Chapter 244: Showdown Between Hachiman and Dojima?
Once the kitchen assistants had prepared all the necessary ingredients, Hachiman and Dojima changed into their chef uniforms and approached their respective stations.
Seeing Dojima in his chef uniform, many graduates were stunned, halting their work in surprise. They hadn't expected Dojima to participate in preparing the dishes for the banquet. Originally, the plan was for guest lecturers like them to handle the cooking, and the host, Dojima, wouldn't need to get involved.
However, when they noticed Hachiman working alongside him, some graduates with sharp minds began to speculate.
Could it be that the two were going to have a competition?
At this thought, the eyes of many graduates lit up. After all, Dojima was universally acknowledged as the most skilled among the graduates, and Hachiman's culinary prowess was equally impressive. The collision of these two talents was something they eagerly anticipated.
"Hinako, what's going on between Dojima-senpai and Hikigaya-kun?" Donato quietly approached Hinako, with Hitoshi, Mizuhara, and a few other close graduate friends joining.
Though Shinomiya wasn't present, he also perked up his ears.
"I'm not entirely sure. It seems they're making two dishes each for the other to taste," Hinako whispered while continuing to handle her ingredients.
"Could it be they're trying to compete?" the composed Hitoshi speculated.
"I'm not sure about that. They say it's not a competition, just mutual assistance," Hinako rolled her eyes, recalling the words the two had exchanged earlier.
Mutual assistance?
Hearing this, Hitoshi and the others exchanged puzzled glances but didn't linger on the topic. They returned to their respective cooking stations since they still had numerous dishes to prepare.
Once the required ingredients were delivered, Hachiman took the lead in starting the cooking process.
He poured pre-measured flour into a bowl and, as before, swiftly cracked eggs into the flour, this time adding a suitable amount of water. With his hands back in the bowl, he began to knead, creating a smooth, large dough. He covered it with plastic wrap, allowing it to "rest."
During this time, Hachiman started preparing the ingredients. Though there were some vegetables and mushrooms, the majority consisted of pork, and judging by the meat's texture, it was premium Jinhua pork.
Various cuts of Jinhua pork passed through his hands – tenderloin, leg meat, shoulder meat, pork head meat, trotters, and even the stomach band that could be consumed. He meticulously organized them: deboning, removing excess fat, and cutting. In no time, all the meat was perfectly prepared.
Witnessing this scene, many graduates became puzzled, unable to comprehend what kind of dish he intended to make, especially considering the use of such diverse cuts of meat.
Once the meat was subdivided, Hachiman brought out multiple stoves, placing pans, fryers, pressure cookers, and various other pots on top. He then cooked the different cuts of meat using various methods – frying, deep-frying, stewing, boiling, and more.
As they observed, the graduates grew even more perplexed. They couldn't grasp Hachiman's culinary intentions.
As for Dojima on the other side, he began his own preparations. A lamb leg was placed on his workstation, and with a kitchen knife in hand, he skillfully made precise, uniform incisions on the leg.
Observing this, Hachiman raised an eyebrow. Truly, he was the strongest man in the history of Totsuki. His knife skills were on an entirely different level compared to other graduates.
With the knife back in hand, Dojima took an iron skewer and evenly pierced small holes on both sides of the lamb leg.
Once the lamb leg was prepared, it was placed in a container, marinated with cooking wine and Sichuan peppercorn water to remove any gaminess.
Meanwhile, Hachiman continued to cook various parts of the pork using different methods. In the process, he added ingredients commonly found in various cuisines: green onions, ginger, garlic, star anise, onions, and even French red wine, various herbs, and other seasonings!
Soon, the pork was nearly 70-80% cooked, but at this point, he turned off all the stoves.
Simultaneously, the dough had finished resting. Hachiman used his fingers to poke the pale golden dough in the bowl, feeling the incredible elasticity. Satisfied, he nodded.
Using his hands as knives, he divided the pale golden dough into several equal pieces.
Taking one piece, he moved to a relatively spacious workstation.
First, he rolled this piece of dough into a slightly thinner pancake. Then, to the astonishment of the graduates around him, Hachiman actually started twirling the pancake in his hands.
Under the influence of centrifugal force, the pancake in Hachiman's hands grew larger and larger. In no time, it turned into a large dough sheet with a diameter of about one meter.
Witnessing this spectacle, many graduates were left with gaping mouths.
Was he cooking or performing acrobatics?
However, Hachiman paid no attention to their surprise. With a gentle toss, the large dough sheet landed smoothly in the steamer on the kitchen counter.
After preparing the dough, Hachiman took out various semi-cooked pork cuts and diced or minced them according to their suitable methods.
Every time he finished processing a part of the pork, he placed it in a specific position on the dough sheet. Once all the pork parts were handled, the dough sheet was fully covered.
Hachiman walked to the side of the large steamer, stretched the dough sheet, and gradually wrapped it into a shape resembling a dumpling.
Witnessing this scene, the surrounding graduates finally figured out what he was making.
"It's actually a dumpling..."
"But it's so big, can it really steam thoroughly?"
"..."
Indeed, as they remarked, although the dough sheet was folded, the diameter of the entire dumpling was at least sixty to seventy centimeters, almost as large as half a table.
Hearing the discussions around him, Hachiman smiled faintly. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be easy to steam such a large dumpling thoroughly. However, all the ingredients had been pre-processed to a semi-cooked state, so it wasn't as difficult as imagined now.
Placing the large steamer on the steaming pot, Hachiman breathed a sigh of relief.
Turning to look at Dojima's side, they saw that his lamb leg had also finished marinating. It was currently placed on a grill, being flipped and roasted continuously. Occasionally, he would apply his pre-mixed spices to the surface of the lamb leg.
Roasted lamb leg?
Hachiman raised an eyebrow, a hint of anticipation emerging in his mind. He wondered about the taste of the roasted lamb leg prepared by the strongest graduate among them.