Shokugeki no Imitation Chef

"An artifact please!" Master Xie said in a drawn out voice.

On the side of Nakiri's house, Nakiri Zongwei walked up to the table holding the wooden box that had been carefully carved...

At this time, "Yangquan Restaurant" is closed for one day today. This is also a century-old tradition. Every ten years at this time, it will close for one day, but outsiders don't know the reason.

The entire hall has been set up as an arena. In addition to the super large cooking table for both parties, there is also a small auditorium next to it. The Liu family, the Nakiri family, and the Tang, Lei, Lan, and Xinhu families are sitting. core tribe.

Facing the two super large cooking tables is the long table where the five judges sit, and behind the judges' seat, there is a raised table with an incense table on it. Now Nakiri Zongwei is putting the wooden box On the incense table.

The moment Nakiri Zongwei opened the wooden box, Liu Maoxing felt it again, the feeling he had felt in "Between the Moon and the Sky"!

really! The thing collected in "Between the Moon and the Sky" is the Yonglin Knife!

It is to use the special rhythm emanating from the "Yonglin Knife" to inspire the chefs who are fighting fiercely between the moon and the sky, and to use the cooking enthusiasm of young cooks to nourish the "Yonglin Knife"...

It sounds unbelievable, but as a "legendary kitchen utensil", it does have various special functions that cannot be explained.

No one can explain exactly why these abilities exist.

Even their creator "Xu Ling" now only has the title of "Ancient Famous Chef", which is circulated at the top of the culinary world, and even the exact age of existence can no longer be determined...

But now Nakiri Zongwei carefully took the Yonglin Knife out of the wooden box and put it on the knife holder on the incense table...

This has been the case for every "Shenqian Cuisine Showdown" in the past century, symbolizing that under the notarization of "Yonglin Knife", the battle for its custody is waged to show respect for the "legendary kitchen utensils".

After the Yonglin Knife was set up, Master Xie announced again: "Representatives from both parties, please come forward and sign!"

I saw Zhao Ming, Zhao Liang, Alice, and Fei Shazi, holding a scroll that looked very old in two, each holding one end, and unfolded it in front of Liu Maoxing and Erina...

For this link, Liu Maoxing specially practiced for several days, signing his name with a brush, after all, this thing has to be kept!

At this time, Liu Maoxing and Erina also saw the front part of the two sides, there are already ten names of each...

Although the scroll has obviously been extended several times, and the front part looks much older, but the handwriting is still clear. It is said that the Liu family has already sealed the scroll with nitrogen gas to preserve it.

In addition to the name, uppercase Chinese characters are used at the back to indicate the scores of each person. The general trend is that in the first five groups, the main family is leading, but the range is getting smaller and smaller, and the next five groups are directly the main family. beated……

It can be seen that from Liu Maoxing's side, up to himself, there are eleven names in total, all of which are surnamed Liu, while the names on Erina's side are more chaotic, and there are actually two names that Liu Maoxing recognizes!

One is the line just above where Erina signed, which was the position of the representative of the Nakiri family ten years ago, and it actually says "Kojiro Shinomiya"...

Liu Maoxing counted with his fingers. It is true that Kojiro Shinomiya, who was in the 79th class ten years ago, should have just graduated for a year, and his young age just fits the limit. Moreover, as a graduate of the close-to-distant moon department, if it is only a few days of competition, trust him Even if he didn't know what the competition was for, as long as Senzaemon invited him, he wouldn't mind returning from France for a few days.

And the name on the line above, which is the representative of the Nakiri family twenty years ago, says "Saiba Seiichiro"!

This made Liu Maoxing a little strange. The 69th grade Saibajo Ichiro did meet the age limit, but he should have dropped out of school at that time, and Dojima Gin and Nakiri Ji, whose surname was "Nakamura" at the time, also met the age limit... …

In terms of stability, Dojima Gin is definitely more stable than Seiichiro, who occasionally convulses and serves "dark dishes", and in terms of close relationship, Nakamura Ji should be about to become the son-in-law of the Nakiri family at that time...

