Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

　She reached out and gently turned the stone over, revealing its dark, damp underside, where she found several plump conches.

　"These seashells are huge!"

　Ryoko Sakaki exclaimed with some surprise, then put them into the small bucket next to her.

　This feeling of surprises at every turn is just wonderful!

　"I'm a mantis shrimp here."

　"what?"

　On the other side, Tadokoro Megumi's voice broke the harmonious atmosphere. Yoshino Yuuki and Sakaki Ryoko exclaimed in shock and then ran forward to check the situation.

　"A tattered fishing net... it must have been discarded by some fisherman. I never expected you to get such a good deal."

　Silently watching the tattered fishing net in the water, the mantis shrimp were tightly entangled in it. Although they tried to struggle to escape, the narrow net made it impossible for them to exert any strength.

　It was eventually collected into the bucket by Tadokoro Megumi.

　"hey-hey."

　Upon hearing Ryoko Sakaki's words, Megumi Tadokoro's face broke into a simple, honest smile.

　Such scenes are not uncommon at the beach, and the girls have a very fruitful harvest.

　After all, the ocean is vast, and the long period without visitors has filled it with treasures. There may not be any large creatures, but there are plenty of small fish and shrimp, and the scene is filled with joyful laughter.

　The most successful pair was Bai Yuan and Nakiri Alice. Because they used to live in a coastal city, they often went to the beach to catch shrimp and fish, so they were very skilled in this area.

　"Just in time."

　With a smug expression on her face, Alice Nakiri placed the bucket in front of her on the beach. Everyone's eyes turned to the bucket at her feet when they saw her.

　"Wow! It filled a whole bucket. The three of us combined didn't even make half a bucket."

　Yoshino Yuuki covered her mouth, her face filled with undisguised shock.

　They thought they had already gained enough, but they were surprised to find that their gains were far less than those of Alice Nakiri, even though there were only two of them!

　At this moment, Alice Nakiri's bucket is filled with all kinds of seafood.

　There were lively little shrimp, colorful seashells, and a few small fish, squid, and razor clams that shimmered with silver light.

　"Indeed, I even tripped and fell. Apart from finding a few small crabs, I basically didn't get anything else."

　Looking enviously at the bucket of water in front of Alice Nakiri, Ikumi Mito gently rubbed her bottom, clearly having just fallen quite hard.

　She tripped and fell because of a protruding rock. Luckily, her bottom hit soft sand instead of the rock, so she wasn't hurt badly. Otherwise, it would be a question whether she could even stand up now.

　"This sea area is truly bountiful; the harvest this morning was unbelievably abundant."

　If it were on the Danish coast, you'd be lucky to get half the harvest you see here.

　Looking at the other people's buckets, which only contained a few scattered pieces of seafood, Alice Nakiri's expression of satisfaction deepened. She couldn't help but exclaim, "This is truly a wonderful place!"

　"Now that we have almost all the ingredients, let's start cooking."

　Looking at Erina Nakiri and Hisako Shinoto walking over from not far away, the buckets in front of them could be put together to make three buckets, which would be just right for making a seafood platter.

　The seasonings were already prepared when we arrived; all we had to do was unload them from the vehicle.

　Mito Ikumi and Hojo Miyoko volunteered to take on this task, going together to the van at the back to retrieve various seasonings.

　Erina Nakiri and Hisako Shinoto took the parasols, tables, chairs, and benches off the car and set up the venue in a simple way, since they couldn't eat on the sand later.

　Everyone else was either setting up the cooking area or continuing their beachcombing; no one was idle.

　Everything is proceeding at a rapid pace.

　Bai Yuan looked at the listless seafood in front of him and silently took out the Eternal Spirit Blade.

　Most of these creatures were fresh, but some had lost their vitality due to being out of water or exposed to the sun for too long. The most extreme example was a crab that had half its body bitten off by a seabird.

　To ensure the final flavor of the dishes, Baiyuan decided to handle them uniformly.

　He casually tossed the seafood from the bucket into the air, then raised the Eternal Spirit Blade and swung it lightly.

　With a flash of the knife, the seafood, which had been somewhat exhausted, instantly regained its vitality. The shrimp and crabs jumped around again under the knife's light, while the shellfish opened their tightly closed shells, looking as fresh as if they had just been scooped from the sea!

　"Even though I've seen it many times, I still find it incredibly amazing every time I see it!"

　Erina Nakiri sighed from the bottom of her heart, looking at the Eternal Spirit Blade in Bai Yuan's hand with great envy.

　Unfortunately, this knife is only controlled by Bai Yuan. Even when they hold it, it is no different from an ordinary kitchen knife, except that it is a bit sharper than a regular kitchen knife.

　"The sword is fine, but it must be worthy of its master. Apart from Master Baiyuan, it is hard to imagine anyone who can wield this sword."

　Beside Erina Nakiri, Alice Nakiri, with her arms crossed, spoke, her voice filled with emotion.

　"I don't think even a culinary master could necessarily wield this knife!"

　Erina Nakiri nodded in agreement, then realized that the person she was talking to was Alice Nakiri. She immediately took a half step back to the side, her face showing a slight wariness.

　"Why are you bothering me so much? I'm not going to eat you."

　Looking at Erina Nakiri, who was keeping a safe distance from her, Alice Nakiri couldn't help but feel a few...

　A black line.

　"I don't believe you! You're definitely up to no good! I'll never trust you again!"

　Erina Nakiri shook her head, her pretty face full of vigilance. Lately, Alice Nakiri had been scheming against her almost every day, making her run around in circles, and the key was that she was helpless.

