CHAPTER 722: CHAPTER 721: DISTILLATION

Inside the soup pot, there was a world of its own!

In Tiqie Zongwei’s field of vision, beyond the boiling, tumbling water and the mist, there was actually a small pot bobbing up and down.

"When was this little pot stuffed in here?"

Thud, thud, thud.

Unable to resist, he turned and walked back to the tea table in the outer room. It was only when Tiqie Zongwei changed from sitting to standing that he could see the entire situation in the inner room. Earlier, while sitting and chatting, his view had blind spots, and even after racking his brain on a careful recall, he only caught the image of Xia Yu lifting the pot onto the stove.

So, the sudden appearance of another pot inside the soup pot was nothing short of magic.

Tiqie Zongwei was initially quite startled, but after going from the outer room to the inner room and standing in front of the steamy stove, his racing heartbeat gradually calmed.

After all, he was a renowned scholar of molecular gastronomy, and he eventually cooled down.

"Does this pot have any relation to the heat?"

Tiqie Zongwei asked, complexly.

"You researchers like to speak of heat in terms of scientific logic. You also mentioned what you think about heat just now, so I want to ask, can heat act directly on ingredients?"

Senzaemon asked slowly.

"Of course not!"

Tiqie Zongwei replied without thinking, "Heat has a medium. Simply put, to heat food, to cook it, oil and water are needed. Oil refers to frying, and even stir-frying requires some oil. On the other hand, water is much gentler than oil, so boiled, blanched, or stewed foods have nothing to do with crispiness—it’s more about being tender and smooth."

Hearing this, Senzaemon, without changing his expression, pointed to the boiling soup pot, "So in this pot, with what is the heat acting on the ingredients?"

"Hmm?"

Losing the fluency of his earlier explanation, Tiqie Zongwei paused and continued to observe the small pot bobbing up and down in the soup pot.

"It should be through stewing, right?"

He was very uncertain.

"Wrong!"

"Not stewing?" Tiqie Zongwei was puzzled.

"It’s steam! Steaming!"

"Steaming?"

His eyes widened, Tiqie Zongwei took a closer look at the little clay pot in the soup pot, noticing that the pot, including the lid, was sealed tight, with only tiny holes.

Moreover, these holes were above the water’s surface. Xia Yu used a meter-long spatula to consistently support the clay pot, preventing it from sinking into the water and being submerged.

Air!

Suddenly, Tiqie Zongwei’s pupils contracted, fixating on the exposed tiny holes of the clay pot, as steaming vapor seeped in strand by strand.

Even though this change was subtle, it was observed crystal clear by the meticulous molecular food researcher.

"This soup—is it steamed?" he mumbled, stunned.

"Bring me a bucket of warm water—"

At this moment, Xia Yu, who had been maintaining the balance of the clay pot, didn’t even look up as he gave the muffled order.

Tiqie Zongwei was still furrowing his brow in thought, but the elder turned around, went to the stove, and turned off the valve, then easily lifted a huge cooking pot with both hands, filled with hot water!

"Whoosh—"

Hot water poured into the high soup pot on the stove, supplementing the rapidly depleting water.

Thus, Xia Yu continued his cooking rhythm without sparing a glance to see who was helping him carry and pour the water.

Half an hour.

An hour.

"Is this, is this the sixth bucket of water?"

During that time, Eriina, Alice, and Tiqie Zongwei’s couple simply watched as Xia Yu stood immovable as a stone statue in front of the stove, while the ’Food Demon King’ Senzaemon acted as a busy porter, traveling back and forth carrying and pouring water.

Noticing that the sixth bucket of water was about to run out, Tiqie Zongwei, dripping with sweat, quietly asked his father who stood beside him, "This ’steaming’ is taking too much time!"

Far from responding heatedly, Senzaemon coolly said, "It’s been only an hour. In an ordinary Chinese Restaurant, if they want to create soup in this distillation manner, they must be prepared to toil all through the night."

Stay up all night?

