Food Wars: Starting with Equipping the Greedy Wolf Pot

So that's how it is. Ryoko Sakaki's explanation to Yuuki Yoshino unexpectedly enlightened Shun Ibuzaki, who now also realized what the framework of cooking is all about.

Eight parts meat, five parts shrimp, five parts vegetables, and five parts eggs.

Since Jinhua ham can be replaced with regular pork, can it also be replaced with smoked meat?

Not only meat, but also shrimp, vegetables and eggs can be smoked.

Golden ratio shumai, this dish seems to suit my expertise in smoked cuisine very well.

But after thinking about this, Ibuzaki Shun still asked Isshiki Satoshi about what he had just mentioned about shumai wrappers.

"Isshiki-senpai, what did you mean by saying the secret of shumai is hidden inside the shumai wrapper?" Ibuzaki Shun opened his eyes, squinted, and stared sharply at Isshiki Satoshi.

“It’s simple. The flavor of a dish comes from the time you eat it, not the time you make it,” Isshiki Satoshi explained with a smile.

"The shape of this shumai wrapper makes it seem like the shumai flavor is divided, but actually the division is the texture of the filling."

"During the steaming process of shumai, the thin, delicate dough can't stop the meat juices flowing with the steam. The flavors of the four fillings are actually already blended together when the shumai comes out of the pot."

As Isshiki Satoshi spoke, he gently separated a golden ratio shumai with his chopsticks and picked out the shumai wrapper separately.

"Moreover, choosing this style has another hidden advantage: uniformity."

"If the four fillings were mixed together, you wouldn't expect each shumai to have a different flavor."

"The aroma of meat, the sweetness of vegetables, the freshness of shrimp, and the tenderness of eggs blend together by chance."

"The key to this shumai is the ratio of the filling, and there are no restrictions on the filling, allowing the chef to freely mix and match as they like."

"What a free meal."

"Truly worthy of being called Senior Xiang Ji. Only Senior Xiang Ji could have conceived of such a free and creative cooking style." Isshiki Satoshi sighed deeply.

Chapter 145 Yoshino Yuuki and Ibuzaki Shun

The next morning, Yoshino Yuuki and Ibuzaki Shun rushed to Xiang Ji's shop.

As agreed, they would take turns looking after Xiang Ji until his right hand healed. Yoshino Yuuki and Ibuzaki Shun were in line behind Tadokoro Megumi.

Upon arriving at Xiang Ji's shop, Yoshino Yuuki and her companion were immediately taken aback by the scene in front of the shop.

There was a long queue in front of Xiang Ji's shop, and you could hear the complaints of the customers even before you went inside.

……

"Wait, why isn't this shop open yet? It's already past midnight, doesn't the owner want to make any money?" a man who looked like an office worker complained.

"What's going on? Is this shop closed today? I came all the way from Nerima."

"I'm starving. How much longer until they open? Oh well, I'm not going to wait. I think I'll go get something else to eat first. There are some great restaurants in the shopping street next door."

"Hey buddy, since you're not going to wait, could you give me your seat?"

"Give it to you? By what right? I'm not leaving."

"What? Didn't you say you were going to get something else?"

"You believe me just because I say so? I'm just testing whether anyone will fall for my tricks." The person who had just spoken said irritably.

"Damn it, you bastard..."

……

"Wow, so many people! Are they all here for Xiang Ji's golden ratio shumai?" Looking at the long queue in front of the shop, Yoshino Yuuki couldn't help but shrink back.

"They're not from the Xiang family; they're after Xiao Hui."

"The golden ratio shumai that Senior Xiang made at his shop yesterday was all made by Xiao Hui." Ibuzaki Jun's eyes, hidden behind his bangs, were incredibly bright.

"Ibu, now is not the time to be talking about this, is it?"

"There are so many people crowding in front of Senior Xiang's shop, how are we supposed to get in and find him?" Yoshino Yuuki said frantically.

Jun Imusaki: "..."

No, what on earth is Yoshino Yuuki thinking? Why doesn't she just make a phone call to Xiang Ji?

When Yoshino Yuuki saw Ibuzaki Shun take out his phone from his pocket, she suddenly felt stupid for not being able to think of such a simple solution.

……

“Now let’s go to the back door. Senior Xiang Ji is waiting for us there,” Ibuzaki Jun said after hanging up the phone.

