Can you handle my Hikigaya's cooking?

"In Totsuki Academy, every dish will be graded, and as a freshman, getting an A grade is rare even after all these years. But even so... I won't give up. I've already burned my boats."

"I see..."

"This teacher is called Roland Shepper. He is notoriously harsh in grading among Totsuki. It is said that last year, all the students in a class got an E, and 18 students even dropped out."

"No wonder this school has such a low graduation rate..."

"Not only that, most people will smile happily when they eat delicious food, but no one has ever seen Mr. Shepper smile, so he has a nickname, 'The Chef Who Can't Smile'." While saying this, Tanomo Megumi's legs were shaking uncontrollably. Even though she had tried her best not to think about dropping out of school, she still couldn't overcome the physical fear.

Facing the promises she had made, facing her father and mother, grandparents who were full of hope at home, and facing her younger brothers and sisters who admired her, when she thought of all this, Tanomo Kei trembled with fear.

She didn't want to disappoint them, and she didn't want to drop out of school.

Everything seemed to be a foregone conclusion, so everyone gave up struggling. Most students were content just to complete this semester's coursework as much as possible.

But...it's just the beginning.

Teacher Shepper slowly turned around and wrote down the recipe and production process on the blackboard.

"Today's menu is [Bourgogne-style beef stew with red wine]. Although it is the most basic French cuisine, I still wrote the recipe on the blackboard. The time limit is two disappearances, and the completed group will hand it in."

"Then... let's get started."

Faced with the restless students, the whole classroom was thrown into an uproar with Mr. Shepper's words.

For those who have tasted this dish before, it is not impossible to get an A, just like Hayato Hayama, who started cooking almost immediately after just glancing at the recipe.

The skilled knife skills and fast techniques instantly led the atmosphere of the whole place, and many people began to join in the cooking.

As for Hachiman...

"What's the matter?"

Chapter 19: Hikigaya-san, does he have a photographic memory?

Although it cannot be said to be complicated, because there are so many steps, if you take a wrong step, the whole dish will be different. As for Hachiman, he has never even heard of this dish.

After all, my family only runs a simple restaurant and there are no high-end dishes. Almost all the food on the menu is relatively common. Even if my father occasionally makes some special dishes, they are only a minority after all.

"Tadokoro-san, you should handle the raw materials first."

"Ok."

Learning and cooking on the spot are simply impossible. What's more, the teacher is the legendary Roland Shepper. It is even more difficult to cook an A-level dish.

Hachiman just stood in front of the blackboard, memorizing each one in his mind.

At this time, there was another mocking voice from below:

"Wow, I thought you were such an amazing transfer student, but it turns out you can't even do the steps. Hahahahaha."

Hachiman ignored his provocation, and almost completely blocked out the outside sounds, focusing all his attention on the blackboard.

At the same time, the beef dishes his father had made kept appearing in his mind. Every cut and every step seemed to appear clearly before his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, fifteen minutes had passed, and Tansho Kei, who was in charge of processing the raw materials, had just sorted out the necessary materials.

There is still more than an hour left, which is plenty of time, but the crux of the problem is not here. For this dish, everyone may make it almost the same, and if you want people to really feel the difference, you need to change it from the root of the method.

In the traditional recipe, the beef needs to be marinated in Burgundy red wine for more than 12 hours. Put the beef cut into large pieces into a container, add two cloves of garlic, a spice bunch, a few cloves, onion slices and carrot slices, and pour in a bottle of red wine.

After marinating for 12 hours, the beef is soaked with the flavor of spices and red wine, and the stewing effect is better, but obviously, there is no such time now for the beef to perform at its best.

With only two hours, most people's dishes will be similar. Put the stewed beef made from the selected beef shank into the oven.

Depending on the size of the oven, adjust the oven to 160-180 degrees and preheat for about 15 minutes; remove the marinated beef and drain, discard the garlic and cloves, and set the onions, carrots and spice bundles aside; pour a little olive oil into another pan, fry the beef until both sides are browned, then add the marinated onions and carrots and stir-fry for a while, sprinkle a little flour, a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, mix evenly and pour into the cast iron enamel pot.

