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Yūto Tsukuda Biography

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“Hm. A dal bean curry, eh? It looks similar to Chana Masala, a Punjabi dish that uses chickpeas... ! This viscous stickiness...!" "It's Natto!" Gooey texture and savory flavor are melding together inside my mouth! Was natto ever this delicious? "Wait... this is no normal natto! Could it be..." "Yes, sir. This natto I made by hand using charcoal smoke. It's charcoal-aged natto. After I added the natto spores to a batch of soybeans, I stored them in an underground room. There I lit a charcoal fire and then kept the room at just the right temperature and humidity to ferment the soybeans. As this process takes several days to complete, I prepared it ahead of time, over my summer break." "The carbon dioxide generated by the charcoal fire impacts the maturation of the soy proteins. It gives the natto a richer flavor. It also halts bacteria death in the beans, preventing the typical smell of ammonia from developing!" "Did you know all that?" "I heard a little about it once. It's supposed to be a really hard process that takes loads of time to finish!" "And she made it by herself?!" "But that isn't all. There's another flavor--- a deeper, more savory one that resonates across the tongue like a deep bass chord." "Oh, that? As a special hidden seasoning, I added shoyu koji." SHOYU KOJI Instead of salt, soy sauce is added to the koji bacteria and mixed with the rice until thick. Then it is left to ferment at a constant temperature for several weeks. So that's the black stuff that was in that jar! Shoyu koji has over ten times glutamic acid---an umami component--- than shio koji does. I see. While the strong flavor of curry spices drowns out most other seasonings, shoyu koji's flavor is powerful enough to that it is instead a savory magnifier! Her curry takes full advantage of her detailed knowledge of fermentation techniques! It is truly a magnificent dish! "The creamy Japanese-style curry roux has blended in with the natto's gooeyness beautifully!" "The mound of crisp, minced green onion on top is hard to resist as well!"”

Japanese FoodCurrySeasoningAgedSoybeansSoy SauceFood ScienceFermentedSmokedNatto
Book:食戟のソーマ 7 [Shokugeki no Souma 7]
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“With standard pot stickers, the filling is enclosed in a wheat-dough wrapper. But with these, the filling is stuffed into a chicken wing. "Stuffed chicken wings. You can call 'em chicken-wing pot stickers too. So you made some stuffed Satsuma Jidori chicken-wing pot stickers, eh, Yukihira?" "You got it! First, you remove the two long bones inside the wing... Then you stuff the filling in the cavity they leave behind and fry 'em up! That's the basics of a stuffed chicken wing." "Mmm! I can smell their savory aroma from here. What's in the filling?" "Well, there're the basics, like ground pork, chives and cabbage. I added some diced pork jowl too. Oh! And shiitake mushrooms. That's the important part. See, chicken meat has inosinic acid in it, and shiitake mushrooms have guanylic acid. Both of those are umami components. Together, they magnify each other, giving the dish a richer flavor.”

Souma YukihiraFillingsUmamiChicken WingsFood ScienceAcidsPot StickersShiitake Mushrooms
Book:食戟のソーマ 17 [Shokugeki no Souma 17]
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“Mm! Good stuff, good stuff! Wild-game curry, eh? That dish was way more of a masterpiece than I expected!" Really! Who would've thought I'd get to try deep-fried duck cutlets! Their robust, gamey flavor paired exquisitely with the curry sauce! "The strong smelliness of the meat was thoroughly ameliorated by the clever use of turmeric and orange. In French cuisine, duck is traditionally garnished with an orange sauce." "True! I added in bits of orange and grated peel into the roux too! It goes awesome with the special garam masala spice mix I put together!”

OrangeDuckSeasoningsCurryGamey
Book:食戟のソーマ 7 [Shokugeki no Souma 7]
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“The aroma of spices and pineapple melded into a beautifully colorful fragrance in her pineapple-curry fried rice!" The sweet tart of the pineapple and the saltiness of the fried rice spread through the mouth in a wave! It's a similar idea to sweet-and-sour pork, another Chinese dish that uses pineapples. "As a finishing touch, she hollowed out a whole pineapple, poured the fried rice inside its shell and then baked it in the oven. The inside edge of the pineapple shell was even rubbed with salt to prevent too much sweetness from leeching into the rice." "Doing that meant only the fragrance of the dish increased without changing the taste or drying out the rice. Traditional Chinese cooking has taken yet another small step forward with this dish.”