"Mmm-hmm." Yoshino Yuuki nodded repeatedly.

When Yoshino Yuuki and Ibuzaki Jun ran to the back door, Xiang Ji and Saqi were already waiting for them there, and not far away there was a refrigerated truck with the Far Moon logo.

"Senior Xiang Ji, leave the moving to us." Yoshino Yuuki rolled up her sleeves and started working before Xiang Ji could even speak.

Hayao Ibuzaki is equally impressive. Apart from Alice Nakiri, Eishi Tsukasa, and Momo Akanekubo, the other members of the Polaris Dormitory are all excellent at their jobs.

Especially members like Yoshino Yuuki and Ibuzaki Shun, who have their own livestock sheds and smoking workshops.

Soon, the ingredients delivered from the Far Moon Resort that morning were all taken to the kitchen by Yoshino Yuuki and the others.

Unlike yesterday, Xiang Ji didn't have time to personally select ingredients at the riverside market today, and it's not easy to find ingredients at the riverside market that suit Yoshino Yuuki and Ibuzaki Shun's cooking style.

Entrusting the procurement of ingredients to the Far Moon Resort is undoubtedly the best choice, after all, Xiang Ji and Dojima Gin have an agreement.

……

After moving the ingredients, Xiangji's little shop finally opened its doors.

As soon as Sachi opened the door, the first customer in line instinctively walked into the shop, complaining bitterly.

"Boss, you're finally open now. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you? You're going to lose customers if you keep doing this."

"A serving of shumai."

"Me too, I'll have a shumai too." But before he could finish speaking, he was drowned out by the voices of the other customers.

"Ok, I know."

“We haven’t started making the shumai yet. I’ll call you when it’s ready,” Sachi said coldly, radiating a strong resentment and looking very unhappy.

Although Saqi successfully infiltrated Xiang Ji's shop last night, he failed when he tried to sneak into Xiang Ji's room.

How could Sachi be happy when the operation failed at the most crucial point?

Adding to the resentment, Xiang Ji refused to help him take a bath this morning.

Seeing Sachi's unfriendly expression, the customers queuing in front of the store fell silent; Sachi's aura was truly intimidating.

……

"Yuuki, Ibu, I think Megumi must have told you about the core of the golden ratio shumai, right?" Xiang Ji said to Yoshino Yuuki and Ibu in the kitchen.

"You two can use any ingredients that are available in the kitchen."

“Yes, Senior Xiang Ji.” Yoshino Yuuki nodded excitedly.

While Yoshino Yuuki and the others were helping to move the ingredients, Xiang Ji had already told them what they needed to do today.

Like Megumi Tadokoro, Yuuki Yoshino and Shun Ibuzaki are also making golden ratio shumai today.

While Yoshino Yuuki was answering Xiang Ji's question, Ibuzaki Shun had already plunged into the food delivered by the Totsuki Resort.

"Smoked meat, pork belly, pork hind leg... and also smoked pigeon, smoked rabbit, smoked goose..." Ibuzaki Jun counted the ingredients delivered to Totsuki Resort that morning.

The ingredients are so complete, not only common ingredients like smoked meat and smoked fish, but also smoked shrimp, smoked eggs, and smoked vegetables are available.

Smoked bamboo shoots, fruitwood-smoked cabbage and radishes, as well as white fungus, lily bulbs, and bamboo shoots.

They even have smoky spices, such as British oak-smoked sea salt, Spanish smoked paprika, and Indian smoked turmeric powder...

Needless to say, all these ingredients were specially prepared by Xiang Ji for himself.

Aside from myself, who is skilled in smoked cooking, where would a normal restaurant prepare so many smoked ingredients?

When Ibuki Jun looked at Xiang Ji, Xiang Ji smiled slightly.

"Ibu, if you need any other ingredients, just let me know and I'll have them sent over."

"No need, Senior Xiang Ji." As he spoke, Ibuzaki Jun took out a piece of cherry wood with a faint fruity fragrance from his pocket.

“Senior Xiang Ji, the ingredients you have prepared for me are more than enough. Moreover, I prefer to use the ingredients that I smoke myself rather than these pre-smoked products.”

"Is that so? That's good."

"Yuuki, is there anything else you need?" Xiang Ji turned to look at Yoshino Yuuki.

