食戟のソーマ 9 [Shokugeki no Souma 9] Quotes

“They pop in the mouth, just like salmon roe! But inside...
... is the savory saltiness of seaweed!"
"Those pearls are seaweed?!"
But how?!"
"Delicious! Not only is the pop of the pearl a fun texture, the salty, savory flavor of the seaweed melts seamlessly with the rice! I can barely stop myself! It's an addicting combination!"
"Wait... how do you know that technique? Those pearls are seaweed extract gelled into a spherical shape. The only way to do that is by using a calcium-chloride bath and an alginic-acid gelling agent!"
"What the heck?!"
"That's food science!"
"Yukihira pulled a page from Alice Nakiri's own book!"
"I've experimented with this stuff before, y'know. When I was a little kid, anyway."
"Wha-?! But that's-"
"Convenience store Dagashi Candy?!"
"Dagashi?! What's that?"
Both chemicals are on the ingredients list!
"It's what's called an educational candy. Kids play with that to learn how to make their own jelly pearls. I had a blast with it when I was little. I made lots of different stuff."
"Dad, look! I made miso pearls!"
"Aha ha ha! That's great! Now don't let any of the customers see that."
"You can get both alginic acid and calcium chloride at any pharmacy. I used those, along with some seasoned seaweed extract and a little bit of ingenuity...
... to make these savory seaweed bombs- my own spin on the traditional seaweed bento!"
"That's right! There were some educational candies in that pile of sweets he got from the kids yesterday!"
"The transfer student used a food-science trick?"
"And it was one he got off of a package of children's dagashi candy?!"
"Hmm? What's this? I see something that looks like okaka minced tuna hiding inside the rice..."
Mmmm! It's dried tunatsukudani!
This, too, earns full marks for flavor! And its smooth, juicy texture is a wonderful contrast to the pop of the seaweed pearls!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 9 [Shokugeki no Souma 9]

“Lobster tomalley fish innards! The richness of all the ingredients have melded into one powerful whole! What a robust, almost wild flavor!
Next, let's try the broth together with the noodles... here I go!
Ye gods! I have to hold myself together or I'll black out! As it is, that was nearly a knockout punch! Who knew umami flavor could be this powerfully violent!
How about the toppings? I see three varieties of shredded cheese. Rouille... *Rouille is a type of aioli, usually consisting of olive oil, breadcrumbs and various spices like garlic and chili flakes. It, along with croutons and cheese, is a standard garnish to Soupe de Poisson.* And are those tempura flakes? Aha! He must have added those as a crouton analogue!
And finally the rusk! It looks like it's been spread with Échiré butter and well toasted. Perhaps it was added as a palate cleanser for after that strong, rich broth.
WHAT?! What an intense, aromatic flavor! But where is all of this coming from?!
Hm? What are these pink flakes in the butter? Wait, now I see! Those shells he crushed! He had them dried to increase their umami flavor!"
"It's about time you noticed. I added those powdered shells to everything in this dish, from the soup stock to the butter on the rusk."
"See, the umami flavor in lobsters and shrimp comes from three elements: glycine, arginine and proline. Of all seafood, crustaceans carry the highest concentration of umami components, y'know.
Since Ryo took that powdered lobster shell- chock full of those three umami components- and added it to every element of the dish...
... it's, like, only natural that it's flavor is going to have a strong umami punch.”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 9 [Shokugeki no Souma 9]

“The sauce is made from the turtle soup stock she made, thickened into a glaze! Poured over the patty, it gives the meat a richer, more full-bodied flavor!
"I mixed the turtle's blood in with the patty. It warms the body from the inside out. But that isn't all.
I also added dried, powdered tortoise-shell to the patty. Tortoise-shell has long been a prime ingredient in vitality tonics in Chinese medicine."
"Both the sauce and the patty are chock-full of turtle everything!"
"No wonder the judges look that thoroughly satisfied."
"I totally get it! She must've made one incredible burger!"
"No.
You cannot fully understand.
Only those who have tasted this dish can understand its true essence."
"What?"
"The key to that power lies in the turtle's meat... with the plentiful amounts of gelatin found in it and the sticky sensation that creates!"
"Huh?"
"Stickiness?"
"That is correct, sir. Thick, piping-hot sauce... how thick it is greatly affects the flavor of the dish. The higher the viscosity, the more full-bodied the flavor becomes. Both the burger patty and the sauce I made from turtle stock are filled with gelatin-rich turtle essence.
At the back of the roof of the mouth is a collection of soft tissue...
called the soft palate.
It is one of the most sensitive areas in the entire human body!
With every mouthful, the thick, chewy patty and sticky sauce... get pinned between the twin walls of the tongue and the soft palate... stimulating that most sensitive of areas with each seductive bite!
In other words, this dish excites not only a person's sense of taste via flavor...
... it also seduces their sense of touch via texture!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 9 [Shokugeki no Souma 9]

“Anyway, great job today, Tadokoro. You really gave it your all!"
"Yeah. That was an excellent dish."
"Aha ha... thanks. Though I'm all tuckered out now. That was the first time I've done that, I think... cooking with the intent to really win, I mean.
I know I just lost... but for some reason I'm so excited right now!
I can't wait to get cooking again and try out new things!"
Megumi Tadokoro, was it? It seems I did disrobe for her dish... though not how I expected.
It was my loincloth that came undone!
That must mean that girl has a yet-untapped potential within her.
The 92nd graduating class...
... just may turn out to be a diamond generation.”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 9 [Shokugeki no Souma 9]

“Thanks to the soy-sauce-based kaeshi sauce, the broth does have a clean aftertaste, yes... but you would never expect this strong and sweet an umami flavor just at a glance!"
"How on earth could she-
Oh! The vegetable toppings... I've seen this combination before...
Kozuyu."
"Kozuyu?"
"Yes, sir! I made this dish based on Kozuyu but with a paitan stock and soy sauce for the kaeshi. It's Kozuyu Chicken Soy Sauce Ramen."
KOZUYU
It's a traditional delicacy local to the Aizu area in Northwestern Japan. A vegetable soup, its clear broth is made with scallop stock. Considered a ceremonial meal, it is often served in special bowls on auspicious days, such as festivals and holidays.
"Oh, so that's what it is!"
"She took a local delicacy and reimagined it as a ramen dish. How clever!"
"The scallop and paitan stock forms a solid foundation for the overall flavor of the dish."
"Who knew that ramen and Kozuyu would complement each other this well?"
"It looks like she also used a blend of light soy sauce and white soy sauce for the kaeshi sauce."
White soy sauce! While most Japanese soy sauces are made with a mix of soy and wheat... white soy sauce uses a much higher ratio of wheat to soy! This gives it a much sweeter taste and a far lighter color than regular soy sauce, which is why it's called white. Since Kozuyu broth is traditionally seasoned with soy sauce, using white soy sauce makes perfect sense!
"But white soy sauce alone isn't enough to explain this umami flavor! Where on earth is it coming from?"
"In this dish, the last, most important chunk of umami flavor...
... comes from the vegetables.
The burdock root, shiitake mushrooms, string beans... every vegetable I used as a topping... were first dried and then simmered together with the broth!"
Aha! That's right! Drying vegetables concentrates the umami flavors and increases their nutritional value! It also ameliorates their natural grassy pungency, giving them a flavor when cooked that is much different than what they had raw!
Megumi has captured all of that umami goodness in her broth!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 9 [Shokugeki no Souma 9]