After this announcement, everyone in the kitchen, pumped with adrenaline, rushed out to buy ingredients, eager to show off their skills in front of Dylan.
"Wait, let me borrow Hisako for a moment."
Seeing Erina Nakiri waiting for Hisako Arato at the door, Dylan stepped forward and said. Hisako had to stay behind to learn cooking; she couldn't be taken away.
"?!"
Looking at Dylan standing before her, then at Hisako Arato who hadn't moved, Erina Nakiri's face was a canvas of question marks.
Is there something going on between those two?
"Ahem, Lady Erina, Teacher Dylan and I still have some things to discuss, so I won't go with you. I'll help you when you get back."
Looking at Erina Nakiri's expression, even though she knew she and Dylan were completely innocent, Hisako Arato still felt inexplicably guilty and averted her gaze as she spoke.
"Hisako, you..."
"Fine, I'll go by myself. It's not like I've never been on my own before."
Hearing Hisako's words, Erina Nakiri's cheeks puffed out. She then turned her head and started walking out of the kitchen.
However, before she could get far, a slender, pale hand reached in from outside the kitchen and accurately grabbed her arm.
"Don't go by yourself. Let's go together."
Alice Nakiri said with a grin, her figure appearing in the kitchen. She stood next to Erina Nakiri, and as she spoke, she slung an arm over her shoulder, striking the pose of close sisters.
"Then let's go together. But don't put your hand on my shoulder. It's weirdly frivolous."
Thinking of Dylan's earlier actions with Ikumi Mito and Miyoko Hojo, seeing Alice Nakiri strike this pose now, Erina Nakiri just felt uncomfortable.
"What's wrong? Could it be that time of the month? That can't be right, isn't it still a few days away...?"
Seeing Erina Nakiri swat her hand away with a look of disdain, Alice Nakiri raised an eyebrow, a bit confused, then lowered her head and started guessing.
"No, it's not! Let's go."
Alice Nakiri's words made Erina Nakiri's face flush red, as if she hadn't expected the topic to come up so suddenly. She then strode towards the door.
"Oh..."
Seeing this, Alice Nakiri gave Dylan and Hisako Arato a meaningful glance, then trotted after Erina, quickly disappearing from sight.
"Looks like she misunderstood something. Never mind that. Have you remembered everything I taught before?"
Watching their backs until they disappeared, Dylan turned his head to look at Hisako Arato.
"I have, but Lady Erina..."
Hisako Arato nodded, showing she understood, but her brow was furrowed with worry. It was clearly the first time Erina Nakiri had treated her this way.
If I had known, I would have gone up and explained just now.
Hisako Arato felt a pang of regret.
"It's fine. You can just explain it clearly later."
Seeing what was on Hisako Arato's mind, Dylan patted her shoulder. Although he was a bit confused at first, now that he'd had a moment to think, he had a pretty good idea of what Erina Nakiri was misunderstanding.
But why? Occasionally keeping one person behind for a private lesson—wasn't that their tradition?
This sort of thing had happened countless times; logically, it shouldn't have been misunderstood.
"Why are you all puffed up like an angry blowfish? Did Brother Dylan make you unhappy? Or did your period come early? If it's the latter, I can totally understand. Girls have those days every month."
After leaving the house, seeing Erina Nakiri in a bad mood, Alice Nakiri sidled up to her, musing aloud with her own guesses as they walked.
Erina Nakiri was sulking, something that rarely happened in her memory. She always seemed so composed and in control, like a doll in a display case.
"It didn't come early! And this has nothing to do with you, so stop prying."
Erina Nakiri's face turned red as she spoke, and she quickened her pace, as if trying to ignore her.
"How does it have nothing to do with me? You're my younger cousin, so your business is my business. If you're troubled, as your older cousin, I naturally have to listen."
Seeing Erina Nakiri walk away, Alice Nakiri also sped up, getting in front of her and putting on the airs of an elder.
"It's really nothing!"
"I don't believe you. Come on, tell me. I can give you some advice. Something you can't figure out, I might just have the answer for you."
Alice Nakiri didn't back down an inch, and under her relentless assault, Erina Nakiri's resolve began to waver. Finally, she pursed her lips and started to talk about her troubles.
"Teacher Dylan, he..."
"Ooh."
"And he also..."
"Mhm."
