Punch: From third-rate anchor to top chef

Chapter 297 297.
The 4th course is sashimi.

Sliced ​​abalone in sakura net and soft-boiled octopus feet.

Although it is sashimi, both of these things have been cooked at low temperature and slow for a long time.

Cherry Blossom Abalone is a traditional abalone category in Sakura Country. The quality is very good, but the size is usually relatively small.

The meat of cherry blossom net abalone slices is relatively crisp, but after a long time of slow cooking at low temperature, this crisp meat will become soft and waxy again.

The portion of abalone slices is not much, only two slices, and the octopus legs are only two small slices.

Some unidentified viewers in the live broadcast room couldn't help complaining when they saw the portions of the dishes.

"A small place is a small place, and the dishes are all searched and searched."

"Laughing to death, there are not as many as two fingers in total, who is enough for this?"

"I finally know why the host thinks it's delicious, it's because the portion is too small."

"Let's read the ones upstairs first. Last time I ordered a 800 set meal and almost didn't finish it. The appetizers have just been served, and I haven't even entered the main topic. Anyway, after a set, I must be full."

Li Xiao didn't pay attention to the remarks in the live broadcast room, otherwise he would definitely help to speak.

If a set of Omakase dishes are finished and the guests say they are not full, the chef will continue to make them until the guests are full. It is impossible for them to be hungry after eating.

Of course, if it is really a dish served by a diner with a big appetite, the store is likely to use some lower-priced ingredients.

But in any case, even if there is a loss, the store will let you leave full. This is the basic principle of Omakase cuisine.

After all, the meaning of Omakase cuisine is to let the chef decide, and you, the chef, let the guests leave without eating.

If such a thing gets out, not only the reputation of the store will be damaged, but even the chef who made this meal will be cast aside.

Li Xiao picked up the abalone slices with his chopsticks. As soon as the chopsticks touched the abalone slices, he knew that the abalone must have a very special taste because it was too soft.

The chopsticks easily left deep pinch marks on the abalone slices, which was the first time Li Xiao saw such a situation on the abalone.

You should know that no matter the big abalone or the small abalone, the taste is relatively crisp and chewy.

However, there was a different feeling in front of him. He didn't continue to think, but stuffed the light yellow abalone slices that were cut into squares into his mouth.

It feels very soft in the mouth.

It is said to be sashimi, but this piece of abalone slice is slightly warm, very soft and tender, and it breaks immediately when the teeth are lightly bitten down.

There is no trace of stagnation, it tastes like eating a piece of glutinous rice cake, but it is more refreshing than rice cake.

The abalone has no fishy smell, and the strong abalone aroma is continuously released from the light yellow abalone meat during the chewing process.

It's just a simple low-temperature cooking, but it fully reflects the other party's mastery of the heat.

You must know that the abalone slice in front of you is the hardest abalone core, but the other party can use simple methods to make the originally tough abalone into a soft and waxy state.

It is indeed so capable that it would be difficult for ordinary chefs to cook it in this state.

After swallowing the delicate and smooth abalone slices, Li Xiao stretched out his chopsticks to the soft boiled octopus legs next to him.

The method of making soft-boiled fish legs is different. You only need to put the cleaned octopus legs into boiling water.

Turn off the heat, cover the lid, and wait for the water temperature to drop to room temperature before taking out the octopus legs inside.

Slowly cook the octopus legs with water temperature of 100 degrees. Of course, in order to remove the fishy smell of the octopus, you need to add salt, cooking wine and a little ginger slices to the water in advance.

Although it sounds simple, different pots, different amounts of water, and different sizes of octopus fillets will have huge differences in maturity under the same circumstances.

And this kind of soft cooking method, after turning off the fire, do not turn on the fire again, otherwise the skin of the octopus legs will be re-boiled by the water, causing the whole skin to fall off.

A small piece of octopus leg is dipped in a little wasabi and put in the mouth.

