From the beginning, Mai Shiraishi and Sayuri Matsumura formed a sharp contrast.
Mai Shiraishi immediately took a potato and started cleaning it, while Sayuri Matsumura was giggling blankly on the side. Which one is reliable and which one is not is clear at a glance.
"Let's start cutting the sweet pepper~" Sayuri Matsumura said to the camera while holding two sweet peppers.
Some of the mapo tofu in the so-called "Chinese cuisine" in Japan are sweet and spicy, so adding sweet chili pepper is not too outrageous. What's outrageous is Matsumura's cutting method. She doesn't hold the vegetable with her left hand, but presses it on the back of the knife to cut the two intact peppers into random pieces without removing the seeds, even after she feels that the pieces are a bit too big. , crush it directly with your hands.
On the other side, the mayonnaise star put the potatoes wrapped in plastic wrap into the microwave and started making his own mayonnaise. Add egg yolks, mustard and salad oil, and mix well with a mixer. Compared to Sayuri Matsumura, Mai Shiraishi is more ingenious.
After cutting the sweet peppers, Matsumura put the pieces into the pot, poured in a lot of water, then poured a small bowl of raw meat directly into it, and stirred it up with chopsticks on the low heat setting of the induction cooker. Amamiya Shiori only felt that this was not a kitchen, but some kind of alchemy workshop. Add a little more green to Matsumura's pot and make it bubble a little more like an alchemy boiler.
Matsumura Sayuri began to use her wild imagination to add ingredients to the pot. A few tablespoons of bean paste, half a bowl of soy sauce, and a whole bowl of tomato sauce constantly challenge everyone's common sense. There were bursts of screams in the studio.
"That, that is Matsumura's original cuisine, please understand." Shitara helped her smooth things over.
"Matsumura-san, what's in the pot now?" Shitara started the live connection, "Is it tofu?"
"It's tofu." Matsumura replied with a blank look on his face. Then he took a shovel and put the large pieces of tofu directly into the pot without cutting them. The tofu that fell on the table was not spared, and all of them went into the hodgepodge. There was another long-lasting wailing at the scene.
Himura watched the tofu put into the pot after wiping the table, and held his forehead speechlessly.
Corresponding to Sayuri's Hell's Kitchen, Mai Shiraishi's kitchen on the other side is like heaven.
The cucumbers are cut with regularity and the homemade mayonnaise is perfect. Microwave-roasted potatoes are paired with mayonnaise mixed with ham and cucumber, making a simple potato salad refreshing.
Mai Shiraishi has finished it, but Sayuri Matsumura still needs the last step to thicken it.
Matsumura thickened the gravy differently from ordinary people. He directly grabbed a handful of starch and sprinkled it into the pot. He stirred it a few times and took it out of the pot without caring whether it was evenly distributed.
When the two entered the studio carrying their own dishes, Himura's expression was complicated.
The first thing I tasted was Shiraishi’s potato salad. Himura used a fork to fork a small piece of potato, dipped it in mayonnaise, and then ate it with ham and cucumber.
Himura smiled and gave Shiraishi a thumbs up, "Yummy!"
"Great!" Shiraishi clenched his fist happily, and applause erupted from the audience.
"Although I have eaten a lot of potato salad, this one basically ranks among the top three." Himura was generous with his praise.
After finishing the delicious food, it was Sayuri’s turn for original mapo tofu.
"Please use Mapo Tofu." Matsumura brought the plate to Himura.
"Wait a minute, Matsumura, what's that white thing on top?" Shitara asked knowingly, pointing to the unincorporated white starch on the surface of the paste.
"Is it moldy? What is this?" Himura teased.
With the mood to die, Himura scooped up a full spoonful, "I'm starting!"
After just two chews, his mouth enlarged and his face became ferocious.
"Eh? What's wrong?" Shitara asked.
"It's so spicy! It's so spicy!" Himura chewed hard.
"Is it spicy? But isn't Sichuan food all very spicy?"
"It's so hot-" Himura moaned exaggeratedly.
After thinking about it for a while, he gave his final evaluation, "Although it's spicy, it's not unpalatable."
Such an unexpected comment made Matsumura jump with joy.
Himura: "It tastes like sweet and sour pork ribs."
Shitara: "Maybe it's because ketchup is added."
Although the taste is passable, the presentation is really not good-looking. Matsumura's mapo tofu not only contained large chunks of undercooked vegetables, but also starch chunks that had not been fully exposed to water. All I can say is that it’s an unexpected surprise that it’s not unpalatable, so don’t ask for too much.
Next is the round between Takayama Kazumi and Amamiya Shiori.
Takayama wants to make spaghetti with meat sauce, while Amamiya Shiori wants to make dumplings.
In Japan, dumplings specifically refer to fried dumplings, which are a side dish rather than a staple food. You can often see rice with dumplings, noodles with dumplings, and even weird dishes such as dumplings with rice, mapo dumplings and so on.
"Start cooking!" Following Shitara's order, Amamiya Shiori selected the ingredients while Takayama Kazumi was still confused.
A bowl of minced pork, half a cabbage, dumpling wrappers, plus green onions and leeks.
"Amamiya, what is the most important thing about making dumplings?" Shitara was connected live.
"It's dumpling filling!" Amamiya replied as he put salt, chicken powder, pepper, soy sauce and minced garlic into the pork. Because there weren’t that many spices on site, and there wasn’t that much time for her to make sesame oil, so she just made it directly from the finished spices.
"Yes, so are you ready to make any dumplings today?"
"Pork and cabbage stuffing!" Amamiya Shiori faced the camera.
Wear disposable gloves and use your hands to stir in the pork with the seasoning. Because the pork is minced, it's easy to stir, and the sticky meat filling is ready in no time.
Takayama Kazumi on the side quickly got into the mood and started frying meat sauce.
"This group is amazing, they all look professional." Shitara exclaimed in the studio.
"So there are so many people in Nogizaka who know how to cook?" Himura suddenly felt that he would enjoy a delicious meal today.
Amamiya Shiori cut onions, cabbage and leeks into small dices, poured them into the meat filling and stirred evenly.
Smelling the aroma of the meat filling, Amamiya Sugawara smiled with satisfaction.
The next step is to make the dumplings. Put an appropriate amount of filling in the middle of the dumpling wrapper, apply some water on the edge of the wrapper to facilitate adhesion, and pinch out wrinkles.
There was a lot of stuffing, so Amamiya made more than 20 dumplings.
The last step of frying the dumplings is relatively simple.
Heat the oil in the pan, arrange the dumplings, and fry the bottoms over medium heat until they are slightly golden brown. Then pour in the flour water, cover with a lid and fry over high heat for three minutes. Open the lid and pour a little sesame oil over medium heat to slowly reduce the juice. It's done when the water is almost gone.
The finished dumplings are golden and crispy on the side close to the pot, exuding an attractive aroma.
While Takayama next door was still cooking noodles, Amamiya Shiori fried another pot full of dumplings.
Finally, put it on the plate. There are four portions for Himura, and two dishes of vinegar and soy sauce are placed next to it. You're done.
As the saying goes, dumplings are not as delicious as dumplings. Amamiya Shiori is very confident that she can get praise from Himura.