Why is Saiba Seiichiro the representative?

Liu Maoxing feels that there may be gossip in it! Unfortunately, now is not the time to search.

At the same time, Liu Maoxing continued to look along, and sure enough, on Erina's scroll, the representative name fifty years ago was also named Liu... Liu Kui, this should be Nakiri Senzaemon's previous Chinese name.

"Liu Kui... Kui... so..." Liu Maoxing muttered in a low voice.

The character generation of the Liu family is arranged according to the white tiger Qisu, starting from the character "玉", among which the character "Kui" represents "Kui Su", which has the same origin as Kuixing in "Kuixing Kicking Fight".

It is generally believed that the ancient ancestors wrote "Kui" as "Ghost Fighting" in order to understand the meaning of the text, because Kuixing is also regarded as a symbol of evil spirits. The most famous reincarnation of Kuixing is the legendary "Zhong Kui". Most of the door gods posted during the Dragon Boat Festival are Taoist door god Zhong Kui...

The left side of the fairy is "human", while Weimen has the meaning of Zhong Kui to ward off evil spirits, and it is connected with "Kui"...

The name of Nakiri Senzaemon is really the eighteen bends of the mountain road!

At the same time, Liu Maoxing also noticed that what Erina signed was also a Chinese name, which was still arranged according to the character generation of the Liu family, but she was from the "Wei" character generation, and was written as "Liu Weihui".

Seeing this, Liu Maoxing couldn't help grinning, those who didn't know thought that Erina was a generation older than him!

In fact, after the news that Erina possessed the "God's Tongue" came out, the elders of the Liu family were also greatly shocked. After all, this is the same talent as their ancestors back then...

If it wasn't because Erina was of the "stomach" generation, not the "subaru" generation, it is estimated that they would have reconciled with the split family sixteen years ago and cultivated her as a prophecy!

However, because they were a generation behind, the old Liu family members decided to observe and observe...

"Next, please select the two sea breams to be used by the food warehouse in the representative area of ​​the branch family, and then the representative of the main family will choose which one to use first." Master Xie continued.

Obviously, compared with Yuanyue's various assessments and food halberds, "Shenqian Cuisine Showdown" has different rules on the use of ingredients. The contestants neither prepare their own ingredients nor start to use them at the same time. A more equitable way that puts both parties on the same starting line in the selection of ingredients.

That is to say, "Party A" first chooses two of the sea breams provided, and then "Party B" first chooses the one he wants to use...

In this way, "Party A" will not take advantage of "Party B", and will definitely choose two snappers that are almost the same!

This year, it was the turn of the division to be the "Party A". Erina also ordered two snappers from the seafood warehouse of "Yangquan Restaurant", but after seeing the snappers she ordered, no matter the judges It was still one of the few spectators, and they couldn't help being stunned...

It seems that Erina's recipes have been designed by herself, even Senzaemon and the others don't know.

"This is...frozen sea bream? Tsk tsk, Yangquan Restaurant has also started to control costs?" Lan Jialu said in the audience.

Liu Lousan gave him a sideways glance, and then said: "This is for the 'low-price' buffet served at the 'Yangquan Hotel', and it is marked on the dining instructions! Otherwise, if you use fresh sea bream, you can buy it." The cost is not a problem, but the amount used is too large, and the storage cost is too high..."

The price of "Yangquan Hotel" is much cheaper than that of "Yangquan Restaurant". For example, Liu Maoxing's "Ma Po Bomb" is priced at 188 yuan in the former, but "only" 68 yuan in the latter.

After all, there is still a gap in the level of chefs...

Of course, the same is true for buffets, "low price" is only relative!

"Saving costs? By the way, our Lanshi Group has recently developed a new fresh storage mechanism. If we use this mechanism to rearrange the fresh storage, we can..."

