First ever stream! Red wood clams, Vine noodles and Tofu!

Forming a thumbs up gesture, Sazzy hid in the living room right outside the recording space of the livestream. Then, taking a deep breath, I pressed the record button. Seeing a red light appear on the drone camera, I started talking.

"Hello and welcome to the Foodie exploration channel. I am Chef, and today we will be briefly touching on the recipes and cultural backgrounds of the Venenum people. Most commonly known for their diverse use of poison in their cuisines, the vast majority see them as insane extremists who choose to eat poison rather than what is considered normal food. However, for the people of the Venenum ethnic group, most of the ingredients naturally found in their world are poisonous."

"Today we will be preparing one of their rare non-toxic or mildly toxic cuisines, Red wood clams, together with a classic dish that is a mix of poison, Vine noodles, and a hybridized dish made from what is available from the store, as well as ingredients that are a staple in Venenum cuisine, Tofu."

"First, we will be doing the preparations for Red wood clams, before moving onto making tofu, before finally finishing off with Vine noodles."

I moved the ingredients for Red wood clams in front of me. Red wood, clams, as well as clam powder and salt.

"The leftmost ingredient is called Red wood. Coming from a tree with red pigment on its bark, it is one of the more popular non-toxic ingredients used in local dishes. The Red tree which it comes from is one of the less culturally important trees in the local culture. Its non-toxic properties were discovered due to a local madman who was infamous for eating anything he could get his hands on. This Red wood was just one of the many precious discoveries he made before he died from poisoning."

"The clams right next to it are non-toxic as they come from the ocean. They are also frequently used in dishes due to its non-toxic properties. Beside them are clam powder made from grinding the clam's shells. And the last ingredient is salt."

"First, to prepare the clams, we soak them in water with Red wood. Since red wood is only slightly toxic, the clams will still be edible later. We will soak them for 30 minutes."

"The next dish we will start preparing is the hybridized dish, tofu. This dish is made from the slightly poisonous green berries, the fruits found on Red trees, Jasmine milk and rain powder. Rain powder is a very culturally important ingredient and is used as a neutralizer towards various poisons used in its dishes. It is commonly used in religious practices' as well, due to its source relating to the Venenum's main God, Vene. Legend says that they cried tears of blood upon seeing the suffering of their people, thus leading to it being one of the main reasons why the poisons that once caused suffering turned into food for the Venenum people."

"The first step to create tofu is to mix equal parts of rain powder and Jasmine milk. We must ensure that there is constant stirring as rain powder needs to be evenly distributed. Then once the texture turns consistent, add 2 to 3 green berries. Ensure that you mash these berries thoroughly when mixing so as to allow the poisons to neutralize each other. Finally, add in water while slowly mixing, until the level of water no longer decreases, then we just leave it to sit for 2 hours."

Putting the tofu aside, I presented the new dish I had learned from Margret just for this stream. Vine noodles.

"Our final dish is Vine noodles. This cuisine is named so due to the color it becomes once we are done cooking it. Its ingredients are green berries, rain powder, red berries. Red berries are notorious for their strong poison, and are rarely used in recipes taught to children due to the fact that a single mistake could cause poisoning. However, it is an essential part of Venenum culture due to its strong dying properties, leading to its utility as paint and dye for various religious ceremonies as well as day to day activities. When cooking this dish, we have to be very careful. All parts of the red berries are poisonous. Touching its skin barehanded can cause a serious rash. Ingesting a little bit can cause food poisoning, and eating several berries can be fatal."

"But even with its strong poisons, you will often see children being tasked to harvest these berries. This is to train them to be careful, as red berries have an instant but not incurable reaction when touched carelessly, unlike other types of plants. It allows the children to learn cautiousness when dealing with all things nature, since the majority of plants are poisonous."

"Vine noodles are made by first mixing an equal portion of red berries and green berries. For this part, I recommend you to use gloves, as this mixture is incredibly poisonous. Unlike the reaction with most reagents, when red berries come into contact with green berries, they start to solidify. Thus, immediately after adding the two berries together, it is recommended to add copious amounts of water in order to expand the product. "

"Please ensure you know how much product you want as this mixture can expand many times its original size depending on the amount of water added. Finally, once the mixture has fully solidified, we need to mold it into the shape we want it to be. For Vine noodles, we roll this solid into the shape of thin noodles. The thinner the noodles, the better, as this ensures we can neutralize the toxins later. Finally, once you reach the desired amount of noodles, put it into a pot of water."

"Before boiling, it is crucial to add equal amounts of rain powder to the water. This is as the fumes produced by boiling the noodles without rain powder will produce a highly lethal gas. Now, once the rain powder has been added, boil the noodles in the mixture until the red color bleaches off the noodles, thus letting them retain their green color. Do not change the water or touch the noodles before it is done, as there is a high chance you will poison yourself. "

"Finally, once the noodles are a very vibrant green, pour the red water down the sink carefully and rinse the vine noodles with ordinary water. Stop rinsing them with water once the water stops turning red. The final product is now edible and no longer poisonous and can be placed right next to the Red wood clams."

Discreetly pulling up my personal terminal and checking the time, I headed over to the clams.

"It seems that 30 minutes have passed. Let us look at the clams that we have soaked! Now that we have soaked them with Red wood for 30 minutes, notice that the surface of the clams have been dyed a faint pinkish color. Now, we pour out the water, but do not throw away the Red wood! We still have uses for it!"

Taking out the portable grill that I had placed and set up nearby, I put the clams on it and placed the Red wood where the coal would have gone.

"Now we use the Red wood as fuel to grill the clams. The smoke emitting from the Red wood is not poisonous, so we need not be too careful in breathing it in. By grilling the clams with the Red wood, the clams will absorb the flavor of the smoke of the Red wood, which will actually give it a sweet preliminary taste. The soak with the Red wood earlier will give an intense spicy taste right after its initial sweetness. However the familiar taste of the clam will remain near the end when added with salt."

As I was grilling the clams, I looked up at Sazzy to see her reaction. However, she had an unreadable expression on her face so I turned the heat on the clams down and took a peak at the chat.

Unexpectedly, there were over several thousand viewers. But, looking at what they were commenting, I didn't feel happy in the least.

Majority of them were insults, there were even some demeaning the Venenum people, and most of them bet that I was either trying to kill them, or I was cooking rubbish. Sazzy had said that there would be difficulties, but I didn't imagine it would be this severe!