Punch: From third-rate anchor to top chef

Chapter 254

Finally, Li Xiao set his sights on the black garlic and the golden single garlic.

Li Xiao tasted the black garlic that was not so strong.

The entrance is a bit rusty, like eating bean paste, but it is much stronger than bean paste.

Black garlic does not have the pungent smell of a single head of garlic at all, and it is even hard to taste that it is the product of a single head of garlic, although it has a strong garlic aroma.

But the taste is slightly sweet, with a bit sour taste, like the fermented distiller's grains.

It is estimated that the process of fermenting single clove garlic and fermenting distiller's grains is similar, using microorganisms to change the quality of food.

Those who don't know may even think that these are two kinds of food. After fermentation, the flavor of garlic is more intense.

Li Xiao could even smell a little wine from the mashed garlic, which should be caused by fermentation.

The taste can't be said to be very good, but it can only be said to be very special. After all, black garlic is more often used for seasoning.

Although there are some places where they are used as side dishes and pickles, they are really not suitable for people like Li Xiao who tend to have a bland taste.

The golden-fried one-headed garlic has a strong burnt aroma on the skin.

One bite, the outer layer of garlic becomes crispy after being fried.

However, after a long time of stewing, the crispy texture becomes soft and waxy, but the inside of the garlic is still crunchy.

The taste is very unique, and the pungent smell covered the entire mouth after one bite, making Li Xiao temporarily lose his sense of taste.

Then this fresh garlic smell began to repel all other smells.

It felt delicious, but Li Xiao didn't take a second bite because it was too spicy.

Picking up the tea on the side and rinsing his mouth, he drank half of the glass of water, and the strong garlic smell was slightly suppressed.

Li Xiao was heaving a long sigh of relief with lingering fear in his heart, but Ding Yougang next to him was eating happily, and he had emptied all the garlic in the bowl.

Seeing Li Xiao take a bite and throw it aside on the single head of garlic, Ding Yougang complained to him with some regret:
"You're wasting too much food, you know, there are still many people who don't have enough to eat."

The corners of Li Xiao's mouth twitched, trying to find a way to refute the other party, but found that the other party's words did have some truth.

Helpless, he could only swallow his anger and pretend to be a grandson. If you waste food, you can waste food. He really can't eat it anymore. Gourmets also have preferences. Although he eats garlic, he just forgets it.

When everyone has eaten almost, the fourth course will be served.

"Good evening, everyone. This is [Lobster Jelly with Caviar], please take your time."

【Caviar Lobster Jelly】

A top-notch French cuisine, the creator is a French nine-star chef [Roubson].

[Lu Bouchong] As a French chef, his reputation can be spread in the Han Dynasty, which can prove how strong he is.

In Li Xiao's opinion, Michelin can be selected here, largely because Keruyun's menu has many foreign dishes, and most of them are classic dishes from different countries.

Among them, [Caviar Lobster Jelly] is one of them. As Lubzon's proud work, many French restaurants have this dish.

[Caviar Lobster Jelly] The production is actually very complicated and difficult. Seeing the almost flawless dishes in front of him, Li Xiao nodded in satisfaction. At least the dish in front of him is qualified in terms of appearance.

But in fact, in Li Xiao's opinion, if this dish is replaced by Chinese food, the name should be called Lotus Pond Moonlight.

A blooming lotus with a dark brown shower head, surrounded by countless green lotus seeds.

In Li Xiao's opinion, the appearance of this dish is really amazing, but if it were some children suffering from intensive phobia, they might not be able to move their chopsticks just looking at this dish.

If the mind is a little darker, one can even regard each lotus seed as a green eyeball. Speaking of it this way, it does have a bit of a gloomy feeling.

The online reviews of this dish are mixed. Some diners say that it is delicious, wears well, and has a special taste.

Some diners said it was unpalatable, salty, fishy and sweet.

The difference between positive and negative reviews is so great that people think they may not be eating the same dish.

However, Li Xiao clearly understood that they were eating the same dish, but many restaurants did not grasp the essence of the dish, they just imitated his appearance, but did not understand his charm.

Although the nine-star chef, Mr. Lubzon, has announced his complete recipe and complete production method to the world after creating this dish.

But I don’t know why different people can make caviar lobster jelly with different shapes, different tastes and different styles according to the same menu.

The silver spoon gently pierced the golden and clear lobster jelly. The so-called lobster jelly is actually a jelly made from lobster soup.

Although it sounds strange, it is actually a very common basic practice in molecular cuisine.

