Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

"Both are grass carp, but their diets are different. Due to long-term consumption of broad beans and changes in muscle structure, the body color of the crispy grass carp, especially its back, is darker and blacker than that of ordinary grass carp, presenting a glossy black color. The color of ordinary grass carp is relatively lighter and more natural."

An experienced chef explained the difference between the two.

"The first step in choosing a crispy grass carp is to look at its back. Just press it with your hand. If the flesh feels very firm and you can hardly press it down, then it is definitely a crispy grass carp. Otherwise, it is just an ordinary grass carp."

At the same time, the three judges also noticed what was happening in the audience. After seeing the ingredients that Zhou Yike and Liya had chosen, Mo Ben began to comment.

"call..."

The two performers on stage were not affected by the audience or the judges.

At this moment, Zhou Yike and Liya's attention was focused on the ingredients in front of them. Without any prompting, they moved in unison.

A flash of silver light appeared in Lia's hand as the back of her knife struck the fish's head precisely, silencing the once lively grass carp.

The sharp blade traced the spine like a flowing dragon's stroke, slicing through with a cold light. It effortlessly removed the armor, scales scattering like ice crystals. Another cut, bone and flesh removed, revealing smooth, jade-like skin. Rinsed clean with water, the red and white patterns were clearly visible.

The entire process is smooth and seamless, without any unnecessary complications, showcasing only the magnificent transformation of the ingredients.

The prepared grass carp is cut in half, leaving a thin piece of skin and flesh to keep them separate.

Next, use a towel to wipe off the remaining black membrane inside the fish meat, which is the source of the fishy and bitter taste.

Wash the prepared fish with warm water to remove any remaining black membrane.

Mix a small amount of ginger, scallions, and Shaoxing wine together and pour them into the grass carp meat after removing the black membrane to marinate. Then add ice water until it covers the fish. This will further remove the fishy smell.

While marinating, Lia quietly took out cilantro, bamboo shoots, red bell peppers, ginger, and shiitake mushrooms from the ingredient basket, cut the five ingredients into strips of the same thickness and length, and arranged them neatly on a plate for later use.

"Holy crap, Ruthless Iron Hand!"

With the side dishes prepared and the fish marinated, Lia started boiling water in a pot, and then put her hand in as the water temperature rose.

This scene was also captured by a drone and projected onto a large screen, causing many people to lean forward, their faces showing extreme shock.

The reason was simple: the hot water in the pot was still bubbling, indicating that the temperature was quite high, yet Leah had just casually stuck her hand in...

And judging from her relaxed demeanor, this was clearly nothing to her.

"The temperature is about right, we can proceed to the next step."

Feeling the temperature of the water, Lia nodded slightly to herself, then lifted the pot and poured it over the grass carp in the icy water.

When the warm water came into contact with the grass carp's skin, it caused the black skin on its surface to swell slightly. Then, Leah picked up the spoon that was placed on the cutting board and quickly ran it over the surface of the fish skin that had been scalded by the warm water.

The next moment, the black substance on the surface of the fish skin was scraped clean with a spoon. Leah handled it very carefully, not missing even the slightest gap.

This was also taught to her by Bai Yuan.

Grass carp live in water, where there are many substances called water mucus that grow.

This substance is extremely small and difficult to see with the naked eye, but it is the main source of the muddy taste in grass carp.

In addition, there are actinomycetes. The flavor of actinomycetes is concentrated on the fish skin. Scalding it with hot water and scraping it with a spoon will remove all the actinomycetes, instantly improving the quality of the fish by one or two levels.

Zhou Yike, on the other hand, did not do this; to be precise, she didn't need to do it at all.

Because the most unique part of the crispy-skinned Wan fish is the fish meat itself, and the exam question was also about fish meat, she never intended to use the fish skin from the beginning.

After properly preparing the crispy pork, Zhou Yike raised his knife and cut it in half.

Use the back of a knife to scrape the fish meat along the spines, and put the scraped fish paste into water to help remove the blood from the fish paste.

