Chapter 436: The Family Heirloom Dish—Crab Shell!
As Seiya and Ryoko finished their dishes, Kutami and Yukihira Soma also completed their plating one after another.
In fact, Seiya's group was the last to return to this classroom kitchen among the three groups, and judging from the cooking steps, it was clear that Seiya's dish took more time.
However, under Seiya's astonishingly exquisite knife skills and heat control, their group, on the contrary, finished preparing the dishes the fastest.
Looking at the three dishes, complete in color, aroma, and taste, placed before her, Inui Hinako's gaze towards Seiya's group was also filled with appreciation.
She had been paying attention to Seiya's cooking process, and even without tasting it, she knew that these three dishes in front of her would likely pass the assessment.
But she also understood that merely passing the assessment was clearly not a sufficient evaluation for them.
The rule of Totsuki Culinary Academy was originally survival of the fittest. When she was a Totsuki student, she also fought her way to the second seat of the Totsuki Elite Ten amidst the competition of numerous rivals. Therefore, Inui Hinako fully understood Yukihira Soma's competitive spirit.
Inui Hinako glanced at the three dishes in front of her. After a moment of hesitation, she first tasted the Aldini brothers' “Grilled Hybrid Duck with Pesto.”
This was a dish with hybrid duck as the main ingredient, where duck breast was roasted with a sauce mixed with soy sauce, mustard, black pepper, and honey, paired with a Hefeng green salsa made from pickled sweetfish guts, green perilla, green onions, and yuzu pepper.
Both the use of spices and the seasoning and roasting of the duck meat were excellent.
As for the dish made by Yukihira Soma's group, it was “Yukihira Style Kakinotane Fried Fish.”
It was a dish made with river fish and eggs collected from the resort forest, paired with Kakinotane snatched from Inui Hinako.
The fried fish was incredibly crispy and had the sweet taste of Kakinotane, which was quite unique. From this dish, Inui Hinako also saw Yukihira Soma's excellent imagination and innovation.
In terms of taste alone, both could be said to be on par, and in terms of ingredient sourcing, both sides cleverly utilized the rules.
Inui Hinako had previously stated that the selected ingredients must come from nature, and the Kutami brothers' hybrid ducks were raised at the resort and then released into the forest for rearing.
The Kakinotane used by Yukihira Soma was even taken from here...
Of course, regardless of whether it was Yukihira Soma or Kutami, both proved their strength through their cooking, and Inui Hinako also saw their talent, so she naturally wouldn't eliminate them over such minor matters.
However, when asked about the result of the Food War, Inui Hinako played a trick and said, “I'll announce the results after I taste the last dish.
If your two dishes can win against this Totsuki Special Student, it won't be too late to decide who is superior.
After all, for you two, is there really a difference between second and third? All you care about is who is first.”
Hearing Inui Hinako's words, Yukihira Soma did not refuse, as he originally intended to compete with Seiya.
Kutami, after glancing at Seiya, also had no objection, because he was not only unconvinced by Yukihira Soma but also by Seiya.
Because he, Seiya, and Yukihira Soma all came from popular restaurants.
Although Kutami had heard of Seiya's title as a Totsuki Special Student before, he had not taken it seriously.
Compared to Seiya, who only had a reputation, Kutami was more annoyed by Yukihira Soma, who had boasted at the opening ceremony about stepping on everyone.
However, after witnessing the knife skills and heat control that Seiya had just displayed, Kutami now dared not ignore Seiya and believed that there was a reason for him to have such a reputation.
Leaving Erina Nakiri aside for now, he, Wenren Seiya, and Yukihira Soma all came from popular restaurants. Kutami felt that he would not lose to either of them in terms of talent or effort, so he naturally refused to admit defeat at this moment.
“Wenren Seiya, may I call you Seiya-kun?” Inui Hinako looked at Seiya in front of her and asked with a smile.
“Please feel free, Senior. I'm actually more used to people calling me by my given name.”
Although in Rome, do as the Romans do, even after so many years, Seiya still found it strange to be called by his surname, especially when he was with his nominal mother, Wenren Qingying, and someone called out to them.
“Actually, I was very interested in you before, after all, it's rare for someone to dare to refute Shinomiya-senpai like that. You know, when I was a Totsuki student, he always lectured me, but I never dared to refute him.
And if I was merely curious about you before, then today, after seeing your culinary skills, I can only describe it as astonishing.
It's no wonder that Director and Gin Dojima value you so much...
Ahem, I've strayed a bit too far. Before tasting your dish, why don't you first announce its name?”
While Seiya was preparing this dish, Inui Hinako had been paying close attention. She found it quite interesting how he meticulously removed all the relatively sparse crab meat from the river crab and then stuffed the meat back in this manner.
“The name of this dish is “Crab Shell.” It is a famous dish from the Magic City in Chinese Cuisine.
It's also a dish from our family's inherited recipes, though I've made some improvements to it.”
“Crab Shell” was actually a dish made by Rayne in his duel with Xiang En in Xiao Dang Jia.
In that crab duel, the dish Xiang En made was the simplest “Steamed Crab Egg,” while the dish Rayne made was the “Crab Shell” that Seiya was now presenting.
In that cooking duel, although Rayne's “Crab Shell” lost, it was because Xiang En used the Dark Culinary World's “tongue taste fatigue” technique to influence the judges at the time. Otherwise, it would not have been easy for Xiang En to win against Rayne's “Crab Shell.”
It is worth mentioning that Seiya also knows the “tongue taste fatigue” technique used by Xiang En in this cooking duel, because his nominal mother is a successor of One Zhang Green, Xiang En.
This is something Seiya has always been puzzled about. Although both Rayne and Xiang En were users of the Seven Star Knife, they should have been enemies.
Why did their descendants and successors, by some strange twist of fate, end up together?
“Crab Shell? What a strange name.”
Inui Hinako naturally couldn't know about the events in the Culinary World of Zhonghua a hundred years ago, but although she found the dish's name a bit strange, it didn't prevent her from giving Seiya's dish a very high evaluation.
The moment the golden-fried Crab Shell was dipped in the sauce made from crab roe and crab brains and brought to her mouth, Inui Hinako felt a burst of rich crab meat flavor in her oral cavity.
And as her Kiba bit through the crispy crust, a thick, rich liquid burst out from beneath the Crab Shell's crust!
