Starting from Robinson Crusoe-Chapter 106 - 40: Four Dishes and One Soup

December 31, 1659.

The last day of the year, also a key junction between the end of the year and the first day of 1660.

Chen Zhou put down the work in his hands, preparing to spend the New Year peacefully.

After three days of work, several small low walls had been built on the flat ground outside the cave, awaiting a strength test after drying.

The interior of the cave had been set up to have some feeling of home.

Chen Zhou brought many long wooden planks from the campsite below the mountain, simply splicing them across the floor of the main living area to form a rugged, uneven floor.

At the end of this old floor, lay his bed, a nightstand, a storage rack taller than a person, and a wooden box for breeding chinchillas.

A carpet was laid near the cave mouth, next to which were stacked several wooden boxes containing either tools or food, all marked and orderly.

Beside the boxes stood a square table, on top of which were paper, pen and ink, an oil lamp and utensils, with a wooden chair behind, serving as Chen Zhou's dining and working spot.

Passing the load-bearing pillar, he entered the rudimentary kitchen. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The floor was still sandy, with several wooden barrels against the wall. Some contained rum, others vinegar with a strong, sour aroma.

Deeper inside the kitchen, two small wooden racks held gutted small fish hanging to dry.

This was Xiao Huihui's food reserve, occasionally tasted by Lai Fu when tired of buns.

Behind the rack stood a large iron pot, too heavy to be used for anything other than boiling large amounts of water.

Chen Zhou was already prepared to transport stove bricks up the mountain to build a cooking bench; until then, he was accustomed to cooking with an iron kettle.

Since arriving on the island, his cooking methods had been basically limited to stewing, simmering, and boiling.

No other options, as neither the iron pot nor the kettle could achieve stir-frying, so he could only add a lot of water to stew the food.

As for roasting, due to concerns about failing to kill parasites thoroughly, Chen Zhou had seldom tried it.

Robinson worried about drinking soup for several years on the island.

He, on the other hand, drank so much soup that he felt like vomiting, thinking about the New Year, he longed to have some frying and baking.

Unfortunately, there was no large iron plate among the parts taken from the ship, making it impossible to hammer out a frying pan.

There were quite a few thin lead plates, but they released toxins when heated and certainly couldn't be consumed for a craving.

The issue of a frying pan was essentially unsolvable, except perhaps hoping for an unreliable mysterious reward.

Chen Zhou thought that if he could master pottery techniques in the future, he might try to make a ceramic frying pan.

Yet he had never heard of a frying pan or skillet made purely of ceramic in modern times.

After all, ceramic material cannot dry cook, withstand high heat, and is easily broken; before solving these problems, even if it is beautiful, non-stick and easy to clean, it cannot become a mainstream frying pan.

Problems that modern technology struggles to solve, in his rudimentary environment, a ceramic pan was likely a pipe dream and perhaps it would be more reliable to find iron ore and forge a pan himself.

After washing up in the morning, having eaten, Chen Zhou took out the large iron pot, placed it over a dug-out fire pit, filled it with cold water, planning to take a warm bath at night.

Since arriving on the island, he had only taken a few quick cold baths in the river, ending hurriedly within a few minutes, not washing thoroughly.

The significance of New Year's Eve was profound; he couldn't muddle through, just as the new home was completed, he intended to thoroughly tidy up his personal hygiene in the residence on the mountain.

Started the fire, filled the pit with firewood.

Chen Zhou called Lai Fu, grabbed the matchlock gun, carried a hand axe and crossbow, and went out hunting.

...

Whether overseas or in another world, the customs of the homeland are always etched in a traveler's bloodstream.

It was the New Year, and life's conditions although simple, cannot continue with buns soaked in milk tea like in ordinary days.

Moreover, having prepared the vinegar, how could one not make dumplings?

Already making dumplings, it wouldn't do to fill them with 'noodle' filling; he must find a way to obtain some fatty, meaty stuffing.

The best choice for dumpling filling is lamb.

However, Chen Zhou hadn't seen any wild goats for several days; since the blasting, they hadn't appeared on the mountain platform again.

Today being leisurely, he was unwilling to expend energy diving into the mountains to search for those sly creatures, instead wanting to try his luck by the river to see if he could spot that big bird he tried last time.

If nothing comes of it, he could still dig up some clams, gather some scallops and mussels on the Rock Beach.

Unlike the modern influencers' clam gathering spots where people outnumber fish, this island offered abundant natural seafood resources.

They required no rich seasonings, simply placed in water to expel inner filth, adding a bit of salt to boil then would suffice.

Living inland in the north, Chen Zhou usually only ate cheap seafood like kelp, hairtail, and frozen shrimp.

While watching short videos, he was curious about the taste of sea snails, salt-sprinkled razors, and various shellfish found by clam gatherers by the sea.

Now finally able to personally gather some clams to cook at home, he felt particularly excited.

Based on knowledge acquired from clam gathering videos, the best time to gather clams was two to three hours after the tide recedes. Chen Zhou planned to first go to the riverbank to shoot birds and then visit the beach after the midday tide withdrawal.

In the campsite below the mountain, there was an Iron Blade available for digging, along with plenty of wooden barrels and coarse salt to assist in catching clams, packing fish catches; after bird hunting, one could take them freely.

Carrying the matchlock gun, with Lai Fu behind him, he quietly approached the riverside bushes and settled behind a dirt hill, lying down and concealing himself.

Watching for unusual movements among the grass tips, Chen Zhou took out his crossbow.

The matchlock gun was too loud and easily frightened away the birds, he wanted to test it first with the crossbow.