Shokugeki: Start with an izakaya, making everyone cry

In Northern Europe, there is a Western-style restaurant called Noma.

It opened in Copenhagen’s Christianshavn district in 2003, which was still a wasteland at that time!

The restaurant's dishes all use local Nordic ingredients and are presented with hand-made tableware in a simple space, subverting the public's understanding of luxury dining.

Last year, Noma Restaurant was crowned "World's Best Restaurant" by the WGO Food Organization.

This is also the fourth time it has won this award in five years!

“Let chefs get out of the kitchen and into the woods to collect ingredients that have long been forgotten by mainstream food culture.”

The business philosophy of this restaurant describes the true meaning of Nordic cuisine very well:

Green.

Back to Basics.

Pursue the original taste of ingredients.

Such gimmicks inevitably run counter to Chinese cuisine.

But the curiosity and appreciation for nature, the creative spirit and long-term practice of cooking are also the same.

Right now, the cold water shrimp tart dish made by Leonora is a good proof!

……

In the banquet hall.

The lights are bright and dreamlike.

The crystal chandeliers and lamps on the ceiling emit soft and warm light, like stars in the night sky, adding a bit of romance and mystery to the entire space.

On the dining table, dishes of delicious color and aroma are placed one after another.

Everywhere you look, there are distinctive Nordic cuisines:

Grilled trout.

Icelandic lamb chops.

Pastries.

Cold water shrimp tower.

Seafood soup.

Charcoal grilled reindeer meat.

At this moment, Alice, dressed in a costume, looked at the gourmet feast that had been staged with expectation and curiosity.

"boom"

A soft sound.

I saw Leonora, who was equally elegant and noble, uncorking the wine bottle, releasing the fragrance that had been sealed for a long time!

Pour the wine from the bottle into the cup and let it flow slowly along the wall of the cup, as smooth as a filament.

"Come and congratulate me."

"Alice, you achieved great results in this preliminary competition!"

Picking up the wine glass, Leonora Nakiri said happily.

"thanks Mom!"

Alice quickly picked up the teacup and replied.

Afterwards, in a joyful atmosphere, both mother and daughter began to use chopsticks to taste the delicacies in front of them.

……

Cold water shrimp tower.

The composition of the ingredients is the same as the name of the dish, which is concise and clear.

In addition to shrimps, the fruits are composed of blueberries, mangoes and avocados, and the tools are small mousse molds. It can be eaten by one person without any stress at all.

Shrimp, light and refreshing.

Even after being chopped, it still has its attractive aroma!

In the general practice of shrimp towers, many people directly place shrimps on the top of the fruit tower for decoration.

However, in order to achieve the red, yellow, green and blue color effect, Leonora Nakiri uses minced shrimp as the top layer.

Whether it's shrimp, mango, or avocado, these are all in diced form as part of the fruit tart.

Diced mango.

Place in the middle layer.

The reason is that yellow is brighter and brighter.

This way, the color of the entire dish can shine through.

In addition, mango has a relatively high sweetness. When you open your mouth and taste it gently, you will taste the delicious mango in every spoonful, which is sweet and tempting.

The avocado is placed at the bottom, except for its light green color, which is the basic color, giving people a sense of stability. In addition, it is softer and more absorbent than mango shrimp, and it matches the blue-purple color of blueberries more harmoniously!

Finally, when it comes to blueberries, they are in the form of small particles, so there is no need to dice them again.

Presenting the effect in a surrounding manner can make the shrimp and fruit tower more three-dimensional and layered.

On top of the tower, just garnish with a blueberry and two or three mint leaves.

decorate!

It is indeed somewhat simple.

But it has a more comfortable aesthetic feeling.

And the taste of shrimp and avocado is generally relatively light. Just add crushed pepper and Thai salad dressing to the crushed avocado...

Then, the final taste and taste will be greatly improved!

……

"Well, you can hear the crispy sound when you bite it lightly."

"The shrimp meat inside is tender and juicy, and the texture is very delicate. The delicious shrimp meat and the crispy outer layer are perfectly combined, making people have endless aftertaste."

"I didn't expect that~"

"Here at Totsuki Academy, I can eat my mother's cooking again!"

After chewing it, she closed her eyes and thought about it. In the end, Alice sighed as she was still unfinished.

