Food Wars!: God's Tongue is no match for me.

Page 32

……

The atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive.

An invisible tension permeated the air, making one even more cautious in breathing.

Soma Yukihira and Mayumi Kurase, who were watching from the sidelines, could almost feel the oppressive atmosphere coming towards them, making them almost unable to breathe.

At last.

Lin Xu was the first to look away.

Then he examined the salmon that was resting on the cutting board closely.

The salmon was quite large, with bright, clear flesh and smooth, shiny skin.

The meat is orange-red in color.

If you gently touch it with your fingertips, you can feel its elasticity.

Furthermore, as soon as you let go, the pressed flesh will quickly bounce back.

The distribution of fat in fish meat.

Like marble, it has clear white stripes.

Lowering my head and sniffing the fish, I noticed that the smell was not fishy or foul, but rather a faint, fresh seawater scent.

"What a surprise! I never expected your set meal restaurant to have such high-quality Atlantic salmon."

Turning his gaze away, Lin Xu sighed.

……

Is this fish good?

Before Joichiro could reply, Soma, who was watching from the sidelines, was puzzled.

He followed his father to this Yukihira diner every day and had processed countless salmon, but he didn't find anything surprising about it!

"As expected of the WGO executive, he has a great understanding of ingredients from all over the world."

Shiroichiro was shocked at that moment.

After all, being able to recognize the fragrant ramen and the tampons from Indonesia is one thing, but being able to recognize the Atlantic salmon is another.

Moreover, the salmon can be identified simply by observation and touch!

It is obvious that Lin Xu has two characteristics that cannot be ignored:

The first characteristic is that, like myself, he has seen many ingredients from all over the world. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to recognize things like tempura clams and Atlantic salmon at a glance!

The second characteristic...

Naturally, his knowledge and understanding of various cuisines far surpasses that of ordinary people.

This is terrifying, because if a writer's work is a manifestation of his inspiration, then...

Master the knowledge of ingredients.

Furthermore, the ability to understand any dish.

These are all presentations of the chef's inspiration, and they directly affect the dining experience of diners!

……

"Dad."

"You still haven't answered me: Is the Atlantic salmon we use at our set meal restaurant very expensive?"

Over there, Soma, still puzzled, couldn't help but wonder.

As soon as he finished speaking, Joichiro rolled his eyes and almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Oh, it's all my fault. I made you stay in the diner all the time, which made you lack knowledge about many things in the outside world."

Finally, Joichiro could only sigh and turn to him patiently, saying, "Japan is a country that borders the Pacific Ocean, while the original habitat of Atlantic salmon is in the North Atlantic, namely the northeastern part of North America, the British Isles, and the coast of the Scandinavian Peninsula in Europe."

"Although Japan now has two types of artificially farmed Atlantic salmon: landlocked and migratory."

"but."

"Just as Lin Xu said."

"The salmon at our set meal restaurant is of a different quality than that from farmed salmon."

"In other words... they do indeed come from the distant North Atlantic, specifically Norwegian salmon, and the price seems to be around 15000 yen per fish!"

"what?"

"Have we always been using this kind of fish?"

Soma was completely dumbfounded when he heard this. It turned out that he was the only one who had always thought that these were some cheap salmon produced in Japan!

Of course, what's even more devastating for him now is:

Dad!

You hide deeper than anyone else!

I was fooled by you for a full 15 years, always thinking you were just a nobody running a small restaurant.

It turns out you were hiding a certain identity, raising your son in poverty and subjecting him to 15 years of hardship.

……

He ignored Soma's embarrassed expression.

Over here, Lin Xu stared intently at the salmon on the cutting board, his expression tense.

"Whoo~"

"Then...let's begin!"

Take a breath and relax.

Immediately, Lin Xu gripped the sharp kitchen knife tightly and swung it down to begin processing the salmon.

Boom!

Just one cut.

The salmon's head and body separated instantly.

