Food Wars, my food not only glows!

　"Wait about half an hour, and you'll definitely get to eat the best cheese-baked potato in the world! Don't be scared off!"

　As Alice Nakiri spoke, she held up one finger with a smug smile on her face. This was a dish she had recently learned to cook, and even her mother praised her for doing it well!

　"Okay, I'll look forward to it."

　Bai Yuan nodded. From the aroma emanating from the air, he could clearly sense that this cheesy baked potato dish still had a lot of room for improvement. How should he tell this young lady later?

　Thinking of this, Bai Yuan couldn't help but frown in annoyance.

　Chapter Three: Bai Yuan Makes His Move, Cheese Baked Potatoes (Revised)

　"How is it? You seem to be enjoying it very much. This must be the best cheesy baked potato you've ever had!"

　Looking at Shirayuki, who was devouring the piping hot baked potatoes with cheese right in front of him, completely oblivious to the fact that they were fresh out of the oven, Alice Nakiri...

　She elegantly took a piece with her fork, let it cool in the air for a moment, and then put it in her mouth, displaying the demeanor of a young lady.

　"The taste is quite good. If you want to add the butter at the bottom, you can spread it on top instead of cutting it into small pieces and adding it directly. Add some white wine when frying the bacon and onions. It would be even better if you sliced ​​the potatoes thinly and layered them on top of each other."

　Although he could directly praise the deliciousness, Bai Yuan's years of experience in the world of culinary disasters led him to blurt out the dish's flaws.

　However, being under someone else's roof, Bai Yuan restrained his overwhelming urge to complain and explained the problem with the cooking in a relatively rational way.

　If those in the world of culinary disasters saw him like this, they would be astonished and would praise him for being so gentle.

　"What? My cheesy baked potatoes don't have any of the problems you're talking about! Have you even eaten this dish before?!"

　Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Alice Nakiri's smile froze, and she pouted in dissatisfaction, her cheeks visibly swelling up, with a hint of anger on her face.

　There was no way around it; she had just been praising her cheesy baked potatoes as the best in the world, and now Bai Yuan was pointing out all sorts of flaws, making it hard not to feel ashamed.

　"If possible, I would like to borrow your kitchen. I will make some improvements based on the points I just mentioned, and the taste should be two or three levels higher."

　After finishing the cheesy baked potatoes on the plate, Bai Yuan looked up at Nakiri Alice, not surprised by her performance.

　He invited a down-on-his-luck beggar to his home and cooked his best dishes, but the beggar complained about everything. Anyone would be angry, so the fact that he didn't ask anyone to kick him out immediately shows that he was quite considerate.

　"Okay! I'll lend you the kitchen, but if you can't do that, leave my house immediately and apologize to me!"

　Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Alice Nakiri's face immediately turned cold. She thought to herself that if this guy was really just spouting nonsense, she would definitely give him a good scolding and then kick him out!

　"Thank you."

　Bai Yuan nodded politely, knowing that in this situation, the only way to prove himself was through cooking. He was confident that he could make the other party's attitude change drastically if he could prove himself!

　As the strongest in the world of culinary disasters, Bai Yuan has that much confidence.

　After all, back then, quite a few beautiful women shamelessly offered themselves to him in order to get a taste of his cooking.

　If he hadn't been too young at the time, and hadn't been unable to fully enjoy the game, he would have tried other things when the mood struck him.

　As he spoke, he arrived at the kitchen, but instead of cooking, he observed the layout of the kitchen and placed the ingredients he would need on the table.

　At that moment, Alice Nakiri walked over, crossed her arms, and looked at him, wanting to see if his strength was enough to support him in saying those words.

　Facing Alice Nakiri's burning gaze, Bai Yuan turned to her with a friendly smile, then moved the chair the girl was using to stand on in front of the wok and quickly began working at the stove.

　"boom."

　Flames roared on the stove, accompanied by an astonishing heat wave. Bai Yuan had turned the heat up to the highest level right from the start!

　"It's still not quite there... You can't get that wok hei (wok aroma) from a home stove. Oh well, I'll just have to make do."

　Feeling the heat from the flames, Bai Yuan's expression was not very satisfied. He muttered a few words under his breath, while Nakiri Alice frowned as she watched him start the fire without even cutting the vegetables.

　"You'd better chop the vegetables before you turn on the heat, otherwise the oil will be too hot and the vegetables will burn as soon as they go in. Have you ever cooked anything before?!"

　Watching Bai Yuan's incredibly 'novice' cooking, Nakiri Alice couldn't help but speak up, while wondering if it was necessary to continue cooking.

　Despite Alice Nakiri's questioning, Bai Yuan's expression remained unchanged. At this moment, he had completely entered cooking mode. With a simple lift and place of his hand, bacon appeared on the cutting board.

　"Da da da da da da da..."

　The knife in his hand sliced ​​across the cutting board at an astonishing speed, and countless strips of bacon, cut to the same length and width, flew into the air and were all in the pot in less than a second!