It is no exaggeration to say that when it comes to cooking skills and understanding of traditional cuisine, her mother Leonora Nakiri is definitely much better than her Alice!

Although it was just a simple cold water shrimp tart, Alice still admired this alternative Nordic cuisine flavor.

"Alice, who is your opponent tomorrow?"

After taking a sip of red wine, Leonora looked at her daughter with a smile, and then asked.

"Tasokoe!"

"A poor student with the lowest grades."

Alice said without thinking.

After the top four contestants were born in the AB division, the list of the quarterfinals was soon announced.

The top eight competition is divided into four games. Each game involves two random contestants competing in a cooking showdown. The winner will advance to the semi-finals.

Then, four games will be held over two days.

The first round of the match will be held tomorrow morning, between Nito Hisako and Kurokiba Ryo.

At noon, it was her match between Alice Nakiri and Tamokoro!

……

soft-shell turtle.

Not a turtle, but a turtle!

In Wuhan dialect, it is called Jiaoyu, which means a fish with legs.

Among the people, people call soft-shell turtle "five-flavored meat" because it has the characteristics of five kinds of meat: chicken, mutton, beef, pork and venison. It is delicious, fat but not greasy.

According to research, the history of eating soft-shelled turtles in China can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty.

At that time, turtles were already abundant in Chu.

In the book "Mozi", it is described that in the state of Chu, "fish, turtles, and turtles made the world rich."

In the Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng Linggong deliberately gave the turtle meat to the minister Zi Song without dividing it. Zi Song was so angry that he dipped his index finger in the turtle soup and sucked it. In anger, he raised an army to kill Zheng Linggong.

The story of the country’s subjugation due to soft-shelled turtles is a fascinating one.

……

When a person is over forty, he becomes half-dead.

From the perspective of traditional medicine, as we age, the "yin" in the body will slowly decrease.

Through medicated dietary therapy and timely and reasonable supplementation, it is an effective method to balance yin and yang and enhance the functions of various organs. At this moment, I saw only a brightly lit kitchen.

Nito Hisako turned a turtle over so that its back was facing the ground and its belly was facing the sky.

Because its legs are in the air, the turtle's limbs are frantically moving, trying to find a stable support.

And its turtle, ahem, its turtle head slowly stretched out from the shell, its eyes seemed frightened and uneasy, as if to say: "What is this place? Why am I here?"

"Okay! That's it now."

I saw the turtle struggling hard and stretching its neck to its longest stretch.

Fei Shasha's eyes tightened and he held it down with his left hand. Then without saying a word, he raised the kitchen knife that he was holding tightly in his right hand and swung it down.

Hey!

One knife down.

Directly cut off the turtle's neck.

Suddenly, blood splattered everywhere, even her delicate little face was splashed!

Anyone watching this bloody scene would be shocked.

You must know that under the influence of Erina's own powerful "heroine" aura, Hiisako's impression is relatively weak.

As a result, she killed the turtle without blinking an eye.

After finishing processing the soft-shelled turtle, Nito Hisako continued to prepare fresh medicinal materials such as schisandra chinensis and daylilies.

Next, add ginger, Shaoxing wine, chopped turtle meat, and even the turtle shell and throw them into the pot for cooking.

Immediately afterwards, continue to mix the chopped turtle meat and offal with the pork, and season with salt and black pepper in advance.

Then wrap the meat with pork net oil and steam it on the iron plate.

The reason why we don’t use butter and use lard oil instead is because lard oil is a network of fat from pig belly, including:

Fat accumulation in the mesentery and omentum of pigs.

in cooking.

Often used as an ingredient.

Its unique aroma of animal fat can increase people's appetite.

Generally, the ingredients are wrapped and then fried, braised, etc. to protect the ingredients from losing moisture during the cooking process and maintain their tender texture. For example:

Net oil waist liver roll!

It is prepared pork net oil wrapped in fried cloud fungus shreds, bamboo shoots, pork loin, pork liver and other ingredients.

After being fried, the outer skin of the ingredients is crispy and smooth, with a certain pork flavor.

Next, Feisha thickened the turtle stock and applied the sauce to the steak. Finally, she spread a thin layer of butter on the steamed bun and sandwiched it with a large amount of fresh lettuce, shredded ginger, and lettuce!

In this way, a rare turtle burger is completed.

