Everyday Life Starting with Food Wars

At the Polar Star Dormitory, Yoshino Yuuki kept sniffing and her eyes shone brightly.

"Is this the strength of that Hayama Akira..." Yukihira Soma leaned on the railing, watching Hayama Akira's movements below the stage intently. "Just that scent alone is enough to attract everyone."

However, Hayama Ryo wasn't the only one on the field. Kurokiba Ryo on the opposite side couldn't let Hayama Ryo's scent dominate the entire field.

"Don't think you're the only one who does this."

Kurokiba Ryo suddenly turned around and grabbed the pot of seafood that was simmering from the counter.

By this time, the broth in the pot had almost taken shape. The eel, lobster, and various other dried seafood were mixed together, giving off a sweet aroma mixed with the taste of the sea.

"Watch this carefully, White Hair."

Kurokiba turned the stove to its highest setting, picked up a long-handled ladle, and added a large spoonful of brandy to the pot. The alcohol evaporated quickly under the high temperature, and at the same time, a ball of blue flame shot up from the pot.

Then Kurokiba Ryo added a large handful of fennel stalks and bay leaves, and sprinkled in some black pepper using a grinder.

With a loud "boom," the entire pot burst into flames.

At the same time, an aroma that blends the scents of burning, the sweetness of fennel, the spiciness of pepper, and the umami of seafood wafts from Kurokiba Ryo's kitchen counter.

Similar to Ryo Hayama's spice storm, Ryo Kurokiba's rich seafood aroma swept across the entire moonlit night.

"My goodness, these two people's cooking tastes so good..."

"I feel like I can't smell anything else except these two scents now."

"Me too, but this smells so good. I ate a full meal before, but now I feel a little hungry again."

Everyone in the Polar Star Dormitory stood up and watched the match below.

“Kurokiba Ryo’s seafood soup is completely different from Aki’s.” Yoshino Yuuki said after thinking for a moment, “Aki’s fish soup has a very comforting feeling, but Kurokiba Ryo’s is too violent, it’s like throwing a whole fish in your face.”

“What kind of analogy is that…” Marui Zenji’s lips twitched. “But that’s definitely Kurokiba Ryo’s style, which is why he’s called a mad dog.”

Ryoko Sakaki, holding a thermos, kept switching her gaze between the two cooking stations. "Now let's see who finishes cooking first. Akira Hayama has already started grilling, and Ryo Kurokiba should be almost done too."

“That’s right.” Ibuzaki Shun’s eyes, which had been hidden by his hair, were now fully open. “Next is the most crucial step. Will Kurokiba Ryo be able to achieve the texture he wants?”

"Ah Xing, who do you think will win?"

Tadokoro Megumi turned to Chen Yuxing beside her and asked.

"Hard to say."

Chen Yuxing leaned against the railing, looking down at the two people below.

"Everyone had already witnessed Hayama Akira's use of spices during the preliminaries. It can be said that his control over spices has reached a superb level."

"But Kurokiba Ryo is no ordinary man either; his use of seafood is equally terrifying."

"Hey, A-Xing, stop keeping me in suspense and just give me the answer." Yoshino Yuuki squeezed in. "Who do you think will win? Soma just bet that Hayama Akira will win, while Daigo and Shoji bet on Kurokiba Ryo."

"No, is this even a gambling game?" Chen Yuxing looked at her, somewhat amused and exasperated.

“You’d never guess,” Granny Wenxu chimed in. “They’re betting on the kitchen cleaning duties for the next week.”

"Oh? In that case, I'd like to participate too. Let me think about it."

Chen Yuxing turned his gaze back to Ye Shanliang.

At this moment, Hayama Akira was working on his baking tray, spreading a layer of coarse sea salt on it and placing some spices on top.

"Is that coarse sea salt granules?" Tadokoro Megumi peered in and observed. "Professor Shiomi mentioned this some time ago. Coarse sea salt doesn't dissolve all at once like fine salt at high temperatures. Instead, it slowly releases its saltiness, which makes the flavor of the dish more even."

"Xiao Hui, you remember it so clearly! That's amazing!" Yoshino Yuuki praised her.

Meanwhile, Hayama Akira continued his actions on the field.

Hayama Akira took out another piece of duck breast and placed it on the baking tray, continuing the previous operation on it.

He picked up a kitchen knife and made patterns on the surface of the duck skin, but the cuts only went as far as the fat, not down to the meat underneath.

