July 7, 2024
Poison Cooking!
This concept may not be common in everyday life, but from its literal meaning, it refers to cooking that uses potentially toxic substances or ingredients. Clearly, the appearance of the word "poison" implies that this type of cooking often carries significant health risks. Generally speaking, unless a chef is highly experienced, they wouldn't dare to handle these toxic ingredients lightly.
But for the one known as "The Monarch," who is a Midnight Chef—a rogue chef—there are no such concerns. Sometimes, when handling and using poisonous ingredients, he doesn't follow strict safety protocols or cooking techniques, resorting to rather ruthless methods, even using the toxicity of ingredients to control and harm others!
...
"So, what do you think?"
"Doesn't this kind of poison cooking perfectly represent the dark culinary world? And in your world of surface-level cuisine, there must be few chefs who would dare use ingredients like jellyfish to make a dish, right?"
"Hahaha!"
"Saji told me that your tavern is not easy to deal with! I didn't believe it at first. How could a small tavern possibly overturn the darkest, most vicious poison cooking I've developed?"
The Monarch stared deeply at Zane, then burst into laughter. Though people are often curious about the unknown, when it comes to matters of life and death, they tend to calm down and act cautiously. Therefore, promoting poison cooking is no easy task for this Midnight Chef.
And now, as the Midnight Chefs are quickly rising, and the entire culinary industry of Japan is on the verge of collapse, this presents The Monarch with a rare opportunity—a chance to bring poison cooking into the spotlight!
...
"It's just using some poisonous ingredients, isn't it? I can easily create dozens, even hundreds, of poison dishes like this."
"But..."
"In order to truly convince you, I've decided to create a brand-new dish that will prove its worth to the world."
With these words, Zane rolled up his sleeves, returned to the kitchen counter, and began preparing his new dish: the Chameleon Noodle Tower.
"New dish?" Leonora perked up, her curiosity piqued. Although Zane had always run his tavern, seemingly content with his situation, he was constantly exploring new ingredients, new cooking methods, and new dishes during this time.
It was this endless spirit of innovation that made the tavern's menu so full of surprises and freshness for its customers. With Zane here, no matter how formidable the Midnight Chefs were, they stood no chance of winning!
...
At that moment, standing at the kitchen counter, every breath Zane took was steady and confident. Whether facing the many customers in the tavern or the rather sinister-looking Midnight Chef across from him, he remained calm and unflustered.
He started by selecting a fresh dragon fruit, which he washed, peeled, and cut into small pieces. These pieces were then placed in a juicer to make dragon fruit juice.
Next, Zane washed and peeled some carrots, putting them in a blender to quickly make carrot juice. He only used the spinach leaves, soaking and washing them clean. The spinach was then drained and blanched in boiling water for three minutes, stirring occasionally with chopsticks. Afterward, the spinach was squeezed dry and rinsed twice more to remove any remaining oxalic acid.
The prepared spinach was placed in a blender with 150 grams of cold water and blended twice for about a minute, resulting in a spinach juice with the consistency of regular yogurt.
This gave him three types of juice:
Dragon fruit juice!
Carrot juice!
Spinach juice!
He mixed these vegetable and fruit juices with flour in separate bowls, adding water, baking soda, and salt, then kneaded the dough by hand before cutting it into noodles. By using the natural colors from the vegetables, he created noodles that were not only visually appealing but also nutritious.
Now, there were two different colors of noodles: one made with dragon fruit and carrot juice, resembling the color of ham, and the other made with spinach juice, which gave a bright green color.
...
For the third type of noodle, Zane simply used store-bought plain soba noodles. The fourth type was regular white noodles made with flour and egg whites, similar to fried instant noodles, called chicken noodle strands. Lastly, the fifth type was golden noodles made with pumpkin.
Zane's skill in kneading and pulling noodles was remarkable, to say the least. In his skillful hands, the five different-colored noodles were laid out before the crowd—vibrant green spinach noodles, orange carrot noodles, deep red dragon fruit noodles, and golden pumpkin noodles. These noodles, made from a combination of fresh vegetables and fruits, were artfully arranged in elegant porcelain bowls, resembling a fine work of art. The colors were bright yet harmonious, and the texture of the noodles was meticulously crafted, appearing slightly oily and springy to the touch.
...
"Hmm? What kind of dish requires five different types of noodles?" Leonora wondered, puzzled by the sight of five nearly all-vegetable noodles, one even being store-bought plain soba!
Could such ingredients and noodles truly surpass the jellyfish dish? Could they really beat the poison dish?
Clearly, this question worried many of the customers present. However, Sonoka, Taki, and Leonora, though a bit confused, knew that Zane had the ability to turn the simplest ingredients into the most astounding dishes!
Once the five types of noodles were done, Zane began making the first bowl of soup. At this moment, his gaze turned sharp, and his aura intensified dramatically. The atmosphere in the tavern became tense and oppressive, as if an invisible hand was squeezing everyone's hearts.
"What's going on? His... his presence..." The Monarch took a step back, feeling uneasy. Zane's eyes now blazed like fire, intense and sharp, daring anyone to meet his gaze.
At this moment, Zane transformed into a fierce beast, exuding an overwhelming pressure that made everyone around him tremble. Gripping his knife tightly, veins bulging on his forehead, it seemed as if he was gathering all his strength. Everything around him seemed to fade in the face of his powerful aura.
He then took out a fresh chicken thigh, made a few quick cuts to separate the bone from the meat, and fried the bones in a pot with ginger, garlic, bay leaves, and salt, simmering them together.
