American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 185 Stone Boiling Method Commonly Used by Indigenous Peoples

But this joy was quickly replaced by a more somber expression of worry. He crouched down and painstakingly pried off a mussel with the tip of his hunting knife, examining it closely.

The shell was tightly closed, not because of muscle strength, but because the internal fluids and seawater had completely frozen.

"They all froze to death, which is both a good thing and a huge problem."

"Although they are now frozen like rocks, they are absolutely safe. At this low temperature, all the decomposition process has stopped."

"But the problem is, I'm not sure if they'll stay in this state."

"For example, when the daytime temperature is slightly higher, the mussels on the surface of the snowdrift may partially thaw, which is the biggest danger."

"Mussels are filter feeders and contain a large number of microorganisms and digestive enzymes."

"As soon as there is a thaw, even if it is only for a few hours, these microorganisms and enzymes will be immediately activated and begin to decompose proteins, producing toxic substances such as cadaverine and putrescine."

“Once this process begins, even if you freeze it again, the toxins that have already been produced will still be present.”

"After several cycles, you simply can't tell whether the piece you got is safe or has turned into a poison bomb."

"Therefore, just like with the previous grilled mussels, we must carry out a safety treatment."

"But this time there are more, so I plan to boil them in water to get pure clam meat, which will minimize the risk of consumption."

Around noon, Lin Yu-an returned to the shelter.

He first stored all the rare seafood he had caught that morning—scallops, baitfish, snow crabs, and lobsters—into the 55-gallon giant barrel buried in the snow, and also brought the small tin barrel back to the shelter.

Without taking a break, he immediately began preparations for the afternoon's "mass production."

He tied the 5-gallon plastic bucket and his 1.9-liter stainless steel pot together, and then cut a large piece of the finest mesh from the pile of fishing net scraps and stuffed it into his backpack.

Then he set off again, returning to the southern coastline, to the huge mussel bed.

He first needed a huge "pot," and after searching for a while, he found a wide pothole in the center of a flat granite base.

Having located the pot, he immediately began his work, needing two independent heat sources operating simultaneously.

He built a hearth next to the stove hole using stones that were readily available along the coast, a hearth that could hold a large amount of firewood and stones.

They even went out of their way to select granite that was dense and had no obvious cracks.

Then, on the other side of the pot pit, he simply built a smaller stove using a few large stones and placed his stainless steel pot steadily on it.

With everything ready, he lit both fires at the same time.

In the huge fire of the main stove, dozens of fist-sized stones were buried, and the flames roared, continuously heating them for more than an hour.

Meanwhile, on the secondary stove, he began preparing water for the enormous cooking pot. He turned his gaze to the richest resource around him: the massive ice floes that had washed ashore.

He walked over to the cleanest and thickest-looking stranded ice floe and explained to the camera.

"Many people think that the ice on the beach is salty, but this is a misconception. When seawater freezes slowly, the salt is displaced, and the resulting ice crystals are pure freshwater ice."

He walked to a huge stranded ice floe, tapped it with the back of his axe, and the ice made a dull sound.

Facing the camera, he explained with a serious expression, "But not all ice can be melted and drunk directly."

"For example, this piece in front of us is huge, bluish in color, and has clear bubble layers and sediment layers inside."

"This is very likely ancient ice from a glacier, and its interior may contain ancient microorganisms from thousands of years ago, so it is important to distinguish between new ice and old ice."

He then walked to another area of ​​thin, newly frozen ice formed from seawater, and stepped on it with his boots, the ice surface making a cracking sound.

"Even this level of new ice won't work, because it still contains a lot of highly concentrated brine that hasn't had time to drain out, and the water will be salty after it melts."

"What we need is the top of a thick block of ice that has been formed for some time."

He began to search carefully within this chaotic icy pressure ridge.

Finally, he found an ideal target: a huge ice floe more than a meter thick, which had been overturned by the storm, revealing its original underwater bottom.

With the blade of his forest axe, he easily scraped away the layer of ice and snow, which was about ten centimeters thick, revealing a harder layer of ice underneath.

"This is the perfect source of drinking water. This thick ice was formed this winter, and as it grows, the salt will continue to be discharged downwards."

"The top of this type of ice is always the part with the lowest salt content and is the first to be desalinated."

"Therefore, we only need to take the top 10 to 20 centimeters to get the purest fresh water."

He easily chipped several large, crystal-clear chunks of ice from the top of the ice floe with an axe.

