Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

Red wine ox tongue is essentially about infusing the ox tongue with fruity aromas.

The purpose of using celery and bacon is to enhance the vegetable and smoky flavors, which in turn highlight the fruity notes of the red wine.

Now that we've lost those two flavors, we'll use tomatoes and oranges as substitutes, as these two ingredients have relatively rich and prominent flavors.

It can also enhance the vegetable and fruit aromas of this red wine beef tongue dish!

Various flavor elements came to mind, eventually settling on tomatoes and oranges.

But... will this kind of cooking really work?

Looking back at her recent blunders, Tadokoro Megumi's face showed a conflicted and struggling expression, a sign of extreme insecurity.

Bai Yuan, who was standing to the side, saw what Tadokoro Megumi was thinking the moment she stopped moving, so he raised his hand and patted her back hard.

"Cheer up! No matter how you make it, I'll eat it! So, show some courage and start making it boldly!"

Looking at Tadokoro Megumi in front of him, Bai Yuan was getting a little anxious, wishing he could grab her double braids and control her to finish cooking.

"hiss..."

Feeling the pain in her back, Tadokoro Megumi gasped.

Although Bai Yuan held back, he showed no mercy and used considerable force in his hand, which did somewhat ease her conflicted emotions.

At this moment, Bai Yuan was like a beast tamer wielding a whip, and she was the beast being trained, gradually being tamed by him.

This feeling is so subtle...

But she doesn't seem to dislike it...

"If you behave well, I can cook a dish you like that will give you unparalleled satisfaction, both physically and mentally!"

And this time, no one will be competing with you; you can enjoy it all by yourself!

Seeing Tadokoro Megumi's softened expression, Bai Yuan suddenly pressed his face against hers and whispered in her ear, his voice seemingly carrying endless magic.

"Master Bai Yuan's cooking?! I'm eating it all by myself!! All by myself!!"

"thump."

"thump."

As Bai Yuan finished speaking, Tadokoro Megumi blushed, and she could clearly feel her heart racing. Her blood surged throughout her body, as if something was about to burst forth!

The reason is simple: Bai Yuan's words were just too tempting! They were more effective than ten thousand words of encouragement before, because they were genuine benefits!

No one can resist the cuisine of an eight-star chef; it's the kind of cuisine that can make people willingly sell their souls to the devil!

"I understand, I will do my best, please make sure I get to taste your cooking!"

With the apron tied around her waist, Megumi Tadokoro's face lit up with excitement as she began to work, completely focused.

Perhaps she can succeed too?

No! She must succeed!

Feeling the trusting gaze of Shiroyuki, this thought suddenly popped into Tadokoro Megumi's mind.

Unwrapping the kraft paper covering the ox tongue reveals that the tongue is still unprocessed, which is one of the assessment criteria for the course.

Holding a short-handled cleaver, Tadokoro quickly removed the outer skin of the beef tongue, leaving only the tender meat inside, and then secured it with straw rope.

Cut the onion, tomato, carrot, and orange into suitable sizes. Meanwhile, heat the pan with butter and sauté the ingredients one by one until they caramelize.

On the other side, heat the same pan, add butter, and sear the bound beef tongue until a caramelized layer forms. In French cuisine, this is known as sealing the edges, a favorite beef cooking technique in France.

The purpose of this step is to effectively prevent the loss of flavor from the beef tongue and lock in all the flavor of the ingredients, which is an excellent cooking method!

Pick up the seared beef tongue and place it directly into the stew pot filled with vegetables.

Without washing the pan used for frying the beef tongue, pour in a spoonful of beef bone broth that was previously simmered in class, heat it to melt the browned layer, and then pour it into a stew pot.

Garlic, thyme, and beef bone broth.

Add these ingredients to the stew pot in order, then cover and simmer over low heat for two hours. This step requires time and patience.

"call..."

Looking at the stew pot in front of her, Tadokoro Megumi let out a long breath, then glanced at Bai Yuan out of the corner of her eye and found that he didn't show any change in expression except for crossing his arms and looking at her.

Is it good or bad? This thought crossed Tadokoro Megumi's mind until a large hand landed on her back, startling her back to reality.

"Don't think about so many unnecessary things while cooking; it's pointless!"

Remember, other people's opinions are ultimately just for reference; you are the chef! And a chef needs absolute confidence in their own cooking!

Bai Yuan's voice rang clearly in her ears, his powerful words compelling her to believe, so Tadokoro Megumi nodded.

"I understand!"

Refocusing my attention on the countertop, looking at the many ingredients, the remaining time was spent preparing the sauce for the red wine beef tongue.

For French cuisine, the sauce is arguably the key to the flavor!

Cut the butter into pieces and put it into the pot. Then add the flour and stir evenly with a spoon until it turns dark brown. Then add the cold beef bone broth.

Cold soup with hot butter and flour, and hot soup with cold butter and flour, can prevent small lumps from forming and affecting the taste of the sauce.

Then add appropriate salt to taste, a little red wine, lemon, orange and apple and other ingredients with strong fruity aromas, and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, or until the sauce can coat a spoon.

