Shokugeki: Start with an izakaya, making everyone cry

Chapter 77 How could Alice not be surprised by such a situation?
Prepared sweet and sour pork ribs.

Soaked in the crystal clear soup, it is like wearing a red coat, constantly shining.

Although it didn't shine as brightly as the reincarnation spring rolls and Shoryu dumplings before, Erina was still amazed by the faint smell of meat in the air!
Subsequently.

That diner.

Aiming at the largest piece of ribs, pick it up with chopsticks and put it into your mouth.

The sour and sweet taste of sweet and sour hits your stomach along the taste buds in an instant, and the crispy and rotten pork ribs are shiny with amber, dry and moist, and the taste is crispy and sweet!

The sticky, delicious experience always stays in your mouth, and when paired with a mouthful of soft, glutinous and sweet rice, the taste is even better.

So much so that the diner kept praising it.

"Love it."

"I really love it."

"Shopkeeper, only your sweet and sour pork ribs can make me like it!"

Listening to the diners' ridiculous compliments, Zhang Fan, as the owner, just smiled.

During this period, which diner is not excited, happy and happy because of his food?
Therefore, his ears were about to grow out of cocoons when he heard words like this.

However, he was more or less gratified to see that everyone liked his cooking in their hearts!
……

however.

For Alice next to her.

This sweet and sour pork ribs dish has a deeper meaning.

You know, rock sugar will undergo a caramelization reaction after being heated to high temperatures.

In the field of molecular gastronomy, caramelization reactions are usually used to color, flavor, change the shape of ingredients, etc.

Originally, she thought that many dishes that retained traditional methods would not use so many chemical reactions, but now it seems that is not the case.

"Zhang Fan."

"How many chemical reactions does your sweet and sour pork ribs contain?"

In the end, Alice Nakiri, who couldn't hold back her curiosity, could only blink her eyes and asked Zhang Fan.

"Caramelization reaction."

"Medra reaction."

"Esterification reaction."

Zhang Fan took a deep look at Alice and knew that she, who was good at molecular gastronomy, had some radical ideas.

So he thought for a moment and continued: "Sweet and sour pork ribs are cooked differently in Sichuan, Shanghai and Zhejiang cuisine, but they all require three ingredients: sugar, vinegar and cooking wine!"

"And its brown-red color, rich meaty aroma, and sweet and sour taste."

"It's all closely related to the chemical reaction between these ingredients and the ribs."

"Listen to you."

"Could it be that many traditional dishes contain various chemical reactions in molecular gastronomy?"

When Alice heard this, she became more and more puzzled.

"Ha ha!"

“Molecular Gastronomy.”

“You’ve only been around for a few years, and you dare to come here to touch porcelain traditional cuisine?”

"This one……"

Alice was immediately speechless and didn't know how to answer.

But considering that I am the one who will carry the banner of "molecular gastronomy" in the future, how can I be timid on this issue?

So, her mind was racing, and she counterattacked: "Zhang Fan, although molecular cuisine started very late, it has only been a few decades now."

“But for the ultimate expression of taste and feeling, molecular gastronomy is unmatched by any other cuisine.”

"At the same time, it will also involve many other professional studies. For example, there is a chef over there in England who has been working on how to imagine the taste of food just by listening!"

"so."

"I think the next few years."

“Even within decades, molecular gastronomy will definitely have a profound impact on this era of cooking!”…

molecular.

This word is very fashionable now.

Like molecular biology, molecular embryology, molecular medicine...

It seems that research in all fields must be named "molecules" to appear powerful, and even gastronomy is no exception.

Some so-called molecular disciplines are just gimmicks.

Molecular gastronomy is just right.

We study cooking and cooking from the perspective of chemistry and physics, as well as using the latest instruments.

I have to say that this is indeed the biggest change in the culinary world.

Chefs like Zhang Fan who are passionate about traditional cuisine often just want to make the food delicious and rarely study deeper issues. This has great limitations.

For example:
Why does a salad with too much wine and too much vinegar taste bad?

Doubts like this do not belong to the scope of culinary research.

And this phenomenon has nothing to do with cooking technology, it is purely a chemical problem.

But a molecular gastronomy chef who specializes in studying this issue will slowly figure out what is going on, and ultimately rely on the results of his own research to push the entire culinary world forward.

It can be seen that molecular gastronomy does have unique value and significance.

"Alice."

"Do you know how many forms white sugar will take on during the heating process?"

"3 types?"

"No, I think there are 4 types."

Alice, replied.

"wrong."

"As far as I know, there are at least six species."

"When the temperature reaches 100 degrees, small bubbles will start to appear."

"Generally, in this state, it can be used to make sugary dishes."

"Between 110 and 120 degrees Celsius, fine and numerous small bubbles will appear, and the viscosity will appear, which can be drawn and used to make frosting dishes."

"The viscosity continues to increase at 130°C and can take the form of a ball."

"At 150°C it will become a hard but easily broken plate, at 160°C it will turn into light yellow caramel, and at 180°C it will completely turn into a strong caramel color, and then the sweetness will completely disappear!"

"After heating white sugar like this at high temperatures, it produces various forms and effects."

"Actually, the internal molecular structure of sugar has been destroyed. From a professional theory point of view, as you just said, it is an isomerization reaction!"

……

A chef who specializes in traditional cuisine.

It turns out that during the caramelization reaction, white sugar will take on several different forms, which can surpass her, a chef with a background in molecular gastronomy!

In this situation, how could Alice not be even more surprised?
"Cool!"

"Why do you know so much?"

"practice."

“Through continuous practice and summarizing the experience of predecessors!”

"In short, aside from the essence, molecular gastronomy is actually not much different from traditional cuisine."

"A lot of the theoretical knowledge involved may have been used in the field of traditional cooking very early."

"Just like marshmallows, candied haws, etc. that are common in the streets of China, to a certain extent, they are also molecular gastronomy!"

Listening carefully, Alice then fell into deep thought.

My heart began to feel like a turbulent wave crashing on the shore, and gradually became uneasy.

(End of this chapter)