Shokugeki no Imitation Chef

Although he couldn't move the chopsticks on it, Liu Maoxing poked the tofu with his fingers and sensed the texture of the tofu with his "super-tactile sense".

After that, I lifted the plate and roughly judged that there are 1000 grams of tofu, and the plate and chopsticks have a total of 150 grams.

If you successfully cut a part of the tofu, but the chopsticks do not fall, you can remove the cut tofu out of the plate. If it falls, put the tofu on the plate and the part you just cut off on the scale...

The tofu used as the base belongs to northern tofu, that is, brine tofu, a kind of tofu with a relatively "hard" texture.

Of course, the so-called "hardness" is compared with southern tofu. If the chopsticks are slightly out of balance, or if they are not fixed enough, they will damage the base and fall down.

Among the four of them, Liu Maoyuan was the first to do it, and saw that she first cut the tofu around, these were obviously the most useless parts in her opinion.

Afterwards, he began to use a carving knife to cut the upper part of the tofu thinner... Gradually, it became clear that Liu Maoyuan wanted to carve the tofu into a cone just enough to hold the chopsticks!

As the cone was flipped by Liu Maoyuan's carving knife, the edge turned out to be more rounded, and the upper part became thinner and thinner...

After that, the two brothers Zhao Ming and Zhao Liang also moved their swords one after another.

When Zhao Ming came up, he was only less than two centimeters away from the chopsticks, and he swiped down four times, stunned by others.

Does he think that a tofu pillar with a cross-section less than two centimeters square can hold chopsticks in place?

However, he soon discovered that although he cut the knife vertically, he did not cut the tofu, but left a connecting part of about two centimeters at the bottom of the tofu...

Then he lowered the knife horizontally and cut off most of the tofu that had been cut before.

Obviously Zhao Ming's ideal state is a "tofu tube" connected to the "base" to keep the chopsticks upright.

Afterwards, he also carefully strived to make the "tofu tube" wrapped with chopsticks rounder and thinner, and the base smaller and thinner.

Then Zhao Liang, who started to work, synthesized the designs of the two, and seemed to want to carve out a structure with a larger bottom and a cone in the middle...

In fact, the three of them came to the same goal by different routes. Liu Maoyuan gradually dented the middle part of the cone inward, and Zhao Liang gradually reduced the height of the straw, making the upper part shorter and thinner than the off-duty part.

Liu Lousan nodded when he saw this. Indeed, the chopsticks are fixed by the central part and then connected to the base, which is probably the "best model".

But when I looked at Liu Maoxing, I found that he was still closing his eyes, thinking about something...

The fixed tofu models of the other three people have become more and more decent, and they have almost reached the stage of final carving. At this time, Liu Maoxing suddenly opened his eyes and swung a kitchen knife to cut off the edges of the tofu that are about one centimeter thick. .

A tofu block with a length and width of 8 cm was left on the plate...

Liu Lousan couldn't help but looked at him suspiciously, as if he felt that Liu Maoxing was a little too cautious!

However, Liu Maoxing's actions immediately made people puzzled again. Liu Maoxing didn't pay attention to the tofu on the plate, but began to carve the one-centimeter-thick tofu slices.

At this moment, "Fat Brother" Zhao Liang sighed, only to hear a jingle, but his chopsticks fell down...

It seems that the appearance he envisioned should not be fully realized, but the movement of the knife was a bit wider, and the knife was not decisive enough. As a result, the "tofu model" was tilted a little, and the unbalanced chopsticks fell straight down.

Seeing this, Zhao Liang had no choice but to stop, and handed the remaining tofu to Liu Lousan...

"Remove the weight of the plate, the original 1000 grams of tofu, now there are 153.2456 grams left, it seems likely to be at the bottom! Ah Liang, although your fire is better than your brother's control, but your knife skills are still a lot worse! Usually Continue to practice more! Remember, use the knife as an extension of your palm, don't be afraid of it!" Liu Lousan said seriously.

The talents of the Zhao brothers seem to be somewhat "polarized". First of all, although the two brothers' senses of taste and smell are not as strong as super-smell and super-taste, they are still within the human category, but they are also much more sensitive than ordinary people. For a cook, this is not a small advantage. At the same time, the characters of the two (short-brained and lacking in heart) also satisfy Liu Lousan...

However, the two also have a very fatal weakness for cooks, that is, when Liu Lousan just accepted them as apprentices, he found that among them, the older brother Zhao Ming was afraid of fire, and the younger brother Zhao Liang was afraid of knives.

