Shokugeki: Start with an izakaya, making everyone cry

Chapter 167 The simplest dish, egg fried rice

11: at night.

The izakaya is almost closing.

Nakiri Shinagi, who has never left, still feels embarrassed and guilty even when facing her biological daughter.

But in order to get closer to her and increase some family affection, he told her everything he had experienced since he ran away from home!

She talked about how she became the special executive officer of the WGO Food Organization step by step, and also talked about the world-class chefs she had seen, and how bad their cooking was, and how she could never conquer God's Tongue.

From beginning to end, Erina listened with interest.

Perhaps deep down in her heart, she was also curious about her mother's past over the years.

……

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting warmer, Nito Hisako, as a bystander, felt happy about it in his heart.

Then, she looked at the sky outside the window, then turned to look at the clock on the wall. She couldn't help but carefully tugged on the corner of Erina's clothes, and asked softly: "Miss, should we go back?"

"It's really late."

"Mom, let's leave it like this for tonight!"

After regaining consciousness for a moment, Erina was a little reluctant and said to Nakiri Shinagi: "The reunion with you indeed gave me a lot of bad memories."

"But I'm happy for you knowing that your anorexia was successfully treated."

"Erina, I...I..."

Nakiri Shinagi finally swallowed what he wanted to say.

"Mom, if you feel embarrassed about some things, you don't need to say them. I understand."

Seeing this, Erina showed a particularly strong look and replied calmly.

Immediately afterwards, she took the initiative to come to Zhang Fan, her face turned slightly red, and she asked in a low voice: "Zhang Fan, you... do you still remember the last agreement?"

"Remember, there will be a period of vacation after the residential training, and you want to work part-time at the izakaya."

After giving her a deep look, Zhang Fan finally continued with a slight smile: "You can come over on time at 7 o'clock tomorrow night."

"Ok!"

"I...I will."

Erina seemed a little excited, then nodded and agreed.

In the end, she said nothing and turned around to leave the izakaya under the gazes of her mother and Zhang Fan.

Fei Shasha behind him saw this, quickly paid for the bill, and left together.

……

Looking at the retreating figure, Nakiri Managi was a little lost in thought.

But in the end, she inadvertently showed a faint smile. After all, judging from the current results, it was much better than she imagined.

"Zhang Fan, thank you."

"Ever since I met you, I feel like Lady Luck is always by my side."

"First, the anorexia that has troubled me for many years was successfully cured by your cooking, and I finally no longer have to live a life of being hungry all day long."

"And tonight, when faced with Erina's resentment and incomprehension, it was you who used egg chicken dishes to enlighten her."

"Actually, I know that you still have some ingredients that can continue to make golden ratio shaomai, but you have paid so much in order for Erina and I to understand each other and to improve the relationship between our mother and daughter."

"To be honest, I feel like I owe you a lot in this life!"

These words came completely from Nakiri Managi's true feelings. After all, for her, the happiest thing in her life was meeting Zhang Fan.

"Don't think so."

"My izakaya is meant to bring happiness to diners."

Hearing this, Zhang Fan just laughed and said.

And listening to his words, Nakiri Shinagi couldn't help but admire his broad mind.

After that, her eyes turned slightly red, and she seemed a little touched, so she could only whisper softly: "If only...if only I could meet you earlier, I wouldn't have to work so hard!"

……

"Mom, hurry up, the izakaya will be closing soon."

At this moment, there was an urging voice outside the door.

Mother and daughter Nakiri Alice and Nakiri Leonora came to the izakaya.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered the door, Leonora saw Nakiri Managi and was stunned: "Hey, are you... Nakiri Managi?"

"Is it Leonora?"

"It's been so long. You haven't changed at all over the years. No, you seem to have become more beautiful."

Looking back at Leonora Nakiri behind her, Managi Nakiri seemed to be very calm. Maybe it was because she had just reunited with her daughter and had not yet gotten over that emotion.

"Ah? Could it be... aunt?"

Alice looked confused.

When Nakiri Shinagi ran away from home, she was still very young and didn't have much memory of it.

Therefore, she felt strange when she first saw Nakiri Managi, but as she tried to recall it, she finally realized that she was Erina's mother!