Chapter 146 Smoked Shabu-dish and Wild Game Shabu-dish

"Ee eh eh, Senior Xiang Ji, can you really send me any ingredients I want?" Upon hearing Xiang Ji's words, Yoshino Yuuki's eyes immediately lit up like stars.

Unlike Hayao Ibuzaki, Yuuki Yoshino specializes in game dishes featuring wild animals.

Like Rindou Kobayashi, Yoshino Yuuki prefers to use ingredients in her dishes that are not available through ordinary channels.

“Of course, as long as the ingredients you need are available at the Far Moon Resort, I can deliver them to you immediately,” Xiang Ji replied with a smile.

Just as Ibuzaki Jun had just imagined, the ingredients delivered by Totsuki Resort this morning were specially prepared by Xiang Ji for him and Yoshino Yuuki.

Since Xiang Ji intends to obtain the golden ratio shumai fragments from Yoshino Yuuki and Ibuzaki Shun, he naturally wants to let Yoshino Yuuki and the others fully demonstrate their cooking skills.

To put it simply, Hayao Miyazaki and his team can also make non-smoked, game dishes, but that's definitely not their forte.

"Senior Xiang Ji, I would like wild boar, reindeer, and grouse..." Yoshino Yuuki immediately told Xiang Ji the ingredients she wanted.

After listening to Megumi Tadokoro's explanation of the golden ratio shumai last night, Yuuki Yoshino wonder wondered what ingredients she would use if she were to make it.

Not only Yoshino Yuuki, but also Ibuzaki Shun and Sakaki Ryoko had thought the same thing.

It only follows the golden ratio of 8 parts meat, 5 parts shrimp, 5 parts eggs, and 5 parts vegetables, without a fixed recipe. This kind of free cooking is really interesting.

Not to mention, this dish was actually conceived by Xiang Ji.

However, although Yoshino Yuuki had come up with many ingenious combinations in her mind, the ingredients were a big problem for her.

Many wild game ingredients cannot be bought in a short time.

Now that Xiang Ji is able to help her solve this problem, Yoshino Yuuki will not be polite to him.

This is also a problem that Ibuzaki Shun and Sakaki Ryoko have to face, even more so than the problem of wild game cuisine that Yoshino Yuuki is good at.

Whether it's smoked or fermented cuisine, it requires a considerable amount of time to complete the smoking and fermentation process of the ingredients.

……

After Yoshino Yuuki told him what ingredients she needed, Xiang Ji immediately called the Far Moon Resort.

At the same time.

Yoshino Yuuki and Ibuzaki Shun had already started cooking.

The first type of shumai that Hayao Ibuzaki is preparing to make will use Jinhua ham, since Jinhua ham is the ingredient that Ibuzaki is most skilled at smoking.

For the remaining three ingredients in the Golden Ratio Shumai, Ibu Saki also chose ingredients that had been thoroughly smoked.

The eggs are smoked chicken eggs, the vegetables are smoked bamboo shoots, and the shrimp are smoked sea shrimp.

Yoshino Yuuki's golden ratio shumai is much more normal, at least in Xiang Ji's opinion.

Soon, Yoshino Yuuki and Ibuzaki Shun completed their first golden ratio shumai flavors.

Before Xiang Ji could speak, Yoshino Yuuki and Ibuzaki Shun began making the new golden ratio shumai.

Sachi also began working as a waiter, delivering the perfectly proportioned shumai that Yoshino Yuuki and the others had prepared to the customers.

Whew~ Whew~

The freshly made shumai, with its delicate heat and unique aroma from the wood-smoking process, instantly captures attention.

This is Jun Ibuzaki's Golden Ratio Shumai.

The defining characteristic of smoked dishes is their unique aroma. Ingredients smoked with the finest cherry wood have a subtle sweet fragrance that whets the appetite just by smelling it.

Moreover, the design of the Ibuzaki Golden Ratio Shumai is equally outstanding, with a crystal-clear shumai skin filled with four kinds of fillings.

Bright red Jinhua ham, glossy smoked prawns, pale yellow smoked bamboo shoots, and dark brown smoked eggs.

The four ingredients are arranged in separate sections inside the thin, cicada-wing-like shumai wrapper. The meat juices inside the shumai can be seen through the thin wrapper, making it incredibly tempting.

The first customer to receive the Ibuzaki Jun Golden Ratio Shumai couldn't resist reaching out with his chopsticks and stuffing the golden ratio shumai into his mouth in one bite.