Chapter 384: Chapter 296: Japanese Dipping Noodles with Sichuan Pepper Green Oil and Black Garlic Pork Bone Broth

"That’s indeed the case."

Nagishiro Sho nodded in agreement, "I’ve tried a few methods myself before realizing this truth. After all, we don’t have a sufficient understanding and knowledge of Great Xia culture, and relying on it without this understanding will only lead to imitation."

"Only those without the ability would choose the easiest and most effortless way, by taking food from another country as is, just changing a few ingredients and claiming it as their own specialty."

"?"

Raphael asked puzzled, "Which country is so shameless? Isn’t this cultural plagiarism?"

"Who else?", Marchello gently tapped his shoulder and whispered, "Think about the cuisines of several East Asian countries."

Cuisines?

Raphael blinked.

When talking about Sakura Country, the first things that come to mind are ramen and sushi.

Ramen doesn’t seem to be found in other countries, but sushi...

Images of certain areas with ubiquitous buffet sushi shops filled his mind, offering all kinds of sushi with a wide variety of options, alongside various sashimi and cooked dishes.

This likely isn’t it either.

Although many of these buffet sushi shops have Japanese signage, as a seasoned person in the food industry, he knows these shops are actually owned by Great Xia people.

Being a store of Great Xia, yet using Japanese signs and never claiming it as Great Xia cuisine, this alone excludes Great Xia Kingdom.

Moreover, Great Xia has a rich cultural heritage and is known internationally for its amicable reputation, so it’s impossible they would engage in cultural plagiarism.

Excluding Great Xia, East Asia only leaves Mongolia, Chao Country, and Kimchi Country.

Mongolia and Chao Country can be ruled out as those two countries have almost no cultural presence internationally.

Could it be Kimchi Country?

He isn’t very familiar with the matters of Kimchi Country though he’s tried Korean cuisine a few times, feeling it has its own national characteristics, yet the flavors are a bit too heavy for his taste.

Unable to figure it out for the moment, seeing that no one intended to elaborate, he could only suppress his curiosity, planning to check online later or simply ask Lin Chen.

As an East Asian, he’s surely knowledgeable about East Asian affairs!

Seeing his silence, Nagishiro Sho kindly explained:

"Although sushi is now one of the most famous foods of our Sakura Country, its origins are from a certain fisherman’s food in Great Xia. It underwent numerous modifications and evolutions after arriving in Sakura Country, eventually forming the unique sushi culinary culture."

"Authentic Japanese sushi is wrapped with raw fish and vinegar rice. If made into sushi rolls, they usually only contain raw fish, vinegar rice, and seaweed."

"Those buffet sushi stores were invented by Great Xia people. You have to admire their creativity in making so many diverse sushi roll flavors."

"I can confidently say that the reason sushi is so well-known is largely thanks to these buffet-opening Great Xia owners."

His face remained expressionless as if stating the most ordinary fact.

"I speak the truth as it is, vouching with my family’s reputation of over a hundred years that what I say is factual. I would not take all the credit for the rise in our cuisine’s cultural prominence solely for the Sakura people because of the help of Great Xia people."

"So, if borrowing elements from Great Xia cuisine, the first thing I say when introducing it to customers is always stating it is inspired by Great Xia, to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings."

"That’s the right thing to do."

Marchello gave a thumbs up, "A competent chef should not steal another country’s culture. Respecting other cultures is fundamental. My restaurants make it clear in the menu updates where certain ingredients originate."

"Let’s end this topic here as it’s deviating from today’s theme, and let’s consider how to incorporate Great Xia ingredient elements into our respective restaurant’s dishes."

Although the Amiens branch is under his name, the head chef is Raphael, and he would not intervene in others’ management. They’re long-term partners, familiar with each other’s level.

He actually hopes both restaurants develop distinctly different styles, as the effect would be better that way.

"It’s actually quite simple, after all, as an East Asian, many ingredients from Great Xia still have similarities with ours."

Nagishiro Sho turned and walked into the cold storage, soon emerging with a basin.

"This is cold dipping noodles I made this morning, using our Sakura’s special handmade soba method to make black soba noodles. The sauce includes miso, pork bone broth, black garlic juice, sweet soy sauce, and Great Xia’s rattan pepper oil and freshly poured chili oil."

"Our Sakura Country has a spice called sansho, which tastes similar to Great Xia’s rattan pepper, also having a numbing taste but much milder and lacking the fresh aroma of rattan pepper."

"Comparing rattan pepper and peppercorns, I found peppercorns to have too strong a flavor, potentially not suiting Western tastes whereas rattan pepper’s taste is just right."

