81 A Dish That Could Change Western Cuisine
Night.
Soma, with dried squid in his mouth, finally broke down after enduring extreme hunger and fatigue! Who would have thought that the Totsuki Academy's campus would be so vast? It took him several hours to reach Polar Star from the assessment location as indicated on the map.
Eventually, he arrived at the Polar Star Dormitory, only to find the buildings here to be rather old and worn out.
"So tired!"
"Is this really the Polar Star?"
Souma withdrew his gaze, wearing an expression of resignation.
Suddenly, a chilling breeze blew, giving him a spine-chilling sensation. Quickly, he approached and rang the doorbell.
"Who's there? Is it Megumi from Room 302 returning?"
Soon, an older voice came from inside, and then the door opened slightly, revealing an elderly woman's head peeping out.
Using the corner of her eyes, the dormitory supervisor, Fumio Daimidō, looked puzzled when she saw that it wasn't Megumi but a young man with short red hair - the transfer student, Soma.
"May I help you?"
"Is this the Polar Star?"
Souma scratched his head, feeling unsure.
"Yes!"
"Who are you?"
Fumio frowned, then slapped her head.
"Look at me and my memory. You are the transfer student, Soma, who wants to stay here, right?"
"Let me introduce myself. I am the dormitory supervisor, Umido Fumio. Of course, you can call me the Polaris Warden, or you can call me Grandma Fumio..."
"Polaris Warden?"
Hearing this, Souma felt embarrassed.
He suddenly had a bad feeling and figured he might have arrived at a strange place!
"Are the ingredients ready?"
"Ready for what?"
Souma looked puzzled.
"Didn't you know that every student who wants to stay at the Polar Star Dormitory must undergo a housing trial?"
Seeing that Souma seemed unaware, Fumio put her hands on her hips and continued without any hesitation, "If I can't see your cooking skills, you won't step foot into this dormitory!"
"And if you can't pass the trial, you have to spend the night outdoors, so..."
"Interesting."
"Can I borrow your kitchen?"
"I truly have no knowledge of this housing trial."
"But since there is such a requirement, I naturally need to perform well and gain your approval with my cooking!"
Finally, with a slight smile on his lips and a sharp look in his eyes, Souma said this to Fumio.
"Huh?"
Fumio was taken aback by this.
...
Before cooking a dish.
We must try to understand it; this is the basis of deliciousness!
After all, the taste of a dish can vary greatly depending on each chef. Of course, this is not about the problem with the recipe, but the chef's habits, techniques, and so on may vary.
Use medium-high heat, cook until the soup is clearly lower than the rice, then turn to low heat and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
Throughout the process, keep it uncovered. After about 10 minutes, insert the clams, then add squid, scallops, shrimp, and prawns in that order.
Note the way to add seafood. The clams and scallops should be inserted. Only then can they release delicious juices into the rice.
Then, the squid takes longer to cook than the prawns, so it is placed at the bottom, and the prawns and shrimp are placed on top to reduce their cooking time.
Cover the pan and simmer for 6 minutes.
The reason for 6 minutes is that after about 2 minutes, the lid will start to heat up and cooking will start. At 5 minutes, the prawns' skin turns red.
Generally, the continuous heating time for seafood should not exceed 3 minutes to keep it tender and fresh to eat.
Simmering the seafood for an additional minute is to allow more sweet juices to flow into the rice, creating an explosion of flavor throughout the entire pot.
During the final simmering of the seafood, pick the parsley leaves and chop them.
As the dish is served, sprinkle the chopped parsley, then cut two pieces of lemon. The aroma... just smelling it is delightful!
...
The seafood rice served on the table was steaming continuously.
The saffron-infused rice appeared a beautiful golden color under the light, gently covering the plate with a delightful fragrance.
Meanwhile, the seafood rice's surface was covered with clams, oysters, fresh shrimp, prawn tails, and various flavors of seafood that permeated each grain of rice, bringing the taste of the sea into every bite.
At this moment, a single glance was enough to deeply appreciate the Valencia seafood rice that Zane made.
He seemed like a master creator, blending a variety of seafood and rice to create the aromatic seafood rice before them!
"What?"
"Is this... still the Valencia Seafood Rice I remember?"
Looking at it, Taki couldn't help but exclaim.
Even without tasting it yet, she deeply felt that this dish had the potential to change the entire Western cuisine just from its appearance!
The delightful and crisp squid.
The fresh and tender white prawns.
The soft and sweet scallops.
The rich and succulent clams.
The crisp and resilient seaweed.
...
These seafood ingredients with their diverse colors and flavors, neatly arranged in bright ceramic plates, combined with the soft and glutinous rice, evoked a hearty and delightful urge!
"Come."
"Let me offer you a unique wine from the Valencia region."
"Eating and drinking it with the seafood rice will be even more enjoyable."
So, Zane placed his specially prepared two glasses of wine in front of Taki and Sonoka.
Perhaps to pair this esteemed Valencia rice with a complimentary beverage, they had also concocted a drink blended with sugar, orange juice, and Kahlúa, which they aptly named:
Valencia Water.
Taki withdrew her astonished gaze, then eagerly spooned up a mouthful of the seafood rice.
While the prawns, clams, and squid seem to be the most enticing elements of a dish of seafood rice, many people might overlook the fact that the "rice" is the real star. The foundation of making seafood rice lies not in abundant seafood, but in growing rice.
This principle is similar to why a pizza is considered a pizza. It's not about how diverse the toppings are, but first and foremost, you need a base dough.
As she took a bite, her mouth was filled with the flavors of the sea. Then, layer by layer, the taste gradually unfolded in her mouth, akin to the waves of the sea washing up on the shore.
Preserving the hardened core of the rice grains, along with the layer of crystallized rice at the base of the pan, is what gives genuine Spanish seafood rice its unique texture. Thus, upon swallowing, Taki couldn't help but widen her eyes!
"This... rice..."
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