[Analyze Dish]: Grilled Eel Rice
[Quality]: Silver (Lower Grade)
[Analysis 2%]: Dish ingredients include Japanese eel…
As the dish entered his mouth, a system prompt suddenly sounded in Hoshino Sora's mind, but he didn't pay attention. At this moment, he was only focused on eating the eel in large bites. The sweet and spicy combination paired perfectly with the perfectly grilled eel.
His teeth met the perfectly cooked eel meat. With one bite, it was all incredibly tender fish meat and fat, along with the sweet and spicy grilled sauce. The combination was absolutely superb!
Of course, eating too much eel meat can be a bit greasy. At this point, you need to pair it with the shredded egg and rice below. The two can neutralize each other very well. Mixed with the appetizing grilled sauce, the chopsticks simply couldn't stop!
Almost burying his head in the bowl, Hoshino Sora ate the grilled eel rice in his hand in large mouthfuls, without even taking the time to sit down, as if even a second's delay would be disrespectful to the eel rice!
He seemed to finally understand why Genta in Detective Conan loved eel rice so much? This was just too delicious!
The taste was like playing by the river on a hot summer day, getting tired, and then a bunch of eels happened to swim by. After catching them all, setting up a small grill on the bank, and everyone happily roasting the eels together—how delightful that scene was.
"This is too little, isn't it? Who can eat just this small bowl?"
Coming back to his senses, Hoshino Sora found that not a single grain of rice was left in his bowl. Looking at the others, they had just sat down and hadn't even opened their platters yet.
"You finished a bowl of rice in less than a minute, you're really something."
"It's your portion that's too small. Such a tiny bowl, even a seven or eight-year-old kid probably wouldn't be full."
"The portion for one meal is about this much. I even added a bit more for you because I was afraid you wouldn't be full. Your appetite is just too big, Hoshino-kun."
Looking at Hoshino Sora, who was shaking his inverted bowl to show there wasn't a single grain of rice left, Erina Nakiri couldn't help but complain. The restaurants she usually visited for research served much smaller portions of eel rice than hers.
After all, high-end restaurants emphasize set menus, where each dish has a small portion, aiming to allow customers to enjoy as many different delicacies as possible, rather than gorging like pigs on a large serving of the same dish.
"Sora, you can have my eel rice."
"You can have mine too!"
Biting a piece of eel to satisfy her craving, Ya Xiang, suppressing the ultimate temptation, placed the eel rice in front of Hoshino Sora. Seeing this, Rika resolutely put down her half-eaten chopsticks and, not to be outdone, handed over her bowl.
In the end, their love for their brother triumphed over their appetite.
"You two eat. I also packed some braised pork hocks, so I won't go hungry."
Looking at Asaka-nee and Rika-nee, who were suppressing their drool to offer him their dishes, Hoshino Sora couldn't help but feel a bit touched. But he couldn't accept; taking food from someone else's bowl was a bit impolite.
As he spoke, Hoshino Sora opened the braised pork hocks he had packed and brought back. Although they were cold, this didn't affect their deliciousness, as braised dishes were themselves a type of cold dish.
He glanced at the rice cooker nearby; there was still a lot of rice left inside. Because there were five people in their family, Hoshino Tani Ren had specifically bought a large rice cooker when Yaxiang Lixiang and her sister moved in.
Quickly slicing the pork hock and cutting the braised egg in half, after a little effort, it became a decent-looking plate of pork hock rice.
"So fragrant!"
Although the grilled eel rice was good, its small portion couldn't satisfy the normal needs of a grown man. At this moment, the pork hock rice could make a dazzling appearance.
The fatty yet not greasy pork hock paired with steaming hot rice, and then drizzled with a spoonful of slightly salty braising sauce, was truly a heavenly combination. Three bowls of rice wouldn't be enough!
"You've had my eel rice, now try my pig trotter rice. It definitely won't disappoint you!"
Hoshino Sora said with a beaming smile to Erina Nakiri as he placed the steaming pig trotter rice on the dining table.
"Hmph, then I'll reluctantly give it a try."
Seeing Hoshino Sora's expectant gaze, Erina Nakiri, uncharacteristically, didn't refuse. Instead, she twitched her nose; the cooled pig trotter sauce didn't have an intense Braised flavor, and its appearance was unremarkable.
She picked up a piece of fatty and lean pig hock meat with her chopsticks, hesitated, and then put it into her mouth. As her lips and teeth met, a complex flavor burst forth in her oral cavity.
Most people eating Longjiang pig trotter rice might only taste the braised flavor, but Erina Nakiri was different. As the owner of the God Tongue, she could even analyze the ingredients of the braising liquid through this piece of pig trotter.
This also meant she could clearly discern the strengths and weaknesses of a dish. For example, with the dish in front of her, the taste immediately made her frown.
"Too many spices were added, resulting in an overly strong aroma. The braising time was too long, and the heat control wasn't very good. Each pig trotter, due to significant size differences, should have been braised for different lengths of time. The texture of this meat is too soft and mushy; it's not good."
A hint of disappointment flickered in her eyes, and she set down her chopsticks. Considering Hoshino Sora's previous performance, she had held a small expectation, but now it seemed her expectation had been dashed.
If he was only at this level, how did he manage to replicate her dish yesterday? That kind of control over ingredient flavors could only be achieved by a top chef.
"Is that so? I knew something was missing. So that's it."
"I really don't know how you beat me yesterday. At that time, the seasoning proportions and heat control were clearly so precise."
Hoshino Sora snapped his fingers. Hearing Erina Nakiri's evaluation, he didn't feel disappointed; instead, he felt full of motivation. Failure is the mother of success; if it's wrong, just improve it.
After all, he was just an ordinary person who started cooking halfway through. Although he had the system's support, his skill level was still limited. To put it colloquially, it was not up to par.
But it didn't matter. With his rate of progress, three months would be enough to reach the average level of Far Moon Academy. The key areas he needed to focus on were heat control and seasoning control.
Speaking of seasoning control, one of the main quest rewards seemed to be a cooking technique related to spices called Spice Equation. It seemed that to make a name for himself at Far Moon, he absolutely had to win a top-three spot in this competition!
"I think it tastes pretty good, though. Fatty but not greasy, with a lingering fragrance. Is it really as bad as you say?"
Ya Xiang picked up a piece of pig trotter meat, her expression a bit puzzled. To her, this pig trotter rice was incredibly delicious and sold very well in the shop, loved by many.
"Ultimately, it's still a dish made in a large pot. Mass production leads to industrialized crudeness. It should be seasoned and braised according to the different sizes of each pig trotter, or manually controlled during the braising process. Only then can its optimal flavor be guaranteed!"
Erina Nakiri, uncharacteristically, offered advice. Perhaps Hoshino Sora's heroic act of saving her earlier had subtly shifted her mindset, though she evidently hadn't noticed it.