"I originally wanted to add the aromatic red oil that Lin Chen makes, but the process is a bit cumbersome and I haven’t had the chance to experiment, so I’m using oil-poured chili powder as a substitute to see how it tastes."

After hearing his introduction, Marchello and Raphael were immediately intrigued.

Using Japanese ingredients and Japanese methods, while slightly adding some Chinese elements, can achieve innovation while ensuring the overall direction is correct.

This method is indeed the most common way of innovating. The challenge lies in controlling the amount of innovative components, making it both familiar and unfamiliar. The key is that it must taste and look good to be welcomed by diners.

"I haven’t tasted the complete flavor myself either, so it’s just right that you two can help check it out."

With that, he took three clean small bowls from the side and scooped a spoonful of secret sauce into each bowl.

The sauce appeared in a rather strange color, with a brown surface interspersed with faint black and red oil dots. Stirring it a bit reveals a broth underneath that alternates between milky white and creamy yellow.

It has a very obvious flavor of Japanese tonkotsu ramen broth, with a slight miso aroma and a mild hint of chili fragrance.

"The method of eating Japanese dipping noodles is to cook the noodles, serve them separately on a plate, and treat them differently depending on the type of noodle."

"Cold dipping noodles mean the noodles are cold, and the sauce is cold too. Diners pinch some noodles and soak them in the sauce before eating."

"If it’s hot dipping noodles, then the sauce provided is concentrated ramen meat broth, boiled to scorching heat before serving, and the noodles are rinsed several times in cold water to ensure a chewy texture."

After briefly introducing Japanese dipping noodle culture to the two, they seemed quite interested and picked up chopsticks to grab three or four strands of handmade black buckwheat noodles to dip in the small bowl.

Buckwheat noodles themselves aren’t special, as they had eaten them before; the difference lay in the handmade aspect.

Like pasta, handmade and ready-made are completely different textures, a unique characteristic of noodles.

"Sllrp—"

Gently slurping, the noodles coated in the rich sauce easily slide into the mouth.

At first, there’s a very rich garlic aroma, followed by the distinctive, concentrated meat fragrance of tonkotsu broth, as if the essence of countless bones has been condensed into this one bite, delivering an incredibly intense flavor impact.

Unlike Western veal broth or chicken bone broth, which have a very mild taste and are used as water substitutes for cooking to enhance flavor.

This Japanese tonkotsu broth inherently has an unparalleled umami taste, and any ingredient added to it is merely a supporting role, while the main character is the broth itself.

The texture of handmade buckwheat noodles is remarkably unique, with a strong chewiness and a pronounced buckwheat aroma, clearly conveying the texture of whole grain noodles.

The noodles themselves have a slight alkaline taste, common in Japanese noodles, and paired with the concentrated garlic tonkotsu soup base, the cold sauce mixed with chewy, slippery noodles gives a refreshing feeling from inside out.

Though this tonkotsu broth is cold, it’s not greasy at all; in fact, due to the addition of a small amount of prickly ash oil, it has a slightly refreshing feel.

Logically, such a rich meat broth should solidify when cold, yet it maintains a paste-like liquid state. It’s likely that other broths were added for dilution purposes.

But after all, it’s their secret recipe, so they can’t divulge every detail. Even providing a general introduction is quite generous.

Nagishiro Sho didn’t rush to eat it himself, since he had made it, he could roughly guess what it tasted like.

Instead, he was quite curious about what kind of reaction the two French chefs would offer.

His restaurant is a fusion one, serving Japanese cuisine in a Western style, so the opinions of the two chefs are particularly important for reference.

"It tastes great!"

Marchello was the first to speak, chewing carefully for a moment, then lifted the small bowl to taste a bit of the separate broth dipping sauce.

"Although I haven’t tried dipping noodles before, I’ve had tonkotsu ramen countless times, so this should be a cold version of tonkotsu ramen."

"In terms of taste alone, there’s definitely no issue; it’s an exquisite noodle dish overall, but!"

He paused slightly for two seconds, seemingly contemplating the exact phrasing.

"I wonder if it’s because I’ve tasted authentic Great Xia cuisine, my threshold has been raised, and I feel the numbing sensation is too subtle, not highlighting the characteristic of Sichuan peppercorns, and the chili oil is almost non-existent."

"Raphael, what do you think?"

"Me? I basically agree with you; it’s delicious, but not distinctive enough. It does feel like a bowl of cold tonkotsu ramen, just with the noodles replaced by handmade buckwheat noodles. However, the texture of these buckwheat noodles is indeed excellent and worth emulating."

"I knew it!"

Nagishiro Sho had an expression of knowing this would be the case, and instead of picking up a bowl, he turned around again and fetched a bottle from the nearby counter, dripping four or five drops of bluish-green oil into each of their bowls.

"Now please stir and have another taste."