Chapter 465 Houttuynia cordata
The powerful and sturdy white-lipped buffalo left. Bifang waited for a moment, and when it was completely away, he quickly rushed forward, not caring about the burn, and pressed the charcoal ash that was still emitting white smoke on the wound.
Wood ash is the product of combustion. After being sterilized at high temperature, there is no need to worry about any infection. On the contrary, there is a certain risk in washing it with clean water.
Black charcoal ash fell on the red and swollen wound. Bifang felt like he was soaking in cold water after running 10,000 meters, and the soreness disappeared immediately.
The wound that was originally extremely painful became bearable, almost like a normal burn.
Being bitten by a large centipede usually causes severe pain that lasts for several hours, and the pain will slowly spread to the surrounding area, torso or chest.
Fortunately, Bifang dealt with it in time, cut open the wound decisively, and squeezed out most of the venom that had not yet spread.
If it were someone else, he would never be so decisive.
Rubbing the black charcoal ash on the wound, Bifang explained: "The toxicity of many poisonous insects is acidic, such as some ants, centipedes, spiders, and bees. Only a few are alkaline, such as wasps, which are weakly alkaline. Therefore, wood ash is used in most cases. At least it can relieve your pain."
"If you are not in the wild but at home, you can also use soapy water and alcohol to clean the wound, and then use some herbs that clear away heat and detoxify to clean the wound."
[Wait, centipede venom is acidic, wasp venom is weakly alkaline, I have a bold idea? ]
[Is this how you fight poison with poison? Doghead.jpg]
[Kennedy makes a sports car, what a creative idea! ]
"That won't work. Fighting poison with poison is just a fiction." The pain had mostly disappeared, and Bifang was in the mood to joke, but the pain from the wound still made his eyes twitch.
"This is really an unexpected disaster. Not only did I lose my lunch, but I also got injured for no reason." After applying wood ash to the wound, Bifang shook his hands. There was some complaint in his tone, but he was not too disappointed.
The original snake meat had been eaten up by the white-lipped buffalo, leaving nothing, not even the branch on which the snake meat was stuck.
"The cooked duck has flown away, so we have to use something else as its replacement." Bifang wrapped the centipede corpse in leaves and came to the fire.
At this time, the centipede's corpse still did not stop twitching. All arthropods have similar characteristics.
"The nervous system of the centipede is similar to that of the earthworm, which is a chain-like nervous system. That's why it can keep struggling even after being cut in two. I just pushed off its head, and you can see there are many small centipedes in its abdomen."
Following Bifang's finger, Leonardo was startled by the dense swarm of short white insects. He was far away and the light was dim, so he could not see as clearly as the audience thousands of miles away.
Although the big centipede was dead at this moment, these newly born little centipedes did not realize anything and had no time to escape, or they were too young to escape.
"Without snake meat, we can only eat this." Bifang sneered, picked up the charcoal beside him, started a fire again, and shook all the little centipedes into the leaves.
Although my left hand was in pain, it was not a problem to endure it and do some work.
But when Leonardo heard Bifang say he wanted to eat centipedes, he stuttered, "Wait, wait, can you eat this thing?!"
If Leonardo could understand eating snake meat, he couldn't accept eating centipedes.
Can humans eat this?
Isn’t that disgusting?
[Hahaha, we still have grilled centipedes in the night market here]
[With so many bug combos, Leo might go crazy]
Bifang smiled and turned the centipede over with a branch: "Centipedes are very nutritious and can be used as medicine. In many countries, centipede snacks are very famous. Didn't we go to the night market a few days ago? Didn't you see it?"
After hearing what Bifang said, Leonardo also remembered.
It seemed to be the case, but night markets are obviously only open at night. He didn't look carefully at the time and thought it was some thin skewer of meat. Now think about it, it seems to be a centipede?
Is there any misunderstanding in thinking this is food? Is there nothing to eat?
"No, it's not that there's nothing to eat. We eat centipedes because they're delicious. They're crisp and refreshing, and rich in protein. Chewing centipedes raw is very dangerous. The venom may enter the bloodstream in the upper digestive tract, and the amount is much greater than the amount that stings you. It's best to fry them. If you roast them, they may have a burnt smell, but we don't have the conditions to fry them."
While barbecuing, Bifang took a branch and came to the place where the centipede had not bitten him just now. He walked back and forth, and poked it with the branch from time to time.
