Chapter 326 - 212: Avocado Information (Part 2)

Chapter 326: Chapter 212: Avocado Information (Part 2)

Soon, he spotted several sharp tips poking out from the undergrowth. The closest one was just two meters ahead to his left.

He pushed aside the dense weeds, and a tender, brownish-yellow bamboo shoot as thick as his forearm revealed itself.

He used his bamboo knife to dig away some of the dirt around its base before chopping it off with a single slice.

"Based on my experience digging bamboo shoots last time, part of the edible section is hidden underground, so you have to dig away the surrounding soil. But you don’t need to dig too deep."

"The parts of the shoot that are too deep are close to the bamboo root, and they’re already too hard to chew. They’re also a pain to chop, and more importantly, you might accidentally damage the bamboo’s root system in the process."

"The bamboo stalks we see with our naked eyes aren’t actually the most important part of the plant. The roots are hidden deep underground, and as long as they aren’t damaged, they can continuously sprout new stalks."

"Bamboo roots are very hard and sturdy. They have extraordinary uses in many construction industries, but they’re almost impossible to work with without professional tools. So, if you come across a bamboo grove in the wild, it’s best to just focus on the stalks and the shoots."

He didn’t gather too many shoots, stopping after digging up about four of them.

Taking too many would mean they’d rot before he could eat them, and besides, it was bad for environmental conservation and resource regeneration.

He peeled all the tough outer layers off the four shoots. Their volume instantly shrank by nearly half, leaving only the tender, pale-yellow edible core.

After quickly returning to the cave shelter, he sliced off the tenderest part from the top of one shoot and cut it into small chunks about the size of a piece of octopus.

Just as he finished preparing the bamboo shoots, Erica returned.

She had a smug smile on her face. Tossing a bamboo basket onto the ground, she said, "Help yourself, don’t be shy. Just remember to put in extra sea urchin for me~"

Seeing her smug expression, Lin Chen’s lip twitched. ’I’d better brace myself.’

He leaned over for a look, and sure enough, the basket was piled high with a small mountain of Purple Sea Urchins. A rough estimate put the number at twenty to thirty, at least.

"Did you raid their home and kidnap the entire family?"

It was true that Purple Sea Urchins were social creatures, but they generally lived on the seabed. The ones that washed ashore were just a few unlucky individuals.

He glanced down at Erica’s pant cuffs; they weren’t very wet, and her shoes were dry.

’There’s no way she just picked all these up on the beach, right?’

"Nope! I didn’t go to the beach. I went to the reefs. Didn’t you tell me last time that the reefs have lots of hollows where seafood gets trapped? I was only there for a few minutes and saw sea urchins everywhere, plus a bunch of dead fish I didn’t recognize."

No wonder she got back a little later than him. She’d gone somewhere farther away.

’But this haul...’

’Never mind. Coming back empty-handed, I’m in no position to comment.’

"Don’t just stand there in a daze. Come help me with these sea urchins. You don’t want to wait another hour or two for dinner, do you?"

"Make sure you clean the sea urchin shells thoroughly, especially the black membrane and the vein-like impurities inside. I’m going to use them as molds later."

"Using the sea urchin shells as molds??"

Erica was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up. "Oh my god, how did you come up with such a brilliant idea? Why didn’t I think of that?"

"Because you haven’t developed a chef’s mindset yet. It’s perfectly normal."

Ordinarily, cleaning sea urchins wasn’t this much trouble; you just had to crack them open and scoop out the roe. Dealing with the spines and the black membrane were steps you’d see in a Japanese restaurant, where they serve the roe in the shell. Naturally, it had to be cleaned more thoroughly for presentation.

But now, to make the large octopus balls later, they had to do the extra prep work.

He neatly arranged the scooped-out sea urchin roe on a banana leaf alongside the other ingredients.

The surface of the orange-yellow roe was still moist, glistening under the firelight.

Seeing such fresh sea urchin, the famished Erica couldn’t resist and immediately popped two into her mouth.

