Culinary God in Wilderness

He wasn’t a big fan of potatoes, unless they were processed—fries, chips, fried potato wedges, that sort of thing. Plain potatoes, just boiled in water or roasted in a fire, held no interest for him at all.

Of the forty-odd kilograms of potatoes he’d dug up, he had only reluctantly eaten four or five so far. A few kilograms, however, had been used to make starch.

Thinking of potato noodles reminded him of the livestreams he used to love watching, where people in the countryside made sweet potato noodles.

Vats of fresh sweet potato starch would be ladled into a special perforated spoon. With each tap from an old man’s hand, the starch would press through the holes and, after a few swirls in boiling water, instantly take shape as noodles.

Just imagining the scene made him swallow involuntarily.

To be honest, he’d never actually had freshly made sweet potato noodles.

Compared to slippery noodles, he preferred chewier ones, especially thick types like wide noodles, pulled noodles, knife-cut noodles, and hand-pulled noodles. Alkaline noodles were another one of his favorites.

But when food was scarce, he couldn’t be picky. Potato noodles with some braised beef brisket would at least be better than stewed potatoes.

Without a pressure cooker, the brisket would need to stew for at least two hours to become tender. So, he immediately lit another torch, set the stockpot on it, and started boiling water.

He cut off about five kilograms from the whole beef brisket, diced it into tofu-sized cubes, and tossed them in to blanch. Once the water boiled, he skimmed off the scum, put the lid on, and let it simmer slowly.

In the ten-odd minutes that he was busy with the brisket, the smile on Andre’s face had vanished.

He was gripping the wooden club with both hands, his arms trembling uncontrollably. His voice held a hint of a sob.

"Lin, help me! These beef balls are so hard to make! I feel like my arms are going to cramp any second!"

All told, he’d been pounding for nearly half an hour. The beef had almost completely turned into a paste, its bright red color fading to pink. Beside him was a fist-high pile of sinew he had picked out.

Lin Chen grabbed a handful of salt and sprinkled it on, then went inside to get some of the potato starch he had extracted earlier and added it in.

"Let me take over. You rest for a bit."

With the salt and starch added, the beef paste grew more and more resilient under the heavy pounding. The feel of the club striking the meat changed noticeably, as if a force were pushing back against him.

He grabbed a handful of snow and scattered it over the top, then folded the paste over and continued pounding.

Each time he lifted the wooden club, a distinct trail of meat paste would rise with it before falling back down.

By the end of the pounding, the meat paste had turned into a complete slurry, perfectly smooth to the naked eye, without a single visible speck of meat.

Lin Chen let out a long breath and glanced at the melted snow already boiling in the iron pot. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Help me add some more snow. Stop when I tell you to."

Andre nodded, his curiosity nearly bursting from his chest. He quickly scooped up a handful of snow and tossed it into the pot.

Then a second handful, a third, and a fourth.

As the temperature dropped, the water in the pot gradually stopped roiling, until finally not even a single bubble surfaced.

"Stop, that’s good. Can you bring it over?"

"Of course!"

Andre puffed out his chest. ’Pounding beef was more tiring than he’d expected, sure, but carrying a pot of water? That should be a piece of cake.’

He gripped the handles on both sides and gave a mighty heave.

The water’s surface sloshed, but the pot didn’t budge an inch.

"?"

His expression froze. He gave a couple of embarrassed coughs.

"Forget it, just leave it there. It’d be a pain if you threw out your back."

"Uh, well, it’s definitely because I’m not well-rested, and I just exhausted myself..."

"I get it. Not being at your best really affects your strength."

Lin Chen scraped all the beef paste onto a piece of bark, moved it next to the iron pot, and sat down. He grabbed a handful of the paste with his right hand, gave it a squeeze, and a ball of meat extruded from the space between his thumb and index finger. He used a bark spoon to scoop it into the warm water.

His movements were a bit clumsy at first, but as one beef ball after another sank to the bottom, he seemed to find his rhythm, and his speed gradually increased.

"????"

Andre’s eyes widened in shock. He clearly hadn’t expected that beef balls from Great Xia were made this way.

"Wait, wait, how are you squeezing them into a ball shape? Is this some kind of magic trick?"

"Why don’t you try it and see for yourself?"

That was exactly what Andre was waiting to hear. Before diving in, he had the presence of mind to rub his hands with some snow, which barely counted as washing them.

"Ew, this feels all sticky and gooey, and it’s freezing cold. It’s kind of like the mud by the river."

He tried squeezing a few times, but what came out were either meat patties or meat strips. The difference in shape compared to the pink, round beef balls floating on the water was pretty stark.

"Bro, are all your muscles just for show?"

Lin Chen grabbed a handful of paste and, right in front of Andre, gave a seemingly casual, light squeeze. A perfectly round meatball instantly popped out from between his thumb and forefinger. As soon as the spoon scooped it away, his fingers moved rhythmically, and another ball took its place.

Taunted so directly, Andre couldn’t take it.

"Hey, I refuse to believe it! If I can’t make a proper beef ball today, I’ll give you that Musk Ox!"

"I don’t want it," Lin Chen rolled his eyes. "I can’t even finish my own. What would I do with it? There’s nothing left to trade for, anyway. If I’m careful, what I have is enough to last me the next two months."

Fortunately, Andre was reasonably clever. After all, he had thirty years of wilderness survival experience and a quick mind. With repeated attempts, he gradually figured out the trick, and the beef balls he squeezed became rounder each time.

"Lin! Look, I did it!!"

Lin Chen glanced at the not-quite-round beef ball perched between Andre’s thumb and forefinger and nodded. "Not bad."

After all the beef balls had been formed, the water in the pot slowly began to bubble. The meatballs, one by one, turned from pink to their normal cooked color.

