Souma Yukihira Quotes

This wrap! It's made of rice!
Now I get it... it's a variation on a Bánh Xèo!"
BÁNH XÈO
Literally meaning "Sizzling Cake," it is a Vietnamese rice-flour pancake.
The batter is made from rice flour, water, coconut milk and other ingredients and is then spread thinly and fried like a crepe.
Once cooked, ingredients like pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts are folded inside.
I see the concept behind this dish now!
It's mixing piping-hot rice with juicy fried chicken!
Fried chicken and rice have always been a golden combination.
Here they've recreated that in a form that's easy to eat on the go and just as delicious.
And they even managed to do it in an innovative and eye-catching way! ~ Yuto Tsukuda

By the way, there's one more benefit to freezing eggs... that I neglected to tell you earlier.
Y'see...
by freezing them, the robust flavor of the yolks gets even richer!"
"The flavor of the yolk... changes?!"
"When you freeze a chicken egg, its proteins condense into a jelly... which gives it a tender and creamy consistency when you cook it. The flavor of the yolk in particular becomes deep and rich! Basically, freezing the egg is the biggest reason this tempura rice bowl is as delicious as it is!
Plus, I made sure to pour on plenty of Yukihira Family Restaurant's special savory and salty house sauce! It's soy sauce and mirin added to bonito stock. I made sure this batch was extra rich! There's no way it wouldn't par perfectly with the rice and egg!
The thing is, luxury-brand eggs all tend to have strong flavors from the get-go. Using them would make the entire rice bowl taste heavy and cloying."
"Wait. Is that why...?!"
"Yep! Since the sauce I use is thick and heavy, and freezing eggs makes their flavor richer...
... a blander egg is the best choice!"
"Oh! He had a legitimate reason for using those cheap eggs!"
"That's Soma for you! ~ Yuto Tsukuda

It starts with chicken thigh meat cut into big, thick chunks. They're then set to marinate for the morning in a Nikumi- Original Marinade featuring soy sauce and cayenne pepper.
"Breading done."
"Thanks!"
"Man, the smell of this chicken deep-frying is so good, it's making me hungry!"
"Is it done yet? I wanna eat!"
After the chicken breast has been fried not once but twice...
... it, along with lettuce leaves and other leafy herbs...
... is all wrapped up in our special, freshly cooked wrap!
Some of our "Secret Chili Sauce" (which has a dash of Thai Nam Pla in it for flavor)...
... and a sprinkling of fresh cracked black pepper top it all off! ~ Yuto Tsukuda

Thick and creamy egg, fragrant roast quail... and the rice! It all makes such a hearty, satisfying combination!
Wait, something just crunched?
"See, there are five parts to a good chicken-and-egg rice bowl.
Chicken... eggs... rice... onions... and warishita.
*Warishita is a sauce made from a combination of broth, soy sauce and sugar.*
"I seared the quail in oil before putting it in the oven to roast. That made the skin nice and crispy... while leaving the meat inside tender and juicy.
For the eggs, I seasoned them with salt and a generous pinch of black pepper to give them some bite and then added cream to make them thick and creamy! It's the creaminess of the soft-boiled egg that makes or breaks a good chicken-and-egg bowl, y'know.
Some milk made the risotto extra creamy. I then mixed in onions as well as ground chicken that was browned in butter. I used the Suer technique on the onions. That should have given some body to their natural sweetness.
For the sauce, I sweetened some Madeira wine with sugar and honey and then added a dash of soy sauce. Like warishita in a regular chicken-and-egg rice bowl, this sauce ties all the parts of the dish together. Try it with the poached egg. It's seriously delicious!
Basically I took the idea of a Japanese chicken-and-egg rice bowl...
... and rebuilt it using only French techniques!"
"Yukihira! I wanna try it too!"
"Oh, uh, sorry. I only made that one."
"Awww!
You ~ Yuto Tsukuda

I can see Mr. Yukihira is sautéing cubed chicken, diced onion, prawns and uncooked rice in his.
He filled the frying pan with the gentle flavor of butter, and he's now softly wrapping it around each and every one of his ingredients!
On the other hand, Mr. Saito heated some garlic slices in oil until fragrant...
... and then added his butter together with soy sauce, cuttlefish and cuttlefish liver.
The unique and luxuriantly salty smell of the bounty of the sea is being taken to even greater heights with the rich scent of butter! ~ Yuto Tsukuda

This texture...
you used an aspic."
"Bingo! Those golden cubes under the egg...
are a chicken aspic!
So what's an "aspic"? Easy! It's a jelly made from the chilled broth of gelatin-rich meats and fishes.
I simmered chicken wings in bonito broth seasoned with saké and light soy sauce. This drew the chicken's natural savory flavor and gelatin into the broth. I quickly chilled the resulting broth until it gelled, and then cut it into small cubes."
"It was the aspic he was making in that enormous pot."
"Sprinkle the cubes over piping-hot rice... and the rich chicken aspic will melt and coat the egg curds with a "ploop"!"
I see. In other words... the aspic is really a thick, rich and savory chicken soup! The full-bodied and salty flavor of the aspic broth... brings out the soft, mild sweetness of the egg curds perfectly. Not only that, each bite is a heaven of fluffy smoothness.
In every way, the aspic is emphasizing and magnifying the deliciousness of the eggs! ~ Yuto Tsukuda

