Chapter 976: Actual Cooking Skill Exposed, You Really Are a Beginner!

In the private cooking room, Broly stood before the stove tossing fried rice with a clatter, while Nakiri Erina sat down beside Hisako Arato.

"How is it, Hisako, delicious?"

Erina wasn't truly angry; she asked her secretary's opinion with great interest.

"A bit more and it burns, a bit less and the wok hei is insufficient. That guy's fried rice has every grain distinct, dry, fragrant, and crisp. I have to admit, even if I did it myself, I couldn't fry it better than him. No wonder it's something that Erina-sama can't forget."

Hisako Arato didn't mind that this was rice that had gone into her mouth and come out again; she scooped a spoonful with the soup spoon and put it back in her mouth to chew and savor carefully.

The slightly yellowed fried rice grains carried an alluring scorched aroma, yet inside they still retained moisture and softness; she would call this the pinnacle of fried rice.

Watching her childhood friend's secretary so thoroughly satisfied by Broly's fried rice, Nakiri Erina couldn't help but swallow her saliva.

Color, aroma, taste — aroma and taste she had sampled before, and now this character for color seemed to have been completed by her own little secretary.

Sometimes watching someone eat with such relish makes one feel that if one ate like that too, one would surely find it just as delicious.

Gurgle~

Her stomach growled; Erina couldn't help leaning closer.

"Hisako, give me a bite."

"Ah, but Erina-sama, this is what I've already eaten."

Hisako had been tasting the fried rice's flavor with her eyes closed; hearing this suddenly, she opened her eyes and saw her own young lady leaning right up to her face, and she couldn't help but jump in fright, hurriedly saying.

"What's there to be afraid of, haven't we always tasted each other's cooking together?"

"That's true, but————"

【What's been in the mouth and what hasn't — the difference is still huge.】

"So, feed me~"

Erina closed her eyes, opening her lips toward her little secretary; the famed God Tongue could be seen through the slightly parted mouth.

Such temptation made Hisako Arato's heartbeat accelerate; her gaze went from firm to wavering, then from wavering back to firm.

"Then excuse me, Erina-sama."

Hisako Arato scooped another spoonful of fried rice, still from the surface where there had surely been some that had leaked from her own mouth earlier, and gradually brought it near her young lady's mouth.

"Hisako, hurry up~"

Erina's craving was unbearable; she couldn't help swaying lightly in her chair, urging her on as if acting spoiled.

"Nakiri-san, your fried rice is ready."

But just as the two girls in their ambiguous mood were about to produce an indirect kiss, with spoon and lips about to connect deeply, Broly placed the plate holding the freshly fried rice on the table before Nakiri Erina.

"My fried rice is ready too, huh? Then Hisako, no need to feed me, I'll just eat my own fried rice."

Nakiri Erina immediately opened her eyes; the ambiguous orange atmosphere instantly dissipated completely. She impatiently picked up the spoon, scooped a mouthful of steaming golden rice grains, blew on them, put them in her mouth, and immediately a look of blissful satisfaction from the fried rice's flavor appeared on her face.

【As expected, raising the quality of the various ingredients needed for fried rice further increases the deliciousness level of the fried rice the person before her makes————】

For this one mouthful of rice, Nakiri Erina had laid the groundwork yesterday; the rice used was Koshihikari Rice from Niigata Prefecture — this rice has plump grains, and even when cold doesn't revert to hardness, and when fried brings a faint sweet fragrance of its own.

Besides the rice, the eggs used were Ran-ou Eggs from Gifu Prefecture, with plump orange-red yolks, thick whites, and absolutely no

blood smell; the egg aroma when fried is extremely rich.

The dried shiitake are top-grade log-grown from Ishikawa Prefecture————

If the fried rice Broly made the previous two days had deliciousness levels of 1 and 2 respectively, then today's fried rice made with these upgraded ingredients could reach level 5 — even her God Tongue could feel the degree of satisfaction.

And unlike Erina happily eating fried rice, the mood of Hisako Arato beside her, who had almost fed her young lady the eaten fried rice, was somewhat depressed.

【Couldn't you have fried it slower?!】

She looked at Broly to the side with a face full of regret.

"The wok's still hot, so your fried rice was naturally faster."

Because there was no change in Happiness Value, Broly spoke to Nakiri Erina without any awareness.

Although there were some subtle changes in ingredients today, in the two-plus days Broly had already gradually absorbed the fried rice craftsmanship copied from Azami Nakiri into his own; at the very least, now he knows to what degree to fry the fried rice ingredients before taking it off the heat.

"The soy sauce can be reduced appropriately; although the soy fragrance is nice, I prefer the fresh aroma of the clear soup stock."

After Nakiri Erina finished eating a full plate of fried rice, she gave her evaluation.

Of course, this evaluation could be called her personal fine-tuning of taste.

