Food Wars!: Delicious Food of the Heavens

Chapter 113 Secret Weapon

Hearing Yoshino Yuuki's silvery laughter, Lin Yu slowly exhaled, his hand movements remaining steady and his rhythm unchanged.

To be fair, this is certainly not the truth.

If Lin Yu were to do it, he could do it much faster and clean it much more thoroughly, leaving not a single piece of flesh even at the joints.

In fact, if he were to handle the entire cooking process by himself...

He was confident that he could achieve faster speeds and even higher quality in every step of the cooking process.

While increasing efficiency, the quality of the dish is actually higher.

But Lin Yu knew he couldn't do that.

Because today's topic is not about working alone, but about a two-person partnership model.

Whether it's Hisako Aragaki yesterday or Yuuki Yoshino today, he needs to give his partners room to perform, otherwise it would just become his solo show.

Furthermore, although their personalities differ, neither Hisako Shinto nor Yuuki Yoshino are without abilities.

A girl who only relies on others.

If they aren't given any tasks, even if they successfully complete the game, they might feel resentful because they didn't play a role.

"Okay, stop thinking about it..."

"Focus on what's in front of you!"

Lin Yu let out a long sigh, suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his mind.

Lin Yu looked at Yoshino Yuuki and asked with concern, "How is your hand recovering? Are you alright?"

"Please! I'm Lin Yujun's sous chef now, how can you say no!"

Yoshino Yuuki waved her fists wildly, her face saying "Don't look down on me," and when she grinned, two cute little tiger teeth were visible at the corners of her mouth.

"I'm fine with it, please give the order, Chef!"

Seeing the determination in Yoshino Yuuki's eyes, Lin Yu felt quite relieved and smiled, "Now that the rabbit has been prepared, please help me prepare the wild vegetables, my sous chef."

Yoshino Yuuki stood at attention. "Understood, Chef!"

Then, Yoshino Yuuki hummed an unintelligible tune as she gently and skillfully began to process various wild vegetables.

Remove weeds and old leaves, peel off the outer skin, wash carefully and gently, and use a knife to cut off any parts that don't taste good.

On the other side, Lin Yu washed the rabbit bones, soaked them briefly to remove the blood, and then threw them into the pressure cooker along with several spices such as old ginger, white pepper, angelica, and galangal to remove the fishy smell and enhance the aroma.

At the same time, light the stove fire, set up another pot, pour the tea that he had "robbed" from Inui Hinako into the pot, and simmer it over the lowest heat.

This is done in two ways: firstly, to extract the remaining aroma from the tea leaves, and secondly, to further concentrate the flavor of green tea through boiling.

Unfortunately, given the material of Hinako Inui's teapot, it wouldn't be damaged even if it were placed directly on a fire.

However, to avoid burning the bottom of the teapot black, you still need to be careful.

It's a bit of a hassle, but so be it!

After all, these things were all "robbed" from other people...

To avoid any off-flavors in the tea, Lin Yu specifically chose an earthenware pot.

Moreover, we only dared to use the lowest heat throughout the process and had to keep a close eye on it to keep the tea in the earthenware pot at a "boiling but not bubbling" state. The reason for being so careful was that we were afraid of overcooking it and causing the fresh aroma of the green tea to be lost.

On the other side of the kitchen counter, Lin Yu placed the deboned rabbit meat on the cutting board and began to cut the meat.

"Da da da" Lin Yu's swordsmanship was so fast that the sword light almost turned into a blur.

The crisp sound of the knife striking the blade was continuous and rhythmic, executed in one go without any pause or interruption.

Those who hear this sound will inevitably mistakenly believe that it is just a drawn-out sound!

The tender rabbit meat was cut into small cubes, even smaller than peas. Looking at the tray, the meat cubes were all uniform and indistinguishable.

"Lin Yujun, please use it!"

At the opportune moment, Yoshino Yuuki, who was assisting her, handed over the prepared wild vegetables.

"Yuuki is amazing!"

Lin Yu smiled and praised him, then accepted the wild vegetables.

Blanch the bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms briefly in salt water, then quickly remove them and plunge them into ice water to chill them.

This can enhance the texture of the ingredients, making the bamboo shoots crisper and the shiitake mushrooms more bouncy.

With a swift stroke, Lin Yu chopped the blanched bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms into diced vegetables the same size as the rabbit meat in the blurry afterimage of the blade.