Fry the latong until it releases oil and turns brown, then pour it into the pot, add the spice bundle, two cloves of garlic, then pour in the red wine and about 500 ml of beef stock set aside, add a spoonful of tomato sauce, put the pot into the preheated oven, bake for about 3 hours, and simmer slowly to lock in the moisture. The red wine will slowly evaporate during the simmering process and blend into the soup base.

Many people will plate the red wine beef and vegetables at this time, and then sprinkle a little parsley on it to enhance the flavor. This is also the most standard way of doing it. Because the production process is too precise, if you accidentally miss a step or pour in too much material, the taste will be too light or too strong.

"Hikigaya-san, do you understand?" asked Tadokoro Megumi worriedly. In the past fifteen minutes, many classmates had already started making it, but they were still hesitant to start.

"It's okay...similar to the way I cook beef at home." Hikigaya replied calmly.

"Cook...cook beef..." It can be clearly seen that there is an expression of disbelief on Tanomo Megumi's face.

"let us start."

"it is good."

Because the ingredients were already prepared, Hikigaya moved without any hesitation. The recipe steps on the blackboard kept appearing in his mind. He was like a ruthless machine, performing each step perfectly without any mistakes.

Tansho Kei, who was standing by, found that she seemed to be unable to help at all, and could only look at the big pot in front of her with worry.

"Hikigaya-san, this needs to be cooked for 40 minutes."

"Hikigaya-san, this one still has 3 minutes left."

"Hikigaya-san, you need to stir this for five minutes."

"..."

The nervous her seemed to be incompatible with the extremely calm Hikigaya in front of her. She couldn't believe that one person could do so many things at the same time, and each step seemed to be honed through thousands of trials and tribulations, and it was impossible to tell that he had just looked at the recipe.

The most important thing is that it’s like he has an alarm clock in his heart, which will ring instantly when the time comes, keeping the ingredients as fresh as possible.

"If you want to make a dish different from others, what would dad add at this time?"

'Honey can make beef tender the fastest, but... it still lacks a bit of explosive feeling when eaten.'

'It can only be this...'

Sprinkle a handful of bay leaves on Hikigaya, and then just wait for 40 minutes before serving.

"Awesome... Hikigaya-san, so awesome..."

"No...I just followed the recipe."

"But you just looked at the recipe... Could it be that, Hikigaya-san, you have a photographic memory?" Even though the food wasn't out of the pot yet, Tadokoro Megumi could feel that Hikigaya had made an amazing dish.

Hikigaya shook his head. He was not as good as Tanomo Kei said. He simply combined the recipe with his father's experience in stewing beef. After all, the overall method would not change. He just had to control the time a little bit.

However, in the eyes of Tanomo Kei, this is not something that can be achieved simply by controlling time. After all, every step of Hikigaya is to be ready in just that one second.

When it comes to beef, cooking it for one second longer or one second less can cause significant damage to the food.

This level of precision is simply perfect. For Totsuki Academy, perhaps only the top few people can do this simplest thing, but Hikigaya has done it.

I don't know since when, but Tanomo Megumi's eyes have been deeply locked on Hikigaya's face, unable to move away at all.

Hachiman gently waved his hand, indicating that he had something to say to Wadosho-san.

The distance between the two people narrowed rapidly, and in just a moment, they were close to each other's ears.

Chapter 20 A sudden burst of light

The two people did not attract the attention of their classmates. After all, one was the last in the class, and the other had a weak presence. If he had not been a sudden transfer student, no one would have noticed his appearance.

Tadokoro Megumi blushed. It was the first time for her to be so close to a boy. Unlike just now, she didn't dare to look Hikigaya in the eye now.

"What's wrong, Hikigaya-san?"

"Later, quietly move the pot you just cooked, and then put an empty pot on top. Remember to turn on the fire and pretend that our dish is that." It was also the first time that Hachiman was so close to a girl. Although he had tried his best to distance himself from classmate Wadobe and tried his best to keep their conversation from being heard by others, for the sake of their grades, he still decided to do a backup plan first.

There was a look of confusion on Tanomo Kei's face, and it was obvious that she had not realized what was going to happen next. However, Hachiman had already noticed that the group that had just provoked them had extremely bad eyes, and they might come to cause trouble next.

