Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

　Seeing Alice Nakiri's spirited appearance, Bai Yuan nodded.

　He originally thought that Alice Nakiri was under too much pressure in the finals, so he wanted to help her relax before the match to relieve the pressure.

　But now it seems that this guy doesn't have that problem.

　What a carefree guy.

　"Oh!! Wait a minute, targeted training for Wang Qing's strengths? Shouldn't those be his weaknesses?!"

　Alice Nakiri raised her arms and shouted, just about to celebrate, but quickly realized that Bai Yuan was talking about Wang Qing's strengths, not his weaknesses.

　Are you suggesting she receive special training targeting Wang Qing's strengths? Are you suggesting she go head-to-head with Wang Qing's advantages?! That's asking too much!

　"You heard me right. You need to turn Wang Qing's advantages into your own advantages. Only then will you have a chance to win."

　Otherwise, even if you give it your all, as long as your opponent plays consistently and doesn't make any major mistakes, you still have a more than 70% chance of losing.

　Bai Yuan expressed his thoughts.

　Every great chef is adept at turning the strengths of others into their own.

　Because during your journey, you can't possibly have everything that surpasses the culinary skills your opponent has honed over decades.

　To win in this situation, you need to make good use of your opponent's strengths and then win through unconventional means.

　"Gudu..."

　Swallowing hard, Alice Nakiri was about to retort and show the other person that they shouldn't underestimate her.

　However, just before she could speak, she suddenly remembered Teacher Liya, who had narrowly lost to Wang Qing 2-1, and swallowed back the words of rebuttal she was about to say.

　"I will work hard!"

　The girl's eyes revealed a strong determination. She could say that she trusted Bai Yuan unconditionally. No matter how she thought about it, the instructions he gave could not possibly be wrong!

　"Just give it your all. What you're about to face is a real tough battle!"

　Your opponent is a full ten years older than you, which means they've had ten more years of cooking experience. So even if you lose, don't give up. You can win back your losses once you improve your skills.

　Bai Yuan's voice was gentle. He never had high expectations for Nakiri Alice; he just wanted her to be safe and happy.

　But his opponent was unwilling to admit defeat and desperately wanted to stand on equal footing with him, which is why he worked so hard during the competition.

　If I remember correctly, Alice Nakiri has never lost an official match since her debut.

　Seeing how serious she is now, Bai Yuan knew she was aiming to win the competition and take the championship. To prevent her from becoming extremely frustrated because of a single match, Bai Yuan gave her a heads-up in advance.

　"Don't worry, I'm not that fragile. I can accept winning or losing. The important thing is to enjoy the process of the game, right?!"

　A clear look of excitement flashed in her eyes; Alice Nakiri's fighting spirit was high.

　"That's right! The key is to enjoy the process!"

　Looking at Alice Nakiri's appearance, and confirming that it wasn't an act, Bai Yuan's only worry was completely relieved.

　In that case, let's fight!

　"Wang Qing is famous for his fried food, and fried food is his specialty. No matter how varied the subject matter you encounter, he will most likely still choose fried food."

　With less than 20 hours until tomorrow's match, subtracting the eight hours for rest and the two hours for sleep, you currently have ten hours to prepare.

　This process is divided into three stages, but I won't tell you beforehand that you'll complete the first stage. Now, let's start practicing fried food cooking.

　"Should I learn to cook fried food too? Wouldn't that be putting me in his line of fire?"

　Standing in the kitchen on the top floor, upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Alice Nakiri expressed her doubts as she moved.

　"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."

　Only by understanding his thoughts can you uncover his weaknesses, which is the key you need to explore in the final round.

　"In other words, my current practice of fried food cooking is mainly to understand my opponents' weaknesses, so that I don't necessarily have to use fried food to directly compete with them during the match..."

　With the words spoken so clearly, Alice Nakiri immediately understood what Shirai meant.

　"That's right. In fact, if the first two dishes served are both fried foods, then the fried food served later will naturally be at a disadvantage."

　"Because it's so cloying, right?"

　After Bai Yuan's reminder, Nakiri Alice instantly understood and pointed out the key point.

　"That's right, fried food has a fatal flaw: eating too much of it can make you feel nauseous."

　Bai Yuan nodded. Although fried food tastes delicious, it's because it uses a lot of oil...

　Therefore, after a few bites, people often feel nauseous and are unwilling to take a second bite.

　"If I prepare the fried food first and present it to the judges, will Wang Qing, who comes on stage later, have a much higher chance of losing?"

　As she said this, Alice Nakiri's eyes lit up.

　However, Wang Qing would definitely notice that and speed up the cooking process, which would turn the cooking competition into a race to see who finishes cooking first!

　"It's highly unlikely. As mentioned before, fried food is Wang Qing's specialty."

　He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the temperature, doneness, and crispness of fried foods; normally, you would have absolutely no chance of defeating him head-on.

　Bai Yuan shook his head and rejected Nakiri Alice's idea. He had watched Wang Qing's cooking videos on video websites, and that kid had a strong control over oil.

　To win in the opponent's strongest area, you must be at least one or even two chef levels ahead of them to have a fair chance of competing.

　"Although fried dishes can easily become greasy, which can cause the flavor to drop significantly later on, skilled chefs still have many ways to change this situation. Some even use the greasiness from the previous dishes to highlight the deliciousness of their own dishes."

　"Indeed, if my opponent finishes cooking before me, my chances of losing the competition become much greater."

