Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 216 - 157: Sea Squirt Shreds with Sweet Vinegar, Crispy Salt and Pepper Fried Snake Steaks (Part 2)

No need to taste it again, he can already imagine the flavor of the final product in his mind, which is a necessary skill for any qualified chef.

Using a spoon, he extracts the sea urchin meat, arranging it in a floral pattern at the bottom of an exquisite shallow dish, leaving three pieces aside.

He picks up the seasoned sea squirt strands with chopsticks, shaking them a few times to remove excess sauce while ensuring they retain their shape, before laying them neatly over the sea urchin.

One layer, two layers, three layers.

The orange sea squirt strands are like a young girl's dress, completely concealing the piled-up sea urchin yellow, forming a stunning central bulge with a sunken periphery.

He carefully gathers the remaining three pieces of sea urchin yellow with the tip of a knife, gently placing them atop, then sprinkles finely chopped chives as a garnish, adding a few chrysanthemum petals, completing a delicately plated cold appetizer.

Despite having several sea urchins and sea squirts the size of fists, all it yielded was a small plate of cold dish.

When Dais brought it to the table, the group couldn't help but widen their eyes in curiosity.

"Looks good, the little presentation is quite delicate, almost like Japanese cuisine."

Wang Ziqin gave him a thumbs-up from across the table, "A head chef is indeed a head chef, even such ugly sea squirt can be made to look so beautiful, but how will it taste?"

"I often see some food bloggers eat this thing, I've been curious for a long time, I just have to see what it's all about!"

"This thing is sure to be edible, right? No poison?"

Chu Yueyue still seemed a bit uneasy, given that she was pregnant and had more to consider.

So she turned to her husband, "You taste it first, if it's bad or poisonous, we won't eat it."

"......?"

Wang Ziqin's mouth twitched.

"It's edible, there are lots of videos online; if it truly had poison, the Kimchi People's nation would have perished by now."

After the women finished taking photos, he eagerly picked up a few strands of sea squirt and ate them.

It was completely different from what he predicted. Not crunchy like jellyfish, but similar to sea cucumber sashimi, chewy and elastic yet surprisingly tender to chew.

A faint orange aroma filled his mouth upon entry, with the sweet and sour of fruit vinegar spiced with a barely detectable heat, stimulating yet not overwhelming, perfectly balanced in its ratio.

As he chewed, a delicate umami gradually emerged.

"How is it?"

The four women stared directly at his expression, fearful of missing even a momentary slip revealing deception.

"Not bad?"

Wang Ziqin nodded, "Better than expected, mainly due to the fruit vinegar's seasoning. The thing itself seems flavorless? Perhaps it's overshadowed by the vinegar, but overall it's quite appetizing."

"Alright."

Chu Yueyue then reached out, pulling the dish toward her side.

They had switched seats during downtime earlier, moving Jiang Shuqi in the solo seat next to her, effectively making the four women sit together, while he sat on his own.

"Here, everyone have a taste, there's not much anyway, it'll be gone in two bites each."

She picked up the communal chopsticks, serving each person's small bowl with a bit, not forgetting to scoop in a few sea urchin pieces, ensuring everyone got a share.

"Indeed, it's quite appetizing, like eating a sweet and sour cold sea cucumber salad."

"The portion is just right, a mouthful per bite, but why does this sea urchin taste so sweet? Is it the psychological effect of having caught it by hand?"

"How do I feel that chewing the sea squirt too long leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste? No wonder they added sweet vinegar, maybe it originally doesn't taste good?"

The other three polished off the sea squirt strands in front of them cleanly, but Jiang Shuqi tasted one piece and quietly pushed the dish aside, then lifted Xiao Hei off her head, placing him in a pre-set baby chair.

Xiao Hei couldn't wait anymore, rising upright, sniffing around before biting down hungrily, finishing the dish within seconds.

"Even eating something so sweet-vinegar-flavored, it's not picky at all."

