"Head Chef, you're back."
"Are these two guests? Bringing them straight to the back kitchen, they must be very important."
"Good afternoon, Head Chef."
Dylan followed closely behind, and soon the three arrived in the kitchen. Assistant chefs were busy at various stoves; seeing Kurokiba Ryou, they would look up and greet him, though their hands never stopped moving.
It was evident that Kurokiba Ryou held high prestige in this kitchen. In response to the greetings, he always gave a noncommittal nod. However, since everyone knew his personality, no one commented.
Soon, they found two vacant cooking stations, upon which rested plenty of fresh seafood purchased from the market that morning.
"You can use any ingredients here. As long as even one person thinks your seafood dish beats mine, you win this match!"
Seeing Nakiri Alice looking around the kitchen left and right with a seemingly careless attitude, Kurokiba Ryou glared at her, eyes blazing.
If he didn't want to compete against that young man, he wouldn't waste his time dealing with this little slip of a girl! She probably couldn't even use a kitchen knife properly!
However, who exactly is this young man? Just the aura emanating from him made Ryou tremble with excitement; his chef's soul felt completely activated.
I absolutely must compete against him!
Kurokiba Ryou roared internally. This was the first time he had ever felt this way. If he could have a match with him, his cooking skills would surely skyrocket!
"Underestimating me will cost you dearly."
Seeing Kurokiba Ryou constantly staring at Dylan, Nakiri Alice had already calmed down. She now looked at him with unconcealed annoyance, clearly bothered by his dismissiveness.
But it didn't matter. She would use her full strength to defeat him!
"Hope you can successfully warm me up."
"What an arrogant guy!"
With that, Kurokiba Ryou ignored Nakiri Alice's shouts and strode to his cooking station. Looking at the cod that had been caught not long ago, a dish emerged in his mind.
Cod Broth Ramen.
Having decided, a kitchen knife appeared in Kurokiba Ryou's hand. He bent forward, arching his body, his entire presence changing at that moment.
His right hand gripped the fish knife tightly. The tip lightly sliced through the skin below the gills, following the fish's lateral line, cutting steadily with an almost artistic technique, straight down to the backbone.
With a soft shink, the knife gently pushed against the bone, and the entire fish body was cleanly split in two. Following with several more swift cuts, the flesh and bones were instantly separated. The precision was such that each cut seemed meticulously calculated.
Next, Kurokiba Ryou flipped over the half-fish fillet in his hand, his technique still agile. Using the same angle and force, he gently deboned along the ribs, removing every tiny pin bone. Throughout the process, the fish flesh remained almost untouched, maintaining its original integrity and freshness.
This display of god-like skill immediately captured the attention of everyone around. The assistant chefs cheered in unison. Dylan was no exception, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
This kid's seafood handling skills are much better than I expected. Although his technique is still a bit raw, it's quite impressive for his age.
Unfortunately for him, he's up against Nakiri Alice, who has gone through my hellish training!
Removing the useless fish head and cutting the flesh into suitable pieces for cooking, Kurokiba Ryou placed a pot on the stove, turned the heat to high, added cold water, and brought it to a boil.
Once boiling, he added the prepared cod chunks, cooked them until done, then removed them. Using two forks, he broke the cooked fish into flakes and set it aside.
After doing this, he took out a new pot, adding butter, olive oil...
At this point, Dylan's brow furrowed slightly. He stopped watching Ryou and turned his gaze towards Nakiri Alice, who was not far away.
The girl hadn't rushed to start. Her eyes gazed thoughtfully at the ingredients before her as she paced back and forth, unable to stop.
This was something she had learned from Dylan – using walking to stimulate agile thinking. In a way, it was a kind of inheritance.
"I've got it!"
Suddenly, as if struck by inspiration, Nakiri Alice couldn't help but slap her forehead. A Chinese snack Dylan had made previously flashed into her mind.
He had said it came from Hong Kong – shumai made from fish meat. The taste was unforgettable after just one bite!
However...
An image surfaced in her mind: Dylan wielding two iron rods, continuously pounding the fish meat. To create that delicious fish paste, he had pounded for a full half hour, supposedly using a technique from making Chaoshan Beef Balls.
She remembered shyly touching Dylan's muscles back then – they were hard, large, and very firm. Then she understood she couldn't replicate that feat; at best, she could only create an imperfect version.
Among the various sea fish on the cooking station, the most suitable for making fish shumai was undoubtedly flounder. Thinking this, Nakiri Alice glanced towards Dylan.
Seeing her look, Dylan simply smiled without indicating anything. This was her match, after all. As her master, he didn't want to interfere too much.
"Time to get started."
Retracting her gaze, Nakiri Alice quickly entered the zone. She skillfully washed the flounder, removed its scales, guts, and bones, taking only the flesh.
She cut the fish meat into small pieces, then used the back of her knife to mince it into a fish paste. During the mincing process, Alice asked another chef for some scallion, ginger, and lemon. She mixed them with salt and water to create a scallion-ginger-lemon-salt water solution for removing fishiness and adding fragrance.
Learning and applying on the spot – this was a perfect example.
Dylan nodded inwardly from nearby. Although he had let Alice specialize in molecular gastronomy recently, he hadn't neglected her training in fundamental culinary skills.
These were the basics of cooking, applicable even in molecular gastronomy.
After mincing the fish into a paste, Nakiri Alice took a piece of pork back fat, cut it into small pieces, and similarly pounded it into a paste using the back of her knife. Then, she mixed the two pastes (requiring a 2:1 ratio of fish to pork fat) and continued pounding them together with the knife back until combined.
She also needed to add tapioca starch and wheat flour (in a 3:1 ratio).
Chicken powder, MSG, sugar, salt, pepper, followed by some chopped onion and minced garlic. She sprinkled these seasonings in batches onto the fish paste mixture on the cutting board, continuing to mince with the back of the knife.
Midway, she added the tapioca starch and flour mixture in two parts, followed by two spoonfuls of fish sauce, until everything was fully incorporated.
Even after the fish paste was perfectly combined, she couldn't relax. She needed to pick up the prepared filling with her hands and forcefully slap it against the board repeatedly until it became elastic and gummy, which would enhance the shumai's texture.
By the time she finished this step, Nakiri Alice was already panting heavily. The fish paste before her now looked sparklingly translucent and incredibly appetizing.
"Ten minutes versus half an hour... is the difference really that huge?"
Looking at the fish paste, Alice's face showed no complacency. Instead, she recalled the fish paste Dylan had made by pounding with iron rods.
It had been translucent as crystal, so clear that one could almost see their reflection in it. Both its appearance and flavour had reached the absolute limit achievable with fish meat!
Although, Dylan had used catfish then, while she was using flounder now; there would naturally be some differences between the two.
Placing the prepared fish paste onto a plate, she put it in the freezer to chill for half an hour. This would help better lock in the fish meat's natural moisture.
During this chilling time, Nakiri Alice found a bag of flour in the kitchen, cleared the countertop, and prepared to make the shumai wrappers by hand.
____________
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