Chapter 447: The Aroma of Pearl Hidden in the Dark
The inspiration for Pearl Hidden in the Dark came from a famous Huaiyang dish: Eight-Treasure Gourd Duck.
Eight-Treasure Gourd Duck was not an easy dish to make. Without opening the duck's abdomen, the chef had to remove the neck bones, breastbone, leg bones, and internal organs. From the opening at the neck, eight ingredients—including mixed grains, cured ham, and other delicacies—were stuffed inside. The duck was then tied into the shape of a gourd, steamed to set the form, and finally drizzled with hot oil and fried to a rich reddish-brown color before serving.
But the dish modeled after it—Pearl Hidden in the Dark—was on an entirely different level of difficulty.
The idiom "Pearl Hidden in the Dark" referred to a priceless treasure collecting dust in the hands of someone who did not recognize its worth. In this dish, however, the meaning was transformed into hiding a "treasure meatball" within layers of ingredients.
The final creation, identical in shape to Eight-Treasure Gourd Duck, concealed within the gourd-shaped duck a whole deboned chicken; inside the deboned chicken, a dove; inside the dove, a quail; and inside the quail, an eight-treasure meatball made by mincing goose breast over a thousand times and mixing in eight precious ingredients.
You thought that was the only difficulty?
Far from it.
Beyond the complicated preparation, the cooking methods varied for each ingredient.
After the goose-meat eight-treasure ball was shaped by boiling, it was stuffed into the quail and sewn shut. The quail was steamed, then stuffed into the pigeon and sewn shut. The pigeon was simmered, then placed into the chicken, which was roasted until done. Finally, the roasted chicken was inserted into the duck and finished by drizzling hot oil over it, giving the duck its glossy reddish-brown gourd appearance.
Throughout the entire process, every ingredient required separate treatment, and no cooking method was repeated. By combining multiple culinary techniques with various poultry, the dish achieved an astonishingly rich and layered flavor profile.
Complex in execution, like culinary matryoshka dolls.
Such a method wasn't something Cats' Apprentice invented on a whim. In Kaifeng cuisine, there existed a traditional dish called Four Treasures Nesting, which nested duck, chicken, pigeon, and quail. In the Arab world, the famed roast camel—nicknamed the "calorie bomb"—also used nested ingredients, and had even appeared in Little Chef of the Northern Song Dynasty.
At this moment, Long Hanyun turned his attention toward Pearl Hidden in the Dark, his face revealing clear surprise.
On the plate lay a duck shaped like a gourd, with the duck's head serving as the handle. Its surface gleamed with a uniform reddish-brown sheen. Waves of enticing aroma wafted from the duck's skin into Long Hanyun's nose, drawing a deep breath from him despite himself.
What a fragrance… but where are the other ingredients?
He had skimmed the menu earlier and knew well that this dish was not just duck. It was made from duck, chicken, pigeon, quail, goose meat, and several precious supplementary ingredients.
Yet at the moment, aside from the duck, the only other object on the plate was a finely crafted dining knife.
His gaze settled on the gourd-shaped duck body, full and taut like a true gourd. A thought flashed through his mind—one almost too absurd to believe.
Could it be… that all the other ingredients are inside the duck?
Hiss—!
He sucked in a sharp breath, unable to restrain himself. He picked up the dining knife and sliced cleanly into the belly of the gourd duck.
As the dining knife sliced into the belly of the gourd duck, the poultry hidden inside was suddenly exposed to the air. A scent far richer and more intense than the aroma of the duck alone surged from the opening, flooding straight into Long Hanyun's nostrils.
There was no time to examine the internal structure of the dish, his mind went blank beneath the overwhelming, multi-layered fragrance.
The first note he sensed was the deep, robust aroma of roasted chicken. Roast dishes by nature carried powerful savory scents, and the oils beneath the roasted chicken skin had melted during cooking, permeating the meat and producing a wondrous, unfamiliar yet nostalgic flavor that struck directly at his senses.
Roasting existed on the Douluo Continent, and naturally roasted chicken existed as well. But never—not once—had Long Hanyun smelled a roast chicken with such intoxicating richness.
In a daze, he envisioned a plucked, golden-brown roasted chicken—still sizzling with oil—flapping its wings and lunging toward him, clamping his nose with its wingtips and roaring, "Smell me!"
An almost primal impulse surged through him, he wanted to grab the entire gourd duck with his bare hands and take a massive bite.
But he forcibly suppressed the urge, for the fragrance had only just begun.
Following the roasted chicken came a new scent—less forceful, yet richer.
The aroma of stewed pigeon.
On the Douluo Continent, pigeon was far less common than chicken. The small body, multitude of bones, and slightly tougher flesh did not fit local culinary preferences, so pigeon meat was rarely eaten. Even Long Hanyun needed several moments to recognize the familiar mellow note as pigeon.
During the long stewing process, spices and seasonings slowly penetrated the flesh, while the pigeon's own flavor gradually emerged, fusing with the aromatics. Thicker and rounder than the roasted chicken's sharp fragrance, it followed in its wake and advanced steadily toward Long Hanyun's nose.
He fell into another trance. In his mind's eye, a plucked pigeon with pale yellow-brown skin—glazed by stewing—fluttered weakly toward him, cooing, "Coo—hungry… coo—hungry…"
After the pigeon came the scent of quail.
If pigeon was unpopular due to its small size, then quail was practically ignored altogether. Quail eggs were eaten, yes, but with so little meat, the trouble of cooking a quail was rarely worth it.
For Long Hanyun, this was his first time tasting quail in any form. Yet as the gentle fragrance of steamed quail slowly unfolded within his senses, a visible look of surprise appeared on his face.
Such a clean, fresh scent.
Steaming preserved the quail's original flavor to the greatest degree. Beyond the universal savory essence of meat, quail possessed a distinctive intensity, easily distinguishable from chicken and pigeon—lively, bright, and utterly new to Long Hanyun.
Once more his mind spun. He faintly saw a plucked, milky-white quail hopping toward him one step at a time, chirping, "Eat me! Eat me!"
Long Hanyun shook his head vigorously.
No more hesitating. Right now—this instant—he had to taste what the Pearl Hidden in the Dark truly offered.
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