Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

This made Hisako Shinto even more curious about what kind of dish he would serve.

"Have you bought everything?"

Hearing the noise at the door, Cao Sandao let out a long breath, put down the knife he was sharpening, looked up at the outside of the kitchen, and then got up and came to the three people who were talking.

"We have bought all the ingredients you need according to your requirements. For the few that we couldn't find, we have purchased substitutes with similar properties."

Seeing Cao Sandao walking towards them and hearing his question, Hisako Shinto answered without much thought.

"Okay, you guys move these to the kitchen. I have a simple task for you."

Cao Sandao nodded slightly, glanced at the large and small bags on the table, and a look of satisfaction appeared deep in his eyes. He then instructed Hisako Shinto and Nao Satsuka to take them into the kitchen.

"clear."

Hisako Shinto and Nao Satsuka exchanged a glance, knowing that the real test had arrived.

During this time, they had been doing odd jobs at the restaurant. Now, this is their first time entering the kitchen, and they are facing a multi-million dollar order.

If you do well, you can pass the assessment smoothly, but if you don't do well, you will be eliminated immediately.

Don't be fooled by the old man's smiling face; if you fail to meet his demands, who knows what might happen next?

Entrusting your fate to others is not a wise thing to do.

"Hisako, you said before that you are good at medicinal cuisine, so you can be in charge of preparing the ingredients for the soup."

These are a seafood soup centered around baby lobster, and a beef bone soup centered around beef bones.

Inside the kitchen, Cao Sandao spoke in a deep voice as he watched the two people enter behind him.

"Nao, you said you are good at stewing dishes, especially scallops, which have a strong odor."

Since that's the case, you'll assist Hisako in making the seafood soup. Your goal this time is to transform the pungent smell of the dried goods into a fresh and delicious flavor.

These two soups are a test for you. All you need to do is prepare the ingredients; I will handle the cooking.

As he spoke, Cao Sandao turned his gaze to Nao Satsuka.

"Only processing the ingredients..."

"Kitchen chores? You're really being underestimated."

Upon hearing Cao Sandao's words, both Nao Satsuka and Hisako Shinto's expressions changed to varying degrees, but neither of them looked pleased.

The other party's meaning was clear: they didn't want them to interfere with the cooking process.

Clearly, Cao Sandao didn't trust their culinary skills. Even if he was willing to give them a chance, it would only be for minor matters like handling ingredients.

"Let's start cooking!"

Cao Sandao ignored their emotions and stood in front of the kitchen counter, speaking in a deep voice.

After saying this, he reached under the counter and instantly several large spoonfuls of flour were placed on the iron counter.

He scooped up two large spoonfuls of water and poured them into the flour, mixing it with the flour. At that moment, Cao Sandao's aura changed.

"Hey!"

With a roar, Cao Sandao's withered body visibly swelled up.

His clothes, which had originally fit him perfectly, were torn in the process, revealing his strong and powerful muscles. Then he clenched his fists and slammed them forcefully onto the flour in front of him.

"How is that possible? The skinny old man suddenly became a muscular giant?!"

Upon seeing this sudden scene, Hisako Shinoto couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

This was far beyond her comprehension; even legendary martial arts manuals weren't this exaggerated!

“It’s really surprising.”

Nao Satsuka also covered her mouth, clearly seeing this situation for the first time.

"In my memory, apart from Master Bai Yuan, I have never seen anyone with such a high level of martial arts skill."

Compared to Nao Satsuka, Hisako Shindo quickly recovered after a brief moment of surprise, and the image of Hakugen practicing martial arts appeared in her mind.

The difference is that Teacher Bai Yuan's muscles are constant, unlike this guy in front of me, who transformed from a skinny old man into a muscular giant in a short period of time.

"The dough has become visibly more elastic, achieving this level of elasticity in just a few minutes. Even a machine couldn't do that!"

Nao Satsuka couldn't take her eyes off the dough, shifting her attention away from the muscular old man.

A proper pastry chef would need at least twenty minutes to knead dough to this consistency, yet this old man did it in less than half the time!

Moreover, judging from its quality, it seems to be even more elastic than dough that has been kneaded for twenty minutes!

"What may seem like ordinary hammer blows actually have a set pattern in every strike."

This is his secret to making the dough so chewy; after a few dozen kneads, it's just as elastic as if an ordinary person had kneaded it hundreds of times.

Watching Cao Sandao's actions, Hisako Shinto's voice rang out. Through the opponent's repeated hammer blows, she discovered the key point.

Each time Cao Sandao hammered the dough, his arm would sway slightly, injecting a vibrational force into the dough. And to ensure that the dough remained flexible, he would carefully feel it before striking.

The result is an extremely pliable dough.

After shaping the dough, Cao Sandao did not rush to the next step, but instead covered it with a transparent plastic basin and waited for it to ferment.

