Chapter 340 - 219: Oysters Can Be Made into a Condiment?

Chapter 340: Chapter 219: Oysters Can Be Made into a Condiment?

He washed the black mud off the taro, soaked the taro leaves, pineapple, and oranges in the water, and then headed back to the shelter.

After returning home, he didn’t do anything but drink some leftover coconut water, then simply started a fire and went to sleep.

...

After resting for two consecutive days, he finally felt his strength return. The needle-like stabbing pain and dizziness in his head had completely vanished.

Erica had come to visit him as well, but surprisingly, it was as if she had guessed his thoughts. She didn’t bring any prepared meals this time, instead just helping him move over the smoked venison, potatoes, chili peppers, and various spices.

These supplies were his to begin with, so considering she’d given him a shelter for free, her acting as a delivery person was acceptable enough.

"Congratulations, Lin. Your temperature is back to normal. Other than being a little dehydrated, there’s nothing else wrong with you."

Ariana had been visiting even more frequently than Erica these past two days, coming once in the morning and once in the evening without fail. Robert and his group, however, hadn’t appeared at all.

"I feel pretty much recovered. Thanks for all your help these past couple of days."

Ariana waved a hand dismissively and put away the forehead thermometer. "I’m the team medic; it’s my job. Besides, I only did a simple check-up. I didn’t provide any treatment. You recovering is all thanks to your own hard work."

"While your survival performance might not be top-tier among the contestants, you’re undoubtedly number one when it comes to dietary control and nutritional balance. I never expected the Chef ability could give you an edge in this area."

"That doesn’t really have much to do with being a chef," Lin Chen said with a smile, walking her to the door. "It’s probably because we Asians have different customs from you Westerners. For common, minor illnesses, we usually don’t see a doctor or take medicine. We just heal ourselves by adjusting our diet and lifestyle."

"It’s just like what Erica said the other day. When she got sick as a kid, her parents would make her oatmeal, chicken soup with stewed vegetables, juice, toast with jam, and soda crackers. We Da Xia People have our own methods, too."

"You mean by drinking more coconut water?"

"Haha, of course not. Didn’t you notice I made ginger tea three times yesterday?"

"Ginger tea? So that’s what that was..."

Ariana nodded, a thoughtful glint in her eyes, and headed toward the beach with her medical kit on her back.

’The beach?’

Lin Chen watched her retreating back, puzzled. It seemed she had been coming and going from that direction for her last few visits.

Short of using a helicopter, a speedboat was indeed the most convenient and fastest mode of transportation.

But for some reason, perhaps because Robert and his group hadn’t shown up, he had a strange feeling.

’My body has recovered anyway. It’s time to head to the beach and stock up on some protein.’

"Let’s go together. I’m heading to the beach, too."

He ducked back into the shelter to grab his tools and bamboo basket, then jogged a few steps to catch up with her.

"So, I had a dream last night."

"And?" Ariana glanced at him sideways, her expression blank and utterly uninterested.

"I dreamed about a video I saw online once. It was about how to make a condiment from seafood, a specific one that’s unique to us in Great Xia."

"A condiment made from seafood? You mean MSG?"

"No, no, no. That stuff is used all over Asia, and it can be made from all sorts of things, mainly kelp, mushrooms, or chicken broth. What I’m talking about is a sauce made from raw oysters."

"It’s not MSG, but the effect is similar. It gives dishes a wonderful umami flavor."

"You can make a sauce from raw oysters?"

A slight ripple of expression finally crossed Ariana’s face. "That does sound interesting. I look forward to seeing your masterpiece."

"If you really manage to create a condiment, it would probably lower the survival difficulty for all future island-type environments. That would be an unprecedented achievement."

You have to understand, it’s not actually that hard to find spices or aromatic herbs in the wild. The difficult part is that when you only have natural seasonings, the dishes you can make tend to be more Western-style.

Asian cuisine, on the other hand, makes more use of complex or fermented condiments, and this is especially true for Chinese food.

The two made small talk as they walked, and soon they arrived at the edge of the beach.

In the distance, he saw a medium-sized speedboat moored on the water. Fishing rods were set up on both sides and at the stern. A person in a wetsuit was lifting a dark-green scoop net toward the boat, and the net appeared to be filled with seafood.

’What the fuck?’

Lin Chen’s jaw dropped. He never imagined these guys would actually come to stock up on supplies right under their noses.

"Ahem..."

Ariana gave a slightly awkward cough. "Rest assured, they specifically chose a deep-water area. Under normal circumstances, the contestants can’t get out that far, so it won’t affect your resources."

"I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I’ve been planning to build a raft to head out to sea. I only put it off because I had to repair my shelter, the weather was bad, and then I got sick."

"I know the ocean’s resources are practically inexhaustible, but isn’t it a bit much for you all to be harvesting right next to the contestants’ designated area?"

"That’s what I told them, too, but as you know, I don’t have any real authority."

Ariana’s tone shifted as she immediately distanced herself from the responsibility. "Don’t worry, I’ll have them stop harvesting right now."

With that, she strode toward a small boat that was beached on the sand.

Hei, who had already spotted her from the speedboat, gave a wave. He immediately started the winch to reel in the nylon rope attached to the small boat, pulling it out toward the open sea.

Watching her rapidly retreat, Lin Chen pursed his lips.

’I hadn’t even said anything yet. What’s she so guilty about? She ran off pretty damn fast.’

’Good thing building the raft is still just a plan. Who knows how many days it would take to actually put it into action. Besides, I haven’t redeemed my Basic Diving Mastery yet.’

’No rush. I’ll wait a bit longer.’

’With a few days’ buffer, the resources on that patch of the seabed should have mostly recovered.’

His goal today was crystal clear: American Oysters.

’The dream last night was so vivid. It made me remember the general details of that video I watched.’

’A hundred pounds of oysters can be rendered down into four to five pounds of oyster sauce. But I wonder if that’s a hundred pounds including the shells, or just the meat? The video didn’t seem to say.’

’It’s probably the weight of just the meat, right?’

To be on the safe side, he decided to make a small test batch first. Besides, oyster sauce needed to be refrigerated. In a hot, humid environment like Panama, it wouldn’t last long, so it was better not to make too much.

’I’ll start by gathering five pounds of oysters. Including the shells, that’ll probably be... twenty-five to thirty pounds?’

The American Oysters in the Mangrove Forest were quite large, each one weighing between three hundred and five hundred grams. That meant he’d need at least thirty of the big ones, or forty to fifty of the smaller ones.

’Thank god I don’t have to carry the shells back. Hauling over ten kilograms up that slope would kill me.’

The new shelter was indeed better than the cave in every respect. Its only drawback was being on a hillside, which meant a bit of a climb to get back.

He hadn’t been to this part of the Mangrove Forest in several days. The dense aerial roots were still covered in countless oysters, though the area closer to the shore showed clear signs of harvesting.

Just as he was about to step into the water, a flash of green in his peripheral vision zipped a short distance away.

He froze in place, only turning his neck a dozen degrees, slowly and silently.

There, on a mangrove root not far to his left, a Green Iguana was perched motionlessly.

Its tail was extremely long, almost one-and-a-half to two times the length of its body. Its wrinkled, textured skin was covered in small, nubby bumps, and dinosaur-like spines ran down its back and neck.

Its ugly head, in particular, looked no different from a dinosaur in the movies!

’A juvenile iguana?’