……

Behind any delicious dish.

They all have a long and story-filled development history, including common ones in our lives:

Hamburger!

Two slices of bread and a patty.

This combination took nearly two centuries to develop.

The burger originated in continental Europe. It was originally a patty made of minced beef and noodles. Well, it is roughly the same as the Chinese Roujiamo.

Later, when hamburgers were introduced to German countries, they changed from raw food to cooked food!

In 1850, German immigrants brought burgers made with this method to the United States. After that, the burger experienced a period of development and evolution. Its taste, ingredients, patty shape, etc., all slowly developed and became fixed.

Of course, the fact that hamburgers can go global is the result of globalization and the development of the fast food industry.

In 1954, Ray Kroc, a recently retired salesman, decided to start a business.

He believes that as long as marketing techniques are applied to the fast food business, coupled with low prices and clean management methods, a global fast food company can be established.

So he found a hamburger restaurant and cooperated with the operators Dick McDonald and Mark McDonald. Seven years later, he bought the McDonald brothers' restaurant for $7 million.

Since then, under the management of Kroc, the business has developed rapidly, not only quickly occupying the US market, but also establishing a fast food empire with approximately 119 branches in 32000 countries on six continents.

It may be because of the importance of burgers in the catering industry that the quarter-finals of this autumn selection will be designated as a cooking topic.

……

Finished the turtle burger.

Fei Shasha quickly left the kitchen.

When she arrived at Erina's room, she found her reading a comic book with gusto.

"Miss, can you please try this turtle burger? You also know that tomorrow morning will be the quarterfinals match between me and Ryo Kurokiba, so I want to find a way to deal with it."

After saying that, Fei Shasha made a prompt decision and gently placed the prepared turtle burger on the table next to him.

Erina was startled.

Then, I suddenly felt a fragrant smell in my nose.

She looked at the turtle burger in front of her, and when she heard what Fei Shasha said, she couldn't help but nodded.

……

He stood up, straightened his clothes, and then reached out to pick up the turtle burger.

What followed was a particularly soft feeling, like jelly.

So much so that even Erina, who possesses the talent of God's Tongue, was suddenly a little surprised: "It's so soft, this... how can this bread dough be made so soft and have strong resilience at the same time?"

There are many factors that affect the softness of bread.

Such as the amount of water, control of dough temperature, accuracy of mixing time, normal dough fermentation, grasp of baking technology, etc.

And if these factors are completely cracked, the resulting bread slices will feel very soft with just a pinch.

But make it comprehensive.

Easier said than done?

Then, Erina realized something, her eyes flashed, and she began to bite with her mouth wide open.

……

"what?"

"Can't you bite?"

Nakiri Erina was shocked.

This is a bit magical, obviously the softer the food, the easier it is to chew.

As a result, Hisako's soft-shelled turtle burger was so soft that Erina couldn't even bite it.

Helpless, she could only increase her bite force and completely bite off the turtle burger in her hand.

boom!

Delicious turtle burger.

At this moment, it finally hits the bottom of my soul!

When you bite into it, you can feel the delicious taste of the turtle emerging, and the sauce thickened with turtle stock tightly wraps the steak, bringing out the mellow taste.

Before she swallowed it all, Erina felt as if her whole body was getting warm.

"Is your body feeling hot?"

"I see, the reason why you feel constant warmth in your body is because the blood inside the steak warms your body from the inside."

"In addition, the powder of turtle shell is also added to the inside of the steak. This powder is used as an energy agent in traditional Chinese medicine. As for the sauce and the steak, because they are both made from soft-shell turtle, they have a unique taste. Incredibly sticky.”

……

That's right!

The biggest feature of the turtle burger is its sticky texture.

The soft-shelled turtle steak is particularly chewy and sticky, with a super-rich collagen texture. With one bite, the feeling of warmth and nourishment spreads throughout the body.

The soup is filled with collagen and is even thick enough to hang on the wall.

After eating, my lips were sticky.

“Both the soft-shell turtle steak and the soup stock contain rich colloids dissolved from the soft-shell turtle.”

"So every time you chew, the sticky steak and gravy will continue to stimulate the taste buds of your tongue."

"It seems that it is quite sticky."

"It will directly affect the taste of the burger!"

Opening her eyes, Erina analyzed simply. (End of chapter)