Everyday Life Starting with Food Wars

"A turtle medicinal burger and a seafood burger, huh?" Jiro Ono smiled at the audience from the judges' panel. "That's why I chose to accept Totsuki's invitation!"

“I’ve never seen or heard of this dish before. I can’t even imagine what it will taste like.” Kim Jiro crossed his hands to support his chin and looked at the two contestants with amusement: “This is really an interesting competition.”

Time flies.

Hisako Niito's turtle broth was ready soon. She opened the lid, and a thin layer of oil floated on the surface of the broth.

She took the turtle meat out and diced it, then mixed it with minced pork, coagulated turtle blood, and turtle shell powder.

While stirring, she added a small spoonful of ginger juice to remove the fishy smell, and then added salt and pepper to taste. The turtle blood gradually seeped into the meat filling during the stirring process, and the originally pinkish-white meat filling slowly turned brown.

She picked up the minced meat and repeatedly pounded it, then shaped it into a meat patty and pressed a small indentation in the middle with the back of her hand.

Then she poured a thin layer of oil into the pan and heated it up. When the meat patty was put in, it made a sizzling sound.

Hisako Shinto didn't flip the meat patty; she simply pressed the surface gently with a spatula to make it stick completely to the bottom of the pan. After frying for three minutes, she flipped it over and fried it for another three minutes.

"Oh? Is the small indentation in the middle of the meat patty to prevent it from expanding when heated?" Zangmu Shino commented with narrowed eyes, "That's a very meticulous technique."

After the pork chops were pan-fried, Hisako Shinto poured the prepared turtle broth into the pot and turned up the heat to reduce the sauce. The broth evaporated quickly under the high temperature, becoming less and less and thicker.

When the sauce thickens to the point where it clings to a spoon, it's almost done. She turns off the heat and puts in the pan-fried pork chops, coating them with the thick sauce.

For bread, Hisako chose Chinese-style steamed bread, and the dough had been proofed in advance.

She divided the dough into several portions, rolled them into balls, and steamed them. The steamed bread was very smooth and elastic.

She cut the bread in half with a knife, added the turtle meat patties covered in sauce, and then added a few fresh lotus leaves and shredded tender ginger.

"Turtle medicinal burger, complete!"

Ryo Kurokiba has also entered the final stage.

He poured all the minced shrimp and crab meat into a large bowl, added small pieces of abalone, squid tentacles, and seaweed, then added egg whites and starch and began to beat it wildly.

"Is this guy... insane?" Daigo Aoki swallowed hard as he watched Ryo Kuroki's movements from the stage. "The speed at which he's stirring is too fast. If I were stirring at that speed, I'd get cramps."

"There's no way around it, the worst thing about seafood-based steaks is that they fall apart." Marui explained from the side, "To prevent the steaks from falling apart during frying, they must be thoroughly mixed. This way, the steaks will be firm enough. Kurokiba Ryo's method looks rough, but it is indeed the most effective method, just like making fish balls by hand."

Kurokiba Ryo pounded the beaten minced meat to remove air and shaped it into patties. Then, he added butter to a frying pan and heated it until it melted and bubbled. He then put the patties in to fry.

The moment the meat patty hit the pan, a burst of white smoke erupted as the melted butter turned into a golden liquid that surrounded the patty. The aroma of seafood and the creamy scent of butter mingled together and filled the air.

His method of frying pork cutlets is a little different from Hisako Niito's. Ryo Kurokiba directly frys them over high heat for only about 30 seconds on each side, just enough to form a hard crust on the surface.

He then put the prepared meat into the oven and baked it at 180 degrees Celsius for about ten minutes.

"Oh? Fry first, then bake?" Teacher Chappelle looked at Kurokiba Ryo's technique with some surprise: "Is it to make the outer crust crispier?"

Kurokiba Ryo took the steak out of the oven and started plating it. He used French butter bread, cut it open, and fried the cut side in a frying pan until it had a golden brown char.

The bottom layer of bread is spread with a layer of sea urchin mayonnaise, topped with a steaming hot seafood steak, then topped with lettuce and tomatoes, and drizzled with a refreshing sauce made from lemon juice, olive oil, and dill, before finally being covered with the top layer of bread.

"Seafood Trio Burger, complete!"

Chapter 79: The Final Showdown

"Turtle medicinal burger, please enjoy."

Hisako Shinoto was the first to carry her turtle medicinal burger upstairs.

The five judges looked down at the steaming hamburgers in front of them with curious expressions.

The hamburger buns are not made with traditional Western-style bread, but with Chinese-style steamed bread. The surface looks very smooth, and you can feel the amazing elasticity when you press it with cutlery.

The turtle meat cutlet wrapped in sauce sandwiched between the two slices of bread is also very appealing, with a few tender yellow ginger shreds garnishing the side, and the whole burger exudes a faint medicinal aroma.

