Chapter 18: Chapter 14 Boeuf Bougignon

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation

Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Boeuf bougignon.

According to the plot of Food Wars, the main protagonist, Yukihira Soma, made Yukihira’s red wine stewed beef in the first class at Togetsu. Teacher Roland Chapel who never smiled highly commended him.

In fact, it was home cooking in France.

In the fixed recipe, boeuf bougignon had many ways to cook depending on the chef’s skills.

Could Xia Yu make boeuf bougignon?

If it was other Western food, it might be a big problem for him.

However, Xia Yu, as a foodie with a hands-on ability, naturally found the recipe in the appendix of the comic and worked hard for a long time for boeuf bougignon when ‘Food Wars’ was popular at the time.

What really hurt was that the boeuf bougignon cooked according to the recipe in the comics did not taste good and could even be evaluated as poor. At that time, Xia Yu thought about it and finally caught a key flaw in the comics recipe. There was no honey!

Later, he heard about a French movie ‘Julie and Julia’ in 2009 from a friend who also enjoyed food related comics. He made boeuf bougignon referring to the description of the many French cuisines in the film. It was considered as the real boeuf bougignon and tasted particularly good. 

“Is everything prepared?” 

After washing his hands and wearing an apron and a kitchen hat, Xia Yu had completed a chef’s basic etiquette. He looked at the kitchen counter of the western restaurant. 

Two large pieces of thawed beef. This was the main ingredient. 

“Beef shoulder meat, excellent quality, frozen for 8 hours and 56 minutes, fresh.” 

Xia Yu touched beef with his hands, the Chef God System gave the ingredients identification information. It was green quality. 

“Beef shoulder? Yes, the meat in this position is finer in fibre and tastes smooth and tender. It is suitable for stewing, roasting, braising and firing curry,” Xia Yu murmured to himself and looked at other ingredients. “I can start!”

Thump! 

A very thick chunk of beef was thrown onto the chopping board. Xia Yu chose the sharpest kitchen knife in knife holder. He used the index finger, middle finger and thumb. Three fingers pinched the handle and blade. He breathed slowly twice and started to cut!

The two kitchen hands and Head Chef Kasumigaoka only saw the silver light flashing by, and the beef on the chopping board did not seem to change at all.

But Xia Yu’s movements didn’t stop. His right hand kept moving up and down at a very regular pace, as if he were directing an orchestra. The knife collided with the chopping board, and the sound was very pleasant.

Chef Kasumigaoka’s face changed.

He clearly remembered something and stared at Xia Yu who was seriously dealing with beef. “This knife skill… Is he a student at Togetsu?”

He also noticed that the way Xia Yu held the knife was a bit strange.

He stared at Xia Yu until Xia Yu finished handling the two large pieces of thick beef. Head Chef Kasumigaoka was even more puzzled.

There might be geniuses who had these kinds of knife skills among Togetsu’s middle school and high school students. However, from this young man, he seemed to have witnessed a head chef’s quality and elegance, which students who were still in school could not have. He was the one and only.

At this point of time, Head Chef Kasumigaoka had a sweaty face and immersed himself in thinking. 

From the moment that Xia Yu was processing ingredients, this kitchen seemed to change its owner and he could only be the kitchen hand for Xia Yu.

At that time, Kasumigaoka was also a top student at the cooking school. But the competition in Togetsu was very cruel. Barely any graduates made it out. He was weeded out in the second year of high school as he did not have the talent.

“Done!”

Xia Yu dealt with two big chunks of beef in one go. And he got some bacon strips and diced them evenly.

Next, he threw bacon strips of equal size into the pot and added water to cook. Xia Yu turned on the gas stove and glanced at it, and then turned back and said, “Help me get kitchen paper…”

Head Chef Kasumigaoka quickly handed him the roll of kitchen paper.

Moisture was taboo in beef dishes. The cut beef pieces must be squeezed dry. So, kitchen paper came in handy. Xia Yu’s expression was serious. He constantly pulled out the kitchen paper, wrapped the pieces of beef, and squeezed repeatedly.

But, after all, one person couldn’t handle the ingredients prepared for six people, so Xia Yu glanced at Head Chef Kasumigaoka next to him and the two other young kitchen hands. “Help me together!”

After the beef was drained, there were still many side dishes on the kitchen counter that had not been processed such as carrots, mushrooms, and parsley. Xia Yu handed over the work of making side dishes to Chef Kasumigaoka. Xia Yu took the pan and hot pot to start frying the bacon pieces after adding olive oil.

The bacon was fried brown, and Xia Yu silently counted the time of frying, down to the seconds.

He took the bacon out. There was leftover lard in the pan. The fire of the gas stove was still burning. Xia Yu skilfully grabbed pieces of dehydrated beef with the kitchenware and put them in the pan to fry.

With deep-fried sizzling sounds, Xia Yu tumbled the beef pieces, making every side of the beef a beautiful dark brown. 

When it turned to dark brown, it meant that it was ready to go. 

Xia Yu put aside the fried beef and reached out to the kitchen counter with his hands. “Chopped carrots and big onions!” 

A young kitchen hand hurriedly handed over the vegetable basket. 

There was still some oil left in the wok, so there was no need to add oil. Xia Yu tilted the vegetable basket and at the same time, he added carrots and large onions into the pan to stir fry. It couldn’t be overcooked. When the vegetables were coated in golden oil, he could take them out of the pot.

Xia Yu poured the carrots and large onions into the prepared iron saucepan, followed by the dark brown beef, salt and black pepper. The specific dosage depended on the chef’s grasp. 

The two kitchen hands opened their eyes wide. “Hey, is it really okay for him to put salt and pepper like this?” A kitchen hand was distraught when he saw Xia Yu like that. 

“I think there is no problem!” His companion looked at Xia Yu’s sweaty back, but he was full of admiration and envy. “Is he a student of Togetsu? He is surely a talented person…”

He thought about how he had learned cooking for a few years. He was still a kitchen hand, and he could not cook by himself. The young man bowed his head and clenched his fists in disbelief.

After salt and pepper, there was a more important process.

Flour!

Xia Yu grabbed a handful of flour and carefully sprinkled the beef and ingredients in the pot, forming a white batter to lock the moisture of the beef and increase the viscosity of the soup.

You didn’t need much flour. He just sprinkled a layer lightly. The next step was to stir.

Drip!

The oven had been preheated to about 230 degrees. The iron pan was uncovered. Put it in the oven and heat it for 4 minutes. Then take out the flour and bake it for another 4 minutes.

He took the cast iron pan out of the oven for the second time, and a strong fragrance filled the kitchen.

But the cooking process had not been completed.

Various ingredients of parsley, crushed leaves, thyme…

Finally, pour red wine to drown half of the beef, add less boiled water, and then put the iron pan on the gas stove and boil it.