Chapter 389: Hachiman's Spice Concept
"This is!"
As Gin tasted the lamb meat in his mouth, his eyes widened.
"Although the spices used are almost the same, the proportions have been completely changed, and it seems like there's an additional spice."
"Cinnamon, ginger, white atractylodes, cardamom, cloves, tangerine peel, galangal, star anise, and fennel, all of these are correct," Gin listed the names of the spices used in his Ninefold Secret Lamb Leg.
"Although the proportions have been changed, the types of spices are still the same, but the additional spice is..."
"It's coriander seeds," Hachiman said with a smile, revealing the answer.
"Coriander seeds are a versatile spice that can perfectly complement various other spices, so I made some changes to the spice proportions in your Ninefold Secret Lamb Leg recipe," he explained.
Hearing this, Gin closed his eyes and carefully savored the flavors.
"Coriander seeds with cinnamon, coriander seeds with ginger, coriander seeds with white atractylodes, coriander seeds with cardamom, coriander seeds with cloves, coriander seeds with tangerine peel, coriander seeds with galangal, coriander seeds with star anise, coriander seeds with fennel."
"Nine combinations of spices, each pair intertwining perfectly, complementing each other's aroma and flavor..."
At this point, Gin's face showed a complex expression.
"Congratulations, Hachiman-kun, you have taken this dish to the pinnacle. This Ninefold Secret Lamb Leg has become your own dish," Gin acknowledged.
Upon hearing this, Hachiman just smiled and shook his head.
"Gin-senpai, it's not enough yet. This dish still hasn't reached its peak."
Upon hearing this, Gin became interested. As a qualified chef, he undoubtedly had an insatiable "greed" for perfection.
"Oh? Is there still room for improvement?"
"Of course, there is. Right now, I've only adjusted the overall spice proportions, with coriander seeds as the main ingredient, along with the other spices. But this combination is still too limited," Hachiman said with a smile as he shared his idea.
"In my vision, these spices should be able to combine in any pair, just like a honeycomb, where any node can extend outward. That's what I consider the true pinnacle," he explained further.
"But unfortunately, I haven't reached that point yet."
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged surprised looks.
Is it really possible for any two spices to be combined freely? Can humans achieve such a feat?
In fact, Hachiman wasn't sure himself. He only knew about a technique called the Spice Inequality, mastered by one of the Five Tiger Stars in "Chuka Ichiban," named Mira.
However, this Dark Cooking Star unexpectedly joined forces with the protagonist's group in the end.
"Hmm, interesting, looks like the 'Steel Rod Unraveling Master' has some rather... exotic tastes," Hachiman thought to himself before returning to the topic at hand.
Using the Spice Inequality technique, Mira earned herself the title of "Spice Empress," capable of achieving the perfect spice ratio in her completed dishes.
Perhaps she could achieve what Hachiman was talking about.
Unfortunately, concepts like the Spice Inequality might be purely fictional, with no existence in reality.
But who knows? After all, Hachiman is a cheater. With his "module system," maybe he could load a "Spice" module and, once it reaches max level, achieve a level of mastery similar to Mira's.
But those are stories for another time.
At this moment, everyone was still immersed in Hachiman's grand concept. If what he said about freely combining spices was achievable, then this dish would undoubtedly be a top-tier delicacy.
Having tasted the enhanced version of the Ninefold Secret Lamb Leg, everyone's gaze turned towards the huge steamer occupying half of the table.
As Senzaemon looked at the dish named "Cosmic Dumplings," he furrowed his brow.
"It's so big, how do we eat it?"
"I know how," Alice raised her hand and stood up directly.
"Grandpa, let me demonstrate for you."
With that, the girl used chopsticks to poke a small hole in the dumpling, then cut out a small square piece of the dumpling skin, scooped out an appropriate amount of filling, and stuffed it into the dumpling skin before putting it in her mouth with the chopsticks.
Seeing this eating method, some of the people who had never eaten this dish suddenly realized, and then followed the girl's method to wrap the dumplings themselves.
"Mmm, pork belly."
"Tough leg meat."
"This sticky feeling... pig's trotters."
"..."
It is worth mentioning that everyone spoke different answers.
Among the people present, except for Komachi, who was still a little girl, who didn't have rich tasting experience, it was impossible for them not to distinguish the filling.
However, being experienced as they were, they didn't need Alice and the others to remind them. As soon as they noticed that the flavors they tasted were the same, they each picked up their plates and started tasting the "Cosmic Dumplings" themselves.
The splendid taste, like the universe itself, immersed them.
Meanwhile, Hachiman had already returned to the vicinity of the kitchen counter, continuing with his cooking.
This time, he used ingredients he had hunted himself: black bear and great white shark.
Bear meat had an extremely strong gamey smell, and bear paws were large and difficult to cook, while shark meat, needless to say, had an odor that was hard to remove.
However, none of these were a problem for Hachiman. In no time, these two large predators became dishes on the table.
The main course was almost ready, and Hachiman was about to start making the staple food.
He began kneading dough again, and soon a smooth dough appeared in his hands.
Looking at the well-kneaded dough, Hachiman didn't rush to work with it. Instead, he took out something else.
It was a small piece of dough, but it carried a heavy sense of history.
That's right, it was a piece of old dough, specifically collected by Hachiman from the Nakiri family, with at least five to six hundred years of history.
As he incorporated this old dough into the fresh dough, with his keen eyesight, Hachiman could see that the newly kneaded dough was gradually expanding at a rapid pace.
In less than ten minutes, the freshly kneaded dough had fermented perfectly.
Poking the dough in the bowl and feeling the soft yet elastic texture under his fingers, Hachiman grinned.
Was this five to six hundred-year-old dough really that impressive? Then what effect would a piece of "Shu Han Old Dough" from "Chuka Ichiban" have?
Indeed, the dish Hachiman was about to prepare also came from "Chuka Ichiban."
It was the legendary secret of the Bai Luo family, renowned for their expertise in pastry making - the "Four Sacred Eight Seafood Treasure Soul Buns."
There was no way around it. Since it was part of his childhood memories, Hachiman had always wanted to taste the dishes featured in the anime. Now that it was possible to recreate them, he naturally wanted to give it a try.
However, this dish could be considered one of the most challenging for Hachiman to recreate.
The ingredients were quite demanding, and just obtaining the old dough was no easy task.
The older the dough, the better, but true century-old dough was rare. Although there were some claims of hundred-year-old dough available in the market, most were just approximate figures, with some being only four or five decades old, or even just a few years old.
To obtain genuine century-old dough, one had to rely on the influential Nakiri family.
----------
If you want to read 20 advance chapters ahead.
Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Flaptzy