When Lanjialu was promoting his new products to Liu Lousan, Liu Maoxing had already gone to pick snappers under the command of Master Xie.

Liu Maoxing poked the two squids with his fingers, and couldn't help grinning.

Well, it was frozen very hard. Liu Maoxing also used the "super-tactile" heating method to defrost a small piece when they touched each other. Sure enough...they are snappers that have passed the "best" tasting period!

However, for ordinary cooking needs, it is actually satisfied and does not affect anything.

But if it is used as the "main ingredient" in a duel of the level between Liu Maoxing and Erina, it will have a great impact.

For example, more than a hundred years ago, when the ancestor of the Liu family "Liu Maoxing" and the ancestor of the Lei family, Ren, had a duel under the witness of the Guangzhou Kitchen Federation, because the first match was tied, so in the extra match, both sides They all use the method of "self-mutilation" to ensure that the sea bream meat can preserve the umami taste of the best tasting period...

The reason why he did not hesitate to frostbite and burn his hands was because when the judges tasted the sea bream, it happened that the best tasting period would pass, so the umami taste was fixed in advance.

But now this sea bream has missed the best tasting period!

"Then let's go for this one!" Liu Maoxing randomly chose the one that looked pleasing to the eye.

Now that he has decided to compete, it is impossible for Liu Maoxing to release the water. Even if the opponent is Erina, he will go all out, but the two frozen snappers in front of him are indeed the same...

"Erina has really become cunning..." Alice sighed in the audience.

"No, this is a reasonable strategy! You can't be soft on this kind of guy!" Fei Shazi naturally stood firm on Erina's side.

That's right, most of the people present could see that Erina's choice seemed "fair", but it was actually beneficial to her.

The reason for choosing such frozen sea bream, Erina must have her own considerations, and she already has a recipe to use.

And if Liu Maoxing had prepared a recipe using fresh sea bream, he had to rethink it on the spot now!

It can be seen that Erina is also going all out, and neither side has the intention of releasing water...

The two parties each pushed their transfer carts back to the cooking table. They both refrigerated the frozen sea bream first, and then went to the warehouse to select auxiliary materials.

After the two came back pushing the trolley with auxiliary materials, they started to defrost the sea bream. Both of them were about one meter long, which was enough for four dishes.

However, in the step of thawing, it is obvious that Liu Maoxing has the advantage.

Erina puts the sea bream in a basin, and then uses three to five degrees of running water to continuously rinse and thaw.

And Liu Maoxing directly put the frozen fish in the water, and then kept stroking and pressing the frozen snapper with both hands in the water!

Compared with running water thawing, Liu Maoxing's controllable body temperature thawing is obviously more advantageous!

After thawing, both of them took the two pieces of meat on both sides of the snapper belly first, and then kept the rest of the snapper at a temperature of 3°C to continue to refrigerate... At this temperature, there is no need to worry about the snapper refreezing, and it is also It will not deteriorate further in a short time.

And what the two of them did afterwards, the synchronization rate was also very high...

Seeing that both of them were using knives to chop the fish meat into minced fish, Liu Maoxing and Erina didn't seem to have thought that the two would have such a tacit understanding, so they couldn't help but looked at each other from a distance.

However, Erina immediately turned her head with a cold snort, and mixed the slurry-like auxiliary materials that had been prepared when the running water thawed with the fish paste, and then put them in the blender to stir them up.

Liu Maoxing started to prepare on the spot now, taking out the tapioca starch, cornstarch, skimmed milk powder and a small amount of pork tenderloin.

The pork tenderloin is also minced, and at the same time, some soybeans are ground on the side, and the soybean milk is separated on the centrifuge to remove the residue, and then all these are mixed with the sea bream paste, and several spices are added. Oil of onion and ginger...

But instead of using a mixer, I picked up two steel sticks and smashed them in the basin!

Seeing this scene, many elderly people couldn't help but glance at Master Xie.

His old man's cooking style is like this, with roughness and delicateness, but now he seldom does it...

