Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

Looking at Erina Nakiri's expression, Hisako Shinto, though knowing that she and Shirai were completely innocent, still felt inexplicably guilty and avoided eye contact.

Hisako, you...

Okay, fine, I'll go by myself then. It's not like I've never been alone before.

Upon hearing Hisako's words, Erina Nakiri's face puffed up, and she turned her head away and walked out of the kitchen.

However, before she could get far, a slender, fair hand reached out from outside the kitchen and precisely grabbed her arm.

"Don't go by yourself, let's go together."

Alice Nakiri said with a grin, her figure appearing in the kitchen, standing next to Erina Nakiri, and putting her arm around her shoulder as she spoke, striking a pose like best friends.

"Let's do it together then, but don't put your hands on my shoulders, it's too frivolous."

Thinking of what Shirai had done to Mito Ikumi and Hojo Miyoko earlier, Erina Nakiri felt disgusted when Alice Nakiri struck this pose.

"What's wrong? Is it your period? That shouldn't be the case, it's not due for another few days..."

Seeing Erina Nakiri slap her hand away with a look of disgust, Alice Nakiri raised an eyebrow, somewhat puzzled, and then tilted her head to guess.

"No, we've set off."

Alice's words made Erina blush, seemingly surprised that the other would suddenly bring up this topic, and then she strode towards the door.

"Tsk..."

Seeing this, Alice Nakiri gave Shirabuchi and Hisako Shinoto a meaningful look, then jogged after them and quickly disappeared from sight.

"It seems there was some misunderstanding. Never mind, you've remembered everything I taught you before, right?"

Watching the two figures until they disappeared from sight, Bai Yuan turned his head to look at Shinoto Hisako.

"I'll remember, Lady Erina..."

Hisako Shinoto nodded in understanding, but her brows betrayed her worry; clearly, this was the first time she had been treated this way by Erina Nakiri.

I should have gone up and explained earlier.

Hisako Shinto regretted it a little.

"It's okay, I'll explain it later."

Seeing through Hisako's thoughts, Shirabuchi patted her on the shoulder. Although he was a little confused at first, now that he understood, he could more or less guess what Erina Nakiri was misunderstanding.

But why? Isn't it their tradition to occasionally leave one person behind to cook a special meal?

This has happened countless times, so it shouldn't be misunderstood.

"Why are you all puffed up like an angry pufferfish? Did Bai Yuan upset you? Or is your period coming early? If that's the case, I can understand it. Girls have those days every month."

Leaving home, seeing that Erina Nakiri was in a bad mood, Alice Nakiri went up to her and started guessing what was going on as they walked.

Erina Nakiri was sulking; she didn't seem to have many memories of this. The other person always seemed so composed, like a doll in a closet.

"It wasn't planned in advance! This is none of your business, so don't ask any more questions."

Erina Nakiri blushed and sped up her speech, seemingly not wanting to pay attention to her.

“How can it not be a problem? You are my sister, your problems are my problems. If you have troubles, as your older sister, I will naturally listen to you.”

Seeing Erina Nakiri walk away, Alice Nakiri quickened her pace and came to her, putting on an air of authority as an elder.

"It's really nothing!"

"I don't believe you. Tell me, and I can give you some advice. If you can't figure something out, I might be able to give you the answer."

Airi Nakiri showed no sign of backing down, and Erina Nakiri, under her relentless onslaught, began to waver, finally pursing her lips and expressing her worries.

"Teacher Bai Yuan, he..."

"oh oh."

"And he also..."

"Uh-huh."

The two slowed down their pace, and Erina Nakiri poured out all her dissatisfaction, including how Hakugen had treated Mito Ikumi and the others, and how frivolous he had been.

"So, you think that Teacher Bai Yuan is more frivolous than usual today?"

After listening to Erina Nakiri's words, Alice Nakiri gave her conclusion. A somewhat baffling answer—was she sulking about this?

"Well, although Teacher Bai Yuan was shameless before, he wouldn't have been this proactive. It felt like he wanted to have something happen with them."

At this point, Erina Nakiri's expression became somewhat complicated. If Shirabuchi's past behavior could be excused by punishment, then...

What she saw this morning was probably the other party's true intention. Although she had expected it, seeing it in person still made her feel uneasy.

"Is he proactive? I don't think so. This is just his nature. He likes cooking and beautiful women. He's always been like this."

Alice Nakiri tilted her head, somewhat puzzled.

In her opinion, Bai Yuan hadn't changed much compared to usual, but according to Nakiri Erina, he seemed to have suddenly become a freak.

This guy is a bit too sentimental.

"It's always been like this, but..."

The words were on the tip of her tongue when Erina Nakiri suddenly stopped. She didn't know why she felt so uncomfortable, even though Mingyuan had always been like this.

"It must be love. You like Bai Yuan, so you don't want to see him being intimate with other girls. At this moment, your feelings of love have reached their peak."

Beside her, Alice Nakiri listened to the whole story, pinched her chin to review it, thought for a moment, and then spoke, her face full of understanding.

"Like...what do you like?!"

Alice Nakiri's sudden declaration of liking her made Erina Nakiri blush instantly, and the proud girl naturally couldn't admit it.