　After all, when it comes to being wicked, she really can't compare to Alice Nakiri.

　"Tsk, how boring. Brother Bai Yuan, let's cook this too."

　As she spoke, Alice Nakiri took out her hand from behind her back and threw the small octopus in her hand into the air, where it was precisely caught and broken into small pieces by Bai Yuan.

　"Octopus... Alice, you're still the same old octopus!"

　Looking at the live octopus cut into small pieces, a look of lingering fear flashed across Erina Nakiri's face. Luckily, she had reacted in time, otherwise, being invaded by her octopus would have been unbearable!

　The image of the octopus clinging to her with its slippery, sticky body, leaving red marks on her fair skin, flashed through her mind. Just imagining it made her feel incredibly embarrassed!

　"You two sisters have such a good relationship."

　Watching the two playfully frolicking, Bai Yuan, who had witnessed everything, said with a touch of emotion.

　"What's so good about it!"

　Erina Nakiri retorted, her face slightly flushed. "That idiot, Shirai-sensei, can't he see that she's being bullied?!"

　Although she was both angry and happy during the process.

　She was angry because she was treated that way, and happy because she had never been treated that way before.

　This was a novel experience for her.

　"I think it's pretty good, and then I looked at it more closely."

　"Seven Stars - Flowing Shadow!"

　Bai Yuan observed this without pointing it out, and simply looked up at the sky.

　Holding the Eternal Spirit Blade, one hand gently swung it towards the sky. The blade flashed like a shooting star, instantly splitting open several plump prawns. The shells and meat separated perfectly, and the meat was crystal clear, as transparent as crystal.

　Then, the blade trembled slightly and lightly touched the shrimp meat. The shrimp meat instantly spun in the air before falling steadily into the prepared ice water, where it instantly solidified into thin, cicada-wing-like shrimp slices.

　"This is a technique I've learned recently. Although it's just a simple cut, it can be done with lightning speed, so that the ingredients can be cut into the most perfect state in an instant."

　Looking at the shrimp chips in the ice water, Bai Yuan's voice was indifferent.

　After finishing that part, he found some fine, clean sand and gravel on the ground, put them all into a specially made iron pot, and heated it with charcoal underneath.

　As the flames intensify, the temperature inside the sand and gravel rises rapidly, and the impurities are quickly purified in the high temperature. Then, live mantis shrimp are added to the pot.

　Under the influence of heat, the mantis shrimp quickly curled up, their shells turned golden and crispy, emitting an enticing aroma that instantly made the stomachs of everyone who had been busy all day rumble.

　Everyone's face was filled with longing. It's strange, really; it's such a simple process, yet it smells so good! Even more tempting than fried food!

Chapter 256 Erina Nakiri's Training Results, Seafood Extravaganza

　"Come on, is there anyone smart enough to answer what my purpose is in doing this?"

　Seeing the girls around him watching with great interest, Bai Yuan took the mantis shrimp out of the sand and placed it on a plate for later use. Then he turned to ask.

　"If I remember correctly, this cooking method is quite common in seafood cooking in Guangdong and Fujian in China, as well as in Thailand and Vietnam."

　The sand and gravel heat up rapidly under high temperatures, instantly baking the mantis shrimp's shell until it is golden and crispy, while locking in the tender juices inside the shrimp meat.

　This high-temperature, rapid heating method preserves the original freshness of mantis shrimp to the greatest extent and avoids moisture loss and deterioration in taste caused by prolonged cooking.

　This method produces shrimp with a crispy outer shell and a tender, juicy interior—an ultimate contrast in texture!

　As she smelled the fragrance in the air, Erina Nakiri's voice rang out.

　She had read many cookbooks, some of which described this cooking method, which is popularly known as stone cooking or slab grilling and is quite famous in its place of origin.

　"Indeed, I've seen it in books before, but when it comes to cooking with sand and stones, the most famous example is probably roasted chestnuts."

　Touching her chin lightly as she looked at Bai Yuan, Alice Nakiri described a dish that utilized sand and stones to their fullest potential, making it a very representative dish.

　"That's right, roasted chestnuts are a famous Chinese snack. They utilize the unique thermal conductivity of sand and stones to evenly transfer heat to the chestnuts."

　At the same time, sand and gravel release trace amounts of minerals at high temperatures, which can penetrate into food and give it a unique flavor.

　Chestnuts roasted with sand and stones in this way develop a natural caramelized aroma and mineral notes, which are enjoyed by many. The same applies to seafood.

　Bai Yuan nodded in agreement with Erina Nakiri's words, then processed the remaining ingredients in the bucket one by one, and put them all into the large iron basin.

　Peel the garlic, smash it with the back of a knife, and then mince it. It doesn't need to be minced too finely; you need to retain some texture when making garlic sauce.

　Divide the minced garlic into two portions, one-third of which is minced garlic and the other two-thirds of which is minced garlic. Then chop a small red chili pepper and place them on a plate for later use.

　Ginger slices, scallions, onions, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and two or three bay leaves are all sources of the aroma in garlic sauce. Among them, Sichuan peppercorns...

　The star anise and bay leaves need to be cleaned and then fried in cooking oil until fragrant.

　"Ginger slices, scallions, onions..."

　As Bai Yuan processed the ingredients, he poured them into the pot, his nose twitching slightly as he adjusted the amounts of ingredients, while simultaneously frying them over high heat until they were dry and fragrant.

　This process will last five minutes. Once the spices change color, remove them from the pot.

　After removing the spices, add one-third of the minced garlic and gently shake with a spoon to prevent the garlic from overflowing from the pot.

　Add fresh minced garlic as the moisture decreases.