Shokugeki no Imitation Chef

"Unpalatable!"

"It's like a chicken cake dipped in vegetable soup..."

"Indeed, this time the outer layer of the 'lactone tofu' was fried enough toughness, but the inside is still very 'thin', and the mapo sauce is no longer tasty."

After Liu Maoxing and Liu Maoyuan tasted the finished product just now, they frowned at the same time!

This is their third attempt. In the first attempt, the frying time was too short, and it was fried at a low temperature. When they stir-fried with the ready-made mapo sauce, although they did not stir-fry under Liu Maoxing's strong control Rotten, but when tasting, the taste is a bit bad...

When I tried it for the second time, the frying time was a little longer, and the taste was still not very good after stir-frying.

But this time, Liu Maoxing chose high-temperature frying, which made the outer skin of the "inner fat tofu" shrink quickly in a short period of time, while the inner part was still tender.

However, the taste is still not very good, because the skin of the tofu is restrained, although it is tough enough and not fried, but the mapo sauce cannot penetrate into the tofu!

Although the inside is very tender, just like what Liu Maoxing said, it's like a chicken cake dipped in vegetable soup!

In fact, if this is not an assessment, but a competition titled "Ma Po Tofu", Liu Maoxing is not unable to solve these problems, as long as the composition of Mapo sauce is changed...

Whether it is changed to "Giant Panda Mapo Tofu", the sauce that can be poured on steamed tofu, or a thinner boiled soup, can make up for the deficiency of "lactone tofu".

However, what is considered now is not how to improve the sauce and make up for the deficiency of "lactone tofu", but to "disappear" the deficiency of "lactone tofu" through the control of the heat!

This sauce can't be moved...

Liu Maoxing's pyrotechnic skills, although under the existence of "super-tactile sense", have reached the pinnacle.

But the problem is that Liu Maoxing himself doesn't know what kind of fire should be used to deal with it. He doesn't even have a "target", so naturally, no matter how high the firework is, it's useless!

"However, I think the general direction should be correct, but several points must be considered... First, the outer skin must be tough enough, but it must not prevent the taste of the sauce from penetrating; second, the inside of the 'lactone tofu' must be Keep the taste fresh and tender, not too 'thin', but also not as 'firewood' as the outer skin..." Liu Maoyuan said on the side.

Indeed, such speculation is more realistic.

After all, in the few experiments just now, the "advantages" of each time were actually optimized, and then combined together, it can be regarded as "barely suitable"!

But Liu Maoxing still felt that just making a mapo tofu that was "close to normal mapo tofu" didn't seem to be what he should pursue...

"Then go try it first, I think I can think about it again." After Liu Maoxing finished speaking, he sat on the high stool in front of the cooking table.

This is probably the "occupational disease" of Yuanyue's students. After all, every time an assessment is made, students who always think of "finishing with the minimum" will not stay in Yuanyue for long!

And now Liu Maoxing is thinking about how to "finish" this mapo inner fat tofu according to the "highest standard".

That is how to make this "Ma Po Tofu" without changing the sauce ratio or changing the ingredients used to be "lactone tofu", so that the finished product will have its own delicious taste, even surpassing the ordinary ones. Tofu!

In Liu Maoyuan and the Zhao family brothers, trying again and again, time is slowly passing by...

On the way, Liu Maoyuan also reminded Liu Maoxing several times that as a cook, he must know how to choose. It is best not to waste time and start to try, otherwise it is very likely that at eight o'clock, there is still no decent finished product.

But Liu Maoxing's words made Liu Maoyuan never speak to persuade him again...

"Huh? Isn't this just a 'test' given to us by senior Lou San? At worst, we will fail? So what? I didn't say anything to bet on..."

What they said made sense, Liu Maoyuan and the others were speechless to such unambitious words!

Dinner was delivered on time at six o'clock. It was just the simplest fried rice with eggs, but... it was actually at the level of a super one-star!

"This is... golden fried rice?" Liu Maoxing asked with a bright eye.

"That's right, this is also one of the two cheapest 'dishes' of 'Yangquan Restaurant', the other is 'fried Qingjiang vegetables'." Liu Maoyuan said.

"It seems that Master really wants us to dispose of these experimental products by ourselves."

"But since there is golden fried rice, even if there are no other side dishes, I can still eat a bucket of it!"

The Zhao family brothers started discussing on the sidelines.

Full of confidence in his younger brother Zhao Liang, Zhao Ming couldn't help but strike: "I think you'd better eat a bucket of 'Ma Po Tofu'. Do you know how many failed products we 'produced' just now?"

"..."

"Oops!"