The meat on the back of the fish needs to be scraped from the other side, following the natural grain of the fish. When the meat can no longer be scraped off, use the back of a knife to pound the meat up.

Wait until the fish meat floats to the surface, then scrape off the fish paste until all the fish paste on both sides is scraped off.

"Alright, next up is the scallion and ginger water!"

Looking at the fish mud that had settled in the clear water, Zhou Yike's face showed a satisfied expression.

Next, I quickly chopped a few scallions and ginger, kneaded the water to make scallion and ginger water, added Shaoxing wine and a lot of ice cubes, and continued to knead to bring out the flavor of scallions and ginger.

"almost."

Setting aside the scallions, ginger, and ice water, Zhou Yike's eyes flashed with a sharp light. She quickly and skillfully put the fish meat, which had been drained of blood, into a gauze bag and then squeezed out the excess water.

Place the prepared fish meat into a blender, and then add two egg whites into the blender.

Dissolve the starch in water and let it stand.

Set the blender to low speed and blend slowly. While blending, add scallions, ginger, and ice water. After blending, add cornstarch, three tablespoons of MSG, and salt.

"No, the salt was added a little too early."

Watching Zhou Yike add salt and MSG to the blender, Bai Yuan couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Because he was a very famous chef, he watched Zhou Yike cook from beginning to end and naturally noticed the problems with her cooking.

Everything went well up before, except that the timing of adding the salt was wrong; it was added too early, by about ten seconds.

"Indeed, salt must be added after the fish has absorbed the scallion and ginger water. Otherwise, once salt is added, the flavor will become too strong and the taste will not blend well."

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's voice, Lanxi Jon also focused his attention on Zhou Yike.

Through the large screen in the sky, one can clearly see the color and quality of her fish paste, which indicates that she added salt a little too early.

"If nothing unexpected happens, she probably wants to make the dish that won first place in last year's cooking competition, Orange Segment Fish Poaching. It's a dish that brings out the best in fish, but the more elaborate the dish, the higher the challenge to the chef's skills. She's a bit too hasty."

As Zhou Yike prepared the ingredients and cooking steps, Mo Ben's voice rang out on the scene.

He could tell what the other person wanted to make. If he could make it successfully, it would indeed be a dish that combined the best of fish, and other fish dishes would be hard to surpass.

"A small mistake in the details will lower the level of the dish, but if the other steps are not too problematic, the final taste should not be too bad."

Bai Yuan's voice followed closely behind. Although Zhou Yike made a mistake in adding salt, it did not negate the other parts.

At this rate, the opponent's cooking level will still not be too low.

"You're right, but the orange-segment fish soup is all about melting in your mouth. But just having that melt-in-your-mouth feeling isn't enough; it also needs some texture."

In other words, it leaves a tooth mark when you bite into it, but melts in your mouth with a gentle touch of your tongue; this is the most difficult part of making this dish.

Mo Ben nodded slightly, his attention also focused on Zhou Yike.

At this moment, the girl was unaware that she had made a mistake. She put the chopped fish paste into a bowl, added scallion and ginger water, and stirred clockwise. The amount of scallion and ginger water was equal to the amount of fish paste, with a ratio of 1:1.

After adding all the scallion and ginger water into the fish paste, she took a basin of lard from the side, then took a small scale, weighed out 100 grams of lard, and poured it into the fish paste. This step made Bai Yuan and the others frown again.

However, no one said anything more this time, and they planned to talk to Zhou Yike during the review session.

"It's quite impressive that she could make this dish to this standard without anyone teaching her. It's just a shame she didn't meet a teacher who knows how to make this dish, otherwise today's competition would have been a foregone conclusion."

Although there was no commentary, the regret expressed in Mo Ben's words was palpable.

To be fair, since the Dark Cuisine World just won a round, he actually hopes Zhou Yike will win now.

Deep down, he even felt it would be better if Chaoyang Academy won, since it was a local Chinese academy and the Ministry of Education had invested a lot of money in it.

In contrast, the Dark Cuisine World is a completely mediocre force. For such a force to defeat Chaoyang Academy and win the Academy Exchange Competition is undoubtedly a slap in the face for them.

