Can you handle my Hikigaya's cooking?

"Is it actually a snack? She actually made a curry dish into a snack?"

"That's not the problem. The problem is that it can emit such a smell... and it's just a snack."

There was a lot of discussion about Yukinoshita, and after she attracted attention, Hikigaya, who was standing next to her, quickly became the center of everyone's attention.

"Hey, isn't that Hikigaya?"

"The one who is rumored to be dating Yukinoshita?"

"Where did you hear this unofficial history? I remember it was the one where he defeated Senior Shinomiya."

"Where did you hear this shit? I remember there were both."

"No, that's not right... This can't be a random spread, why can't I see the strength of this guy."

"It seems to be true. This guy is so bad at basic skills, and we still don't know what kind of cooking he is making. What on earth is this guy doing?"

"Who knows... But we will know soon..."

Chapter 81: Yukinoshita's strength is the best in the whole place

Everyone's cooking was almost finished, but Ye Shanliang was the first to finish his cooking ahead of time, but...

In the center of this huge venue, the person he had been paying attention to was not Yukinoshita, but Hikigaya.

Not to mention his near-perfect performance during the school trip, which seemed like a piece of cake to Ryo Hayama, but in this short month, as a member of the Shiomi Institute, he witnessed his progress with his own eyes.

so...

He was really curious about what kind of dishes Hikigaya Hachiman could prepare.

Hachiman was seen standing at his stove sometimes in a daze, sometimes seriously. It was obvious that he was in a daze most of the time. Although it was a curry dish, there was no smell of any cooking on his stove, let alone spices.

Regarding this point, perhaps it was not just Ryo Hayama, even Yukinoshita standing beside him and Erina in the VIP room did not understand the current situation at all.

Although this guy always comes up with some amazing dishes at the end, when he sees that the cooking time is almost over, he remains calm and does not look nervous at all.

It was obvious that Ryo Hayama couldn't stand it anymore. After all, he had regarded Hikigaya as his opponent, and his current performance was obviously not to his satisfaction.

He put his hands on his hips, walked up to him and asked seriously:

"Hikigaya, where's your cooking?"

"It will take a while... Actually, I just worked on this dish last night..."

After hearing what Hachiman said, Ye Shanliang finally understood. This guy actually planned to try out a new product in such a competition, and he just figured it out yesterday. At this time, should we say that he is brave or stupid enough?

"To be honest, I am really grateful to you for helping Run complete the project, but I will not hold back on the field. I naturally hope that you and everyone else will have the same mentality, but... in the end, the winner will still be me."

Hachiman: "You are really confident. Unfortunately, I promised my father that I will not lose to anyone else until I beat him next time."

Ye Shanliang: "Humph, then I'll wait for you."

After Ye Shan left, Yukinoshita came over and asked in a low voice:

"Did your cooking go well?"

"Well, it should be OK."

"That's good."

Without too much nonsense, Yukinoshita quickly returned to her stove to add the final touches to the dish. Because she was making a curry dessert, no...to be precise, it was a curry ice cream dessert, so it needed to be carefully maintained.

When the cooking time was over, everyone rushed to put their dishes on plates.

The host of venue A is still Kawashima Reika. Because there are five judges this time, the rules are quite simple. Each of them has 20 points, which means the full score is 100. In venue A, only the top five students in the scoring test can truly advance to the main competition.

The first contestant to appear was Mito, and as expected, she would use her best combination of meat and curry as the dish for this qualifying round. Since the number of qualifying places was limited, there was absolutely no possibility that someone would intentionally hold back, and precisely because of this, Mito had poured 200% of her effort into her dish.

With the help of Hachiman Hikigaya, her curry has made new progress. By controlling the temperature of the beef and combining the spices, she finally made an extremely sweet curry Dongpo pork.

Just looking at it with the naked eye, there is nothing outstanding about this dish. Although it cannot be said to be without characteristics, on Totsuki, such food can only be described as ordinary at best.

Undoubtedly, Dongpo pork is a dish made from pork belly stewed in soy sauce, but compared to beef, it is still somewhat greasy.

As a judge, it would be disqualified to rate other people's dishes based on first impression, so no matter how the dishes look, there will be no complaints. As a matter of fact, only after actually tasting the dishes can one give the most accurate rating.