　The oil was just heated, and the freshly cut bacon made a pleasant sizzling sound as it hit the pan. Then, with two skillful tossing motions, the ingredients flew high into the air and landed safely back in the pan.

　The bottommost ingredients were flipped to the top, while the deeper part of the bacon was moved to the bottom. At the same time, Bai Yuan began to chop the onions.

　"What's going on? How did that bacon get cut in less than a second?!"

　Seeing the sizzling bacon in the pan, Alice Nakiri had completely forgotten her anger. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were wide open as she scanned the cutting board and the pan until she finally saw what Bai Yuan was doing.

　I saw him stab the knife onto the cutting board.

　With one hand holding the onion down and the other holding it down, a flash of the knife turned the onion into evenly sized strips, which flew into the wok and settled happily with the bacon strips.

　What the hell are you talking about?!

　Alice Nakiri roared inwardly, "What kind of monster have I picked up? This technique is something I've never heard of or seen before, even though I come from a wealthy family of gourmets!"

　"The white wine I just mentioned is used to enhance the aroma, and it cannot be poured in directly. Instead, it should be poured in from the edge of the pan so that the flavor can better blend with the dish."

　Sauté the bacon until fragrant, then add the onions. Sauté both until fragrant, then add the white wine. This allows the flavors of the two ingredients to blend better and adds a new taste.

　That's what fine dining is all about.

　By accumulating flavors one by one, the result is that one plus one is greater than two.

　Although this is Bai Yuan's first time making this cheesy baked potato, with his knowledge and vision, he is capable of surpassing Nakiri Alice's cheesy baked potato in every aspect after improving the details.

　"Gudu."

　The incredibly rich aroma emanating from the wok made Alice Nakiri's stomach rumble again, even though she had just eaten cheesy baked potatoes.

　At the same time, a strong desire arose in her heart, a desire to immediately devour the filling in front of her! But it was just a filling for a dish of cheesy baked potatoes! How could it have such magic! Making her frantically swallow her saliva.

　Damn it! I need to control myself!

　Place the perfectly cooked filling into a baking pan lined with aluminum foil, then take the prepared butter and rub a little on the bottom of the pan.

　This is also done to enhance the flavor and prevent sticking, but to prevent it from becoming too greasy, it should not be cut into small pieces and thrown in.

　In addition, slice the potatoes into thin slices about 1 mm thick, and then lay them out on a sheet of aluminum foil, one slice at a time.

　The benefit of doing this is that it makes the food taste richer.

　Chapter Four: Glowing Dishes!

　After arranging the potato slices neatly, Bai Yuan didn't rush to add the filling. Instead, he sprinkled a layer of pepper and a little salt to enhance the flavor.

　He repeated this process three times, adding a 1:2 mixture of milk and cream, and then looked up at Alice Nakiri and said, "The proportions you made in this part are also wrong. If I'm not mistaken, the ratio of milk to cream should be 1:1."

　From a technical standpoint, if too much milk is added, the baked cheesy potatoes will be too watery and lack flavor after baking.

　As he spoke, Bai Yuan covered the processed potatoes with a layer of parchment paper, pressed them down with a heavy object with a large bearing area, and then wrapped them with a layer of aluminum foil. Only then did they meet the standard for being put into the oven.

　He opened the oven and felt the intense heat emanating from it. There wasn't much of a problem, so Bai Yuan placed the baking tray inside.

　For best results, use this baking pan to make cheesy baked potatoes. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and bake for 40 minutes.

　As the aroma of the cheesy baked potatoes changed after they went into the oven, Bai Yuan nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Nakiri Alice.

　At this moment, the anger and resentment in the girl's eyes had completely disappeared, replaced by surprise, admiration, and a hint of anticipation.

　Putting everything else aside, the few amazing skills Bai Yuan just displayed are already worth learning. The person in front of her is definitely a top-level chef!

　"Please wait a moment. I wonder if you have any recipes popular in the surrounding area? I'd like to take a look at the local customs and culture."

　Seeing the adoring look in Nakiri Alice's eyes, Bai Yuan immediately realized that she had taken the bait. So, with a smile, he made his request: he wanted to understand the tastes of the residents in the surrounding area, which was also to prepare for his future business.

　"Wait a moment, I'll go get it for you."

　Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Nakiri Alice immediately ran back to her room and took out the book she had been reading the night before from her bedside.

　"Are you a master chef? Why have I never heard of you before? You've reached the level of a master chef at such a young age, that's amazing!"

　As a descendant of the Nakiri family, Alice Nakiri has a good eye for talent and has seen many skilled chefs prepare their dishes.

　However, no one possesses such superb knife skills as Bai Yuan.

　While you can't judge a person's skill level just by looking at their knife skills, you can still get a glimpse of their true abilities. Their skills are even more impressive than the special effects in movies, which is definitely not something an ordinary chef can do!

　At least she was completely incapable. Not only her, but also the teachers at Totsuki Academy and some of the top chefs she had met were all incapable!