Their walking pace gradually slowed. Erina Nakiri poured out all her dissatisfaction like beans from a bamboo tube, including how Dylan had treated Ikumi Mito and the others, and how frivolous he had seemed.
"So, you think Teacher Dylan was more frivolous than usual today?"
After listening to Erina Nakiri, Alice Nakiri summed it up. A somewhat baffling reason. She was sulking just because of this?
"Mhm. Teacher Dylan has always been shameless, but he wasn't usually so forward. It felt like he wanted something to happen with them."
Speaking of this, Erina Nakiri's expression grew complicated. If Dylan's past actions could be excused as punishments...
...then what she saw this morning was probably his true intention. Although she had anticipated it in her heart, actually seeing that scene still felt off.
"Forward? I don't think so. That's just his nature. He's a man who loves cooking and loves beautiful women. Hasn't he always been like this?"
Alice Nakiri shook her head, a little puzzled.
In her eyes, Dylan hadn't changed at all compared to usual, but from the way Erina Nakiri described it, he had suddenly become a huge pervert.
This girl is being a bit too sentimental.
"He's always been like this, but..."
The words caught in her throat. Erina Nakiri suddenly faltered. She didn't know why she felt so upset, even though she knew Dylan had always been this way.
"It must be love. You're in love with Brother Dylan, so you don't want to see him being intimate with other girls. Right now, that feeling of love has reached its peak."
Beside her, Alice Nakiri listened to the whole story, pinching her chin in review. After thinking for a moment, she finally spoke, her face a mask of complete understanding.
"Lo... What love?!!"
Alice Nakiri's sudden mention of 'love' made Erina Nakiri blush to the roots of her hair. Being a tsundere, she naturally couldn't admit it.
"Objectively speaking, if you don't have feelings for someone, you wouldn't be interested in anything about them. To you, they'd just be a block of wood. In other words, it's precisely because you've developed an emotion called 'love' for him that you hate seeing him flirt with every girl he sees."
Alice Nakiri gave her an 'I-know-exactly-what-you-mean' look.
Erina Nakiri had said so much, but the root cause could be summed up in two words: 'jealousy'.
She had felt this way herself a few years ago, even losing her appetite over it. But later she came to terms with it; someone as outstanding as Dylan could never belong to just her.
This world has more women than men to begin with, and beautiful girls are everywhere, but handsome men are few and far between.
And a man who is handsome, a great cook, and treats people with gentleness and consideration... to put it bluntly, even her own mother was very fond of someone as excellent as Dylan.
Thinking of Leonora Nakiri's suppressed yet restrained expression towards Dylan, Alice Nakiri fell silent for a moment, then grabbed the girl's hand.
"If you love him, go and tell him. He'll accept you. He's not the type to confess his feelings first, and given his status, it's not really appropriate for him to do so. If you don't make the first move, you'll never have a chance in your entire life. It took me seven years to work up the courage. I hope you don't leave yourself with any regrets."
As if remembering her past self, feeling the warmth of the hand she was holding, and looking at Erina Nakiri's complicated expression, Alice Nakiri spoke, word by word.
"I... I don't know if I really love Teacher Dylan. This is all just your speculation."
Hearing Alice Nakiri's heartfelt words, Erina Nakiri was a little moved, but to save face, she remained stubborn.
"Then ask your own heart."
Back home, in the kitchen.
Take out the marinated pig ears and place them in a pot with cold water. Add slices of old ginger, high-proof white liquor, and cooking wine. Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the scum.
"Cook until there's no more scum or blood, then remove them and wash them again in clean water. The purpose of these steps is to ensure the dish's color and aroma, to prevent any undesirable byproducts from contaminating the brine, and to lay the foundation for the brine's quality and preservation."
Dylan explained as he worked, then brought over a small plate.
"This is a unique recipe I developed. It's excellent for braising meat and suitable for many ingredients. Take good notes."
Taking out spices from under the cooking station, Dylan introduced them as he placed them onto the plate.
"Ten grams of whole star anise, five grams of cassia bark, three grams of bay leaves, one gram of cloves, five grams of red Sichuan peppercorns, five grams of cumin, ten grams of white peppercorns, one fragrant fruit, four grams of Dahurian Angelica root, three grams of dried tangerine peel, five grams of sand ginger, three grams of licorice, two deseeded black cardamoms, eight grams of dried galangal, and three grams of lemongrass. This is enough to braise twenty jin of meat. These can effectively enhance aroma, eliminate fishiness and gaminess, remove off-odors, and cut through grease. This is a small-quantity recipe with a subtle fragrance, designed primarily to complement the original flavor of special ingredients."