There's the apple's crisp texture and mildly sweet flavor. The onions, which have been simmered to a smooth softness...
... and the crunchy, salty bacon on top, cooked to crispy perfection. But the apples really holds the spotlight. Its mild sweetness spreading throughout the risotto.
It's gentle caress...
... gradually wakes you from your slumber.
Like the soft kiss...
... of a prince! ~ Yuto Tsukuda

My Deep-Fried Pork Cutlet with Fondue Lunch Set is ready to eat!"
A Lunch Set?! With fondue even?!
Wow, that's, um... a really Soma thing to make!
"So I'm assuming the cheese is a dipping sauce? And it's in this little pot?"
"Yep, you got it. Go on and give it a good dunking."
"Here we go...
huh?
It's black?! Wait a minute, isn't this supposed to be cheese?!"
Mmm! Sooo gooood! It's so light and tender! The crunchy outer shell practically melts in your mouth the second you bite into it!
And the sauce is mellow and rich, melding together with the cutlet in indescribable deliciousness!
"Wait... what is this sauce?!"
"At a glance, it looks like tonkatsu sauce- the plain old black paste that always goes with pork cutlets. But it's really a black cheese sauce!
I made an eggplant puree from chunks of eggplant I grilled over a brazier until their skins were charred good and black. Then I took that puree, rich with the unique aroma of charcoal grilling, and blend it with cheese!"
"Ah! Now I see! The soft flavors of cheese and chargrilling work together, lingering in the mouth as a light but rich aftertaste!
That's how you managed to give such a refined and elegant deliciousness! ~ Yuto Tsukuda

The scent of the spicy squid is almost too much to handle!"
First we start with bite-size chunks of squid sautéed in some olive oil and squid ink...
Once the flavors have fully melded together, in goes a generous splash of white wine to flambé them!
Then some cabbage and onion for sweetness! Tomatoes for a little zing!
And finally... the secret ingredient!
"What the heck? Look at that giant needle!"
"You're not going to use that on the food, are you?!"
We convinced a local restaurant to let us have their huge pile of leftover shrimp heads and seafood shells. By boiling it all down, we infuse all their savory umami goodness and richness into olive oil...
... making a big batch of Hayama's special red olive oil! Using a cooking injector, we inject a dose right into the yolk of a soft-boiled egg, aaand...
PLOOP ~ Yuto Tsukuda

There is such a thing as "live" cooking. Instead of chefs cooking in a kitchen and bringing a complete dish to the waiting customer... the chefs cook out on the floor where the customer can watch them perform.
Good performances heighten anticipation for the dish... and entertain the customer by showing them how contrasting ingredients come together.
"Wooow! Look at how many he's doing at once!"
"He's crazy fast!"
"Cool..."
Soma has put on a flamboyant show...
... to capture the hearts of his customers!
Not bad! Who would have thought he'd turn his own skills...
... into a performance to turn the situation around. ~ Yuto Tsukuda

How were you able to complete this dish?"
"Easy! I used honey.
I rubbed it on the meat before we cooked it...
... and I added it into the seasonings afterward too."
I see! Honey is rich in proteinase, an enzyme that breaks down proteins. By using it as a rub on the tough cut of beef...
... he was able to tenderize it in a short period of time!
"But how did you know honey would do that?"
"When I was little, I read in a cookbook that pineapple juice could tenderize meats. But we don't often get the chance to buy whole pineapples.
So I experimented with stuff to see if anything else could do the same thing.
Of all of them, honey keeps the best and it's by far the easiest to use! ~ Yuto Tsukuda

Grated potato was added to the crepe batter, creating a thick and chewy Crepe Alsacienne! Yukihira realized this was meant as a wrap for the ingredients...
... and that spurred his idea to mix cheese, sliced potato and sardines together to make a crispy Galette de Pomme as a garnish to the dish!
Look what that does to the dish! It gives it contrasting textures of crispy and chewy, along with the invigorating saltiness of seafood, none of which are present in the traditional recipe!
*Galette de Pomme is a lightly fried cake of julienned potatoes.* ~ Yuto Tsukuda

Father...
this Institute, which you have denied with all of your might...
... is the place where I've lived, grown and been reborn.
I have become a different chef...
... a different person!
"All right! Time for the clincher, don'tcha think? You've already swiped a ton from me, so why not finish the job?
Go on and say it!"
"You can't be serious?! Must I?"
"C'mon! Who else could close this out but our Captain? Do it!"
"Ugh. Fine. If you insist."
"THE WINNER IS...
THE RESISTANCE!"
"HAPPY TO SERVE! ~ Yuto Tsukuda

No that's beside the point. I just decided to take instead of being taken. It's not a question of good or bad, wrong or right. It's just what I want to do.

Mitsuko Souma ~ Koushun Takami

Little by little - no, a lot by a lot - they all took from her. No one gave her anything. Mitsuko became a hollow shell. ~ Koushun Takami