Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

Fortunately, no one came over.

This is the right place, just come in.

On the other end of the phone, Bai Yuan ended his casual conversation with Mo Ben and answered the call.

Upon hearing Xiao Zhou's nervous voice on the other end of the phone, he put down what he was holding and explained with a smile as he walked out.

"call..."

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Zhou still looked a little hesitant, but she didn't hesitate for long. After taking two steps in place, she pushed open the door.

The president's office was completely empty, making her momentarily believe she had been pranked.

"This way."

Fortunately, Bai Yuan's voice rang out in time. Seeing the boy who came to the kitchen door looking for him, Xiao Zhou's face showed a relieved expression.

"Teacher Bai, President, these are the ingredients you need."

Seeing Bai Yuan waiting for her at the kitchen door, and the president of the Food Association standing behind him, Xiao Zhou walked forward with a hint of excitement and handed him the ingredients.

"Okay, is there anything else you need to do?"

After taking the bag of ingredients from Xiao Zhou, Bai Yuan glanced at it briefly. Once he confirmed that everything was what he needed, he looked up at Xiao Zhou and asked.

"Oh? Things... I don't have anything else to do. Just let me know if you need anything."

Upon suddenly hearing Bai Yuan say this, Xiao Zhou thought he had some instructions to give. He was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted and spoke up.

"No, there's nothing else I need you to do. I just wanted to say that if you're free later, you can sit down and have a meal with me. Anyway, we have enough ingredients."

Seeing the girl's nervous expression, Bai Yuan couldn't help but chuckle, so he offered his suggestion.

With so many ingredients here, it's more than enough to make a serving for four or five people, let alone just a mere three-person serving—it's all within easy reach!

"That's not a good idea..."

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Xiao Zhou immediately tensed up, fidgeting with the hem of his clothes, somewhat at a loss. As he spoke, he looked up at the president.

"Just stay if we tell you to. We won't miss your meal."

Seeing the little girl looking at him, Mo Ben smiled kindly. To him, it was just a matter of adding a bowl and chopsticks, so there was no reason not to agree.

Moreover, the other party was someone left behind by Bai Yuan, so even if he was unwilling, he would still give him face.

"Thanks..."

Seeing Mo Ben's kind smile, Xiao Zhou's somewhat uneasy heart gradually calmed down. Then, looking at Bai Yuan, he silently said thank you.

"You're welcome. Please rest outside for a while."

Bai Yuan waved his hand dismissively, then went into the kitchen with Mo Ben.

After some simple adjustments, the kitchen now looked exactly like his own. Since the other party had asked him to cook, he was determined to do his best.

What lies ahead is likely to be a test.

Bai Yuan arranged the various ingredients neatly on the cutting board with a serious expression, while Mo Ben stood silently beside him, ready to watch him cook.

As a seven-star chef, Mo Ben hasn't watched a junior chef cook like this in a long time.

The last time this happened seems to have been when his granddaughter turned 18. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye...

As Mo Ben pondered, Bai Yuan began to move.

Chapter 432 Plain Lion Head, revealing its true colors and flowing light!

Clean the wok thoroughly, then add a spoonful of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Next, prepare the monkey head mushrooms on the cutting board.

"Are you planning to cook with monkey head mushrooms? This type of mushroom does taste like meat. Speaking of which, monkey head mushrooms really do look like a monkey's head, so it's no wonder they're named after it."

The one you're holding is most likely cultivated through human intervention. Wild monkey head mushrooms typically have a gradient from dark brown to golden yellow on the surface and vary in shape and size, unlike the perfectly white and uniform one you see here.

Looking at the pure white monkey head mushrooms in front of him, which were roughly the same size and shape, Mo Ben couldn't help but complain.

There is a big difference between cultivated and wild lion's mane mushrooms. If you want to use lion's mane mushrooms in cooking, wouldn't it be better to find wild ones? Does the association not have any?

The person in charge of preparing the materials is really lazy!

"Wild monkey head mushrooms are good, but they grow in the mountains and are relatively rare. Since the association doesn't have any, we simply used cultivated monkey head mushrooms instead."

Strictly speaking, the difference between the two is like that between a domestic pig and a wild boar: one is more peaceful, while the other is full of wildness, each with its own unique flavor.

My dish is relatively mild, made with cultivated monkey head mushrooms; who knows, it might have some amazing effects.

Upon hearing Mo Ben's words, Bai Yuan explained while dealing with the situation.

Hericium erinaceus contains polysaccharides that can boost the body's immunity, making it popular among middle-aged and elderly people.

Chop scallions, ginger, celery, carrots, a small amount of onion, and a small amount of cilantro, and put them all into a pot to cook.

Whether wild or cultivated, Hericium erinaceus has a distinct bitter taste, which is determined by components such as "hericin" it contains, and is especially pronounced in wild specimens.

Therefore, a "bitterness removal process" must be performed before cooking.

Nowadays, blanching is a process to remove bitterness, while adding various ingredients is to enhance the aroma, and the nutrients in the vegetables will also be absorbed into the mixture during this process.

"These monkey head mushrooms float and sink in the boiling water, their plump white flesh is quite appealing."

Looking at the monkey head mushrooms floating in the pot, Bai Yuan couldn't help but sigh.

He then started frying scallion oil in a separate pot. As the hot oil came into contact with the scallions, a rich aroma wafted out. Without hesitation, he poured the scallion oil directly into the pot.

