Using fish as the main part, then adding many kinds of other things to cook with it, is a type of Italian cooking. It's pretty simple and bold.
Takumi is from Italy, after all. He figured out what it was pretty fast.
Takumi: "Usually, they add olive oil, tomato, and shellfish."
Isami: "Another thing is that this dish doesn't seem to use much seasoning. In other words, it really needs to show how fresh the ingredients themselves are."
Takumi: "Because it's simple, it's easy to see right away if the ingredients are good or bad. For someone like him who grew up by the sea and is very good at cooking seafood, it's a dish he's really good at and that suits him well."
The two of them explaining helped everyone at the Polar Star Dorm understand the situation a little better. But... it wasn't just that. Yukinoshita, who pays close attention to things, quickly noticed something strange.
Yukinoshita: "All of those ingredients taste like things you could eat as the main part of a meal. If you cook them all together, it kind of weakens the taste of the Pacific saury."
"I don't think Kurokiba wouldn't know that."
Alice smiled: "I know Ryo's skills very well. He's prepared a lot for Hachiman as his opponent."
Even though Kurokiba doesn't live in the Nakiri's house, he always tells Alice his plans when he's in his normal state. And Hachiman has definitely seen him at the seafood market these past few days.
So...
The only thing it could mean is pretty clear.
The Pacific saury, which is in season, won't have its taste weakened by the other ingredients. Instead, it can be the base for the whole dish.
Alice: "If you look at it another way, Ryo has always been very confident in his skills!"
After all, he'd be kicked out of the kitchen if he couldn't make good food. Losing his place to live would be like a child waiting to die. He grew up in that kind of situation, so he trusts his cooking more than anything.
Now, he doesn't need any reason.
As a top chef, he doesn't need to think about anything else when he's cooking. He just puts his whole heart into the dish, giving everything he has.
Okamoto: "Amazing, you can't feel any excitement or stress from the back-to-back matches."
Anton: "Yeah, it's incredible. They're both like that. You can't feel any panic at all. They can even keep their movements so precise. They must have learned that when they were little."
That's right. Neither Hachiman nor Kurokiba are affected by what's going on around them. They're both putting pressure on each other, but they can't cross that line. They're just showing their skills in their own areas.
Alice: "No matter what, as long as they show their skills, they won't have any regrets."
Almost ten years ago, when she found out that Erina had a helper, Alice, who had the heart of a child, was jealous and started looking for a 'helper' about the same age in Northern Europe.
But it's very rare to find a child in Northern Europe who has skills as good as Alice's at such a young age.
When Alice first met Kurokiba, she knew he was the one she had been looking for. But Kurokiba was only ten years old and was already the head chef at a restaurant. It was impossible to make him obey her.
So, Alice challenged Kurokiba to a fight. They fought almost every day for a year.
During that year, Kurokiba only won once.
Alice watched him closely and knew that his terrible need to win was Kurokiba's scary weapon. He couldn't relax or run away. He just kept accepting his losses and kept challenging Alice, even though he was already the head chef at a restaurant.
They got to know each other through those daily fights and eventually became Alice's helper.
Alice always believed that there was no enemy Kurokiba couldn't beat. His terrible need to win let him attack again and again. But...
Only Hachiman could make him lose his value with just one cooking clash.
His only chance to beat Hachiman was the first time. After seeing him grow, Alice couldn't lie to herself anymore. Soon, his skills would improve so much that they couldn't be measured.
So...
As long as he doesn't have any regrets, right?
As everyone watched, Kurokiba started to move faster. He had a pair of scissors in his right hand and a thin heat-resistant film in his left.
The film can withstand temperatures over 200° and as low as -40°. It can be used to wrap things and heat them. Of course, he learned the molecular cooking methods from his match with Alice.
Hachiman: "It's finally starting... I'll just watch him for a while before I finish preparing my ingredients."
He stopped what he was doing and looked at Kurokiba along with everyone else. After Kurokiba completely wrapped the Italian dish in the heat-resistant film, he processed it in two stages. He controlled the temperature, humidity, and everything else like a musician. He seemed to be getting even better at it.
Yukinoshita: "So that's it..."
Hachiman: "His skills are really impressive. If I had never left the Hikigaya Restaurant, I probably would never have seen a chef with skills as amazing as his."
Even so, Hachiman wasn't planning to give up his spot to move on easily.
Since his opponent had already started the last part of his work, there was no need to hide anything anymore. He took out the rice he had prepared from the stove. But if you looked closely, you could see that the rice hadn't been processed at all. It was mixed with the rice bran. And Hachiman didn't seem to be planning to process it at all. He just put it in the pot as it was.
Then... he just used the soy milk that had been made from soybeans as seasoning, covering all of the rice bran with it.
No... that's not right!
Ryoko: "What is that?!"
Yoshino: "What's that smell? Where did Hikigaya learn that strange trick?"
Alice: "It's amino acids..."