It's like someone fainting from needles, blood, or height. Usually, people with this kind of situation will not take the road of cooking, but for some indescribable reasons, Liu Lousan still accepts their two brothers as apprentices. , Because I have received psychological counseling since I was a child, I will not show this kind of "fear" now.

But there are still some descendants. When Zhao Ming needs to use open flames, he has a little less control over the fire, while Zhao Liang has a little less skill with swords...

As soon as I finished speaking here, there was also the sound of falling chopsticks from Liu Maoyuan, but Liu Maoyuan didn't look disappointed, it seemed that the expectation had been achieved, but there were some problems during the "excellence".

"120.1102 grams... If it weren't for the fact that the knife was cut too fast at the beginning, which made the overall judgment wrong, made the base too small, and the fixed part had to be thicker, it could actually be better! This also reminds me Don't act impatiently like a fierce general in the future!

Especially after Yuanyue, there are very few opportunities for you to copy the recipes as they are. Although you have to try bravely, you must also plan what you are going to do, and then do it..."

Speaking of this, Liu Lousan glanced in Liu Maoxing's direction again, and then continued: "Especially in the face of external harassment, we must also be vigilant, and don't let some dubious people take advantage of it. There are many people who get married, but you have to wait until you are at least in your twenties..."

"Uncle Lou! What are you talking about again!" Liu Maoyuan said angrily.

"Eh? Did I say something wrong? I also heard from others. You haven't been on the phone with the 'mysterious man' recently, and the conversation lasts for a long time? The girl suddenly started chatting on the phone. No matter how you think about it, it's... oh Oh, by the way, Wei Lan, who is in charge of finances, even looked at your mobile phone bill, and found that it was all long-distance calls from the island country..."

"Who spread these rumors? Who else but Wei Lan? That's not the case at all!" Liu Maoyuan quarreled, looking like she was looking for someone to settle the score.

"Hmm... Basically, people of the Stomach and Subaru generations under the age of 30 are all spreading the word about it?" Liu Lousan seemed to have not noticed at all that he is still shamelessly gossip and juniors in his old age. same as us!

Liu Maoyuan felt powerless when he heard the words, and was going to do something to restore his reputation, so as not to continue to pass it on, and it would be bad for other "normal" elders to believe it!

It's a pity that she doesn't know yet, or else the "longest elders" are preparing to marry her off early... Of course, it is best to marry Liu Maoxing back! Anyway, everyone has the surname Liu, so there is no problem with the surname, and Liu Maoxing is an orphan...

And at this moment, Zhao Ming had already finished the final carving, pulled out the chopsticks directly, and handed them to Liu Lousan for weighing, obviously thinking that the limit had been reached.

"Hmm! Not bad, 95.6382 grams! The elder Liu Kuishan who taught me cooking skills also gave me and several other brothers a test. I remember when we were thirteen or fourteen years old... According to the old Liu Kuishan It can be said that if it can be controlled below 100g, it means that it has already comprehended some of the superficial essence of sword skills, and it is possible to realize the 'spirit of sword skills' at any time!"

"Then what was Uncle Lou's grades at that time?" Liu Maoyuan asked immediately.

She was obviously full of malice infected by Liu Maoxing. She knew that Liu Lousan was a late bloomer, so she deliberately asked a question!

"Hehe, I'm not bragging! Back then, my lung capacity was the largest! During the first assessment, their chopsticks were blown down halfway through!"

No, that's nothing to brag about at all! It's just cheating!

"Huh? Didn't the old Kuishan tribe... punish you?" Liu Maoyuan actually wanted to say, "Didn't he beat you up?"

"At that time, everyone was only in their teens...and at that time, the old Kuishan clan was watching all the time. After I blew down Lou Yu's chopsticks next to him, he also came to blow on me...Finally, the old Kuishan clan came back We were all bragging to each other, so we were all fined to practice sword skills for one night and not allowed to eat!"

"Why do you always look so proud? Didn't you die together..." Liu Maoyuan said weakly.

"Hahaha! Because the Kuishan tribe was young and old at the time, they were always ruthless when they trained their juniors! With my sword skills at that time, I would definitely be at the bottom, and 80% of them would still not be able to eat dinner... In this way, there are five other people to accompany me, Didn't I make money?" Liu Lousan looked confident.

Fortunately, when Liu Lousan continued to lose his morals, Liu Maoxing had already served the plate...

And at this moment, the chopsticks were still standing upright on it!