　Even if I finish my dish first, the other person can still use their superior culinary skills to change the cloying feeling and will most likely outshine me.

　Bai Yuan's analysis was reasonable and well-founded, and Nakiri Alice agreed with it.

　However, she was just saying it; she wouldn't actually do it.

　After all, if she were to make fried dishes, it would be tantamount to giving up her individuality.

　Even if she wins the game in the end, she won't be happy if she actually does that.

　Because that victory wasn't achieved through her hard work and accumulation, but through unethical opportunism; anyone else could have done it.

　"Starting with Japanese tempura, then moving on to snacks like fried dough sticks and twisted dough sticks, followed by chicken, duck, fish, and meat, everything can be deep-fried!"

　"okay, I get it."

　As they spoke, Bai Yuan placed low-gluten, medium-gluten, and high-gluten flour in front of Nakiri Alice, then found a chair and sat down comfortably.

　Although he was going to give Alice Nakiri special training, he wasn't going to reveal too much.

　After all, if you tell Nakiri Alice directly, she'll probably remember it for a couple of days and then forget it.

　The conclusions she comes to through her own understanding will never be forgotten, no matter how much time has passed; that is what truly belongs to her.

　"Go for it! Try your best, and figure it out for yourself!"

　Watching Alice Nakiri quickly get into the zone, currently mixing tempura batter, Bai Yuan's face curled into a satisfied smile.

　At this moment, it feels like I've returned to the past.

　As a child, Alice Nakiri was the same way, always meticulously following his instructions and determined to do her best before she was satisfied.

　Sometimes she would even ask him in a childish voice why she couldn't make dishes that glow, even though she had perfected them to the point of perfection.

　When they realize that their abilities are insufficient, they will work even harder.

　Back then, Alice Nakiri was full of energy, completely different from the current lazy girl. Fortunately, she has now rediscovered that feeling!

　"Hiss—it floated up so fast?"

　"That must be 190 degrees, right? No, no! The oil temperature for frying tempura has to be kept down to 170 degrees, otherwise the outside will burn while the inside remains raw..."

　As she poured the tempura batter into the dish, watching the clumps rise rapidly to the surface, Alice Nakiri quickly lowered the oil temperature.

　"Ice water! You must add ice water! The reason it didn't work well earlier was because we didn't add ice water, which is why it looked so thick."

　Thinking of this, Alice Nakiri hurriedly started operating.

　"Swing gently! Three times! One more time and it'll be too thick, one less time and it won't hold..."

　Holding a black tiger prawn in her hand and staring at the oil pan in front of her, Alice Nakiri tossed the prawn into the oil while muttering to herself.

　"Sizzle—that sound is so soothing! ...Wait, why are there so many bubbles? Did you not dry them properly? This is going to be a disaster...Oh, it's just water from the shrimp's tail, that's not a big problem."

　As the black tiger prawns were added to the pot, the sizzling sound of the ingredients hitting the oil filled the air, bringing a satisfied expression to Alice Nakiri's face.

　"The color is golden... but the sound still has moisture? 3 more seconds... 2 seconds... 1... Go! Perfect!"

　Looking at the tempura shrimp on the plate in front of her, Alice Nakiri rushed over to Shiroyuki and handed him the dish as if to show off her skills, with a serious expression on her face: "Try it, Master Shiroyuki!"

　It's been a long time since I've heard that name!

　Bai Yuan's body trembled uncontrollably, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

　"What's wrong, Master Baiyuan? If we don't eat soon, the taste of the food will suffer."

　"It's nothing, I just suddenly felt your determination."

　Hearing Alice Nakiri's call after so many years, a look appeared on Bai Yuan's face.

　He smiled, then reached out with his chopsticks and picked up the tempura shrimp in front of him.

　The golden batter, like a light veil, wraps around the curved shrimp's body, and the surface is covered with tiny pores.

　If you look closely, you can still see scattered drops of oil sizzling on the dough, and the aroma of sesame oil wafts straight to your nose from the hot steam.

　The moment he bit down, his teeth struck a thin, crisp shell, making a clear "crack" sound, and then Bai Yuan closed his eyes.

　The sound wasn't a heavy, hard, crisp one, but rather a crisp, light sound, like crushing an autumn leaf.

　Immediately afterwards, the tip of the tongue touches the translucent shrimp meat, which, thanks to the precise oil temperature, locks in all the juices. It bounces up the moment it breaks, releasing a burst of sweetness like ocean waves.

　The slightly salty taste of the batter and the sweetness of the shrimp meat clash in the mouth, while the lingering aroma of sesame oil is like a shadow at dusk, quietly lingering on the tongue.

　"In terms of taste, it undoubtedly reaches the level of a top-tier one-star restaurant, but the details are handled rather poorly."

　"You see, proper tempura shrimp wouldn't curl up like this. It should stand straight forward, like thick, upright pillars, not like this."

　As he spoke, Bai Yuan stood up from his chair, strode over to the oil pan, and began mixing the tempura batter, followed by preparing the black tiger shrimp.

　"Your oil temperature was too high just now. The solution is to lower the temperature and let the oil cool down, but that would take too long and could easily lead to mistakes in a real competition."

　As he spoke, the temperature of the oil in the fryer in front of Bai Yuan had already soared to 190 degrees Celsius. He didn't even need to test it; he knew the answer simply by feeling it through his skin.