Chapter 387: The Copycat Chef, Hachiman Hikigaya
"Ha ha, first resurrecting in the glacier, and then being reborn in the raging fire, this is truly a marvelous sea bream feast."
"Yes, the lively taste is as if the sea bream is dancing on the tip of the tongue, it's hard to describe in words."
"This culinary skill is amazing. These two dishes alone make the trip worthwhile."
"Yeah, young people these days are really something."
"..."
As the dishes were emptied, everyone gradually eased out of the culinary trance, praising Hachiman's first two dishes endlessly.
To their compliments, Hachiman smiled faintly, "You flatter me. Since we've already sampled the appetizer and pre-dinner snacks, let's move on to the main course."
Upon hearing his words, everyone felt a bit speechless but couldn't argue against it.
Indeed, sashimi was an appetizing cold dish, and spring rolls, categorized as appetizers or snacks, were appropriate for pre-dinner nibbles.
However, since Hachiman said so, the next dish was bound to be even more delicious.
With this thought in mind, everyone's anticipation grew.
Hachiman once again got to work, but this time, he clearly quickened his pace.
In the eyes of everyone, Hachiman's figure seemed to have been pressed with an acceleration button.
Kneading dough, preparing vegetables, mushrooms, and various meats...
From the amount of preparation, it was evident that he wasn't planning to make dishes one by one.
Currently, Hachiman was handling various cuts of meat: tenderloin, leg meat, shoulder meat, pork head meat, trotters...
Not only that, he also took out a leg of lamb, picked up a kitchen knife, and swiftly made several even and deep cuts on the leg of lamb. Then, he made a few pokes in the air, creating small holes on both sides of the leg of lamb.
Once the leg of lamb was prepared, he placed it in a container, added cooking wine and Sichuan peppercorn water to remove the gaminess, and started marinating it.
??????
Seeing this scene, Gin seemed a bit bewildered.
Hachiman's actions were too familiar to him now. Kneading dough and handling various cuts of pork were probably for making the "Cosmic Dumplings," while the handling of the leg of lamb was clearly for making the "Ninefold Secret Lamb Leg" from last time!
This...
Just by watching a few times, he learned it all?
At this moment, Gin began to doubt his own talent deeply.
It should be noted that the "Ninefold Secret Lamb Leg" was something he had painstakingly researched for a long time, and after continuous improvement and optimization, it had become one of his strongest dishes.
You're picking up everything just by watching a few times, Hachiman, isn't that a bit too much?
Unfortunately, no matter how much Gin complains in his mind, Hachiman's actions continue.
This "Ninefold Secret Lamb Leg" was indeed something he secretly learned last time at the Totsuki Resort.
With the blessing of his maxed-out "Physique" module, Hachiman's senses were greatly enhanced. In terms of vision, he could even slow down captured images, making it easy for him to see or learn high-difficulty operations.
So, as long as he wears a face mask, he could easily cosplay as Hatake Kakashi.
...
Looking at Hachiman again, while marinating the leg of lamb, he didn't idle. He blanched the Jinhua ham, which had been soaked in clear water in advance, in boiling water, then took it out, and stewed it together with the previously prepared tea tree mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and ginger in a pot.
During this time, Hachiman began cooking various parts of the pork using different pots.
Frying, deep-frying, stewing, roasting...
And during the cooking process, he would add scallions, ginger, garlic, star anise, onions, and even French red wine, various herbs, and other common seasonings from different cuisines!
When these meats were cooked to about seventy percent done, Hachiman turned off the heat.
By this time, the dough was also almost ready. He rolled out the pale golden dough into a slightly thinner dough sheet, then went to a relatively open space and started spinning the dough sheet in his hands.
Under the centrifugal force, the dough sheet in Hachiman's hands grew larger and larger, soon becoming a dough sheet with a diameter of over one meter.
Seeing this scene, the people around remained emotionally stable.
After all, they had just witnessed some grand scenes. Compared to carving void, slicing void, or spinning dough with hands, this was relatively minor.
Tossing the spun dough sheet gently upward, Hachiman didn't move his head, just watched as the large dough sheet slowly descended, landing perfectly in the large steamer prepared on the countertop.
With the dough sheet ready, Hachiman processed the various kinds of pork that had been cooked to half done. Soon, chunks of meat, meat grains, and even meat fillings appeared under his knife.
After arranging the various meats on the dough and filling them, Hachiman carefully folded the edges of the dough to form them into the shape of dumplings.
Seeing the finished dumplings, both Erina and Alice exclaimed softly.
"Huh, isn't this..."
"It seems to be that dish, right?"
Hearing the two sisters' comments, Leonora became interested.
"What's going on, Erina, Alice, do you know this dish?"
"Oh, this dish is something Hachiman made on the last night of our residential training, it's called... uh, what was it... the 'Cosmic Dumplings,' I think." Alice nodded.
At this moment, Gin, who was nearby, also spoke up. "That's right, it's exactly the dish Hachiman made for the celebratory dinner during our residential training."
"And that leg of lamb that's marinating, it should be for the dish I originally made, the 'Ninefold Secret Lamb Leg.' I wonder how Hachiman's version will taste," Gin added, feeling somewhat strange in his heart, as it's not common for someone to replicate his dishes so openly.
On Hachiman's side, the dumplings were already wrapped up. He placed the large steamer on the steamer pot and started the final steaming process.
Taking advantage of this time, he continued with the cooking steps for other dishes.
After removing the cooked ham, he added the sliced bamboo shoots and scattered fish maw into the broth and cooked them for a few minutes to absorb the flavor of the ham broth.
The ham and bamboo shoot slices were cut to the same thickness as the scattered fish maw. Next, it was time for some manual work. Hachiman intertwined these three strands, then braided them.
Once the braided strands were stuffed into the sausage casing, they were placed in the pot with the ham broth and steamed.
Seeing this scene, Erina suddenly realized.
"So, it's that dish?"
Naturally, the young girl could tell that Hachiman was making the "Tornado Wing Sausage."
"Huh, Erina, do you know? What dish is this?" Alice asked curiously.
However, Erina had no intention of telling her. "I'm not telling you. Not only do I know about this dish, but Hachiman also taught me how to make it."
Saying this, the young girl glanced triumphantly at Alice.
Seeing her triumphant look, Alice gritted her teeth.
Damn you, Erina!
Hmph, even if you know about this dish, Hachiman has already done that kind of thing with me. No matter what, you'll have to be behind me.
I've won!
Thinking this, Alice's mood improved a lot, and she glanced triumphantly at Erina in return.
This puzzled Erina a bit because she didn't know what Alice was feeling triumphant about.
But then again, besides Erina, Gin also knew about this dish, but he had no intention of getting involved in the sisters' jealousy, so he simply watched without saying a word.
At the same time, he became even more certain of his speculation.
Erina and Alice, the two sisters, indeed both seemed to like Hachiman.
The only question was, which one would Hachiman choose?
This also piqued the interest of Gin, the "Top Graduate of Totsuki," in his heart.
After all, gossip is a human instinct, and almost everyone has some interest in gossip news.
This was something Hachiman didn't know about Gin's thoughts. If he knew, he would surely look down on him.
Only children make choices. Adults, of course, want them all.
Meanwhile, Hachiman continued to focus on cooking. Soon, a dish was ready, and he proudly carried over a plate of pink cylindrical objects—his freshly made "Tornado Wing Sausage."
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