Kim Jiro couldn't contain himself any longer. He eagerly picked up a hamburger, and his eyes lit up the moment his fingers touched the bread: "This feels...so soft!"

He opened his mouth wide and took a big bite.

The teeth easily cut through the soft bread and touched the turtle meat inside.

"Well!"

The moment he tasted the steak, Kinjiro's eyes widened in surprise.

It didn't have the fishy smell you might expect from turtles, nor the bitterness from the herbs; instead, it had a delicious, soul-stirring flavor.

The meat of soft-shelled turtles is more delicate than that of ordinary meat because it contains a gelatinous substance.

Furthermore, Hisako Shinto added Shaoxing wine to it, which fully brought out the collagen and umami flavor of the turtle.

"There's a warm current flowing through my body." Zangmu Zina closed her eyes and felt it. "It's the medicinal herbs! The effects of the medicinal cuisine are fully manifested!"

After she ate the hamburger, a gentle warmth welled up in her stomach, flowing through her veins and making her feel clean, warm, and comfortable all over.

Jiro Ono was the oldest judge, and he also felt the most deeply. While eating a hamburger, he looked at Hisako Shinoto and said, "Astragalus replenishes qi, angelica invigorates blood, wolfberry nourishes the liver and kidneys, and lotus leaf is used to balance the heat that each herb may bring."

"What a novel and interesting idea..."

Teacher Xia Pei, who was standing nearby, also took a bite and commented, "The powder made from turtle shell mixed into the meat patty increases the collagen, and the mixture of turtle blood and pork helps the meat retain moisture."

"There are also lotus leaves and shredded tender ginger. One can be used to remove the earthy taste left by the turtle, and the other can enhance the medicinal flavor with a slightly spicy touch. This burger..."

Ms. Chappell suddenly found herself soaking naked in a natural hot spring.

The hot spring water is not transparent, but rather amber in color, and it also exudes the aroma of medicinal herbs and Shaoxing wine.

Every pore on his body opened up, absorbing the continuous medicinal properties of the hot spring, and all his fatigue was swept away.

Just then, several adorable turtles suddenly swam up from the bottom of the pool and gently rubbed and massaged Chappell's back and shoulders with their soft, gelatinous plastrons.

"Mmm...so warm...so comfortable..." Even he, a teacher who never smiles, couldn't help but make a comfortable sound.

Before he knew it, when Mr. Chappell came to his senses, he realized that he had finished eating the hamburger in his hand.

Just as the four judges were immersed in the wonderful experience brought by the turtle medicinal burger.

Suddenly, Senzaemon Nakiri stood up and closed his eyes. Unbeknownst to him, half of the clothes on the commander-in-chief had been removed, revealing his muscular upper body.

"What?! Did the CEO's clothes explode again? But it doesn't look quite like it, is it a partial explosion?" The students on stage started discussing.

Hisako Shinto couldn't help but laugh when she saw the commander's reaction; she had also managed to make the commander react by having his clothes ripped off.

But before she could finish laughing, a domineering and aggressive fragrance wafted from behind her.

At that moment, Ryo Kurokiba also came over with his hamburger.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." He grinned, revealing a wild smile: "Seafood Trio Burger!"

He slammed his tray heavily onto the judges' table: "How can you call that lukewarm food a hamburger? A hamburger should be something that makes people tear into it with gusto, something full of violence."

The hamburgers on the Kurokiba tray looked very rustic.

Unlike Hisako Aragaki's soft bread, he chose to use French hard bread baked with butter.

His bread crust was baked to a golden brown and crispy, with an enormous, exaggerated-looking meat steak sandwiched in the middle.

"Zizzizi..."

The pork chops looked fresh out of the pot, still sizzling with oil.

However, this steak also brought a very strong seafood aroma, which tore apart the mild medicinal fragrance of Hisako Shinto's medicinal burger.

Kuraki Shigeno frowned, clearly displeased with Kurokiba Ryo's rough actions, but she still picked up a hamburger.

As soon as she held it in her hands, she could feel the burger's piping hot temperature as it was fresh out of the oven and the rich aroma of butter.

"Click".

When you bite into it, a crisp crunching sound comes out, which is a completely different experience from Hisako Shinto's hamburger bun.

The crispy texture of the pan-fried buttered bread, and the caramelized crust of the seafood steak beneath.

"What...what is this?!"

If Hisako Shirato's burgers are like a gentle hot spring, then Ryo Kurokiba's burgers are like a raging tsunami.

The outer shell of the pastry and the outer shell of the meat patty are crispy like the caramel in crème brûlée. After biting into them, you'll find shrimp and crab meat, as well as various kinds of seafood inside.

The distinct textures of the seafood explode in your mouth, followed by the flavor of sea urchin mayonnaise, which envelops all the seafood flavors and elevates the taste to a new level.

