Finding a favorite tavern isn't easy.
Due to the popularity of short videos in recent years, small taverns with decent flavors and decoration often quickly turn into trendy spots, becoming noisy check-in landmarks!
Living in ever-changing top-tier cities, it's hard to find a longstanding neighborhood tavern where you can meet locals and build trust and rapport over the years, like in food movies and TV shows.
Fortunately, there's Zane's tavern.
It offers a variety of dishes, mostly appetizers to go with drinks.
From the simplest egg fried rice, cold tofu, and sake-steamed clams to slightly more complicated yakitori, shumai, and sashimi, you can enjoy a delicious meal in less than an hour!
...
After cleaning the entire set of Sparrow's Rhythm kitchen tools, Zane finally had some leisure time. He glanced at Erina and Mana, a mother and daughter pair.
According to the original storyline, their relationship was poor, with constant arguing and mutual blame.
But in the tavern, while waves of diners came and went, they stayed, chatting non-stop.
"Hehe, their relationship is improving, quite unexpectedly," Zane murmured to himself, withdrawing his gaze.
Soon, a new customer entered the tavern. He was slightly short, with his forehead dyed golden yellow, often walking with his hands behind his head, giving off a "rich kid" vibe.
As soon as he entered, he kept eyeing Zane, finally approaching and asking, "Are you the owner, Zane?"
"Yes, I am," Zane nodded.
"Just as Miyoko said, your looks are comparable to Eishi's," Kuga Terunori's eyes sparkled as he straightened his clothes and continued, "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Kuga Terunori, current 8th seat of Totsuki's Elite Ten, the leader of Totsuki's largest Chinese Cuisine Research Society, and the first master of Chinese cuisine... Kuga Terunori!"
"Just your name is fine," Zane said, slightly embarrassed, thinking that the former protagonist Soma was already quite over-the-top, but Kuga was even more so.
However, their personalities were quite similar—fearless.
Kuga dared to challenge Eishi directly in the Autumn Leaf Hunt while still a first-year. Although he lost 5-0, his courage and boldness earned him a reputation at Totsuki!
"Ahem."
"I heard you have a rule where diners can order anything?"
Feeling awkward, Kuga coughed and asked Zane.
"Yes, we do. You mentioned Miyoko, so she recommended you here?" Zane asked.
"She said you are the real master of Chinese cuisine."
"I was skeptical, so I came to see your skills."
Kuga rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "Could I have a plate of Kung Pao Chicken?"
"Sure, please wait a moment."
Zane shrugged and returned to the kitchen.
...
Soon, a loud, clear crowing was heard in the tavern.
Zane emerged from the underground storage holding a live chicken, his eyes filled with a steely resolve.
The chicken, sensing its fate, flapped its wings frantically, trying to escape.
Zane tightened his grip on the chicken's neck.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck..."
The chicken crowed again, louder than before, its vocal cords evidently well-exercised over two and a half years.
With a serious expression, Zane took out a red string, tied the chicken's legs, and pinned it down on the chopping board.
Without hesitation, he took up a chef's knife and slit the chicken's throat to bleed it out.
For a chef, slaughtering a chicken is routine, but Zane's swift, efficient process left Kuga in awe.
After bleeding it, Zane wiped the remaining blood off the knife with a disinfectant wipe, plucked the feathers, and began butchering.
He placed the chicken belly down, made a cut on the back next to the right wing, removed the crop, and then extracted the entrails through the cut for further processing.
Next, he cut off the two wings, deboned them, peeled off the skin, and cleaned them.
Using the back of the knife, he gently pounded the chicken legs before cutting them into pieces.
With flashes of his knife, the chicken thigh meat on the board was instantly diced into 1 cm cubes.
"So fast... I can't even see his knife skills."
Staring at the uniformly diced chicken, Kuga was incredulous.
...
Water and fire can't mix, but harmonizing them is the essence of cooking.
Chinese cuisine emphasizes diverse and colorful cooking techniques and the importance of heat control.
But knife skills are also crucial.
It's not an exaggeration to say knife skills can completely change a dish's texture and flavor.
For example, carrots cut into hair-thin julienne become tender and flavorful, significantly improving the dish.
Kuga valued knife skills more than others, understanding that a true master of Chinese cuisine must have excellent knife skills.
Zane's knife skills before him made Kuga feel inferior, and he eagerly anticipated the Kung Pao Chicken.
Zane took a bowl, added half a spoon of oil, cooking wine, pepper, and chicken pieces, mixed them, then added starch and water, mixed again, and set it aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
During this time, he quickly diced the cucumber.
He cut green onions into segments, took another bowl, added salt, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, cooking wine, and ginger slices, and mixed them.
With a black wok already hot, he poured in some oil, added Sichuan peppercorns to release their aroma, then added the green onion segments, followed by the marinated chicken, and started stir-frying.
When the chicken turned golden, he added peanuts.
