Chapter 136 - 134: Peppercorn Potato Noodles

Among the ingredients Silas Lynn had prepared for her were three giant potatoes. Together, they weighed around eighty or ninety pounds, which would yield at least fifteen pounds of dried glass noodles. Sev Steele had good reason to suspect that these three massive potatoes were the very same ones she had dug up from the Mutant Potato Forest and handed over.

Before coming over this morning, she had asked Rusty to help make a metal grater. The grater’s structure was simple, as was the basic strainer—both were child’s play for Rusty.

Now, Sev took out the metal grater and carefully shredded the Mutated potatoes into fine pulp. She placed the pulp into a large basin, added plenty of clean water, and wrapped the mixture in cheesecloth. After repeatedly kneading and filtering it, she strained out the residue, leaving behind a clean, starchy liquid.

She poured the filtered liquid into a large basin and let it sit for fifteen minutes to settle. Once the starch had completely sunk to the bottom, a layer of clear water formed at the top, with a yellowish-brown layer of impure oily starch in the middle. She carefully skimmed off the top liquid and the oily layer, leaving only the wet starch at the bottom.

Even the skimmed-off portion wouldn’t go to waste. She kneaded it into a ball of dough with some flour, setting it aside for her next dish: deep-fried sugar cakes. She then used a clean piece of cheesecloth to filter the remaining mixture, extracting the fully settled starch.

From the settled wet starch, she scooped out about a fifth and placed it into a bowl. She quickly poured boiling water into the bowl, stirring rapidly with chopsticks as she poured. She kept stirring until the starch paste turned into a translucent, sticky gel that formed strings like glue—a process known as making the "binder."

While it was still hot, she poured the binder into the remaining wet starch. She mixed and kneaded it vigorously until the starch and binder were perfectly blended. When she grabbed a handful and the batter flowed slowly in a continuous, stringy stream, the starch batter was ready.

Sev prepared two flat-bottomed alloy trays, brushing a thin layer of oil on the bottom of each to prevent sticking. She ladled a scoop of the starch batter into a tray and tilted it to spread the mixture evenly.

With a pot of water boiling, she placed the tray into the steamer, covered it, and steamed it over high heat for two to three minutes. Once the starch sheet bubbled up and became completely transparent, she took the tray out and immediately submerged it in cold water to cool before gently peeling the sheet off.

She steamed all the batter into individual starch sheets. Once they cooled, she rolled them up and sliced them into strips. Finding a bamboo pole, she hung the wet glass noodle strips up to dry, taking the opportunity to instruct Artie Sawyer.

"These need to dry in the sun for at least a full day. Once they’re dry, you can pack them into vacuum bags, and they’ll last for an entire year!"

"Huh? A whole year? But how do you eat this?" Artie was pleasantly surprised but also a bit confused.

"Don’t worry, I’ll make a soup base for you later and teach you a quick, simple way to eat them," Sev said with a smile. "It’s super easy. I guarantee you’ll master it in no time!"

She decided to make a complex Peppercorns oil seasoning base. First, she heated some animal fat with salt, then tossed in whole Peppercorns to fry until they released their fragrance, before filtering out the Peppercorns oil. Next, she crushed mutated walnuts into small pieces and mixed them with minced wild vegetables and insect eggs. She slowly fried the mixture in oil until it was dry and aromatic. Finally, she stirred in some salt to finish, creating a rich, highly nutritious, and fragrant sauce.

"Alright, now I’ll teach you how to eat them." Sev looked at the Peppercorns oil and sauce on the cutting board, brimming with a sense of accomplishment.

However, a cold voice spoke from behind her. "Artie doesn’t need to learn this. Teaching me is enough."

Sev turned around to see a dust-covered Silas. He looked as though he had been trekking through a dense forest for a long time and had only just returned.

The moment Artie saw him, she stood up and brushed the food crumbs off her hands. Silas hurriedly and thoughtfully handed her a clean handkerchief, his expression the absolute picture of tenderness! Compared to the attitude he showed Sev, the difference was like night and day.

Fortunately, Sev didn’t actually mind. She cared far more about Artie’s attitude toward her. After all, no matter how intimidating Silas might be, he was still just Artie’s lackey. As long as she won over his boss, why would she ever need to fear a mere minion?

Through their recent interactions, Artie had grown much closer to her. While they weren’t exactly best friends yet, they were certainly closer than ordinary acquaintances. Sev was quite satisfied with this dynamic. Naturally, she was also a sensible person who always remembered her place. She was merely a chef hired by Artie, and her most important task was working hard to cook delicious food that would whet her employer’s appetite.

