Finally, after collective deliberation by the Elite Ten, the list of 60 contestants was officially finalized.
Among them were familiar names like Alice Nakiri, Yukihira Soma, Hayama Akira, Ryō Kurokiba, Hisako Arato, and Mito Ikumi.
Of course, it also included less well-known underachievers like Tadokoro Megumi.
As Isshiki Satoshi said, only contestants who can survive through layers of fierce competition are truly formidable.
What does it matter if an underachiever is on the list? With poor cooking skills, they are destined to be cannon fodder!
Essentially, the Autumn Elections are not a competition, but an examination.
Totsuki Culinary Academy, at its core, is a culinary school, not FIFA or the NBA, so there's no absolute need to rank participants.
For example, is the difference between the First Seat and Second Seat of the Elite Ten truly that important?
The one who becomes the First Seat may not necessarily be the strongest person at Totsuki, and the one who becomes the Second Seat may not necessarily be inferior to the First Seat in terms of personal charisma!
Also, during the Practical Training, Tadokoro Megumi's unauthorized alteration of Shinomiya's recipe did not conform to the assessment rules.
In other words, Shinomiya Kojiro could have completely used his own rhetoric and rules to declare her unqualified.
But in the end, he didn't do so. The reason, of course, was that Tadokoro Megumi's cooking evoked his childhood memories and stirred his longing for his hometown's cuisine.
However, he also truly knew what Totsuki Culinary Academy most wanted to see: the students' true abilities.
Not necessarily a clear winner or loser!
The same principle applies to these Autumn Elections.
Besides increasing competitiveness and interest, allowing the audience to witness exciting duels between chefs, it also provides a more ample stage for these new students to showcase their talents.
At seven in the evening, at the Izakaya.
Kakizaki Taki stood in front of the clean and tidy counter, her expression serious and focused.
At this moment, she was wearing a white chef's uniform, its collar and cuffs neat and spotless.
She tightly gripped a heavy, half-moon shaped chef's knife, its blade gleaming with a cold light. Then, her eyes flashed, and she swung it directly, chopping the parsley on the cutting board!
Thud, thud, thud!
Thud, thud, thud!
Her movements were light and skilled.
It was as if she was performing a silent dance, the entire half-moon knife flying and leaping in her hand.
Finally, with the rise and fall of the blade, the parsley was quickly chopped, emitting its unique fresh aroma.
And at the moment of completion, Kakizaki Taki swiftly put down the half-moon knife, then wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, a satisfied smile on her face.
"To train the half-moon knife to this extent, she truly lives up to her reputation as the former Second Seat of the Elite Ten!"
Beside her, Sosuke took in the entire process and couldn't help but praise her.
"It's alright, isn't it?"
"I haven't practiced in a while, so I'm a bit rusty."
Kakizaki Taki crossed her arms over her flat chest, feeling a bit smug.
"Hmm!"
"Then it's my turn."
Sosuke nodded, then picked up the half-moon knife again, his aura surging dramatically.
Then, he was seen swinging the chef's knife without hesitation, striking the beef on another cutting board with lightning speed.
Bang!
A muffled thud.
The half-moon knife accurately split the piece of meat.
Subsequently, the sound of chopping meat echoed in the kitchen, crisp and pleasant to the ear.
The continuous collision of the chef's knife and the cutting board produced sounds like the accompaniment of a violinist, sometimes rapid, sometimes gentle, like a moving musical piece!
"This… this is even faster than me?"
Such domineering and ruthless knife skills astonished Kakizaki Taki on the spot.
Although she already knew that Sosuke not only had high achievements in Chinese cuisine but also in some niche culinary fields, such as Nordic and Spanish cuisine, he also possessed extremely high mastery.
However, every time she witnessed it herself, his various bizarre techniques would completely overturn her understanding!
Currently, the Izakaya has undergone significant changes.
First, a second renovation and upgrade, adding a cafe, then extending business hours until 2 AM, and… a second official employee, Kakizaki Taki.
Her appearance, compared to Kuguchi Sonoka, is certainly not as cute.
Sometimes, her eyes are fierce, and her personality is rather impatient, so Sosuke assigned her to handle Western pastries, Western dishes, and various ingredient preparations.
