Chapter 289: Mustard

Translator: 549690339 |

Seeing that it was already past five in the afternoon, Qin Lang decisively decided to camp by the Lanqiu Waterfall for the night.

Of course, they couldn’t set up their tents too close to the water-bearing pool.

As beautiful as the waterfall was, the ceaseless rumbling noise was quite disruptive to sleep.

After taking a few stunning pictures at the bottom of the waterfall, the three walked along another stream that flowed out from the water-bearing pool until they reached a clearing about a kilometer away.

From here, the thunderous roar of the upstream waterfall was barely audible, so it would not disturb their sleep too much.

Both Qin Lang and Zhou Tianhao were experienced in outdoor survival. They quickly and efficiently set up three tents suitable for one person each.

Shen Qian was not idle either. Although she didn’t know how to set up a tent, she strolled around the nearby area with the Food Spirits while the others set up the tents, returning with a bunch of fresh, tender greens.

“Look what I found!” Shen Qian swung the greens in her hands with a big grin, “There are also plenty of mushrooms in the bag!”

“Hmm? This is… ” Qin Lang washed his hands in the stream and took over the greens offered by Shen Qian, a surprised look on his face.

“What kind of wild greens are these? It’s my first time seeing them.” Zhou Tianhao, who was standing next to them, leaned in curiously, but he was unable to match these greens with any vegetables he remembered.

“I don’t know either, but I’ve eaten these wild greens before. The crunchy taste is quite good.” Shen Qian pointed to an area behind her, “There are plenty over there and they look very fresh, so I picked some to see if they are edible.”

“They are edible, these are mustards.” Qin Lang chuckled, weighing the amount of mustards in his hand and turned to Shen Qian, “You said there are a lot more?”

“Yes, there are at least several hundred pounds…” Shen Qian spoke subconsciously, then noticed the look on Qin Lang’s face, and thought, “You know this wild plant, so I assume you also know how to cook it?”

“Indeed, I do.” Qin Lang nodded slightly.

The culinary developments of the two worlds never intersected, so there are some disparities in some areas.

For example, this mustard, Qin Lang had never seen it in any market before, and Shen Qian called it a wild vegetable, which implies that this ingredient is not highly valued in this world.

“Mustard can be stir-fried directly and it’s crunchy and tastes good,” Qin Lang paused for a moment, “However, it also has another classic preparation where it is dried and fermented to become a new side dish – Pickled Mustard.”

“Really? It is subjected to drying and fermentation processing?” Shen Qian was surprised, but also felt it made sense.

The production of sauces was a combination of fermentation and other processing steps, and Qin Lang was able to create various uniquely flavoured sauces on his own, so he was quite proficient in this.

Zhou Tianhao on the side nodded thoughtfully and looked eager, “So how long will it take to produce the Pickled Mustard?”

“It doesn’t take long…” Qin Lang calculated in his head, “It can be done in just over ten days.”

The fermentation process of Pickled Mustard is not long, it mainly requires repeated drying and steaming, compared with the latter, the former is hardly considered a big deal.

“That quickly?” Zhou Tianhao’s face brightened, “It looks like I have the chance to taste this side dish called Pickled Mustard.”

“I will definitely let you guys taste it first once it’s done.” Qin Lang smiled and got up to walk in the direction Shen Qian pointed out.

He wanted to see exactly how much wild mustard was there.

This was truly an unexpected surprise.

Thinking about a classic dish made with Pickled Mustard – Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard, Qin Lang couldn’t help swallowing his saliva.

Soon, Qin Lang returned with a broad grin.

There was even more than he had anticipated. He could harvest and take it with him when leaving Lan Qiu Forest. It wouldn’t be long before he had another exclusive side dish.

Next, Qin Lang inspected the other ingredients Shen Qian had collected.

It was all common edible fungi. Because they were wild, the sizes were smaller, but the taste was concentrated which means they would be better than the ordinary quality ones.

Worth mentioning is that Shen Qian found a dead tree nearby. The humid environment resulted in the tree trunk being covered with wood fungus.

Seeing the diminutive wood fungus that was crisp and bouncy to the touch, Qin Lang’s smile grewwider, “With these ingredients, we can make a mushroom soup tonight.”

“We can catch a few fish and pair it with the mustard.” Qin Lang glanced at the nearby stream and quickly had an idea, “Mushroom Vegetable Fish Soup!”

Although it might sound a bit like a mishmash, the taste should be pretty good.

And thus, one of the dishes for dinner was settled.

Just the thought of the delicious fish soup made Shen Qian and Zhou Tianhao somewhat hungry.

Although they had eaten a lot at noon, the afternoon hike in the forest made sure everything was digested.

“I think I saw some wild Mountain Sparrows earlier. The same kind we had for lunch.” Zhou Tianhao grinned, “I’ll go catch a few, and see if there are any other ingredients!”

The two Crispy Mountain Sparrows at noon were not nearly enough for everyone. If he could, he would like to have them again for dinner.

“Mountain Sparrow sounds good!” Shen Qian was on the same wavelength as Zhou Tianhao, visibly excited she nodded, then seemed to have a realization, she turned to Qin Lang with a bright look in her eyes, “Qin Lang, I have an idea!”

“You want another competition?” Seeing the look on Shen Qian’s face, Qin Lang knew what she must be thinking.

“Yes! Our theme for this time is ‘Unconventional Cooking Methods’. What do you think?” Shen Qian said, grinning.

The sudden desire for another competition was because Shen Qian felt like, being a Spirit Chef, she can’t always let Qin Lang take care of the cooking, making her seem like a freeloader.

And the ingredients they just gathered and the common animals found in the forest, reminded her of a unique delicacy she knew how to make.

While this delicacy tastes great, what’s more interesting is its cooking method.

It’s for this reason that Shen Qian set this competition’s theme as “Unconventional Cooking Methods.”

The moment she heard the theme, Qin Lang rubbed his chin and thought for a brief moment before agreeing, “No problem!”

Despite being unconventional, such cooking methods were not a challenge for Qin Lang.

However, he hadn’t yet decided on the dish to present. This would be determined by the ingredients available.

“Since you two want a competition, why don’t I be the referee?” Zhou Tianhao suggested with a smile.

During the afternoon chat, Zhou Tianhao also learned about the frequent culinary competitions between Qin Lang and Shen Qian.

Even though they were less powerful and younger than him, when it came to cooking skills, Zhou Tianhao was the one lagging behind them.

So Zhou Tianhao wanted to participate, but he had no intention of competing.

Neither Qin Lang nor Shen Qian had any objection to Zhou Tianhao’s proposal.

After a brief discussion, Zhou Tianhao left a Food Spirit to guard the camp and the three of them split up to forage for dinner ingredients.

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