Culinary God in Wilderness

"There’s a web-like structure in the middle of the kidney. We Da Xia People call it the ’yao sao’—the source of its foul taste. It’s the key structure for processing waste, and thus the part with the strongest odor."

"As long as you cut it out, the rest won’t have any unpleasant odor."

As he spoke, his blade sliced horizontally, paring off a thin layer of the kidney composed almost entirely of the web-like tissue.

With another slice, he cleanly removed the remaining traces, then did the same to the other half of the kidney.

The heart, however, didn’t require much preparation. It’s one of the safest internal organs in an animal, with only blood passing through it.

Just squeeze it a few times by hand, letting the current flush out the inside, and that’s all the cleaning it needs.

"As a chef, I must remind all of you: when cooking in the wild, you have to cook your food thoroughly. Boiling is best. Any animal ingredient you’re not familiar with could infect you with unimaginable diseases."

"Even I wouldn’t dare to carelessly prepare this Black Bear’s offal. I’m only choosing two of the safer parts to eat."

The Yukon River, long since calmed after the salmon run, flowed peacefully. The clear water rippled, making it almost impossible to see the bottom.

He wasn’t in the mood for fish at the moment. Crabs, while delicious, were too much of a hassle to prepare. And shrimp were even worse—just catching them was a chore.

"Wolves usually start moving around dusk. There might be a sentry on watch during the day. In any case, I’ll head back to the shelter first. Hopefully, I won’t be spotted."

He glanced at the small mountain of spruce moss, and his pace quickened uncontrollably.

The round trip had taken him over an hour. When he returned, the mound looked exactly the same, showing no signs of being disturbed.

He circled the mound of moss and branches twice. Only after confirming that there were no animal tracks did he pull the covering away and resume butchering the prime cuts from the Black Bear.

...

"Oh my god, what am I seeing? Did he actually kill a Black Bear with his own hands??"

"If I remember correctly, this is probably the first time in the show’s history that a complete Black Bear hunt has been shown. Lin the Archer has set a new show record!"

"The Black Bear wasn’t huge, but it’s still a dangerous beast. How did a rookie who’s only been handling a hunting bow for a few days dare to provoke a Black Bear?"

"Lin is an archery genius! He’s only been practicing for a single day and he can already kill a Black Bear. I bet if he practices for a few more days, he’ll become the king of this forest!"

"But that’s bear meat! Is he really going to eat it? Weren’t there news reports about getting sick from eating bear meat?"

"To the person above: that happens when it’s undercooked and you get parasites. That’s why Lin just advised everyone not to try it carelessly."

"I’m really looking forward to what he makes with the bear meat. Don’t tell me Da Xia People even know how to cook bear? That’s just too absurd."

As Lin Chen was skinning the bear, Robert, Daniel, and Ariana, who had been in the helicopter, silently got out again.

"See? I told you he could do it."

Daniel patted Robert’s shoulder, not at all surprised. "I might lose to you in other things, but when it comes to wilderness knowledge and hunting skills, you’re still miles behind."

"No kidding," Robert said, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "I’m just a host, not a survival expert. Do you have any shame, comparing us?"

"Of course, my friend. Don’t forget we still have that bet about the wolf pack."

"..."

The moment he heard that, a crack silently formed in Robert’s firm conviction. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

’If he can even kill a Black Bear, a wolf pack is nothing.’

’The most crucial part is that it’s only the fourth week!!’

’If the other contestants found out he killed a Black Bear at this stage and stockpiled nearly a hundred kilograms of meat, they’d probably be scared into quitting, right?’

Only Ariana’s face was still filled with worry, concerned that the injury on his hand would affect his future survival challenges.

...

After bringing the second batch of cleaned bear meat—over thirty kilograms—back to the shelter, Lin Chen glanced at the sky. Seeing that it wasn’t going to get dark anytime soon, he decided to take care of dinner first.

The four bear paws were left unprocessed for now, their surfaces still covered in unsettling black fur. He tossed them directly into the rock crevice pantry to be stored with the other cuts of meat.

Inside the pantry were the various wild mushrooms he had frozen earlier, the lamb meat he had barely touched, and the first batch of over thirty kilograms of bear meat. Even during the day, the temperature inside was still below zero, turning it into a natural freezer.

He picked out a strip of belly meat that was already slightly frozen solid and used his combat knife, which he had sharpened on a rock by the river, to cut it into finger-thick strips.

"Bear belly, huh. I’ve never actually eaten this before. Bears this season should be pretty fat, right?"

One slice was all it took for the belly meat to reveal its definitive texture and color.

A bear nearing hibernation has over forty percent of its body weight stored as fat, which was precisely why the cross-section of this strip of belly meat looked exceptionally beautiful and appetizing.

Thick layers of brilliant white fat were stacked between the lean meat. Just looking at it, one could imagine how delicious a single bite would be.

Sparks flew as he struck the ferro rods together, landing on the dry tinder and quickly scorching a dark spot onto it.

He expertly cradled the tinder in his hands, gently rocking it back and forth as if coaxing a baby, his fingers slightly parted to allow for air circulation.

Within seconds, a wisp of smoke curled upwards, and with a WHOOSH, an orange flame flared to life.

He quickly placed the burning tinder into the pile of pale embers, adding more tinder to expand the flames before finally stacking branches and dry firewood on top.

Going through the process of starting a fire two or three times a day had made him an expert. But this time, as he stared at the blazing fire and considered if there was a better way to cook, an image of a log-shaped contraption involuntarily popped into his head.

A Swedish torch.

Usually, he could only balance his pot on charcoal or rocks, which was always unstable.

If he had a Swedish torch, not only would that problem be easily solved, but it would also significantly increase the burn time.

"To better cook this hard-won bear meat, I’ve decided to make a Swedish torch. I wonder how many of you have heard of this."

He fetched a log from his firewood supply and used the axe head of his Engineer Shovel to split it vertically into four wedges.

On each wedge, he shaved off the inner point of the top section, leaving the bottom two to three knuckles’ worth of wood untouched.

He did the same for all four pieces. After they were cut, he reassembled them into their original shape, forming a log with a hollowed-out center.

He took two branches and wedged them crosswise between the cracks in the log. He then bound the outside of the log with steel-wire fishing line. Finally, he stuffed the wood shavings he had just created into the empty space in the middle of the torch and tossed in an ember to complete the process.

A Swedish torch is known for its intense heat and long burn time. Plus, you can place cookware on top, making it an essential piece of wilderness survival gear.