If Bai Yuan weren't also Chinese, and if the Dark Cuisine World weren't the organization he founded, with his apprentices currently participating in the competition, Mo Ben would absolutely not be sitting here so calmly.

After all, the final showdown between Dongfang Academy and Chaoyang Academy in the past was at most an internal battle for them, and they could accept who won or lost.

Without Bai Yuan's intervention, the duel between the Dark Cuisine World and Chaoyang Academy would become a battle to determine which country is the number one culinary nation.

Fortunately, the dark cuisine world is also a Chinese force, so even though it's a bit embarrassing for Chaoyang Academy to lose the competition, it's not unacceptable.

Bai Yuan was naturally unaware that Mo Ben had thought of so many things in such a short time.

At this moment, he had shifted his attention from Zhou Yike back to Liya. The dish she had prepared was taking shape in his mind; it was the banquet dish he had made last year when he was in the dark cuisine world.

Five-willow fish.

He prepared a portion for every member of the "dark cuisine" community and received 100% positive feedback.

Watching Lia's movements, Bai Yuan couldn't help but recall her studious figure from back in the Dark Cuisine World.

In order to spend more time with him, the other person would often go to the kitchen under the pretense of learning to cook, and even though he knew it, he didn't say anything, but just taught silently.

Now, is Leah ready to present the dish she learned to cook that day in this competition?!

It is not impossible.

While the Five Willow Fish may not be as high-level as the Orange Segment Fish Soup in terms of skill ceiling, it is easier to make and the chance of making a mistake is extremely low.

Basically, as long as you follow the steps and don't try anything fancy, you can reach the highest level of strength that Leah can currently exert.

If they perform exceptionally well, it's not impossible that they might even serve a three-star dish in the end.

Just as Bai Yuan had expected, as the cooking began, Lia entered a state of complete concentration, shutting out all external noise.

Make a cross-shaped cut on the back of the fish to ensure maximum flavor absorption. Bring water to a boil again, add scallions and ginger, and then add the grass carp fillets with the cross-shaped cuts.

Oil is added to the water to protect the water surface.

Then add a little salt, pepper, and cooking wine to give the fish a base flavor. Next, place a heavy iron plate on top and turn the heat in the pot to the lowest setting.

While the fish is cooking in the pot, boil another pot of water and blanch the shredded bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms to remove their bitterness.

After blanching, filter the cooked water, add clear chicken broth to the pot, and then add the shredded bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms again, seasoning with soy sauce for flavor and color.

With half a shredded ginger, a spoonful of rice vinegar, some sugar, and a pinch of salt, Leah took a spoonful of the soup and tasted it, then added a little more sugar and vinegar.

Chapter 446 I'm not just a mid-tier horse, I'm Boss Bai's pride!

"This tastes just right, let's thicken it with some cornstarch slurry..."

She picked up the spatula and scooped out some broth. After tasting it, Leah nodded in satisfaction. Then she added the prepared cornstarch slurry to thicken the broth.

After making the sauce, Lia didn't rush to take it off the heat. She looked at the pot of fish cooking next to her and then lifted the iron plate off the lid.

In an instant, as the hot plate was lifted, the fresh aroma of grass carp meat wafted over.

At this moment, the fish in the pot has become springy and tender, and the fish skin has not been damaged in the slightest during the cooking process.

"It's time to put in the final touches of thickening!"

Looking at the fish in front of her, Lia showed a satisfied expression, then turned her gaze to the pot of sauce that was still boiling beside her.

Without much hesitation, she added the red bell pepper strips, cilantro, and the remaining half of the ginger strips, while turning up the heat to thicken the sauce.

In a separate pot, heat scallion oil and sesame oil together, then pour the mixture over the fish.

The glossy, thickened sauce, once drizzled with hot oil, releases a rich aroma that fills the nostrils of the audience and judges in the front row, stirring their excitement.

On the other side, a glint flashed in Zhou Yike's eyes as she scooped out the perfectly cooked orange-sliced ​​fish from the pot and placed it into the clear chicken soup.