Culinary God in Wilderness

They had soup, and now they had a main course.

Lin Chen stared at the remaining, slightly smaller King’s Down Duck, mulling over how to cook it in a way that would be easy enough for Andre to do on his own.

According to Andre, his usual cooking methods after a hunt were basic: either skewering the meat on a branch to roast it or stewing it in water to make soup.

’All I have on hand right now are a flat-bottomed pan and a small skillet,’ he thought. ’Let me see...’

He stroked his chin, lost in thought for a moment. The outlines of a few dishes gradually took shape in his mind.

"Since you’re best at grilling, I’ll make some grilled meat."

He pulled the duck toward him. With a flick of his knife, he deftly removed the legs and wings, then carved off the breast meat and skin.

His movements were so fluid they looked less like butchering and more like an artistic performance.

This time, Andre said nothing. His face was full of anticipation as he watched Lin Chen’s every move, eager to see what new tricks this young master chef could pull off with grilled meat.

Lin Chen worked quickly. In no time, he had carved all the meat off the duck, sorting the different cuts into separate piles.

"Andre, could you do me a favor and whittle some wooden skewers? They don’t need to be too thick."

"No problem!"

Without Lin Chen having to say another word, the perceptive Andre broke off a few slender branches from the firewood pile, sharpened the ends, and handed them over. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Lin Chen’s eyes swept over the various cuts of duck meat before him. He started by picking up the two legs. He ran his knife along the bone, making several cuts to flatten out the meat and expose the leg bone hidden within.

Then he took three wooden skewers and threaded them through the leg meat to hold it firmly in place.

’So this is how you skewer a duck leg for grilling?’

Andre had expected Lin Chen to simply jam the skewers straight through the thick meat. He never imagined there would be a cutting step beforehand.

But he quickly understood. By cutting and flattening the thick leg meat like this, the grilling time would be significantly reduced. It would also prevent the skin from burning while the inside was still raw.

After finishing the duck legs, Lin Chen methodically skewered the rest of the meat.

He diced the irregularly shaped pieces into chunks the size of a pinky fingernail and strung them together. The long, thin strips of meat were folded accordion-style onto skewers. He even cut the duck skin into long strips and compressed them together on skewers, like folding a quilt.

Once all the prep work was done, Lin Chen’s next move once again took Andre by surprise.

Instead of placing the skewers directly next to the fire, Lin Chen went into the shelter and returned with a spool of steel-wire fishing line. He then wove it between two branches to create a simple grill grate.

’Grilling meat with steel-wire fishing line?!’

The sheer extravagance of it made Andre’s eyes widen in shock. He never would have imagined, in a million years, that steel-wire fishing line could be used this way.

He found four forked branches and stuck them into the ground on either side of the fire. Then, he rested the grate on top, and just like that, a simple grill was complete.

The steel-wire fishing line was incredibly thin, so there was no need to worry about the meat sticking to the grate. They didn’t even need to oil it.

Most importantly, since it was made of steel wire, there was no risk of it burning through. If they needed the line later, they could just dismantle the grill and reuse it.

He let the grate heat up over the fire for a while to preheat it thoroughly before placing the two large duck legs on it, skin-side down.

SZZZLE—

The moment the piping hot steel wire touched the duck skin, it let out a wonderfully tempting sound.

He then arranged the remaining skewers around the edges of the grate, where the temperature was lower than in the center, so they wouldn’t burn too quickly.

With all the skewers on the grill, Lin Chen placed the flat-bottomed pan over the fire below. Once the pan was smoking hot, he placed the duck breast inside, again, skin-side down.

"When you’re surviving in the wild, you’re usually short on fat, so you have to be extra careful when cooking. Whether you’re pan-frying or grilling, if you want to keep the food intact and get a good texture, you have to start with the skin-side down."

"As it heats up, the fat from the skin renders out. This not only prevents sticking but also improves the texture of the skin itself."

He knew Andre might not fully grasp the concept from words alone, but that didn’t matter. He would understand once he tasted it.

"Pan-searing duck breast is similar to searing a steak. If you’re not confident about controlling the heat, the simplest way is to sear each side for one minute, then flip."

"Take this duck breast, for example. It’s about two centimeters thick, which is about the same as a normal steak. Of course, you can get steaks that are three, four, or even five centimeters thick. But normally, only steaks up to three centimeters thick can be cooked entirely in a pan. Anything thicker needs to be finished in an oven."

Lin Chen patiently explained every single step of searing the duck breast. Whether Andre could actually learn it, or how much he’d remember, wasn’t his concern.

As he finished speaking, he paused. With his chopsticks, he cleanly flipped the duck breast over.

The skin underneath was already a perfect golden brown, sizzling and rendering its fat.

"After searing both sides on high heat for two minutes each, take it out and let it rest on a cutting board or the grill rack for two to three minutes. A steak cooked this way will be about medium. If you want it rare, cut the searing time on the second side in half."

"By the same token, if you want it medium-well, add another thirty seconds to each side. That’s the method for a two-centimeter-thick steak. If it’s three centimeters thick, searing both sides for two minutes will get you rare. More time will bring it to medium, and then to medium-well."

"Building on that, if you want to make the steak’s flavor even richer, you’ll need to add aromatics like garlic, thyme, rosemary, and butter."

"Start the sear with vegetable oil; you can toss the garlic in at the same time. Wait until about a minute before it’s done to add the butter and herbs. Butter has a high protein content, so it will burn and get bitter if it’s on high heat for too long. You should only add it right at the end."

"Just like you see on TV, once you’ve added the butter and herbs, you have to keep basting the meat by spooning the liquid over it. That’s how you get the flavors to penetrate the meat."

"This is how restaurants prepare steak or fish fillets. If you’re just cooking at home, you can simplify it. After you plate the steak, just drizzle some of the herb butter from the pan over the top. That way, you get the flavor of the butter and herbs in every bite. It’s kind of a shortcut."

Listening to Lin Chen effortlessly rattle off a mountain of practical knowledge, Andre swallowed hard and gave a wry smile.

"I’m starting to get confused about who the foreigner is here. How can you, an Asian, be so familiar with Western cooking techniques? First the stock, now searing steak... Do chefs in Great Xia use the same methods?"

"For stock, yes. The method is universal," Lin Chen nodded. "As for the steak, didn’t I mention it in the pre-competition interview? I majored in Western cuisine. After graduating, I worked in a restaurant. This is what I did every day. I could do it with my eyes closed."