Chapter 390: Perfect Dish
Having divided the fermented dough into four pieces, Hachiman added vegetable juice for coloring, resulting in four colors: white, green, black, and red.
With the dough prepared, Hachiman began preparing the fillings.
Sea cucumber, shark fin, abalone, scallop, crab, shrimp, squid, and flounder.
These eight types of seafood were quickly processed by him, then separately cooked in eight pots.
During this time, Hachiman began weaving bamboo boats to hold the dishes.
With the fillings ready, it was time to make the buns. Each of the eight fillings was wrapped in dough of the four colors, with the characters (blue), (white), (vermilion), and (black) imprinted on top, symbolizing the Four Sacred Beasts.
The buns, along with the bamboo boats, were placed into the steamer.
During this interval, Hachiman began preparing another type of bun.
Speaking of the "Four Sacred Eight Seafood Treasure Soul Buns," one cannot fail to mention another type of "bun," the "Golden Smile."
In "Chuka Ichiban," when he faced off against Luo Kong in a cooking duel, he drew the topic of "buns." While Luo Kong used the thousand-year-old "Shu Han Old Dough" to make the Bai Luo family's ancestral dish, "Four Sacred Eight Treasure Seafood Soul Buns," he countered with the deep-fried buns, "Golden Smiling Bun," resulting in a tie.
Although Hachiman believed that the "Golden Smiling Bun" probably tasted better than the "Four Sacred Eight Treasure Seafood Soul Buns," its novelty factor, combined with the protagonist's treatment, warranted the tie.
With his current culinary skills, which were likely on par with or even stronger than Liu Maoxing's later skills, replicating a "Golden Smiling Bun" wouldn't be difficult.
Soon, buns with "smiling faces" appeared in Hachiman's hands.
However, he didn't rush to fry them. Instead, he took down the steamed "Four Sacred Eight Treasure Seafood Soul Buns." Just as he was about to lift the lid of the steamer, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.
Squinting his eyes, Hachiman could see faint golden glimmers through the small holes of the steamer.
Is it... actually glowing?!
This took Hachiman by surprise. Despite having reached the pinnacle of his cooking module long ago, he had never made a glowing dish before.
His surprise didn't go unnoticed by Erina and the others, who looked at him with curiosity.
"Hachiman-kun, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just a little unexpected situation. But I suppose it's a good thing," Hachiman hesitated to say.
After all, a glowing dish should be the epitome of perfection.
Carefully holding the steamer, Hachiman approached the dining table.
Seeing his actions, everyone couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"Onii-chan, what's wrong with you?"
Taking a deep breath, Hachiman's face showed a serious expression.
"What's about to happen might seem a bit magical, but don't be afraid."
Upon hearing this, Senzaemon smiled.
"Don't worry, Hachiman, I've seen it all. There's nothing that could scare me."
Gin and the others nodded as well. Besides the young people present, they had all experienced major events. Why would they be afraid?
"All right, don't blink, because it's time to witness a miracle," Hachiman said, pausing for a moment before reaching out to lift the lid covering the steamer.
As the cover was removed, a golden light burst forth from the steamer.
"What is this?!"
"It's... glowing!"
"How can a dish glow?!"
...
Seeing this golden light, even Senzaemon and the others, who had just said "there's nothing to fear," couldn't help but express their astonishment.
If they were surprised, let alone Erina and the others.
The girls were all dumbfounded, questioning their existence.
Meow meow meow?
Did I just see that?
Is the dish actually glowing?
But being experienced individuals, Senzaemon was the first to react, quickly asking Hachiman, "Hachiman-kun, what's going on? Why is the dish glowing?"
The others also perked up their ears, wanting to hear Hachiman's explanation.
However, this time they were disappointed, as Hachiman himself encountered the phenomenon of glowing dishes for the first time.
"I don't actually know. This is the first time I've encountered a dish that glows," Hachiman admitted.
"But I read about it in an ancient book. Legend has it that in a distant ancient kingdom across the sea, over a hundred years ago, there were dishes that emitted light. It was considered the epitome of culinary perfection."
"In other words, a glowing dish signifies that the dish is perfect."
Scratching his head, Hachiman had to resort to the explanations he read in "Chuka Ichiban."
"Perfect dish..."
Senzaemon muttered to himself, and the next moment, his expression suddenly became excited.
"Mana... Mana... A perfect dish can surely save Mana"
Mana?
Upon hearing this name, Hachiman raised an eyebrow.
If he remembered correctly, Mana, as mentioned by Senzaemon, was his daughter, the sister of Soue Nakiri, the wife of Azami Nakiri, and also the biological mother of Erina, one of his soon-to-be mothers-in-law...
Mana Nakiri.
Hachiman's prospective mother-in-law and Erina both possess the same "God Tongue."
The "God Tongue" is indeed an enviable talent, but at the same time, it's also a curse.
It was because of the "God Tongue" that Mana Nakiri developed anorexia, becoming tired of eating mediocre dishes and relying solely on nutrients to sustain her life.
In the later stages of the original story, she appeared as the ultimate final boss.
In the Moon Banquet Hall, she tasked Erina and Soma Yukihira with creating a dish that had never been seen on Earth before.
In fact, the entire plot of "Food Wars" is just a setup, a scheme devised by Senzaemon to save his daughter and granddaughter.
He gathered geniuses from all over the world at Totsuki Academy, having them compete against each other, all in the guise of nurturing the strongest chefs to save his family.
Similarly, Azami Nakiri had his own method of trying to save his wife and daughter.
Upon hearing his own mother's name, Erina's expression also became excited.
"Grandfather, are you saying that this dish can save Mom?"
"If what Hachiman-kun says is true, then it must be possible," Senzaemon's emotions were somewhat stirred at this moment.
However, Soue Nakiri appeared unusually calm at this moment, holding down his father's trembling shoulder, and spoke in a low voice.
"Father, let's wait a moment. Before concluding it's a perfect dish, let's taste it first. You know, we don't have many chances to try it out on Mana's side."
Upon hearing this, Senzaemon also calmed down and nodded.
"Then let's taste this 'perfect dish'!"
With that, he picked up a red bun and placed it in his mouth.