Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

"Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, bursting with juice. This dish makes good use of the loach's characteristics, allowing it to absorb the broth while the tempura creates a sealing effect, locking in the flavor."

Of course, the most important thing is that the idea is really good. How did you come up with it?

While tasting Tadokoro Megumi's cooking, Shirobuchi couldn't stop nodding, then looked at the shy girl, wanting to know what she had been through recently.

"Actually, I went to Gunma Prefecture..."

Seeing that Shirai was curious about her experiences during this time, Tadokoro Megumi's face immediately lit up with excitement, and she then began to talk at length about her trip to Gunma Prefecture.

The people around listened patiently, equally curious about why Tadokoro Megumi was able to research such cuisine. After hearing the story full of twists and turns, everyone's faces showed surprise.

"You've visited every loach restaurant in Gunma? That must have been exhausting."

He patted Tadokoro Megumi's head, his eyes filled with heartache.

It must be tough for a young girl who has just started high school to be learning cooking, finding a place to live, and having her own kitchen to cook all by herself.

"Actually, it's not too bad. I visit a few restaurants a day to learn from the cooking experience of those amazing chefs, and finally take the essence and discard the dross to complete this dish."

Tadokoro Megumi flashed a bright smile. The moment she saw Shiro's pained expression, she felt that everything she had done was worth it!

"This is indeed a good method to improve your cooking by pooling ideas and learning from others. However, your cooking also has some obvious flaws. I wonder if you have noticed them."

He showered her with compliments, making Tadokoro Megumi quite pleased with herself. However, Shiro suddenly changed the subject.

"shortcoming..."

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Tadokoro Megumi fell into deep thought. She hadn't found any flaws in the dishes, though she had noticed them before but corrected them in time.

"That's right, that's the drawback."

Actually, you did a great job in most areas, which is definitely something to be praised for.

Have you noticed that your dishes taste too uniform? For high-end cuisine in competitions, what matters is the first bite – an incredibly strong flavor, or in other words, a lack of impact.

Of course, you made some adjustments to the sauce, giving this tempura a strong savory flavor. However, tempura itself already possesses this savory characteristic, so the two don't combine well to create a truly memorable effect.

When talking about shortcomings, Bai Yuan's expression suddenly turned stern.

For everyday meals, people usually start to enjoy the food around the third bite and then finish the rest. This is to ensure that customers never get tired of the food.

But this is a competition, and the judges usually don't eat too much food, so you have to bring out all the deliciousness in the first bite to win people over.

Of course, besides this biggest drawback, there are also quite a few minor flaws.

However, as students, these were all trivial matters, so Bai Yuan naturally wouldn't bring them up, lest Tadokoro Megumi become overly ambitious.

"The impact of the flavor, that's something I didn't consider."

Since I finished researching the main dish, I didn't have time to work on the sauce, so I just used the savory tempura sauce as a substitute.

Megumi Tadokoro explained that there were only seven days left until the finals, and after she finished researching the mountain delicacies loach tempura, there was simply not enough time left to research the sauce.

To avoid creating something that's neither fish nor fowl and would affect the original flavor of his cuisine, he chose to respect the classics.

"Your decision is not a big problem. If it were me, I would have made the same choice."

The goal isn't to achieve greatness, but simply to avoid mistakes. Choosing a traditional sauce, while not a perfect match for the wild loach tempura, will still bring out about 80% of its flavor. Rather than entrusting your fate to an unknown sauce, opt for a universally appealing one that goes with everything.

Shirobuchi was not surprised by Tadokoro Megumi's answer.

If time was limited, then doing so was indeed the best option, and it could be considered a very smart move.

"Now let the judges announce the final results. And Xiaoyu, try this dish, and you'll probably know what you're missing."

As they spoke, Bai Yuan accepted the dish from Tadokoro Megumi, then looked at Liu Yu, wanting her to taste it, as food could manipulate people's hearts.

"After being shaped by being poured with hot oil, a thin golden shell forms on the surface of the loach. Underneath the golden shell is a surging, yet wondrous feeling of being able to withstand the pressure and swim upstream in a rushing waterfall."

This feeling of going against the tide in adversity is just too...!!

With his fingers pressed against his chest, Liu Yu felt a surge of emotion as the mountain delicacy, loach tempura, entered his mouth. He raised his head and shouted loudly before collapsing to the ground.

"I lost this game."

Liu Yu's words of admitting defeat were sincere.

Although they are all top-grade dishes, there are still differences between top-grade dishes.

Such a moving and immersive dish is undoubtedly among the best, even in the realm of fine dining, and has the potential for further improvement. However, using the same ingredients, her dish would essentially have reached its limit.

The difference between the two may seem small, but in reality, it is as vast as an insurmountable chasm.

"She won? Xiaohui won!?"

"That's right, the opponent conceded, Xiaohui won!"

"Great! Let's have a celebration banquet tonight, we'll drink until we drop!"

"You're only good for three drinks, what are you pretending to be all high and mighty for?!"

Centered on Bai Yuan's original position, the girls erupted in cheers the moment they heard Liu Yu concede defeat.

The other spectators, though not as exaggerated as they were, were also excited because they had witnessed the birth of the champion.

"Looks like we're done here; they've already decided who won. But it's really surprising that students could serve up such dishes; you could probably believe it was a top-tier showdown."

Looking at the dejected Liu Yu and the excited Tadokoro Megumi hugging Bai Yuan, Dojima Gin shrugged and spoke to Nakiri Senzaemon beside him.

