Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

"Look at that little girl with braids! Could it be that she's thinking of... This really tests a chef's basic skills, and requires a lot of experience."

"Is she going to dismember the sheep on the spot!?"

Suddenly, the sound of wheels grinding came from above. Tadokoro Megumi pushed up the tools she had prepared beforehand, and a slaughtered and bled sheep was hung on it.

A commotion erupted at the scene, and almost everyone's attention was focused on her. Even the chefs in her group looked over, wanting to see if she was just trying to attract attention.

"What is that child planning to do?"

Chihiro Orie's expression was subtle, her eyes filled with disapproval. Tadokoro Megumi, such a petite girl, was a stark contrast to the sheep.

It's hard to imagine that such a frail woman would actually want to raise a butcher's knife against the sheep in front of her.

"It's the hanging cut method, isn't it?"

Isshiki Satoshi explained from the side.

"I do know that. Because of their size, sheep are difficult to handle on a cutting board, so some herders use the hanging cutting method to process them."

but..."

Chihiro Orie didn't continue speaking. Looking at the confident gaze of the girl in front of her, even though she had just performed very ordinaryly, for some reason, she felt that the other girl could succeed.

"Because the dismantling method requires considerable skill, especially when the object is hanging upside down and in an unstable state, it is impossible to do without several years of experience."

"On this grand stage, choosing this method to butcher mutton—is it courageous, or just a publicity stunt...?"

As Tadokoro Megumi stood before the cutting platform, her hands clasped together, praying for the souls of the dead sheep, murmurs arose from the audience.

"Teacher Bai Yuan, are you watching me?"

Opening her eyes, looking at the sheep hanging upside down in front of her, and then glancing at the audience, Tadokoro Megumi thought to herself, her face revealing a resolute expression.

"I will become a disciple you can be proud of!"

Donning white gloves, holding a kitchen knife, and with her eyes fixed on the bones and joints of the sheep, the girl began her movements with the intention of achieving the greatest results with the least amount of force.

Those around her only saw her push and pull, the mutton in her hands was like a toy, being dismembered piece by piece, this was something she had specifically asked Bai Yuan to do.

The other party didn't say anything at the time, but gave him a popular science encyclopedia on the dismemberment of common livestock. It clearly described the body structure of different livestock and explained in detail how to dismember them.

She studied for three days, and in between, she spent money to go to the slaughterhouse to personally practice more than ten times. Now her skills are very proficient.

"Teacher Bai Yuan, are you watching? That cowardly fellow you once recognized and encouraged is now capable of standing on his own!"

"Disassembly...disassembly is complete."

"She did it all by herself, with a whole sheep..."

As the last piece of lamb liver was placed on the tray, Megumi Tadokoro let out a long sigh of relief, but the scene erupted in cheers. Disbelief filled everyone's faces; how could this young girl have done something like that?!

"What kind of dish is that child planning to make?"

Suppressing her shock, Sentawi Orie looked at Tadokoro Megumi and thought to herself, "What an amazing guy."

"Xiao Hui, as long as you put in enough effort, you will succeed one day."

In the audience, Bai Yuan appeared in the front row at some point. Looking at Tadokoro Megumi sweating under the stage lights, he murmured.

"Xiao Hui did so well, I should too..."

Watching Tadokoro Megumi being pushed off the cutting platform, Ryoko Sakaki showed a gratified expression. She had watched her grow up, from being fragile at the beginning to being strong now, so she felt deeply for her.

While pondering, she looked at her work station and methodically began processing the ingredients on the cutting board.

Beside her was Mito Ikumi, a girl calmly preparing mutton, but surprisingly, she hadn't even started yet.

In front of her were several pieces of meat of varying quality, and she was busy cutting them.

"What are they doing here? Why hasn't it started yet?"

"I don't know, let's see what she does in the end."

Mito Ikumi's actions were so baffling that no one at the scene could understand them. They wanted to offer their critiques, but were afraid of being proven wrong in the end, so they tacitly ignored her.

Chapter 173 Eight-Ingredient Medicinal Stewed Mutton Soup

"Hojo finally put the lamb in, then sautéed the onions until fragrant, added the carrots, and finally the lamb, followed by Shaoxing wine, salt, and pepper..."

Ketchup and tomato sauce? Why are they put together...?

Many viewers looked puzzled as they watched Miyoko Hojo add tomato sauce and then ketchup to the pot.

In their view, tomato sauce and ketchup are essentially the same, so there's no need to add ketchup first and then ketchup.

This is like taking off your pants to fart.

"The rich tomato flavor and sweet and sour taste of the tomato sauce itself can provide a basic tomato flavor for hand-pulled lamb rice."

Tomato sauce, with its refreshing taste and rich seasoning, adds more layers of flavor to the hand-grabbed rice, making the overall taste rich and diverse.

Adding both at the same time doesn't conflict; it only enhances the flavor of the dish.

On the judging panel, the judges heard the audience's questions and looked at each other. As a professional in the food industry, Chihiro Orie began to explain.