While Zhao Liang was speechless, Liu Maoyuan also let out a soft cry, but then, her eyes scanned Liu Maoxing...

"Okay, give me the 'edible' finished product you guys made... If the taste is too curious, you can solve it yourself!" Liu Maoxing shrugged.

"Eh? What are you going to do? Master will be angry if you waste food..." Zhao Ming couldn't help asking.

Liu Maoxing smiled confidently: "Don't worry, I know what 'waste' means, and I also understand 'food', but I don't even know what it means together!"

Later, Liu Maoxing used practical actions to prove what is meant by "a dog that can bark does not bite" (Liu Maoxing:?)!

Zhao Liang, who "speaks wild words", looks chubby, but after eating the weight of two or three people, he was already lying on the ground and struggling...

But Liu Maoxing wiped out the rest. It is estimated that there are at least a dozen servings. Just "additional rice" added four or five bowls!

"It's a pity that it's not too delicious, it's just enough to 'satiate'!" Liu Maoxing said, patting his stomach that wasn't bulging at all.

"Why do I feel that you can eat more? Is it a sequela after the epiphany last time? Now you don't even need 'what'?" Liu Maoyuan also said unexpectedly.

If we talk about it in detail, "that what" is obviously related to the "spiritual event" encountered by the central gourmet agency in the old school building!

And the elder brother of the Zhao family brothers said at this time: "Next time, I will treat you to 'delicious' food as a thank you!"

"It's nothing. I haven't tried anything. Now that I have tasted your experimental product, it can be regarded as a little more insight, which saves me the time to try and think about it!" Liu Maoxing said.

"Eh? Just eat it? Don't take it for granted..." Liu Maoyuan clearly still doesn't understand the function of "Super Taste".

"Of course, I happened to have some ideas...Senior Lou San only said that no other ingredients, spices or water can be used, but he didn't say that I can't take the 'lactone tofu' out?" Liu Maoxing said.

"Eh? What are you going to do? It's almost seven o'clock, Uncle Lou should be back soon, right?"

"It's okay, then tell him, I'll be back before eight o'clock!"

Liu Maoxing said, took a few pieces of "lactone tofu" wrapped in plastic wrap, and left the kitchen...

As for Liu Maoyuan and the brothers from the Zhao family, they had almost done the experiments at this time, and basically figured out some rules, and started the final stage of adjustment.

In theory, after tasting their "Mapolactone Tofu (semi-finished product)", Liu Maoxing has already caught up with their progress, but Liu Maoxing suddenly thought of another idea, so he went to find "tools" first...

Sure enough, at ten past seven o'clock, Liu Lousan had already returned.

Although eight o'clock is the deadline, if someone finishes it at this time, he can already taste it.

"Huh? What about the kid?" Liu Lousan asked puzzled.

"Uncle, Ah Xing said he was going to find some tools... He also took a few bags of lactone tofu and said he would come back on time." Liu Maoyuan explained.

Liu Lousan nodded noncommittal.

In the next half an hour, Liu Maoyuan and the Zhao family brothers also made finished products one after another and presented them to Liu Lousan.

This time Liu Maoyuan learned his lesson and decided to wait until the last "handing in".

The first one presented was Zhao Ming. Ten years ago, when Zhao Ming was only eleven or twelve years old, he still had an instinctive fear of flames.

Although it is said that the children of poor families have been in charge of the family early, the two brothers grew up with their mothers since they were young, and they have never had the memory of their father, so they can cook by themselves since childhood... But from that time on, the two brothers cooperated, the elder brother was in charge of operating the knife, and the younger brother Responsible for using fire.

After ten years of rectification, although it is no longer manifested, the fear in the bottom of my heart cannot be changed, so the firework is always worse than that of my younger brother...

"Do you think the texture of this tofu really matches the sauce? The toughness of the outer layer is moderate, but inside... there is a feeling of chewing dried tofu. It was used for too long before! You should understand me What do you want to say? If you want to start to understand the "fire spirit", you must use your heart to feel the existence of "fire", instead of "putting" your heart in a place far away where you can't feel the fire !"

"Don't think that you are only estranged from open flames. You can use ovens and other heating methods to take shortcuts! The easiest way to feel the 'firework spirit' is to use open flames. Although other equipment is easy to use, it is difficult to master it. It is very difficult, and it can even be said that without the foundation of open fire, it is impossible to master the "firework essence" purely by other equipment..." Liu Lousan repeatedly urged.

After that, Zhao Liang and Liu Maoyuan were both forced to say a few words by Liu Lousan.

It can be seen that Liu Maoyuan is stronger than Zhao Liang but lower than Zhao Ming in sword skills, but the opposite is true in firework...

