Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

"Bye-Bye."

After seeing the last girl off and closing the door, Bai Yuan looked at Alice Nakiri, who was sitting on the sofa, hugging her feet and smelling them.

"What do you want to eat tonight?"

Seeing the subtle expression on the girl's face, Bai Yuan scratched his head and asked casually.

"I'm craving Yangzhou fried rice, the kind that's super complicated to make!"

After throwing the tissue she had just used to wipe her feet into the nearby trash can, Alice Nakiri confidently made her request.

This is the compensation she deserves!

"Yangzhou fried rice? You sure know how to give me a hard time. I don't have any ingredients at home. I'll call Xiaoyuanguo and have her deliver them."

If it's just regular fried rice, you can manage with the ingredients you have at home.

However, making Yangzhou fried rice involves many steps and requires relatively high-quality ingredients with few substitutes, so they must be purchased in advance.

Besides, the taste of Yangzhou fried rice is very extreme. It's either extremely delicious or extremely unpalatable; it's either top-notch or a complete failure.

"Sure, let's invite Sister Yuanguo over to join us. We can't finish it all anyway."

Thinking about how she had been eavesdropping all night and couldn't sleep, Alice Nakiri had a bad feeling. She felt it was necessary to make the other person eavesdrop all night too!

"Okay, I'll call her then."

Bai Yuan was unaware of Alice Nakiri's thoughts. Seeing that she did not resist, he immediately took out his phone and dialed her number.

At the same time, Kikuchi Sonoka, who was shopping at the market to prepare for developing new dishes for the restaurant, had her phone ring.

Seeing the familiar caller ID, Kikuchi Sonoka pressed the answer button.

"Honey, is something the matter?"

Since they were already together, Kikuchi Sonoka changed her address to Shirobuchi as "darling," and her cheeks turned exceptionally red when she said those three words.

"Are you free right now?"

"available."

"Then help me buy some materials."

Upon hearing that Kikuchi Sonoka was available, Bai Yuan didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his request.

"Okay, you say."

"I need eggs, bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms..."

Hearing the voice from the other end of the phone, Kikuchi nods. She happens to be at the market and will be there in half an hour after buying the ingredients.

Thinking about the fact that she was about to eat Shirai-sensei's cooking, Kikuchi Yoko's mouth immediately started to water and a strong desire appeared on her face.

That should be all...

Before long, she had collected all the necessary materials into her basket. After checking them again, she rushed back to Far Moon and arrived at Bai Yuan's home.

鈥滀汉鐖鐖搖殑鈥

She opened the door with her key and saw Bai Yuan waiting at the door. A smile appeared on Mujichi Yuanka's face, and she opened her arms to hug him.

Seeing this, Bai Yuan did not dodge, but enjoyed the waves crashing in front of him, while sniffing the scent on her body.

The girl hugged him tightly, her forehead still damp with a little sweat, which Bai Yuan gently wiped away with his fingers, his face filled with tenderness.

"Have you bought everything?"

"It's all here."

She handed the basket of ingredients to Bai Yuan like a treasure, then looked at him expectantly without saying a word, just like a dog wagging its tail vigorously.

For some reason, looking at the girl in front of him, Bai Yuan had a sense of déjà vu.

"Great job, pat on the head."

Seeing that the other party had not made any move for a long time, Bai Yuan thought for a few seconds and quickly figured out what she wanted, so he reached out and touched her head.

Feeling the warm, large hand fall upon her, Kikuchi chuckled, gently nuzzling Bai Yuan's hand with her head, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.

"You must be tired from coming all this way. Go to the living room and watch TV for a while to rest. I'll make fried rice. It won't take long, about twenty minutes."

"I don't want to watch TV, I want to watch you cook."

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Mujichien shook her head vigorously, as one of the main reasons she had come was to see him cook.

Compared to studying on your own, learning from Bai Yuan is undoubtedly better.

However, she was too busy with the affairs of Chun Guo Ting on weekdays, so even if she wanted to come, she couldn't come often. At the same time, she was afraid that coming too often would disturb Bai Yuan, since she was now an outsider.

But now that Bai Yuan has asked her to come, she has a reason to put aside everything and come see him, which is why she is so happy!

"Then let's go together."

Upon hearing what Kikuchi Sonoka said, Hakugen nodded.

That was his original plan, but he thought it wouldn't be right to let her go into the kitchen right away since she had just arrived, so he let her choose for herself.

Now, Kikuchi Sonoka's answer satisfied him. As expected of his woman, she was so eager to learn!

Taking the basket of ingredients from her, Shirabuchi went into the kitchen first, followed closely by Kikuchi Sonoka, while Nakiri Alice waited inside.

"Brother Baiyuan, Sister Yuanguo."

Upon seeing Shirabuchi and Kikuchi Sonoka enter, Alice Nakiri greeted them both and then stood obediently by the kitchen counter.

"Scallions, egg mixture, and rice."

This is the foundation of all fried rice, and it makes up a huge proportion of this fried rice, so we need to use the largest bowl possible.

As he spoke, Bai Yuan ladled the three ingredients into three large bowls and placed them side by side in the preparation area. These were all things that needed to be prepared before the meal.

"Next are diced bamboo shoots, diced shiitake mushrooms, diced chicken, diced Jinhua ham, and dried freshwater shrimp. Speaking of which, shrimp is the essence of Huaiyang cuisine."

As Bai Yuan spoke, he chopped the scallions into scallion flowers, and then chopped some bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, chicken, and Jinhua ham.

