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Outside the restaurant, the camera crew was already in position. The God's Tongue evaluation was not only a signature event for the Totsuki and Nakiri Corporations, but also a way to showcase the Nakiri family's standing in the culinary world. A television station specializing in food programs had partnered with the God's Tongue for better ratings. Their most classic show featured weekly live broadcasts of the God's Tongue evaluations. The main content of the program involved filming the chef's cooking process, the critiques from the judging panel and the God's Tongue, and insights from the chefs themselves about their dishes. This is why anyone interested in food was well aware of the God's Tongue, and why so many spectators gathered at the evaluation sites. After all, media promotion played a part.
"Sir, what dish will you be making?" Domoto Kawa, the director of the camera crew, asked politely as he sat in an empty seat outside the judging panel.
"Ramen, I suppose," Renz replied after a moment's thought.
Ramen has two crucial elements: the noodles and the soup base. Noodles made from carefully prepared dough possess a chewiness, resilience, and texture that can influence the entire bowl of ramen. The soup base, furthermore, is the very soul of the dish. A bowl of ramen's quality hinges on the excellence of its soup.
Renz was known as the 'Unsurpassable Peak' not just because of his encyclopedic mastery of all cuisines, but most famously for his technique in handling spices. His simple spice combinations and preparation methods allowed him to create any flavor profile he desired in the soup base, eliciting specific tastes and atmospheres for the diners. To prepare for this God's Tongue evaluation, Renz had been diligently practicing his noodle-making skills. While not necessarily beautiful to watch, his technique was certainly not unpresentable.
Upon hearing Renz's choice, the three judging panel members reacted. Roland Chapelle immediately frowned. The chef had chosen a dish Erina didn't particularly favor: ramen. It was a common, affordable noodle dish, accessible to everyone. First, the preparation process wasn't complex; second, the ingredients were simple. Most importantly, people who didn't like ramen would never like ramen. Because of its simple preparation and widespread popularity in the Japanese culinary world, the God's Tongue evaluated countless ramen shops every year. In such a situation, if he couldn't create something distinctive, this young man would likely face difficulties.
Roland Chapelle thought to himself, frankly, he didn't like ramen either. As a French chef, ramen was too greasy for him and didn't suit French palates. Could it be... a choice made to cater to Yasushi Fukuyama? Indeed. Among the three judges, Roland Chapelle had the worst impression of ramen, due to personal taste differences. Just hearing the dish 'ramen' made him frown. The only person on the judging panel who would likely be interested in ramen was Yasushi Fukuyama. Of course, Katsutaro Ono wouldn't have any particular preference for ramen. Ramen was a dish generally accepted by Asians.
However, using ramen as an entry point to try and cater to the judging panel was overthinking it. The judging panel wouldn't give him a pass just because of his choice of dish. Ultimately, the taste of the dish would determine the outcome. And precisely because Yasushi Fukuyama had extensive research into ramen, both Japanese and Chinese styles, if the ramen's flavor wasn't outstanding enough, it would become a double-edged sword. Wasn't this digging his own grave? The choice of dish wasn't good enough. Thinking this, Roland Chapelle's expression shifted.
In front of them, Renz spread flour on his cooking table, poured in cold water, turned to grab a salt spoon, and sprinkled sparkling salt grains into the flour-water mixture, his movements appearing casual and graceful. Knowing he would face the God's Tongue evaluation this weekend, Renz had been gradually undergoing his 'rehabilitation training.' Ramen was the easiest dish to make money with, the quickest to master, and the most convenient for showcasing his cooking skills. Renz, with the help of the God's Tongue, had once learned most of the common dishes in the market within a year. Now, focusing his efforts on a dish he had previously mastered, his sense of touch was recovering rapidly. His youthful body also found it easier to recall that feeling.
Though the spoonful of salt seemed casually sprinkled, Renz's control over the amount of salt was incredibly precise. Immediately after adding the cold water, Renz began kneading the dough with his hands. The salt was added to dissolve into the flour-water mixture, forming an electrolyte solution, which would cause the proteins in the flour to coagulate upon contact with the electrolyte, forming a protein gel. This protein gel was key to increasing the dough's chewiness and elasticity.
As his slender, clean hands kneaded the milky-white dough, Renz slowly exerted strength from his wrists, continuously stretching, flattening, stretching, flattening, and slapping the dough against the table with crisp sounds. He used his fingers, wrists, and arms, applying force from various parts of his body. During the stretching, his movements gradually accelerated, forming a blur of motion. Imperceptibly, the shape of the noodles began to form. Without rushing to the next step, Renz wrapped the entire dough in plastic wrap and placed it in the microwave. A cup of boiling water was placed inside the microwave to raise the temperature within. The resting process was to prevent tearing and holes during rolling. This method could, to some extent, allow drier flour particles in the dough to absorb water and soften, making the moisture distribution more even throughout the dough. This enhanced the dough's elasticity and extensibility, allowing the proteins in the dough to fully absorb water and swell, forming a good network structure.
While waiting for the microwave to 'ding,' Renz prepared the spices needed for the soup base. When the microwave's alert sounded, Renz paused his spice preparations, took the dough out of the microwave, and began slamming it on the countertop, his face etched with meticulous concentration. When he focused on a single task, he forgot everything else around him.
The sound of the dough hitting the counter grew crisper and more pleasant. It flipped back and forth, rising and falling on the table. The slender noodles showed no sign of breaking, and their translucent white strands appeared incredibly resilient from the pounding.
"Such fine noodle strands," Yasushi Fukuyama's expression subtly shifted.
The clamor gradually died down as Renz continued to pound the noodles. When the noodle-slamming entered full swing, inside and outside the restaurant, you could hear a pin drop. One minute, two minutes, three minutes.
"It still hasn't broken?" Katsutaro Ono's outwardly amiable and composed smile concealed a huge inner turmoil. Japanese cuisine generally emphasized detail. It didn't have the grand, sweeping gestures of Western cooking. Sushi cuisine, too, emphasized meticulous detail: the choice of rice grains, whether they were day-old or not, whether hot rice or cold rice was needed, the timing of seasoning, the moment to incorporate garnish flavors—everything had to be precisely accounted for.
Ramen, to be done well, also relied on these details. However, most ramen preparations, to save time and serve quickly, were done very roughly and casually. This would lead to many flaws in taste and texture. For ramen noodles to be made into such fine strands and still retain their chewiness, it meant that the noodle-making aspect of ramen had been taken to its absolute extreme. It's worth noting that many people, during this stretching process, if they didn't handle it well or made a mistake, would cause the filamentous noodles to break during the slamming. While it wouldn't change the texture, the entire cooking process would feel disjointed. There's a subconscious bias that makes one feel a dish with flaws in its preparation isn't as good.
This guy, even knowing that this situation could occur, still chose to demonstrate his noodle-making technique in this manner. Wasn't that brazen showmanship?
"Still slamming the noodles?"
"What?!"
"The noodles can change even more?!"
The shock in the minds of the three judging panel members was completely uncontainable.
However, just as the shock simmered within them, in everyone's line of sight, a tall and magnificent figure seemed to appear faintly behind Renz. He seemed to be dancing in concert with Renz, showcasing his skill. The figure slowly overlapped with Renz.
Renz's lips held a confident smile, as if he were already a king seated atop the culinary world's highest peak. And Erina, who had been staring at Renz, unconsciously revealed a smile as well.
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