Have you ever seen glowing food? That's why you draw a food-themed anime.

...

Xu Zhou, of course, had no idea about any of this.

The editor said that as long as the plot doesn't go too far, it's fine. As for the female characters wearing less clothing... well, not every female character wears less clothing!

Thinking about this, Xu Zhou suddenly couldn't help but think about what would happen if he ever needed to learn how to cook Rou Mei's dishes...

Should we bring her a coat?

Forget it.

Can't think too much.

Let's learn how to make rice balls first.

Xu Zhou went directly into the system training room to study.

Chapter 71 Learning to Make Rice Balls

The system training room was still the same as it always was.

Xu Zhou had only been inside for a short while when light footsteps could be heard outside the door.

A girl with blue hair in pigtails appeared at the door.

She cautiously peeked out: "Um...excuse me, are you Xu Zhou?"

Her eyes were like a deer's, watery and her expression was somewhat shy. She wore a dark blue uniform and a yellow plaid skirt, and her legs were very slender and fair.

Xu Zhou turned around and nodded: "It's me. You're here to teach rice balls, right?"

"Yes, that's right, please give me your guidance."

A blue-haired girl with pigtails walked in, looked around, and exclaimed with her mouth agape, "So Xu Zhou's kitchen is this big..."

"Yeah, not bad."

Xu Zhou was quite satisfied with the training room provided by the system. Not only could he prepare food inside for as long as he wanted, but he could also leave in just one minute. Moreover, whatever equipment he needed was available.

The fantasy ingredients you buy will appear directly on the ingredient shelf.

Xu Zhou took the initiative to get the ingredients, and while arranging them, he casually asked, "How have they been lately?"

Don't worry, they are all fine.

The blue-haired girl said cautiously and gently, "It's just... they asked me to ask you why you bought us pigs and sheep..."

"Don't you like it?"

Xu Zhou asked in confusion, "I saw that you were raising chickens, so I helped you build a pigsty and a sheep pen."

When I watched the anime before, I only saw Polar Chicken, but not Polar Pig and Polar Sheep, so I just added them.

"There's no such thing as disliking it; we all like it very much and are very grateful."

The blue-haired girl said urgently, "It's just... it just smells a little, but we've moved it to the breeding area. Don't worry, we'll take good care of it."

Xu Zhou: "..."

Smelly?

He paused for a moment, his face stiffening.

Oh no! I forgot to draw the pigsty as closed!

...

After chatting for a while, Xu Zhou began to formally learn how to make rice balls.

I glanced at the tuition fee…

Current lesson fee: 0

Zero again?

The blue-haired girl seemed to know what he was thinking, and with a gentle smile, she added, "Xu Zhou takes good care of us, so... if it's just about learning the recipes, I won't charge you."

"I won't accept them anymore."

"Xu Zhou is our friend!"

Xu Zhou said thank you, and then started learning how to make his first rice ball: a salt and green onion sauce chicken breast rice ball.

The blue-haired girl began explaining how to make the salt and onion sauce very seriously.

Her lips were moist, and when she described the recipe, her initial timidity had disappeared considerably, and her speaking speed returned to normal.

"This sauce requires two types of scallions: small scallions and the bulbs of these red scallions."

She began demonstrating how to make the salt and scallion sauce, which requires adding a little bit of minced ginger, two kinds of chopped scallions, and seasonings such as salt.

"This salt and onion sauce isn't difficult to make, but the most important thing is to use hot oil to bring out its aroma..."

The sauce, which originally only had a slight aroma of scallions and ginger, sizzled and instantly released its full fragrance when hot oil was poured over it.

When the scallions and shallots were poured over the boiling oil, they started to char slightly. The aroma of the charred scallions mixed with the fragrance of the shallots made Xu Zhou almost unable to move.

Looking at the sauce in front of him, Xu Zhou felt that it looked somewhat familiar.

This salt and scallion sauce is somewhat similar to the ginger and scallion sauce I've seen before, only the proportions are slightly different. There's only a tiny bit of minced ginger, and the proportion of scallions is increased.

Xu Zhou quickly got the hang of it and made one himself.

"Hmm, take a look at this?"

After he finished making it, he handed it over and said, "How is it?"

"Hmm? You learned it so quickly?"

The blue-haired girl leaned closer and gently sniffed it, then used a spoon to lightly dip into it and taste it: "Perfect! You're amazing!"

"No wonder everyone says Xu Zhou is very talented!"

Her voice is very sweet, and her tone has the unique energetic girlish voice of a female manga character. When she is praising someone, her eyes are very focused, and her emotional value is at its peak.

"Then all you need to do next is pay attention to how you cook the chicken breast!"

...

After making the sauce, Xu Zhou followed the blue-haired girl to start making the chicken breast for the chicken breast rice balls with salt and green onion sauce.

I used to eat so much chicken breast that I was sick of it when I was trying to lose weight.