You must know that even Zhao Ming pulled out the chopsticks first, and then brought over the remaining tofu on the plate, because he was not sure that he could keep the chopsticks upright while they were moving.

But Liu Maoxing's chopsticks stood firmly on top, and when everyone saw the base structure under the chopsticks, they all had a feeling of having sex with the best friend of mankind...

I saw that the lower half of the chopsticks was separately supported by the three-legged support, and each part of the three-legged support was obviously carved separately. The outer edge of the whole was three right-angled triangle tofu slices, and one right-angled side was stuck outside the chopsticks. , the other right-angled side is the bottom, two small triangles are hollowed out in the middle part, and only a single tofu bar is connected.

At the same time, between the three brackets, three thin strips of tofu are connected, and around the chopsticks, there are three "tofu circles" about one centimeter wide, and each two-thirds of the "tofu circle" is approached from the three legs. On one side of the chopsticks, the strip-shaped gap specially set out goes through...

The bottom of the chopsticks has a circular base with a diameter of only one centimeter and a height of one centimeter, and the right-angled parts of the three "legs" are fitted on it!

Obviously these "parts" such as feet, brackets, and protective rings were all carved separately, and then assembled together in a way similar to the "mortise and tenon structure"...

Facing this structure that was obviously different from everyone's style of painting, after the other four people were stunned for a long time, Liu Lousan suddenly said: "You didn't take the chopsticks down while we were talking, did you?"

To be honest, even if you take off the chopsticks halfway, it is already amazing to be able to do this step!

"Of course not! After carving these 'parts', I installed them part by part. After each part was installed and it was confirmed to be stable, I cut off the other tofu around it." Liu Maoxing said with white eyes.

Liu Lousan also took off the chopsticks at this time, and put on the scale...

Well, this electronic scale, which claims to be very prepared, shows a desperate number.

"39.5667 grams? This... Uncle Lou, did the elders say what it means if it is below 40 grams?" Liu Maoyuan asked with some difficulty.

The Zhao family brothers were also stunned for a while, and gradually recovered their blood...

It is true that at the beginning, the three of them were hit hard, but they quickly adjusted... The reason is very simple, the gap is too big!

If it is 89 grams, maybe everyone will maintain some sense of competition, but now it is 39 grams...

In everyone's heart, there is a "little man with ambition", and now the "little man with ambition" in the hearts of the Zhao brothers and Liu Maoyuan was directly beaten to death by Liu Maoxing!

"Usually speaking, if it is close to 50 grams, it should mean that you have mastered the 'sword skill essence', but... A Xing's situation is a bit special." Liu Lousan said.

That's right, Liu Maoxing can't do this with just knife skills. It is impossible to use any "mortise and tenon structure". To a large extent, Liu Maoxing perceives the texture and density of "tofu" with his "super-tactile sense". , and when the knife is dropped, you can always feel the turmoil of the "tofu", so you can achieve such a large degree of "transformation", and keep the chopsticks from falling down!

However, Liu Lousan did not praise Liu Maoxing excessively, but gave him an even weirder look, and then said: "Okay, let's look at the issue of heat next!"

"Chinese cuisine is the cuisine of flames. I don't need to explain to you how important firework is to every Chinese cook... Next, let's use a mapo tofu to test your firework! Of course, because the test is firework, the ingredients are the mapo tofu sauce, scallions and ginger that have been prepared in the morning, and no additional things can be used, and water is not acceptable." Liu Lousan said.

"Is it tofu again? It is true that tofu is an ingredient that is more tested for firework. If the fire is too fast, the tofu will be old, and if it is too slow, it will lose its shape and affect the taste...Especially for tofu that needs to be stir-fried, the heat is more difficult to control carefully." Liu Maoyuan muttered.

At this time, everyone has seen the sauce and minced meat prepared by Liu Lousan...

Mapo tofu usually has two general genres. One is to saute onion, ginger, sauce, pepper, etc. first, then add broth or boiling water, simmer the tofu in it for a few minutes, and add starch to form after the soup converges. Thicken, the other is without adding water or broth, and only rely on the water from the oil and sauce, pepper, green onion and ginger to stir-fry the tofu cubes.

Of course, there are also some other wonderful ways, such as "Giant Panda Mapo Tofu", which is equivalent to steaming tofu with Mapo sauce...

Of the two mainstream methods, the latter is much more difficult, and during the "Zhonghua Yiyi" period, most of what "Liu Maoxing" took care of was also the latter method!

And now, from the types of sauce Liu Kuishan prepared for everyone, it can be seen that it is also mapo tofu that needs to be stir-fried. After all, there is no extra water in it...