Isn’t that like seven or eight hours?

Tiqie Zongwei’s mouth hung open in shock, and after a long pause, he keenly caught a crucial word in his father’s statement-

Distillation.

"Distillation?" Looking back at the pot with air holes, Tiqie Zongwei’s eyes lit up with a sharp glint, vaguely understanding the principle behind such a cooking process.

Another quarter hour passed, and as the water in the soup pot dried up completely, the coarse breathing of the charcoal stove’s flames also suddenly came to a stop.

"Is it done?"

Eriina and Alice both stood up.

Leonora waved at them, saying with a laugh, "Sit down, we’ve only made the soup; the ramen isn’t ready yet. This is ramen we’re talking about!"

"Right, we still have to make the ramen!"

Tiqie Zongwei also looked up, meeting Xia Yu’s astonished gaze.

"How long have you two been standing?" Xia Yu wiped the sweat off his forehead with a towel, donned heat-resistant gloves, jumped onto the stove, and carried the small clay pot out of the stockpot, placing it steadily on the kitchen counter.

"We’ve been here the whole time."

Tiqie Zongwei followed his actions, filled with curiosity about the clay pot. He reached out to lift the lid but was slapped away with a pop. Xia Yu glared at him, speechless, "Just look, don’t touch. This is my kitchen right now!"

He pointed down at his feet.

Although Tiqie Zongwei was one of the owners of the house, Xia Yu spoke with firm authority.

Tiqie Zongwei knew he had been presumptuous, all because of his curiosity. He immediately retracted his hand, embarrassedly apologizing, "I got curious and couldn’t help myself!"

"It’s not time to lift the lid yet."

Xia Yu said and went to wash his hands, preparing the ingredients needed for making noodles.

"The Demon King’s Recipe," the ramen section, a strong Japanese style.

There are three types of Japanese ramen in terms of the ingredients: regular noodles, udon, and soba.

In terms of the noodle’s shape, there are thin noodles, medium-thin noodles, medium-thick noodles, and thick noodles. As is commonly known, Fukuoka Ramen typically uses thinner noodles.

To Xia Yu, Japanese ramen is simply a small branch in the realm of Chinese Pastries; the ancestors of noodle-making and the ingredients all originated from the Chinese Land. Even if you directly ask Neon people, they would admit that the birthplace of this delicious cuisine is in China.

Kneading and making noodles naturally weren’t challenging for Xia Yu.

Moreover, in this step of making noodles, the ingredients were all common, not encountering any unknown Fantasy Ingredients.

"First, mix soba and wheat flour together."

After measuring the right amounts, he mixed the flours, and then added water to knead.

It’s important to note that Japanese ramen usually use lye water to increase the noodle’s elasticity.

Another ten minutes.

Whack!

He took out a pitch-black rolling pin, tossed the dough from the mixing bowl onto a clean countertop, and rolled it back and forth with the pin. A large, round sheet of dough with evenly thick edges and center spread out on the surface.

Then, he layered the sheets of dough, one on top of another.

The flash of a knife.

The excess dough on the edges was sliced off, followed by the dense sound of chopping!

"Thump, thump, thump!"

Within approximately 30 seconds, a total of six bundles of light brown soba, dusted with plenty of white flour, were arranged on a metal tray.

One bundle was enough for a large bowl.

With both soup and noodles ready, the final step was naturally the toppings!

The toppings for Japanese ramen are relatively complex, but fortunately, the "Demon King’s Ramen" had simpler toppings without braised pork. Greens didn’t even need blanching; after being washed, the green scallions were cut into thin slivers, and bean sprouts with their green leaves were simply arranged in the ramen bowl for an impressive decorative effect.

Only the onsen tamago, one for each bowl, was more labor-intensive, requiring boiling water to make.

"Ding!"

Soon, the bell above the kitchen counter rang. Xia Yu looked up at the digital clock on the wall, grinned satisfactorily, and said, "Just five minutes short of two hours! The efficiency is about what I expected!"