Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

"Aren't they quite busy? They haven't come over for more than a week now."

Upon hearing Alice Nakiri's words, images of Erina Nakiri and Hisako Shirato flashed through Bai Yuan's mind.

These two guys have been extremely busy lately, shuttling between the Ten Heroes' office and home, with hardly any free time at all.

Even he hadn't seen them for a week.

"No matter how busy you are, you still need to make time for dinner."

Anyway, I'll try inviting them first; if they don't agree, I'll just drag them over!

Alice Nakiri stood up from the tatami mat, a determined look on her face.

Whether Erina Nakiri and Hisako Shinoto are willing or not, she has to get them over tonight, otherwise it will truly become a life-or-death situation for her.

Although Bai Yuan will stop at that point, being knocked unconscious to the point of being unable to fight again...

Just thinking about Alice Nakiri makes me feel ashamed!

If possible, it's best to avoid this kind of thing from happening.

"Okay, then I'll leave this to you. I'll go prepare dinner tonight."

A dish name popped into Bai Yuan's mind, and he decided to work on it that night to surprise Alice Nakiri and the others.

"it is good!"

Upon hearing that Bai Yuan was going to personally cook dinner for the day, Alice Nakiri's face lit up with surprise, and she nodded emphatically.

After returning, Bai Yuan personally cooked very few times.

She did most of the cooking while her partner guided her. If she made a mistake, she would be scolded and corrected, which made her miserable.

However, thanks to this, her cooking skills are improving at an astonishing rate every day.

Erina Nakiri has probably not had much time to practice cooking due to her busy schedule.

With one side gaining and the other losing, the other will never be able to surpass her in this lifetime!

win!

Alice Nakiri thought happily to herself as she left the tea room with a cheerful smile.

A short while later, the sound of the door closing came from outside, indicating that the other person had left.

Hearing the door close, Bai Yuan lay on the tatami mat, closed his eyes to rest for a moment, then stood up by supporting himself with his hands and strode towards the kitchen.

"Let's start cooking."

A few minutes later, he arrived at the kitchen, looked at the neatly arranged kitchen utensils in front of him, gently rubbed his chin with his fingers, and quickly constructed a recipe in his mind.

Lemongrass, coriander, willow, and most importantly, beef ribs.

If it's that dish, the main ingredients are already there, and the rest can be substituted with other ingredients, which is convenient.

Opening the refrigerator and counting from left to right, Bai Yuan already had the answer in his mind.

Put beef short ribs into a pot of cold water with ginger slices and scallion segments to remove the fishy smell and enhance the aroma.

Skim off the foam from the boiled pot, then add onions, celery, carrots, hawthorn berries, and rice wine.

"This size of beef needs to be blanched for 27 minutes, 27 minutes is just right."

With a slight twitch of the nose, a rich aroma wafts over.

Judging from the aroma and the size of the beef, Bai Yuan quickly assessed the cooking time and placed a 27-minute timer next to him.

"The time in between is..."

Looking around, Bai Yuan started rummaging through the kitchen cabinets and quickly found all the medicinal herbs he needed.

"Licorice, cinnamon, cardamom, angelica, hawthorn, dried tangerine peel, star anise, cloves, fennel seeds, bay leaves, galangal, cardamom, Sichuan pepper, white pepper."

Take out a piece of gauze, put the spices into the gauze, mix them in the correct proportions, and then put them in a dry bowl for later use.

These are all key elements of cooking.

To make a dish flavorful, spices are the most important ingredient.

Close your eyes and rest for 27 minutes.

Remove the blanched ingredients from the pot, leaving only the broth, and then pour them into a pressure cooker.

Add scallions, ginger, and a spice packet to the pot, then add some onions, carrots, and other vegetables to enhance the aroma, along with six tablespoons of salt and a little rock sugar.

Rock sugar is used to enhance flavor and aroma.

"Cilantro...where's the cilantro...?"

Open the refrigerator, take out the cilantro, and put the lid on the pressure cooker to simmer for 45 minutes.

“Smells so good!”

Just as Bai Yuan put the pressure cooker lid on, the sound of the door opening came from the doorway, and Nakiri Erina's slightly excited voice rang out at that moment.

Accompanying this was a series of crisp footsteps.

"It smells so good, like fennel seeds, cardamom, cilantro, carrots..."

While sniffing the air, Hisako Shinoto had a look of ecstasy on her face before moving closer to Shirabuchi.

"Your nose is pretty sensitive. We can start eating in 45 minutes. The taste will definitely satisfy you."

Looking at Hisako Shinoto and Erina Nakiri with a greedy expression behind her, Shirabuchi said softly before returning to his wooden chair.

"Forty-five more minutes... What a shame."

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Erina Nakiri immediately showed a regretful expression.

I was just briefly excited when I heard from Alice Nakiri that Shirai had invited her over for a big meal, but I never expected I'd have to wait...

Chapter 381 If you're so capable, then don't rip your clothes off!