As for Kuguchi Sonoka, she is responsible for serving customers and managing the cashier's bills.
In short, everything is proceeding in an orderly manner. The only drawback might be the absence of the part-time worker, Nakiri Erina.
After all, during the days she came to the Izakaya, Sosuke's life clearly gained more flavor and became less boring.
"Shopkeeper Zhang, I really didn't expect it!"
"I only went back to my hometown for a trip, and your Izakaya has changed again."
Just as Sosuke finished preparing the beef, the automatic sensing glass door, sensing Tadokoro Megumi's arrival, opened automatically, allowing her to enter.
As usual, Tadokoro Megumi was still very cute, her eyes watery and appearing charmingly delicate.
However, today she was not wearing the blue and white Totsuki school uniform.
Instead, she wore a pure white dress, its design simple yet elegant, perfectly showcasing the freshness and innocence a young girl should possess.
"Tadokoro Megumi, did you just return from your hometown?"
Seeing this soft and adorable girl, Sosuke greeted her warmly.
"Yes, I just arrived in Tokyo tonight."
"Here, these are some local specialties I brought from my hometown: Kikufuku small pastries, Sayama tea… and bean paste!"
After speaking, she took out a little bit of each local specialty and gave it to Sosuke.
Facing Tadokoro Megumi's "kindness," Sosuke did not refuse.
Because he knew that every time she came to the Izakaya, she would give him something, and if he refused, he would be letting her down.
What's more, their current relationship was no longer like that of strangers who had just met.
Upon closer inspection, the so-called Kikufuku small pastries were thin wrappers filled with cream and various fillings, such as matcha, edamame, and cream flavors.
As for Sayama tea, it is only harvested in spring and summer and is a specialty tea from Saitama and Ibaraki prefectures.
Finally, there was the bean paste, made from Hokkaido Tokachi-grown red beans as the main ingredient, mixed with black sesame, Niigata's Murakami tea, and other ingredients, resulting in four types of sauce.
Well, to some extent, these local specialties were quite rare and precious.
Therefore, after accepting her gifts, Sosuke smiled faintly and asked, "Coming all this way from your hometown, you must be hungry, right?"
"I've just developed a new dish; would you like to try it?"
"I… I certainly would."
Tadokoro Megumi replied, her voice as soft as a mosquito's.
"OK."
"Then please wait a moment."
After speaking, Sosuke put away the local specialties and turned back to the cooking counter.
There are thousands of types of Ramen in Japan, and classification methods naturally differ. Besides classifying by flavor, such as sauce, salt, miso, chicken paitan, and seafood, there are also classifications based on the shop's specialty, such as Yokohama Iekei Ramen and Jiro-kei Ramen.
Sometimes, when Japanese people chat, they might ask, "What style?"
They are actually asking what type of Ramen they prefer.
Another common classification is by regional specialty. Japan is long and narrow from north to south, with diverse climates and food cultures. Representative types include Sapporo Ramen.
This Ramen is said to have been developed to suit the cold climate of Hokkaido.
It specifically uses a rich pork bone broth, utilizing the insulating effect of the oil layer on top to prevent the noodles from getting cold easily. Its characteristics include curly noodles served with stir-fried vegetables and meat, drizzled with High Soup and garlic oil.
In terms of flavor, there are three options: miso, sauce, and salt.
The dish Sosuke intended to make for Tadokoro Megumi at this moment was Sapporo Miso Ramen.
Generally speaking, miso soup usually takes about 10 hours to simmer.
Because time determines the concentration of the soup, and miso soup usually has a very high concentration.
On one hand, he had to consider shortening the simmering time, and on the other hand, he couldn't reduce the concentration of the soup base. So, Sosuke could only resort to a magical tool: a pressure cooker!
This way, the 8-hour simmering time could be reduced to 40 minutes.
First, prepare the ingredients, such as shiitake mushrooms, wakame seaweed, ginger, dried shiitake mushrooms, and matsutake mushrooms.
Then, prepare the soup base: put 500 ml of water into a pot, add shiitake mushrooms, wakame seaweed, ginger slices, and High Soup.
Bring it to a boil over high heat, then add the special miso paste and stir well until the miso paste is completely dissolved, obtaining a delicious and rich soup base.
Next, cook the noodles.
Typically, it only takes 2 minutes to cook.