Then, I broke off a small piece, put it in my mouth and tasted it. It tasted completely like pure fresh water, without any saltiness.

He immediately got to work. He carried the safe blocks of ice he had selected from the top of the thick ice, back and forth, to the "cauldron" and filled it completely.

Then, he filled his stainless steel pot and 5-gallon bucket with crushed ice and began the first round of melting ice and water.

"I need to first melt the first batch of boiling water in a pot and pour it into the pot cavity to let the crushed ice in the pot cavity melt into the first batch of fresh water."

“We need a hot water source to start the process. Simply throwing a hot stone into a hard block of ice results in too small a contact area and extremely low heat transfer efficiency.”

"Most of the heat will be wasted as steam, which is much faster than throwing hot stones into water."

Soon, the crushed ice in the pot melted into clear fresh water and gradually began to steam.

When the water was fully boiled and made a "bubbling" sound, he immediately picked up the scalding hot pot and poured it evenly over the ice at the bottom of the pot.

"Zi la——!"

When boiling water comes into contact with cold ice, it instantly bursts into a large amount of white steam, and the surface of the ice melts at a visible speed, forming a small puddle.

Without stopping, he immediately used a 5-gallon bucket to take ice from the ice pile, refilled the stainless steel pot, and put it back on the fire to continue cooking.

Boil, transport, pour...

He repeated this action about six or seven times, and each time, the puddle at the bottom of the pot hole widened and deepened.

When he poured in the last pot of boiling water, a water layer more than ten centimeters deep and nearly fifteen liters in capacity had formed at the bottom of the huge "stone pot".

Meanwhile, in the huge fire of the main furnace, the dozens of stones had also been burned until they were completely red-hot.

He used two thick, wet wooden sticks as fire tongs to pick up a reddish stone and, amidst the steam and hissing sound, threw it into the stone pot.

"Zi la——!"

The moment the stone hits the water, the pool water boils violently as if a bomb has been dropped on it, bursting out a large amount of white steam!
He established a perfect circulation system, continuously taking hot stones from the main stove and dropping them into the pot to heat the water. At the same time, freshly melted hot water from the secondary stove was constantly added to the pool.

The continuous output of the two heat sources kept the water temperature in the "stone pot" hot enough. After more than half an hour, several liters of boiling hot water had accumulated in the pool!

Now, he has only just begun to process the mussels.

Using an axe, as if mining, he painstakingly chiseled a large chunk of "mussel ore" from the enormous mussel mine.

He put the still-frozen mussels into the fine fishing net he had brought, and then submerged them entirely into the boiling pot.

The cold mussels cooled the water slightly, but he immediately threw in a few red-hot stones, causing the water to boil violently again.

Under high temperatures, the mussels thaw rapidly and burst open with a "pop" as the internal moisture evaporates and the adductor muscle is heated.

A few minutes later, when he lifted the net out of the water, all the mussels inside had opened and were perfectly cooked.

He poured the cooked mussels aside to cool, and then immediately chiseled out a new batch of "mussel ore" for a second round of cooking.

This is a long but efficient assembly line operation.

All afternoon, the desolate coastline was filled with the rich aroma of seafood and billowing white steam.

This time is different from before; now he has food storage containers and needs to save space.

He sat by the fire and began the final step: removing the clam meat.

He only removed the safest part, the adductor muscle, discarding all the other internal organs. He transformed hundreds of pounds of mussels in their shells into tens of kilograms of cooked mussel meat.

Lin Yu'an filled the 5-gallon plastic bucket with the concentrated protein essence.

"Alright, guys, let's go home with a full load."

He slung his backpack over his shoulder, easily lifted the heavy bucket of clam meat, and headed towards the shelter.

The road home was far more difficult than the way there.

Without the daytime sunshine, the temperature plummeted, and the snow became harder and more slippery.

With each step, he not only had to maintain his own balance but also had to contend with the constantly swaying weight of over twenty kilograms in his hands.

When he finally returned to the shelter, night had completely fallen. He placed the bucket of clam meat heavily on the snow and let out a long sigh of relief.

He first carefully stored the precious cooked clam meat in the 55-gallon "cellar" buried in the snow.

After doing all this, he dragged his exhausted, almost numb body into the warm shelter.

Today, he undertook a massive "production operation," consuming enormous amounts of energy, and every cell in his body was craving calories and protein.

He needs a quick, energizing dinner, not a elaborate cooking show.

