CHAPTER 678: CHAPTER 677: THE CHANGING THREADS (PART 2)

"What’s different about it!"

Koga Shoji fell into a monologue.

The lined-up club members glanced at the plate of Mapo Tofu on the table and then at the other ten dishes on another table that had hardly been touched, their Adam’s apples moving hard!

It was different!

It wasn’t just the scent that seemed to trap everyone like a giant net, even the color and temperament of the dish had evolved and changed!

It made sense, though.

After all, the previous ten dishes were cooked by the junior club members, but the Mapo Tofu before them now shone with color, aroma, and taste, a treasure created by Koga Shoji himself.

In simple terms, the dish had been endowed with a chef’s unique traits.

The crowd gathered around in unison.

"How could this be!" Xingping Chuangzhen’s face changed dramatically, "Aside from the addition of a spoonful or two of cooking wine and a broth mixed with water that’s less rich, the other ingredients haven’t changed much, but the whole dish is somehow different!"

With trembling hands, he used a spoon to scoop up a few pieces of red tofu and the steaming thick sauce and swallowed it all.

Hisss...

Instantaneously, his tongue felt as though it were pressed against a scalding copper pillar, and just when Xingping Chuangzhen was about to let out an unsuspecting scream, whoosh, the copper pillar melted into water, tightly wrapping around his tongue.

His tongue was enveloped, pressured, by the hot and spicy liquid.

It was as if his tongue had entered a mysterious corridor.

In that moment, Xingping Chuangzhen saw layers upon layers of peaks; his tongue rolled and swept among them, experiencing a turbulent and exquisite taste sensation!

Splash!

Sweat gathered under his jaw to form droplets, constantly falling to the ground.

Propping his hands on the dining table, and with just one spoonful, Xingping Chuangzhen swallowed and gasped heavily, his face experiencing palpitations, his eyes showing fear.

"This, this overwhelming flavor!"

Xingping clenched his fist and said, "The essence of the recipe, which strongly captivates the tongue, hasn’t changed, but the structure of the flavor has become much stronger than those previous ten Mapo Tofus!"

A profound shock lingered in his heart.

"I understand now!"

Koga Shoji, ruffling his hair, suddenly looked up at that moment.

"Sugar!" Koga Shoji stared intently at Xia Yu, "Instructor, just now you had me add about half a spoonful of sugar. Logically speaking, sugar should not be added to Mapo Tofu because its sweetness can dissipate the ultimate ’spiciness’ and ’numbness,’ ruining the flavor of Shuchuan cuisine—"

"Go on!" Xia Yu prompted him with a nod, an approving expression on her face.

Taking a breath, Koga Shoji’s body trembling slightly, said, "It’s actually a kind of subtraction!"

Subtraction?

Next to him, Tiqie Helinai’s eyes widened, a flash of realization crossing her face.

Tanaka Hikari and Hozoi Midori became pensive.

The other two appointed executive members, Kobayakawa Ryodan and Nikunokuni Ningning, stared at the Mapo Tofu on the table.

Xia Yu applauded and said, "Right, understanding it as subtraction is just fine!"

"Sugar is actually a very important seasoning. People say salt is the progenitor of all flavors, the general of dishes, but sugar, as a basic seasoning not much inferior to salt, where does it play its role?"

He spoke leisurely.

"At first glance, adding sugar would seem to spoil authentic Shuchuan Mapo Tofu, making it unnatural because the stimulating flavors for the tongue would be gone. However, a moderate amount of sugar only slightly reduces these stimulating flavors; for example, the taste of bean paste, fermented black beans, Sichuan peppers, green garlic, and other ingredients that were scattered throughout the dish, but with the addition of sugar..."

At this point, Xia Yu reached out with a claw-like gesture, pretending to grasp and capture something with his spread fingers.

"The flavors of these sauces and ingredients are bound together by the sugar!"

The department’s activity room fell silent for a while.

"No wonder!"

Xingping Chuangzhen broke the silence, touching his chest and murmuring, "This flavor has condensed into something thicker and stronger, endlessly memorable, capturing my heart in an instant!"

