A Gourmet Journey With Taotie

Sound of the speedboat engine shatters the silence of dawn. You and your picky, macabre, sexy master have arrived at a settlement of Bajau people along Sulawesi coast.

"Good we have these people here." Taotie takes off his sunglasses, a restrained smile appears at the corner of his lips - the greed in his crimson eyes betrays him however. "They sell the best shrimp suitable for raw pickling. Go check if we've brought all the seasonings."

You open the chilled seasoning box and a strong, spicy aroma hits your face. Green chili, red cluster pepper, Sichuan pepper, wasabi, soy sauce, vinegar and firewater - the sauce made from these will be used to drown those marine creatures - their lives will be immediately dissolved by it, but their fleshes will be kept in the most vibrant moment - the moment of death.

The speedboat enters the settlement area, where there are some houses supported by wooden frames above the sea. Although it is still early, many Bajau fishermen had already set sail in their slender boats. A boat notices you, quickly approaches. A tanned fisherman shows you his catch - some sea urchins.

"Give me two you usually have for breakfast." Taotie takes out a stack of notes and hands it to the fisherman, the later also readily exchanges it with a pair of largest urchins he has. Taotie holds the urchins with bare hand, cut open its bottom with sharp nails, leaving only the bright yellow reproductive glands and hands it to you. The silver scales in his palm rendered the venomous spines of the urchin virtually useless. "Small pests of coral reefs, first taste of Sulawesi. Cheers."

You take the urchin, suck its golden eggs into your mouth. The sweetness of amino acids complement each other against the bitter and salty taste of seawater, just like this refreshing morning on the sea. The ingredients here are indeed top-notch, eating in raw is already tasteful enough, you can't imagine what kind of flavor they can bloom under Taotie's cooking.

"We are looking for a taste - shrimp with zebra stripes and red eggs." The demigod then leans to the fishman, "You see, I can exchange many things for what I want."

"You come just in time minster." The fisherman observes the well-dressed outsider in front of him, reply with strong accented Chinese. "Now is the month of shrimps. Come with me, I'll take you to our shrimp catching spot."