Chapter 291

“Bamboo shoots, you say?”

“Yeah. The secret to this crab meat soup broth is the bamboo shoots. The ones used here aren’t your ordinary bamboo shoots.”

As I said that, I picked up a remaining piece of bamboo shoot from the soup bowl and chewed on it.

The moment the bamboo shoot entered my mouth, the texture felt chewy yet tender, like shiitake mushrooms.

But that was just the first impression. When I chewed harder, a crisp texture reminiscent of raw radish or carrot revealed itself.

Bamboo shoots are a peculiar ingredient, possessing the texture of both mushrooms and vegetables.

That’s why bamboo shoots, despite being as bland as mushrooms, are a versatile ingredient used in various Chinese dishes, almost like licorice.

Yes, if they were ordinary bamboo shoots.

But the bamboo shoots in this Man-eating Crab Crab Meat Soup clearly went beyond the realm of licorice.

The subtle nuttiness in the bamboo shoots tasted similar to corn.

That alone suggested these bamboo shoots played a role beyond ordinary bamboo shoots in this soup…

But the true position these bamboo shoots held in the crab meat soup wasn’t just about the nutty corn flavor.

“The refreshing and clean taste in this crab meat soup broth. And that unmistakable, refreshing aroma I’ve smelled somewhere before. This scent… it’s bamboo, isn’t it?”

The subtle aroma I thought I’d sensed somewhere while eating the soup.

I only realized the source of that aroma after tasting the bamboo shoots.

It was definitely the aroma from cooking rice in bamboo tubes.

It was a scent I’d encountered in a past life when eating bamboo-tube rice.

I just hadn’t imagined that scent would come from crab meat soup, which is why it took me so long to notice.

What method was used to infuse that aroma into the bamboo shoots?

I couldn’t figure it out, but it was unmistakably the scent of bamboo.

Drake smiled deeply at my words.

“Are you really a Lizardman?”

“That means I’m right, huh?”

“Yeah. The bamboo shoots used in this crab meat soup aren’t ordinary. And they weren’t added just for texture.”

“How did you get that flavor? I know high-quality bamboo shoots have a subtle corn-like aroma, but that’s only in freshly harvested ones. And since Leila is a coastal city, it’s impossible to get fresh bamboo shoots here, right? Even if you could, the bamboo aroma wouldn’t be this strong.”

“These aren’t ordinary bamboo shoots. These are Bamboo Snake bamboo shoots.”

“Bamboo Snake?”

I’ve heard the name before.

It’s not a creature that inhabits the Verde Jungle where I lived, so I’ve never seen one, but…

“Like how trees can monsterize into Trents, wild bamboo exposed to dense mana can monsterize into Bamboo Snakes. Their branches are thin, and their main stems are long rather than thick, giving them a snake-like appearance made of bamboo. Hence the name Bamboo Snake.”

So the secret to the flavor wasn’t in the preparation but in the unique nature of the ingredient itself.

I was so focused on my past life’s culinary knowledge that I never considered the bamboo shoots could be from a monster.

“That was the secret to the flavor… Bamboo Snake bamboo shoots. I’ve never tasted them before, so I didn’t notice.”

“Actually, the Bamboo Snake bamboo shoots aren’t just for the aroma.”

“What?”

Are you saying there’s something else I haven’t noticed yet?

“This is the core secret of my recipe… but since I’ve met a fellow who can understand my cooking this well in Leila, I’ll share it. Did you know? Originally, Bamboo Snake bamboo shoots are just as tasteless as ordinary bamboo shoots.”

“What? The bamboo shoots I ate definitely had…”

There was clearly a subtle bamboo aroma and a nutty corn flavor.

Now you’re telling me those bamboo shoots were actually tasteless?

“Have you heard of the saying ‘fighting poison with poison’?”

“It means using poison to subdue poison, right?”

“Exactly. When Bamboo Snake bamboo shoots and Man-eating Crab meat are cooked together, the toxins from both monsters neutralize each other naturally, without needing any detoxification process.”

That’s the effect!?

“But the effect of mixing the two monsters’ toxins isn’t just that. As they neutralize each other, the two ingredients enhance each other’s flavors, making the aroma richer and the taste stronger.”

“So that’s why the bamboo shoots had such a distinct bamboo aroma…”

“It’s not just the bamboo shoots. The Man-eating Crab meat is the same. Didn’t you notice while eating the soup? How the crab meat’s flavor differs from ordinary Man-eating Crab meat.”

“No. The Man-eating Crab meat definitely tasted the same as the steamed Man-eating Crab I had a while ago… Wait, what!?”

The crab meat in the soup I just ate definitely tasted the same as the steamed Man-eating Crab I had recently.

But that was strange.

It’s not strange for Man-eating Crab meat to taste like Man-eating Crab.

But why?

Why did the crab meat in the soup have the same flavor and aroma as the steamed crab meat?

Crab meat is an ingredient where even slight preparation can drastically change its flavor.

That’s why, to enjoy the crab meat’s natural flavor 100%, steaming it without any seasoning is the best approach.

Any other method of preparation can quickly alter the crab meat’s natural taste.

But this crab meat soup was different.

Not just the crab, but other ingredients as well. Generally, the more you alter an ingredient for cooking, the further it strays from its natural flavor.

And among them, crab is an ingredient that easily undergoes such transformations.

Especially with soup, which inherently dissolves the flavor components of ingredients into the broth, the solid ingredients themselves inevitably lose some of their flavor.

Yet, this crab meat soup tasted as if freshly steamed crab meat had just been dipped into the soup broth, with no loss in flavor compared to steamed crab.

It was like building two castles with 100 blocks, expecting one to use 30 blocks and the other 70, but finding out the second castle actually used 100 blocks.

Wow.

I was so focused on the bamboo aroma in the crab meat soup that I didn’t notice anything strange about it.

Normally, I would’ve felt something was off…

“You seem to have realized it.”

“So the crab meat’s flavor was possible because it was cooked with Bamboo Snake bamboo shoots.”

It was a similar approach to what the innkeeper used when creating a new clam chowder.

The innkeeper used a new detoxifying herb to minimize flavor loss while detoxifying monster toxins, enhancing the taste.

And in Drake’s case, by combining ingredients that neutralize each other’s toxins, he simultaneously enhanced the flavors of both ingredients.

Using different methods to detoxify monster toxins to alter the ingredients’ flavors.

Honestly, it’s an approach I never imagined.

Perhaps it’s because I’m still trapped in the fixed mindset of my past life.

Or maybe, buried in my past life’s knowledge, I neglected to explore the unique cooking methods of this world.

“Yes. This is the ultimate crab meat soup that will make me the best chef in Leila!”

A dish combining crab that resembles bamboo and bamboo that doesn’t resemble bamboo.

The idea itself seems like a silly pun, but the result is far from just a joke.

“Indeed… If you can make a dish like this, aiming for the top spot in Leila isn’t just a pipe dream.”

I was impressed.

Just like the innkeeper’s further evolved clam chowder, this Drake’s crab meat soup also amazed me.

There’s no scientific technique from my past life, but instead, a unique culinary ecosystem built on diverse ingredients I could never have tasted before.

I thought I had stopped underestimating this world’s culinary culture after trying the innkeeper’s clam chowder when I first arrived in Leila.

But perhaps, deep down, I still believed that the cooking skills and knowledge from my past life were superior, and that this world’s cuisine couldn’t surpass it.

As I was pondering this, the other spectators had already started finishing the crab meat soup Drake had served, and soon, the judging time arrived.