This also made Liu Lousan sigh secretly, in fact, the talent of the Zhao family brothers is not much worse than that of Liu Maoyuan, it is only because they have their own flaws that they are not obvious.

And when it was only fifteen minutes before eight o'clock, Liu Maoxing came back with a small basin...

"Huh? You're all finished? Well, wait a minute, I'll be ready soon too!" Liu Maoxing said.

After Liu Maoxing finished speaking, he lit the fire, and then put the ready-made sauce in it, but the amount seemed a bit small?

In the prepared "Ma Po Sauce", there is already minced meat, and all the ingredients and oils are also fried to the right level in advance. When using it, you only need to fry the whole thing again.

Such a simple operation, whether it is "super touch" or "super smell", can make Liu Maoxing easily grasp the situation...

Liu Maoxing skillfully fiddled with the pot a few times with a shovel, spreading the sauce to the most suitable heating area. After a while, a scent came out from the pot. At this moment, Liu Maoxing closed his eyes and leaned on the The sense of smell seized the opportunity, sprinkled the "small basin" slightly, and poured a little water into it...

etc! something seems wrong...

water?

Liu Maoyuan and the Zhao family brothers couldn't help but widen their eyes. Although the amount is not a lot, but... this is obviously cheating! It is said that no other ingredients, including "water" are allowed to be added!

But although they were surprised, but out of respect, Liu Lousan and the others didn't ask to remind them, they just waited aside.

After the watered sauce was reheated to a fragrant temperature, Liu Maoxing poured the tofu in the small basin...

Looking at his movements quite casually, it seems that these "lactone tofu" are already very strong?

According to the experience of the Zhao family brothers and Liu Maoyuan, in order to ensure the taste, the "lactone tofu" should not be fried so "firmly". Otherwise, although it is easy and not easy to break when stir-frying, the taste will decrease.

After stir-frying, Liu Maoxing took out the "Ma Po Tofu", and several other people also paid attention to the things on the plate...

"Ah Xing, you must have forgotten that you are not allowed to add water, right?" Liu Maoyuan couldn't help reminding in a low voice from the side.

"No, what Senior Lou San said is not that 'adding water' is not allowed..."

"Huh? How is it possible? Didn't the master say that nothing was allowed to be added?" Zhao Ming asked suspiciously.

"That's right, it's not that 'adding water' is not allowed, but that 'adding foreign ingredients or spices' is not allowed!" Liu Maoxing said.

"What's the difference? Master didn't prepare water for us, did he?" Zhao Ming was still puzzled.

But at this moment, Liu Lousan said: "No, Ah Xing is right, although I didn't prepare water directly, but... the water content of tofu is more than 85%, and the lactone tofu will be higher! "

The essence of tofu is equivalent to a colloidal solution formed by water and soybeans. Most of the water and soybeans have no chemical reaction, but are physically combined in the form of colloids.

"The water content of the tofu... what? Could it be the water in the tofu? Then...how did he suck the water out?" Zhao Liang asked in surprise.

"Don't you understand? Take a closer look at this plate of 'Ma Po Tofu'!" Liu Lousan said.

The other three concentrated their attention on the tofu block...

In fact, when they first saw it, they felt that this plate of "Ma Po Tofu" was a bit strange.

First of all, in terms of "color", "Ma Po Tofu" should be red and white, dotted with green diced green onions. .

But in Liu Maoxing's plate of "Ma Po Tofu", the tofu cubes are also red!

Just now when Liu Maoxing poured the tofu into the pot, although he didn't see it clearly, the color was definitely not so eye-catching...

The three of them observed carefully, only to find that it wasn't the tofu block that turned red, but that it was densely covered with honeycomb-like hollow structures, and the watered mapo sauce was fully absorbed in these hollows, so it turned red !

"This is...frozen tofu?" Zhao Ming finally understood: "Ah! The water is the water that melts out of the frozen tofu after thawing!"

Frozen tofu, a kind of food derived from tofu, is usually the result of putting northern tofu in the refrigerator or freezer... In winter, it can also be directly frozen outside, and then thawed after it is completely frozen.

The water content of tofu is extremely high, and when the water is below 4 degrees, it has the characteristics of anti-expansion, that is, the lower the temperature, the lower the density, and when the water becomes ice, the density is smaller than water!

And as the temperature drops, especially after turning into ice, the combination form of water and soybeans will also change, a part of water can no longer maintain the state of colloidal solution, and separates from soybeans, forming individual small ice crystals , and the tofu that has removed a large part of the water, the physical state is no longer soft and brittle, but has a certain degree of toughness, which is inclined to the texture of dried tofu and tofu skin.

