Although it wasn't really complicated, the many steps meant that one mistake could completely change the dish. And for Hachiman, this was a recipe he had never even heard of.
After all, his family only ran a simple little restaurant. They didn't serve fancy food—most of the menu was made up of common dishes. Sometimes his dad would cook something a little unusual, but that was rare.
"Tadokoro, you handle the ingredients first."
"Okay."
Learning and cooking on the spot was already almost impossible, and the instructor was none other than the legendary Roland Chapelle. Trying to cook an A-rank dish under those conditions was even harder.
Hachiman stood alone in front of the blackboard, memorizing everything step by step.
Just then, mocking voices came again from below:
"Well, well, I thought this transfer student was supposed to be amazing, but turns out he doesn't even know the steps, hahahaha."
Hachiman ignored the provocation, shutting out all outside noise as if it didn't exist, focusing only on the blackboard.
At the same time, in his mind, he pictured the beef dishes his dad used to make. Every cut, every move, appeared before his eyes as if it were happening again.
When he opened his eyes again, fifteen minutes had passed. Tadokoro Megumi had just finished preparing all the needed ingredients.
There was still more than an hour left, so time wasn't the real issue. The key point was that for this dish, most people's results would end up being similar. To make it truly stand out, you had to change things from the very foundation.
Traditionally, the recipe called for soaking the beef in Burgundy wine for over 12 hours. The large chunks of beef would be placed in a container with two cloves of garlic, a bundle of herbs, a few cloves, onion slices, carrot slices, and then covered with a bottle of red wine.
After 12 hours of marinating, the beef would absorb the flavors of the spices and wine, making it perfect for braising. But obviously, they didn't have that kind of time now.
With only two hours to cook, most people would do something similar: braise the chosen beef shank and then put it in the oven.
Depending on the oven size, you would set it to 160–180°C and preheat for about 15 minutes. Take the marinated beef out, drain it, discard the garlic and cloves, and set aside the onions, carrots, and herb bundle. Heat some olive oil in another pan, sear the beef until both sides are browned, then stir-fry the onions and carrots for a moment. Sprinkle in a little flour, some salt, and freshly ground black pepper, mix well, and then put everything into a cast iron pot.
After sautéing the bacon until it released oil and turned golden, add it to the pot along with the herb bundle and two garlic cloves. Then pour in the reserved red wine and about 500 ml of beef stock. Add a spoonful of tomato paste, and place the pot into the preheated oven. Bake for around three hours, letting it slowly cook so the moisture stays inside. As the wine evaporates during braising, it blends into the sauce.
At this stage, many people would plate the beef with the vegetables and sprinkle on some parsley. That was the standard way, but because the process was so precise, even missing one step or adding too much of something could make the flavor too weak or too strong.
"Hikigaya, do you get it?" Tadokoro Megumi asked with worry. Many of their classmates had already started cooking during the last fifteen minutes, while they hadn't moved yet.
"More or less… it's pretty close to how my family cooks beef," Hikigaya answered calmly.
"C…cooking beef…" Tadokoro's face clearly showed disbelief.
"Let's start."
"Alright."
Since all the ingredients were ready, Hikigaya moved without the slightest hesitation. The recipe steps written on the board flashed through his mind one after another, and he carried them out perfectly, like a machine with no feelings.
Beside him, Tadokoro Megumi realized she couldn't really help with anything, so she just kept watching the big pot in front of her with worry.
"Hikigaya-kun, this needs to cook for 40 minutes."
"Hikigaya-kun, this one still has 3 minutes left."
"Hikigaya-kun, this one needs to be stirred for five minutes."
"..."
Her nervous look clashed with Hikigaya's calmness, making her feel completely out of place. She couldn't believe one person could handle so many things at once, and do each step as if he had practiced countless times. It was impossible to tell he had only just looked at the recipe.
The most surprising thing was how his sense of timing seemed like an alarm clock inside him, going off right on cue so that every ingredient kept its peak freshness.
'If I want to make a dish different from others, what would Dad add at this moment?'
'Honey can tenderize the beef the fastest, but... it still lacks that burst of flavor when you take the first bite.'
'It has to be this...'
Hikigaya sprinkled in a handful of bay leaves. Now all that was left was to wait forty minutes before taking it off the heat.
"Amazing... Hikigaya-kun, you're amazing..."
"No... I just followed the recipe."
"But you only just looked at the recipe, didn't you? Don't tell me, Hikigaya-kun, you really have a photographic memory?" Even before the dish was done, Tadokoro Megumi could already feel that Hikigaya had made something extraordinary.
Hikigaya shook his head. He wasn't as great as Tadokoro thought. All he did was combine the recipe he had just read with the experience he learned from his dad's beef stew. After all, the basic method never changes, and as long as you control the timing, it works out.
But from Tadokoro's point of view, this wasn't something as simple as just controlling time. Hikigaya had timed every step down to the very second.
For beef, cooking it one second too long or too short could ruin the texture.
That kind of precision was close to perfect. At Totsuki Academy, maybe only a handful of the very best could achieve even this simplest requirement. And yet, Hikigaya had done it.
At some point, Tadokoro Megumi's eyes became fixed on Hikigaya's face, unable to look away.
Hachiman lightly waved his hand, signaling that he had something to say to her.
Their distance closed quickly, and in a moment, their ears were almost touching.