"Are you Alice?"

"Like Erina, you have changed a lot. I almost didn't recognize you."

Turning his gaze to the silver-short-haired girl next to Leonora, Nakiri Shinagi quickly knew who it was and couldn't help but sigh.

……

Things are unpredictable and life is unpredictable.

Who would have thought that in just one night, she, Nakiri Managi, would reunite with her biological daughter, sister-in-law, and niece.

"You...how are you these years?"

Leonora asked with a somewhat complicated mood.

It was precisely because of her running away from home that the entire Nakiri family had undergone earth-shaking changes, and some things even made people sigh in retrospect.

"It's a long story."

"I'll tell you slowly when I have time."

After taking a deep look at Leonora, Shinagi could only shake his head and sighed.

"It's an unlucky time for you two to come. My izakaya is about to close."

At this moment, Zhang Fan actually took out a bottle of iced plum wine and placed it in front of Leonora.

It seems that he deliberately wanted to destroy this melancholy atmosphere, and then asked with a chuckle: "Now we only have some rice and eggs, how about I make you egg fried rice?"

"Okay, it's up to you."

Leonora nodded after regaining consciousness.

"Alice, what about you?"

"Mom has no problem with it, and I...of course I have no problem with it either!" Alice quickly agreed.

"OK, then you mother and daughter, wait a moment."

After saying that, Zhang Fan returned to the cooking table and prepared to make egg fried rice.

……

Behind every dish, there is actually a story that belongs to it. Take the simplest egg fried rice. The origin of it is particularly interesting.

Xie Xi, the imperial cook of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, recorded a kind of "broken gold rice" in his book "Shi Jing".

The so-called "broken gold".

What it describes is a golden egg that is fried and mixed into rice.

It seems that whenever Yangzhou is mentioned, it is inseparable from Emperor Sui Yang.

When Nanchen was destroyed, he was the commander-in-chief of the three armies; before becoming the prince, he was the general manager of Yangzhou; and later he dug the Grand Canal, sat on the dragon flower, tasted crabs... Every major event in his life had the imprint of Yangzhou behind it!

Of course, egg fried rice is also included.

With the promotion of the steel filling method, the quality of steel smelting was significantly improved at that time, and the cost was further reduced.

In addition to creating famous weapons in the history of cold weapons such as the "Mingguang Armor" and the "Tang Mo Dao", iron woks with round bottoms, thin edges, fast heat conductivity, and high turning efficiency began to become popular among the people during the Sui Dynasty. .

Since then, frying, roasting, boiling, and steaming have taken a back seat on the Chinese food spectrum.

Stir-fry, which has higher technical content and requires more complicated cooking utensils, has gradually taken over the absolute dominance.

In particular, rice, a food with extremely high starch content, is easy to burn and burn. When suitable cooking utensils are not available, it can only be cooked slowly by steaming.

However, after the birth and popularization of the Chinese wok, the technical foundation for fried rice with hot oil, rapid flipping, well-charred aroma, and strong wok gas was established.

So, to some extent.

The emergence of egg fried rice is of epoch-making significance in the culinary world!

……

Today, many people also love egg fried rice dishes.

The reason why I like it is that this dish is very easy to make and the ingredients are very simple.

But no matter how this dish changes in the end, it will always be inseparable from eggs and rice, which raises a particularly interesting question:

Fried rice or scrambled eggs first?

And the answer to this question is both!

The only difference may be that if you scramble the eggs first, the egg liquid will not stick to the rice.

Of course, there is also a third situation, where the egg liquid and rice are mixed first and then fried together.

At this time, Zhang Fan was preparing egg yolks, salt, green onions and rice. Then he mixed one-third of the egg liquid with the rice and fried the remaining two-thirds separately.

This way, you can not only ensure the golden color of the rice, but also achieve the tenderness of the egg white and the fragrance of the egg yolk. It is the best ratio of rice and eggs to complement each other.

Wait until the pot is hot and smoking, then quickly add an appropriate amount of oil.

Then turn to medium heat and stir-fry slowly. When the aroma of the rice in the pot bursts out and fills the entire izakaya, quickly turn to low heat and pour in the egg liquid.

