Afterward, Hoshino Sora blazed a trail, drawing dessert in the second round. He narrowly defeated Yukihira Ichika by two points with his watermelon jelly. That little girl was still unconvinced, her mouth pouting high.
"Next time we meet, I will definitely defeat you."
Hoshino Sora accepted this statement, then handed her a bowl of watermelon jelly, which immediately made her hair stand on end, as if she were in a summer ocean. When she came back to her senses, he had already left.
She also completely remembered the name Hoshino Sora.
Next was the 8-to-4 round, and the theme for this round was duck heart. His opponent was the owner of a century-old sushi restaurant, who barely managed to make a honey-smoked duck heart sushi, but its taste was certainly not as good as his meticulously prepared Fire Burnt Duck Heart, leading to his undeniable defeat.
In the 4-to-2 match, the theme was fish. An old family smoked fish dish narrowly won by one point against the fishmonger. The opponent, wearing a waterproof apron and holding a crescent cleaver, cooked with an incredibly strong sense of pressure.
The opponent presented a bowl of milky white fish soup, which was delicious, with tender and springy fish. However, its flavor was too simple and fresh, and it was suppressed by Hoshino Sora, who came on later.
The fact proved that people's interest in the next dish was higher, and when tasting the next dish, the flavor often overshadowed the previous one, giving people the feeling that the later dish was better than the former. This was the so-called first-move-loses principle.
Of course, when both sides' culinary skills are extremely close, judges often need to repeatedly taste both dishes before they can determine the winner, and different judges have different taste preferences.
Therefore, some people would ascertain the judges' preferences beforehand and then prepare dishes they liked. In situations where the dishes' taste levels were similar, this could provide a certain advantage.
At this moment, Hoshino Sora had already arrived at the final venue, a smooth journey that he himself could hardly believe. However, this time he was competing against a Master Chef from a restaurant, a professional for over ten years with rich experience.
At this moment, the opponent was checking his cooking utensils and sharpening his knife with a whetstone. The dull sound echoed through the venue, attempting to create pressure for Hoshino Sora.
Now, regarding Hoshino Sora.
At this moment, he was wiping his bone removal dragon saber with a rag, while secretly glancing at his opponent out of the corner of his eye. This guy's attributes were similar to his; both were all-rounders, but the opponent clearly had much stronger culinary experience than him.
There were no words, only Airi's passionate hosting voice in his ears. Hoshino Sora silently looked up at the screen in the air, where text was rapidly changing, then stopped at a place that surprised everyone.
Chili.
It's not that chili is bad, it's just that people in Neon rarely eat spicy food, so there isn't much research on chili in their cuisine. This topic was indeed chosen with great skill.
Looking at the chili and various ingredients pushed in front of him, Hoshino Sora's brain spun rapidly. For Neon people who couldn't eat spicy food, the spiciness had to be strictly controlled.
But it also needed to highlight the characteristics of chili, otherwise, it would deviate from the theme. And the characteristics of chili, besides being spicy, also include fragrance. Among the pile of chilies in front of him, Er Jing Tiao was undoubtedly the most suitable.
This type of chili has a relatively low spiciness; its main feature is its aroma. The moment it's stir-fried in hot oil, if the people around don't sneeze, then the dish he's making now would be considered a failure.
He selected suitable Er Jing Tiao chilies for use, then took ten good chicken middle wings, chopped off both ends with a cleaver, and removed the chicken wing bones from the middle.
He cut some green pepper strips and some carrot strips. The audience watching his operation were a bit confused, not knowing what he was doing, which showed how unusual Hoshino Sora's cooking was.
This included his opponent, who was also a bit puzzled at the moment. Sawa Narubu's dish was very simple; to be precise, he only knew one dish that required chili: stir-fried pork with chili.
Restaurants aim for profit, and to cater to the preferences of the Neon public, they have always been reserved about chili-based dishes. And since they made them less often, they naturally feared ruining their reputation by making them.
The dish 'stir-fried pork with chili' was added because the restaurant manager felt that the menu was missing a dish, but only about a dozen plates were sold throughout the year, making its table presence extremely low.
"Playing tricks."
He sliced the pork belly into uniformly thick slices, then cut the screw peppers with a rolling cut. Looking at Hoshino Sora, who was deboning chicken wings, Sawa Narubu muttered disdainfully.
As he spoke, he heated the wok, added a little peanut oil, and began to stir-fry the pork belly, then added the cut screw peppers. With just a glance, Hoshino Sora knew he had victory in his hands.
At that moment, his movements became unhurried.
"Erina-sama, do we really need to come and watch this level of competition?"
"Anyway, I have nothing to do, so coming to watch won't hurt. They're all useless; that guy's cooking is so bad, yet he made it to the finals, and his opponent's skill is even worse."
Standing on the second-floor stands of the stadium, a VIP-only area, the distance to the competition venue was moderate, the space was spacious, and if desired, one could even taste the dishes of the competitors.
"After all, it's just a street-level competition, and the chili pepper theme is too niche. Without prior preparation, it's difficult to make a high-quality dish."
"It's still a crude, bottom-tier competition, making one lose all appetite. But what is that guy doing? He's got a pile of deboned chicken wings, stuffed with green peppers and carrots. I've never seen such a method before."
Frowning slightly, Erina Nakiri couldn't quite understand what Hoshino Sora was cooking. Could it be that he couldn't think of a dish theme and just gave up?
"How leisurely. The Tenth Seat of Far Moon actually came to watch this level of competition."
Footsteps echoed from behind Erina Nakiri and Hisako, accompanied by a mocking remark. Pushing up his thick silver-rimmed glasses, Eizan Etsuya approached her.
"Senior Ruisan isn't also here? Besides, it's my freedom to be wherever I want, isn't it?"
Looking coldly at Eizan Etsuya who appeared beside her, Erina Nakiri's tone was impatient, wondering why this guy was here. Is Tokyo really that small?
"Eri Nai, who do you think will win?"
Looking at the two people competing below, Eizan Etsuya suddenly asked a very interesting question, and his glasses flashed with a gleam under the light.
"I don't know, nor do I care about such questions. There's nothing good to see in this level of competition. Well, Senior Ruisan, we'll take our leave first."
Giving Eizan Etsuya a deep look, Erina Nakiri turned to leave. She truly had no good impression of this guy, even disliking him.
Because the other party had once suppressed a store under her, although it ended as a misunderstanding, it still made Erina Nakiri dislike this businessman, Eizan Etsuya.
Despite his culinary skills not being very refined, he ranked above her, and he liked to play dirty tricks outside the plate during competitions. She had always looked down on such people.
Of course, politeness was still necessary.
"It was clearly a wonderful duel."
"It's just that no matter how hard this poor guy tries, he can't win. The outcome of a cooking competition isn't determined solely by how delicious the dish is, especially in such a small competition."
With a sinister smile on his face, Eizan Etsuya shook his head and left the second floor of the stadium. He came here just to inspect the work, but he didn't expect Erina Nakiri to be here.
Although he didn't know why, it was harmless.
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