Once the sauce is cooked, use a strainer to roughly filter it to prevent any small lumps from remaining and to remove any fruit pulp.

After completing this step, all that's left is to wait. The beef tongue in the stew pot won't cook quickly; you need to keep an eye on it and wait...

"Don't be too nervous. If you keep your mind too tense, it will snap sooner or later. If you can't control your time, set an alarm."

Bai Yuan can judge the state of food by the aroma in the air, but others cannot; most of the time they can only judge by experience after lifting the pot lid.

The size of the meat, the heat level, and the cooking time are all based on experience and can be learned through recipes.

However, there are limits to human capabilities.

With so many recipes in the world, it's impossible to remember every single detail. That's why personal ability becomes so important.

Some chefs have broad knowledge, some have keen intuition, and some have extraordinary talent. These are all individual strengths of chefs.

The more individual strengths a chef has, the further they can go on the path of cooking.

"But wouldn't it be better to keep an eye on it? That way, you can react to its situation as quickly as possible and then take timely action. That would be the most perfect approach."

Clearly, Tadokoro Megumi didn't quite understand what Shirabuchi was saying.

When he turned his head, his eyes clearly showed fatigue, the kind of weariness that comes from staring at something for too long.

"What a load of rubbish! Just listen to me. Cooking requires a holistic approach. You'll never get it right if you keep focusing on just one small thing!"

Also, don't think you're done just because you've started stewing something. There are still two pieces of beef tongue over there; go try cooking them in different ways!

Bai Yuan didn't hold back when he scolded him, saying that focusing on one spot while cooking is like obsessing over a detail in art; no matter how well you draw it, it's meaningless.

The key is the overall flavor!

"Other cooking methods?"

"For example, barbecue and sous-vide cooking are based on the same principle."

Cooking shouldn't be confined to one method; that would be too boring. We are human; what we need is to master the methods, not to be mastered by them.

Seeing Tadokoro Megumi's puzzled expression, Shirobuchi simply started talking to her about philosophy, which was what he had come to understand after traveling for so long.

As they were talking, Bai Yuan walked to the window of the cooking classroom, turned his back to look out the window, and adopted a mysterious and unfathomable posture.

"What's needed is to master the methods, not to be mastered by the methods..."

Tadokoro Megumi repeated Shirobuchi's words, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I get it, grilling and sous vide cooking, right? I'll start trying it right now!"

Clenching her fists, Tadokoro Megumi called out as she watched Shiro's retreating figure.

"You still don't understand what I'm saying."

If you want, you can use many methods such as steaming, smoking, or frying, instead of just doing whatever I tell you to do.

The purpose of cooking is to make ingredients taste better. Only by trying more can you improve, and if you want to improve, you can't be afraid of failure!

"What you learn from books is never enough; you must put it into practice to truly understand." This saying tells us that only experience gained through personal observation is truly reliable.

"Um... wait a minute, let me try it first."

He said he understood, but he didn't really. His purpose in saying all this wasn't to get Tadokoro Megumi to cook more dishes, but to broaden her thinking.

Compared to a chef's culinary skills, his understanding is the most difficult to improve.

After all, technical skills can be honed over time, but improving one's understanding requires not only guidance from experts but also travel.

This is the real reason why Baiyuan traveled.

Of course, a year is definitely not enough time, but everything should be done in a balanced way. We should take breaks along the way and rest when we are tired.

That year, he traveled through Fujian and Zhejiang before finally arriving in Shanghai, where he found the legendary "Dragon-Turning Pot" in the Shanghai culinary scene and gained its recognition.

Meanwhile, the Dark Cuisine World was officially established in a high-rise building in downtown Shanghai.

By challenging renowned chefs and pointing out the shortcomings in their dishes, I aim to show them that by following me, they can improve in the future.

Such temptation is irresistible to any chef.

With the addition of renowned chefs, some first- and second-class chefs also learned about the world of "dark cuisine," but joining it was not so easy for them.

Assessments, all kinds of assessments.

Only by proving that you have the potential to become a Special Grade can you be qualified to join the Dark Cuisine World and have the possibility of going further!

Even top-tier chefs must pass an assessment before officially becoming members of the Dark Cuisine world, and can only join with Bai Yuan's approval.

As for the ranking system of the Dark Cuisine World, Bai Yuan continued the original Dark Cuisine World system, but appropriately lowered the requirements a little.

"Lin Chef" is a general term for chefs who have joined the Dark Cuisine world and are at least three-star chefs. They must have at least one dish that can be presented as a luminous dish.

As for those who cannot produce luminous dishes, Bai Yuan considers them worthless and naturally will not grant them the title of Chef Lin.

Those with potential can be nurtured, while those without potential should be sent down to make money for the organization and collect rare ingredients.

This is also Bai Yuan's true purpose in creating this organization: to collect all the rare ingredients in the world into his own treasure trove!

At the same time, he can build his own network of influence so that no matter where he is, a phone call will bring him the ingredients he needs.