Takuya Chihara really didn't know how to speak Chinese before he came here. He could only understand a little. But now, he had just learned all this Chinese.
Therefore, his intonation sounded a little weird and his choice of words didn't convey his meaning. Fortunately, Yuan Zhou understood him.
What Takuya Chihara asked was how to make the rice taste so good and to have the taste of the rice itself.
"It's very simple," Yuan Zhou said calmly.
"No, no, not simple at all. Nowadays, many people ignore the taste of the rice in pursuit of the softness and glutinous rice. They only care about the texture but not the taste," Takuya Chihara shook his head and said a lot of words excitedly.
In the end, he had no choice but to switch to Japanese. Fortunately, Dashi Xiujie started to translate earnestly.
He translated Takuya Chihara's meaning to Yuan Zhou in time and accurately.
With Yuan Zhou's current status, he didn't need to know many languages. Those who came to visit him would learn Chinese by themselves. This was the respect that came with his strength.
"Sorry, I was too excited," Takuya Chihara apologized to Yuan Zhou again after Dashi Xiujie finished translating.
Because he had just spoken Japanese.
Takuya Chihara naturally knew that Yuan Zhou didn't know Japanese. Therefore, it was impolite to suddenly speak Japanese to Yuan Zhou.
"Um," Yuan Zhou nodded, indicating that he had accepted Takuya Chihara's apology.
"Thank you, Head Chef Yuan," Takuya Chihara thanked him again.
The best Mandarin Takuya Chihara could say now was "thank you", "sorry", and "Head Chef Yuan". He could pronounce them perfectly.
When he spoke other Mandarin, his intonation and choice of words were a little weird. Fortunately, it was within the range of understanding.
"You're welcome," Yuan Zhou shook his head and said again before Takuya Chihara could say anything else.
"Cooking is very basic. It's not simple, it's basic," Yuan Zhou coughed. This time, he had to make it sound smooth.
"Yes," Takuya Chihara and Dashi Xiujie nodded in agreement.
"So, first of all, you have to understand the rice itself. I'll omit the fancy information and talk about the useful core. The softness of the rice itself depends on whether the rice contains amylose or amylopectin, because 75% to 80% of the composition of rice is starch."
"Among them, amylose is relatively stable to heat and is more difficult to gelatinize, while amylopectin is much easier to gelatinize than amylose. The degree of gelatinization directly affected the stickiness or waxy quality of the cooked rice. Therefore, the more amylose there was, the less sticky the rice would be. It would feel dry after being eaten. Especially after the rice is cold, the taste of rice with more amylose will be very bad. "
"Also, the amylase in human saliva belongs to the α-amylase family. The characteristic of α-amylase is that it can only digest starch from the end of the starch chain. Compared to amylose, amylopectin has more ends, which can release more small sugars in the mouth that make people feel sweet, so rice with more amylopectin tastes sweeter. "
"Therefore, the reason why diners, or most people, find glutinous rice delicious is that the starch in glutinous rice is all amylopectin," Yuan Zhou concluded in the end.
When Yuan Zhou said that, he looked serious and spoke at a moderate speed. Although it was strenuous for Dashi Xiujie to translate, he still managed to translate it completely.
Takuya Chihara, who had been listening attentively, was puzzled at first, then dumbfounded. What Yuan Zhou said was a little out of the ordinary, but in the end, he couldn't help but admire him.
Yes, he admired him.
To be honest, Takuya Chihara had been in seclusion in the countryside for two years, studying and understanding food ingredients seriously, and even growing food ingredients himself. However, he had never thought that he could understand an ordinary rice from a scientific perspective.
Yet, Yuan Zhou, who obviously had Grandmaster Level Culinary Skills, could casually talk about all kinds of knowledge about rice.
If someone else had said that, Takuya Chihara would have thought that the person had memorized the information. However, Yuan Zhou was a Grandmaster Level Culinary Master, so it was different.
Judging from his casual manner, Takuya Chihara knew not only about rice, but also about all aspects of his food ingredients.
"You are so awesome." Takuya Chihara couldn't help bowing deeply to Yuan Zhou again.
Yuan Zhou nodded and then continued, "In addition to understanding rice, you also need to understand the water used to cook rice."
"Yes, that's right." Takuya Chihara and Dashi Xiujie nodded together.
In fact, from the moment Yuan Zhou started his introduction, Dashi Xiujie had been recording everything Yuan Zhou said like a primary school student.
Takuya Chihara could only watch enviously because he didn't have a pen and paper with him, and Dashi Xiujie didn't want to give him the pen and paper.
"The water quality in your country is mostly soft, with a low concentration of calcium and magnesium ions. It's very suitable for cooking rice," Yuan Zhou said.
Speaking of that, the two nodded again to show that they understood.
Yuan Zhou continued, "Our country has a vast territory and abundant resources. The tap water we usually use is hard water, which will damage the fragrance of rice. Therefore, I chose the cold spring water from Zhenjiang, also known as the Southern Zero Water."
"This water is suitable for boiling tea. It has been famous all over the country since the Tang Dynasty. It's just right for cooking rice. It won't damage the fragrance of rice grains and can even enhance the fragrance of rice grains," Yuan Zhou said.
"That's because the spring water contains rich trace elements that are beneficial to the human body. After the natural filtration of sand and stones, it contains very little chlorine. The water is clear and sweet, which can make the rice grains better display their fragrance," Yuan Zhou concluded.
When Yuan Zhou mentioned the Tang Dynasty, Dashi Xiujie and Takuya Chihara nodded one after another and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
After all, the Tang Dynasty had a great influence on Japan. When they heard that water existed in the Tang Dynasty, they naturally couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"I didn't expect Head Chef Yuan to have such strict requirements for the water. Moreover, you know it so well. No wonder you are a great master," Takuya Chihara sighed with emotion again.
"Of course. As far as I know, Head Chef Yuan knows all the ingredients under his knife very well," before Yuan Zhou could say anything, Dashi Xiujie said proudly.
Those who didn't know better might even think that he was praising him.
"Now that we have good rice and good water, all that's left is the basic cooking skills," Yuan Zhou said naturally without any change in his expression.
"All that's left is to wash the rice, soak the rice, choose the pot, and add water to boil the rice," Takuya Chihara nodded and said.
"We also need to pick the rice and ensure that every grain of rice is intact and uniform in size. Only in this way can we control the heat evenly," Yuan Zhou added indifferently.
"It's my fault," Takuya Chihara immediately lowered his head and admitted his mistake.
"Every step of cooking requires meticulous care," Yuan Zhou said.
"You are right, Head Chef Yuan," Takuya Chihara nodded.
"Alright. It's getting late." Yuan Zhou nodded his head and said nothing more. He straightforwardly asked them to leave.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Head Chef Yuan," Takuya Chihara said when he saw that it was indeed getting late.
"Um," Yuan Zhou nodded his head.
"Thank you for your guidance, Head Chef Yuan," Dashi Xiujie and Takuya Chihara walked backward and bowed at the door to express their gratitude.
"Have a safe trip," Yuan Zhou nodded his head slightly and said goodbye with a solemn expression.
Only then did the two stand up and leave after saying goodbye to Yuan Zhou again.
Once they left, the restaurant immediately quieted down. Yuan Zhou let out a sigh of relief, "Phew, I can finally take a break."
While saying that, Yuan Zhou looked outside. When he saw no one was at the door, he immediately rubbed his cheeks and went upstairs to wash up with a solemn expression.
Washing up after cooking was a habit of Yuan Zhou who had obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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