But among the four people preparing for the assessment, not to mention Liu Maoxing, who used to make a big splash with Mapo Tofu, the other three, as members of the Liu family or disciples of the Liu family, are too familiar with the dish "Ma Po Tofu"!

Many members of the Liu family, the first dish they learned was "Ma Po Tofu".

If that's all, it's obviously not a problem for them, but then, what Liu Lousan brought out made Liu Maoxing stunned...

That's right, it's indeed tofu, and it's wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap...

Just the force of placing the tray on the cooking table made the tofu wrapped in plastic wrap wobble!

Seeing this kind of shaking, the four couldn't help but have strange expressions, while Liu Maoxing poked the tofu lightly through the plastic wrap, and then his expression became weird...

"Senior Lou San, what you always prepared is... lactone tofu?"

Usually northern tofu is made with brine, and southern tofu is made with gypsum. The reaction of brine tofu is sharper, so the formed northern tofu is harder, less watery, and has a stronger bean aroma, while gypsum tofu is more tender and elastic, with More water.

Generally, northern tofu is used for frying and frying, while southern tofu is suitable for soup and cold salad...

And in modern times, a new kind of tofu was produced, that is, tofu made with "gluconolactone", that is, lactone tofu!

The texture of lactone tofu is no longer soft and tender. It is usually sold in disposable boxes in supermarkets. It is more appropriate to say that the texture is "thin".

Although lactone tofu is healthier in theory, its weakness is also obvious...that is, it can only be used for cold dressing!

There are fried lactone tofu, lactone tofu soup, etc., but they have not formed a customary dish, they are just a substitute for the northern and southern tofu... and they are not as good as the original substitutes in terms of taste and taste!

And now Lou San actually wants them to use "lactone tofu" to "fry" a mapo tofu...

I'm afraid that if this thing is shaken and fiddled with in a big spoon a few times, it will be even more broken than minced meat!

"Master, Master, do you always want to test our strength, or our skill in throwing spoons?" Zhao Ming and Zhao Liang didn't react for a while.

If you are making mapo tofu stewed in soup, you can try "lactone tofu", but if you stir fry...

At this time, Liu Maoyuan had already understood, and couldn't help but said: "Senior brothers, I think what Uncle means is that we should process the inner fat tofu first! For example, fry them first, at least to make them tougher! "

In the Liu family, as long as there are disciples from the same family and disciples with other surnames who are about the same age, they can discuss their own opinions, and Liu Lousan's seniority will not make the Zhao family brothers a generation older than Liu Maoyuan, so Liu Maoyuan just calls him senior brother.

And Liu Lousan did not speak at this time, neither affirming anything nor vetoing Liu Maoyuan's words!

It seems that after that, they are going to let them do it themselves to solve the problems he raised.

But at this time, he looked at his watch and said, "By the way, I will come back at eight o'clock. You can think about it and try it slowly. There are a lot of lactone tofu prepared, which is enough for you to try... Dinner When the time comes, someone will bring you some staple food, so just don’t waste your experimental products.”

It's only three o'clock in the afternoon, and Liu Lousan, as the general manager of "Yangquan Restaurant" and "Yangquan Hotel", obviously won't be here to stare at them for five hours.

After Liu Lousan left, Liu Maoyuan couldn't help but whispered to Liu Maoxing: "Uncle Lousan seems to be very busy too! Please trouble him to arrange our advanced studies. Don't make arrangements for his old man in the future!"

But at this moment, the Zhao family brothers were muttering: "Huh? At this time...well, Master should have visited mother, right?"

"That's right, it's this time of the week!"

Liu Maoyuan couldn't help but froze on the spot in the middle of the speech, and then looked at Liu Maoxing's weird eyes, and explained for Liu Lousan: "Uncle Lou San has never been married, and now he is still single!"

"Marriage may not end, but I don't know if I'm single..."

Afterwards, Liu Maoxing did not inquire about Liu Lousan's personal style, or some gossip mixed with gossip, but temporarily concentrated on observing the "lactone tofu" in front of him.

Cut off a small piece, pressed it with a knife, and it turned into mashed tofu immediately!

"All these things are considered tender in the 'lactone tofu'... No, it should be 'thin', right?" Liu Maoxing said involuntarily.

"Third Uncle Lou doesn't seem to have any intention of forbidding our discussion... What do you want to do?" Liu Maoyuan asked.

"Let's try frying it first! Although I don't think that frying the outer skin longer can be used to make 'Ma Po Tofu'..."