CurryPineappleChinese CookingFried RiceSweet And Salty
Book:食戟のソーマ 7 [Shokugeki no Souma 7]
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“Wait, is that... ... a Calzone?!" *A calzone is meat and cheese folded together in a pouch of pizza dough, depending on the area of Italy, calzones are either baked or deep-fried. "Aren't calzones usually stuffed with salami, mozzarella cheese and other pizza toppings?" "Ah, I know! Yes, I was right! This calzone is stuffed with curry! Then this dish is "Italian-Style Curry Bread!" Oh-ho! This dish is already interesting, being so different from all the others! Now let's see what it tastes like." "Mph! Th-this flavor... tomatoes? The curry is bursting with the rich tanginess of tomatoes!" "Yep. I made that curry using only water I extracted from tomatoes." "Tomato water only?! Are you saying you used no other liquid in this curry at all?!" Yes, sir! See, if you stuff a pot full of tomatoes and turn on the heat, you can get a surprising amount of water out of them. I blended a special mix of spices that works with the tart tomato water... ... and made a thick curry sauce that's full of the rich flavor of tomatoes. The crust is a sourdough I made using my family's handmade, natural grape yeast too." The outer crust is crispy and flakey... ...while the inside is chewy and mildly sweet.”

WaterTomatoesCurryItalian FoodExtractionCrustIsami AldiniCalzone
Book:食戟のソーマ 7 [Shokugeki no Souma 7]
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“If Takumi is beating the eggs whole, that means he's making a Genoise sponge cake for the cake layer, which has a soft and smooth texture but tends to be flat. But by beating the eggs separated, Mimasaka is probably making a biscuit sponge cake for the cake layer, which is fluffier and will soak up more of the syrup! "In other words, my cake layer will take better advantage of the sweet syrup than yours. I bet you picked Genoise sponge cake for its tender, smooth texture. That's fine on its own, but if you try them side by side... ... mine will taste better.”

ItalianLayersBakingTakumi AldiniSponge CakeBiscuit
Book:食戟のソーマ 10 [Shokugeki no Souma 10]
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“The citrusy tang of lemon floods the mouth! At the same time, the rich aroma of almond tickles the nose! Both flavors are seamlessly brought together with no bitterness or clashing at all! It's sweet and mild and fragrant! I can feel it awakening the heart of a maiden within me! "I chose a Biscuit Joconde for the sponge cake because it matched so well with the almond pralines. It gives even the cake layer the aroma of almonds, without disturbing the flavor balance in the least.”

ItalianCakeDelicateLayersLemonsAlmondsSemifreddoBiscuit
Book:食戟のソーマ 10 [Shokugeki no Souma 10]
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“What is Gosetsu Udon, you ask? Meaning "snowy noodles," it is a local specialty from Kutchan, Hokkaido, one of the snowiest places on Earth! The Kutchan region is a big producer of potatoes, and one of the most famous kinds they grow is the extra mealy and starchy Irish Cobbler Potato, also called Danshaku. It's from that potato that Gosetsu Udon Noodles are made! In fact, Gosetsu Udon Noodles are 95 percent starch! First, boil the potatoes, and then peel them... Mash them until they're smooth and fluffy... Then add water, salt and flour to make the dough! "There wasn't enough flour left for us to use. But thankfully... ... there were a few bags of this still available!" Potato starch! That was meant to be used for dusting cutting boards and table surfaces when making handmade noodles! It's not normally used as an ingredient in noodles... but as it's potato starch, that changes when it comes to potato noodles! Acting as the glue holding the noodles together, it also adds that extra starchiness for making the finished noodles that much chewier!”

PotatoesNoodlesJapanese CookingLocal FoodHokkaidoStarchUdon
Book:食戟のソーマ 21 [Shokugeki no Souma 21]
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“This broth! How can it be this rich and mellow?! It's just creamy enough to go perfectly with the noodles too! And this savory flavor! It's so deep and expansive!" "I grated some potato and added it to the stock. That's what's giving the broth its creaminess. Believe it or not, the potato is another vegetable that contains the umami compound glutamic acid. That compound seeped out into the broth, giving it it's rich and savory flavor. Plus, I only grated the potato roughly, so there are still little beads of potato in the broth, giving the texture some interesting highlights." "But what about this topping? What is it?! Hnngh! I knew it! Imo-Mochi Potato Cakes! They're soft and chewy on the inside and crisp and crunchy on the outside!" Imo-Mochi Potato Cakes are another Hokkaido specialty. Made with potatoes and potato starch, they're a popular treat with tourists. The heavy, chewy potato cakes soaked in the creamy broth are a pleasing textural contrast... ... to the light and sleek udon noodles while also giving the dish an extra sense of fullness and satisfaction! "Unbelievable. It's almost as if this one dish... ... contains all the expressions of a potato possible in cooking!" "Exactly! Y'see, this dish---" "This dish uses all facets of the Irish Cobbler Potato, accenting its starch, its unique texture and its umami goodness. In fact, it can be considered the ultimate in potato-noodle dishes!”