"Don't just stand there, let's get started."

After kneading the dough, Cao Sandao let out a long sigh of relief, then looked at Hisako Shinto and Nao Satsuka, who had been staring at him blankly without making a move.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing Cao Sandao's words, Hisako Shinto and Nao Satsuka immediately realized what was happening and quickly took action after taking a deep breath.

Time passes minute by minute.

Soon, night falls.

Bai Yuan sat in a chair with his eyes closed, resting and waiting for Cao Sandao to finish cooking.

"Serve!"

A steady voice came from the kitchen. Bai Yuan opened his eyes and quietly watched Cao Sandao come out of the kitchen.

He was holding a huge plate in his hands.

"The first dish is geoduck sashimi."

Next, I will prepare the meal on site.

As they were talking, Cao Sandao placed the plate in front of Bai Yuan and lifted the lid in front of him.

Inside lay a geoduck clam, its shell still intact, sitting energetically on the plate.

Sashimi is a dish that places great emphasis on freshness.

Before being served, the ingredients remain in the water tank until ten minutes before they are taken out and presented to the customer for selection.

"The siphon is its respiratory organ, and also its essence."

As Cao Sandao’s deep voice rang out, he immediately began to process the geoduck in front of him, his chilled willow-blade knife cutting into its grayish-brown outer membrane.

The knife tip moved along the base of the siphon tube, as if disassembling a precision instrument. The outer keratin layer peeled off, revealing the jade-white flesh underneath.

The next moment, the geoduck meat transformed into translucent slices in the flash of the knife, soaring high into the sky, each slice bearing natural wave-like patterns.

After a difficult spin, the flying geoduck meat finally landed steadily on the crackled porcelain plate, spreading out in a radial pattern.

The perilla leaves underneath were still covered with morning dew.

"The nerve endings are still active, and they haven't realized they're dead yet? What a pathetic creature."

Looking at the geoduck meat that had already been properly prepared in front of him, Bai Yuan silently mourned for it in his heart. Then he raised his chopsticks, picked up a piece, and dipped it in the sauce that had been prepared earlier.

In an instant, golden light burst forth on the chopsticks.

"A luminous dish!?"

A shocked sound came from the kitchen, where Hisako Shinto emerged carrying a silver tray.

Her eyes widened in disbelief at what she was seeing. This seemingly ordinary old master chef could actually create dishes that glowed—a level of skill typically reserved for five-star master chefs!

"To see such luminous cuisine in a place like this is truly an honor!"

Nao Satsuka was equally shocked. She came out behind Hisako Shinto and stared at the dazzling golden light in front of her, her face filled with disbelief.

As a student of Totsuki Academy, she naturally knew what glowing cuisine was, but having heard about it, this was the first time she had actually seen it.

The dish shone brightly, announcing its arrival to the world.

This is the mystery of luminous cuisine.

Ultimately, the idea that food can glow is not very scientific.

However, this actually happened.

"The key point is this sauce..."

Looking at the golden geoduck sashimi in front of him, Bai Yuan wasn't too surprised. Instead, he looked at the sauce next to him.

Geoduck sashimi begins to glow when dipped in the sauce, proving that the key to its transformation into a luminous dish is this sauce.

Thinking of this, Bai Yuan put the geoduck sashimi on his chopsticks into his mouth, and then tasted the sauce separately.

"So that's how it is. It combines the fresh and spicy base of Chaoshan raw marinated food with the umami flavor of Japanese sauce?"

Bai Yuan's tongue touched the sauce. Soy sauce, fish sauce, bird's eye chili, minced garlic, and Chaoshan tangerine peel. Images of Japanese white miso, bonito dashi, and yuzu vinegar appeared in his mind one after another, eventually coming together to form the sauce in front of him.

"That's right, this is the appetizer for today's set menu: geoduck sashimi."

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Cao Sandao nodded slightly. With just a few words of commentary, he was certain that the person in front of him was a top-level chef.

"The characteristic of appetizers is to whet the appetite, and the best way to whet the appetite is with sweet and sour flavors."

Bai Yuan's voice rang out as he looked up at the sauce in front of him.

"You added traditional Chaoshan plum juice to it, using fruit acid to balance the saltiness and spiciness, in order to simulate the 'sour and spicy' appetizer characteristics of raw marinated dishes, am I right?"

"Sour and sweet are two flavors that are both in love and hate, which is perfect for this context."

Hearing Bai Yuan's evaluation, Cao Sandao felt even more that this boy was unfathomable. No wonder Shinto Hisako and Satsuka Nao called him their teacher.

Such a young, high-level chef is rare even in China.

"Indeed, it's a pity there wasn't enough time. If you mix minced garlic, chili, soy sauce, and fish sauce and ferment them at a low temperature for 24 hours, you can release the fat-soluble flavor of the aromatic substances."