"That's strange."
"How did Mito Ikumi think of this?"
"With her amazing temperature control, shouldn't she first control the heat and directly bring out the flavor of the beef through grilling?"
In the guest room, Erina watched Mito Ikumi's actions, murmuring to herself.
On the other side, Yukihira Sōma was also busy.
He first minced garlic, sliced onions, heated the pan with cold oil, poured in the minced garlic and onions, and stir-fried the onions until cooked.
He then successively added light sauce, dark sauce, black pepper, salt, sugar, and an appropriate amount of cumin seeds, stir-fried them, then added cold water, brought it to a boil, and added the fatty beef.
He then spread the cooked beef and onions over the rice, finally drizzling some sauce and garnishing with some chopped green onions and pickled plums.
Lastly, he made a runny hot spring egg and placed it on top.
…
Sizzle!
Sizzle!
When a bottle of high-alcohol white wine was poured into the boiling hot oil, it made a "sizzling" sound.
In an instant, a thick cloud of smoke—no, it was steam—rose up, spreading in all directions until it filled the entire competition venue!
"Hmm?"
"This aroma…"
Sōma, who had just finished his donburi dish, had no time to be happy and quickly turned his gaze towards Mito Ikumi.
The scene before him truly shocked him, and he couldn't help but think:
It's just making a donburi; does it have to be so exaggerated? It even created a "smoke bomb" effect.
"White wine? Plus the white sugar from earlier."
"The combination of these two achieves effects such as enhancing color, brightening flavor, removing fishiness, increasing elasticity, extending preservation, and maintaining moisture and tenderness…"
"No, she's making a special seasoning similar to mirin!"
Soon, Erina, whose mind was racing, was finally so shocked that her jaw almost dislocated.
It was only then that she realized such a dish could absolutely not have come from Mito Ikumi, but rather… from Sosuke of the Izakaya!
Continue with high heat to allow the alcohol to evaporate completely, thus retaining the aroma of grain wine without the bitterness of alcohol.
Then add sauce, reduce to low heat, and add a large bowl of water, just enough to slightly cover the ingredients.
Because fresh a5 grade beef was used, which is harder to cook than the fatty beef Sōma used, adding some water to stew it would eventually form a rich and sweet sauce.
Finally, serve the freshly cooked rice in a ceramic bowl, then layer it generously with the juicy beef and onions.
The a5 grade beef donburi, packed with meat, was complete!
…
"Now, both sides will enter the judging phase."
"Please, Yukihira Sōma, who finished his dish first, present your donburi to the 5 judges present for tasting and evaluation!"
As Kawashima Rei's words fell, Yukihira Sōma quickly brought out the beef donburi he had made.
"Esteemed judges, this is Yukihira-style Hot Spring Egg Beef Donburi, Fourth Evolution!"
The dish name was a bit tongue-twisting and a bit chuunibyo.
But looking at the donburi in front of them, the judges were all amazed.
Who would have thought that merely using those scraps of fatty beef could make such a tempting donburi dish?
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