Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

"It doesn't need to be that complicated. In my memory, this is a stir-fry dish that needs to be thickened with cornstarch before it's done. I tried to recreate it before, but it didn't taste very good. I don't know what went wrong."

Keiko Kitagawa lowered her head in frustration as she spoke. It wasn't that she hadn't tried; it was just that every attempt ended in failure.

Her culinary skills were pitifully lacking. Even though her father often made her practice cooking when she was young, she only reached the level of a third-rate chef after more than ten years of practice.

This level of skill might be enough to run a small roadside restaurant, but it seems a bit inadequate to be the head chef of such a large restaurant.

"No matter what, let's cook a batch and taste it to see what's going on."

Seeing Kitagawa Keiko clench her fists slightly and her face full of regret, Nakiri Erina didn't pay much attention to her. Instead, she walked around the restaurant and placed some ingredients on the cutting board.

Fortunately, the restaurant had all the ingredients that Keiko Kitagawa described for the dish, although the quality was slightly inferior, indicating that they were not purchased that day.

"This store has a lot of problems. We'll temporarily close today and buy new ingredients tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

There are no customers and the food is not used up. Because of a lack of money, the unused food will be used tomorrow, and if it is not used up tomorrow, it will be used the day after tomorrow.

The essence of good food is freshness. Even the most skilled chef cannot make delicious dishes using spoiled or rotten ingredients.

Keiko Kitagawa was kind enough; although the ingredients in front of her were wilted, none of them were spoiled. Looking at the trash can, she had already picked out all the bad ones.

However, as a restaurant...

This approach is clearly wrong.

"The pods you mentioned, with their crunchy texture, should be snow peas. We happen to have some here, so let's cook with these ingredients."

When the ingredients were mentioned earlier, Alice Nakiri had already soaked the glass noodles and dried bean curd sticks, which are now ready to be used.

This is the eye skill I honed while working alongside Bai Yuan; it's finally coming in handy now that I'm working at the restaurant.

Erina Nakiri nodded slightly upon seeing this, and then quickly began to prepare the other ingredients.

Wash the snow peas and remove the tough ends. Cut the dried bean curd into equal-sized pieces. Slice the king oyster mushrooms diagonally into chunks and then into small slices. Slice the carrots diagonally into chunks and then into diamond-shaped slices. Tear the wood ear mushrooms into small pieces. Cut the soaked glass noodles into small sections.

With all the main cooking ingredients prepared, Erina Nakiri took out a piece of old ginger from under the stove, peeled it, and cut it into small diamond-shaped pieces.

These are all fairly standard cooking methods.

Heat the pan, add ginger slices and sauté until fragrant. Then add carrots and king oyster mushrooms, which are thicker ingredients. Cook until slightly cooked, then add shiitake mushrooms, and finally add the other ingredients.

Just before it's done cooking, add a thin cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.

Is this how it's made?

Looking at the dish in front of her, which looked good but seemed off in every way, Erina Nakiri frowned and looked at Keiko Kitagawa.

"No, yours is a bit too dry. Although it tastes great, it's not what I'm talking about at all."

I picked up my chopsticks and tasted Erina Nakiri's dish. Although her masterful control of the heat made the dish a first-class dish that would definitely be a hit on the table, it was rejected by Keiko Kitagawa.

"Aren't they completely different things...?"

If the food is not moist enough, then shorten the cooking time to lock in the moisture, which means turning up the heat...

Upon hearing Keiko Kitagawa's comments, Erina Nakiri quickly analyzed the situation, then swiftly washed the pot and began a new round of cooking.

Alice Nakiri watched quietly from the side without offering any advice.

By now, she actually knows the true nature of Kitagawa Keiko's dish.

However, rather than letting her tell us, it's better to let Erina Nakiri discover it herself; this would be a good learning experience for her.

"That's right. After adding the shiitake mushrooms, add water, then salt and MSG, and finally add the dried bean curd sticks and wood ear mushrooms. Cover and simmer for three minutes, then add the snow peas. Make a slit in the middle and add the glass noodles. This way, each ingredient is cooked to perfection."