The wasabi here is made from the chef's ground fresh wasabi, so the spiciness is a little lighter than the wasabi made with horseradish.

But the flavor is stronger and milder than the mustard made from horseradish.

The softly boiled octopus legs have a delicate texture, and the gravy inside is well preserved. Once you bite down, the sweet octopus juice will seep out from the octopus meat.

The taste of octopus legs is very rich. Because the red skin is in direct contact with hot water, it has a waxy taste after long-term soaking. It is QQ and waxy when biting, a bit like eating QQ candy.

The white octopus meat inside maintains a crispy texture, and it makes a crispy sound when bitten down, just like eating chicken bones.

The two kinds of sashimi have completely different tastes, one is soft and the other is crispy, and it feels amazing to eat it together.

But the fly in the ointment is that the weight of the octopus leg in front of me is too small, and it tastes a little less refreshing.

It will be gone without chewing it twice, but Li Xiao also knows that there is no way to do it.

If the octopus legs are too large, it means that the octopus is older. We all know that the older the octopus, the older the meat.

And relying on the method of low temperature and gentle cooking, there is no way to handle too large ingredients.

Once the ingredients are too large, the natural heat of the water temperature cannot penetrate into the food.

Using this soft cooking method without heating can easily cause the food inside to be undercooked.

Of course, octopus that is fresh enough can actually be eaten raw.

However, as a technical consultant, since he chose an octopus leg of this size, he naturally has his thoughts and considerations.

Perhaps the other party has tried larger or smaller octopus feet, but found that the octopus feet of this size taste better.

After all, everyone's taste and taste are different, and as a chef, what he needs to cater to is not a certain person's taste, but more people's taste.

Li Xiao commented after eating all the abalone slices and octopus legs:

"The taste is very good. The two different tastes of sashimi bring different taste experiences, very comfortable and soft."

"Especially this abalone slice, it's very special. It's the first time I've eaten such a soft and sticky abalone slice."

Although there is not much seasoning, the simple boiling can reflect the umami taste of the ingredients, which is very good.

"Are these small pieces so delicious?"

"Speaking of octopus legs, I remember the time when the anchor ate raw octopus."

"I looked back and saw that it was really super ghostly."

"Anchor, when will you take us to eat again?"

"By the way, I went to travel with the host's second uncle. It was really fun, and I highly recommend it."

"We also went. There were ten people in total. After playing for three days, we only spent a total of 3 yuan. One person only spent a hundred dollars a day, which is really a bargain."

"I still think the previous ones are more delicious!"

Hearing Li Xiao's praise for him, Shang Yuanchun and Qian Benqiao also showed faint smiles on their faces.

As the sushi chef on the board, hearing compliments from guests is the best recognition for yourself.

Of course, in addition to opening up to praise, eating all the food at a very fast speed, and then showing an expression that is still full can also play the same role.

After Li Xiao finished eating the abalone slices and octopus legs, the young lady next to him helped remove the plate.

After the plates were removed, Senbon Bridge delivered the next dish.

Another soup.

【White Scallop Crab Meat and Tofu Soup】

Opening the soup pot, a strong aroma came out.

Unlike the clear bottom of the hairy crab gravy soup, the tofu soup is thicker, and a layer of thick flocs at the bottom of the soup keeps floating and sinking.

The tofu was cut into small square pieces the size of a fingernail, the white shellfish was cut open from the middle, and the sundries in the abdomen were removed, leaving only the shellfish meat.

The crabmeat was torn into pieces and floated in the soup.

I heard Qianbenqiao explain:
"The guest said that he likes soup after all, so there are four soups prepared here. The first two are clear soups, and the latter are thick soups."

Speaking of Qianben Bridge, he paused for a while, seemed to think of something, and then asked:
"By the way, I don't know if the guests can accept thick soup?"

Li Xiao nodded:

"Of course, I don't have too many taboos, just follow Mr. Qiaoshang's arrangement."