A satisfied smile spread across her face as she savored the rich, mellow flavor left behind after the sweet, creamy roe melted on her tongue.

"Coming to the coast was definitely the right choice. I can’t even imagine how poorly the contestants who chose to live In the Forest are eating."

She unclipped the camera from her collar and aimed it at the various ingredients neatly arranged on the banana leaf.

"Hey everyone, look at this tempting food. Can you guys tell me what the other contestants are having for dinner?"

Many comments quickly appeared on her watch’s live feed.

[What else can they eat? Hunting isn’t allowed, so it’s just fruit.]

[Mostly plantains and bananas. Some people found mangoes and oranges.]

[I just saw one contestant eating a pineapple, but from what others are saying, it was a leftover from yesterday. They probably only found one.]

[Green Iguana.]

[I heard someone got lucky and found a whole avocado tree. That stuff is a great source of fat. What kind of luck do you need to find a whole tree?]

"An avocado tree?!"

Among the flood of comments, Erica’s eyes immediately locked onto that particularly special one.

Hearing her exclamation, Lin Chen raised an eyebrow.

’Someone actually managed to find an avocado tree? Impressive.’

’You could say it’s the only easily obtainable source of fat in this tropical forest.’

’With no one to remind me, I’d almost forgotten about them.’

’But now...’

He closed his eyes, searching his mind for information on the growing conditions of avocados.

’There are numerous avocado varieties worldwide, with the most common being the Hass avocado. In the Panama region, three main types are prevalent.’

’The Mexican, Guatemalan, and West Indian varieties.’

’The Mexican variety is cold-tolerant but not heat-tolerant, generally growing in northern and high-altitude regions, so I can rule that one out.’

’The Guatemalan variety is represented by the Hass, the most common avocado. It thrives on hillsides and at the edges of forests, requires a lot of sunlight and specific humidity, and is unlikely to be found in low-lying areas.’

’The West Indian variety is tolerant of salt, alkali, and high temperatures, and generally grows in low-lying areas and near coastal forests.’

’The last two are the most likely to appear near me. The varieties I’ll probably be able to find are Gwen and Hass—one at the foot of the mountain, the other on the mountainside.’

In the space of just a few breaths, he had mentally reviewed everything he knew about avocados.

Gwen and Hass avocados look nearly identical. They are greenish-blue before ripening, turning a dark brownish color when mature.

The difference is that the Gwen is slightly larger with a proportionally larger pit. In other respects, it’s not much different from the Hass; the most significant distinction lies in their growing environment.

He made a mental note to search for avocados, planning to explore the surrounding forest more once he was finished with his current task.

If he were being honest, he hadn’t really paid close attention to the nearby forest. His focus had been entirely on finding materials to build their shelter, so he hadn’t been looking out for fruit trees.

He had only ever seen the strange fruit of the avocado tree, never the tree itself. Since the fruit was also green, it would be easy to mistake it for an ordinary tree and overlook it if he wasn’t specifically searching for one.

He shook his head, pulling his thoughts back to the present.

They didn’t need to clean all the sea urchin shells. Six would be enough for the molds. For the rest, they just needed to scoop out the roe, which saved a lot of time.

Handing the rest of the sea urchins to Erica, Lin Chen surveyed all the prepared ingredients on the banana leaf and nodded in satisfaction.

He brought over a bamboo tube of fresh water and an empty bamboo tube. He added a suitable amount of the potato dough to the empty tube, then poured in a little water and began to stir.

Once diluted with water, the already-formed potato dough quickly turned into a thick, paste-like liquid.

He scooped up a spoonful to check its consistency, then added a little more starch until it dripped in a continuous, honey-like stream.

He sprinkled some crushed allspice and sea salt into the potato batter, stirring it evenly. Then, he cut six fingernail-sized pieces of deer tallow and placed one inside each of the six sea urchin shells, which he set on a bamboo-slat grill to heat.

Seeing him finally begin making the octopus balls she’d been dreaming of, Erica stared intently at the six purplish-black sea urchin shells on the grill, unable to stop herself from swallowing.