Food Wars: Starting with Equipping the Greedy Wolf Pot

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"I want to be the head chef, and you'll be my assistant."

"Dream on. Our opponents are Tsukasa Eishi's team. Only the head chef is qualified. I will not give the head chef position to a guy like you."

"At worst, we'll both perish together."

"You bastard, you bastard!"

……

As soon as Hinako Inui finished speaking, the entire cooking class instantly became incredibly noisy.

The people in each team were arguing heatedly over the positions of head chef and assistant chef, and no one was willing to easily hand over the head chef position.

"Hehehe, it's really lively right now."

“A chef who clearly lacks the ability to be a head chef but insists on occupying the position because of his/her score will only ruin my restaurant.”

“Similarly, Totsuki doesn’t need a chef who lacks a clear sense of self.” Hinako Inui sipped her green tea and ate snacks at a leisurely pace.

……

Aside from the teams arguing over the positions of the chef and assistants, there were also teams that quickly settled into their assigned positions.

For example, the team formed by Si Yingshi, or the team formed by Xiang Ji.

“Xiang Ji, you’ll be the head chef for the team’s food battle, and I’ll be your assistant.” Sano Ayane immediately offered the head chef position to Xiang Ji.

Although Sano Ayane was not a witness to the food battle between Xiang Ji and Tsukasa Eishi yesterday, she had just heard Inui Hinako invite Xiang Ji to work at her restaurant.

Since Xiang Ji was invited along with Si Yingshi, even if Xiang Ji's strength is not as good as Si Yingshi's, it is not much worse. In any case, he is probably not as good as himself.

“Okay, I’ll be the chef.”

"Yes, yes, Xiang Ji-kun, we will definitely win, right?" Sano Ayane couldn't help but continue to ask.

Chapter 100 Japanese Cuisine: One Soup and Three Dishes

Because it concerns whether she can continue to stay in Totsuki, even though all the known conditions indicate that Xiang Ji's strength is not bad, Sano Ayane can't help but feel worried.

"Definitely." Xiang Ji replied casually, not taking the upcoming team food battle seriously at all.

That's great, that's really wonderful.

After seeing Xiang Ji's answer without the slightest hesitation, Sano Ayane's confidence grew even stronger.

……

"Hmm, so this is the food battle theme for your team, Xiang Ji? Let's choose Japanese food then, since I've been wanting to eat Japanese food." Inui Hinako said with a smile to Xiang Ji.

Japanese cuisine?

Upon hearing what Inui Hinatako said, Xiang Ji immediately decided what dish to cook.

Japanese cuisine can be broadly categorized into two main types: traditional Japanese food and Western-style Japanese food.

Traditional Japanese cuisine includes Honzen Ryori, Kaiseki Ryori, and Kaiseki Ryori, which strictly adhere to the classic pairing logic of one soup and three dishes, forming an authentic Japanese culinary system.

Japanese-style Western food refers to dishes made from imported ingredients that have been adapted for the Japanese local taste, such as Japanese ramen and curry rice, which are considered everyday food.

"Japanese cuisine? What kind of cuisine are we going to make, Xiang Ji-kun?" Sano Ayane looked at Xiang Ji nervously. The topic of Japanese cuisine given by Inui Hinako was too broad.

"I'm going to make sukiyaki."

"Sukiyaki? Wouldn't it be too easy for us to choose sukiyaki?" Sano Ayane blurted out unconsciously.

“Sano-kun, have you forgotten the rules that Senior Inui just told us? The chef chooses the dishes,” Xiang Ji said casually.

"Yes, yes, yes." Sano Ayane hurriedly covered her mouth, and became even more nervous after subconsciously glancing at the smiling Inui Hinako.

"Xiang Ji-kun, what ingredients do you need? I'll go prepare them now," Sano Ayane continued.

"Beef, the chuck cut, then cabbage, tofu..." Xiang Ji immediately assigned tasks to Sano Ayane.

Upon hearing Xiang Ji's words, Sano Ayane was instantly dumbfounded, not because the ingredients Xiang Ji wanted were too difficult, but because they were too common.

Beef, cabbage... the ingredients Xiang Ji just mentioned are exactly the ingredients used in Japanese home-style sukiyaki. All that's missing is a bottle of sukiyaki sauce from a major company.

Just as Sano Ayane was about to speak, the image of Inui Hinako's smile flashed through her mind, so she gave up asking questions and obediently went to select the ingredients needed for the project.

"Sukiyaki? Damn it!"

"You transfer student are really looking down on us, aren't you? You actually brought out such a commoner's dish in our food battle."

"Don't think you can be so arrogant just because Senior Gan extended an invitation to you. I'll teach you a lesson in the Food War later." The opponent from the Xiang team's Food War had a very unfriendly look in his eyes.

hehehe~

Xiang Ji glanced lightly at the two guys in front of him whose names he didn't even know, and then walked back to his cooking station.

"Damn it, I want to..."

"Calm down, Gold. This is actually a good thing for us," the assistant in the opposing duo quickly said.

"A good thing? Just once, you..."

"He's our rival in a food war, so why is he using such common food in a food war? Wouldn't it be even easier for us to defeat him?"

"So stop talking about it. What if he replaces the sukiyaki with something else later?"

"Didn't you see that food battle between him and Katsuya Tanigawa earlier with me?"

"Even senior chefs like Kakuzaki, Kikuchi, and Chef Chapel have praised our cooking. Do you think we have a chance of winning?"

"I'm the assistant, if I lose I'll be eliminated."

"I, I, I..." Upon hearing his assistant's words, the chef held back a deep breath.

"I understand."