"Alright, forty-five minutes isn't long. You guys go to the living room and watch some TV. Two episodes of Tom and Jerry should be enough."

Seeing Erina Nakiri's dejected expression, Bai Yuan gently patted her head and spoke softly.

He hadn't expected the two to arrive so quickly; could it be that they ran into each other as soon as he stepped out?

According to his plan, he should have just finished cooking when Erina Nakiri arrived.

"Speaking of which, how did you guys get here so quickly? I remember Erina, your house is quite far from here, right?"

From the time Alice Nakiri left home to the time she brought Erina Nakiri back, it only took half an hour, so it's no wonder that Shirai was curious.

"I finished taking care of things today, and since I haven't been here for a week, I came to see you."

Before Erina Nakiri could speak, Hisako Shinoto, who was standing next to her, answered first.

Is there anything we can help you with?

Hisako Shinoto glanced at the kitchen and saw that, apart from the pressure cooker dish, Shirabuchi didn't seem to have prepared any other dishes.

It just so happens that they've been dealing with various matters related to Totsuki Academy lately, and their cooking has fallen behind. This is a good opportunity for Bai Yuan to give them some pointers.

"I'm going to make a stir-fried egg with chopped chili, stir-fried tofu with scallions, shrimp with lime, and braised lion's head meatballs."

If you're free right now, why don't you make scrambled eggs with chopped chili peppers, stir-fried tofu with scallions, and shrimp salad with lime? The lion's head meatballs are a bit complicated, and you guys might mess them up, so I'll do it.

Upon hearing Hisako Niito's question, Shirayu handed over the chili peppers and eggs, and gave them three of the dishes.

"I'll take care of the stir-fried eggs with chopped chili and the braised tofu with scallions, and I'll leave the lime-dressed shrimp to Hisako."

Seeing Hisako Shinoto take the ingredients, Erina Nakiri took the initiative to prepare two dishes and then took the ingredients needed to make those two dishes from her.

She was originally planning to slack off, since the guests were guests and it wouldn't make sense to ask them to cook.

But seeing Hisako Shinto working so hard, she felt bad about doing nothing and just sitting in the living room watching TV and reaping the benefits.

That would be laughable.

"Then let me help you. Although I'm not quite sure about the seasoning of the lion's head meatballs, I can still cut the meat and prepare the ingredients."

On the other side, seeing the high-spirited Erina Nakiri and Hisako Shinoto, Alice Nakiri was not to be outdone.

Bai Yuan said that making the lion's head was difficult, so she would be responsible for assisting.

She's honed her basic skills since childhood, so she shouldn't be unable to cut a piece of meat properly. However, it's a fact that she can't make lion's head meatballs well...

The steps are complicated, but more importantly, there are too many things to pay attention to, such as the seasoning and the firmness of the meatballs. At most, she can only achieve the top grade level.

"That's fine, I'm a bit tired anyway."

Seeing the three eager-to-try individuals, Bai Yuan did not refuse their request.

Each person prepared one dish, and everyone worked together to make dinner. Although it was a little different from what he had expected, the dinner was still quite good.

At least everyone is involved.

After receiving Hakugen's permission, Erina Nakiri and the other two exchanged glances and, without hesitation, each found a cutting board and a stove and began to get busy.

Bai Yuan also stood beside Nakiri Alice, who was nominally his assistant.

"Actually, when I was learning how to make lion's head meatballs, I always had a question: what's the difference between lion's head meatballs and regular meatballs? Aren't lion's head meatballs just large meatballs?"

Place the pork on a cutting board and slice it into thin slices. Then stack the slices together and process them into thin strips. Finally, cut them into small cubes.

"There's a big difference between lion's head meatballs and regular meatballs."

To give a simple example, meatballs can be minced using a meat grinder, but lion's head meatballs cannot; the point of eating lion's head meatballs is to enjoy their texture.

Actually, in the earliest days, lion's head meatballs weren't called lion's head meatballs; people called them sunflower-shaped minced meat.

Upon hearing Alice Nakiri's question, Bai Yuan thought for a moment about the difference between the two and answered, while also mentioning the little-known nickname for Lion's Head.

Why did the name change so much?

Upon hearing the two names with such different styles, Alice Nakiri looked puzzled.

"There are historical allusions and the influence of pictographic changes involved. Who can really say for sure why? But I think it's because the original Sunflower Meat Chopper emphasized the fine knife skills of chopping meat into small cubes."

Lion's head meatballs, on the other hand, are characterized by their round and plump shape, especially when stewed or braised, resembling a lion's head, hence the name. A similar dish is the famous Fujianese dish, Lychee Pork.

After processing the minced meat for the lion's head meatballs, place them in a bowl.

Then, Alice Nakiri was handed over the dish and asked to add salt, pepper, MSG, and ginger and scallion water to season it. Shirabuchi then shared his opinion.

As he spoke, he handed the seasoned minced meat back to her and encouraged her to keep up the good work.