Because…
He hadn't obtained the Hundred-Hole Knife yet.
Therefore, Zhang Fan could only use an ordinary kitchen knife, drilling many small holes and then threading them with steel wires to form steel rings!
"Young Lady!"
"His kitchen knife has many small holes drilled in it, and it's threaded with steel wire!"
Beside them, Hisako noticed something.
"Zhang Fan!"
"Are you planning to use this strange kitchen knife to prepare the sea bream meat?"
Erina, who had come back to her senses but was still at a loss, couldn't help but step forward and ask.
"Yes!"
"That's right!"
"If I want to complete that dish, I need a kitchen knife like this!"
After Zhang Fan finished speaking, he turned on the stove, adjusted it to medium heat, and placed the kitchen knife on it to heat up. This action naturally left both Erina and Hisako bewildered.
The kitchen knife.
It was already bizarre enough on its own!
Why did he also have to heat it with a normal fire?
...
However.
At the same time.
Zhang Fan had prepared a cloth towel, the kind Yukihira Soma often wore on his wrist in the original story.
He first wrapped the white cloth towel tightly around his right hand like a bandage, then prepared a basin of cold water!
"Could it be…"
"He… he's going to…"
Seeing Zhang Fan's actions, Erina quickly understood, and her face turned pale with shock!
Is he crazy?
What kind of dish requires such a method?
"Huh?"
"Young Lady!"
"What exactly is he doing?"
Hisako Arato blinked her bright eyes. Being less perceptive, she didn't seem to realize the seriousness of the situation!
After a few minutes, when the kitchen knife on the stove glowed red, Zhang Fan, quick-eyed and quick-handed, swiftly turned off the stove.
Then, to the stunned gazes of Erina and Hisako, he used his right hand, wrapped in the entire cloth towel, to firmly grasp the kitchen knife!
"Ah!"
Seeing this scene.
Hisako immediately covered her face in fright.
At this moment, she finally understood how crazy Zhang Fan's method was!
And even though Erina had anticipated this step, actually seeing Zhang Fan grasp the glowing red kitchen knife without hesitation still greatly shocked her!
If Zhang Fan's knife skills just now made her feel inferior,
Then the spirit Zhang Fan displayed now made her admire him wholeheartedly!
...
Tap!
Tap!
Tap!
Then, as Zhang Fan continuously wielded the kitchen knife in his hand,
The sea bream meat on the cutting board seemed to be shattered into tiny pieces, like cherry blossoms falling in spring, with various meat scraps flying into the air, then quickly dropping into the plate in a parabolic arc.
The reason why the cut sea bream meat directly turned into minced meat was due to the small holes and steel rings on the kitchen knife.
But!
Regardless.
Zhang Fan's current performance truly left Erina unable to recover for a long time!
Logically speaking, there were many ways to preserve the flavor of sea bream, but Zhang Fan chose this particularly extreme method.
He was using the kitchen knife's own heat to instantly sear the surface of the fish meat while preparing the sea bream, thereby preserving the fish's freshness and flavor!
"So that's it."
"That's why he drilled small holes in the kitchen knife and threaded them with steel wire to form steel rings?"
"After all, when cutting sea bream meat with a kitchen knife, this process creates pressure at the contact surface. And this pressure causes the sea bream meat to be squeezed into those steel rings, forming minced meat of the same size!"
At this point.
Erina's mind was instantly in turmoil.
She had never imagined that Zhang Fan's new dish would be so groundbreaking!
One might ask, in the entire culinary world, which chef would dare to use such a self-mutilating method to fully bring out the fresh flavor of sea bream and create the most perfect dish?
...
Crack!
Finally, at the moment he finished preparing the sea bream, the kitchen knife in Zhang Fan's hand finally broke!
Perhaps it was because the kitchen knife's material wasn't very good; or perhaps, after heating, the blade gradually cooled and hardened during the process of cutting the sea bream, losing some of its toughness and ultimately leading to breakage!
At this moment, Zhang Fan disregarded the broken kitchen knife, quickly untied the cloth towel wrapped around his right hand, revealing a slightly scalded palm!
Afterward.
He didn't say a word.
He directly placed his right hand into the basin of cold water.
He used the cold water to draw away the residual heat from the scalded area, preventing continued scalding of his right hand!
"Are you... are you alright?"
Leaning over and seeing the slightly red right hand in the cold water basin, Erina's voice softened.
"I'm fine! Although wrapping my right hand with a cloth towel is a big taboo in the chef industry, as it affects the feel when using a kitchen knife, it was unavoidable!"
Zhang Fan looked up and smiled at Erina.
"No."
"The cloth towel..."
"What I mean is, is your hand seriously injured?"
"It's fine."
"It's just a slight scald."
"Soaking it in cold water for a while and then applying some burn ointment will be enough!"
Zhang Fan said truthfully.
"Only a ghost would believe you!"
Erina, looking at Zhang Fan, who remained calm and composed, couldn't help but feel a little choked up.
If a kitchen knife is a chef's weapon, then their hands are a chef's best tools.
For a chef, having exquisite culinary skills is certainly important, but while the soft skills are improved, the hard skills must also be undamaged! If one doesn't have a pair of perfectly intact hands, no matter how great their cooking skills are, what good are they?
"Why."
"Did you have to do this?"
Finally, Erina asked, her eyes filled with mist.
"Didn't I tell you?"
"I want to make the most perfect dish for you to taste!"
Zhang Fan's words made Erina subconsciously believe him, which made her feel deeply touched: "So you have to go to any lengths, you have to risk scalding your right hand?"
The most important thing about cooking is to make it for the people you care about; that is the most meaningful thing.
This truth has always permeated the entire food wars!: shokugeki no soma world, and this is what the current Erina cannot yet understand!
But at this moment, she truly felt it from Zhang Fan!
"Pfft!"
"You actually believed that?"
Looking at Erina, who was on the verge of tears.
Zhang Fan withdrew his right hand from the cold water basin and couldn't help but laugh: "The method for this dish is to use the kitchen knife's own heat to preserve the deliciousness of the tai snapper, so I had no choice but to use this method, but it has nothing to do with you!"
"Moreover, someone like you is not worth such an effort from me yet, so don't be too narcissistic or self-congratulatory!"
"Huh?"
Erina couldn't help but be stunned!
This guy always talks big.
But he's also so mysterious and completely unfathomable, it really infuriates her!