Yoshino Yuuki then handed over water celery, bracken, Sichuan pepper sprouts, and wild onions, all simply chopped.

However, the way to cut leafy wild vegetables such as perilla leaves and deer ear chives is different. Lin Yu chose to carefully stack them up and cut them into thin strips that were not much thicker than a strand of hair.

Lin Yu and Yoshino Yuuki worked together very well. One handed over the washed wild vegetables, and the other placed them on the cutting board and chopped them. Their movements were very natural, without any mistakes or frantic movements.

Although Lin Yu and Yoshino Yuuki's movements didn't possess the same astonishing level of coordination as the Aldini brothers, their movements weren't as synchronized as...

Two hands of the same person.

However, as partners teaming up for the first time, their teamwork was quite good.

After all the wild vegetables had been picked and chopped, Lin Yu put down the knife, and Yoshino Yuuki next to him also breathed a sigh of relief and stretched her body.

Lin Yu took the brewed tea off the stove, smelled it, nodded, and showed a satisfied smile.

"How are you feeling?" Lin Yu asked Yoshino Yuuki with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Yoshino Yuuki moved closer to Lin Yu and gently fanned the air above the earthenware pot with her hand.

"That's great!"

Yoshino Yuuki's eyes lit up a bit. "The tea aroma is much stronger, and the fresh fragrance of green tea hasn't been lost."

Lin Yu smiled and asked, "I meant, how was it working with me for the first time?"

Realizing that she had given an irrelevant answer, Yoshino Yuuki was immediately embarrassed, her small face flushed red all the way to her ears.

"Oh dear! I was actually really nervous just now!"

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow. "Really? You seemed quite calm before..."

Yoshino Yuuki scratched the back of her head and chuckled, "Hehe! That was all an act."

"To be honest, when I was processing the wild rabbit, my heart was pounding, my body was extremely tense, and my hands almost wouldn't obey me several times. It only got a little better when I was processing the wild vegetables."

Hearing Yoshino Yuuki's words, Lin Yu couldn't help but laugh.

"Is that a big deal?"

As he spoke, Lin Yu poured the scalding hot tea into another container, then placed the container in a pile of ice cubes to cool the tea down quickly.

Then, he looked at Yoshino Yuuki and deliberately spoke in a wronged tone, "Am I that scary?"

"Hmph! That's not what I meant at all! Lin Yujun, you're talking nonsense..."

7

Hearing that she had been misunderstood, Yoshino Yuuki pouted unhappily, gave a soft snort, and then explained, "After all, I know Lin Yujun's strength; he's really strong!"

"So I kept reminding myself that I absolutely could not let Lin Yujun down."

"And then, without even realizing it, I did it."

Yoshino Yuuki patted her chest and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Looking back now, I'm actually a little scared!"

Lin Yu placed a hand on Yoshino Yuuki's head and gently rubbed it. "But as it turns out, Yuuki, you did a great job!"

"Um!"

Yoshino Yuuki nodded happily.

"Hehe, I'd be happy if this could really help Lin Yujun!"

Lin Yu smiled and said, "You've already helped me a lot."

Looking at Lin Yu's close smile, Yoshino Yuuki felt a little flustered. Her heart was beating fast, and even her breathing became rapid.

Suddenly, she remembered something.

"By the way, Lin Yu-jun, there's something I'm curious about. May I ask?" Yoshino Yuuki looked at Lin Yu with a probing gaze.

Lin Yu nodded and said frankly, "I will tell you everything I know."

"Well then, let me ask you... how exactly did you come up with the idea of... uh, stealing the head chef's tea?"

When Yoshino Yuuki said the word "steal," she hesitated for a moment, as if she still couldn't understand Lin Yu's bizarre behavior.

Lin Yu glanced back at Yoshino Yuuki, seemingly surprised that she would ask such a question.

"It was Senior Qian herself who said that as long as you don't cross the fence, you can take all the ingredients within the designated area at will."

Lin Yu shrugged, spread his hands, and said in a rather relaxed and humorous tone, "Is it my fault?"

"All right..

Seeing Lin Yu's matter-of-fact expression, Yoshino Yuuki, whose mind was still a bit stuck, sighed helplessly and then had to change to a question that she was equally interested in.

"What do you plan to do with that pot of green tea?"

"The broth from stewing rabbit meat," Lin Yu answered directly.

"I see..."

"

Yoshino Yuuki, still unwilling to give up, pressed her finger to her chin and asked, "What about the persimmon seeds? You're not going to add them to the soup too, are you?"

