Chapter 93: Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Zhuang Chen only smiled without answering. Xia Long could not help saying, “Don’t worry. The boss is a gourmet; he loves eating everywhere he goes.”

Once they stepped out of the car, Feifei summoned her courage and hurriedly slipped her arm through Zhuang Chen’s. The restaurant was elegantly decorated, with tasteful floral arrangements, metal chandeliers, and exquisite tableware everywhere.

A spiral staircase led up to the second floor. The pared-down walls, curtains, and tablecloths, together with natural-wood furniture and leather seating, gave the place both a modern and a retro air.

They found a large private room, and the server brought over the menu. A casual glance was enough to see that it was not cheap; even the least expensive dishes cost more than three hundred. He ordered every specialty on the menu and wanted to see with his own eyes just what made it so extraordinary.

Soon the chef arrived with a full set of equipment: straws, measuring cups, an infrared thermometer, even syringes and a blowtorch.

“The first dish showcases one of the essential techniques of molecular gastronomy: the use of liquid nitrogen, whose extreme cold rapidly freezes food.”

After displaying the equipment, the chef smiled. “We usually use it to make ice cream, or to dip fruits and vegetables into liquid nitrogen for a few seconds, which helps release their aroma more fully. When you eat them after a brief thaw, the surface turns wonderfully crisp.”

He first took out a balloon, filled it with water, froze it instantly with liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees Celsius, and then gently tapped it open with a hammer. Inside were some vegetable salad and roses.

Zhuang Chen picked up a piece. It was crisp and refreshing, with faint white vapor drifting around it, giving it an almost otherworldly air.

“Please put on your protective goggles. We’re about to use a laser gun on the salmon, and it’s a little dazzling!”

The chef had Zhuang Chen wear the restaurant’s special goggles, took out a three-dimensional laser gun, and began searing the salmon. After the treatment, the fish was crisp outside and tender within, melting on the tongue with a distinctive flavor.

For the third dish, the chef brought out liquid nitrogen again and began making ice cream. “This is mica chocolate. Using a siphon bottle to process ingredients, it can handle both cold and hot liquids.”

“Depending on the type and amount of gelatin, it can be made with a mousse-like firmness or a cream-like lightness, preserving the aroma of the ingredients to the greatest extent.”

The ice cream made with liquid nitrogen at minus 200 degrees floated and rolled about on the water’s surface, sizzling softly as thick white vapor kept rising from it.

The first bite was even more thrilling than freshly fried food. It could not be licked or bitten; one had to catch it gently between the teeth while white vapor billowed out, as if one were a celestial being savoring the sensation of riding clouds with the tongue.

“This chocolate is so good!” the girl blurted out in excitement. She secretly took out her phone to snap photos. It was rare to have the chance to dine at such an upscale restaurant, and she wanted something to show off in her social feed afterward.

Zhuang Chen watched every movement of the chef with great curiosity. The next dish was fruit caviar: lecithin mixed with rich orange juice, slowly dripped into a solution containing dissolved calcium salts, where it congealed into tiny spheres.

In truth, it had nothing to do with caviar at all, yet through the action of calcium and phospholipids, a thin membrane formed around the juice that resembled the outer skin of caviar, amazingly giving the juice both the texture and appearance of caviar.

“Flame steak, one of our signature dishes.” The chef took out a large marinated steak and exposed it directly to flame while it was still medium-rare, dazzling to the eye and instantly sealing in the savory juices.

Finally, he sprinkled it with high-proof liquor for a second treatment, flipped it over, and drizzled sauce across it. Zhuang Chen took a bite, but was not particularly impressed: the meat was tough and the texture poor.

As heating time increased, the water in the beef rapidly diminished, and the steak would become dry and overcooked. Experienced chefs first sear the surface until it is cooked through with a slight char, then place it in the oven to roast.

Searing the outside until it is lightly charred is meant to lock in the juices and keep them from escaping, making the inside even juicier. He had heard that there was now a high-tech device called a low-temperature slow cooker.

It could heat beef for as long as twenty-four hours, producing meat as tender as sponge. Salmon could also be immersed in oil and cooked slowly at low temperature, leaving it as smooth and soft as tofu, quite different from the texture of raw salmon.

The chef began frothing with a cream dispenser. The foam was extremely delicate, as smooth as cream, with bubbles so small they were almost invisible to the naked eye.

Then he put sugar and strawberries, together with milk, cream, condensed milk, and gelatin, into a blender and heated them into a silky milkshake.

After being strained, it was placed directly into liquid nitrogen and frozen instantly into a hard block. When served, it had to be broken apart with a spoon and eaten with strawberry jam.

One taste revealed that liquid nitrogen had been used to freeze the strawberry cream into a solid. Because the temperature of the frozen ingredients was so low, the water inside them did not gather into large ice crystals; instead, it formed tiny, glass-like crystals. The texture was peculiar, with an indescribable sensation.

“Spicy chicken with mango yolk uses boneless chicken thighs. After roasting, the flavor turns even more aromatic and spicy, with lemongrass laid underneath...”

Zhuang Chen examined the so-called yolk carefully. From a distance it looked no different from an ordinary egg yolk, but on closer inspection one could see a membrane surrounding it. He put the whole thing into his mouth and bit lightly; it burst at once, flooding his mouth with a rich mango purée.

The chef turned and laid out a sheet of white paper, smiling. “This is my own original creation. There is a little secret I have to mention.”

He scattered it with all kinds of colorful milkshake sauces, garnished the sides with fruit and popcorn, and placed a small black canister in the center, swiftly filling it with liquid nitrogen.

When it was slammed down hard, it was like an atomic bomb going off. Smoke enveloped the whole area, and before their eyes appeared the rich aroma of toasted baguette, the cool crispness of nitrogen popcorn, and the springy sweetness of dried fruit.

Feifei jumped in fright and could not help crying out. Her face flushed red as she hurriedly apologized. Zhuang Chen tasted a slice and found a delicate blend of handmade cheesecake, honey strawberry sauce, milk-and-cheese sauce, avocado sauce, and orange sauce. The vessel, made of imported Belgian dark chocolate, concealed all manner of sweet temptations. The more he savored it, the more wondrous it became.

Then came mango sago dessert, made with one hundred percent imported Australian mangoes into a dense, silky sweetness, paired with three different kinds of molecular caviar. As the tip of the tongue parted the mysterious upper layer, it uncovered a delightful surprise: cool, velvety premium ice cream and smooth sago, icy and refined, refreshing the mind at once.

There was also rose durian puff pastry, made with premium fresh durian from which the excess moisture had been removed to intensify the flavor. Shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, and other unusual ingredients had been added as well, allowing the dish to reveal still more possibilities.

When he bit into it, something seemed to be bouncing merrily on the tip of his tongue. It ought to have been popping candy. The small surprise drew a smile from Zhuang Chen. Rather interesting.

“This is the most famous specialty in our restaurant: Hokkaido black caviar sunny-side egg!”

Zhuang Chen looked at the bowl before him. It held a glossy pool of egg, speckled with bits of black caviar. It had just been cooked, still steaming hot, and the edges showed none of the browned rims one would expect from a fried egg. When he lifted it with a spoon, the yolk separated easily from the white.

He swallowed the yolk in one bite. At once, a delicate skin almost too fragile to notice wrapped itself around a bright, fresh mango juice, which burst through his mouth in an instant. The strange texture struck the taste buds with such force that it was impossible to forget.