Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

Erina Nakiri and Hisako Shinoto, dressed in chef's uniforms, stood in front of the kitchen counter, with various kinds of taro laid out in front of them.

Red taro, white taro, betel nut taro, nine-head taro, Longdong early taro, and Lipu taro were all simply steamed in a pot, with a dish of white sugar placed on the side.

The reason is simple: only in this way can you taste its most essential flavor. Understanding the flavor of the ingredients themselves before cooking is very important.

"Delicious!"

Holding a piece of Lipu taro, Hisako Shinto took a bite, and a satisfied expression appeared on her face.

Once cooked, the taro from Lipu has a very delicate texture that almost melts in your mouth, creating an endless delicious sensation on your tongue.

"Lipu taro itself has the characteristics of being soft, glutinous and sweet. The sweetness of white sugar further enhances the sweetness of the taro, making the overall taste fuller and richer."

Beside her, Erina Nakiri also took a bite, her face equally filled with happiness.

God Tongue, who usually finds everything she eats ordinary, is now enjoying simple steamed taro. Dipping it in white sugar makes the deliciousness even more intense!

"Speaking of which, taro is actually a kind of Chinese medicine. It has the effects of strengthening the spleen and replenishing deficiency, dispersing nodules and detoxifying. It can be said to be the best material for making medicinal cuisine!"

After finishing the entire large taro in her hand, not even letting go of the remaining crumbs, Hisako Shinto quietly began to explain things to Erina Nakiri.

They tasted every type of taro here, and both agreed that the Lipu taro was the best and suitable as the main ingredient for the semi-finals.

"This is your advantageous game, but you can't be careless against Xiaohui. She is good at local cuisine. Taro grows in farmland and is not a rare ingredient. It is also her comfort zone."

The imported Lipu taro from the market will be delivered later; you can use those to practice.

Looking at Hisako Shinomiya, who was talking non-stop with bright, sparkling eyes, Erina Nakiri reached out and touched her face, reminding her to be careful.

"it is good."

Feeling the warmth on her cheek, Hisako Shinoto replied somewhat shyly.

As always, it felt like going back to the past.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

now.

Between the moon and the sky.

Soma Yukihira and Liu Yu faced each other across the arena, surrounded by a huge crowd of spectators. Because it was the semi-final, there were an unusually large number of people present.

"These two look unfamiliar. They shouldn't have been famous before. How did they suddenly make it to the semifinals? Are this year's students really that weak..."

In the stands, some spectators who were watching the game for the first time this year murmured to themselves, their voices filled with doubt.

He had never met either Soma Yukihira or Liu Yu. Neither of them had any reputation in the Japanese culinary world, yet they had made it to the semi-finals.

"I don't know. Maybe they are the kind of scholars who devote themselves to honing their culinary skills. A few of these people appear every year, and they are not bothered by fame and fortune."

A beautiful woman shrugged and voiced her guess: "Famous people aren't necessarily capable, and capable people aren't necessarily famous. That's common sense."

"Stop guessing. Both of them are transfer students who only joined in the first half of this year. They probably haven't been in Far Moon for more than half a year, so naturally they're not famous."

A person familiar with the matter spoke up from the side.

"Both of them are transfer students?!"

"So that means they didn't receive any training from Totsuki Culinary Academy before, and got to where they are today on their own. Could they come from some kind of culinary family?"

Upon hearing his words, everyone around turned to look at him, their eyes filled with surprise and curiosity, many of whom were visiting the Moon Sky for the first time.

All the students who made it to the semifinals were transfer students.

Let's take a look at the new developments!

"The theme this time is desserts, which is a relatively niche culinary category, to be honest. I wonder what kind of dishes they will serve."

"Desserts are still a niche food? They're considered mainstream in the West!"

"You know that's in the West. Here, just look at how many dessert shops there are in the whole country. Compared to others, it's pitifully few!"

"Comparing a main course to a snack, you're quite something, bro!"

Before any sound came from the field, the audience had already started discussing it, with two people even arguing heatedly, neither willing to give in.

At this moment, on the field, Kawashima Rei stood between Yukihira Soma and Liu Yu, holding a microphone, and delivered the official opening remarks to pique the audience's interest.

"So now..."

At this point, Kawashima Rei turned her gaze to Dojima Gin, who was sitting at the very top. Upon receiving her gaze, Dojima Gin stood up from his chair.

"Game start!"

Holding a microphone, with his arms outstretched and pointing forward, a powerful voice came from Dojima Gin's mouth, and the two on the field started to move the next moment.

"Look, that girl brought out a lot of materials!"

"Almond paste, milk, hazelnut spread, crisps, whole egg liquid, cocoa powder, egg yolks, dark chocolate, gelatin, egg yolks, milk chocolate chips, cream, cake flour, butter, water and butter..."

An elderly pastry chef looked at the large screen in the sky, which was showing Liu Yu's cooking station, and he couldn't help but be surprised.

Although making desserts is complicated and time-consuming, it doesn't require this many ingredients, does it? What kind of dessert is this girl making?!

"Soy sauce...?"

As luck would have it, the old man was sitting next to Bai Yuan and Nakiri Alice, who were also somewhat surprised as they looked at the ingredients on the big screen.

Unlike the old man who marveled at the large quantity of materials Liu Yu used, Bai Yuan focused his attention on some inconspicuous soy sauce among the pile of materials.

Is there anything special about this soy sauce?

Hearing Bai Yuan's mutterings, Nakiri Alice asked curiously, "Speaking of which, why is there soy sauce in the ingredients for making desserts?"