The river shrimp roe is extracted at an astonishing speed, and the shrimp meat is peeled off and placed in two different bowls for later use, all within five minutes.

"Shrimp strips, diced sea cucumber, shrimp, green peas, and chicken broth."

As Bai Yuan spoke, he arranged the prepared ingredients into a nine-square grid according to the cooking order, and then began to heat the pot.

"Yangzhou fried rice may look like just a plate of fried rice, but it is a perfect example of the integration of rice and vegetables. Watch carefully and learn carefully; you should be able to gain a lot from this dish."

At this point, Bai Yuan's voice became more serious.

As a representative of Huaiyang cuisine, Yangzhou fried rice is not simple in itself. Both its taste and preparation are not simple. Learning this dish is equivalent to mastering more than ten dishes!

"Yes."

"it is good!"

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Alice Nakiri and Sonoka Kikuchi's expressions changed. They had initially been somewhat dismissive, but now their faces were full of seriousness.

If a dish can make Bai Yuan take it this seriously, then even if it's just ordinary fried rice, they won't take it lightly at all.

Upon hearing their replies, Bai Yuan focused his attention on the cooking counter in front of him.

“Little Garden Fruit, I remember I once explained the principle of adding scallions twice. You were right next to me at the time. Now, please repeat it to Alice.”

"Eh?"

Faced with Bai Yuan's sudden question, Kikuchi Sonoka was taken aback at first, then she bit her lower lip and pondered, and soon found the answer.

"Adding chopped scallions a second time aims to give the dish a more distinct scallion flavor."

The scallions added initially release a rich, cooked scallion flavor after cooking; while the scallions added later retain the fresh and crisp aroma of raw scallions.

The interplay of these two distinct scallion aromas not only enriches the texture of the dish but also brings out its rich layers of flavor on the plate.

This was taught by Bai Yuan to Li Wanwan's father, Li Xiang, and it immediately cleared Li Xiang's eyes, who was also present at the time and was deeply impressed.

Alice Nakiri listened attentively, nodding occasionally, while scribbling and drawing in her notebook, memorizing all the key points.

"That's right. Today's fried rice will use the technique of adding scallions three times to create three layers of scallion flavor, which will enhance the overall flavor of this fried rice."

"Third time throwing scallions?!"

Alice Nakiri and Sonoka Kikuchi exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes, and then stood aside without saying a word.

"That's right. The first time, the scallions are used for various ingredients. The stir-frying process removes the fishy smell and enhances the aroma."

First, add diced bamboo shoots, then diced shiitake mushrooms, diced chicken, diced Jinhua ham, and dried river shrimp, and stir-fry.

As ingredients were added to the pot, a rich aroma wafted over. The next moment, to the astonishment of the two, Bai Yuan picked up the chicken soup.

"This is similar to the chicken soup that Mr. Zhou Tai made last time. Alice, weren't you wondering why I made chicken soup? You thought it was just a simple side dish, but it's actually the key to Yangzhou fried rice!"

Turning his head to look at the utterly shocked expressions on the faces of Alice Nakiri and Sonoka Kiko, Shirabuchi began the next step of cooking.

Bai Yuan added shredded scallops and diced sea cucumber to the chicken broth in the pot and brought it to a boil. He didn't add shrimp or green peas because they weren't cooked through.

Heat a separate pan over high heat, add oil, pour it out, and then add a small amount of oil. The key to a non-stick pan is to use a hot pan and cold oil. Pour the beaten eggs into the pan, then add the rice grains and start stir-frying.

"Fried rice comes in three states: gold-wrapped silver, three-fragrant broken gold, and crescent white. The most commonly used base for Yangzhou fried rice is gold-wrapped silver."

The so-called "gold-wrapped silver" refers to coating each grain of rice evenly with egg liquid, without revealing any silver color, and using the heat of the pot to solidify the egg liquid.

In this way, you can taste the egg while eating, but you can't see the egg. This technique is known in cooking as "subtle flavor enhancement."

As Bai Yuan pressed the rice with a spatula to mix the golden egg liquid with the fried rice, he spoke to Nakiri Alice and Kikuchi Sonoka.

"I see, that sounds amazing."

Kikuchi nods blankly. She has heard of golden fried rice, which is what Shirai is making now.

However, she had never heard of "Three Fragrances Broken Gold" and "Crescent White Fried Rice," which clearly touched on areas of her knowledge blind spots, so she could only guess from the names.

"Yangzhou fried rice originated from the common people and was initially called mixed vegetable stew. China used to be an agrarian society, and people were very frugal due to insufficient production."

This leads them to save the leftovers from the previous meal for the fried rice in the next meal, combining the two and stir-frying them together.

In the process of evolving into fried rice, the braising technique was abandoned for the sake of convenience, leaving only the dry-frying technique. Therefore, most of the fried rice you have tasted in the past was in a dry, hard, and oily state.

As Bai Yuan spoke, he added seasonings, scooping up and dropping the fried rice with a ladle. Under the watchful eyes of Nakiri Alice and Kikuchi Sonoka, each grain of fried rice was distinct.

"However, from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, this kind of fried rice is too hot and can easily cause internal heat if eaten too much. Yangzhou fried rice, on the other hand, is a skillful reproduction of the braising technique by a master chef after in-depth research."

Furthermore, it incorporates the traditional Chinese medicine concept of the balance of water and fire, making it even more balanced. This is the theoretical basis for Yangzhou fried rice.