"Centipedes live in groups and are easily frightened. They like to live in dark and humid places. We can see if there are any of its kind and try to catch more. After all, one centipede is not enough for two people."
"Wait, there are not two people, only you." Leonardo shook his head quickly and kept emphasizing that he had no interest in such a disgusting guy.
"Why don't you try it?" Bifang straightened up and held up the branch. The centipede he had just dug out was pierced by him and kept swinging on the branch.
Thinking of putting this thing into his stomach, Leonardo gagged.
"Hahaha." Bifang ignored it and took the two centipedes he had just caught back home. If he had been any later, the one he had just caught might have been burnt.
The two newly caught ones are equally fat and look good.
There are many viewers who just cannot accept it like Leonardo.
[Feeling so disgusting]
[I've tried it, it's pretty good, no taste, just crunchy! ]
[Anyway, I can’t accept it. It’s a bit uncomfortable to watch.]
[Come on, if you were to go to the rain forest and starve for two days, you would eat three bowls of cow dung, not to mention centipedes.]
[Ah, this…]
"In the rainforest, if there is no food to eat, catching insects is also a good way. We can even dig nests to trap them. In the habitat where centipedes often live, choose a shady and damp mountain area around the beginning of spring and dig a long cross-shaped pit. The pit should be one to two meters long, half a meter wide, and more than the length of a palm. Put bird droppings and some rotten grass in it, and cover it with branches, soil or bricks and tiles to lure centipedes to crawl into the gaps. Check the next morning and if there are centipedes in the pit, you can catch them."
Bifang put the two newly caught centipedes into the fire pit, then took out the centipede that had just been roasted, broke it into two pieces, and put one piece directly into his mouth to chew.
A crisp chewing sound was heard, and a faint bitter taste wafted out along with the unique aroma of grilled arthropods.
Leonardo took a quick sniff and was surprised to find that the smell was not bad.
"Try it." Bifang licked his lips and handed the remaining half to Leonardo.
"No."
Bifang insisted and handed it over: "Try it."
"It won't cost you any meat, give it a try."
"No……"
Leonardo wanted to refuse again, but the centipede was almost touching his face. After hesitating for a long time, he reached out and took it.
Looking at the curled up half centipede in his hand, which was almost half the length of his palm and very thick, he looked up at Bifang and found that the other party was holding a leaf and pouring a bunch of freshly roasted centipedes directly into his mouth, chewing them wantonly.
"Well, the centipede is more fragrant. It doesn't have salt, but it tastes sour. It may be because the venom is acidic. It tastes a bit like an ant, with a bursting taste."
[How did Lao Fang manage to make it taste so delicious...]
[Hong Qigong took out a knife, cut off the centipede's head and tail, and gently squeezed it. The shell fell off, revealing the flesh, which was white and transparent, like a prawn, and very beautiful. Yang Guo thought: "I'm afraid it's not really edible if it's cooked this way."
[Hong Qigong boiled two more pots of snow water, washed the centipede meat clean, leaving no trace of poison, and then took out seven or eight iron boxes of various sizes from his backpack, which contained oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and the like. He heated up the oil pan, poured the centipede meat in and fried it, and immediately a fragrant aroma hit his nose.]
[Fuck, I've seen this part too! ]
[Delicious, but tasteless]
[I still can’t accept it. ]
What do ants smell like?
[It’s just sour, it’s sold online in a big can, it’s said to be for health preservation, I feel like ants taste more sour than fucking lemons, don’t just trust Lao Fang’s taste]
[If Fang Shen says it tastes good, it may not taste good, but if he says it tastes bad, then it is definitely not suitable for human consumption.]
[Fang Shen is really, emmm, well-informed]
The audience in the live broadcast room came from all over the world, and many of them had tasted centipedes.
Leonardo hesitated for a long time, but still stuffed half of the centipede into his mouth. As soon as it entered his mouth, a faint bitter taste spread in his mouth.
It was a burnt shell. With a light bite of the tongue, the crispy shell broke apart, revealing the softer meat inside, but it was still dry.
When you bite it open with your teeth, you'll find a faint sour and astringent taste, the taste of protein, like burnt feathers.
As for the taste, it’s definitely not great, but it’s not too disgusting either.
Surprisingly, not bad?
Leonardo was a little surprised. Apart from the unacceptable appearance, everything else was completely different from what he had imagined.
"How do you feel?"
"Not bad, I've never had it before."