"Anyway, our answer is the same as theirs, so let them decide."

That was a great battle. When was the last time we served up a top-tier dish in a qualifying tournament of this level?

It seems that only in the finals, and even then, these are only dishes that barely make it into the Special Grade category.

Senzaemon Nakiri couldn't help but recall the previous Autumn Selections. Although the students were all excellent, their skill level was still what it was.

Almost only in the finals will a contestant present a special-grade dish.

Compared to previous years, this year's premium dishes seem to be appearing one after another as if they're free, with the semi-finals almost starting as a battle of premium dishes!

The only difference between the two years is that this year, Bai Yuan's students have advanced to the advanced level. Indeed, hiring Bai Yuan was the best decision he ever made!

Well done, Alice!

Senzaemon Nakiri inwardly gave Alice Nakiri a thumbs-up; thank goodness the little girl had won him over.

With Hakuen in charge, Totsuki Academy is thriving and its reputation has grown significantly. It is expected to produce many more pillars of society in the future.

Despite the cheers around her, Liu Yu couldn't feel happy at all.

At this moment, she clenched her fists, bit her lower lip lightly, and her fair face was filled with resentment, but she was also helpless, after all, she was not as skilled as others.

"Don't be too discouraged. Come to my place after today. I've heard your story, and your potential is enough for me to help you."

However, just as she was preparing to leave in despair, Bai Yuan appeared before her and said these words to her.

Her dull eyes regained their light, and she raised her head. At this moment, Bai Yuan seemed to be surrounded by light, as if he had become a bodhisattva, redeeming her!

"Is it really possible? Even if I lose the match..."

Liu Yu could hardly believe it. In her view, only valuable individuals could be retained. She had come in second place, and even after a crushing defeat...

"The competition is never the point. Winning and losing are normal. No one can guarantee that they will always win. The key is the love for cooking."

When you first entered the world of dark cuisine, your dishes, though mediocre in taste, were very interesting, unlike now, where you cook solely to win competitions and make outdated and unappetizing dishes.

Of course, I understand you, but if you continue down this path, you'll at most reach the level of the person who created this dish, and you won't be able to break through further. You probably don't want that, do you?

Bai Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but every word was precious, immediately striking a chord with Liu Yu and causing her to fall into deep thought.

She did indeed adopt a formulaic and standardized cooking method in order to attract Bai Yuan's attention, neglecting everything else in order to make her dishes of a higher grade. There is no doubt that this approach is problematic.

"I understand. I will stick to my own path and try to learn from others rather than imitate them, so that I can forge my own path!"

Liu Yu's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and finally she said what we had to say.

"Ruzi can be taught."

After exchanging pleasantries, Bai Yuan left the competition venue. The Summer Selection continued, and the first and second place winners were determined. The third place winner would also be decided through a competition.

"Now that the moon is three-quarters past its zenith, there is still a lot of food left on site. Please invite Soma Yukihira and Hisako Shinoto to come up on stage for the final showdown."

Holding a microphone, Rei Kawashima stood on the field and announced the results.

Hisako Shinoto immediately stood up from her chair upon hearing her words and went down to the players' tunnel, but Soma Yukihira was nowhere to be seen for a long time.

"Please come up to the stage, Yukihira Soma. If you do not come up, you will be disqualified from the competition."

Kawashima Rei's voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction, and she then shouted loudly into the microphone, "The summer selection committee should have given us notices, so why are there still contestants not showing up?"

"Oh no, Yukihira went out three days ago and hasn't come back yet!"

Hearing Kawashima Rei's shouts, but Yukihira Soma was nowhere to be seen. This caused panic among the people of Polaris Dormitory; they looked left and right, but couldn't find the person they knew.

"Speaking of which, didn't you receive a letter from the summer selection competition a couple of days ago?"

Ryoko Sakaki seemed to have thought of something and looked at Yuuki Yoshino to confirm.

"Yes, I thought it was Xiaohui's, so I didn't open it."

However, after Xiaohui returned, she stayed in the kitchen busy, completely forgetting about the incident. Could it be that...?

If I'm not mistaken...

They looked at each other in silence, recalling how they had ignored the summer selection tournament letter out of respect for Tadokoro Megumi and Yukihira Soma. Now it seemed it might have been a competition notification...

If they had taken a look and called Soma Yukihira to tell him he had a match today, maybe he wouldn't have missed it.

"Soma Yukihira has not yet appeared, it seems he has given up the match."

"So, I hereby announce that Hisako Niito has won the second round of the Summer Selection Finals!"

After waiting for about five minutes, Soma Yukihira still hadn't appeared. Rei Kawashima glanced at Satoshi Isshiki, who was on the phone on stage, then at Senzaemon Nakiri, and finally announced the news.

Hisako Shinoto also became the first third-place student in the history of Totsuki Academy to be directly admitted.

"He fled without a fight; what an annoying man!"

Hisako Niito, who had made many preparations for this day, felt not joy, but suppressed and restrained anger the moment she heard that Soma Yukihira was not coming.

She is never afraid of challenges, and even uses challenges to hone herself and reach new heights.

But now, how could she not be angry and furious that Soma Yukihira had insulted all her hard work and chosen to flee without a fight?

"What happened?"

Back in the audience, Shiro asked Yoshino Yuuki, "In my memory, Yukihira Soma is not someone who is afraid of fighting. If he were afraid of fighting, he would never have been standing here in the first place. So something unexpected must have happened."