Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 130 - 114: Making Stock, Lobster and Fish Tartare (Part 2)

Dais placed three fingers on her lips in astonishment, savoring the delightful collision of flavors in her mouth, nodding as she chewed.

"Delicious, delicious, the crispy texture of the chips paired with the creamy avocado cubes, plus the sweet and tangy salsa sauce, the slight hint of spice bringing out the fresh sweetness of the lobster meat—this combination is the first I've ever tasted."

"Although it's delicious with a coastal flavor, how should I put it, the overall pairing still seems rather ordinary, mainly differing in seasoning from the usual lobster tartar."

Elsa nodded in agreement, "Yes, I agree with Dais's perspective. If it's offered as a dish, either in presentation or taste, there's clearly no problem, but as an innovative dish, it seems a bit lacking."

"Very good."

Lin Chen gave a thumbs up, smiling, "Your taste sensitivity is quite impressive. What I made is indeed the ordinary version of lobster tartar, just to give you a sense of comparison."

"Later, when the broth is finished simmering, I'll make the innovative version."

"Oh, so that's how it is."

The two nodded lightly, their eyes filled with increasing anticipation.

The next dish is the fish sashimi version of tartar, only the meat is swapped.

Since it's sashimi, the overall texture is surprisingly different from lobster tartar, with a more intense sweetness.

That's all that can be done for now; subsequent soups and main courses cannot be compared due to limited ingredients.

As for desserts, they can't be made in a short time, so they're skipped today.

Taking advantage of the broth simmering gap, Lin Chen prepped all the necessary ingredients one by one.

His sleek sword skills danced like acrobatics before the two women, as various colored ingredients were cut into different shapes and placed neatly in bowls, some soaking in water to maintain moisture.

If there was a pressure cooker, the broth would simmer quite quickly. Lin Chen plans to find a supplier to purchase two, for the kitchen where time is everything, saving even half an hour is beneficial.

Western-style broth often requires long slow cooking, overnight as usual.

Due to time constraints now, he switched to Great Xia's cooking technique, maintaining high heat throughout, using firepower to extract nutrients from the ingredients, obtaining rich broth in a short time.

This method is swift yet causes more nutrient loss, regarded as both advantageous and disadvantageous.

A liter of lobster broth concentrated until only less than two hundred grams remained, squeezing the residual juice from ingredients, with the final product appearing clear and brilliant like glaze in orange-red.

The fish bone broth is completely different, rich milky white, with a yellowish oil layer floating on the surface, emitting the unique freshness of fish soup.

Only fish soup boiled over high heat presents milky white, formed by emulsifying the fat from fish bone, fish meat, and fish head into the visual effect.

Authentic fish soup must have a white base with a hint of yellow; that's the true color of fish oil.

Those pure milky white without color difference are usually products added with milk or black technology.

With the broth, a Western chef can truly showcase their seasoning skills.

One could say whether a dish is delicious, apart from suitable pairing, a fresh broth is the finishing touch.

Cracked an egg, taking only the yolk, whisked, squeezed in some Sriracha chili sauce, sea salt, and black pepper, mixed evenly, and then gradually added extra virgin olive oil while stirring to create an orange-red spicy mayonnaise, also known as egg yolk sauce.

Into the mayonnaise, ladled in a few spoons of previously cooled lobster broth, mixing to dilute the sauce while enhancing the seafood sweetness.

This time avocado cubes were drizzled with a hint of olive oil, mixed with chopped basil leaves, letting the basil aroma fully release and coat the avocado cubes.

A drizzle of spicy mayonnaise mixed into the minced lobster meat, along with chopped fennel leaves.

All ingredients stacked layer by layer as before, with the new version of lobster tartar completed before the two women's eyes.

It seems only the seasoning has been altered, but that alone is sufficient to cause the dish's flavor to drastically change.

"Crunch"

The chips fractured first as always.

Avocado coated in basil oil fell on the tongue, the unique basil aroma instantly filled the mouth, paired with the creamy avocado cubes, giving an irresistible temptation as if easily addicted.

Mayonnaise, which originally should be a greasy sauce due to being ninety-five percent oil-based, miraculously balanced out the greasy feel with the addition of spicy Sriracha chili sauce and uniquely fragrant fennel leaves. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The sweet lobster mince wrapped within not only wasn't overshadowed but the more chewed, the more aromatic, with lobster flavor intensifying.

Clearly, this is the effect brought by those few spoons of lobster broth.

If not for witnessing the sauce-making process, no one could fathom why such little minced meat had such rich lobster aroma.

Sour, sweet, salty, spicy, fresh.

Mixed with basil and fennel's unique flavor, juicy pineapple and cherry tomatoes cubes, crispy chips, each bite is an ultimate enjoyment for the palate.

"Oh my God, this is undoubtedly the most perfect lobster tartar I've ever tasted in my life!!"

"So delicious, simply amazing, unbelievable! Clearly just added some sauce and herbs, yet the flavor changed so drastically, is this the charm of cooking?"

The two women's eyes sparkled in praises, evidently extremely satisfied with the improved version of lobster tartar.

Obviously, Lin Chen's chosen seasonings leaned towards Southeast Asian and Western fusion, using chili sauce most commonly accepted by Westerners.

This stuff, although quite spicy, is surprisingly adored by foreigners, akin to the status of little chilies, almost every household has a stash.

The restaurant he worked at previously investigated, this chili sauce's primary market is in North America, but owing to tourism, it's gradually brought to Europe, slowly gaining recognition and acceptance.

Its popularity here isn't as high as in North America, but clearly, the sour-spicy flavor can perfectly be accepted by foreigners.

The other fish tartar follows the same seasoning, simply offering extra flavors for guests to choose, one raw, one cooked, or could perhaps be made into a platter style, specifics later.

"Chef."

Elsa suddenly raised her hand, "Firstly, the lobster tartar's taste is certainly a standout, absolutely capable of impressing all tourists, but the raw fish tartar, in my personal taste, might seem slightly heavy."

"You know my mom is Sakura People, when dining at home and eating out, we often opt for Japanese cuisine, sashimi dishes I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about."

"Since it's sashimi, it's surely mainly to taste the inherent sweetness of fish meat, this spicy mayonnaise seems... kinda overshadowing the taste of fish."

She spoke cautiously, seemingly afraid her wording might upset Lin Chen.

Unexpectedly, Lin Chen nodded nonchalantly, "Indeed. I was actually taking a shortcut, you should notice, crafting a dish from scratch is quite troublesome, and with the kitchen lacking ingredients now, choices are limited."

"When officially experimenting, I'll definitely do further improvements."

He originally intended a flavor that he hasn't tried himself yet, one of the most renowned fish dishes in southern Great Xia, Shunde fish.

But its highlight is mainly the difference in fish meat texture, what it embodies is crispiness; not sure if using ordinary raw fish will taste good.

First there's no certainty, secondly unable to purchase suitable ingredients, forcing a delay.

After simply enjoying two appetizers, the soup segment followed.

Wakame combined with snow-white seafood mushrooms, paired with rich lobster broth, drizzled with a touch of fresh cream for decoration, creating a Western-style dish.

The flavorful white fish soup incorporated tender tofu cubes and a hint of pepper, blending fresh and spicy, typical of Great Xia fish soup flavor.