Chapter 261 Thousand-petal Lotus
The first thing you feel when you take a bite is the crispness.

The tenderness of the squid and the crispness of the fresh vegetables blend together.

Although they are all crispy, they present different layers and tastes.

The crispness of green peppers has a rich fragrance, the crispness of red peppers has a slight sweetness, the crispness of onions has a spicy stimulation, and the tenderness and freshness of squid combine to form several different flavors that are released the moment you chew them.

The squid meat becomes firm and elastic after blanching. You can clearly feel the elasticity and chewiness of the squid meat when chewing. The outer layer of the skin is firm, while the inner layer of the meat is soft and delicate. When your teeth break through the squid meat layer by layer, you can feel the different tastes of the squid meat with distinct textures at different levels.

At the same time, blanching removes the fishy smell of the squid itself. The high temperature of blanching allows the freshness of the squid to be completely locked in the fish meat, making each piece of squid meat plump and juicy. The juice is fragrant when you bite it, and the taste is appropriate, with moderate hardness and softness. It makes the teeth feel elastic, but not too hard to bite. The fish meat inside maintains its unique smoothness, and it bursts out with crispness and tenderness when you bite it.

At the same time, the exquisite knife skills make the squid meat have a more wonderful taste.

Generally, squid meat is cut into flower shapes when cooking. The usual practice is to cut it diagonally into diamond-shaped flower shapes. On the one hand, it is for aesthetics, and on the other hand, it is to facilitate flavoring and improve the taste.

After cutting the squid into pieces, natural textures and wrinkles will form during the cooking process, and these parts will bring different tastes and layers when chewing, adding to the fun.

At the same time, cutting will form small gaps and grooves on the surface of the squid, allowing the squid to better absorb the flavor of the sauce.

Xiang En cuts the squid into the shape of a thousand-petal lotus, which is more effective than using an ordinary flower cutting knife.

While chewing, countless tiny squid petals bloom on the tip of the tongue, like tiny tentacles, gently stimulating the sensitive taste buds, massaging and teasing the sensitive taste nerves in all directions, bringing a slight tingling sensation, like many feathers gently scraping the tip of the tongue, stimulating the crazy secretion of saliva and increasing one's appetite.

At the same time, when you bite lightly, these tiny petals will be stacked between the teeth, either pushing away or welcoming the arrival of the teeth, presenting different charm and fun.

The texture and wrinkles of the thousand-petal lotus after blanching bring a wonderful taste, allowing the crispness and tenderness of the squid to be presented in an overlapping and staggered manner while chewing. As soon as you feel the crispness, you will feel the tenderness, and after the tenderness, you will feel the crispness again. The two are intertwined like dense drumbeats, happily dancing between the tip of the tongue and teeth.

At the same time, the flavor of the sauce is deeply integrated with the squid and fresh vegetables.

The delicate and exquisite knife cuts countless grooves in the squid and fresh vegetables, and the delicious sauce is hidden in them, fully blending with the ingredients through these grooves.

With every bite, you can feel the flavor formed by the fusion of the sauce and the moisture of the ingredients themselves.

The perfectly matched sauce has three distinct tastes: salty, sour and sweet. The salty taste boosts all the flavors, the sour taste makes the taste richer and promotes saliva secretion, increasing appetite, while the sweetness brings a sense of pleasure, making the delicious taste in the mouth more attractive and tempting.

The three flavors blend into a storm, incorporating the freshness of squid, the fragrance of green and red peppers, and the spiciness of onions, making these already wonderful flavors even more tempting, adding a bit of freshness to the fragrance, a bit of softness to the spiciness, and the freshness and fragrance absorbing a variety of tastes, becoming more complex and mysterious.

Various flavors continue to blend and ferment in the mouth. The wonderful taste presented by the exquisite knife skills is even more irresistible, making the sensitive taste buds deeply intoxicated and unable to extricate themselves.

Just as Elder He said, Xiang En did not add any special methods from the dark cuisine world to this dish, nor did she use the method she was best at to control the taste. Instead, she displayed all her strength thoroughly. At the same time, with the help of the knives made by Roger, the taste was enhanced several times.

After all, Xiang En became a top chef not because of those conspiracies and tricks, but because of her own outstanding abilities. After all, in the dark cooking world that is good at conspiracies and tricks, there are always people who are better than her.

Only strength can decide everything and make her stand out from others.

Especially after abandoning all conspiracies and tricks, Xiang En was able to devote himself to the preparation of dishes and displayed his unprecedented strength.

This makes the dish taste intoxicating.

The taste deeply impressed the four judges present, not to mention Elders Huang and He, even Elder Li and Master Luo Tian praised the dish highly.

"I didn't expect that this dish not only looks gorgeous and attractive, but also tastes wonderful. Cutting it into thousands of lotus petals not only greatly increases the taste, but also allows the sauce and ingredients to be fully integrated. Every bite can taste the wonderful taste of the sauce and ingredients. It's really fascinating!"

“Excellent knife skills can often transform an ordinary dish into something completely different. This cold-mixed squid dish is simple to prepare, but the knife skills make it complex and gorgeous. Not only the appearance, but also the taste changes dramatically. Every bite seems to have countless different tastes bursting out in an instant, bringing a complex and mysterious taste.”

"At the same time, the taste of the sauce makes the flavor present a harmonious charm. The three flavors of salty, sour and sweet correspond exactly to the freshness of the squid, the fragrance of green and red peppers, and the spiciness of onions. The different flavors of the ingredients are perfectly blended together through the sauce, forming a harmonious and wonderful taste."

“The wonderful taste brought by the knife skills, coupled with the full penetration of the sauce, makes the dish excellent in both taste and texture. Every bite is full of fun and makes people unable to stop.”

The four elders praised in unison, with happy and satisfied expressions on their faces.

This shows that they were all very satisfied with the dish.

Judging from the quality of this dish alone, this is an extremely excellent dish.

Elder Li said: "This is a very wonderful dish. Now it's time to taste Xu Qing's dish."

Xu Qing walked forward and lifted the lid of the dish. He saw that the dish on the plate was completely plain and boring, completely different from the gorgeous dish that Xiang En had prepared.

This is a steamed squid dish. The squid is simply cut into rings and placed on the plate, garnished with green onions, ginger and other ingredients. The sauce barely adds a bit of bright color to this simple dish.

But overall, this is a very unremarkable dish, especially compared with the gorgeous and exquisite thousand-petal lotus.

It loses a level just from the appearance.

However, the quality of a dish is not only judged by its appearance, but also by its taste.

“Let’s start tasting.”

(End of this chapter)