Chapter 57: Caviar and Lobster Aspic

[Congratulations, you have unlocked the 9th entry in your gallery.]

[The food gallery entry you unlocked is: Caviar and Lobster Aspic.]

[This dish’s rating: 89 points [Good].]

[As the rating is ’Good,’ rewards are tripled (x3).]

[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward of 400,000.]

[Congratulations, you have received a reward: Lobster Aspic Recipe.]

[Congratulations, you have received a reward: Tips for Selecting Caviar.]

[Note 1: All rewards will be automatically legitimized. There is no need to worry about their origin.]

[Note 2: The value of rewards varies depending on the score.]

The next moment, Li Xiao saw his phone screen light up.

[Your savings account card ending in 7700...]

’89 is such an awkward score.’

’It wasn’t a bad score, but it was just one point shy of ’Excellent.’ Then again, it wasn’t a great score either, because it was still one point short.’

However, Li Xiao didn’t dwell on the food’s score for long. He quickly refocused his attention on the dish in his mouth.

’The texture is so unique. It’s slightly cool and incredibly springy, like eating a fruit jelly cup, except this one is lobster-flavored.’

’The flavor of the lobster broth is complex. I can taste the faint aroma of brandy, the light sweetness of the lobster, the rich beefiness of the beef bones and tendons, and the freshness of various vegetables.’

After receiving the recipe from the system, Li Xiao now knew that making the lobster broth was actually quite complicated.

First, you pour olive oil into a pot and sauté onions, potatoes, and tomatoes until fragrant.

Then, you add black pepper, lobster shells, and chopped tomatoes, pour in a pre-made beef tendon stock, and boil on high heat for half an hour to an hour. Once the volume of the lobster shell broth has reduced by half, you can turn off the heat.

Next, you use a whisk to beat two egg whites until they form fluffy, white, cloud-like peaks.

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

This is done because the whipped egg whites are excellent at absorbing the proteins and impurities in the cloudy lobster broth.

Simmering at a low temperature allows the suspended particles and impurities in the broth to be absorbed by the egg whites on the surface. Then, you just have to skim off the surface layer with a spoon to make the broth crystal clear.

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

There is a similar step in Xia Country’s cuisine as well. When making "Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth," the consommé is clarified using the same technique.

In Xia Country, however, chefs call this step "sweeping the soup," which means to sweep all the impurities out of the soup.

To be fair, Li Xiao had previously seen a recorded interview with this chef, Lubson, in which he claimed that this "clear soup extraction" technique was his own original invention.

’But in my opinion, any discerning person could see whether it was a true original or simply ’borrowed.’ ’

’After all, Xia Country has a history of making consommé that spans over 800 years.’

’And this Mr. Lubson isn’t even 80 years old. Of course, you couldn’t rule out the possibility that he had a flash of inspiration and independently came up with this so-called ’clear soup extraction.’ ’

’After all, geniuses are always popping up in the culinary world. It’s perfectly normal for two different chefs, separated by hundreds of years, to have the same spark of inspiration.’

After this impurity absorption step, the originally brown, cloudy lobster broth becomes transparent and free of any sediment.

Of course, this is just what it looks like to the naked eye. Even after this step, the clear broth still contains many unwanted components.

Once these components cool and solidify, they will become visible in the clear broth, causing the aspic to become opaque.

Therefore, after obtaining the consommé, it needs to be strained through a filter cloth. Filtering it two to three times will completely remove the remaining impurities.

Once you have a completely clean and clear lobster consommé, you can pour it into a dish and chill it in the refrigerator.

Although no gelatin sheets or powder are added to this lobster consommé, there’s no need to worry! The delicious broth is already rich in natural gelatin; just lowering the temperature is enough for it to magically solidify.

While waiting for the lobster aspic to cool and set, you can prepare the other ingredients.

Blanch the snow-white cauliflower florets in boiling water, then drain them. Add a small amount of cream and egg yolk, and purée everything in a food processor.

Once the cauliflower has turned into a paste, transfer the pale yellow purée into a piping bag and set it aside.

The next step is to prepare the crab leg meat mixture.

Take the Emperor Crab legs and steam them until they are half-cooked.

Remove the meat from the legs, shred it into fine strands, and then mix it with mayonnaise.

Now, you can take out the lobster aspic, which should be set like a jelly. Use a round cutter to scoop out the center, leaving a circular well.

Once the lobster broth has set into an aspic, take a cutter and gently hollow out the middle, revealing an inviting circular space.

Fill the well with the Emperor Crab meat mixture, press it down firmly with a spoon, and finally, top it with a layer of expensive caviar.

Around the perimeter of the lobster aspic, evenly pipe out small beads of the cauliflower purée from the piping bag to resemble white lotus seeds.

Finally, mix edible chlorophyll into mayonnaise to turn it green. Draw the green mayonnaise into a syringe and squeeze a dot onto each cauliflower "lotus seed," creating vibrant little green-capped morsels.

To finish, garnish the caviar with edible gold leaf, and a classic French dish is complete.

The process was incredibly complex. Li Xiao had once seen a video of this dish being made.

The chef in the video was quite skilled, but it still took him more than four hours to complete the dish.

He took a bite. The lobster aspic melted the moment it entered his mouth, the warmth of his tongue turning the cool jelly into a warm lobster broth, an intoxicating sensation.

’The flavor is exquisite, nothing like the negative reviews from some food critics online.’

’The savory aroma of the lobster, the beefiness from the tendon and bone, the slight sweetness enriching the broth from the sautéed vegetables...’

’The only thing is a slight fishiness from the lobster. Even though the herbs and brandy did a good job of masking it, my taste buds could still faintly detect it.’

’Perhaps that’s why the system deducted points.’

He used his spoon to scoop up one of the "lotus seeds" made of cauliflower purée. The texture was just as Li Xiao expected, soft like mashed potatoes, but the flavor was rather novel.

’Delicately creamy, with a rich egg flavor, combined with the slight sweetness of the cauliflower... it’s a very unique sensation.’

’It’s like eating ice cream, but also like drinking a milkshake.’

The savory lobster aspic and the milky-sweet cauliflower purée created a stark contrast. Although the two flavors were completely different, they complemented each other in perfect harmony.

Having finished the garnishes, Li Xiao finally turned his attention to the stars of the show: the caviar and the Emperor Crab meat mixture.