Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

“The key to this risotto is Japanese peppers of all things?!"
"It's sharp, refreshing aroma highlights the mellow body of the cheese... while making the eel's umami flavor flash like an explosion!"
"And that one key ingredient that quietly ties it all together...
... is garlic!"
"Garlic?! In traditional Japanese cuisine?! That's almost unheard of!"
"Those are special smoked garlic chips a junior of mine made. They were smoked using wood from a walnut tree, which is known to emphasize seafood flavors well. By lightly crushing those chips and sprinkling them on as a topping, I added a pleasantly crunchy texture to the dish.
But the most critical feature of my dish... is that I broiled the eel using the Kansai region Kabayaki style. Unlike the Kanto region style, there's no steaming step. Leaving all that oil in gives the eel a more fragrant aroma with a heavier texture and stronger flavor...
... meaning it pairs much more naturally with a flavor as powerful as garlic. *Steaming the eel makes much of its natural oil seep out, leaving the flesh light and fluffy.*
But what makes these chips so extraordinary... is that they're infused with Ibusaki's earnest passion and the pure sweat of his helpers, Aoki and Sato. There's no way they could not be delicious!"
"Ew! Don't say they're infused with sweat! That's gross!"
"This much alone is already an impressively polished gourmet course. What's in store for us in that teapot?"
"That is eel-liver broth, my lady. I dressed the eel's liver and then saut¨¦ed it in olive oil with some smoked garlic chips. Then I poured the sake Sakaki and Marui made over the top and let the alcohol cook off before adding bonito stock to make a broth. It matches beautifully with the cheese that Yoshino and Nikumi made, creating a soft flavor with a splendid aftertaste.”
― Yuto Tsukuda, ʳꪤΥ½©`¥Þ 25 [Shokugeki no Souma 25]

“Chicken stock for saltiness. White wine for acidity. Butter for creaminess. Parmigiano-Reggiano for nuttiness. A pinch of saffron for earthiness and color. And the licorice powder? That's to add an unexpected hint of sweetness.
Perfectly balanced.”
― Katrina Kwan, Knives, Seasoning, & A Dash of Love

“There's the apple's crisp texture and mildly sweet flavor. The onions, which have been simmered to a smooth softness...
... and the crunchy, salty bacon on top, cooked to crispy perfection. But the apples really holds the spotlight. Its mild sweetness spreading throughout the risotto.
It's gentle caress...
... gradually wakes you from your slumber.
Like the soft kiss...
... of a prince!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, ʳꪤΥ½©`¥Þ 6 [Shokugeki no Souma 6]

“A rich, thick mix of chicken and beef bouillon! Ground beef and onions saut¨¦ed in butter until savory and tender, their umami-filled juices soaking into the rice!
The creamy risotto melding into one with the soft, mildly sweet egg! "Mmm! It's practically a knockout punch!"
"The clincher appears to be this sauce.
Oyster sauce accented with a touch of honey, its mildly tart flavor is thick and heavy. Together with the curry risotto, it creates two different layers of flavor!"
"I see! While Hayama's dish was a bomb going from no aroma to powerful aroma...
... this dish is instead an induced explosion! The differing fragrances from the inner risotto and the outer sauce come at you in waves, tempting you into that next bite!"
But that's not all. How did he make the flavor this deep? The strong aroma and hint of bitterness means he used cumin and cardamom. The sting on the tongue comes from cloves. I can smell fragments of several spices, but those are all just surface things. Where is this full-bodied depth that ties it all together coming from?!
Wait, it's...
... mango.
"Mango chutney."
"Chutney?! Is that all it took to give this dish such a deep flavor?!"
CHUTNEY
Also spelled "Chatney" or "Chatni," chutney is a South Asian condiment. Spices and herbs are mixed with mashed fruit or vegetables and then simmered into a paste. A wide variety of combinations are possible, resulting in chutneys that can be sweet, spicy or even minty.
"I used my family's homemade mango chutney recipe! I mixed a dollop of this in with the rice when I steamed it.
The mango acts as an axle, running through and connecting the disparate flavors of all the spices and giving a deeper, full-bodied flavor to the overall dish. In a way, it's practical, applied spice tech!"In India where it originated, chutneys are always served on the side as condiments. It's only in Japan that chutney is added directly into a curry."
"Huh!"
"Oh, wow."
"It's unconventional to say the least, from the standpoint of original Indian curry. However, by using the chutney..."
"... he massively improved the flavor and richness of the overall dish...
... without resorting to using an excess of oils or animal products!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, ʳꪤΥ½©`¥Þ 8 [Shokugeki no Souma 8]