"Adding a touch of salt to sweetness can more effectively enhance the sweetness, and the flavor of soy sauce is rich and unique, which is a good idea."

Bai Yuan didn't hold back his praise; Liu Yu's unconventional approach could be considered a revolution in the culinary world.

Although it may seem like only minor changes, the development of the culinary world is precisely driven by these small, incremental steps.

"Adding salt to desserts can make them sweeter. It's similar to adding sugar to enhance the flavor of dishes, right?"

Beside her, Alice Nakiri seemed to be deep in thought after hearing Bai Yuan's words, and then asked a question that drew inferences from the previous one.

"It uses the same theory, but you can tell that, which is quite good."

Bai Yuan patted Nakiri Alice's head approvingly, saying that the worst thing for a student is to try to memorize things by rote, which is a stupid approach.

Intelligent people often only need to grasp one point to apply it to other situations and deduce other theories. Such people progress the fastest.

"What?! He's a master chef, not a child anymore. He can tell the difference! And my hair is all messed up!"

Helplessly, she removed Bai Yuan's hand that was messing with her head, but then felt it was a waste to just put it down, so she pressed it against her own face.

"Don't touch my head when you compliment me in the future. My hairstyle was messed up this morning. Just touch my face and it will be fine. I'm wearing makeup that's hard to smudge."

Feeling the faint warmth on her cheek, Alice Nakiri said coquettishly, half of her body leaning against Bai Yuan, looking very affectionate.

"These couples nowadays, tsk tsk."

Not far away, a girl who had come alone clicked her tongue softly, her eyes filled with jealousy, because Bai Yuan was very handsome.

"Ahem, let's continue watching the game."

Upon hearing the voice, Bai Yuan felt somewhat embarrassed. He tried to pull his hand back, but Alice Nakiri held his hand tightly and placed it on her lap.

Bai Yuan naturally noticed this, but because the audience seats were dimly lit, and after confirming that other people couldn't see their little actions below, he let it go.

"Is that kid Yukihira making wagashi? It's quite Japanese. He must have spent the last three days learning how to make it at a Japanese confectionery shop."

Looking at the materials laid out in front of Yukihira Soma, Bai Yuan made his guess. At this moment, he was making tea. In addition, there were ingredients such as fentanyl, trehalose, fine sugar and maltose on the table.

"Can this kind of dish be considered an original dessert?"

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Nakiri Alice couldn't help but feel puzzled. The message displayed on the big screen should have been for an original dessert.

"The difficulty of creating a dish from scratch is self-evident."

Therefore, the original desserts proposed by the competition organizers refer more to dishes that others don't have, and unique to them, rather than creating a new category.

Bai Yuan was speechless.

No matter how innovative a dish becomes, its essence is hard to stray from. For example, there are hundreds of ways to make fried rice. Similarly, when making cookies, different people will produce cookies that look and taste different.

As long as the recipe is improved, rather than being a one-to-one replica, it can be considered original in a certain sense, because its roots cannot be moved.

Chapter 206 The Final Victor

Time passed slowly, and the large screen in the sky broadcast the event live. The audience below watched the two people sweating on stage with curiosity on their faces.

The reason is simple: in less than an hour, Soma Yukihira's dish was ready.

As he picked up the dessert and strode confidently toward the judges' table, a drone filmed him in real time, and the footage was displayed on a large screen.

"What beautiful desserts!"

"As dazzling as a galaxy! The ancient tung-colored speckles are like stars, and the surface is solidified into a creamy texture, somewhat like yokan (sweet bean jelly), no, it should be said that it is a type of yokan!"

Soma Yukihira presented the finished wagashi (Japanese sweet bean yokan) to the judges, his face radiating confidence: "Just wait and see. This dessert is called 'Starry River Yokan.' Please enjoy."

"These desserts are so beautiful, it's almost a shame to eat them!"

"It's just like the starry sky."

Looking at the exquisite and beautiful yokan (sweet bean jelly) in front of them, which was filled with images of the universe and stars, the judges couldn't help but exclaim in amazement and picked up their small spoons in unison.

"You must have frozen it before serving it, right? Eating yokan, especially frozen yokan, in the summer is absolutely the happiest thing in the world!"

As Inui Hinako's voice rang out, she looked at the beautiful yokan in front of her, unsure of where to begin. In the end, she gritted her teeth and scooped off a piece from the corner.

"This flavor... comes from the unique aroma of red oolong tea, which permeates the entire yokan, providing a deep and rich base for it."

The crisp aroma of oolong tea spreads through the mouth, followed by a strong citrus flavor, a refreshing and sweet-and-sour taste!

"The taste of candied orange peel and lemon juice... if I'm not mistaken, you added these two ingredients before the yokan was set."

The subtle sweetness of candied orange peel and the tangy sourness of lemon juice intertwined in the mouth. Next to Hinako Inui, Gin Dojima looked up at Soma Yukihira and spoke.

"The candied orange peel has a slightly sweet taste with the natural sweet and sour flavor of oranges, while lemon juice is known for its distinct sourness. The combination of the two can add a rich sweet and sour taste to the yokan, making the overall flavor more complete."

In addition, adding candied orange peel and lemon juice can improve the color and enhance the taste; the granulated orange peel adds a unique textural layer to the yokan.

When asked, Soma Yukihira talked at length about the benefits of adding the two ingredients, explaining that the recipe proportions were the result of his three days of research.

"The aroma of orange peel complements the flavor of tea, creating a warm and pleasant taste experience that feels so peaceful."

Hinako Inui closed her eyes, and an illusion appeared before her.