Lin Chen washed his hands and brought out two small pans. Into each, he added a spoonful of chili powder, half a spoonful of sea salt, a pinch of sugar, a few drops of aged vinegar, and half a spoonful of light soy sauce, mixing them well. Then, he ladled a few scoops of the broth from the pot to dissolve the mixture.

"We can eat now. Just scoop up the ones floating on top; let the ones on the bottom soak a little longer. But I suggest you scoop some out to cool first. If you eat them now, you might burn your mouth, because these beef balls are filled with juices."

Together, they lifted the heavy iron pot off the torch. With that much weight, if the wood carbonized and shattered, everything would spill. Although they could pick up the beef balls, the broth was too good to waste. It was better to be careful.

Andre, who could hardly wait, had originally wanted to pop one straight into his mouth to taste what a purely handmade beef ball, with such a complicated preparation process, was like.

But when he saw Lin Chen also just scoop a few out and set them aside without any intention of eating them yet, he obediently did the same.

He’d been burned more than once or twice and understood the principle of ’haste makes waste,’ especially with beef balls. Listening to Lin was always the right move.

Taking advantage of the wait, Lin Chen skimmed the scum from the brisket pot again, then poured in some light soy sauce and white sugar, followed by two handfuls of chili powder and a handful of crushed black pepper.

"Red-braised?"

Andre’s eyes lit up when he saw him pour soy sauce and sugar into the brisket broth.

Last week’s red-braised bear paw might not have suited his taste, but he had absolutely loved the red-braising sauce. Even just dipping some boiled potatoes in it was to die for.

Seeing Lin use beef brisket this time, he could already predict that this pot was going to be the most delicious thing he’d ever eaten in the forest.

"You remembered the name quite well."

Lin Chen smiled slightly, clearly pleased with his cultural outreach.

’If even Andre can remember it, the hungry cats watching on screen who can’t eat this have probably already rushed off to Chinatown to find some, right?’

"Go ahead and eat. Be careful, take a small bite first to test it. I’m going to get some potatoes."

Seeing the guy was practically dying of anticipation, Lin Chen patted his shoulder and turned to head into the wooden cabin.

Unable to wait any longer, Andre picked up a beef ball, blew on it, and touched it to his lips. Only after confirming it wasn’t scalding did he dare to take a small bite.

The moment his teeth touched the surface of the beef ball, the resistance was so strong it was as if it were fighting against being chewed.

He bit down with more force.

PSHHHH—

A stream of scorching hot juice shot out more than half a meter, while a smaller amount sprayed into his mouth, instantly numbing his tongue and making his upper body lurch forward.

"????"

He stared in disbelief at the mark left on the snow, his eyes glazed over. "Did I just see things?" he muttered to himself. "Did that beef ball... did it just squirt water?"

He had deliberately scooped out one of the beef balls he’d made himself, easily identifiable by its irregular shape.

But he had made it with his own hands, had even participated in the pounding process, and no special ingredients were added.

’Where did this juice come from?’

He looked down at the bitten beef ball. Glistening juice was still oozing from the opening, with tiny droplets of fat reflecting a crystalline sheen. It looked incredibly tempting.

He leaned in and slurped some up. It was the purest beef broth, umami to the extreme, with no other seasonings involved.

He dipped it in the sauce in the small pan. A few specks of chili flakes clung to it, making it look even more fragrant.

"How’s the taste?"

Lin Chen was carrying a large bag of potatoes, using the waterproof tarp bucket he had made earlier as a basket. It was actually quite convenient.

"Incredible!"

Andre gave a thumbs-up and stuffed the remaining large half of the beef ball into his mouth. Chewing, he mumbled, "This is absolutely the best beef ball I’ve ever had in my life!"

"The flavor is impeccable, and the texture is so springy and chewy! Just like you said, I feel like it could really bounce off the ground!"

"Other than being a little troublesome to make, it’s perfect. If this thing were sold in North America, I’m afraid every shop that sells beef balls would go out of business."

"It can be mass-produced by machine," Lin Chen said, putting down the potatoes. He picked up his own portion of beef balls, tried one, and nodded in satisfaction. "Even though this is my first time trying to make them, they taste pretty much the same as the ones I usually eat."

"It’s not actually that hard to make. With a machine, you just have to keep it cold and make sure the beef is fresh enough. If you can’t meet those two conditions, you can’t make them."

"Fresh enough? You mean beef from an animal slaughtered within one or two days?"

"No, within twelve hours. And it’s best to use fresh beef that hasn’t undergone aging—meaning it can’t have been frozen. If possible, within six hours is even better. Only then will it have enough collagen after pounding. Otherwise, the pounded beef will fall apart and won’t be sticky."

"Huh?? The requirements are that strict? No wonder these beef balls are so delicious. The ones sold in restaurants are almost all made from frozen beef. The difference in texture is huge."

Just the requirement for the meat basically ruled out all the meat sold in supermarkets.

Unless it was a supermarket with its own butcher shop that labeled the slaughter date, the only way to get freshly slaughtered beef was to go to a slaughterhouse.

The Musk Ox meat he was using was from an animal that died late last night. But the low ambient temperature had created a natural preservative layer, keeping the meat around zero degrees without freezing it solid, which also greatly slowed the spread of microorganisms.

The subtle spiciness added a perfect touch of zest to the beef balls. Paired with the savory, umami flavor of the soy sauce broth, Andre’s forehead was slightly beaded with sweat after finishing a bowl.

Lin Chen also quickly finished his food, then poured out all the potatoes and scrubbed them clean one by one with snow.

"That’s a lot of potatoes. What are you going to do with them?"

Andre had assumed the potatoes were for the braised beef brisket, but the quantity was clearly far beyond what he’d imagined.

He felt like a curious child, constantly asking about every new thing he saw.