This produced a rich, flavorful chicken bone broth, though he seemed dissatisfied with the speed and activated his "Ten Pot Return" skill. With this, his cooking speed increased to an astonishing level.
...
He turned on all the stoves and prepared several pots. Then, he added finely chopped chilies, pepper, Sichuan pepper, and vinegar to a bowl, finally pouring in the chicken bone broth. Thus, the first bowl of soup was ready: Chicken Bone Soup.
Next, Zane prepared the second bowl of soup. He took the chicken meat from earlier, quickly blanched it, and brought out two coconuts—an old coconut and a young coconut—from Hainan, China, which he had ordered online.
After chopping these coconuts into pieces, he extracted their juice and meat. He poured the coconut juice and meat into a pot, added the blanched chicken meat, along with ginger, scallions, and rock sugar.
After simmering, he ended up with a pot of incredibly sweet broth, which he considered the second-best broth in the world. Finally, he allowed the broth to cool slightly before mixing in coconut milk, resulting in a cold, rich, coconut-flavored broth.
...
For the third bowl of soup, Zane took a piece of beef shank, cutting it into small cubes. He blanched the beef, skimming off the foam, and kept the broth, then added star anise, chili peppers, and salt to the broth. He simmered the beef broth on low heat for two hours, resulting in a rich beef soup.
He also cut carrots and potatoes into small cubes, as well as the beef cubes, making them easy to eat later. Heating some oil in a pan, he fried some scallions to create scallion oil, then sautéed onions, carrots, and potatoes briefly.
Next, he added a homemade curry block to the pan, which dissolved into the sautéed vegetables, then added the beef. After the beef and vegetables released their aroma, he added hot water and let it simmer. During the simmering process, he seasoned it with pepper and coconut milk for a second time.
Finally, he reduced the sauce to a slightly thinner consistency than usual. This made the soup perfect for pairing with noodles.
...
Zane prepared bamboo fungus, matsutake mushrooms, pleurotus mushrooms, dried shiitake mushrooms, and tea tree mushrooms. He washed the fresh mushrooms thoroughly and soaked the dried ones, separating the bamboo fungus due to its unique flavor.
Once the ingredients were ready, he sautéed garlic and onions in a pot until fragrant, then added the fresh mushrooms, sautéing them until aromatic. He then added water and the soaked mushrooms to the pot, starting the soup, with the bamboo fungus added last.
This resulted in a delicious mushroom broth.
...
After making the mushroom soup, Zane took a squid, cleaned it, and removed the bones and outer membrane. He scored the surface of the squid with a criss-cross pattern before cutting it into small sections. He then boiled water in a pot, adding the squid, ginger, scallions, and salt.
After removing the ginger and scallions and skimming off any foam, he added kelp, which he usually had no use for, and simmered it on low heat. Suddenly, the squid broth became incredibly rich in
flavor, a freshness that could only be described as "unprecedented."
In a bowl, he mixed sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and chili oil with ground Sichuan pepper and sesame paste, creating a classic Sichuan "strange-flavored" sauce. Combining it with the squid broth resulted in a soup with a unique blend of salty, sweet, sour, spicy, and savory flavors.
...
Zane also used store-bought ground meat, marinating it with rice wine, soy sauce, salt, and five-spice powder for half an hour (though this step could be skipped if time was short).
While stir-frying the meat, Zane chose his favorite vegetables, like shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and onions, cutting them into small pieces. In a hot oiled pan, he stir-fried garlic, ginger, and Sichuan pepper until fragrant, then added the marinated meat.
After the meat changed color, he added dark soy sauce and then the chopped vegetables, stirring everything together. A little sweet bean paste, hot water, salt, and five-spice powder were added to the mixture, which was then left to simmer over low heat until the meat and vegetables were fully cooked.
Once the liquid was reduced, Zane increased the heat to thicken the sauce, and the mushroom and ground meat sauce was done.
...
For the next dish, Zane blanched tomatoes in hot water, peeled them to avoid any chunks in the sauce, and diced them. He finely chopped scallions, mainly the white parts, to make the tomato sauce more fragrant. In a pot with hot oil, he first fried Sichuan peppercorns to make pepper oil, then discarded the peppercorns.
Using the pepper oil, he sautéed the tomatoes until soft, then added the chopped scallions, followed by a few spoonfuls of soybean paste, mixing the scallions and tomato sauce together.
If someone preferred a stronger flavor, a little more salt could be added. For those who liked spicy food, a bit of diced chili could be added as well.
Potatoes, besides being stir-fried, could also be used to make a sauce for noodles. Zane quickly diced potatoes, and after heating oil in a pan, he fried minced garlic until fragrant, then added the ground meat, stir-frying until the color changed.
Next, he added a bit of dark soy sauce, then chopped carrots and green vegetables. He cut the carrots and greens finely, added them to the sauce along with the diced potatoes, and continued simmering with sweet bean paste and soybean paste.
He let the mixture cook slowly over low heat, and just before serving, he stirred in chopped scallions, mixing everything thoroughly. The sauce was then ready to be poured over a bowl of noodles, completing a simple yet delicious potato meat sauce.
...
Finally, Zane cleaned and finely chopped shiitake mushrooms and boiled the beef, removing the scum, and finely diced it. He heated oil in a pan, frying spices until fragrant, then added the minced beef, followed by several large spoonfuls of Pixian bean paste. For those who liked it spicy, some hotpot base could be added.
He added a bowl of hot water, along with the chopped shiitake mushrooms, and simmered everything over high heat. While simmering, Zane frequently stirred the pot to prevent burning and added a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce, making it even richer.
"Strange..." The Monarch was left bewildered by what he was witnessing.
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