King of the Wilderness

He picked one and put it in his mouth. A burst of sour and sweet flavor exploded on his taste buds, dispelling all exhaustion.

”After the frost, its taste changes from astringent to sweet and sour. It’s rich in vitamin C and antioxidants. With these, I don’t have to worry about scurvy at all.”

He quickly filled a bag using a collection bag.

While he was picking cranberries, his gaze was drawn to a half-meter-tall, unassuming evergreen shrub nearby.

The leaves of this shrub are long and oval, with edges curled backward, dark green on the front, and covered in a thick, distinctive rusty fuzz on the back.

Lin Yu’an’s face showed an expression of surprise more intense than when he discovered the cattail root, even verging on shock.

He quickly stepped forward, carefully picked a few leaves, and sniffed them, a faint, unique scent reminiscent of pine resin and rosemary wafted up.

”It can’t be...” he muttered to himself, then flipped the leaves, closely examining the signature rusty fuzz on the back.

”Labrador tea...” he finally confirmed the identity of the plant.

He excitedly introduced to the camera, ”Everyone, today is absolutely a lucky day for me!”

”This is Labrador tea, a plant extremely common in the northern coniferous forests and tundras of North America, but for survivors, it’s a ’miracle medicine’!”

He held a leaf before the camera: ”Its leaves are rich in vitamins and volatile oils.”

”Making tea with its leaves not only provides ample vitamins to prevent scurvy.”

”More importantly, it contains natural alkaloids that can invigorate, ward off cold, and even have mild analgesic effects.”

”For the Inuit and northern indigenous peoples, this is their coffee and aspirin!”

”Having it means that in the next fifty days, I can have a steaming cup of tea every day, replenishing vitamins and dispelling fatigue and cold.”

He carefully collected enough Labrador tea leaves, putting them in his clothes pocket.

Finally, he came to a young black spruce tree and picked several clusters of dark green needles.

He rubbed the needles in his palm, and a fresh pine fragrance hit his nose.

”This is my last insurance, spruce needle tea. Although it doesn’t taste as good as Labrador tea, its vitamin C content is equally astonishing. The more options, the more security.”

When he concluded his explorations and returned, laden with goods, to that makeshift shelter, night had completely fallen.

The fire’s flames were still cheerfully dancing, warming the interior of the shelter and the area in front of it.

Lin Yu’an’s face was filled with the joy of harvest, and his dinner was a feast gifted by the land.

He first dealt with the day’s most important harvest, bulrush root. Instead of directly throwing it into the fire, he used a knife to scrape off the rough outer skin of the root.

Then, he gathered several large pieces of thick, moist moss and wrapped the two cleaned bulrush roots tightly with it.

”This is one of the oldest cooking methods, the moss-wrapped roasting method.”

”The wet moss generates a lot of steam, preventing the food from burning directly and providing a ’steaming’ effect, preserving the moisture and flavor of the food as much as possible.”

He carefully buried these two ”moss wraps” in the embers at the edge of a long fire pit, where the temperature is relatively lower, completely covering them with hot ash.

While waiting for the main course to cook, he began preparing his seafood soup.

He cleaned the mussels and placed them in a seagull pot to dry-boil until they all opened, then picked out the delicious meat one by one, setting them aside.

Then, in the pot with the rich ”base soup,” he added clean lake water, chopped kelp, and a handful of crushed rock cranberries.

He explained to the camera, ”The taste of rock cranberries is very sour; adding a few can give this delicious soup a hint of refreshing fruit acidity, very appetizing.”

When the broth boiled again, becoming slightly thick due to the kelp’s gelatinous texture, he poured the previously extracted mussel meat back into the pot for a quick reheat, then promptly removed it from the heat.

Half an hour later, he unearthed the two moss wraps, now charred black, from the embers.

Peeling open the dried moss shell, a sweet aroma mixed with earth and chestnuts greeted him!

The bulrush roots inside were slightly charred on the outside but fully cooked within, turning a golden, soft, and sticky texture.

Sitting by the fire, he alternated bites of the soft, sweet roasted bulrush root with sips of the sour, fresh, and appetizing mussel thick soup.

In this frigid Labrador wilderness, this dinner was undoubtedly a kingly feast in this desolate wild!

After the meal, he meticulously cleaned the metal pot and boiled another pot of lake water.

Then, he took out the day’s biggest find—the Labrador tea leaves.

He showed these unique leaves, with rusty fuzz on the back, to the camera and gave a brief explanation.

”Many people might ask if these fresh leaves need to be ’killed’ or ’stir-fried’ like tea leaves in China?”

”The answer is, absolutely not!”

”This is a crucial knowledge point: the leaves of Labrador tea contain a terpenoid compound called ’Ledol,’ a trace toxic substance.”

”In fresh or dried leaves, its content is very low. Drinking small amounts of it in water can invigorate and ward off cold, which is safe.”

”If you stir-fry or boil it vigorously for a long time, it will cause this compound to leach out in large quantities, which might cause dizziness, nausea, or even more severe consequences upon consumption.”

”So, the only right way to handle Labrador tea is low temperature and short steeping.”

He tossed a few freshly picked Labrador tea leaves into the slightly cooled hot water.

Without covering the pot, he let the leaves soak quietly in the hot water for about five minutes.

Quickly, the clear lake water transformed into a cup of golden, uniquely aromatic hot tea.

The aroma, a combination of the biting scent of pine resin, the freshness of herbs, and a hint of citrus-like fragrance.

He took a careful sip.

A warm liquid, slightly bitter yet leaving a wonderful aftertaste, slid down the throat, instantly easing away much of the fatigue!

Watching the flickering flames in front, consuming carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins from the land, and sipping hot tea, he felt particularly content!

————

(Tried it, doesn’t taste good. Not even as good as a monthly ticket.)