The brows under the mouth of the cold lobster jelly are slightly raised. The taste is really special. It is cold, springy, and a little soft when pressed, just like eating Xizhilang jelly, but this jelly is lobster-flavored.

The lobster soup is also very well done. You can taste the faint scent of brandy, the sweetness of the lobster, the strong aroma of beef bones and tendons, and the freshness of various vegetables.

Making lobster soup is actually quite complicated. Pour olive oil into the pot and fry all the vegetables until fragrant.

Then add black pepper, lobster shells and chopped tomatoes, pour in the beef tendon broth that has been cooked in advance, cook on high heat for half an hour to an hour, until the water in the lobster (shell) soup is reduced by half, then turn off the heat.

After that, use an egg beater to beat two egg whites, so that the egg whites become fluffy white clouds.

Pour the whipped egg whites into the cloudy lobster broth, and then simmer over low heat.

The reason for doing this is that the protein after whipping can well absorb the protein and impurities in the cloudy lobster soup.

Low temperature and slow cooking can make the suspended solids and impurities in the soup be absorbed by the protein on the surface. At this time, just use a spoon to skim off the foam to make the soup bottom clear.

In French cuisine, this step is called Extrait de soupe claire, which translates to clear soup extraction.

There are also similar steps in Dahan cuisine. When making boiled cabbage, the clear soup obtained must also go through the same method.

However, in the Han Dynasty, chefs call this step sweeping the soup, which means to clean up all the impurities in the soup.

After this step, the originally brown and cloudy lobster soup will become transparent and free of impurities.

Of course, this is just that there are no impurities in the naked eye. After the clear soup obtained in this step, there are actually many unnecessary ingredients in the soup.

Once these ingredients have cooled and solidified, they will emerge from the clear soup, causing the lobster to become opaque.

Therefore, after obtaining the broth, it is necessary to filter the cloth. After filtering for 2 to 3 times, the impurities inside can be completely isolated.

Once you get a completely clean and clear lobster broth, you can put it on a plate and put it in the refrigerator to keep it fresh.

Although no gelatin or gelatin powder is added to the lobster broth, the beef tendon and beef bone broth already contains a lot of gelatin, so it only needs to be slightly lowered to make it solidify.

While waiting for the lobster soup to cool, you can prepare other ingredients.

Boil the white cauliflower with boiling water, take out its flower, then add a small amount of cream and egg yolk, beat it with a cooking machine, wait until the cauliflower becomes a paste shape, put the light yellow cauliflower paste into a piping bag You can use it as a spare.

The next step is to prepare the crab leg meat. Take out the crab legs of the king crab, put them in a steamer, and steam them until they are cooked. Take out the crab leg meat and tear the crab leg meat into small crab meat shreds, then add mayonnaise and mix well. That's it.

At this time, you can take out the lobster soup jelly that has turned into a jelly state, and use a mold to dig out the middle part of the lobster soup jelly to reveal a circular space.

Fill the circular space with king crab meat paste, press gently with a spoon, press the crab meat paste tightly and spread a layer of expensive caviar.

During the 4 weeks when the lobster soup is frozen, use a piping bag to evenly squeeze out lotus seeds made of cauliflower puree.

Finally, edible chlorophyll is added to the mayonnaise, and then the mayonnaise that turns green is inhaled by the needle, and squeezed on the cauliflower puree, so that the green lotus seeds with green hats are ready.

Finally, edible gold leaf is dotted on top of the caviar, and a classic dish created by a 9-star French chef is complete.

The production process is very complicated. Li Xiao once watched a double-speed video. The chef in the video is quite skilled, but it still took more than 4 hours to complete this dish.

The lobster soup jelly melts in the mouth, and the temperature in the mouth turns the cold jelly into warm lobster soup, which feels amazing.

The taste is really good, and it doesn't appear to be the case of some diners who have stepped on the thunder on the Internet. The taste is not too salty, and there is not much fishy smell.

The slight fishy smell of lobster is well covered up by the vanilla and brandy in it, and you can't distinguish it unless you distinguish it carefully. Maybe others wouldn't be able to taste it without Li Xiao's tongue.

Use a spoon to scoop up one of the cauliflower purees that look like lotus seeds. The taste of the cauliflower puree is not beyond Li Xiao's expectations. It is as soft as mashed potatoes, but the taste is rather novel.

The milky, eggy aroma is very strong, and the slightly sweetness of the cauliflower is very special.

It's like eating ice cream, and it's like eating a milkshake.

