Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

Seeing the two nod and bring their prepared ingredients to the empty kitchen counter, Fumio Oomido took a deep breath: "Then I declare the competition open."

As if receiving instructions, the two on the scene acted quickly, and Tadokoro Megumi, seeing that Shirayu was standing, thoughtfully found him a chair.

"Sigh, the teacher-student relationship is still closer in the end. This old woman is standing here and her back is aching, but unfortunately no one cares."

Noticing Tadokoro Megumi's actions, Oomido Fumio casually raised his hand and patted his back, speaking in a sighing tone.

"Grandma Wenxu, here you go!"

"Thank you, Xiaohui."

Upon hearing Oomido Fumio's words, Tadokoro Megumi blushed slightly, realizing that she hadn't treated everyone equally, and immediately moved a chair over.

Oomido Fumio chuckled as he took the chair and sat down next to Shirabuchi, then turned his gaze to the two people preparing to cook at the counter.

"He actually used discounted duck meat! He's really showing no respect for Yuuki!"

Ryoko Sakaki's expression changed slightly as she watched Soma Yukihira take out the discounted duck meat from his shopping bag.

She clearly saw the label on the box said 300 yen, which was obviously discounted duck meat that the supermarket couldn't sell, and her opinion of it plummeted.

Yoshino Yuuki took this competition very seriously, but this kid in front of her didn't take it seriously at all and actually used such cheap ingredients.

Could it be that he really thinks he can beat Yuuki with such simple ingredients? That's incredibly naive!

“Special offer duck meat is still duck meat, so there’s nothing wrong with the ingredients. If you have the skill to handle it, even special offer duck meat can be delicious.”

Seeing the ingredients that Soma Yukihira brought out one after another, Bai Yuan shook his head, but still tried to smooth things over for him.

I knew in my heart that the other party probably couldn't afford a live duck. It was one thing that they didn't have much money for living expenses, but more importantly, things around here were very expensive.

Thinking about the prices he saw when he went out a while ago, Bai Yuan couldn't help but purse his lips. Of course, they were expensive, but he never looked at the price when he bought things.

He is the leader of the dark cuisine world, and he controls all the wealth in the dark cuisine world, which has accumulated to more than a billion.

This is not an exaggeration at all; the earning power of high-end chefs is unimaginable for ordinary people.

"here we go..."

Tadokoro Megumi said something in a low voice, and then Yoshino Yuuki hung the wild duck she was holding upside down on a wooden hanger.

"Zizzi."

Fearing that its violent struggles would affect the next steps, Yoshino Yuuki used a stun gun to stun the wild duck, rendering it unconscious.

Next, a knife was cut into the duck's neck, and fresh blood flowed continuously from the wound into a large bowl that had been prepared beforehand.

After slaughtering and bleeding the animal, the next steps were scalding and removing the hair, a process that took her almost half an hour.

While Yoshino Yuuki was killing the duck, Yukihira Soma took out all the discounted duck meat and evenly brushed a layer of soy sauce onto the duck skin.

After finishing, I set it aside and then took out the pickled plums I had just bought from the supermarket, skillfully making them into pickled plum sauce.

"Sour plum duck? Something doesn't seem right..."

The process of killing the duck was rather uninteresting, so Bai Yuan focused most of his attention on Yukihira Soma, watching him process the ingredients step by step.

A duck with its skin brushed with soy sauce sits next to a bowl of plum sauce.

After preparing the duck and the sauce, Soma Yukihira went to the pot and pan section and quickly chose an enamel pot.

The advantages of enamel pots are fast heat conduction, even heat distribution, and good heat retention.

Making this kind of time-consuming and slightly complicated dish, which requires the meat to absorb the broth, is much more effective than cooking in a wok.

Watching Yukihira Soma's actions, Bai Yuan rubbed his chin with his fingers, looking somewhat puzzled.

Since this sour plum duck is strictly speaking a Cantonese dish, how did Soma Yukihira know how to make it? And judging from his skillful manner, it shouldn't be the first time he's made it.

"It must have been Joichiro who taught him."

Considering that the other party had a powerful father, Bai Yuan thought it made perfect sense and stopped thinking about it.

Yukihira Soma poured some oil into the pot, then placed the discounted duck meat, which had been brushed with soy sauce, skin-side down into the pot, and immediately heard a wonderful sizzling sound.

The time spent frying is used to prepare other ingredients.

Cut the shallots in half, slice the ginger, and peel a few cloves of garlic. When the duck skin is fried until golden brown, use chopsticks to remove it and place it on a plate. Then pour in the prepared ginger, shallots, and garlic and sauté until fragrant.

Once the aroma is released, put the duck meat back into the pot, but this time, with the skin on top, to ensure that both sides are heated evenly.

Pour in the prepared plum sauce, then add two large spoonfuls of hot water to ensure the water covers the duck meat. Cover the pot, add rock sugar, and simmer over low heat.

At this point, Soma Yukihira's cooking was more than half done; the rest was left to time, allowing the continuous high temperature to slowly thicken the broth.

During this process, the aroma of duck meat and plum blending together slowly wafts from the enamel pot, making one's mouth water and unable to stop imagining what it tastes like.

the other side.

Yoshino Yuuki had just finished killing the wild duck and was using beeswax to remove the remaining feathers from its skin—this was the most important step.

