"You're finally back, I've been waiting for ages…"
At that moment, Yūki Yoshino stood in the kitchen, idly fiddling with the seasonings.
Hearing movement from the entrance, she thought it was Soma Yukihira and was about to launch into complaints, but then she saw that the newcomers were Dylan, Megumi Tadokoro, and Ryōko Sakaki.
She immediately swallowed the words she was about to utter.
"Soma Yukihira isn't here yet?"
"Nope, I've been waiting here for half an hour. He's way too slow, don't you think?"
A rare hint of complaint laced Yūki Yoshino's words. She had wanted to finish this battle quickly and then rush to Dylan-sensei's lecture.
But now, Soma Yukihira was still nowhere to be seen, making her suspect he'd already given up before the fight even began. Otherwise, why such silence?
"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear."
Dylan had just opened his mouth to reply when he heard a commotion at the door. Glancing towards the door, he saw that fiery red hair, a symbol of passionate cooking.
"Kept you waiting, huh!"
A thin sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead, a sign he'd rushed over. Soma Yukihira returned to Polaris Dorm, striding into the kitchen and calling out inside.
"Dylan-sensei, you're here too?"
The moment he entered and saw Dylan in the kitchen, Soma Yukihira briefly flinched.
He turned to Yūki Yoshino, then noticed that she and the two people beside her all looked at Dylan with utter reverence, as if gazing upon their shared idol.
"Don't tell me... you're their mysterious teacher?"
It sounded like a question, but it was really a statement.
At this point, he'd be an idiot not to figure it out.
No wonder Yūki Yoshino was so confident, believing she couldn't possibly lose. So, she'd been mentored by Dylan, a Special Grade Chef. Looks like today was going to be a tough fight.
"I'm just an ordinary judge. You two don't need to worry about me too much."
Noticing the change in Soma Yukihira's expression, and understanding that he was now serious, Dylan casually waved his hand, feigning indifference.
Perhaps the commotion in the kitchen was too loud, as Fumio Daimidō also rushed over, her expression subtle as she watched the several people facing off in the kitchen.
Especially after hearing Dylan's words, she couldn't help but inwardly scoff.
"Someone's trying to steal my thunder, how rude! You must be Dylan, right? Thanks for taking care of Megumi and the others during this time."
"Fumio-obaa-chan."
Seeing the familiar figure appear, the others present greeted her. Dylan also saw her and naturally called out, "Fumio-obaa-chan."
"Hmm, since you're a Totsuki teacher, you're perfectly suited to be a judge for this match. However, this grandma has also tasted many students' dishes, so, count me in as a judge for this one."
"I never had any intention of replacing you, though."
Hearing Fumio Daimidō's words, Dylan shook his head with a bitter smile.
He had never thought of replacing her; he just wanted to be one of the judges.
"Well, in that case, I'm relieved. You two, don't just stand there like idiots, hurry up and start cooking! This grandma specifically skipped lunch for this, you know."
Watching the two who remained motionless, Fumio Daimidō urged them on.
"The match time is set for two hours, and the theme is duck. Any issues?"
Seeing them both nod, picking up their prepared ingredients and heading to the empty cooking stations, Fumio Daimidō took a deep breath: "Then I declare, the match begins!"
As if receiving an order, the two quickly sprang into action. While Dylan stood watching, Megumi Tadokoro thoughtfully brought a chair for him.
"Ugh, it seems the teacher-student bond is indeed closer. This old grandma feels back pain standing here, but alas, no one cares."
Noticing Megumi Tadokoro's actions, Fumio Daimidō pretended to casually raise her hand and rubbed the back of her hand, with a dramatic sigh.
"Fumio-obaa-chan, here!"
"Thank you, Megumi."
Hearing Fumio Daimidō's words, Megumi Tadokoro's face flushed slightly, realizing she had shown favoritism, and immediately brought another chair over.
Fumio Daimidō happily accepted the chair and sat down next to Dylan, then turned her gaze towards the two preparing to cook at their stations.
"He's using discount duck meat? He's seriously not taking Yūki seriously at all, is he?!"
Watching Soma Yukihira pull out the discount duck meat from his shopping bag, Ryōko Sakaki's expression shifted slightly.
She clearly saw the label on the box read '300 yen', obviously discount supermarket duck meat that hadn't sold. Her opinion of him plummeted.
Yūki Yoshino was treating this match very seriously, but this guy clearly didn't care at all, using such cheap ingredients.
Could he really believe that using such cheap ingredients, he could win against Yūki? He was far too naive!