Place an appropriate amount of special miso paste in a noodle bowl, add High Soup, then put the cooked noodles into the bowl.
Add greens, bean sprouts, chikuwa, and seaweed, etc., on top of the noodles.
Pour the remaining soup base into the bowl.
Finally, a steaming bowl of Sapporo Miso Ramen was placed in front of Tadokoro Megumi.
A quick glance revealed that the soup base of this Miso Ramen was carefully simmered from sweet shrimp heads, maximizing the sweet flavor of the sweet shrimp, then infused with pork bone High Soup.
Then came the side dishes.
Braised pork, dried bamboo shoots, green onions, seaweed, and a soft-boiled egg, among others—quite a lot.
What surprised Tadokoro Megumi even more was the soft-boiled egg, which paired perfectly with the Ramen.
This perfect soft-boiled egg had tender whites and an amber, waxy yolk that was viscous, non-solid, and translucent, looking very appetizing.
So, she lightly moved her nose, taking a sniff.
Tadokoro Megumi's eyes lit up. Impatiently, she picked up her chopsticks, first taking the soft-boiled egg and putting it into her mouth to eat.
With the first bite, the entire soft-boiled egg had a creamy texture with a subtle saltiness.
"Mmm!"
"It really is the closest taste to home."
Tadokoro Megumi couldn't help but look excited, as if she wanted to leap like a joyful little bird.
Next, she took a sip of the soup.
The soup base of this Sapporo Miso Ramen was perfectly blended using a double broth method, made from dozens of ingredients like dried saury, Rausu kelp, and a rich pork bone broth.
Therefore, even drinking just a little, it felt like it contained the essence of all ingredients in the world, completely captivating her!
"Amazing."
"Chewy noodles, paired with thick kakuni, braised pork, and a soft-boiled egg."
"And seaweed, green onions, and dried bamboo shoots…"
"The ingredients are incredibly generous!"
Tadokoro Megumi composed herself slightly. This time, she no longer maintained an elegant eating posture, but instead, under Sosuke's gaze, slurped down the Ramen with big mouthfuls.
Watching her devour it so ravenously, Sosuke merely displayed a relieved smile.
From beginning to end, he didn't say a single word.
Logically speaking, after returning from her hometown, Tadokoro Megumi should have gone to Totsuki Culinary Academy first.
But she didn't; instead, she appeared directly at the Izakaya and even specifically gave Sosuke some local specialties from her hometown.
These actions indicated that in her heart, this Izakaya was already more important than Totsuki.
Of course, her coming here might also simply be to meet Sosuke, and it would be even better if she could taste the dishes he made.
And in Sosuke's heart, although this young girl came from the countryside and her background was not as noble as Erina's, it was precisely her purity and innocence that earned her much favor from him.
"Oh, that's right!"
"Shopkeeper, I have something to show you."
Suddenly, Tadokoro Megumi, who was eating enthusiastically, remembered something and quickly pulled a photo out of her pocket.
This photo featured two people: one was Tadokoro Megumi wearing a light blue kimono, and the other looked very much like her but appeared to be a mature woman in her thirties.
Upon closer inspection, the mature woman's eyes were clear and translucent, and her eyebrows were long and elegant.
Her skin was exceptionally fair, as pure as a baby's.
Hmm!
Whether it was her temperament or her attire, she truly did not lose out to Nakiri Mana or Leonora Nakiri.
"Oh, the person standing next to you must be your mother, right?"
After glancing at the photo handed to him, Sosuke quickly looked up and asked Tadokoro Megumi with a smile.
"Yes, my mom."
"She is a very gentle person; she… she loves me the most!"
As she spoke, Tadokoro Megumi couldn't help but recall the bits and pieces of her life in her hometown, her eyes subtly filled with deep affection.
Then, she began to talk incessantly, telling Sosuke everything she had seen and heard in her hometown.
During this time, she mentioned her mother many times.
When she was at Totsuki Culinary Academy, Tadokoro Megumi was actually not happy at all, as the high-intensity pressure often almost suffocated her.
That's why she missed her hometown so much and wanted to entrust all the grievances and hopes of these past few years to her mother.
And she was very lucky; she indeed had a good mother who was good at understanding and accepting her! (End of Chapter)
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