The spices clinked and clattered as they were placed onto the tray. After adding all the spices, Dylan gave a simple introduction.
"With so many kinds of spices added, do they only have these three effects...?"
Hisako Arato was puzzled. Spices are necessary for braising, but generally, seven or eight types are already considered a rich blend.
But the recipe Dylan had just described, she roughly calculated, had fifteen different kinds, each measured precisely to the gram. It could be described as an extremely top-tier blend.
Does such a top-tier spice packet really only serve those three purposes?
"Those are the three main ones. There are also some subtle effects, which are more like icing on the cake. Don't get too fixated on the number of effects. Remember, when it comes to effects, quality is more important than quantity. Our goal is to perfectly bring out the flavor of the ingredients."
He poured the spices from the plate into a bowl. Then he poured in high-proof white liquor and added boiling water to submerge the spices, covering it with a lid to steep for half an hour.
This allows the spices' aromas to be fully released while removing any bitterness or astringency, which is a key step in the white braising method.
The soaked spices were rinsed clean and wrapped in cheesecloth, leaving enough space inside the pouch for the aromas to be released more fully.
He lit the stove and placed a wok on it.
Casually, Dylan added three hundred grams of chicken fat to the wok. When the oil temperature rose, he added one hundred grams of lard, and finally, five hundred grams of salad oil.
"Tell me, what's the reason for using three types of oil?"
After mixing the three oils, Dylan sniffed the fragrant aroma that filled the air, then looked at Hisako Arato and asked the question.
"This..."
This time, however, Hisako Arato was as if struck dumb. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. She genuinely had no idea why three types of oil were needed—it was beyond her scope of knowledge!!!
"Listen well and learn."
Lard makes the ingredients more succulent, preventing them from being dry or tough. Chicken fat enhances the aroma. At the same time, the lard and chicken fat can neutralize the medicinal taste of the spices, suppressing it.
This better highlights their fragrance and effects, making the braised food more aromatic. This method also works if you want to remove the medicinal taste from medicinal cuisine.
As for why we add salad oil, it's mainly to enhance the dish's luster and to moderate the concentration of the lard and chicken fat, making them less viscous and greasy."
Dylan spoke as he stirred the wok with a ladle. He then took the prepared aromatics from the side, poured them into the wok, and then added the spice base.
The spice base was made from slices of old ginger, scallions, cilantro sections, and onion rings.
This step requires slow-frying over low heat to perfectly release the aromas of the base.
Since lard and chicken fat are both animal fats, adding the spice base can effectively remove any gaminess, serving to both deodorize and enhance fragrance.
"At this point, we've only completed the preliminary preparations. You can imagine how much effort is required to truly bring out the ultimate flavor of the ingredients."
Dylan sighed softly, removed the solids from the wok, poured the braising oil into a bowl, and then looked up to speak to Hisako Arato.
"This is all just preliminary work?!"
Hisako Arato was truly astonished now. Was it really this difficult to create a dish that brought out an ingredient's original flavor to the absolute maximum?
Although Dylan's movements looked as smooth as flowing water, one had to remember that his culinary level was that of an Eight-Star Special Grade Chef, one of the world's top masters.
"The mid-stage work is simmering the stock. To make a proper white braise, a superior stock is essential."
Dylan spoke as he walked to the refrigerator. There weren't many ingredients left inside, but it was just enough to make a pot of superior stock, so he got to work.
First, he lined up the ingredients.
Half an old hen, two jin of pork leg bones, one jin of pork spine, and one jin of pork skin—these were all the ingredients currently in the house suitable for making superior stock.
It was a pity there were no pork trotters or chicken feet in the house; adding some would have made the flavor even better.
Shaking his head, Dylan produced a kitchen knife and quickly began processing the ingredients on the cutting board.
He split the pork leg bones and spine in two, allowing the flavor from the bones to be released more thoroughly.
The old hen was chopped into pieces, and the pork skin was processed using the same steps as the pig ears, ensuring that absolutely no off-flavors remained!
______
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