"Hey, if you really get lost in the rainforest, centipedes are actually a good source of food. If you can't even find centipedes, you can only eat earthworms or something more disgusting."
At this time , the remaining two large centipedes were also roasted, but they were not as big as the one at the beginning. Bifang finished it in two bites, and there was a lot less meat.
After eating and cleaning up, Bifang took Leonardo to the riverside again.
"Because this is survival, not survival, I should have looked for a good place to build a camp. A few hundred meters away from the river is a good choice, but because I was just bitten by a centipede, I have to look for some herbs that can be used for external application."
"If you are bitten by a centipede, you can use houttuynia cordata or dandelion to crush and apply it externally. These two Chinese herbal medicines can clear away heat and detoxify, and they are usually found in places where weeds grow."
"Dandelion?" Leonardo didn't know what Houttuynia cordata was, but he was very familiar with dandelions. They appeared every spring, summer, and autumn. When the wind blew, large swathes of them were blown away. "Does dandelion have such an effect?"
"Yes." Bifang nodded. "Dandelion can actually be used as medicine. It's a very common Chinese medicine. It can clear away heat and detoxify. It can be used for colds and fevers."
"I know this!" Leonardo was unexpectedly familiar with Chinese medicine.
Bifang raised his eyebrows, but was not surprised.
Strangely enough, Chinese medicine is now more popular among people abroad than in China.
I don't remember where I saw the report, but it said that more than 60% of Europeans now use traditional medicines, and Europe accounts for 44.5% of the global herbal medicine market share.
Many countries have incorporated traditional Chinese medicine into their medical systems early on.
This phenomenon left Bifang at a loss for words.
Leonardo looked around and noticed something strange: "I don't think I've seen any dandelions since then?"
Um?
The audience was also stunned when they heard this. Looking at the picture in the camera, it seemed that there was indeed no dandelion.
That’s not right. It’s June now, shouldn’t it be everywhere?
Bifang shook his head: "Although dandelions are widely distributed and can be found almost all over the world, there are indeed no dandelions in the rainforest."
"You can tell from the way dandelions are sown that they grow mostly in relatively open and windy places. They are more common on open grasslands such as hillsides and watersides. And dandelions are just delicate herbs. The vegetation in tropical rainforests is dense and windless; the high plants block the sun and lack sunlight; the rainfall is frequent and irregular. Therefore, dandelions are basically not distributed in tropical rainforests. So my target is not dandelions, but Houttuynia cordata."
"Everyone may be familiar with Houttuynia cordata. Another name for it is Houttuynia cordata. Many people love it, but some people can't eat when they smell it."
Just listen to the names of Houttuynia cordata in traditional Chinese medicine and you will know what it smells like, such as dog fly grass, stinky vegetable, and stinky pig nest.
Bifang looked for it, on the one hand, to find herbs for further treatment, and on the other hand, to collect food.
[Don't mention it. I'm already feeling sick.]
[I am from Northeast China and I went to school in Guizhou. After my roommate treated me to this dish once, I never wanted to eat it again. It has a pure fishy smell, and it’s like the smell of a dead fish.]
"Yes, for some people, this fishy smell will not only fill your mouth and nose, but also irritate your eyes: thus achieving a triple blow to the taste, smell and vision."
Bifang nodded: "But this is actually an allergic reaction, and the severity varies. It is mainly an allergy to something called houttuynia cordata in the root of the genus Houttuynia."
Some people not only find houttuynia cordata unpalatable, but may also be directly allergic to it.
Those with mild allergies will feel like they are taking Chinese medicine, and will not feel any other significant effects, just chewing the herbs dry.
However, those with severe allergies will first have no appetite. Those with severe discomfort will also experience symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and dry heaving.
"Houttuynia cordata grows in relatively humid places, and spreads in large areas. It mostly grows by lakes and rivers, by roadsides with stagnant water, in wet places in the wild or on mountains. It is widely distributed in the wild, and if we are patient, it should not be difficult to find it. It is best to go downstream, as the probability is higher because the downstream of the stream is more likely to encounter areas with slower water flow."
Bifang was very goal-oriented and took Leonardo to search along the river. Houttuynia cordata in the rainforest was no different from reeds by the river, and both were very easy to find.
Therefore, hard work pays off, and in less than half an hour, Bifang had a harvest.
In the puddle at the corner, a patch of green "water grass" spreads.