CakePotatoesNoodlesSouma YukihiraSavoryUmamiTakumi AldiniCompoundUdon
Book:食戟のソーマ 21 [Shokugeki no Souma 21]
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“The outer wall of meat was already extravagantly delicious... ... but now it's as though a mellow yet aromatic geyser of savory umami flavor has suddenly burst through! Ah! There, between the layers of meat! Some sort of thick juice is seeping out!" "Yep! I've boiled down some meat stock and seasonings to make an extra-thick Jellied Consommé! Right before serving, I used a special cooking injector to inject it into various spots in the meat layer. As you eat, you stumble across it unexpectedly, giving the dish sudden, intriguing changes of flavor!”

MeatJellySouma YukihiraCavemanInjectorInterchanging
Book:食戟のソーマ 30 [Shokugeki no Souma 30]
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“The lemons I used were pickled in salt for over two weeks!" "I knew it! You used preserved lemons!" A North African condiment, salted lemons are made by pickling whole lemons in salty brine for weeks or months. Because the entire lemon, including the peel, is pickled parts of it can be used to emphasize just about any flavor... ... be it tartness, saltiness, bitterness, freshness or mellowness! "I added the zest and pickling brine in my sponge cake, pralines and even the sauce! Its mild tartness should make the sweetness of the semifreddo stand out even more!”

SweetnessLemonsZestTartBrinePreservedSponge CakeSemifreddoLayer
Book:食戟のソーマ 10 [Shokugeki no Souma 10]
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“The mellow cheese melds together seamlessly with the chicken in the pâté... And by serving it warm instead of chilled, far from ruining the firmness of the meat, the moistness of the chicken has instead come alive! Not only that, the flavor of the porcini sauce is hardly overwhelmed. In fact, it now has a complex and intriguing taste to it! This is still a rough idea with plenty of room for improvement, but the promise is there. By deliberately matching powerful taste with powerful taste... ... they are actually magnifying each other!" "Well? Whaddaya think, Erina-chi? Is it good? Hm? Hm?" "Nope, the greasiness of the pork came out too strong. It's made the whole thing taste too heavy." "Yeah, but I'd still like to retain the pork's richness somehow!" "Are you all experimenting with another dish? Oh! Both chicken and pork? That combination won't do at all. You can't simply add more and more things, you know. Remember, less is more." "Hang on. How about we add some kind of tartness to it? Isn't there something that can keep both the chicken's umami and the pork's richness while zapping the greasiness of it all?”

Food For ThoughtCheeseMushroomsPorkChickenSouma YukihiraErina NakiriExperimentingTaste Test
Book:食戟のソーマ 18 [Shokugeki no Souma 18]
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“So that's the Wanmono Soup made by Satoshi Isshiki... ... the so-called Master of Aggressive Japanese Cuisine." "Look how beautifully it's plated! Even the ingredient colors are coordinated!" "A true work of art!" "Just looking at it sucks me in." "But the taste... how does it taste?! Is it as delicious as it is gorgeous?!" "Just one sip of the broth was enough to send a shock wave surging through my body. Delicately constructing a wanmono soup out of just hare and konbu is difficult enough. But to incorporate clam stock as well?! And so seamlessly too!" "Clams?!" "Wait, the soup broth is hare... and also clam?! How does that even work?!" "There are four major components of a proper wanmono soup. Suiji --- the broth that forms the backbone of the dish Sukuchi --- the ingredients that accent the dish's aroma Wandane --- the main ingredient of the soup Wanzuma --- the side ingredients that complement the wandane Blending the hare and clam stocks in a seven-to-three ratio infused the suiji broth with the mellow, salty body of the clams... ... putting a new, delicious spin on the traditional wanmono soup broth! And the fresh, tangy aroma of yuzu fruit in the suikuchi accent neatly underscores that flavor, making it stand out all the more! With this, he's done nothing short of innovatively reinventing a traditional Japanese soup stock!”