His knife skills are clean and crisp, without any hesitation or delay.

Although handling salmon is not as terrifying as handling turtles, monkfish, or crocodiles, cutting it open directly like Lin Xu does still requires a chef's skill and courage.

After cleaning the fish head, the next step is to remove the bones.

And at this step...

Lin Xu quickly angled the kitchen knife, lightly touching the fish's belly with the tip, and continued to slice it in half horizontally at that point.

Next, cut the fish along the middle bone and remove the bones.

The entire movement was still fluid and smooth, even with an added touch of delicacy!

Next, remove the skin from both sides of the fish wings, and use a knife to gently scrape the fish meat from the inside to separate the fish meat from the skin. Then, slowly peel off the fish skin one by one.

Finally, use tweezers to remove the fishbone along its direction.

Brush brush!

Brush brush!

The only sound in the entire kitchen was the sound of Lin Xu's kitchen knife hitting the cutting board.

"What terrifying knife skills."

"Although I'm a complete novice, I can still feel the whole process, including chopping off the fish head, cutting open the fish belly, scraping off the fish skin, etc., it's all very smooth!"

"Moreover, the knife skills are so fast that sometimes I can't even see them clearly with my eyes open."

At this point, Mayumi became increasingly surprised.

Even at the very end, she was so frightened by Lin Xu's knife skills that she covered her mouth and almost screamed.

……

Ishikari pot.

There's an art to knowing how to cook it properly.

Turn the heat up high and bring the soup to a boil.

Simmer a pot of kelp broth, then add some yellow soybean paste for seasoning and stew.

The vegetables used were carrots and cabbage.

The soup in the pot began to boil vigorously, its color clear and transparent, yet it continuously emitted a rich aroma.

"How is this going?"

Upon seeing this, Joichiro Yukihira was completely dumbfounded!

Chapter 39 Lin Xu’s Ishikari Pot Dishes

The autumn wind blows down.

The last leaf struggling on the branch.

Gradually, the fallen leaves on the ground are covered by snow, and leafy vegetables, after being cleansed by the cold, begin to increase in sweetness, ushering in their peak season.

White radish.

Green onion.

Komatsuna.

These are all representative of this type of vegetable.

Fruits such as mandarins, tangerines, lemons, and strawberries are harvested in winter.

Therefore, sitting around a fireplace and sharing oranges is a common image of winter in the minds of many old-fashioned Japanese.

……

Time flies.

With everyone watching, Lin Xu's Ishikari pot was finally completed!

The broth is made by simmering cabbage and onions in kombu broth and then seasoning it with white miso.

In addition to chunks of fresh salmon, we also add fresh ingredients such as garland chrysanthemum, scallions, konjac noodles, tofu, carrots, and cabbage. We then scatter salmon roe throughout the soup and sprinkle sansho pepper powder on the tofu for seasoning!

It is evident that, in addition to using salmon sourced from the Atlantic Ocean, the fresh vegetables are also made from seasonal ingredients.

When this meticulously prepared Ishikari Nabe was slowly served.

The entire space.

It was quickly enveloped by a layer of steaming white vapor.

The rising steam not only brought visual enjoyment, but also gave people's sense of smell an unprecedented shock.

The aroma of fish fills the air, like a refreshing sea breeze in the morning or a babbling brook in the mountains, as if you can instantly travel to that remote fishing village in Hokkaido and feel the gift from nature.

"So...it smells so good!"

"The aroma of the Ishikari nabe is so rich!"

Mayumi twitched her nose and almost lost her mind.

I wish I could pounce on it right away and devour the whole pot of scalding hot Ishikari pot.

……

Lin Xu wiped away the beads of sweat.

Then he picked up a spoon and scooped the contents of the pot into another small bowl.

Then, he handed the bowl of Ishikari Nabe to Mayumi and said, "Try it and give me your feedback after you finish."

"I?

"Really... is it really possible?"