　It's hard to imagine how Bai Yuan managed to make the sliced ​​ingredients fly up and into the oil in less than a second by cutting them with a cleaver.

　In addition, after eating his fill, Bai Yuan exuded an inexplicable aura, making it immediately apparent that he was extraordinary.

　"I haven't participated in any related assessments, but if we were to categorize them by level, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a top-level chef."

　Although he wanted to demonstrate his value, Bai Yuan humbly said that with his abilities, even if he couldn't reach the level of Chef Long, he would be close.

　Of course, he didn't have any impressive achievements here, and the title of Chef Dragon only existed in "Chef Ninja," so he didn't know if it existed in this world. Naturally, Bai Yuan wouldn't say it easily.

　I think so too, at least I didn't.

　Such skill is unparalleled in any master chef! The ingredients seemed to obey the commands of spirits, and the aroma in the air was a level above what I had just experienced.

　"You won't be disappointed with the taste either."

　When faced with Bai Yuan, whose strength far surpassed her own, Nakiri Alice no longer put on airs as a young lady. More importantly, Bai Yuan's level truly impressed her, as evidenced by the aroma emanating from the oven!

　·

　·

　Time passed slowly, and Bai Yuan picked up the recipe given to him by Nakiri Alice and began to read it, his eyes greedily absorbing the knowledge within.

　Because of his young age, Bai Yuan, despite having learned all the techniques of the Dark Cuisine World, did not know much about foreign cuisine.

　One reason was that he was still young and hadn't started traveling yet, but more importantly, at that time, China didn't have many skilled foreign chefs, and there were very few opportunities for the two sides to exchange culinary experiences.

　The reason I'm eating this cheesy baked potato dish is because Bai Yuan once ate French-style baked snails made by a French chef.

　By judging the smell in the air, they could determine how Nakiri Alice was made and what ingredients were used, and finally draw a conclusion.

　As for the method, it was based on what I just saw and my personal experience.

　"Wow, this is truly an eye-opener."

　Bai Yuan kept clicking his tongue in amazement as he flipped through the book. His favorite thing in life was reading other people's cookbooks, and he was even happier if he could learn something from them!

　Half an hour passed in a flash. As the oven dinged, Bai Yuan quickly went to the oven. On the table next to him was a plate of mozzarella cheese that had been prepared.

　Hold the baking tray in mid-air, grab some cheese with your other hand and sprinkle it on top until the potatoes are completely covered, then put it in the oven.

　Turn off the bottom heat, set the top heat to 240°C, and bake for 6-10 minutes.

　Bai Yuan didn't leave during this process; instead, he kept his eyes glued to the oven, observing the melting of the cheese and sensing the changes in aroma to ensure it reached its perfect flavor.

　Seeing Bai Yuan so nervous, Nakiri Alice also clenched her little fists and stood beside him without saying a word. The boy was particularly charming when he was serious, and she couldn't help but take a few more glances at him.

　"It's now!"

　Suddenly, Bai Yuan's eyes narrowed, and he opened the oven. In an instant, dazzling golden light burst forth from the oven.

　"Light? The food is glowing!?"

　Alice Nakiri rubbed her eyes in shock, muttering to herself in disbelief. When she came to her senses, the light in front of her had gradually faded, revealing her true form.

　"Is it an illusion? Or...?"

　Looking at the dish in front of her, Alice Nakiri couldn't help but swallow. The rich aroma filled the air, turning into invisible little hands that kept pulling her towards it.

　"Eat me quickly, eat me quickly."

　A voice kept murmuring in her mind, and Alice Nakiri couldn't help but pick up her knife and fork. Shirayuki also cut the food on the baking tray into six equal pieces, put one piece into a white porcelain plate and handed it to her.

　"Try it and carefully observe the difference between my cheesy baked potatoes and yours. That's my advice to you."

　Without Bai Yuan saying anything more, Alice Nakiri had already picked up her knife and fork, scooped out a small piece, and put it in her mouth while closing her eyes.

　The first bite is an initial burst of flavor from the rich cheese and the soft potato.

　At this moment, she felt as if she were in a vast, boundless, golden, sticky lake.

　As a gentle breeze swept by, a rich aroma of cheese wafted through the air. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the lake was entirely formed of cheese!

　The moment Alice Nakiri observed this, strands of cheese emerged from the lake, frantically wrapping around her body, wanting her to be forever immersed in this exquisitely beautiful golden cheese lake.

　Just as Alice Nakiri was about to sink to the bottom of the lake, potatoes emerged from the lake, giving her a brief respite. They exuded the fresh aroma of earth and nature, carrying her away into the distance along with the cheese lake.

　However, this feeling didn't last long before a deeper sensation came through: the unique smoky aroma of bacon intertwined with the sweetness of onions!

　They are like an exciting melody suddenly added to an ancient musical piece, awakening a deeper level of anticipation in the taste buds!

　The freshness of the white wine, like a gentle breeze, weaves through these complex flavors, not only balancing the overall taste but also adding an indescribable elegance to the dish.