When Master Xie saw Liu Maoxing waving the iron rod, nostalgia flashed in his eyes. He didn't know if he was thinking of himself, or his father Xie Lu.

"Both of them are making 'fish paste' in their own way. It seems that the first dishes of both of them are dishes similar to 'fish paste' products..." Tang Zhu muttered in the audience.

Tang Zhu is one of the head chefs of Shanghai Longzhen Restaurant, the chief chef of Longzhen Restaurant and the younger brother of Tang Song, the helm of the Tang family. He is a descendant of Tang Sanjie, a famous chef in Shanghai during the "Zhonghua Yiyi" period. Now Tang Song is on the jury at the table.

However, if you look at the genealogy, the Tang family is older than the others, because Tang Sanjie himself is the N generation chef and the young master of Longzhen Restaurant...

As the first love of "Liu Maoxing"... Abu, he is the first good friend who learns art at the same time. Tang Sanjie once used "Bouncing Turtle Soup" to defeat the chicken top soup of "Lock" in the dark cooking world, and also defeated in the Yuqian Cuisine duel. Ordered a soy sauce.

In the generation of the Tang family, Tang Zhu's culinary skills are actually the highest, slightly inferior to Liu Lousan's, but theoretically they have surpassed the ordinary three-star cooking.

However, I am not interested in restaurant management at all, so I only work as the chef, and I don’t sell much at Longzhen Restaurant. Most of the time I am bored thinking about new recipes, new skills, or travel around the world...

Even so, Longzhen Restaurant is still one of the most famous three-star Chinese restaurants in Shanghai.

"That's right, and using sea bream to make fish paste...is really a luxury. Even frozen sea bream meat is more valuable than fish paste, right? If it's just a gimmick, the judges won't buy it." Lan Jialu said.

Indeed, fish paste is used as a material for fish tofu, fish balls, fish boards and other products. It is usually mashed with small "miscellaneous fish", added with salt, and mixed with auxiliary materials such as starch.

After all, the taste and taste of fish paste products are not greatly affected by the raw fish, so commercial fish that are too expensive will not be used.

Of course, if this is the case, the weakness of frozen sea bream beyond the best tasting period, and the umami and texture are not at their peak state, "seems" to be smoothed out.

But if the final effect is not as good as using non-peak snappers directly, the judges will obviously not be satisfied!

"But since it's a competition, and both sides have the same starting point, then Ah Xing is not considered weak, right?"

As soon as this voice appeared, all the people in the auditorium, no matter which side they were from, all looked at him with concern, especially the sharp eyes of Alice and Fei Shazi!

Now in the auditorium, Liu Maoxing will be called "A Xing", and the tone is biased towards Liu Maoxing, and only Liu Maoyuan who does not know when he will return to the scene...

As for Fei Shazi and Alice... the former is the eldest lady's diehard loyalist, no matter how close her relationship with Liu Maoxing is, she still puts the eldest lady in the highest position, while Alice is because of the previous "feeling in love" Things, I am upset in my heart, but it is not as obvious as Erina.

Liu Maoyuan hurriedly used Liu Lousan to distance himself from the eyes of the two women...

Fortunately, Fei Shazi and Alice's Chinese proficiency is only so-so. Liu Maoyuan said so urgently before, and they only heard the name "A Xing" clearly.

But seeing each other's age again, the two women immediately had a guess in their hearts.

Liu Lousan turned a blind eye to the affairs of these young people, and only said to Liu Maoyuan's question: "In fact, I am more worried about Liu Maoxing. It is unlikely to make any low-level mistakes, and Liu Maoxing...although he also has a 'super taste', but it was conceived on the spot after all, so I can't guarantee if there will be any problems."

I saw Liu Maoxing use two steel rods to smash the fish paste and slurry in the basin into fish paste, and then took out the iron steaming plate he took earlier...