After a few more stirs, he thickened the sauce with starch and served the dish.
Thus, a steaming plate of Kung Pao Chicken was ready.
...
Looking closely, the Kung Pao Chicken was visually appealing.
The chicken gleamed with a slight oiliness, the plump peanuts coated with chili looked like they were dressed in red robes, forming a picturesque scene.
The aroma was intoxicating.
The sauce, thickened three times, was deep brown.
Oil droplets floated on top, making each ingredient juicy and tender.
The long, slender chilies were vibrant, and a subtle spiciness wafted through the rich sauce, conveying the dish's fiery passion to Kuga.
Unable to resist, he moved closer to smell the Kung Pao Chicken, instantly hit by a slightly spicy aroma.
Both the chicken and carrot strips' fragrances intertwined invisibly.
At this moment, Kuga had a strong urge to grab chopsticks and devour the dish!
...
Crunch!
He popped a peanut into his mouth and chewed a few times.
Immediately, the crispness of the peanut emerged, followed by a rich flavor that exploded in Kuga's mouth.
Fragrant.
Crisp.
Rich.
Fresh.
The peanuts, coated with a bit of salt and pepper, highlighted a savory, spicy taste.
After being briefly fried and cooled, the peanuts retained a crisp texture, making them delicious even without any description.
Finally, Kuga closed his eyes, savoring the wonderful sensations.
After sampling a few peanuts, he eagerly picked up the chicken and continued eating.
"What?"
"This... this taste."
As he tasted the chicken, a slightly spicy flavor hit first.
Then, with a gentle bite, the chicken was tender and springy, with a rich, sweet lychee-like flavor.
The combination of flavors—salty, spicy, savory, sour, sweet—melded together, igniting his taste buds.
...
"Impressive!"
"The Kung Pao Chicken I know is always primarily spicy."
"This lychee-flavored one is rare, and it tastes even better!"
"Is this really the Kung Pao Chicken I know?"
Kuga wanted to swear he had never tasted such delicious Kung Pao Chicken in his life.
Even though he was a skilled Chinese cuisine chef, he was shocked.
Someone of his status usually enjoyed extravagant dishes.
Even though Kung Pao Chicken is a banquet dish, he had tasted it countless times.
But.
Despite this.
In his memory, Kung Pao Chicken had never tasted this good.
Clearly, compared to the Kung Pao Chicken he had eaten and cooked before, Zane's dish was 10, 100, or even 1000 times better!
...
Gradually, after eating a few pieces of chicken.
Kuga stopped savoring slowly and eagerly used his chopsticks to eat more.
Finally, he asked Zane for a bowl of rice to pair with the delicious Kung Pao Chicken. The rice, once tasted, completely conquered Kuga!
"Hiss!"
"What kind of magical rice is this?"
"How... how can it be so delicious?"
The simple rice had a fresh flavor.
With each bite, the taste filled his mouth and nose, making him feel refreshed.
The rice grains were distinct, not sticky like those from a rice cooker, providing a better texture.
Especially with the sweet, spicy sauce from the Kung Pao Chicken on top, the rice became irresistible.
In a frenzy of eating, he quickly finished the bowl of rice.
Next to him, the plate of Kung Pao Chicken was also empty, with the remaining green onion segments and sauce mixed into the rice.
Yes!
Clearly, no diner at the tavern wasted food.
...
"Burnt lychee flavor?"
"Indeed, this is another taste of Kung Pao Chicken."
"The initial lychee-like sweet and sour taste, turning into a rich savory flavor, ending with a subtle spiciness..."
"This transformation in flavor is the true essence of Kung Pao Chicken!"
"The sauce is the soul of this dish and the ultimate test
of a chef's seasoning skills."
"Especially this burnt lychee flavor sauce, which requires a chef's scientific rigor, measured and tasted precisely."
"This might involve dozens of ingredients and hundreds of trials, with any deviation critically affecting the flavor."
"I've made Kung Pao Chicken countless times in my life."
"But I must admit, in terms of the sauce, I am far behind you!"
Finishing his words, Kuga's eyes involuntarily showed a complex emotion.
This plate of Kung Pao Chicken was a slap in his face, proving that Chinese cuisine could be incredibly successful without relying solely on spiciness.
...
"The soul of this sauce is a 1:1 ratio of vinegar to sugar."
"Only this ratio gives the taste experience of sour before sweet. Seasoning is subjective, unlike heat and knife skills!"
"There are no fixed combinations or techniques, but the real mastery in Chinese cooking lies here."
Zane said with a smile.
"That makes sense."
Kuga thought for a moment and seemed to understand.
He always believed that Kung Pao Chicken, a Sichuan dish, relied heavily on Sichuan pepper and chili to create a spicy kick.
But to Zane, this approach was too simple and crude.
Without the rigorous trials in the kitchen, how could one create Kung Pao Chicken with such layered, life-like rich flavors?