After savoring the Dragon's Saliva Fragrance, Elder Li was in high spirits. With a grand wave of his hand, he announced, "Come on, to the kitchen! I'm going to show you all my specialty today—Phoenix Tail Prawns."
Phoenix Tail Prawns are a traditional, famous dish from Nanjing, prized for a perfect harmony of color, aroma, taste, and presentation.
In the kitchen, sixteen large river prawns were leaping and splashing about inside a huge water tank.
Elder Li had the housekeeper scoop them up with a net. Not one more, not one less—exactly sixteen.
The prawns were enormous, each as long as an index finger, with strong, powerful tails as thick as a grown man's finger.
They thrashed about in the sink, brandishing their long pincers left and right, looking full of vigor.
"These are some nice prawns."
Ding Kaifang was a connoisseur and could tell at a glance that these were top-quality, wild-caught river prawns.