The salty lobster soup and the sweetness of cauliflower puree form a sharp contrast. Although the two tastes are completely different, they complement each other very well.

After solving the side dishes outside, Li Xiao set his sights on the protagonist of caviar lobster jelly, caviar and crab leg puree.

Caviar, black truffle, and foie gras are also known as the world's three most luxurious delicacies.

Therefore, when many people hear the name of caviar, they will think that it is very expensive, very expensive, and many people even think that they cannot afford even a bite of their salary, but in fact this is a misunderstanding of everyone.

There are actually many kinds of caviar. The expensive ones may be very expensive, but the cheap ones are also very cheap.

Different caviar is made from the roe of different sturgeons. Compared with the common flash sturgeon, only 7-year-old sturgeons can be harvested.

Because the growth cycle is short and the output is large, the caviar made from the more common flashing sturgeon is cheap, but the fishy smell will be heavier, and the particles are smaller, and the taste is relatively ordinary.

Generally speaking, a small can of caviar made from common flashing sturgeon can be bought for tens of dollars. Of course, although there are many shortcomings, the price is low enough to still make him popular.

The small caviar in front of me is more expensive. Although it is not the top Beluga Caviar, it is also the next-level Oscietra Caviar. .

The price of this Oscitra caviar is usually more than 8000 yuan per 500 grams. In some special years, the price may soar to 10000 yuan per 500 grams when the caviar production is reduced due to climate or ocean currents.

And the most top-class white sturgeon caviar is basically impossible to circulate in the market. After all, the International Fishing Association limits the fishing of this kind of big white sturgeon every year. Only 100 fish can be caught every year. Some years are not conducive to the growth of big white sturgeon. , this number will even drop sharply to 50.

The age of each caught white sturgeon roe needs to be verified by the Fishing Association, and the large white sturgeon that is less than 20 years old needs to be released, because the production of large white sturgeon caviar requires large white sturgeon that are more than 20 years old.

Once the roe is taken out of the sturgeon, it will announce the end of his life at the same time. This large white sturgeon was even endangered due to overfishing.

The price of ordinary Chinese sturgeon caviar is 350 yuan per gram, which is almost equivalent to gold, and sometimes even more expensive than gold.

And this is just the selling price. It is basically impossible to buy it at this price. Usually, you can only buy it at a higher price or find a familiar merchant, otherwise you can only taste it in your dreams.

The world's most expensive Iranian caviar is made from the extremely rare 100-year-old great white sturgeon roe, which is sold by the gram and packaged in 24-carat gold tins for $25 a tin.

That is to say, the caviar of 100-year-old great white sturgeon is as high as 1400 US dollars per gram, which is equivalent to nearly 9000 yuan per gram.

The usual caviar is sold in units of 10 grams, that is, the cost price of this kind of caviar per person is as high as 9 yuan.

Even an ordinary rich man would feel a little heartache if he wanted to taste this kind of price.

Although the ingredients of Ke Ruyun are good, it is impossible to use such expensive ingredients, after all, the price is here.

If the caviar of the Great White Sturgeon is used to make this lobster jelly with caviar, it is estimated that the price will increase dozens of times.

After all, Li Xiao can confirm that at least ten grams of caviar has been used in front of him just by visual inspection, which means that the cost of caviar alone is 160 yuan.

Not to mention other materials and cumbersome production techniques, this dish only sells for 480 yuan, which is really very cheap.

And at the price of 480, you can't even buy two grams of ordinary white sturgeon caviar.

The caviar was scooped up by a golden spoon and delivered to Li Xiao's mouth.

The caviar does not need to be chewed, just the peristalsis of the tongue and the mouth, so that the round and full caviar bursts one by one between the ups and downs.

The ice-cold feeling and the pure and extreme saltiness made his eyes widen.

The complex aftertaste seems heavy but light, and the caviar that is constantly breaking on the tongue, like the F5 key being pressed constantly, constantly refreshes the taste bud nerves on the tongue.

Expensive still has a reason, especially this kind of high-standard caviar, which has not been marinated with too much salt.

Adding salt to caviar can make the caviar last longer, but it will dehydrate the caviar.

Let the umami taste of caviar fade away quickly. The more salt you add, the longer it can be stored, but the worse the taste and texture will be.

The classification of caviar is not only based on the type of caviar, but also based on the salinity.

The caviar in front of me has a very light salty taste and a strong umami taste. It can be seen at a glance that it is a first-class product with a salt content of less than 5.00%.