Then I picked up the cooking wine and poured it around the inside of the pot to let the flavor penetrate the soup better.

"This Shaoxing wine has been aged for quite some time."

After pouring the Shaoxing wine, Bai Yuan subconsciously brought it to his nose, lowered his head and took a gentle sniff, his face immediately showing an expression of extreme enjoyment.

"Ten-year-old Shaoxing wine, each bottle has a unique number, and we only use the best quality."

Hearing Bai Yuan's exclamation, Mo Ben, who had been paying attention to him, came back to his senses. Seeing that the other party was talking about Shaoxing wine, he immediately started to boast.

However, this is indeed a good product. It was something he had planned for more than ten years ago, investing in a Huadiao winery to produce a batch of wine every month.

These wines are not sold to the public, but are specially supplied to chefs to ensure that every bottle of Shaoxing wine is aged to a sufficient degree to provide delicious flavors to the dishes.

"It's clear that this cooking wine is quite good."

Using good ingredients elevates the flavor of any dish to a whole new level.

Bai Yuan's words were tinged with emotion as he began to prepare the water chestnuts, matsutake mushrooms, and vegetarian meat.

Crush and chop the water chestnuts, slice the matsutake mushrooms, and cut the vegetarian meat into strips.

"This vegetarian meat must be some kind of bean product, right? Although it's made to resemble meat, judging from its luster, it should be made from beans."

"That's right, vegetarian meat is made from soy protein."

Seeing that Mo Ben could easily figure out the true method of making vegetarian meat, Bai Yuan was slightly taken aback, but he was not surprised when he thought of his identity, and then began the next step of production.

Remove the monkey head mushrooms from the pot and let them cool. Then squeeze out the water with cheesecloth, which is the key to vegetarian lion's head meatballs.

If the water isn't squeezed out, the vegetarian lion's head won't take shape.

In addition, matsutake mushrooms, water chestnuts, and vegetarian meat all need to undergo a process of squeezing out the water.

After squeezing out the water from the ingredients, Bai Yuan placed them on the cutting board. He then beckoned with his hand, and a silver-white cleaver flew towards him, which he then used to chop all the ingredients into a paste.

As for why a meat grinder wasn't used...

The main reason is that chopping can better improve the texture of vegetarian lion's head meatballs.

This places great emphasis on the chef's culinary skills. Poor skills can easily lead to an overemphasis on the flavor, which is also undesirable. Therefore, most chefs prefer to use a mincing method.

However, these were all minor matters for Bai Yuan.

While chopping the vegetables, Bai Yuan didn't forget to add two eggs.

Eggs help increase the viscosity of the dish, making it easier for the vegetarian lion's head meatballs to solidify and take shape later.

Beside him, Mo Ben saw Bai Yuan crack two eggs into the filling, then suddenly pick up a cleaver and begin slicing with a powerful, double-blade technique.

The originally large monkey head mushrooms, water chestnuts, matsutake mushrooms, and vegetarian meat on the cutting board were transformed into vegetarian paste by his extremely fast knife skills.

However, upon closer inspection, it can be seen that although it looks like a paste, each part of the ingredients has been cut into extremely small cubes.

It's a taste that you can enjoy without feeling any burden.

Furthermore, the size of the cubes cut from each ingredient is also different.

The vegetarian meat is the largest, followed by water chestnuts, and then matsutake and monkey head mushrooms are the smallest, used to simulate different parts of minced meat.

Since the decision has been made to make vegetarian food taste like meat, then we need to start with every detail. Just tasting like meat won't satisfy Bai Yuan.

It must taste and feel exactly like the meat itself!

This requires the chef to have extremely high skills.

Coincidentally, Bai Yuan is a chef with such skills.

Place the prepared vegetarian meat filling in a bowl, then chop a few water chestnuts and add them, along with a little Shaoxing wine, a little pepper, a little sesame oil, a little scallion oil, and two spoonfuls of salt for seasoning. Then, beat the mixture clockwise until it becomes elastic, adding cornstarch continuously during the process.

Heat oil in a wok until it reaches about 50% of its maximum temperature. Then, add the vegetarian lion's head meatballs, each about the size of a fist. Soon, the wok will be full of vegetarian lion's head meatballs, a dozen or so in total.

Once the vegetarian lion's head meatballs turned golden brown, Bai Yuan brought over a steamer, placed a plate inside, and put the lion's head meatballs in one by one, preparing to steam them thoroughly to make them more tender.

This is also the key to shaping.

Meanwhile, put water in a pot, add the cleaned matsutake mushrooms, and bring to a boil to make a mushroom broth.

Chicken breast, chicken wing, and chicken thigh meat are minced.

Add Shaoxing wine, pepper, scallions, ginger, star anise, salt, and MSG. Then add water to dissolve.

"This flavor is just right."

Looking at the pot of bubbling matsutake mushroom soup in front of him, Bai Yuan's face showed a satisfied expression.

Without hesitation, I strained and scooped out the matsutake mushrooms, turned down the heat, added the seasoned minced chicken, and stirred it in with an iron spoon to ensure the minced chicken and soup were fully in contact.

"Should I skim the soup?"

The chicken fat absorbs all the impurities in the broth, while the flavor of the chicken infuses the soup, creating a displacement reaction. This is indeed the fastest way to make a good stock.

Watching Bai Yuan's extremely skillful operation, Mo Ben couldn't help but nod in approval.

Bai Yuan did not notice the admiring look on Mo Ben's face.