And because of the gaps "extruded" by the ice crystals, the frozen tofu has a honeycomb-like structure after thawing, fluffy and elastic...

Therefore, it can absorb a large amount of soup, and is very popular in soup or hot pot!

"So that's it! Ah Xing, you went out to find equipment capable of quick freezing?" Only then did Liu Maoyuan understand.

After all, in this kitchen, there is no equipment that can quickly freeze within an hour.

And the Zhao family brothers seemed to want to say something, but they didn't speak in the end...

Liu Lousan saw what the two brothers were thinking, and then said: "No, it's not simply processing 'lactone tofu' into frozen tofu, the water in that small basin should come out of these tofu Bar?"

"That's right, so it can be said that all the 'lactone tofu' has been added to it. There is neither more nor less water, but the form of existence has changed." Liu Maoxing said.

"If that's the case, that means..."

Liu Lousan said, as if to test his conjecture, he picked up a piece of "Mapolactone Frozen Tofu" and put it in his mouth.

When the tofu is picked up, it can be seen that the "lactone frozen tofu" is softer than ordinary frozen tofu, and the red mapo sauce that is full is squeezed out under the pressure of chopsticks, which looks amazing. Salivating feeling!

And Liu Lousan couldn't help but feel his eyes bulge after eating the tofu. He could only feel the full soup splashing all over his mouth while chewing...

Every part of the mouth is lingering under the aroma of mapo sauce, and the most important thing is not just the taste of frozen tofu. Has a smooth, soft part!

It was heated that relieved the frozen part when it wasn't completely frozen! It still maintains the soft and tender taste of tofu...

That's right, these are not completely frozen tofu, Liu Lousan can see this from the amount of water!

Although lactone frozen tofu is softer than ordinary frozen tofu, the frozen tofu on the outside keeps the tofu from falling apart. At the same time, unlike fried tofu, the frozen tofu with a honeycomb structure on the outside not only does not spread the sauce The juice is blocked outside, but it will be absorbed in!

The diluted mapo sauce will surround the "tofu" part in the hollow of the honeycomb, giving people a different but equally satisfying taste and deliciousness from ordinary mapo tofu in the mouth. !

"This is simply... it can be called a 'Ma Po Bomb'!"

good! It's a blast!

This kind of semi-frozen mapo tofu gave Liu Lousan an explosive impact!

It was obviously just an assessment question to "make it difficult" for the other party, but it actually brought a new food experience!

"Sure enough! This is not only frozen tofu...but also the freshness of the tofu is maintained inside, and because of the low temperature and the warming up, the taste has become less of the defect of 'lactone tofu' being too thin!" Liu Lousan said .

Although there is no specific value to compare the heat of this test, but Liu Lousan's reaction has already explained everything.

Even the "Ma Po Tofu" made by Zhao Liang and Liu Maoyuan, when Liu Lousan tasted it, Liu Lousan only commented that it was "close" to ordinary Mapo Tofu, but now Liu Lousan is not satisfied with Liu Maoxing's Ma Po Tofu. Po tofu is frankly delicious, and...

"Ah Xing, when you have time later, how about rearranging this 'Ma Po Bomb' recipe and putting it on the menus of 'Yangquan Restaurant' and 'Yangquan Hotel'? The price will be 288 by then. One copy, priced at 68 copies in the hotel, and every time a copy is sold, I will give you 30%."

"What? Join the menu of 'Yangquan Restaurant'? This..." The Zhao family brothers exclaimed.

For chefs of Chinese cuisine, this is almost an honor.

Although it is not a signature dish, it is just added to the menu, but you must know that many three-star Chinese cuisine wandering chefs are proud to have their own developed recipes on the menu of "Yangquan Restaurant"!

And Liu Maoxing is only sixteen years old now, and most importantly... the rudiment of this dish just came from a difficult assessment!

"But master...is this considered 'fire work'?" Zhao Liang asked a little depressed.

Liu Maoxing took the initiative to answer: "Of course! The so-called firework does not only refer to 'fire', but also refers to the control of temperature! Controlling low temperature is also something that chefs should master, just like cold dishes. Is there a cooking temperature range?"

Of course, if the specific method of "semi-frozen lactone tofu" is to be promoted, Liu Maoxing thinks that it should be improved. He borrowed a liquid nitrogen spray bottle before, and then put the sliced ​​lactone tofu in the Spray it with your hands, hands and tofu!

If most people do this, they can probably directly amputate their limbs...

And Liu Maoxing used the temperature rise of his skin to control the cooling effect of liquid nitrogen, so that he could quickly freeze the outer layer without freezing the inner layer...