Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

"The dishes are ready, braised shark fin."

As Qin Huai placed the last dish, the braised shark fin, on the table, Zhang Zhiyun and Chang Qingqing cheered together, just short of raising their chopsticks and bowls to shout: Great, time to eat!

The Zhang Family had all gathered.

There were still two empty seats at the round table, one next to Zhang Chu obviously reserved for Cao Guixiang, and another between Zhang Zhiyun and Chang Qingqing. After setting down the dish and seeing the spot they saved for him, Qin Huai was momentarily speechless, his mind blank except for the thought that he was being seated at the kid's table.

The considerate Zhang Zhiyun had even poured a drink for Qin Huai, a well-known brand of coconut juice.

This unlucky guy, how could he drink a soft drink at such a key meal today? It's obvious that he usually eats too well and has no idea how to appreciate a gourmet meal.

Seeing that Qin Huai hadn't sat down, Zhang Zhiyun and Chang Qingqing thought that the spot they left for him was too narrow, so they quickly shifted aside.

Qin Huai sat down helplessly, nodding and smiling at Zhang Zhiyun and Chang Qingqing, who were as excited as Siberian huskies and golden retrievers meeting people.

Meanwhile, Cao Guixiang came out of the kitchen after washing her hands, took off her apron, and sat down.

Everyone behaved and waited for the chef to take the first bite.

Cao Guixiang didn't pick up the chopsticks; instead, she grabbed a spoon and took a hefty scoop at the belly of the freshly cooked Yellow Fish. The oil made the skin tight, and after marinating, drying, and steaming, the flesh was incredibly tender. One scoop and the fish belly broke open, releasing broth comparable to "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall", filling the air with a fragrant scent and the golden-yellow broth flowing out.

All that was missing was special effects like those in Master of Chinese Cuisine, along with a Great Wall background music, for the onlookers to exclaim, scream, and start drooling.

Well, special effects and background music were unnecessary. Zhang Zhiyun and Chang Qingqing were already drooling, and even Qin Huai, who had witnessed the entire cooking process in the kitchen, subconsciously swallowed at the sight of the finished dish.

Cao Guixiang served the "broth" to Qin Huai.

It was called broth, but there was hardly any liquid; it was packed with scallops, sea cucumbers, abalones, and dried shrimp dice. The golden yet not thick broth seemed to serve merely as a color additive, giving the abundant ingredients a golden undertone, making it more imposing and as if it came with special effects.

"Come, Xiao Qin, first taste the Yellow Fish."

"This dish doesn't have any rules on how to eat it; you can mix the fish with the ingredients or just drink the broth, or not drink it. Eat it however you like; you can even mix it with rice if you want," smiled Cao Guixiang, then shot a warning glance at Zhang Zhiyun, "Yunyun, mixing with rice is fine, but don't scoop out all the broth like last time so no one else gets any."

Receiving the warning from Grandma, Zhang Zhiyun nodded repeatedly, indicating that his recent grades were not good enough to dare do such a thing again; he then enthusiastically took a full spoon of braised shark fin and placed it atop his rice, eating it heartily.

He still loved eating braised shark fin that much.

Qin Huai started eating Yellow Fish, and Cao Guixiang had only served him one spoon, but it was a rich, complete spoon with all the ingredients included.

The fish flesh from the belly, the steamed fish fin, and ham atop the fish, the sea cucumber, abalone, dried shrimp, scallops inside the fish belly, and even a bit of the shrimp paste used to seal it, which Cao Guixiang had scooped up.

Since Cao Guixiang said to eat however you like, Qin Huai ate casually.

He picked up a piece of abalone with his chopsticks first.

The abalone was cut into chunks from fresh abalone, and these chunks were relatively large. Qin Huai dipped the abalone in broth and put it into his mouth, discovering the taste was indeed fresh, the kind of salty freshness.

Unlike the previous Three Course Duck and Braised Silver Carp Head, which both also focused on freshness derived from a combination of delicacies from mountain and sea, Yellow Fish's freshness mainly stemmed from the sea. The ocean's taste naturally couldn't separate from saltiness, making the abalone bouncy and offering a unique texture to chew on.

Qin Huai tried a piece of sea cucumber next.

The taste was similar, but the texture was slightly different. The abalone was bouncy, whereas the sea cucumber was soft with a hint of elasticity. Furthermore, since both ingredients had no inherent flavor, enhancing them through seasoning and stewing brought out different feelings within the same flavor profile.

While eating this dish, Qin Huai suddenly understood why the Double Crab Bun needed sea cucumber for texture.

Because it's truly important.

When the flavor is taken to the extreme, at least in some aspect like extreme freshness or extreme fragrance, making further breakthroughs in taste becomes difficult. At such times, the texture that people previously overlooked emerges as a standout feature.

Texture is arguably an ultimate enjoyment of taste.

When food is chewed on the tongue, the different sensations from each chew and the varied flavors bursting forth, traveling from the tongue to the brain, create a wonderful experience that's irreplaceable. During such moments, one's senses become heightened; you crave more than just taste satisfaction and seek other features, like appearance, aroma, or texture.

Perhaps the concept behind Double Crab Bun is the same as Yellow Fish; if the taste can no longer offer customers more, then different experiences and feelings are provided from other aspects.

Qin Huai instantly understood why Cao Guixiang told him there were no set eating methods for Yellow Fish, and to try as he wished.