SoupComponentsJapaneseClamsHareBowlSatoshiSoup Bowl
Book:食戟のソーマ 29 [Shokugeki no Souma 29]
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“This! That powerful intensely rich flavor is the true greatness of A5 beef!" "And this cut was roasted taking into consideration the angle of the heat! Heating a cut of meat perpendicularly to its grain ensures the meat will heat evenly and that the greatest amount of juice will be produced. First class chefs always read the meat's grain when they cook it!" "Don't forget the rice hiding under the beef petals! Steamed in butter and beef's own grease, this garlic rice is exquisite!”

HeatGrainRiceBeefGarlicIkumi MitoDonburi
Book:Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 2
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“The cream sauce has a rich, full-bodied bitterness to it that makes the tongue tingle... Its spicy freshness lightens up the thick, heavy flavor of the roast beef to exactly the right degree! The wallop the meat's juice packs is no joke, but I feel I could keep eating this forever! Sure, he shoved a mountain of artichokes into this dish... ... but how did he manage to make their uniquely fresh, vibrant and astringent flavor stand out this much?! "This, too, is the result of Mr. Eizan's highly skilled use of cynarine. Any unnecessary source of sweetness has been removed, which makes the taste of the cream sauce stand out even more starkly." "Whoa, Whoa! Slow down. I'm totally lost here!" "I get that cynarine's supposed to make stuff taste sweet, but how does that even work?" "Is it so bitter that anything tasted afterwards seems sweet by comparison?" "No, it isn't anything as simple as that. Cynarine directly affects the taste buds." Yep! When you eat food that contains cynarine, the compound spreads across your tongue as you chew, covering up and thereby blocking the taste buds for sweetness. That's what's happening with Yukihira and the judges right now. Their tongues can't taste sweet, so bitter flavors really stand out. As they eat other food, the act of chewing gradually wipes the cynarine off the tongue. Slowly, their taste buds resume their normal functions. But here's where the important bit happens... Since the tongue has been blocked from tasting sweet flavors for a time... ... even a tiny bit of sweetness will now stick out like a sore thumb! "When there's a ton of cynarine smeared on the tongue, even a cup of water will taste supersweet.”

CreamSweetnessReductionSauceTaste BudsArtichokesRoast BeefFood ScienceAlice NakiriCynarine
Book:食戟のソーマ 27 [Shokugeki no Souma 27]
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“Chestnuts have always been an ingredient that goes well with gamy meats. And in French cuisine, chestnuts are often seen in combination with venison. But the mildly sweet flavor and tender texture of these sweet chestnuts makes them melt in the mouth! That flavor combined with the smoky aroma of the charcoal grilling, makes the juicy meatiness of the venison stand out in stark contrast! This flavor isn't something that could be created with regular chestnuts. It's a deliciousness made possible precisely because he chose to use sweet chestnuts! "He minced some of them and added them to the sauce as well! Doing that spread their mild sweetness throughout the whole dish!" Soma's Chestnut Sauce Starting with a base of Fond de Veau (a brown stock usually made with veal), he added a cinnamon stick, orange zest and minced sweet chestnuts and then set the sauce to simmer. "Wait a minute. How odd! Charcoal grilling usually adds a unique and very distinctly bitter taste to ingredients. A taste that is decidedly outside the canon of French flavors! Yet this dish has taken that bitter taste and somehow made it fit seamlessly! Is there some secret to it?!" "That would be the coffee." "What?!" "Coffee?" "Yep! You guessed it! That's the Divine Tongue for you. One of the things I learned at Master Shinomiya's restaurant is that cacao goes really well with game meats. I've never used cacao much, though, to be honest... So instead I grabbed some instant coffee! The bitterness of coffee is similar enough to pure cacao that it paired up nicely with both the charcoal grilling and the gamy venison... ... resulting in a deeply rich and astringent flavor that's perfect for a truly French sauce. I added both coffee and chestnuts as secret ingredients to my sauce! This is a Yukihira Original and a brand-new French dish. I call it... ... Charcoal-Grilled Venison Thigh with Chestnut Sauce." In formal Japanese cooking bowl dishes, such as soups and rice bowls, are constructed from four elements: the main ingredient, the supporting ingredients, the stock and the accents. Similarly, the French dishes are constructed from three different parts balanced in harmony: the main ingredient, the sauce and the garnishes. But this dish... this is eccentric and novel and entirely unconventional while still remaining undeniably French! It's almost as if it's a nugget of flavor found only by cracking and peeling away the shell of common sense...”