The steaming plate is about 20 centimeters long, and it is divided longitudinally into grooves that are two fingers long. Liu Maoxing poured the sea bream paste into the grooves, and steamed it in an oven with humidification effect. !

At the same time, taking advantage of the time of steaming and roasting, I started to heat up the oil in the pot, and put the dried chili, chili pepper, chili powder, Chinese prickly ash, pepper, star anise, ginger powder, etc. into the frying pan...

It can be seen that every time a spice is added, Liu Maoxing will taste it first, and then finally confirm the amount.

After frying for a while, the impurities in the pot were skimmed off, and the remaining paste was also separated into a centrifuge, and the red oil and a small part of the paste were specially taken out.

"Huh? That oven steamer seems to be... used to make fish tofu, right?" After a month of assault, Liu Maoyuan can basically recognize all common cooking tools, whether it is modern kitchen utensils or kitchen utensils of other cuisines. come out.

At the same time, from the very beginning, she was also thinking about how she would deal with the snapper, who was no longer at her peak, if she played on behalf of the main family this time.

Liu Maoyuan thinks that she has also "utilized" the knowledge of various cuisines that she has acquired this month, but she is a little frustrated when she comes to the conclusion...

In the end, Liu Maoyuan had to admit that if he were himself, not only would he have to think for a longer time, but he would also only want to "use" the knowledge of various cuisines that he had crammed for a month to help him deal with frozen sea bream and make The four dishes I originally expected, but I will not really change the recipes, and pursue the best recipes to achieve cooking!

It's not just a gap in knowledge, it's a difference in the way you think...

I saw that Liu Maoxing would pay attention to the situation in the oven from time to time. When he felt that the time was almost up, he began to put the extracted red oil and chili paste into a large spoon, and added the ready-made bean paste and tempeh from "Yangquan Restaurant" Wait, and finally pour warm water and simmer.

After a while, the "fish tofu" in the oven was also taken out by Liu Maoxing.

Ordinary "fish tofu" is usually steamed freshwater fish paste and then deep-fried, so the skin is golden yellow and the inside is white, while the sea bream itself is white and red, and the "fish tofu" made now is also It is not fried, so it is pure white on the whole, with a little red margin...

One by one "Snapper Tofu" was taken out of the steaming plate by Liu Maoxing, cut into chunks, and placed directly on five plates!

After that, cornstarch was added to the boiled "red soup" to make it thicker, and it was poured on five plates of "bream tofu"!

"This...could it be...Ma Po Tofu? Mapo Fish Tofu?" Zhao Ming asked in surprise.

"That's right, just like 'Giant Panda Mapo Tofu', pour thickening sauce directly on the tofu..."

The Zhao family brothers have been studying under Liu Lousan at "Yangquan Restaurant", and "Giant Panda Mapo Tofu" has always been one of the signature dishes of "Yangquan Restaurant"! Although the recipe has changed a lot, they are naturally familiar with this sauce-style Mapo Tofu.

What surprised them was the fact that they used "sea bream tofu" as an ingredient...

At the same time, Erina's first dish had also reached the stage of thickening, and the reddish-brown thickening juice was poured on five light yellow meatballs the size of half a fist...

"It seems that the first dish was basically completed by both parties at the same time!" Lei Yu, who was on the judging panel, sighed.

"That's right, if someone from Patriarch Liu's family participated in the competition, it is estimated that they are still in the stage of contemplation, or they may complain that Erina chose 'inappropriate' ingredients?" Niitomori said.

Although Nitomori's words seem very tendentious, but after all it is true, so the other judges just smiled and did not answer.

The first round of "Traditional Events" has a total of four dishes, but both contestants can choose when to present the dishes. At this time, both Liu Maoxing and Erina have already served "Looks like Mapo Tofu" and "Looks like Braised Lion Head" jury seat...

Liu Maoxing originally wanted to promote his style and let Erina give priority to the submission, but Erina just snorted proudly: "Since you finished it first, submit it first! lest you lose to me and make excuses..."