"Discount duck meat is still duck meat. There's nothing wrong with the ingredient itself. If your skill is good enough, even discount duck meat can be delicious."
Watching the ingredients Soma Yukihira continuously pulled out, Dylan shook his head, but still smoothed things over for him.
He knew that Soma Yukihira probably couldn't afford a live duck. His family's meager living expenses were one thing, but more importantly, things in this area were really expensive.
Thinking of the prices he'd seen recently, Dylan couldn't help but curl his lip slightly. Of course, it was expensive, but he never looked at prices when buying things.
He was the leader of the Dark Cooking Society, and the entire Dark Cooking Society's wealth was under his control. Accumulated, it even exceeded a billion yen.
This was no exaggeration; the earning power of high-star Special Chefs was beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
"It's started…"
Megumi Tadokoro whispered, then saw Yūki Yoshino take a wild duck and hang it upside down on a wooden rack.
"Zzt… zzt…"
Fearing its violent struggles would affect the next step of preparation, Yūki Yoshino used a stun gun to stun the wild duck, rendering it unconscious.
Next, she sliced open its neck, and fresh blood continuously flowed from the wound into a large bowl she had prepared beforehand.
After slaughtering and bleeding it, came the singeing and feather plucking. This entire process took her almost half an hour.
Meanwhile, as Yūki Yoshino butchered the duck, Soma Yukihira took out all the discount duck meat and evenly brushed a layer of plum sauce onto the duck skin.
After finishing, he set it aside, then took out the freshly bought sour plums from the supermarket and skillfully prepared a plum sauce from them.
"Plum Duck? Something feels off…"
The process of killing the duck wasn't particularly interesting, so Dylan shifted his attention to Soma Yukihira, watching him prepare the ingredients step by step.
The duck with plum sauce brushed on its skin, a bowl of plum sauce next to it.
After processing the duck and preparing the sauce, Soma Yukihira went to the area where pots were stored to select a pot, quickly choosing a Dutch oven.
The advantage of a Dutch oven is its fast heat conduction, even heating, and good heat retention.
For dishes that take a long time and are slightly complex, needing the meat to fully absorb the sauce, it works much better than a wok.
Watching Soma Yukihira's movements, Dylan rubbed his chin, his expression slightly puzzled.
Because this Plum Duck, strictly speaking, was a Cantonese dish. How did Soma Yukihira know how to make it? And looking at his practiced movements, it clearly wasn't his first time making it.
"It must be something Jōichirō taught him…"
Considering that Soma Yukihira had an impressive father, Dylan found it reasonable and stopped thinking about it.
Soma Yukihira poured cooking oil into the pot, then placed the discount duck meat, skin-side down, into the pot. A delightful "sizzle" immediately filled the air.
He used the time efficiently to process other ingredients.
He halved the shallots, sliced the ginger, and peeled a few cloves of garlic. When the duck skin was fried golden, he used chopsticks to remove it and place it on a plate. Then, he poured in the prepared ginger, shallots, and garlic, sautéing them until fragrant.
Once the aroma was fully released, he returned the duck meat to the pot, but this time with the skin on top. This was to ensure even heating on both sides.
He poured in the ready plum sauce, then added two large scoops of hot water, ensuring the hot water covered the duck meat. He covered the pot, added rock sugar, and reduced the heat to a simmer, allowing it to stew slowly.
At this point, Soma Yukihira's dish was mostly complete. The rest was left to time, allowing the steady heat to slowly reduce and thicken the sauce.
During this process, the combined aroma of duck and plum slowly wafted from the Dutch oven, making mouths water, unable to stop imagining its taste.
On the other side.
Yūki Yoshino had just finished butchering the wild duck, using wax to completely remove any residual pinfeathers from the duck's skin. This was the most crucial step.
As for why it was important, if a delicious dish's ingredient still had pinfeathers in its pores, it would greatly affect the dish's texture and taste.
And it would look unsightly.
Therefore, before actual cooking, the duck had to be prepared meticulously.
The processed duck meat was blanched in water, then onions, carrots, celery, scallions, and ginger were added. The flame was set to high.
Then, she took a lotus leaf, cut it in half through the middle, and placed it over the ingredients.
She added angelica dahurica, cassia bark, star anise, white cardamom, sand ginger, and bay leaves, along with a few white peppercorns and Sichuan peppercorns.
She placed them all into a spice bag and added it to the pot when the water boiled, to remove the duck's gamey smell.