Mito: "Can you think about people who don't know anything about chemistry..."
Takumi: "Yogurt...?"
When Takumi said that, everyone seemed to realize it right away. The blue-white liquid that made the rice bran so sticky almost instantly melted all the ingredients.
Kurokiba: "What are you doing? Are you going to make some kind of terrible food?"
Hachiman: "If my bloodline ever awakens and makes me interested in that, I might try it."
When the people from the Polar Star Dorm heard Hachiman's words, they all shivered. Marui, especially, still had bad memories from the last time he ate Joichiro's terrible food.
At the same time, Hisako, who was in the VIP room, frowned. She couldn't understand the strange recipe, so... she was speechless.
Erina crossed her arms, looking annoyed. Even her breathing was a little hurried: "I don't know where he gets so many crazy ideas... Other people's dishes are reasonable improvements on traditional cooking, but this guy... every time he changes something, it becomes completely different."
Hisako: "Erina-sama... can't you tell what dish he's making?"
Erina: "Huh? Why would I... why wouldn't I know what dish he's making? I can tell what kind of folk dish it is with just one... one look."
Hisako: "I see. Erina-sama is amazing..."
As soon as she said that, Erina regretted it. Not only did she really not know what Hachiman was making, but she had also lied to Hisako, who was always by her side. She felt a little guilty.
Erina: "Um, Hisako..."
Hisako: "Erina-sama, you don't need to say anything. I understand. You're a genius! How could you not understand a dish like this?"
There was no way to take it back. Erina turned away, looking embarrassed. Even her eyes started to look confused.
'Hikigaya, what are you doing...'
The combination of yogurt and rice bran quickly gave off a unique and strong smell in the arena. The combination was strange, but the result was surprisingly good.
And the soy milk clearly had another use.
However, while Hachiman was still cooking, Kurokiba had already finished his work. He just brought it to the judges.
Okamoto: "Good, good. You can clearly see the food inside the bag still shaking and bubbling. It's already telling you how hot the dish is."
Ryoko: "It looks really good, but are they just going to let the judge open it like that?"
She seemed to be asking what all the viewers were thinking. Yoshino shook her head, looking confused.
Anton, who was an experienced judge, seemed to instantly know how to open the bag when he saw it. He didn't need Kurokiba to tell him. He just pulled it open.
At that moment, the smell of the deep sea suddenly rushed out. It was shrimp, clams, scallops, and Pacific saury. The wave of scent instantly overwhelmed the judges, and they even smiled without realizing it.
Hayama Akira: "The speed this guy is improving... is really scary."
Hayama Akira, who was very sensitive to smells, quickly smelled the scent coming from the bag. He quickly used the spices he had learned about recently. In just a moment, the entire arena was filled with the scent.
Unlike Hayama Akira's spices, this scent was even stronger. It ignored how well the ingredients went together and just brought out the scariest smell that most stimulated the brain.
Hachiman: "So that's why he used the heat-resistant film. If he had grilled it... he could have reached this level..."
Kurokiba: "No... it's not just simple grilling. With my improvements, the name of this dish has also changed. It's called Bag Roast!"
"[Bag Roasted Autumn Pacific Saury]!"
Like a firework, the entire arena exploded as soon as the heat-resistant film was pulled open. And the reason for all of it was probably that delicious trigger.
Anton: "It's so fresh. As expected from someone who has always lived by the sea. His control over seafood is unimaginable. The oil from the Pacific saury seems to have melted everything. It's too sweet, but it's not too rich. All of the ingredients go together, but they don't weaken the taste of the Pacific saury at all. It's amazing!"
Okamoto: "Extremely fresh seafood, plenty of delicious flavor. No matter how many times you eat it, you can force this bold dish into a bag at the moment it enters your mouth. It's incredible... so rough, yet so delicate."
"Even though it's in season, he didn't use any seasoning at all, but it still has such a strong smell. No... it's a fragrance."
Yukinoshita: "Herbs?"
Hachiman: "Yes, herbs."
Kurokiba let out a cold laugh: "When I was studying spices, I found a spice that could perfectly fit into the Pacific saury. Herbs definitely aren't the best solution, but as long as you put them in at the same time as you wrap it, the terrible smell of the herbs themselves will keep going around and around in the limited space. Then, the heating process will bring out that incredible flavor even more."
Okamoto: "It's like a feast of Pacific saury. This dish is good enough to be number one today. I can't imagine how much effort he put into it."
The other judges shook their heads, clearly feeling sad for Hachiman. There was no hope of winning against a dish like that.
In their opinion, Hachiman wasn't in good shape today. He had lost unexpectedly, even though his opponent, Ibusaki, was weaker. So... with Kurokiba's careful preparation and amazing performance, they couldn't see any chance of winning.
At the same time, Kurokiba gave a cold smile and brought his dish in front of Hachiman, looking down at him.
"Here, try it. And then tell me that my dish isn't as good as yours!"