Although Tansho Kei looked confused, surprisingly she just nodded firmly and didn't ask anything.

At the same time, an hour and a half had passed, but no student had handed in his or her dish. It seemed that everyone was waiting for an opportunity, but lacked a leader.

Tadokoro Megumi: "Hikigaya-san, we have five minutes left for our beef."

Hachiman: "Okay."

While the two were talking, the first warrior had already served his dish, and almost instantly, he attracted the attention of the entire class.

Tadokoro Megumi: "Captain Hayama, it's done..."

Hachiman: "Leading the way? That's really his style."

Teacher Shepper, who was sitting on the podium, seemed to finally smell the aroma of the food and slowly opened his eyes.

"Teacher, please enjoy."

There was still no expression on Teacher Shepper's face. He just slowly took out the fork and focused all his attention on the ingredients, feeling the bursting aroma.

Hachiman: "Tadokoro-san, please pay attention to our food. I'll go to the front to take a look."

Tadokoro Megumi folded her hands, and after hearing what Hikigaya said, she just hurriedly responded in a panic: "Oh! Okay... I'll take care of it!"

At the same time, Teacher Shepper had already placed the fork on the beef. The juice attached to the beef slid down instantly, and the force applied to the fork seemed to be bounced back at this moment.

"Very tender, the fork seems to bounce back, good."

Ye Shan smiled slightly, simply stretched out his hand, and made a very gentlemanly gesture.

"I used pineapple juice. I applied it on the beef before stewing it, and also used a little when blending it. Pineapple juice contains enzymes [proteases] that break down proteins. Applying it on the beef ribs can quickly make the beef tender."

Teacher Shepper's expression remained serious: "Indeed, you are right."

The students watching below the stage also made incredible noises at this moment.

"Wow, as expected of Hayama-san."

"Squad leader, you are awesome..."

"It looks like our class will get an A grade."

"So handsome, squad leader."

Shepper's face remained serious. Giving a grade before tasting the food was obviously not what a teacher should do.

When it comes to cooking, the most important thing is the texture and taste of the food.

He simply picked up a piece of beef, which was so soft and sticky that it seemed like it could fall off at any time. The moment he put it in his mouth, the aroma of red wine instantly burst out.

but...

"It was stewed too soft and tasted like beef brisket. The idea was good and the taste was acceptable overall, but the time was not controlled well. Since pineapple juice was added, there was no need to cook it for so long."

"Overall it's pretty good. Although there are some minor issues, it doesn't affect the dish, so...A."

After hearing Mr. Shepper's score, the students in the same group as Ye Shan immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but Ye Shan was far from satisfied.

Ye Shan still had that indifferent smile on his face, but with a hint of self-mockery:

"Thank you, teacher."

At the same time, the students in the audience also complained bitterly.

"The class monitor barely got an A. It looks like our class is doomed."

"It's more than finished. It looks like this E can't escape."

"No one should be able to get an A. Oh, what bad luck, I met Mr. Shepper in the first class."

On the other side, after observing Hayama's cooking, Hachiman finally returned to his table. However, as soon as he came back, he saw Tadokoro Megumi, who looked pitiful and about to cry.

"What's wrong, Tadokoro-san?"

"I just feel like... I can't do anything right. I can't even complete the simplest task given to me by Hikigaya..."

Feeling that familiar malicious gaze, Hachiman realized what was happening almost instantly.

He gently lifted the lid of the pot, and sure enough, a large spoonful of salt had been sprinkled on it.

"There are only 20 minutes left. Those who haven't finished will be treated as E." Teacher Shepper's words came from the podium, and Hachiman just breathed a sigh of relief.

Facing this girl with twin ponytails, Hachiman simply said:

"We must always have the self that others have defined for us, but we always deviate from this definition. Tansho-san, perhaps others expect you to be a good cook, a successful graduate, or a gentle and kind person, but only you can decide for yourself."

Tansho Hui hugged her hands. She was already timid and felt even more guilty at this time: "But...but..."

"No matter what you do, you can't change what has happened. There's no need to blame yourself."

Hachiman had long anticipated the malice of this world, so he took measures to protect himself. This is how he always is.