Lin Yu chuckled lightly, "Of course not."

"Didn't Senior Inui just say she thought it was too monotonous?"

"Her word reminded me."

"I thought about it and realized she had a point, so I decided to make a different dish."

Yoshino Yuuki stuck out her tongue, then tapped her head, and finally couldn't help but remark, "Um... I think the 'monotonous' you two are talking about might not mean the same thing..."

99

"Whatever! It doesn't matter anymore..."

"

Yoshino Yuuki gave up.

"So what do you plan to do with that bag of persimmon seeds?"

Lin Yu looked at Yoshino Yuuki and smiled mysteriously, "I plan to use it as batter for fried meat patties."

"Fried meat patties? Baking batter?"

"etc!"

Yoshino Yuuki repeated the word to herself, and then it was as if a lightning bolt struck her mind, cleaving through the chaotic fog.

She got it!

"Lin Yujun, do you perhaps intend to... grind the persimmon seeds into powder and coat the outermost layer of the food to achieve an effect similar to breadcrumbs?"

Lin Yu snapped his fingers and laughed, "Correct answer!"

Yoshino Yuuki was overjoyed to have guessed Lin Yu's thoughts.

"Haha, looks like I'm finally starting to catch up with Lin Yujun's way of thinking a little!"

Just now, when Lin Yu said the word "dough coating", Yoshino Yuuki remembered that the raw material of persimmon seeds is rice, and after being roasted, it is very dry and crispy.

That's how I came to understand Lin Yu's intention in that instant.

After realizing this, Yoshino Yuuki was immediately plunged into even greater confusion.

"But rabbit meat... I remember it's all lean meat with very little fat, right?"

Yoshino Yuuki bit her finger, the confusion in her eyes deepening.

"Furthermore, even if the rabbit meat is coated with chopped persimmon seeds instead of breadcrumbs when deep-fried, it's still easy for it to lose moisture and become dry and tough, making it difficult to swallow, right?"

"Besides, if you want to make fried meat patties... wouldn't it be a better choice to mince the meat than to dice it?"

"Oh dear, the more I think about it, the more problems there seem to be... one after another..."

As questions kept popping into her mind, Yoshino Yuuki's voice became less and less confident as she spoke, and her doubts deepened.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Yoshino Yuuki's mind.

Done!

Could it be that Lin Yujun didn't notice this problem?

If I expose Lin Yujun, wouldn't that make him feel very embarrassed?

Yoshino Yuuki, what have you done?!

Seeing Yoshino Yuuki standing there, muttering to herself, Lin Yu noticed the confusion in her eyes and guessed that she was probably overthinking things.

Looking at the stunned girl in front of him, Lin Yu suddenly found it somewhat amusing.

"Don't worry, Yuuki."

"I can definitely think of every single question that has ever popped into your head."

Lin Yu placed a hand on Yoshino Yuuki's head and gently rubbed it.

"Don't you even have this much faith in me?"

Hearing Lin Yu's voice, Yoshino Yuuki came back to her senses, and the strength coming from above her head gave her a strange sense of security, making her wish that time could stand still at this moment.

Yoshino Yuuki looked up and met Lin Yu's gaze.

Lin Yu looked at her, nodded, and smiled gently but contagiously, making people unconsciously believe him and want to genuinely trust what he said.

"Since rabbit meat is low in fat and easily loses moisture, making it dry, let's stuff it with broth!"

"Soup filling?"

Hearing this answer did nothing to alleviate Yoshino Yuuki's confusion about the question; in fact, it only made her more bewildered.

"But if you're making a soup filling, the outer layer will only have a layer of persimmon seed fragments, which won't be enough to retain the soup, right?"

"They'll definitely scatter immediately once they hit the oil."

"Besides, dicing the rabbit meat makes it harder for it to absorb the broth, doesn't it?"

Faced with Yoshino Yuuki's series of questions, Lin Yu showed no sign of panic, remaining calm and composed, as if he had everything under control.

Lin Yu replied calmly, "Dicing it is to achieve a better chewing texture."

"As for how to preserve the broth... don't worry, I've prepared a secret weapon!"

Yoshino Yuuki's eyes lit up. "A secret weapon?"

"That's right, that's it!"

Lin Yu revealed a profound and unfathomable smile.

Then, under Yoshino Yuuki's expectant gaze, Lin Yu brought out the pot of wild taro he had steamed at the beginning, amidst a rising steam.