Lin Chen.

’No doubt she’s wondering what dish I’m going to make next.’

He hadn’t decided yet, but the moment he saw the scallions Hei had brought, an idea came to him.

First, he tossed the cracked marrow bones into the stockpot, scooped a handful of snow over them, and placed the pot on the fire to heat.

These two scallions were clearly from a Western supermarket. They were thoroughly washed, bundled with green tape, and had no old skin or blemishes on the surface.

He cut off the scallion roots and threw them into the stockpot, then chopped the green parts above the fork and threw them in as well.

He julienned the remaining white parts and a small section of the greens, setting them aside in a small frying pan.

He took out a piece of lamb belly from near the ribs.

"This cut has clear snowflake-like marbling, a good mix of fat and lean. In Great Xia, we call it ’fatty lamb.’ It’s one of the best cuts no matter how you cook it."

After a brief introduction, he pressed his sharp military knife against the edge of the frozen block of meat and sliced. A thin, curled strip of lamb fell away.

"SHFF"

"SHFF"

With every slice, you could hear a distinct scraping sound, the unique noise of cutting frozen meat, very similar to the sound of cutting paper. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

’Meat that thin?’

A deep sense of confusion appeared in Ariana’s eyes.

She looked up.

The three men across from her were even more baffled.

In a short while, the entire kilogram or so of fatty lamb had been sliced into curled strips, which were spread out in a messy pile on a wooden board.

After a moment’s thought, he cut off a piece of lamb fat and tossed it directly into the skillet. He placed the skillet on the grill rack, then used tongs to move a few pieces of blazing wood from the fire and pile them underneath.

As the orange flames danced restlessly, the lamb fat gradually began to melt.

He used chopsticks to swirl it around a couple of times, instantly coating the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of lamb fat.

The others had seen similar moves countless times on video, so they weren’t surprised, but their confusion only grew.

’How on earth do you cook lamb that’s sliced so thin, and frozen at that?’

’Do you just toss it in the pan and stir-fry it?’

While they were wondering, the snow in the stockpot had completely melted. The water, about half a pot full, was just enough to cover the lamb marrow bones.

Seeing large bubbles begin to float to the surface, Lin Chen grabbed a handful of the curled lamb strips, tossed them in, and gave them a quick stir. As soon as they softened and changed color, he immediately pulled them out.

He repeated this several times until the mountain of lamb rolls on the wooden board was gone, replaced by steaming, half-cooked, pink slices of meat.

The lamb fat in the skillet had almost completely rendered down. It had shrunk by more than half, fried into a form similar to cracklings.

Lin Chen held his palm out to test the temperature, nodded in satisfaction, and then tossed in all of the scallions he had just julienned.

"TSSSSSS—"