The garnet beet broth is rich, with just a touch of sweetness, full of bites of tender beef and lima beans.
Simmered into softness, the rind then provides a cook's treat at the end, especially good when eaten with alternate bites of tender celery rib.
Each bite of incredibly tender octopus was like breathing in the freshest of salt air: simple perfection and unusual at the same time.
Every bite of shrimp was tender, juicy and flavorful, and that's no small feat.
Two nights before his N.B.A. halftime performance, Julian said between bites of chicken tenders ordered from a children's menu that he was working on a routine involving three basketballs.
It provided a fine complement to the tender flesh of the shrimp, the bite of the greens, the tender, chewy, broth-thickened rice.
The chef has improved upon the traditional toppings, offering house-cured meats instead: guanciale, or pork cheek, is a thicker, richer cut of bacon, while pepperoni is easily trumped by the tender bite of fennel salami.
Fifty miles of driving with giant, killer crustaceans in the backseat is no obstacle, given the payoff, which I would happily describe as a mouthgasm: the piquant fish sauce, the wet snap of bean sprouts, the bite of fresh lime juice, tender rice noodles, crunchy peanuts, and, at the center of the action, the sweet succulence of the lobster itself.
Intensely atmospheric, full of biting cold, tender detail and warm light, this is a book to cuddle up with.
For this recipe, it is important the beans are cooked to the right point, which, for me, is teetering on the farside of tender (my partner Vincenzo would have a bit more bite).
What I remember most vividly about my meals are some truly outstanding dim sum items, including first-rate steamed dumplings; a soft-shell crab with curry leaves and a tangle of crunchy egg-yolk threads; a tender and nuanced bite of lobster with XO sauce; and the dizziness and shortness of breath I felt whenever I tried to understand where the money had gone.