"Ok."

Li Xiao didn't have any doubts about Qianben's arrangement, if the audience in the live broadcast room would immediately go into an uproar.

"No, no, there are actually 4 soups in this set of dishes?"

"This is a bit outrageous, 2500 yuan for a single meal, but 4 soups are used to top up the number?"

"If I'd rather eat a few more pieces of sashimi, the sliced ​​abalone is pretty good."

"I think the stewed eggs with foie gras is delicious."

"What do you know? Making soup in this kind of high-end restaurant actually takes more effort than making sashimi directly, and consumes a lot of materials. It's not what you imagined. The chef wants to cut corners to cook so much. Lots of soup."

"I come here to eat meat, not soup. Next time I go, I must tell him that I like meat the most."

"Do you want to get back the 2500 yuan just by eating meat?"

"It's not impossible, after all, some seafood is still very expensive."

"Knowing that I said that I like to eat caviar, will he keep serving me caviar?"

"There are some cheap caviar, only 1000 yuan per catty, and you can earn 500 if you eat two catties."

The umami taste of this crab meat and tofu soup will not be as thick as the hairy crab gravy soup just now, but the taste will be richer than it.

Tofu brings rich soy protein to the soup base, forming flocs in the soup base.

The vegetable protein and meat protein are melted into the soup under heat, and the glutamic acid of vegetables and inosinic acid of meat bring different umami flavors.

The flavors are well integrated, but a little less wow.

With the super sweetness of the authentic hairy crab gravy soup, the impact of this soup on Li Xiao was much less.

The taste is quite satisfactory. If there is no hairy crab gravy soup at the beginning, Li Xiao can give 80~85 points, but now the two soups with similar taste can only give 75 points.

"It's not bad, but the taste of the two soups overlaps a bit. The objective score can be 80 points, but now the subjective score is only 75 points."

"In addition, in order to pursue the purity of the taste, the chef here removed the sundries from the belly of the white shellfish. Although the idea is good."

"However, it will make the taste of the soup a little monotonous."

"The undigested seaweed in the belly of all shellfish is actually rich in rich sweetness, which can bring a strong umami taste to the dishes."

"Before the development of chicken essence and monosodium glutamate, there was a cuisine in Dahan State who liked to cut up shellfish and collect the black algae from the abdomen of shellfish."

"Put it in the sun and then grind it to get natural monosodium glutamate."

"However, because this collection method is very difficult and labor-intensive, it was abandoned after the mass production of chicken essence and monosodium glutamate."

"However, if you are interested, you can learn about this ancient method of making monosodium glutamate. Its taste will be purer and more natural than chemically made chicken essence and monosodium glutamate."

On the Senbon Bridge where the dishes were being made, although the movements of the hands did not stop, the ears quietly stood up.

It is also the habit of these chefs who work in front of the board to collect information and feedback from guests while making.

When he first heard that Li Xiao was not satisfied with the second soup, his heart arose, but his worry didn't last long.

Because later on he heard Li Xiao start to explain some secret recipes of cooking, which he had never heard of before.

Natural MSG?
His eyes narrowed slightly, with a gleam of interest.

You know, cherry blossom cuisine has always focused on natural flavors. If you can directly replace chemical MSG with natural MSG, that would be a pretty good gimmick.

He secretly wrote down the method in his heart, and planned to try it out tomorrow.

Although this method seems to be labor-intensive, if it is only a small amount of production, it will not consume too much time.

And if he really figured out how to make it, he only needs to order the apprentices in the back kitchen to make it, and he doesn't need to do it himself.

At the same time, Li Xiao's eyes also fell on the process of the two cooking.

Although Shang Yuanchun is a three-star star chef, you need to feel that the other party is obviously a little worse than He Beibei's craftsmanship.

After all, the evaluation standards of each country are slightly different, and the difficulty of textual research is also very different.