Hachiman: "What kind of strange game is this... but..."
Since his opponent had brought it to him, Hachiman couldn't refuse. He just put the fish in his mouth.
It was just like all the judges had said. There was nothing to complain about with Kurokiba's dish. The temperature, humidity, and grilling time were all perfect. But...
If you actually tasted it, there were still some pretty obvious things that needed to be improved.
Hachiman wasn't worried. There was still half an hour left. He just stopped all of his work and looked into Kurokiba's eyes.
"Hey, is he giving up?"
"He probably saw Kurokiba's dish and lost his fighting spirit."
"That can't be helped. Kurokiba was really scary today."
"It looks like the person moving on to the finals has already been decided."
Yukinoshita and Erina both looked at Hachiman at the same time, frowning. Alice sighed in frustration.
"Ryo, you tried your best."
Kurokiba felt their gaze and suddenly felt very annoyed:
"Huh? What do you want?"
Hachiman shook his head and said calmly:
"The choice of herbs was smart, but that's not enough to be the strongest."
"Are you trying to pick a fight?"
"If you combined the herbs with butter and put other spices together to freeze into a fragrance bomb, your so-called 'bag roast' would probably be even more powerful. But the chopped herbs can't do that. Even if they gradually heat up, they still don't have as much flavor. And you didn't use any of the matching ingredients, like onions."
"So..."
Hachiman turned away again and focused on his own dish.
Kurokiba: "You..."
He wanted to say something, but he was speechless. Hachiman had completely pointed out the shortcomings of his dish with just two sentences. He had even said the best way to improve it. So...
He couldn't say anything.
"What are you doing?!"
When Kurokiba focused on Hachiman's dish, the smell of rice instantly filled his nose. It was a comfortable feeling he had never felt before, and it instantly calmed him down from the emotional state he was in when he wore his bandana.
Kurokiba's calmness surprised everyone.
Alice: "What's wrong?"
Erina: "What happened..."
Yukinoshita: "Is it the dish?"
Alice: "I've never seen Ryo look like that when he's wearing his bandana. He's even disrespectful to me. But... I guess so."
Ryoko: "This is so frustrating. Unlike Kurokiba's dish, we're so far away. We can't smell the dish at all."
Yoshino: "Who knows..."
Tadokoro Megumi and Ibusaki, who were also cooking, stopped what they were doing at the same time and looked over, surprised.
Kurokiba: "What... is that smell?"
Hachiman: "Well, it's just some porridge."
Kurokiba: "Porridge? Don't joke around! How can that strong smell break through the impact of my dish with just that millet?"
Normally, porridge is gentle, but its impact is too weak. And the weakness of porridge is even greater now that Kurokiba has made such a dish.
Hayama Akira: "He's really crazy... Hikigaya Hachiman."
Shiomi Jun: "Joichiro's son... but he doesn't seem like him at all. His food should be... more, more, terrible. But why... does he give off such a gentle feeling?"
The silence of the entire arena gave Hikigaya Hachiman the stage.
He gently brought up his dish and lifted the lid while the judges looked on in surprise.
It didn't look special at all. Of course, that was Hikigaya Hachiman's style. So the judges, who had been judging since the preliminaries, didn't care about that anymore.
What was more important was... what kind of dish was hidden beneath the surface.
Hachiman: "I won't keep you guessing this time. I'll just pour in the soy milk I ground up beforehand."
On the surface, it looked almost the same as what he did in his match with Alice, but there were also obvious differences.
The slightly sticky porridge base, combined with the fermented yogurt, had already become a very special dish. And the soy milk that was added later gave the porridge base another color.
But...
Okamoto: "Huh? Isn't the theme Pacific saury this time?"
Anton: "I don't see any Pacific saury..."
The other judges looked at each other, confused:
"Would a student like Hikigaya make such a simple mistake? He even forgot the theme."
At the same time, the audience started talking. Forgetting the main ingredient was too terrible, even though it's normal to be nervous in such a formal competition.
However, Yukinoshita looked calm. After all, she knew that even though Hikigaya was unreliable at times, he had just made smoked Pacific saury before, so... there was definitely no problem.
Hachiman said calmly: "Well, let's try it first."
Judge: "If that's the case..."
He gently scooped up the porridge with a spoon, but at that moment, he realized that the calm surface of the porridge seemed to solidify something. The judges looked on, surprised. He put the porridge in his mouth.
Okamoto: "I see! It all makes sense!"
Anton: "Sweet soy milk, and the yogurt has ground Pacific saury in it? I don't understand how it works at all, but... it tastes surprisingly delicious!"
Judge: "I can't tell how it was made at all... but I can't stop eating it."
"The strong seafood flavor, even though he only used Pacific saury, even though the impact isn't as good as Kurokiba's dish, but..."
"Is the fact that my heart is beating faster and I can't stop reaching for it because of what I'm doing?"
As the audience watched, the judges started eating Hikigaya Hachiman's dish like wolves.
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