King of the Wilderness

He finished all four grilled sea urchins and scallop columns in one go, and a warm and powerful energy sensation quickly spread from his stomach throughout his entire body, dispelling the exhaustion accumulated throughout the day.

He glanced at the dozen or so remaining sea urchins next to him and decided not to continue cooking.

”I can’t leave these until tomorrow to deal with. Once they’re completely thawed, they’ll spoil immediately. I must handle them and prepare them as food now.”

He cleaned the iron pot thoroughly and brought a small amount of fresh water to a boil inside it.

Then, he cracked open the remaining sea urchins, carefully scraping out all the sea urchin roe with a wooden spoon and placing it into a wooden bowl.

He didn’t opt for grilling or frying, instead he chose the method that best preserves its original flavor and form—steaming.

He carefully placed the bowl containing the sea urchin roe into the pot, utilizing the steam generated by the boiling water for steaming. He covered the pot, steaming it for only a few minutes.

When he opened the lid again, the originally soft, paste-like sea urchin roe had solidified into a beautiful, custard-like, tender orange solid.

”Alright, these steamed sea urchin roes are just like the highest grade of energy blocks.”

”Once cooled, they can be stored safely for a day or two. Tomorrow morning, whether eaten directly or heated with fish soup, they make for a top-class breakfast.”

After finishing all this, he turned his attention back to the large flatfish that had mostly thawed.

”Alright, folks, the first step in handling a fish is always to remove the guts.”

”This nearly half-meter-long flatfish yields about 2-3 kilograms of meat.”

He first used the knife tip to find the cloaca near the tail fin of the fish’s belly, then started from there, carefully slicing upwards along the midline of the belly with the knife tip, extending all the way to the gill cover connection below the fish head.

His movements were very gentle, only cutting through the thin wall of the fish belly to ensure that the internal organs weren’t damaged.

As the incision opened, lumps of gray-green and deep red entrails were exposed.

He reached into the cold abdominal cavity and extracted all the intestines, including the stomach and a large, light-colored liver, all in one go.

He set this pile of entrails aside and carefully separated them.

He picked up the almost palm-sized, fine-textured light-colored liver: ”Look at this, the liver of a large flatfish, this is the real treasure.”

”To survive in the icy deep sea, it stores a large amount of energy in the form of fat in its liver.”

”This stuff is rich in extremely high-quality fats, vitamin A and vitamin D, making it the highest grade nutritional supplement and also the source of cooking oil for tonight’s big meal.”

He carefully placed the liver on a clean stone slab, then returned to the cutting board to officially slice the fish fillets.

Using the Hunting Knife, he cleanly sliced the thick, snow-white fish meat along the spine from head to tail.

Then he flipped it over and sliced off the other side. Two large fillets, almost free of any bones and perfectly pure meat appeared in front of him.

Now, it’s cooking time.

He placed the iron pot on the fireplace, heating it to warm rather than scalding hot.

Then, he cut the massive fish liver into small pieces, placing them into the pot to pan-fry over low heat.

He added nothing else, only using a piece of wood to gently stir in the pot.

Under low heat, the golden, clear fish oil began to slowly seep out from the liver tissue, making a faint sizzling sound.

The entire shelter was instantly filled with a rich and unique aroma of oil.

Once a thin layer of base oil had gathered in the pot, he threw in the previously cut fish belly meat and fish skin, also rich in fat.

In the hot oil, these trimmings sizzled and popped. The liver was fried until its outer coat was crispy and its inside melted, while the fish skin curled up and became golden and crispy.

A few minutes later, he picked out these delicious ”oil dregs,” sprinkled a bit of sea salt, and sent them directly into his mouth. They crackled, filled his mouth with oily aroma, and quickly replenished the first wave of energy.

Now, the pot was left with a layer of flatfish oil mixed with essence from the liver, fish belly, and fish skin.

Finally, he carefully placed the two large, thick, snow-white fish fillets into the pot of hot oil derived from the fish itself.

The fish fillets sizzled and popped in their own oil, and he used a piece of wood to press the fillets to prevent them from curling.

Soon, the edges of the fillets began to turn from translucent to an opaque pure white, with an indescribable fresh aroma filling the entire shelter.

A few minutes later, he flipped over the fillets. The side in contact with the bottom of the pot had been fried to a perfect golden brown. He sprinkled a few grains of coarse sea salt onto the fillets.

When both sides of the fillets had been fried to perfection, he served the steaming ”fish oil-fried large flatfish fillets” into the wooden bowl he had made himself.

He cut off a small piece with the knife and sent it into his mouth.

The first sensation was the slightly crisp crust on the surface, brimming with the rich aroma of fish oil and the salty freshness of sea salt.

Next came the snow-white, delicate meat, segmented like garlic cloves, plump and juicy, melting upon impact inside the mouth, reaching an extreme of deliciousness.

This wasn’t just a meal; it was the highest reward for his hard work throughout the day, and a victory declaration for successfully overcoming the storm and benefiting from it.

After finishing this sumptuous dinner, he buried the remaining fish bones, head, and entrails in snow, planning to use them as bait for traps later on.

Night fell, and he sat in front of the warm fireplace; the wind had picked up outside again, but it wasn’t as strong as the previous two days.

Lying in his sleeping bag, Lin Yu’an thought about his plans for tomorrow, preparing to continue exploring the coastline and searching for fish that had slipped through the net.

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(Hurry! Requesting monthly tickets! If you cast 15 tickets directly, you’ll receive a Survival Bracelet! The chance of winning a phone is even greater!)

(Two more updates during the day!)