However, low salt content means that its shelf life is shorter. Usually, the shelf life of this first-class product is only 15 to 20 days.

That is to say, after the bottle of caviar is produced, it cannot exceed 3 weeks from production to consumption.

Otherwise, this expensive bottle of caviar will end up in the trash, not in the mouth of the diner.

Li Xiao even heard of a top-grade product with a salt content of less than 5%, but with a shorter shelf life of only 10 to [-] days.

It is exclusively for the consumption of some top rich merchants, and basically does not circulate to the outside world. After all, the time is too short, and it is usually made directly into the homes of rich merchants.

Moreover, these caviar are not directly taken out of the jar and used directly. The chef has also undergone simple preparation, and it is very likely that 3~5% edible brine was used for brewing.

On the one hand, this can wash away the mucus produced by the caviar due to preservation. Although there is not much of this mucus, it will affect the taste of the caviar to a certain extent.

In addition, soaking in salt water can also replenish the water in the caviar and make the caviar full again.

Although the cumbersome soaking process, the degree of change and the difference in the taste of the influence are actually very small.

But it can maximize the effect of the finished product. After all, each dish is composed of countless steps. If each step is improved a little, the whole dish will be upgraded to a higher level.

Then the crab legs wrapped in mayonnaise came into the mouth. The crab legs of the king crab are very strong, and the crab legs wrapped in mayonnaise were stuffed into the mouth.

With the caviar and mayonnaise, the warm crab meat becomes hot, soft and sweet, shaking up and down along the teeth and tongue, and the broken crab meat seems to be dancing.

The taste of satisfaction immediately fills the mouth. In a fresh place, the crab meat is very sweet and juicy. One bite, the aroma of the crab, the eggy aroma of the mayonnaise, and the savory lobster soup sticking to it, finally And the freshness and sweetness of cauliflower puree.

The complex and changeable layering is like a Pandora's box, releasing thousands of flavors in the world.

Li Xiao let out a long breath. He thought that his cooking skills were quite good, but after eating this dish of lobster jelly with caviar today, he realized that there is a sky beyond the sky, and there are people beyond people.

Although after reading the recipe and tasting the real thing, he is very confident that he can easily reproduce a dish that is seven or eight points similar to the caviar lobster jelly in front of him.

But making dishes is not difficult, what is difficult is creation.

Only if you are familiar with the cooking techniques and know the characteristics and taste of the ingredients like the back of your hand.

Only in this way can we turn everything in the world into musical notes, like composing a song, and create a delicacy.

Let the food jump on the tip of the tongue like musical notes. Li Xiao has seen many food critics comment on the Internet. This is the nine-star chef Mr. Lu Busson who has passed away for a long time.

Creativity, sense of taste, hard work, these three key words often appear in other people's evaluation of him.

Although Lu Bu Songcheng was rated as the genius with the most sensitive taste in the world by the World Association of Chefs, more people talk about his hard work and creativity.

After decades of continuous learning and exercise, even after becoming a chef, I still spend a lot of time every day learning to make new products, and reviewing old products to learn new ones.

If one liar calls another liar a liar, it is malicious jealousy among liars.

So when a genius praises another genius as a genius, it is the sympathy and envy between geniuses.

And this 9-star chef Mr. Lubzon, who has passed away for a long time, is such a genius. Almost all food critics praise him, which shows how enviable his talent is.

Thinking of this, Li Xiao felt a little regretful. If he had been born a few years earlier, with his current growth rate, he might have had the opportunity to meet this legendary figure, which is really a pity.

He swept away all the remaining crab leg paste in one go. This time when digging up the crab leg paste, Li Xiao dug out more lobster soup jelly.

In this way, the taste is really better, the layers are more distinct, richer, and the taste is stronger.

The room that was still full of toasts became much quieter because of this dish, because it is so delicious, extremely delicious, and perfectly matched.

However, the quiet atmosphere was still broken, because the door was knocked again, and the waitress came in again pushing the dining car.

There are 6 round objects wrapped in tin foil on the dining car. With a friendly smile on her face, the young lady introduced:

"Good evening everyone, [Portuguese Curry Chicken Bread], the curry inside is very hot, please be careful when using it."

Accompanied by the voice, tinfoil packets fell in front of everyone, and the waitress skillfully cut the tinfoil with scissors.

As the tin foil came off, an orange round bread appeared in front of everyone. The lid of the bread was tightly locked with two thin bamboo sticks to prevent the heat and fragrance inside from escaping.
(End of this chapter)