Hoshino Ai picked up a piece of Dongpo pork without hesitation. Under the crystal clear light, the whole piece of meat was glowing with moving brilliance. Not only that, other judges also discovered the special feature of this piece of meat at this moment. Dongpo pork, which is obviously the most difficult to handle, has three layers of lean meat and fat overlapping.

As long as you shake the rice bowl gently, the whole piece of meat will move like jelly, but the rice, which is the staple food, will not move at all. This is enough to show that Mito has mastered a very exquisite balance of heat.

As Mito's Dongpo pork was put into his mouth, the aroma of curry was completely released at this moment. Because the Dongpo pork was so big that it couldn't even be stuffed into his entire mouth, the last bit of gravy could only be left out helplessly.

Hoshino Ai: "Meat! As soon as I bit into it, the meat burst out like a waterfall. It's amazing!"

It seemed unexpectedly reliable. Hoshino Ai just kept savoring it, and on the tip of her tongue, it seemed as if a beautiful dance made up of meat was being performed.

Although the Dongpo pork is made of pork belly, the taste of spices neutralizes it and it does not feel greasy at all.

Seeing that Mito's cooking was unanimously recognized by the judges, Hachiman simply nodded in relief.

Xuexia, who was standing by, asked in confusion:

"Hikigaya, you taught her how to use spices, right?"

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

"Although Mito looks careless, she is actually very meticulous. This is undeniable. However, her previous cooking skills were very limited in the use of seasonings and spices. This project can be said to have hit her weak point. As for the reason why she has improved so quickly, I can't think of any other reason except that you live in the Polar Star Dormitory with her."

Hachiman shook his head at Yukinoshita's somewhat confusing words:

"I just told her how to use the spices, and nothing else helped her."

"First, blanch the pork belly, then stew it with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and soy wine, and finally add the spices for flavor. Of course, the most important thing is not these, but the little salt and pepper oil in the rice, and finally add star anise, ginger and other spices to make this an excellent dish."

Yukinoshita also nodded:

“This dish is really outstanding. Although the spices used are not very special, it is definitely a qualitative leap for Mito. The neutralization of pepper oil and fat, and the conflict between sweetness and spiciness do not seem contradictory, but instead make this dish an indispensable key factor.”

"only..."

As the judges ate with gusto, Mito's final score was finally displayed on the smart board that everyone was paying close attention to.

"82 points!"

Hachiman was obviously a little unbelievable. Not to mention that the person who cooked this dish was Mito, and the judges had just expressed their satisfaction, but the final score was only 82 points.

Yukinoshita seemed to have noticed Hikigaya's doubts and just shook her head again:

"Hikigaya-kun, you underestimate this score. Even in the history of Totsuki, in every autumn selection, there are only a few people who can reach 70 points. Those who can reach 80 points are already considered the absolute elite, and those who can reach 90 points are not many in the history of Totsuki."

"Perhaps you will understand this fact later."

After listening to what Yukinoshita said, Hachiman also turned his attention to Mito. Yes, just as Yukinoshita said, Mito seemed to be satisfied with this score. After all, she had indeed tried her best in this subject which was not her forte.

But... there's still one problem.

Hachiman finally noticed the child of the same age as him, Hoshino Ai. She did not look like a professional judge at all, but her scoring of dishes was very tricky. Sure enough, things were not as simple as he imagined. This seemingly unserious judge would never give high scores easily.

The ninth seat in the VIP room also clapped his hands. After all, the first student to reach a score of 82 points also showed that this class of students did have a lot of elites. As for Isshiki and Erina, the person they were looking forward to was still behind.

Kawashima Rei: "It seems that our first classmate has already set a good example for everyone. Now let's welcome the second contestant, the second daughter of the Yukinoshita family, Yukinoshita Yukino!"

Because the order of appearance was completely messed up, Yukinoshita didn't seem to react that she would enter so early, but... no matter what the situation was, she remained calm, just nodded slightly to Hikigaya, and walked onto the stage with her food.

"My name is Yukinoshita Yukino, this is my food, please enjoy it."

She just made a half bow very politely and stood aside, waiting for her results. There was no sound from either the audience or the stage.

Yuigahama leaned close to Miura's ear very carefully and said, "I always feel that Koyuki's oppression is so strong... No one is talking anymore."

Miura: “….”

When the lid of the pot was gently lifted, a dessert made of curry appeared. However, in the eyes of the four judges except Hoshino Ai, this kind of food has nothing special except its good appearance. It is better to say that it is similar to the goods sold on the street. However...

How else can such a product attract people who know nothing about cooking?