Continue to stir-fry quickly over medium heat. Slowly, the rice in the pot has turned into a golden color, which is very attractive.

Finally add salt and black pepper and stir-fry a little.

Add scallions and sauté until softened.

When you can smell the obvious freshness and sweetness of the shallots, turn the heat to maximum and stir-fry for a few times, and it's ready to serve!

……

"Okay, this is egg fried rice."

Dingqing took a look and saw that almost every grain of rice in the egg fried rice placed in front of him had distinct grains, and while the grains were loose, it appeared to be soft and hard at the same time.

What’s even more amazing is that every grain of rice is stained with egg yolk.

The green scallions embellished in it make the whole dish colorful and pleasing to the eye.

Even, under the light.

It was vaguely shiny, as if it was about to glow!

"This...is this egg fried rice?"

"It looks like it has a glittering effect!"

Nakiri Alice rubbed her eyes, thinking that she had seen it wrong. Her bright blood-red eyes were full of disbelief.

The egg fried rice in front of her was made with extremely simple ingredients and the portion was not very large. But for some reason, the rich aroma of rice, egg and green onions kept arousing the greed in Alice's stomach!

So, she couldn't wait to take her chopsticks, then quickly took a mouthful of egg fried rice and chewed it slowly.

When I first entered my mouth, the smell of egg fried rice was irresistible.

Every grain of rice feels particularly chewy when you eat it, like a child jumping around in your mouth.

The overall taste experience is oily but not oily, eggy but not burnt, and the aroma of green onions is overwhelming.

Involuntarily, Alice's eyes lit up. Before she finished the egg fried rice, she impatiently took another big mouthful and stuffed it into her mouth.

In an instant, a smell of oil, an indescribable aroma of rice, immediately rippled from the mouth.

Such a taste, such a taste.

It really cannot be described in any language in the world!

……

"Ok?"

"Is this still the egg fried rice I remember?"

At the same time, Leonora Nakiri also started eating egg fried rice.

Unlike Alice, her reaction was obviously a bit exaggerated. She showed shock after taking just one bite, then immediately closed her eyes and began to reminisce.

I just think that the egg fried rice made by Zhang Fan has a smooth and sticky texture.

Bite it gently, and you will find the crystal clear rice grains hard to chew.

Then, the rich aroma of rice lingers in your mouth, and the warmth between your lips and teeth instantly spreads along the rice grains to your heart!

no doubt.

The bowl of egg fried rice in front of you definitely contains endless temptations for your taste buds.

The denseness of the rice and the tenderness of the eggs perfectly blend together. If I had to express my feelings, it would be in two words:

good to eat!

"A bowl of egg fried rice, the eggs are so fragrant."

"If the rice is soft and rotten, or if it is as hard as a stone, then... I really don't want to take a second bite."

"That's why I chose this kind of indica rice, which has less water content and less stickiness. It may be a little dry and hard when used for cooking, but it is very suitable for making egg fried rice."

"The final product is also very good."

"The eggs are scattered like broken gold in the rice with distinct grains, and the green onions add a fresh green color to the burnt aroma."

"Take a bite. It has the aroma of eggs and the fluffy and dry rice."

“It’s hard to imagine that this is a dish that can be cooked in less than 5 minutes.”

"Rice that dances in your mouth, and fresh egg yolks, probably what happiness looks like, right?"

Unknowingly, Leonora Nakiri had fallen deeply into it and began to enter a wonderful fantasy realm.

She only felt that her whole body was wrapped in eggshells, and the surrounding environment was dark and sticky, as if soaked in egg liquid, locked tightly and unable to escape!

……

Egg fried rice is both the simplest and the most complex.

There is no need to study too much about the ingredients. There are two really key points:

Tips for flipping the pot!

Precise control of heat!

As for a perfect bowl of egg fried rice, you must first check whether the rice grains are plump and distinct. If you stir the pot, you can basically pass it.

Take a bite and see if the rice grains are delicious. This can tell you how long it took to stir the pot.

Taste again to see if there is any gas in the wok. If there is any gas, it means the chef paid careful attention to the heat. If it is a little burnt, it means it is not up to standard.

Obviously, Zhang Fan did a very good job in these aspects, without any flaws!

(End of this chapter)