As for why it's important, it's mainly because if hair roots remain in the pores of the ingredients, it will have a huge impact on the taste of the dish.

And it looks ugly.

Therefore, the duck must be thoroughly prepared before it is officially cooked.

Blanch the prepared duck meat in boiling water, then add onions, carrots, celery, scallions, and ginger, and turn up the heat.

Take another lotus leaf, cut it in half lengthwise, and place it over the ingredients.

Angelica dahurica, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, galangal and bay leaves, a few white peppercorns and Sichuan peppercorns.

Put all of them into a spice bag, and add it to the boiling water in the pot to remove the fishy smell from the duck.

"When the temperature rises, the proteins and muscles contract, and all the odors in the intracellular fluid come out, while the external odors enter through thermal expansion and contraction, thus achieving the purpose of removing fishy smells and enhancing fragrance."

Watching Yoshino Yuuki's actions not far away, Bai Yuan explained to the people present that this was the principle behind adding spices when blanching ingredients.

Many people know what to do, but don't know why they should do it.

Such chefs, though steady and reliable, lack the ability to apply their knowledge to new situations, and even with great effort, their future achievements will be very limited.

"I see. There are so many intricacies involved. Teacher Bai Yuan is truly a learned scholar."

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's explanation, Tadokoro Megumi and Sakaki Ryoko nodded in unison.

At that moment, Yoshino Yuuki placed the boiled lotus leaves at the bottom of the pressure cooker.

After blanching the wild duck to remove its fishy smell, place it on boiled lotus leaves, add scallions, ginger, red wine, and hot water to cover the duck, then cover it with two more lotus leaves.

Then sprinkle pepper, plenty of salt, and Shaoxing wine on the lotus leaves, and finally add the pre-soaked lotus seeds.

Cover the pot and cook in a pressure cooker on high heat for 50 minutes.

Looking at the dish that was just one step away from completion, Yoshino Yuuki let out a long sigh of relief, her tense heart calmed down a bit, and her attention was able to shift.

Because Bai Yuan was watching from the side, she wanted to show off her skills, so she kept her mental energy highly focused and couldn't notice anything outside the food in front of her. Fortunately, everything went smoothly.

"I will win!"

Looking at the food in the pressure cooker in front of her, Yoshino Yuuki clenched her little fists, her face full of confidence.

"Replacing half of the hot water with chicken broth will make it more flavorful. There's time to prepare before killing the duck, so you two should keep that in mind next time."

"Okay, got it."

"Chicken soup for the soul? Oh, I see."

Watching Yoshino Yuuki put the lid back on, Shirabuchi spoke to Tadokoro Megumi and Sakaki Ryoko.

Although it's just a small detail, it can significantly enhance the flavor of a dish. Chicken soup can be considered the key to improving the flavor of many dishes.

"Let's wait patiently."

At this moment, both sides' dishes entered the final waiting stage. Looking at Tadokoro Megumi and Sakaki Ryoko with expectant faces, Shirabuchi murmured.

Soon, time passed.

Yukihira Soma's sour plum duck was finished first, and the moment the lid was opened, a rich aroma burst out of the pot.

Bai Yuan closed his eyes and savored the moment.

"The freshness and fruity aroma of the plum intertwine with the richness of the soy sauce, creating a multi-layered flavor that is both sweet and sour with a hint of saltiness."

With his super sense of smell activated, he captured all the subtle changes in the aroma of the sour plum duck.

In an instant, all the cooking methods for this ingredient took shape in his mind, forming a clear and well-defined framework.

"As expected, the last thing you put in was probably a piece of old candy, right?"

Opening his eyes, Bai Yuan looked at Yukihira Soma and pointed out what he felt was out of place: the last ingredient added to the dish.

In a more traditional version of sour plum duck, a piece of yellow rock sugar is usually added at the end to enhance the color and sweetness of the dish.

But now, the yellow rock sugar has been replaced with aged sugar. This simple substitution makes the dish seem ancient and mysterious, giving people a sense of having been refined over many years.

"Did you see it?"

Bai Yuan's sudden words surprised Yukihira Soma. If he remembered correctly, he had his back to this guy at the time...

Could it be that he can see through things?!

"No, it's just that the taste of old sugar and yellow rock sugar is different, and it becomes more obvious after heating, so I know that you added old sugar in the end."

Bai Yuan shook his head and explained.

"They could tell just by smelling it..."

Soma Yukihira's expression changed slightly, but he accepted it nonetheless. After all, Hakugen was a powerful figure who had defeated his father, so this was probably just basic stuff for him.

"Please enjoy, sour plum duck."

Remove the duck meat from the pot, then reduce the plum sauce at the bottom until thickened, and pour it over the dish. In this way, a world-class delicacy is complete!

"It looks pretty good, but the color is a bit off. You should add some dark soy sauce."

Looking at the golden-yellow plum duck in front of him, Bai Yuan nodded, then looked up at Yukihira Soma and pointed out his shortcomings.

Of course, it looks pretty good.

As for the specific taste...

Since Soma Yukihira replaced rock sugar with old sugar, it proves that there must be some innovation involved. However, we still have to wait until we taste it to know for sure.

Thinking of this, Bai Yuan picked up his chopsticks.

Chapter 164 The Victor? Li Wanwan Arrives at the Door