The final lemon-dill sauce, like lightning, cleaved through all the flavors, delivering a refreshing burst of taste.

"This flavor... is just too intense..." Kinjiro couldn't help but shout after tasting it.

Meanwhile, all the judges found themselves no longer in the moonlight, but on a small fishing boat violently rocked by a storm.

The sky above was filled with dark clouds and thunder and rain, and huge waves tens of meters high crashed against the deck, making the small boat teeter on the brink of capsizing.

Suddenly, the sea beside them broke open.

A massive, mountain-sized deep-sea monster burst forth.

The monster had the claws of a lobster, the tentacles of an octopus, the head of a crab, and other features of different marine species.

The giant monster swung its massive pincers and smashed the fishing boat carrying the judges to pieces. Then, it extended countless tentacles to tightly bind the judges and drag them into the deep and turbulent seabed.

"Wild! Violent!"

On the judges' panel, Kim Jiro's face was flushed. His mouth was stuffed with bread and meat patties, and he was tearing at them like a wild beast that had been starving for a long time: "I can't stop, I just can't stop!"

"This harsh taste is like my tongue is being rubbed raw on the ground!"

Meanwhile, the commander-in-chief, after enjoying Kurokiba Ryo's seafood burger, found his kimono, which was already only half-full, completely burst open.

The audience was no longer surprised by this scene.

"I feel like I won't be surprised by anything that happens after this; this competition was just too outrageous..."

"Yes, I feel like we're on a completely different level from them."

Next comes the scoring process.

The final result was: Ryo Kurokiba, four votes; Hisako Shinoto, one vote.

Four out of the five judges voted for Ryo Kurokiba.

Only Jiro Ono chose to vote for Hisako Shinoto.

"Hisako's burger is already excellent. It's very complete in terms of both the turtle flavor and the concept of medicinal cuisine." Jiro Ono said to Hisako Shinoto with some regret, "But as a dish that seeks direct impact, Kurokiba Ryo's seafood burger is indeed more in line with that. It's just a matter of cooking style, not that your skills are lacking."

“In terms of health and wellness, Hisako-san’s burger is definitely superior, but in terms of sheer wow factor, Kurokiba Ryo’s burger is definitely better,” Kuraki Shigeno added from the side.

“If you could be a little bolder with the sauce, or make the flavor of the herbs more impactful and aggressive, the outcome might be quite different…” Professor Chappelle was much more direct.

"Then, the outcome is decided!"

Kawashima Rei, holding the microphone, shouted loudly: "The final winner is—"

"Kurokiba Ryo!"

Cheers erupted from the audience at the same time.

"Kurokiba is cool! Kurokiba is cool!"

"That's amazing! I really want to try that seafood burger too!"

"Shinto-kun is really good too, to be able to fight that mad dog like that, it's just a difference in style..."

Hisako's eyes were slightly red, but she held back her tears, forced a smile, bowed to the judges on the judging panel, and prepared to leave.

“If you only want to be No. 2, that’s far from enough.” Kurokiba Ryo took off his headscarf and walked over, reverting to his lazy demeanor. “Although I’m Miss’s follower, I often have cooking competitions with her and try to beat her.”

"If you only want to stand behind those you follow without thinking about surpassing them, your world as a chef is too narrow."

"I don't know why I suddenly wanted to tell you all this, but that's all I have to say. I'm going back to sleep now..."

After finishing his sentence, Kurokiba Ryo yawned and left, while Shinoto Hisako stood there dumbfounded with her head down.

"At this point, three of the four spots in the Autumn Selection Tournament have been confirmed! The final spot will be decided in this afternoon's competition! All spectators and contestants, please go back and rest for a while, and wait for the afternoon's competition to begin!"

……

After a short lunch break, the audience in the Moon and Sky were still in high spirits, which was pushed to an even higher climax by the upcoming final showdown.

"Finally, it's the last match of the afternoon!" Daigo Aoki rubbed his hands together, his face beaming with excitement. "The duel between Soma and that kid Takumi is really something to look forward to..."

"So, what kind of dishes do you think Soma can cook?" Yoshino Yuuki held up a banner with a chibi version of Soma. "Hey, Daigo and Shouji, you two come over here and help me put some on my plate!"

"To be honest, listening to A-Xing's introduction makes me feel quite worried." Marui Zenji pushed up his glasses and said, "Soma's creativity is really as amazing as Joichiro-senpai's, but like Joichiro-senpai, he is also very daring and likes to make weird dishes... Don't forget the strawberry squid last time, Daigo and Shoji were squatting there for the whole night after eating it."

Upon hearing this, Daigo Aoki and Shoji Sato turned deathly pale.

"Don't...don't mention that...just thinking about it makes me feel so painful..." Aoki Daigo and Sato Shoji trembled as they clutched their stomachs, as if they were back in that day.