“ Thick and creamy egg, fragrant roast quail... and the rice! It all makes such a hearty, satisfying combination!
Wait, something just crunched?
"See, there are five parts to a good chicken-and-egg rice bowl.
Chicken... eggs... rice... onions... and warishita.
*Warishita is a sauce made from a combination of broth, soy sauce and sugar.*
"I seared the quail in oil before putting it in the oven to roast. That made the skin nice and crispy... while leaving the meat inside tender and juicy.
For the eggs, I seasoned them with salt and a generous pinch of black pepper to give them some bite and then added cream to make them thick and creamy! It's the creaminess of the soft-boiled egg that makes or breaks a good chicken-and-egg bowl, y'know.
Some milk made the risotto extra creamy. I then mixed in onions as well as ground chicken that was browned in butter. I used the Suer technique on the onions. That should have given some body to their natural sweetness.
For the sauce, I sweetened some Madeira wine with sugar and honey and then added a dash of soy sauce. Like warishita in a regular chicken-and-egg rice bowl, this sauce ties all the parts of the dish together. Try it with the poached egg. It's seriously delicious!
Basically I took the idea of a Japanese chicken-and-egg rice bowl...
... and rebuilt it using only French techniques!"
"Yukihira! I wanna try it too!"
"Oh, uh, sorry. I only made that one."
"Awww!
You've gotta make one for me someday!"
"There is one thing I still don't understand.
When you stuff a bird, out of necessity the filling has to remain firm to stay in place. Something soft and creamy like risotto should have fallen right back out!
"How did you make this filling work?!"
"I know! The crunch!"
"Yep! It's cabbage! I quickly blanched a cabbage leaf, wrapped the risotto in it...
... and then stuffed it inside the quail!"
"Aha! Just like during the Camp Shokugeph!"
It's the same idea behind the Chou Farci Shinomiya made!
The cabbage leaf is blanched perfectly too. He brought out just enough sweetness while still retaining its crispy texture. And it's that very sweetness that softly ties the fragrant quail meat together with the creamy richness of the risotto filling!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, ʳꪤΥ½©`¥Þ 14 [Shokugeki no Souma 14]

“Without being fully aware of what I was doing, I flipped the lights on in my kitchen and began to measure out chicken stock and arborio rice.
The butternut squash in my pantry found itself quartered and set to roast in the oven. I plucked a few leaves of sage from my kitchen herb garden and minced them fine. Butter, shallots, rice, and herbs. Roasted squash and parmesan. The risotto took shape, its savory scent filling my apartment.”
― Hillary Manton Lodge, A Table by the Window

“Merriem carries the enormous saucepan, a cloud of steam rising from it, into the dining room. "Spring risotto," she calls it. It's got snipped garlic scapes, tons of parsley, and just-wilted pea greens piled on top.
Summer carries a big glazed terra-cotta saucer full of tiny new potatoes with butter and freshly torn mint, and I bring the asparagus, which Merriem calls "speary-grass," served with simple seasoning.”
― Hannah Tunnicliffe, Season of Salt and Honey

“Once the food is cool enough, I eat as though I'm starving. The potatoes' skins squeak when I bite into them; the risotto tastes of soft, pungent scapes; the freshly cut asparagus is so crisp and sweet you could almost mistake it for fruit. Merriem smiles at me. We are all holding our stomachs by the time Merriem clears the table and brings out dessert, a bright pink and sticky rhubarb tart dotted with edible flowers. She doles out big scoops of homemade vanilla ice cream with a silver spoon she affectionately refers to as "the shovel," then adds a chunk of honeycomb each of our bowls alongside wedges of the tart.”
― Hannah Tunnicliffe, Season of Salt and Honey

“I don't know where to begin on my plate. Everything looks so unfamiliar, yet appetizing. I decide to aim for the starch first, and settle my fork into a generous portion of what turns out to be risotto with bite-sized pieces of suckling pig. I'll take creamy risotto over that vile poi any day. The pork, so tender and juicy, has me humming Mele Kalikimaka, cause it feels like a Hawaiian Merry Christmas gift.
I next try the entr¨¦e, a tender, flaky and surprisingly un-oily mackerel sprinkled with feta cheese and olives and cloaked in taro leaves. I have to give Telly some credit, I didn't know how this place could pull off merging three such divergent flavors, but somehow it works despite itself.
"I can't believe how fantastic this food is," Jess mumbles through a bite of her pineapple-balsamic glazed wild boar spare ribs with tzatziki sauce. "Who'd have thought you could actually assemble a menu with Italian, Hawaiian and Greek food? I honestly thought it was a joke."
"Joke's on us, cause this stuff is amazing."
After dinner ends, Telly returns with a selection of desserts (including a baklava made with mascarpone cheese, coconut and pine nuts), a tray with sample shots of grappa, ouzo and okolehao, and a somewhat excessive appreciation for his customers.”
― Jenny Gardiner, Slim to None

“The apple flavor had thoroughly soaked into the rice and onions...
... but, if the apples were simmered long enough to do that, wouldn't they have crumbled to mush? How they can still be so crisp?"
"That's true! How does that work?"
"Oh, that? That's easy. I used this!"
"Apple juice?!"
"Why use that?"
"First, I saut¨¦ed the onions and set them with the rice to simmer. Then I poured in a bit of the apple juice while it was all boiling down. I didn't add the diced apple until the very end, cooking them just long enough to heat them through."
"That's why they kept their crisp texture! Aha! What a brilliant idea! Using that juice let him unify the dish...
... infusing hints of apple flavor throughout the whole thing!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, ʳꪤΥ½©`¥Þ 6 [Shokugeki no Souma 6]

“It's tricky to make a truly great risotto, but it seems so simple that everyone tries. As a result, there are a lot of horrible risottos being served in restaurants around the globe. I suppose we wanted to prove that none of those horrible risottos will be found in our restaurants."
"And hopefully our risottos won't be as dry as our reason for wanting to make risotto," Hadley added, apparently feeling the need to turn Renowned into an open mic comedy night.”
― Bethany Turner, Hadley Beckett's Next Dish