"When the temperature rises, the protein and muscles contract, and all the off-flavors from the intracellular liquid are released. Meanwhile, external flavors enter through thermal expansion and contraction, achieving the goal of removing gamey odors while enhancing fragrance."
Watching Yūki Yoshino's operations not far away, Dylan explained to the others present. This was the principle behind adding spices when blanching ingredients.
Many people knew how to do it, but didn't know why they did it this way.
Such chefs, while steady, would be unable to adapt or innovate. Even with great effort, their future achievements would be very limited.
"I see, there's so much to learn in this. Dylan-sensei is truly knowledgeable."
Hearing Dylan's explanation, Megumi Tadokoro and Ryōko Sakaki nodded in unison.
And at this moment, Yūki Yoshino placed the blanched lotus leaf at the bottom of a pressure cooker.
She placed the blanched and degamed wild duck on top of the lotus leaf, added blanched ginger, red wine, hot water to cover the duck, then covered it with two more lotus leaves.
Then, she sprinkled pepper and a generous amount of salt over the lotus leaves, poured in yellow wine, and finally added pre-soaked lotus seeds.
She covered the pot and pressure-cooked it on high heat for 50 minutes.
Looking at the dish that was just one step away from completion, Yūki Yoshino let out a long sigh of relief. Her anxious heart also settled somewhat, allowing her attention to relax.
Because Dylan was watching from the side, she wanted to perform perfectly, so her mental concentration had been extremely high. Besides the dish in front of her, she hadn't noticed anything else. Fortunately, everything went smoothly.
Looking at the dish in the pressure cooker, Yūki Yoshino clenched her small fists, her face filled with confidence.
"Replacing half the hot water with chicken stock would make it even more flavorful. Before killing the duck, there's time to prepare it in advance. You two should pay attention to that in the future."
"Okay, understood."
"Chicken stock? I see."
Watching Yūki Yoshino cover the pressure cooker, Dylan spoke to Megumi Tadokoro and Ryōko Sakaki.
Although it was just a small detail, it could significantly enhance the dish's flavor. Chicken stock was the key to elevating the flavor of many dishes.
"Now, we wait patiently."
At this point, both sides' dishes had entered the final waiting stage. Looking at Megumi Tadokoro and Ryōko Sakaki's expectant faces, Dylan murmured softly.
Soon, time passed.
Soma Yukihira's Plum Duck finished first. The moment the lid was opened, a rich aroma instantly burst forth from the pot.
Dylan closed his eyes, savoring it deeply.
"The fresh and fruity aroma of plum intertwines with the mellow richness of the duck fat, creating a multi-layered flavor that is both sweet and sour, yet subtly savory."
His Super Sense of Smell activated, and every subtle change in the Plum Duck's aroma was captured by him.
In an instant, all the cooking methods related to this dish formed in his mind, transforming into a clear, detailed culinary blueprint.
"Indeed, what you added at the very end must have been aged rock sugar, right?"
Opening his eyes, Dylan looked at Soma Yukihira, stating what he felt was a subtle discord: the last ingredient added to the dish.
In a more traditional Plum Duck, yellow rock sugar would typically be added at the end to enhance the dish's color and sweetness.
But now, the yellow rock sugar had been replaced with aged rock sugar. This simple substitution made the dish rustic and mysterious, giving it a feeling of having been refined over many years.
"You saw that?"
Dylan's sudden words surprised Soma Yukihira. If he remembered correctly, he should have been turned away from him at the time…
Could he have X-ray vision?!
"No, it's just that aged rock sugar and yellow rock sugar have different flavors, which become even more distinct after heating. That's how I knew you added aged rock sugar at the end."
Dylan shook his head, explaining.
"Just by smelling, he figured it out…"
Soma Yukihira's expression shifted slightly, but he accepted it. After all, Dylan was a powerhouse who had defeated his father; this might truly be a basic skill for him.
"Please enjoy, Plum Duck."
He took the duck meat out of the pot, then reduced the plum sauce at the bottom of the pot, pouring it over the dish. Thus, a world-class delicacy was completed!
"It looks pretty good, just a bit lacking in color. You should have added some dark soy sauce."
Looking at the golden-brown Plum Duck in front of him, Dylan nodded, then looked up at Soma Yukihira and pointed out a slight flaw.
Of course, its presentation was already excellent.
As for the specific taste…
Since Soma Yukihira had replaced rock sugar with aged rock sugar, it proved there was certainly an element of innovation. The specific taste would only be known after tasting it.
Thinking this, Dylan raised his chopsticks.
-
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