Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 219 - 218: Dojima Yin’s Instruction

Chapter 219: Chapter 218: Dojima Yin’s Instruction

The banquet lasted until after nine o’clock at night.

The graduates had dispersed early, and Xia Yu was summoned by Dojima Yin to a private kitchen.

"Please take a seat—"

Dojima Yin gestured for Xia Yu and Liangzi Lina to sit down and placed a document on the table before going to change into his chef’s uniform.

Soon, Dojima Yin returned and got busy in the kitchen.

"A recipe?"

Picking up the folder, Xia Yu flipped open a page and immediately straightened up in his seat, fixing his gaze on the title.

A special grade recipe for "Valencia Baaiya"?

"It seems kind of familiar."

Being a big foodie himself, Xia Yu prided himself on having tasted cuisines from various countries and somehow "Valencia Baaiya" gave him a sense of déjà vu.

"Valencia?" Liangzi Lina glanced over and said indifferently, "It’s the seafood rice from Spain."

"Right!"

Xia Yu slapped his thigh, "Valencia is indeed Spain’s third-largest city and the second-largest port, isn’t it?"

Baaiya sounds a bit of a tongue-twister, but just calling it seafood rice is simple and easy to understand.

One must know, Spanish seafood rice is one of the three famous Western dishes, along with Italian pasta and French escargot.

Despite being famous dishes, they inevitably carry the stigma of being ’common’...

Thinking this, Xia Yu couldn’t help frowning and thought to himself, "Dojima Yin wouldn’t be trying to fob me off with a common recipe, would he?"

Now, Dojima Yin was in the process of repaying a debt.

Xia Yu had done everything that Dojima Yin had asked of him a few nights before, including initiating a culinary battle with Shigong and awakening him. Therefore, on the fifth night of his cooking internship, Dojima Yin finally had some spare time to pass on a recipe.

The problem was, Dojima Yin had promised a special grade recipe, and "Valencia Baaiya" didn’t seem to have the same prestige as "Spice Nine-layered Egyptian Roasted Chicken."

The first page of the recipe was packed with ingredients.

"Main ingredients: shrimp, scallops, anago, rice."

"Seasonings: olive oil, fine herbs, tomato sauce."

"Spices: saffron, paprika, minced garlic, chicken powder, fish powder."

All very ordinary ingredients.

"Saffron?"

His gaze paused on the spice details, and Xia Yu looked surprised. He hadn’t expected this dish to use such a spice.

Saffron, which is also known as Sativus crocus or zafferano, is a precious medicinal herb but also serves as a spice used in cooking.

It has a bitter taste, bright color, and emits a natural plant-like aroma. If you exclude fantasy level spices, saffron could be considered the most expensive spice in the world today.

"Nothing special..."

Turning to the second page, it was the formula for the soup base.

Hmm?!

After briefly looking it over, Xia Yu sat up straight, "This could very well be the core secret of Dojima Yin’s recipe!"

Sauté, boil, bake.

These were the three cooking methods used in "Valencia Baaiya."

As expected of a Western dish’s usual complexity, starting with the making of the broth was filled with details. Xia Yu skimmed through the recipe once, memorizing the vital details he needed to pay attention to, then stood up and walked over to the kitchen counter to observe Dojima Yin’s cooking in action.

On the kitchen counter, a pot of broth was already simmering, sending up wisps of steam.

Dojima Yin was on to the second step—simmering!

Shrimp, scallops, squid, and anago had been sautéed until fragrant, and were colored a beautiful golden yellow by minced garlic, paprika, and Italian peeled tomato sauce. Dojima Yin scooped up a ladle of broth and poured it into the frying pan.

After that, he grabbed a handful of black rice that had not been pre-steamed and sprinkled it into the pan.

Black rice!

Xia Yu keenly realized this might just be the second secret of the "Valencia Baaiya" Special Grade Recipe!

"Jet-black rice?!"

A surprised voice came from behind.

Liangzi Lina said, "These grains of utmost blackness are called ’jet-black rice,’ priced at 80,000 yen per 100 grams on the market. About ten years ago, it was discovered by a Gourmet Hunter in ’Nunavut,’ an area close to the Arctic Ocean in northern Canada. It is currently the only known grain capable of surviving in cold environments, with a rich, fragrant taste, and a sweetness from its starch—its quality vastly surpasses that of ordinary rice..."

Fantasy Ingredients!

Jet-black rice!

He couldn’t help but take a breath; this Special Grade Recipe was a sure win!

Xia Yu put aside all distractions and watched the frying pan on the stove, where the black rice, simmering in golden sauce, did not fade in color at all.

Simmering would take about 20 minutes; during this time, Dojima Yin was also not idle but turned to take out red thin branches from his private cupboard. These were saffron, but obviously not for direct use in cooking seafood rice. Dojima Yin grabbed a handful of saffron and sprinkled it onto a sheet of tin foil.

Then, he placed the tin foil on a charcoal brazier that had been prepared and lit, with the saffron roasted at high temperatures, through a wire mesh and tin foil.

minutes later.

Dojima Yin crushed the roasted and dried saffron, rinsed it with water, and then poured the water into the frying pan!

Stirring with the spatula, allowing the saffron water to fully mix with the dish, the entire pan of food transformed, becoming a vivid red!

The black rice, paired with red condiments.

One red, one black.

The visual effect was simply perfect.

Xia Yu inwardly praised and grew even fonder of this recipe. What a great find!

"Pay attention to what he’s adding to the dish," Liangzi Lina reminded, "Recipes and actual cooking always differ, and skilled chefs typically deviate from the recipe, improvising based on the situation."

There was no need for reminders; Xia Yu was already watching Dojima Yin with unblinking eyes.

"Chicken powder, fish powder."

"Huh... that vegetable that looks like a flower, is that artichoke?" Xia Yu thought to himself.

Artichokes were originally plants from the Mediterranean coast, and their value was discovered and utilized in cooking during the Roman era more than two thousand years ago. In Europe, they’re respected as the king of vegetables.

They have a sweet and fragrant taste, and importantly, they have the scent of walnut kernels!

Thinking of the lingering sweetness on the lips and teeth when eating walnut kernels, it’s not hard to imagine the enhancement to a dish’s complexity by adding a few peeled pieces of artichoke during cooking!

Artichokes are both vegetables and spicy aromatic herbs.

Almost instinctively, Xia Yu faintly realized that artichokes and jet-black rice might very well be a perfect pairing.

What is a dish’s perfect pairing?

It’s like Shigong Xiaoci Lang’s white wine paired with sea bass—a golden, national-level combination. Moreover, such pairings often constitute the heart of the dish’s secret!

Fantasy Ingredients, especially, demand fusion.

For Xia Yu, who had encountered "Shuangjiang Tofu" and attempted to use it to improve recipes, the mechanics of "fusion" were of particular interest.

Why were only the most skilled chefs qualified to utilize Fantasy Ingredients in their dishes?

The reason boils down to the fact that Fantasy Ingredients are unruly and stand out from the crowd with their highly distinctive flavors. Therefore, a Special Grade Recipe is usually developed around a core study of a Fantasy Ingredient.

Accessories, side dishes, condiments.

Everything serves the "fusion" of the Fantasy Ingredients!

"Ding!"

The oven timer sounded.

Dojima Yin opened the oven, took out the "Valencia Baaiya" roasted at 250°C for 10 minutes, placed it on the countertop, and garnished the dish with a few slices of fresh lemon.

The gourmet dish was complete!

In an instant, the private kitchen was filled with a faint echo of the roaring waves of the Arctic Ocean.