……

"Tsukasa-kun, your team's food battle theme is Japanese cuisine, and I happen to want to eat Japanese food." Hinako Inui looked at Tsukasa Eishi with a smile and said the same theme as Xiang Ji.

The fact that the team chose Japanese cuisine as the theme for the food battle is no coincidence.

Yes, that's right.

Hinako Inui hasn't given up on luring Xiang Ji and Tsukasa Eishi to her restaurant. She chose Japanese cuisine as the theme for the food battle to see how well Xiang Ji and Tsukasa Eishi cook Japanese food.

……

The team food battle began, and the cooking classroom instantly became a lively and bustling place.

Tatata!

Tatata!

The students who were acting as assistants in the team began to select and prepare ingredients for the team's chef.

Hinako Inui set the rule for the team's food battle that the chef would lead the cooking process and the assistants would assist the chef.

Selecting and preparing ingredients is entirely the assistant's job; the chef is not allowed to cook alone, nor is the assistant allowed to modify the chef's recipes.

……

"In the team food war, the chef is indeed the most important position."

"But in actual restaurant management, assistants who help the chef complete the cooking are equally important."

"An assistant not only needs to be ready to support the chef's cooking at any time during the cooking process, but also cannot make any unnecessary movements to avoid disturbing the chef's cooking."

"This tests the chef's ability to predict the progress of the cooking process."

“Compared to actual restaurant operations, the tests of assistant abilities in this team shokugeki are extremely simple.” Hinako Inui gently twirled the teacup between her fingers.

"Those who can't even do this much should just leave Totsuki as soon as possible."

Hinako Inui's gaze swept over the students in the classroom.

……

Sukiyaki is a classic beef hot pot dish in Japanese cuisine, and it is also a highly representative hot pot dish in Japanese cuisine.

Sukiyaki has two main styles in Japan: Kansai and Kanto.

Kansai-style sukiyaki has more broth and a lighter, sweeter flavor, while Kanto-style sukiyaki has less broth and a richer flavor.

However, the sukiyaki that Xiang Ji was preparing to cook was neither from the Kansai style nor the Kanto style, but rather a sukiyaki that incorporated Chinese culinary elements.

The food battle theme given by Hinako Inui is Japanese cuisine. As long as the dishes can meet the concept of one soup and three dishes in Japanese cuisine, even if the creative ideas come entirely from Chinese cuisine, there will be no deviation.

The core of Japanese cuisine, "one soup and three dishes," is a set meal consisting of a main dish, a bowl of soup, a main course, and two side dishes.

Xiang Ji is preparing to make sukiyaki, which incorporates the Japanese concept of "one broth and three dishes".

"Sano-kun, we now have some extra ingredients."

"Bamboo shoots, porcini mushrooms, diced mushrooms, matsutake mushrooms, yams, burdock, white radishes..." Xiang Ji's voice flew by.

"Yes, leave it to me."

Chapter 101: Additional Rules, A New Round of Testing

"Yes, Mr. Xiang Ji, leave it to me." Upon hearing Xiang Ji's instruction, Sano Ayane not only showed no displeasure, but became even happier.

Bamboo shoots, porcini mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, matsutake mushrooms...

Xiang Ji should have used such high-end ingredients from the very beginning, instead of ordinary ingredients like tofu and cabbage.

Look at the ingredients their food battle opponents chose! Wild abalone from Hokkaido, grouper from Kochi, Echizen crab from Fukui…

What kinds of ingredients did Xiang Ji choose?

The tofu and cabbage are not Kobe beef or Kagoshima Wagyu beef.

Using tofu, cabbage, and ordinary beef to hunt high-end ingredients such as wild abalone, grouper, and Echizen crab?

If it weren't for the regulations regarding Hinako Inui's assignments, and the fact that Xiang Ji and Tsukasa Eishi were both people invited by Hinako Inui, then it would be a different story.

Sano Ayane didn't know what to do; the difference in ingredients was too great.

This is a common problem among most Totsuki Academy students: they believe that cooking is simply the accumulation of high-end ingredients.

……

But Xiang Ji had no idea that Sano Ayane was having so much going on in her mind. The reason Xiang Ji chose to add more ingredients was simply because Sano Ayane's cooking skills were better than he had originally imagined.

Xiang Ji can then confidently delegate more of the work in the team food battles to Sano Ayane.

For example, now that Sano Ayane has handed over the ingredients such as bamboo shoots, porcini mushrooms, and chicken gizzard to Xiang Ji, Xiang Ji has assigned Sano Ayane a new task.

Matsutake mushrooms? Bamboo shoots? Boletus mushrooms?

The commotion at Xiang Ji's cooking station was also observed by the opponents in the team food battle.

"Golden, our competitors have added more ingredients," the assistant immediately reminded Chef Golden.

"It's okay, just once."

"The ingredients he added can't compare to the ones we carefully selected. Don't worry, I'll lead you to victory in the food war," the golden figure replied confidently.

"Okay, then I'll leave everything to you."

"Leave it to me."

……

Ding Ding Ding ~

Ding Ding Ding ~

While Xiang Ji was still cooking, his opponent in this team food battle had already finished cooking.

"Seafood Special Sushi Boat".

"Senior Inui, please enjoy." Chef Kinokun called out loudly to Hinako Inui as he served the dish, his voice tinged with a hint of smugness.

"Sushi?"

"When it comes to Japanese cuisine, sushi is definitely the first thing that comes to mind," commented Hinako Inui.

Even though Inui Hinako's words just now didn't contain a single word of praise, Kinokun and Ichiichi were grinning from ear to ear as if they had already won, their teeth showing in their joy.