Then he put down the kitchen knife, turned around and took a few small bowls from the spice jar.

First, Hayama Akira sprinkled a layer of coarse sea salt on the surface of the duck meat and then pressed the salt grains into the cuts he made with his hands.

Next came black pepper, thyme, rosemary, and ground bay leaves.

After doing all that, he picked up a small bowl containing an amber liquid, dipped his hand in it, and applied it to the surface of the duck skin.

"That's... honey!" Miyoko Hojo noticed as well: "Spreading honey on duck breast, that seems to be a..."

“French-style Appiuch roast duck.” Chen Yuxing revealed the answer: “This is a recipe passed down from ancient Rome.”

"The method of making Appiquius roast duck is to marinate the duck meat with honey and a variety of spices, and then slowly roast it by spreading coarse salt on the bottom of the baking pan."

"During this period, the honey will caramelize at high temperatures, which can create a shell on the duck skin and lock the spices into the duck meat."

"In this way, all the essence of the spices will seep into the duck meat along with the oil."

"Ah Xing, what you've said makes me hungry." Aoki Daigo clutched his stomach.

"You idiot! Didn't you just eat three bowls of rice at noon?!" Sato Shoji slapped him on the back.

"Can't I just smell this delicious aroma and get hungry again because of Ah Xing's description?!"

Ignoring the two adversaries, Chen Yuxing continued to explain, "The most crucial aspect of Apikius roast duck is the blending of spices, which is precisely what Ye Shanliang excels at."

"Ah-Xing, what do you think of Kurokiba Ryo's cooking?" Yoshino Yuuki asked.

Chen Yuxing turned his head to look in the direction of Kurokiba Ryo.

At this moment, on his cooking counter, the eel in the frying pan was slowly turning golden brown under the high temperature.

Meanwhile, in another soup pot, the soup made from eel bones and other seafood was bubbling away, and Kurokiba Ryo was carefully skimming off the foam from the surface with a spoon.

“Kurokiba Ryo may seem rough, but he has his own methods.”

Chen Yuxing pointed to the soup pot on the Kurokiba cold cooking counter: "His broth is somewhat similar to the bouillabaisse I make. The shrimp heads and shellfish he adds to it can enhance the umami flavor of the broth."

"He also made an extra pot of soup, made with soaked dried eel."

"The broth from soaking dried seafood is already very delicious. When you add fresh eel and shellfish broth, the two soups together create a 1+1>2 effect."

“I see.” Marui Zenji quickly wrote something in his notebook: “So Kurokiba Ryo’s strategy this time is to use dried eel and soup made from fresh eel to create a dish.”

"Hmm." After analyzing the situation, Chen Yuxing lay back down in his chair. "So it's really hard to choose between these two people."

"So who will you choose?" Yoshino Yuuki asked again.

"Yayama Akira".

This time, Chen Yuxing answered very decisively.

"Hey! Hoshino, didn't you say it was hard to say?" Aoki Daigo exclaimed in surprise.

"It's really hard to say about their abilities. As for whether Hayama Akira would win, that's just my personal feeling."

"Besides, it wouldn't be a problem for you and Shoji to choose Kurokiba Ryo, and for Soma and me to choose Hayama Akira, right?"

"Look, look! Hayama Akira has put the duck breast into the baking pan."

On stage, Akira Hayama placed duck breast smeared with honey and spices on a baking tray covered with coarse salt, lined with a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme, and put it into a preheated oven and set the timer.

He wasn't idle while roasting the duck.

He took out three fresh duck livers from the food storage and gently tapped them twice with the back of his knife.

Then, Akira Hayama used a knife to remove all the fascia and blood vessels from the surface of the duck liver, and put all the processed duck liver into a small bowl.

He poured a small glass of port into the bowl, added some thyme and pepper, covered it with plastic wrap, and set it aside.

Then, Hayama Akira picked up a few onions and garlic, chopped them into small pieces, and slowly fried them in a frying pan.

This is the sauce used for French roast duck – onion sauce.

Sauté the onions over low heat for a long time until they are completely melted. This will make the sauce very smooth, without any grainy texture.

After stir-frying the onions, Hayama Akira added a pinch of salt, a small piece of butter, and a small spoonful of honey to the pan and continued stirring.

I didn't stop until the original onion slices in the pot were no longer recognizable and had turned into a mushy mess.

There are 20 minutes left.

After making the sauce, Hayama Akira turned around and walked to the oven, opened it, and a strong aroma immediately wafted out.