It is recognized that the star chefs in the Han Kingdom are the most difficult to pass the exam. Some chefs who have passed the four-star exam in the country may not even be able to pass the three-star exam when they come to the Han Kingdom.

Star chefs in some small countries are not even recognized by star chef associations in world countries, because the level of local cuisine is too low.

The main reason is that although the Sakura Kingdom is constantly learning from the Han Kingdom, there are still relatively few types of cuisine.

Moreover, the narrow island structure also limited their access to food materials. The economy was not developed, and they could not import too many good ingredients.

Even if good ingredients are obtained, there are not many people who consume them.

So much so that after so many years, the cuisine of Sakura Country is still in the process of studying how to eat raw seafood better, without further development.

On the contrary, the Qianben Bridge next to Shang Yuanchun is quite skilled, although he has a five-star certificate from the Sakura Kingdom.

However, by learning from others and learning from famous teachers in different places, it is estimated that he is not far from a five-star chef in the Han Kingdom.

The speed of the two was very fast, and the second set of sashimi was delivered to Li Xiao.

There are two sashimi dishes in this second plate, namely white shrimp and sea urchin sashimi, and ink fish.

The white shrimp has been lightly soaked, and the shrimp meat has changed from white to dark yellow, and a little mustard has been smeared on it.

A small piece of sea urchin is spread on the white shrimp sashimi, and a flower-shaped radish is dotted on top of the sea urchin.

Cuttlefish is not cuttlefish but a sea fish rich in oil. It can still be caught in cold waters, and the price is relatively expensive.

Usually, the water temperature near the Arctic Ocean must be below 5°C to catch this inkfish.

And because of the relatively long distance, this kind of ink fish is only chilled, not fresh.

The weight of the two sashimi is not much, only one bite each.

Li Xiao stretched his chopsticks towards the former first, and gently pulled up the corner of the white shrimp sashimi with the chopsticks, lifting the white shrimp slightly.

Then use white shrimp sashimi to wrap sea urchin, wasabi and white radish puree.

Put everything into your mouth in one bite. The sweetness of the Fuji white shrimp and the denseness of the Hatachi sea urchin are unforgettable.

After light soaking, the taste of the white shrimp meat becomes rich, and the fat and glutinous taste has a fresh sweetness and a slight umami taste.

Light pickling can bring umami and saltiness to the white shrimp meat, and at the same time, it can make the tongue feel the freshness and sweetness of the shrimp meat better.

There is not much wasabi wrapped in the shrimp meat, but the spicy taste can stimulate the taste buds.

The taste of Hatachi sea urchin is very rich and thick, with a light creamy taste, and the aroma of milk and sea urchin is very strong.

The taste of pureed white radish is also very special. The slight sweetness and sourness make the overall taste rich.

The fatness of the shrimp meat and the greasy feeling of the sea urchin are immediately neutralized by the white radish puree and wasabi, and the whole becomes very complete and very comfortable.

Li Xiao explained to the audience:

"You should have seen it just now. The chef gave me two sashimi at the same time, but I ate the white shrimp and sea urchin first instead of the ink fish. Do you know why?"

Studio

"Isn't it obvious? The anchor likes to eat!"

"I think it's because the white shrimp sashimi is on the front."

"Isn't this very simple? The taste of white shrimp is lighter!"

"That's right, ink fish tastes great!"

"I also think so."

Li Xiao was drinking the tea provided by the other party while watching the barrage in the live broadcast room.

After everyone discussed it, he opened his mouth to explain:
"Usually, for the same plate of sashimi, eat the light-colored one first, and then eat the darker-colored one."

"Because usually the lighter the color of the sashimi, the milder the taste. Eat the milder ones first and then the stronger ones, so that the stronger ones won't overwhelm the taste."

"In addition, some viewers are right. The smell of cuttlefish is indeed very strong. If you don't eat sashimi often, you can remind the chef to avoid this sashimi, because many viewers may not be used to it."

(End of this chapter)