Although tomato sauce evolved from ketchup, it would be truly amateurish to confuse the two so easily.

It's like treating the father and son as one person.

"I see. To use such a subtle difference between tomato sauce and ketchup to cook lamb, what an amazing person! No wonder she's the daughter of Chef Hojo at the Yokohama Chinese Restaurant!"

As Chihiro Orie provided an extremely detailed explanation, a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the audience, their words filled with admiration for Hojo Miyoko.

“I’m not anyone’s daughter, I’m Miyoko Hojo! An independent chef.”

Hearing the praise from those around her, Hojo Miyoko was not very satisfied. She raised the ladle in her hand and shouted to those around her in a loud voice.

Instead, as soon as she finished speaking, there was a moment of silence. Everyone looked at each other, and they all saw the awkwardness in each other's eyes.

"Miyoko Hojo!"

"Miyoko Hojo!"

But soon, someone shouted something, and even more enthusiastic cheers followed.

"Looks like this guy has quite a few fans outside, and he's such a big fan of Hojo-ro. Are they all Chinese food lovers?"

Looking at the cheering audience, Bai Yuan couldn't help but clap his hands. At that moment, Hojo Miyoko looked up and their eyes met.

The next moment, Hojo Miyoko revealed a smug smile that was both arrogant and aggressive, as if to say, "You wait, one day I will surpass you!"

"Young people like them are really passionate."

Bai Yuan naturally understood the meaning behind Hojo Miyoko's smile, but he wasn't angry. Instead, he felt a sense of anticipation.

He puts so much effort into training so many students in order to find rivals for himself. If they can really achieve that, he will be very happy.

However, given the current situation, it will take at least ten years for them to fully mature. Before that, they still need to challenge the older generation of experts and exchange cooking skills with them.

Looking at the people cooking in the venue, Bai Yuan had many thoughts in his mind. Finally, he turned around and left, returning to the VIP box in Venue A.

Has anyone finished cooking yet?

Seeing the contestants carrying the dishes forward, Bai Yuan asked Nakiri Erina a question out of curiosity. Erina flinched slightly at his sudden appearance, but still managed to maintain her composure, saying, "Two have already gone up."

After speaking, Bai Yuan looked up at the huge screen in mid-air, which displayed the scores and rankings of many contestants, with names already appearing in the first two columns.

Rinya Kujo, 51 points

Aoba Aiki, 45 points.

It wasn't a very high score, but it was still pretty good.

Bai Yuan nodded inwardly. To still get this score after tasting his whole lamb shumai, he must have at least the top-tier skills of a third-class chef.

Meanwhile, the judging panel, led by Chihiro Natsume, gave their scores to this new contestant.

10, 14, 0, 8, 10

Total score: 42 points.

"Another zero! Is zero the only thing that guy can do?!"

"That's really strict."

The audience erupted in uproar as they watched the judges' scores, because they discovered that Chihiro Natsume had once again given the contestant a score of 0.

"Absolutely not! Although the food is better than some small restaurants, it has no unique features at all. To put it simply, it's mediocre, far too mediocre."

Ignoring the discussion below, Chihiro Natsume propped her chin on her hand and looked at the students below, her voice revealing disappointment.

Before coming, she heard how amazing this year's class was, but it turned out to be just this level. It wasn't weak, but it wasn't particularly strong either.

The rumors circulating outside are exaggerated.

Of course, it's also possible that the impact of that mutton shumai was too strong, which affected her when she tasted other dishes.

However, for her, any dish that doesn't score above ten is undoubtedly a zero.

The image of the whole lamb shumai she had just eaten flashed through her mind, and Chihiro Natsume felt her body go weak; the impact of that meal still left her feeling disheveled.

She couldn't leave simply because she had to serve as a judge.

I really want to take a nice hot bath!

"It's normal for a class to have both strong and weak students. How can geniuses be highlighted without mediocre ones? So there's no need to put on such a disappointed expression, Your Honor."

As the third zero was scored, a brief silence fell over the room.

Even after someone has finished cooking, they hesitate to step forward, worried that they will become the fourth person to get a zero, which would be incredibly embarrassing.

However, as everyone remained silent, a young man with short hair called out, then carried the dishes forward with an indomitable spirit.

"Ueno Sugi, what kind of dish will you bring this time?"

Looking at the man's figure, Soma Yukihira murmured to himself that the man he met on the first day of school and who challenged him left a very deep impression on him.

However, we haven't crossed paths since then, otherwise I really wanted to have a proper competition.

"Please enjoy the tagine stewed lamb."

Placing the still-bubbling tagine on the judges' table, Ueno Sugi's face was filled with strong confidence as he spoke and gestured for the judges to proceed.

"Oh? That's quite arrogant. You mean everyone around you is mediocre, and only you are a genius?"

Tagine stewed lamb? A Moroccan dish? A tagine is a type of mini pressure cooker invented and manufactured in Morocco.

Upon hearing Ueno Sugi's words, Chihiro Natsume couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark, then curiously looked at Tajika in front of her and took a deep breath.