My biggest impression of this stuff is that it gets tough easily after cooking.

If the chicken breast in the rice ball is dry, it definitely won't taste good.

"The chicken breast needs to have its tendons and membranes removed beforehand, then it needs to be tenderized by pounding it with the back of a knife before marinating..."

The blue-haired girl taught earnestly, explaining each step in great detail.

She even mentioned several methods for cooking chicken breast so it doesn't become dry, including boiling it in water.

"After marinating, put the chicken breast in a pot of cold water and boil it until cooked through. Then chop it up and mix it with salt, scallion sauce..."

"Ah."

Xu Zhou was very serious when learning to cook. Each small piece of chicken breast was coated with a layer of fragrant salt and scallion sauce, and then sprinkled with some white pepper powder.

The chicken was not dry at all; in fact, it looked incredibly tender. Each piece of meat was coated with salt and scallion sauce, and it looked glistening and smooth under the light.

Xu Zhou tried taking a bite himself, and then his brows furrowed slightly.

The salt and scallion sauce was evenly brushed onto the rice on the surface and inside of the rice ball. With one bite, the saltiness and aroma of the salt and scallion sauce directly assaulted the taste buds.

The rice was very soft, and each bite filled with the filling was very satisfying.

The chicken was very tender. The tendons and membranes were removed, the chicken was pounded and marinated, then cooked, chopped, and mixed with salt, scallion sauce, making it very flavorful.

It is indeed a very delicious rice ball.

But these days I've been spoiled by all those imaginary food ingredients.

It always feels like something's missing when you eat it.

Xu Zhou tasted the rice carefully, then lowered his head in thought, gazing thoughtfully at it.

...

Twenty minutes later.

Looking at the blue-haired girl next to him with teary eyes and a curious expression, Xu Zhou handed her the chicken breast rice ball with salt and scallion sauce that he had just made: "Try it."

"Well……"

The blue-haired girl took the rice ball and took a small bite. The moment she took the first bite, her eyes widened in shock.

"Hmm? This rice ball..."

Then she quickly took a second and a third bite. The salted and scallion-sauce chicken breast filling in the rice ball was perfectly salty, the tender meat and the salty and caramelized sauce were incredibly delicious with the rice ball.

And what's even stranger is...

After finishing her meal, the blue-haired girl stared at Xu Zhou in astonishment: "The rice has a faint, fresh plum aroma, but it's not overpowering; it's just a subtle flavor that makes the rice incredibly appetizing..."

"Ah."

Xu Zhou smiled and said, "I didn't add preserved plum meat because the rice in the rice ball was a bit small, only 80 grams. Adding preserved plum meat would ruin the saltiness of the whole rice ball, so I just soaked the rice grains in some preserved plum water."

In this way, a slight plum flavor will remain on the rice grains, but this subtle flavor will not overpower the saltiness.

On the contrary, brushing the rice grains with salt and scallion sauce makes them even more appetizing.

This is also the technique that Soma Yukihira used when making rice bowls in episode 7 of Food Wars!, during his food battle with Nikumei.

The only difference was that he had added preserved plum meat to his rice bowl, while he had simply soaked the rice grains in preserved plum water for this rice ball.

Although rice balls are not rice bowls, they are essentially inexpensive and delicious foods.

The blue-haired girl was still not satisfied after finishing the whole one, and urged Xu Zhou to make another one.

She savored the second bite carefully.

The flavor of the preserved plum wasn't strong at all; it was just a tiny bit.

But this tiny bit is like the finishing touch, perfectly blending with the overall flavor of the salt and onion sauce and the chicken breast.

The overall texture of the rice ball was elevated to a whole new level.

"Delicious! They were right! You really have great ideas and love to try new things!"

Her voice rose a little, her eyes sparkling: "Xu Zhou! You're a genius!"

...

After learning how to make the first type of rice ball, Xu Zhou began learning how to make the second and third types.

This rice ball comes in three flavors.

Each flavor is different.

The blue-haired girl didn't waste any time and quickly started teaching the second rice ball.

"Next up is the braised cheese rice ball!"

"It's mainly braised kelp and cheese!"

Chapter 72: Two Rice Balls Left Over

The second rice ball is a braised kelp and cheese rice ball.

When Xu Zhou saw this rice ball, he knew that its essence lay in the preparation of the braised kelp.

However, it's clear that the braising sauce in Food Wars! is not the same as the braising sauce I'm thinking of.

"Too……"

“If it’s our traditional braising method, we need a pot of old braising liquid first, and it’s not really suitable to add cheese. It’s more suitable to add some braised beef.”

He glanced at the soy sauce, mirin, and sugar beside him and couldn't help but ask, "This braising liquid... is it sweet?"

"Uh-huh!"

The blue-haired girl nodded, speaking gently and softly: "Braised kelp is made using the braising method, mainly to highlight the fresh and rich flavor of the kelp."