"Objectively speaking, if you don't like someone, you won't be interested in anything about them; to you, they're just a block of wood."

In other words, it's precisely because you've developed feelings of liking for him that you dislike his womanizing ways.

Alice Nakiri gave her an "I understand" look.

After saying so much, Erina Nakiri's reason boils down to just two words: "jealousy."

She had similar feelings a few years ago, and even lost her appetite because of it, but later she came to understand that Bai Yuan was so outstanding that he could not belong to her alone.

This world is inherently more female than male; there are beautiful girls everywhere, but not many handsome men.

As for Bai Yuan, who is handsome, a good cook, and gentle and considerate, it's no exaggeration to say that even her mother likes him very much.

Thinking of Leonora Nakiri's suppressed and restrained expression towards Bai Yuan, Alice Nakiri fell silent for a moment, then grabbed the hand of the girl in front of her.

“If you like him, just tell him, and he will accept you. He's not good at confessing his feelings, and given his status, it's not appropriate for him to confess.”

If you don't take the initiative, you'll never have a chance. It took me seven years to muster the courage, and I hope you won't have any regrets.

As if recalling her past self, feeling the warmth in her hands, and looking at Erina Nakiri's complex expression, Alice Nakiri spoke slowly and deliberately.

"I... don't know if I really like Teacher Bai Yuan. It's all just your guess."

Hearing Alice Nakiri's sincere words, Erina Nakiri was somewhat moved, but in order to save face, she still stubbornly insisted on her words.

"Then ask your own heart."

Inside the house, in the kitchen.

Remove the marinated pig ears, put them in a pot of cold water, add ginger slices, high-proof liquor and cooking wine, bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the foam.

"When the water is completely free of scum and blood, remove the fish and rinse it again in clean water. The purpose of these steps is to preserve the color of the dish and prevent any adverse effects on the braising liquid. They also lay the foundation for the quality and preservation of the braising liquid."

Bai Yuan explained as he went, and then brought over a small plate.

"This is my unique recipe, which is excellent for braising meat and is suitable for many ingredients. Take good notes."

Bai Yuan took out spices from under the counter and began to explain them as he put them into a plate.

"Ten grams of whole star anise, five grams of cinnamon, three grams of bay leaves, one gram of cloves, five grams of red Sichuan peppercorns, five grams of fennel seeds, ten grams of white pepper, one nutmeg, four grams of white cardamom, three grams of dried tangerine peel, five grams of galangal, three grams of licorice root, two seedless cardamom pods, eight grams of dried galangal, and three grams of lemongrass. This is enough to braise twenty catties of meat."

These effectively enhance flavor, remove fishy odors, eliminate unpleasant smells, and cut through greasiness. This formula uses small quantities and has a mild aroma, primarily focusing on highlighting the natural flavors of the ingredients.

The spices jingled as they were placed on the tray. After adding all the spices, Bai Yuan gave a brief introduction.

"With so many spices added, are these only the three effects...?"

Hisako Shinto wondered why spices were needed when braising food, but generally speaking, adding seven or eight kinds of spices was already quite rich.

The recipe Bai Yuan just mentioned, she roughly calculated, contains fifteen ingredients, each spice measured precisely by weight, making it a truly top-tier recipe.

Is such a top-quality braising spice packet only effective for these three purposes?

"These are the three main ones, and there are some hidden functions, which are like icing on the cake."

Don't focus too much on the quantity of the ingredients. Remember, when it comes to ingredients, quality is more important than quantity. Our goal is to perfectly bring out the flavor of the ingredients.

Pour the spices from the plate into a bowl. Then pour in high-proof liquor, add boiling water to submerge the spices, cover and simmer for half an hour.

This fully brings out the aroma of the spices while removing their bitterness and astringency, which is the key to the white brine method.

After soaking, rinse the spices thoroughly and wrap them in gauze, leaving enough space inside the gauze to allow the fragrance to be released more fully.

Light the fire and place the iron pot on the stove.

While chatting and laughing, Bai Yuan added 300 grams of chicken fat, then 100 grams of lard, and finally 500 grams of salad oil.

"Tell me why we use three types of oil."

After mixing the three oils and smelling the aroma in the air, Bai Yuan looked at Shirato Hisako and asked her the question.

"this..."

This time, however, Hisako Shinoto seemed speechless. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. She genuinely didn't know why three kinds of oil needed to be added; it was beyond her knowledge!

"Remember it well and study it well."

Lard makes ingredients more moist, preventing them from drying out, while chicken fat enhances the aroma. At the same time, lard and chicken fat can neutralize the medicinal flavor of spices, thus suppressing their medicinal taste.

This method can better highlight the aroma and effects, making the braised food more fragrant. If you want to remove the medicinal taste from the medicinal food, this method will also work.

As for why salad oil is added, it's mainly to enhance the dish's shine and to balance the consistency of the lard and chicken fat, making them less sticky and greasy.

While talking, he stirred the pot with a ladle, then took out the prepared ingredients and poured them into the pot, followed by the spices.

The spice mix is ​​made from slices of old ginger, scallions, chopped cilantro, and onion rings.

This step requires frying over low heat to allow the aroma of the aromatics to be fully released.