Erina Nakiri intently watched the dish in front of her, waiting for it to dry out. Then she added soy sauce to increase the saltiness, sugar to enhance the flavor, and sesame oil when the moisture had almost evaporated.

“Sniff…”

Slightly sniffing the aroma from the pot, Erina Nakiri flipped her hand, and a bottle of pepper appeared in her hand.

"Adding some pepper will make the flavor richer."

With this thought in mind, I sprinkled pepper into the pan, stir-fried it briefly, and then plated it. The aroma of the dish immediately filled the air.

"This tastes...it tastes just like what my father usually makes, it's exactly the same!"

Smelling the fragrance in the air, Keiko Kitagawa sniffed hard, then revealed an expression of intoxication. This scent was just like the one she smelled when she was a child!

"This tastes just right, give it a try."

Upon hearing Keiko Kitagawa's words, Erina Nakiri's lips curled up involuntarily, clearly proud of her ability to successfully replicate the dish from both sides. She then served the dish on a plate and handed it to Erina.

Seeing this, Kitagawa Keiko didn't stand on ceremony. She reached out and gently lifted her loose hair, then picked up her chopsticks, took a bite, and put it in her mouth.

"Hmm. The richness of shiitake mushrooms and the crispness of wood ear mushrooms are woven into a net by the amber-colored sauce."

This umami flavor isn't like the overpowering, pungent taste of meat; rather, it's like an old monk sweeping the steps, layer by layer seeping over the taste buds. The tofu skin, soaked in the juices of all the flavors, bursts forth with a taste I had savored more than a decade ago when I bit into it!

While tasting the food, Kitagawa Keiko closed her eyes without her noticing. Her father appeared in front of her with the dishes. At that time, she was still a child and had a natural aversion to vegetarian food, but her father always had a smile on his face, laughing and shaking a rattle to coax her and feed her.

The teeth opened and fell.

The snow peas burst forth with a vibrant green sound, carrying the sweetness of the still-dry morning dew. But the most wonderful part is the translucent vermicelli, which, within its soft and smooth texture, hides a stubborn elasticity.

In addition, there's the rich flavor of king oyster mushrooms and the crispness of carrots...

"That's right, that's the taste! The flavor of several vegetarian ingredients blended together! It turns out that water needs to be added during the cooking process. What I thought was thickening is actually the result of the water in the pot naturally drying out."

Looking at the cookware in front of her, Keiko Kitagawa suddenly realized.

She always thought that thick and smooth dishes needed to be cooked with cornstarch, but to her surprise, the natural drying method produced an exceptionally good result.

"After all, many of the ingredients used are high in starch, and adding a little water and cooking them can be considered as thickening the sauce."

Erina Nakiri revealed the root cause of Keiko Kitagawa's misunderstanding.

"These ingredients... yes! They're glass noodles. Glass noodles have a high starch content. Adding water beforehand and then adding the glass noodles helps maintain their texture and also thickens the sauce!"

Keiko Kitagawa nodded and made a mental note of it. There were so many intricacies hidden in such a small dish. No wonder she couldn't make it taste good before. It turned out that the starch content was too high.

"You got it right. Are there any other dishes? If we replicate them all today, we can restore the menu to its original state tomorrow."

The meal must be eaten one bite at a time, and the road must be walked step by step.

Although I really want to turn around the restaurant's reputation immediately, the foundation for doing all this is always serving up decent food.

"Wait a minute."

However, just as Kitagawa Keiko was about to continue speaking, Nakiri Alice's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting their conversation.

"What's wrong? Do you have a problem with this, Alice?"

Being suddenly interrupted, Erina Nakiri was a little annoyed. She then looked at Alice Nakiri and noticed that Alice had put on an apron at some point.

"When we participate in field training, we must achieve remarkable results that are visible to the naked eye."

Restoring the original menu of the store is hardly a remarkable achievement.

In my opinion, after completing a dish, we should refine it to create an even more delicious one. That's more in line with the identity of Totsuki Culinary Academy students, isn't it?