"Sure, it’s the same if you learn it," Sev said.

"First, soak the dried glass noodles in warm water for twenty to thirty minutes until they soften.

"Boil some water and cook the softened noodles for three to five minutes until they turn transparent and no longer have a hard core. Scoop out the cooked noodles and immediately dunk them in cold water. This step is super important! It makes the noodles much chewier and prevents them from sticking together.

"Finally, grab a large bowl and add one spoonful of Peppercorns oil and two spoonfuls of this sauce I just fried up. If you have wild green onions and wild garlic, mince them and sprinkle them in. If not, don’t worry about it. Anyway, once you mix it all together, it’s ready to eat.

"If you have fresh wild vegetables on hand, you can chop them up and blanch them. It’s even better if you have fresh meat. Slice it incredibly thin and blanch it in the pot, too. At the end, toss it all into the noodles and eat it together. It makes the flavor much richer and gives you a more balanced nutritional profile.

"Sigh! The only regret is that we don’t have wild chili peppers. If we could pair that spicy kick with the numbing flavor of the Peppercorns, it would be absolutely perfect!"

As Sev spoke, Silas deliberately used his recording function to ensure he wouldn’t forget the detailed steps.

According to the original owner’s memories, Planet Veridia didn’t have recipes for hotpot or spicy skewers. Vinegar had also disappeared after the nuclear war—at least, there was none to be found in District Nine. So, even though they couldn’t eat Hot and Sour Glass Noodles or Spicy Glass Noodles, the sauce-laden Peppercorns glass noodles could certainly be considered a rare delicacy.

Sev was highly satisfied with this. To make it easier for Silas to remember, she even used the fresh glass noodles to demonstrate the specific process of making Peppercorns glass noodles on the spot.

While Silas was still earnestly watching and taking notes, Artie had already eagerly dug in.

She smacked her lips as she ate. "TSK, TSK, it’s so good! It’s too delicious! I swear, even before the Great War, I never ate anything this good!"

She devoured an entire large bowl of Peppercorns glass noodles, ultimately cradling her stomach and crying out, "I’m going to burst!"

Helplessly, Silas supported her as she strolled around the yard to digest her food. The two of them didn’t stop their fussing until Sev finally said her goodbyes to leave.

Silas was ordered to escort Sev home. Right before they left, Artie even gifted her a few green radishes and some leftover insect eggs.

"You can feed a small amount of the insect eggs to your child to boost his constitution. Consider it your payment," Artie said with a smile.

Sev knew that insect eggs were actually incredibly precious. Compared to her single day of labor, this was undoubtedly worth far more than she had earned. Artie was indeed generous and kind to her. By helping her in such a manner, she ensured Sev didn’t suffer the embarrassment of accepting charity.

Seeing that it was getting late, Silas picked up Sev’s oven and steamer, placed them on her wheelbarrow, and stored the wheelbarrow inside his Space Button. Finally, he directly grabbed Sev’s arm and raised his hand to summon a tornado, sweeping both of them into the eye of the wind.

Sev felt entirely lightheaded. Her vision blurred and then brightened, and suddenly, she was standing in her own yard.

Following that, Silas dumped a massive pile of items out from his Space Button before vanishing completely.

It was only when Sev took a closer look that she realized, aside from her wheelbarrow, oven, and steamer, there was also a mountain-high pile of firewood and a huge bundle of wild vegetables. She was a bit dumbfounded. She wondered what Silas was up to.

Then, she recalled how she had previously mentioned wanting to go out into the wilderness to gather winter supplies. Artie had told her to focus on helping with the cooking while letting Silas gather the supplies for her.

So, acting on Artie’s orders, Silas had actually gathered all these winter supplies for her?

My goodness, she had really hit the jackpot this time! Even if she went out to gather supplies every single day from now on, she might not have been able to stockpile the sheer amount of goods that currently filled half her yard before winter arrived!

Artie was exactly right—this guy was all bark and no bite.

In that moment, Sev decided to completely forgive Silas for all his previous terrible attitude toward her. If they met again tomorrow, she was definitely going to carefully inquire about his flavor preferences and cook up some of his favorite dishes for him.

Oh, right! Her Zephyr was also planning to weave a beautiful soft cushion as a gift for Artie. She might as well take the opportunity to weave an extra one for Silas as a token of her gratitude.

Excellent, it was happily decided!