But apart from the chefs, no one listened to Shao An's nagging, and they eagerly grabbed their meal trays, lining up to get their food.
Shao Feng and the others were the fastest. The reddish-brown pork rib meat exuded an enticing sweet and sour aroma, making one's appetite whet just by the smell.
He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, chewing with satisfaction.
"It's really... really... I don't know how to describe it, but it's just too delicious!"
"This meat is so chewy, and the juice is so abundant!"
The texture of the meat pulsed on his tongue, like a beating heart, like a boxer in a bout.
The sweet and sour taste stimulated the secretion of saliva, causing the stomach and intestines to involuntarily open, making one want to eat more and more! The abundant nutrients in the pork rib meat transformed into a warm current, rushing through the blood vessels and internal organs.
Shao An also took a bite and then asked in confusion, "This... isn't meat?"
"The so-called sweet and sour pork ribs don't use ribs at all. Is it vegetarian meat made from soy products again?"
Shao An asked Zhang Wei with doubt. The latter replied with a smile, "That's right, soybean powder and high-gluten flour are indeed one of the main ingredients."
"Then what else?"
"Scallion oil powder, dietary fiber extract, vegetable oil, and lard. Among them, dietary fiber extract is extracted from spinach, chives, black dates, red dates, passion fruit, and by the way, bananas."
Shao An was stunned.
Vegetables, grains, fruits...
All three types of ingredients were present, but the meat that should have been there was missing.
Moreover, when tasting it just now, he clearly felt that the amount of sugar was very small, yet it was surprisingly sweet. It turned out to be the vegetarian meat itself!
"But why can't I taste those foods... Anyway, chives are considered greasy, and the flavors of passion fruit and banana are very strong, which are incompatible with this dish, obviously..."
Shao An tasted it again. If he paid close attention, he could still sense it.
Furthermore, the meticulous preparation of this meat indicated that it had been fried three times, and there were some subtle seasonings.
"Is it... fried pork rinds?"
Fried pork rinds are an ancient food, a by-product of rendering lard.
One is ordinary white pork, and the other is the fat layer near the pig's lungs.
The edible fried pork rinds are from the fat layer near the pig's lungs, shaped like a rooster's comb, hence also called chicken comb oil.
The prepared fried pork rinds are crispy and delicious, with a rich aroma, as if infused with the essence of pork!
"Using fried pork rinds to enhance the flavor, the strong greasiness covers the sweetness, and then using high-purity dietary fiber to create the meat mold..."
"As expected of the principal, there are slight differences in the design each time."
"And this sourness, it seems that besides sea vinegar, hawthorn pieces and lime have also been added..."
Fat and sugar are a wonderful combination.
If the purity is too high, whether it's fat or sugar, the human body will instinctively reject it, commonly known as greasiness or cloying sweetness.
But when oil and sweetness are combined in a one-to-one ratio, they can mask each other and completely suppress this sense of rejection. This is why southerners like to add sugar when braising pork.
In the United States, donuts are a food that can easily lead to weight gain, and recipes contain a large amount of mixed high-sugar, high-fat foods, which is also the reason for the high obesity rate.
In Zhang Wei's view, these cultivators and martial artists have no problem with excess energy. They are all malnourished, making them perfectly suited for this deadly combination!
And the final product after the decomposition and absorption of dietary fiber is still sugar.
And the vegetarian meat made from fried pork rinds, sugar, and dietary fiber, combined with appetizing sourness, will push people's appetite to the limit!
Just then, Zhan Hua suddenly exclaimed, "This dish... actually has the taste of spiritual energy!"
"No mistake, although it's faint, it's definitely spiritual energy, and it's spiritual energy that is very beneficial for absorption..."
"The perfect taste of sweet and sour pork ribs masked our perception of spiritual energy, and we only realized it after the spiritual energy entered our bodies!"
Shao Ying exclaimed at this time, "Master, I feel the spiritual energy within me is growing rapidly. I mean... it's like taking a Yellow Dragon Pill, not the effect of ordinary dishes that enhance the capacity of spiritual energy, but an improvement in realm and the intensity of spiritual energy!"
The Yellow Dragon Pill is a top-grade divine medicine for increasing cultivation progress during the Qi Condensation 1-6 stages. After taking it, one needs to meditate to absorb the medicinal power, thereby improving the realm.
Moreover, the Yellow Dragon Pill is expensive, costing dozens of spirit stones per pill. Unless one is breaking through a realm, one would definitely be reluctant to take it at ordinary times.
This is because Zhang Wei additionally added spirit crystal to these more than ten pots of dishes, although the total amount was only 0.1 grams, equivalent to two mid-grade spirit stones.
But this is a vast amount of energy for the late stage of Foundation Establishment. If it were not diluted so much, it might cause adverse effects on the body.
And this spiritual energy is only to ensure the smooth unfolding of the food's effects!
What truly enhances the speed of spirit energy absorption and improves physique is Zhang Wei's cuisine!
"After tasting the delicacies, the food cells will take root in the body, and then as long as they are stimulated by food, they will proliferate wildly, gradually transforming and strengthening the body."
"After colliding with the spiritual root and physique, a win-win situation has been created!"
And on the other side.
Shao Feng was so excited that he could not control himself. This small dish had further refined his internal energy. Is this the power of cuisine?
And the other Martial Dao Grandmasters were even more shocked, because unlike Shao Feng, they had not yet cultivated profound and pure internal energy, but their internal energy had spontaneously transformed, fusing with the unknown elements in the food!
Perhaps...
That is spiritual energy?
Being able to interact with spiritual energy is something that only pure true qi can achieve!
And now it has been accomplished with just one dish!
Being able to sense spiritual energy is like gaining a new sensory organ, suddenly opening up a new world, hence the saying of enlightenment.
And this kind of perception allowed the Martial Dao Grandmasters to obtain the method of interacting with spiritual energy in advance, and each person's understanding was different!
Shao Feng said, "It was the same with Yuan Hui of Da Fu Temple back then. After reading ancient classics, he had an epiphany and gained the ability to sense spiritual energy, which allowed him to complete the purification of his internal energy in advance, without having to wait to accumulate a full sixty years of internal energy!"
"That day, after I went down the well, I also saw the internal cultivation technique he created, but its path was somewhat unorthodox and could not be considered a masterpiece."
"And after I cultivated pure internal energy, I did not experience this feeling of epiphany..."
This independent sensory organ was bestowed by this cuisine!
Shao Feng was aghast!
This dish was like a key to a level!
Just like mortals having spiritual roots opens the door to the path of cultivation!
Just like cultivators having a Foundation Establishment Pill allows them to ascend to the Foundation Establishment stage!
"This cuisine... is the key for martial cultivators, opening a brand new door for everyone!"