Alice Nakiri walked to the kitchen counter, looked at Erina Nakiri and spoke, her eyes burning with a desire to create new dishes.

"But you have to have basic dishes, right? How can you improve them if you don't even have the basics!"

Looking into Alice Nakiri's eyes, Erina Nakiri swallowed, seemingly infected by her imposing manner, but still argued her case rationally.

“You’re right, so we’ll split up. You’ll be in charge of recreating the product, and I’ll be in charge of improving the recreated dish.”

Upon hearing Erina Nakiri's words, Alice Nakiri held up a finger, revealing a playful expression, and simultaneously announced her plan.

It would be a waste for both of them to be responsible for recreating the dish; division of labor is the best option!

"That's fine, but how do you plan to improve it? If you change it too drastically, it might be suspected of manipulating the restaurant's dishes!"

Erina Nakiri frowned slightly as she said that they could recreate the dishes that the shop already had, but they could not interfere too much with its normal operation.

Forcing your own creations onto someone else's menu—one or two dishes might be acceptable, fitting the restaurant's style, or even considered innovative.

However, large-scale improvements, or even changes to the original style of the store, are definitely not acceptable, as that would give Far Moon a reputation for being domineering.

"Don't worry, all my improvements are based on the original design and will not affect the style of the store. They will only make it more unique."

Alice Nakiri waved her hand dismissively at Erina Nakiri's warning. The improvement she was referring to wasn't a complete overhaul, but rather a renovation or repainting of the existing structure.

"how do you want to do it?"

Erina Nakiri put down the ladle in her hand and looked at Alice Nakiri with curiosity.

"You still haven't figured it out? Erina is such an idiot."

Seeing Erina Nakiri's puzzled expression, Alice Nakiri couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh, which made Erina quite angry.

"Alice! You rascal!"

Just as Erina Nakiri was about to explode, he reached out and pressed his hand against her lips.

He then added, "Cooking is very seasonal. Watermelons are sweetest in summer, and saury is best in autumn. These are all changes brought about by the seasons."

The same applies to vegetarian dishes. If you stick to the same recipe every time, the final product will definitely not taste as good as one made with seasonal vegetables.

"You mean, replace all these dishes with seasonal vegetables?"

Erina Nakiri wasn't stupid; she understood the hidden meaning in Alice Nakiri's words after only a few sentences.

"That's the idea. The dish you just made is called Luohan Cai in China. It's a Shanghai dish with a savory flavor and is said to help with malnutrition, improve spleen function, and stimulate appetite."

This dish originated in China during the Tang and Song dynasties. During that period, Buddhism flourished in the Tang Dynasty, with numerous temples, each with its own kitchen, preparing vegetarian dishes and banquets, which Buddhists referred to as "vegetarian meals" or "vegetarian dishes."

Luohan cuisine is one of them. It is made with the finest ingredients and named after the Luohan who attained enlightenment in Buddhism. Generally, it is called Luohan vegetarian cuisine if it contains more than ten kinds of ingredients. The ingredients used in its preparation are not fixed.

The dish you're cooking now is probably a drastically modified version that was introduced to Japan, which is why it uses so few vegetables.

Seeing that Erina Nakiri understood her thoughts, Alice Nakiri began to explain at length that all of this was taught to her by Shirabuchi.

Because vegetarian dishes are a major category in cuisine, Bai Yuan once mentioned Luohan cuisine when introducing the origin of vegetarian dishes.

This is a dish with many preparation methods, which can be adjusted according to the dietary styles of different regions.

"So this dish my father makes is called Luohan Cai (Buddhist monk dish)? That means that by using the same cooking method and adding more vegetables, you can make a Luohan Cai with an even richer flavor?!"

As if she had thought of something, Keiko Kitagawa looked at Alice Nakiri with bright eyes.

"That's true in theory, but cooking isn't just about piling on ingredients to make it delicious; there are many things to consider."

Hearing Kitagawa Keiko's words, Nakiri Alice nodded slightly.