Culinary God in Wilderness

Grouse are frequent guest stars on the North American survival show *Wild Survival*.

However, due to post-production editing, the footage typically only shows contestants spotting a grouse, the instant they make their move, and the subsequent cooking scenes. It’s rare for the animal’s appearance to be fully captured on camera.

Lin Chen had, of course, looked up what grouse looked like online before the competition. But North America has many species of grouse, all with different appearances. Besides their general chicken-like shape, they share few common features.

He held his breath, inching closer, gradually pulling the bowstring to a full draw.

Recalling the feel from his practice a few days ago, he adjusted the bow’s sight, aligning it with a patch of white markings in the distant thicket.

TWANG—

He released his fingers, and the bowstring vibrated.

Like a bolt of lightning, the arrow shot forth, drawing a black line through the air before it plunged into the thicket in the blink of an eye.

"It’s a hit!"

Excitement flashed in Lin Chen’s eyes. Instead of rushing to check on his kill, he drew another feathered arrow, nocked it, and scanned his surroundings.

Like chickens, grouse are likely social creatures. In North America, their population density is at least ten birds per square kilometer.

With such a large berry patch, there was very likely a grouse habitat nearby.

After waiting quietly for a few minutes with no further movement, Lin Chen sighed in disappointment. He stepped into the thicket and pulled the arrow, which was lodged deep in the soil, free.

CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK!!

The arrow had pierced clean through the grouse’s body. Not quite dead, the bird suddenly began to flap its wings, letting out a weak cry.

Mentally prepared, Lin Chen wasn’t startled. He grabbed the bird by the base of its wings, found a nearby rock, and smashed the grouse down hard after raising it high over his head.

CRACK.

With the sound of something snapping, the warm body in his hand twitched a few times, then gradually fell still.

"Rest in peace. I’ll be sure to enjoy this meal."

Because the camera was mounted on his chest, the brutal scene wasn’t recorded; he had cleverly angled himself to keep it out of frame.

The audience could only guess at his actions from the violently shaking camera and hear his hushed words.

North Americans are the biggest hypocrites. They have the world’s most industrialized farms and slaughterhouses, but also the largest number of vegetarians and the most meddlesome animal rights organizations.

These groups’ concerns extend to the minutiae of how to ensure livestock die a painless death. If they catch anyone breaking the rules they’ve established, that person will be branded an animal abuser, and endless trouble will follow.

This is especially true for a public survival show. Even though everyone knows hunting is unavoidable, there’s no way they would broadcast a brutal scene.

"There’s no water source nearby. The closest, the Yukon River, is over half an hour away. To lessen the grouse’s suffering, I had no choice but to put it out of its misery."

Lin Chen offered this brief explanation, then pulled out his combat knife, slit the grouse’s neck, and drained its blood while the body was still fresh.

"I don’t know how butchers in North America handle it, but for us Da Xia People, no matter what animal it is, the first step in processing it must be to bleed it."

"Bleeding does a great job of removing the gamey taste from the meat. Plus, the blood of many animals is a delicious ingredient in its own right—chicken blood being one of them. But it’s too far from my shelter. By the time I get back, the blood will have coagulated inside the body, which would be a huge hassle to deal with."

"To collect the blood, you’d need a bowl with a little water and salt. That way, the drained blood coagulates quickly into what’s called blood tofu. But I don’t have anything like that on me, so it’ll have to go to waste."

"Some of you might be wondering what blood tofu tastes like. If I had to describe it, it’s like a more tender version of regular tofu. It doesn’t have any weird flavor—it mainly takes on the taste of the seasonings and whatever it’s cooked with. Plus, it’s highly nutritious, especially rich in trace elements like iron."

With no other prey in sight, Lin Chen took the opportunity to explain a bit more.

He couldn’t help it; being cooped up in the shelter for the past few days had been suffocating. If he didn’t say something, he felt he might actually become depressed.

After draining the blood, he tied the grouse’s feet with some weeds and hung it upside down from his waist.

Even though the drizzling rain would wash away most of the blood’s scent, it wouldn’t be enough to fool creatures with a sharp sense of smell.

He re-entered the forest, found a spot with a relatively open field of view, and hunkered down to wait quietly, hoping for another unexpected prize.

He lost track of how long he waited. Eventually, his legs began to go numb, forcing him to give up on his stakeout.

The moment he stood up, the world suddenly began to spin, and his vision swam with black spots.

Lin Chen quickly grabbed a nearby tree trunk for support and only recovered after resting for a good while.

"Low blood sugar," he said, shaking his head with a wry smile. "Looks like I have to dig up some carbs to take back. Otherwise, it’s going to affect my hunting for the next few days."

He followed his original path back, planning to return to the spot where he’d found the sunchokes to dig up some more.

Sunchokes mature between October and November, so the ones he had left in the ground a week ago would have grown even larger by now.

Most importantly, the inulin in sunchokes helps regulate blood sugar, lipids, and pressure. It can not only lower high blood sugar but even raise low blood sugar, making it a species with immense nutritional and medicinal value.

The climate in Alaska is cold. Although sunchokes can withstand temperatures as low as minus thirty degrees, the perennial low temperatures cause them to grow slowly, so they are generally small.

As he walked, a patch of familiar-looking, slender grass blades among the weeds caught his attention.

From a distance, the blades looked very similar to scallions, but up close, he could see a faint reddish hue near the soil at their base.

’Wild onions?’

He plucked one curiously and sniffed it. The chives he had found last week didn’t look like this.

A distinct, pungent aroma filled his nostrils, instantly invigorating him.

’Garlic?’

’No, that’s not right either. Garlic leaves are flat, a clear difference from the one in his hand.’

’The look of an onion, the smell of garlic... could this be... rakkyo?!’

"What a pity. It’s not the right season for the bulbs. Still, its leaves taste similar to garlic leaves, so they can be used as a substitute. They’ll be perfect for marinating the grouse."

He picked two handfuls of the leaves, memorizing the surrounding terrain so he could come back for more when he needed them.

By the time he got back to the shelter, the basket he’d woven from leaves was piled high with sunchokes, with a layer of wild blueberries hidden at the bottom.

In addition, he had also gathered a good number of plump, wild porcini mushrooms. The things were popping up everywhere like, well, mushrooms after a rain, which was a pleasant surprise.