His mind flashed through the stored food, past the lobster that symbolized the ultimate feast, and finally settled on the [hairy fish] and [snow crab].

"Alright, guys, dinner time."

"Lobster is a reward for the future, but snow crab is the most deserved treat right now."

He took out two snow crabs and a handful of hairy fish from the large bucket. The snow crabs have a relatively simple structure and are quick to thaw and cook, making them very suitable for his current state where he urgently needed to replenish his energy.

He placed the stainless steel pot on the fire and scooped out a large chunk of grease from a container in the shape of a seashell, which had solidified into a milky white paste.

This was the fish oil he had made himself the day before, which he had rendered from halibut liver.

The oil melted quickly in the pot, making a sizzling sound. After the oil temperature rose, he put the small, silvery fish into the pot one by one.

These small fish are rich in oil, and under the catalysis of hot oil, their bodies quickly curl up, and their skin turns golden brown at high temperatures, making a crackling sound.

"When processing baitfish like capelin, it's acceptable to leave them gutted, especially in Iceland, Norway, or Newfoundland, where locals often grill or fry them whole."

"Because capelin has a short digestive tract, clean internal organs and no gallbladder, it has very little bitterness. More importantly, its liver and roe are rich in fatty acids and vitamin D."

"This is a natural nutrient for polar residents to combat the extreme cold and lack of sunlight. Removing the internal organs is equivalent to discarding the most valuable part."

"Secondly, deep-frying at high temperatures makes the whole fish crispy, the bones become a source of calcium, and the internal organs contribute unique flavor and fat. This is a way to utilize 100% of the nutritional value of the whole fish."

He used a wooden stick to flip the small fish over so that they could be heated evenly. In just a few minutes, a handful of golden and crispy fried "dried small fish" was ready! He placed them on a wooden plate and sprinkled a few grains of coarse sea salt on top while they were still hot.

Lin Yu'an picked up a piece, ignoring the fact that it was too hot to eat, and put it directly into his mouth.

"Crunch!" A crisp sound rang out, and an intensely crisp sensation spread between the teeth. The scalding hot oil coated the savory fish meat, melting almost instantly in the mouth, leaving a savory and fragrant aftertaste!

After finishing this perfect high-calorie appetizer, he didn't wash the pot. The bottom layer of oil, mixed with fish oil and capelin essence, was the essence of the cooking that followed.

He added a small amount of fresh water to the pot, and the mixture of water and oil boiled rapidly at high temperature.

He skillfully disassembled the two snow crabs, first unscrewing off all the walking legs and claws, then lifting the carapace to remove the inedible gills and internal organs, leaving only the most prized part of the crab body.

After cutting the ingredients into pieces, put all of them into a pot, cover the pot, and steam them using the steam generated by a small amount of fresh water.

Steam billowed in the pot, and soon, a unique crustacean aroma, sweeter and more assertive than that of fried fish, wafted through the gaps in the lid.

He estimated the time, lifted the pot lid, and found that the originally reddish-brown crab shells had now been completely steamed into a bright red color.

Then remove the crab pieces and place them on a clean wooden board.

He first processed the crab legs, gently tapping along the crab legs with the back of a knife. The hard shell cracked open, and with a gentle squeeze of his fingers, a whole plump, snow-white crab leg meat with clearly visible muscle fibers was pushed out intact.

He didn't prepare any dipping sauce because the salt at the bottom of the pot had already provided the final seasoning.

During the steaming process, the salty fish oil and fresh water at the bottom of the pot inevitably adhere evenly to the surface of the crab meat, coating it with a thin layer of flavor.

He put a whole crab leg into his mouth, and unsurprisingly, the first thing he noticed was the slightly doughy texture that came from being frozen.
It has lost the firm and chewy fibrous texture of live crab, becoming softer and denser, but this does not diminish its deliciousness at all. On the contrary, it allows the natural sweetness of the snow crab to be released in the mouth more quickly.
He only began to enjoy the crab body after finishing the crab legs.

He carefully used the tip of his knife to pick out every strand of snow-white crab meat from the crab shell, mixed with the golden crab roe, each bite was the ultimate treat for the taste buds.

This simple, efficient, and delicious dinner refilled his nearly depleted energy level.

As night deepened, he sat before the warm fireplace, listening to the wind howling outside once more.

The problem of food reserves has been largely resolved. Starting tomorrow, he will begin to consider new survival strategies and methods.

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(End of this chapter)