Hayama Akira sprinkled white sugar on the surface of the roasted duck skin, then put the baking tray back and continued roasting.

"That's because white sugar makes the duck skin crispier," said Marui Zenji, adjusting his glasses in the audience. "Like the initial layer of honey, the white sugar quickly caramelizes to form a protective crust. This is like creating two layers on the duck skin. It's hard to imagine how fragrant the duck meat will be after you cut it open..."

"I can't believe it's like this!" Soma Yukihira's eyes lit up as he listened. "Two layers of crispy crust, incredibly crunchy when you bite into it, paired with lean meat that's absorbed the essence of the spices and the sauce..."

"What a brilliant idea!"

Meanwhile, on Kurokiba Ryo's side, the temperature on his cooking counter was also rising steadily.

He had just finished filtering the broth from the soaked dried eel, and the soup had now turned milky white.

Kurokiba Ryo divided the soup into two portions, one portion was simmered over low heat to reduce the sauce, and the other portion was poured into a baking pan.

He then opened the cabinet door of the steamer, pushed in the baking tray containing broth, took a stack of prepared baking paper, placed a piece of dried eel and a seafood ball on each sheet, rolled them up and sealed them.

Most importantly, what was used to seal the opening was not rope, but eel skin left over from when he was processing the eel!

"Is he using eel skin as a rope?" Kikuchi Sonoka stared wide-eyed in surprise. "This seems too..."

“That’s too wild,” Kakuzaki Taki chimed in, “but I really like what he does.”

“He used every part of the eel that was usable,” Dojima Ginya explained his insights. “He used eel bones and scraps to make broth, dried eel to rehydrate it, and even the rope used for packaging was made of eel skin.”

"It can be said that Ryo Kurokiba has extracted every usable part of the eel."

Kurokiba Ryo on the platform did not stop what he was doing despite the discussion.

He packed the paper bags with the roll numbers one by one and placed them on the baking tray. Then, he poured the thickened broth, which had reduced to a rich sauce, little by little into the gaps between the paper bags, allowing the broth to seep in through the gaps.

These stock ingredients are also the most crucial element. When the baking pan is placed in the steamer for heating, the bottom layer of stock and the concentrated stock in the gaps of the paper bag will generate steam. Since the steamer is a closed space, the eel in the paper bag will become more and more delicious in this environment.

To put it another way...

Kurokiba Ryō's method involves creating a new circulation system within the steam oven.

The steam in the steamer carries the umami flavor of the broth from the bottom up, while the broth seeps down into the paper bag, and in this cycle, the eel is constantly soaked.

There are only fifteen minutes left in the game.

The duck breasts of Hayama Akira were also roasted, and he took the baking tray out of the oven.

The skin of the duck breast had turned a very dark brown, with some blackened and charred marks on the edges.

However, this only affects the surface and has no impact on the duck meat inside.

He took the duck breast out of the baking pan and placed it on the cutting board to cool.

By this time, the duck liver that had been placed aside had also been marinated.

Hayama Akira took a frying pan, added butter to it, and then added the duck liver to the pan and fried it until it was half-cooked.

After frying the duck liver, mash it in a bowl and mix it with the previously made onion sauce. Add a little salt, port wine, and white pepper to make a dark brown sauce.

This is the sauce for Apichous roast duck, except that compared to the standard recipe, Akira Hayama added Port wine to it, which gives the duck liver pâté an extra layer of wine flavor.

There are ten minutes left in the game.

Hayama Akira began slicing the duck breast into thin slices and placing them on a plate. He then scooped out a spoonful of duck liver pâté and placed it on the side, finally drizzling a layer of duck gravy over it to finish.

Ryo Kurokiba took his eel out of the steamer and arranged it on a plate.

"Time's up!"

"Both contestants, please stop what you're doing and present your dishes to the judges!"

Chapter 91 Ocean Tyrant, Spice Monarch

"Time's up!"

Kawashima Rei raised her arm high, swung it forcefully downwards, and shouted, "Both of you, please stop what you're doing!"

As Kawashima Rei announced this, the giant timer hanging in the sky above the moon also returned to zero with a buzzing sound.

The kitchen counter, which had been enveloped in a rich aroma, fell silent instantly.

Everyone in the stands watching the game subconsciously held their breath, their eyes glued to the two figures in front of the cooking station.

Kurokiba Ryo roughly tugged at his apron, his eyes fixed on the food in front of him like a wild beast that had just finished its hunt.