CoffeeSauceSeasoningsCharcoalSouma YukihiraChestnutsGrillingVenisonSweet And Bitterness
Book:食戟のソーマ 20 [Shokugeki no Souma 20]
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“Baking with a salt crust! Salt is mixed with egg whites and then spread over the top of the dish to form a thick crust. This ensures no moisture escapes during baking, keeping the goodness of the ingredients concentrated inside. It's said that centuries ago, when Shogun Hideyoshi Toyotomi was deployed on maneuvers, he'd cover his fish in a salt crust to prevent it from rotting. Because of the insulating wall of salt, the dish is heated gently and evenly while in the oven... ... its juiciness and deliciousness slowly growing within its protective shell. The dish is considered complete... ... when you crack open the now golden-brown salt crust.”

SaltCrustEishi TsukasaBakedInsulated
Book:食戟のソーマ 30 [Shokugeki no Souma 30]
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“It's Apicius-Style Duck. Enjoy." Apicius-Style Duck is a dish said to have been a favorite of a famous seventeenth-century Italian gourmand. The recipe calls for duck breasts to be roasted and then have the skin side coated in spices and a caramelized honey glaze. "Look at how the caramelized honey gleams!" "The layer of spices crusting the outer skin smells amazing too!”

HoneyDuckAkira HayamaCaramelizedApicius
Book:食戟のソーマ 11 [Shokugeki no Souma 11]
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“Okay, next step is making the syrup... ...with this!" He even has the limoncello! Limoncello! That's an Italian lemon-flavored liqueur. Sponge cakes, especially Genoise, are often brushed with syrup, but the standard flavors are usually almond or rum! That he happened to pick limoncello too! "Trattoria Aldini has a specialty that uses this, doesn't it? Your Limoncello Panna Cotta. I hear it's so popular that customers come in droves when it's in season in February. I figured you'd likely use it in your semifreddo.”

ItalianLemonsSyrupTakumi AldiniLiqueurLimoncello
Book:食戟のソーマ 10 [Shokugeki no Souma 10]
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“Hainanese Chicken Rice An entire chicken is steeped in broth at sub-boiling temperatures and is then served with rice steamed in the same broth. Originally a Chinese dish, it was spread across Southeast Asia by migrants from the Hainan Province. A well-loved staple, it is also known as Khao Man Tai or Singapore Chicken Rice. *Many restaurants that serve it will also serve chicken soup on the side. "That makes perfect sense! This dish is an excellent choice for emphasizing the unique deliciousness of the Jidori! I already know it can't help but be good!" "That one's yours." "Uh, thanks. I'll dig right in." Delicious! It's too delicious! The tender meat so perfectly steeped! Each bite is sheer decadence! The delicate yet bold umami flavors! But that's not all... Next comes the very best part! As if that one bite wasn't enough, after it's swallowed... ... There's the subtle and sophisticated aftertaste! "Mmm! That decadent flavor lingers in the mouth for so long! Exquisite! Simply exquisite! This dish is the pinnacle of Jidori cooking!" "Don't stop yet. I've made three dipping sauces to go along with it. Chili sauce, ginger sauce and some See Ew Dum." *See Ew Dum is a dark, thick and sweet soy sauce commonly used in Thai cooking. Its viscosity is similar to tamari. "I made the chili sauce by grinding red peppers and adding them to the broth from the steeped chicken. The ginger sauce is fresh ginger mixed with chicken fat I rendered out of the bird.”

RiceChickenAsian FoodDipping Sauce
Book:食戟のソーマ 17 [Shokugeki no Souma 17]
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“With the bird heated through, it's time to dress it. The feet and wings get chopped off and go right back into the boiling pot with some cilantro. Together, they will boil down into the perfect soup stock! While the stock is simmering... ... I'll set the uncooked jasmine rice I stir-fried to steam." "Ooh! And he isn't steaming it in plain water either! He's using some of the water he heated the bird in... ...which is now a light broth brimming with the Satsuma Jidori's renowned umami goodness!”

HerbsChickenSteamingSoup Stock
Book:食戟のソーマ 17 [Shokugeki no Souma 17]
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