"If it were picky, it probably would have starved when it was a stray, how else could it have survived till now."

"Has it gotten fatter? It seems more rounded than before."

"Certainly, it's been eating too well, having seafood every day."

No one asked Jiang Shuqi why she didn't eat it herself, as the appetizer indeed had only normal seasoning level—its allure was in novelty; getting to know what sea squirt tasted like sufficed.

As they watched Xiao Hei finish the dish, Wang Ziqin's gaze fell wistfully on it as well.

He thought himself the dignified European Region agent for the Radisson Group could only take a nibble, why should this creature eat a single serving?

It wasn't fair!

He could only protest silently, given his wife and child were present, needing to maintain decorum.

Well, it wasn't anything particularly delicious, just tasting it was enough.

Dais promptly cleared the empty dish, refocusing their gaze on Lin Chen in the direction she left.

At the moment, Lin Chen was repeatedly drizzling hot oil over a pigeon, with large bubbles surfacing in the oil pot.

Each oil drizzle slightly deepened the pigeon's skin color.

From the initial light tan, it gradually turned deep tan, yellow-brown, and reddish-brown.

At this stage, he submerged the whole pigeon into the oil pot, casually fishing out floating snake steaks.

Each steak was about the size of half a palm, the flesh white and thick; without seeing the patterned skin on the other side, one could swear it's sea eel.

The newly fried snake steaks were still sizzling, visibly coated in a wafer-thin crispy shell—not batter, it seemed to have been coated in dry starch before frying.

The snake steaks had undergone pre-seasoning, not requiring much further flavoring; a sprinkle of pepper salt and cumin-chili powder was all it took to serve.

After the cold appetizer, their hunger grew even more, eagerly eyeing the dish in Dais's hands until placed in the center of their table.

"Is this snake meat?"

Dreya licked her slightly dry lips, hardly believing her eyes.

It seemed indistinguishable from eel.

"Wow, look at this pattern, it's scary!"

Anna pointed at the snake steak's back, "But it smells quite good, have any of you eaten snake meat before?"

"Yes."

"I have."

"In Great Xia, many restaurants sell it; it's quite tasty, mainly because it's cooling, medicinal, and can be used in liquor, considered traditional medicine."

As it turned out, apart from those two, all three Great Xia People at the table had eaten it!

Since they said so, snake meat must indeed taste good; if it's served in restaurants, it must be delicious.

The pepper salt snake steaks were plentiful, fifteen pieces stacked like dominoes in descending size order,

Before they could dig in, Lu Xiaohei had leaped forward, sniffing incessantly, his right paw about to rise before Jiang Shuqi quickly held him down.

"Stay aside! You can't eat what isn't given to you!"

"Meow~~"

"Protests are useless; you want to risk your neck? Such salty food isn't for kittens."

"Woo~~~"

Jiang Shuqi gave an intense glare, Lu Xiaohei instantly retracted his small paw back, whimpered twice, and obediently stayed seated without further antics.

Lucas, who had been idling next to Lin Chen, sighed upon witnessing this scene.

Indeed, the only thing that could keep feline creatures in check was a larger feline.

"Crunch"

Wang Ziqin picked up a snake steak and took a big bite, its crispy exterior audibly cracking, loud enough for the entire table to hear.

The crispy shell was nearly weightless, merely offering crunch, as if snake meat had donned a gossamer cloak.

Next, piping hot juices squeezed out from the snake steak, devoid of any fishiness, only a faintly salty umami with a hint of garlic aroma.

The snake meat immediately showed elasticity upon initial bite, yet its texture was refined and tender, almost melting at the touch.

The snake skin part was instead rich in gelatin, sticky and glutinous, even more robust compared to eel skin.

The steaks had no small bones, but large ones, the ribs, thus no need to worry while eating.

Having encountered no fishiness, he nodded in satisfaction, sprinkling pepper salt and cumin powder liberally, hastily biting down.