Tiqie Helinai glanced at him coldly, then turned her shimmering gaze to Xia Yu.

"Indeed, sugar can harmonize and intensify flavors,"

she said.

"This small change might seem like subtraction, but inside it’s actually addition, solidifying into a flavor that’s even stronger!"

"Not just that!"

Koga Shoji grew more and more excited, his face flushed, "And there’s the yellow wine, yellow wine and minced pork can undergo esterification reactions, creating aromatic substances that enhance and add fragrance to the dish!"

"Arrows!"

"The scattered flavors were first consolidated by sugar into an arrow shaft, and the yellow wine then fixed a sharp arrowhead to it, instantly giving it the power to pierce through one’s heart!"

His excitement caused him to tap his foot continuously.

In an instant, Koga Shoji had an epiphany about many things.

On the surface, Xia Yu had only told him about the use of sugar and yellow wine in Shuchuan cuisine, but as a member of the Elite Ten, Koga Shoji had a high level of comprehension. From the usage, he could discern the underlying cooking philosophy and wisdom.

In the past,

His cooking was too forceful and domineering, only knowing how to dominate. Sugar? A seasoning that would weaken "numbing" and "spicy" flavors, he wouldn’t even take a second glance at it. But now, Xia Yu had shown him with examples that sometimes stepping back seemed like ’reducing’, but in reality, it was gathering momentum for breaking through that door.

Settling down allowed for a stronger aftermath, which, combined with other seasonings, would sharpen the blades and break through that ultimate door that had blocked him for too long!

"Practice! Practice!"

Koga Shoji, his mind full of the idea of practice, threw himself into cooking.

After a while,

When he brought out the second plate of Mapo Tofu, eager to find Instructor Xia for tasting and comments, he looked back and found the department’s activity room deserted.

Xia Yu and the three committee members had already left.

"Ah, you’re done?"

At the dining table, Xingping Chuangzhen, his expression complex and hand propping his head, looked up and waved at him.

With a darkened face, Koga Shoji put the plate down, "Where’s the instructor?"

"Gone..."

"Why haven’t you gone then?" Koga Shoji asked with disdain.

"Haha, Senior Koga, I stayed to thank you for your hospitality and to tell you one thing—I still plan to challenge you at the ’School Festival’!"

After dropping this line, Xingping Chuangzhen bid farewell and left.

Koga Shoji shouted after his retreating figure, "Hey, I don’t know why you’re so confident, but I have to tell you, the me now is not the same person I was half an hour ago!"

The Eighth Seat’s call echoed in his ears.

Stepping out, at a corner of the school street, Bang!

Xingping Chuangzhen clenched his fist and slammed it heavily onto the bark of a tree, burying his head, "Yeah, that guy has gotten even more twisted! How am I going to beat him?!"

"Recipes!"

"I must create a recipe that can captivate diners, otherwise, I’ll be utterly defeated!"

After a moment, Xingping Chuangzhen lifted his head, his eyes no longer downcast, full of resolve.

"Let’s give it a shot—"

He clenched his fist.

...

At night, having finished the day’s patrol of the academy, Xia Yu was soaking in a bath, and outside the door lay a cat.

He was on the phone.

"I heard from Xiao Hui that today you guided Senior Koga, helping him to transform?"

A light, delicate voice came through the phone, giving one the feeling of the girl next door.

"Transform? I guess so, he’s probably got his hands on the key to a treasure trove by now," Xia Yu joked, "If he continues to understand the heart of cooking and pairs it with this key, he won’t need any special assessment to be a true Special Grade chef."

"Mmm."

"What are you ’mmm’ing for? Koga Shoji is the Eighth Seat, isn’t he within your hunting range if you’re aiming for the Elite Ten seats?"

"Mmm."

"..."

Xia Yu, feeling a bit helpless, "Fine, I’m sending you something, could you help me take a look at it? If you could give it a brief evaluation, that would be great, remember to check your email!"