Yuigahama: "Wakakaka! Koyuki's cooking looks so good, Yumiko, don't you agree?"

Miura: "It's really pretty, but...it seems like the judges' expressions aren't right."

Yuigahama: "It's obvious that these people have no taste. They even look down on Xiaoxue's cooking."

As soon as these words were spoken, almost all the audience members around Yuigahama and Miura focused their attention on them, and the two of them seemed to realize something and suddenly shut their mouths.

Among the five judges, Hoshino Ai seemed to like this dish very much. Her twinkling starry eyes seemed to have evolved at this moment and she just stared at it intently.

Hoshino Ai: "This is so beautiful!"

The other judges didn't say much because they knew that Hoshino Ai's level was not on the same level as them. They just put the spoon in their hands into the cake, and the aroma of curry finally came out.

As the ice cream gradually melted on the dessert, the secret within it was gradually revealed. The flavor of the spices hidden within the ice cream instantly emerged through the refreshing feeling of the ice cream. Not only that, the flavor emitted by this dish completely surpassed all the flavors currently on the market. Even though it was not baked at all, it was still able to emit flavor.

Even Ye Shanliang looked at it in disbelief. Such manual skills were not something that ordinary people could do. Burying the curry under the ice cream and finally melting it into water to become a garnish on the dessert.

As the judges put the small snack into their mouths, the fully cooked banana, apple and mango base sauce was released.

"No, that's not right..."

"Why do I smell the fragrance of durian..."

Hoshino Ai's words quickly prompted the judges to take another bite. Yes, only by savoring it carefully can one feel the secret in it. The dessert is supported by cream and durian, combined with the use of spicy curry and a base sauce made from various fruits.

The taste that turned into running water flowed into the judges' throats so smoothly, and they felt as cold as ice that could freeze everything, but they let it invade their hearts again and again.

I thought it was just an ordinary dish, but time and time again the judges couldn't put it down.

From beginning to end, Yukinoshita just stood aside without saying anything.

It was not until her results were finally shown on the screen that everyone was once again shocked by her abilities.

"95 points!"

Tadokoro: "9...95 points..."

Takumi: "This guy is too perverted."

Isami: "Brother, has there ever been a person who scored 95 points in the autumn selection in history?"

Takumi: “Who knows…”

Ye Shanliang's pupils couldn't help but tremble, but only for a moment, it aroused his inner desire to win.

As contestants in the audience, they may not be able to realize the charm of this dish at all. After all, the shock brought by Yukinoshita's dish is obviously far less than that brought by Mito, and even the fragrance is not as strong as before. However... only the judges who have truly tasted her dishes can understand why this dish is worthy of 95 points.

Hoshino Ai stood up and made a pause gesture. Then, in front of everyone, she stood up and asked Yukinoshita:

"Excuse me, I have to interrupt you for personal reasons. I have something I really want to ask you right now. I won't take up too much of your time."

"Ms. Yukinoshita, I sincerely invite you to be my personal chef. Are you willing?"

Facing Hoshino Ai's invitation, Yukinoshita just half bowed again and said:

"Thank you for enjoying the meal, and thank you Miss Hoshino Ai for inviting me, but I still have things I haven't finished, so please forgive me for making a choice that is not to your liking."

Without saying much, Yukinoshita just walked off the stage in front of everyone.

Hoshino Ai, who was rejected, did not feel unhappy at all. She just smiled calmly and said:

"That's a shame, please feel free to contact me if you can."

As everyone watched, Yukinoshita simply returned to her own stove, while Hikigaya on the side couldn't help but complain:

"I know you're great, but... I just said 80 points is elite and then here comes a score that's beyond reach. Is this really okay?"

Facing Hachiman's words, Yukinoshita simply placed her hand on her lips and smiled faintly:

"Huh? Did I say I wasn't one of those people who scored 90 points?"

"It seems that there is really no reason to refute..."

"do you want to eat?"

"What the hell?"

Apparently the scope of the conversation was too great and Hikigaya didn't react for a moment, but Yukinoshita had already taken out her snacks.

"I accidentally made a little too much just now, so I thought I'd make an extra portion, but it would be a shame to waste it, so after thinking it over I decided to give it to you."

'Am I a dog? Why do I always feel like I'm feeding a dog...'

Hachiman couldn't help but complain in his heart, but after all, Yukinoshita didn't have that kind of thought, so he couldn't say anything.