"Understood, Nakiri-san, do you need me to fry another portion now?"

Broly nodded, then asked again.

"I don't have that big an appetite, I can't eat two plates of fried rice."

Nakiri Erina would pin bad cooking directly on the chef's head, but for delicious cooking she wouldn't think of wasting it either.

"The improved version of pork bone ramen you messaged about last night, we can start making it now; I'll guide you from the side."

"Yes."

Broly nodded, then started with the pork bone soup.

"Messaged last night, Erina-sama, what does that mean?"

Hisako Arato discovered a blind spot and asked Nakiri Erina in surprise.

"Ah, this is————"

Erina reacted, and at once became somewhat evasive.

"So Erina-sama couldn't get up this morning because you received that person's message last night?"

"Yes."

Nakiri Erina nodded, honestly admitting the reason she stayed up late last night.

"Then why didn't you tell me this morning, and even deleted the message from your phone?"

"That's because I didn't want anyone to know that the reason I slept badly last night was this."

"Even I'm not allowed?"

"That's not it."

"But you secretly deleted text messages, Erina-sama, did you also send some strange messages to that guy?"

Hisako Arato couldn't help but doubt.

"No way."

Erina Nakiri decisively denied it.

"Then why did you delete the text messages?"

"Then you peeked at my phone!"

"Ah, this is——"

Broly stood before the stove, skimming the blood foam floating in the soup, listening to the two capture-target girls bickering behind him, and suddenly felt a sense of 【this is youth】.

"Broly, show me your phone."

However, the two's youth soon burned its way to him.

"Hmm?"

Broly turned back, looking at Hisako Arato in confusion.

"I must confirm whether you have harassed Erina-sama!"

The secretary girl said with a stern face.

"Show her, I really didn't send you any strange messages."

Erina Nakiri said huffily beside him, somewhat dissatisfied with her little secretary's attitude of doubting her words.

"If it's confirmed I haven't harassed Miss Nakiri, then can I chat with you all more during normal time slots afterward?"

Broly thought for a moment, and instead of directly handing over the phone he just bought from this world, he started bargaining.

Hisako Arato raised an eyebrow, just about to say no, when Erina Nakiri spoke first: "Fine, but I can't guarantee I'll respond to boring content."

"Erina-sama?"

"To inspect someone else's phone, you have to give the other party some compensation."

"Fine then, the premise is that this guy really didn't send strange messages to harass you last night."

Hisako Arato somewhat unwillingly accepted this, while Broly directly took out his phone and handed it over for her to inspect at will.

And the new phone bought only two days ago was very clean; besides the carrier text messages from when the SIM card was activated, there were only the text messages sent last night to Erina Nakiri and Hisako Arato reporting on the improvement progress of Hakata Ramen.

Hisako Arato checked the text messages, found nothing out of line, and somewhat unwillingly she then checked the software apps inside the phone.

After checking thoroughly, she didn't find any special, unhealthy apps that a pubescent boy would probably have.

And she even searched the browser, but didn't find any hidden URLs either; the whole phone was clean as if it had just come out of the factory.

"When did you buy this phone?"

Fine, she checked with her own phone and found this phone was still the latest model, and couldn't help but ask Broly, who was still skimming the foam.

"The day before yesterday, what's wrong?"

"Then what about your previous phone?"

"I didn't have a phone in this world before."

"How is that possible?"

"Really, I can swear."

Broly said sincerely.

"What, Hisako, aren't the text messages on this phone clear enough, not enough to prove that I indeed haven't exchanged some strange messages with him?"

Erina Nakiri spoke up for Broly; deleting text messages and hiding some things from the little secretary was indeed her fault, but Hisako Arato's attitude of not trusting her was the other party's fault, and now the girl who proved this by inspecting Broly's phone was in a state of being justified and confident.

"Ugh, enough proof!"

"Then what should you say to me now?"

"I'm sorry, Erina-sama."

"Haha, as long as you know you were wrong, then I'll generously forgive you~"

Broly looked at Erina with her chin raised, feeling that if this girl had a tail behind her butt, it would probably be wagging rapidly now; the smugness on her was almost overflowing.

"By the way, Broly, your way of simmering pork bone soup seems no different from yesterday, right?"

"There is a difference; here the amount of large pork bones has already been reduced, and the time for simmering pork bone soup will also be appropriately lowered later."

Hakata-style pork bone soup tastes strong, mainly because there are many bones and it's simmered for a long time; reducing the amount of large pork bones and reducing the simmering time can lessen the overly strong flavor of the large pork bones.

"Then wouldn't it be no different from ordinary pork bone soup?"

"So, later some pork belly will be stir-fried and added in to simmer together, increasing the charred aroma and the heaviness of the oil."

"To be honest, I don't really like an overly greasy texture."

Erina Nakiri said a sentence.

"Then the stir-fried pork belly will later be physically squeezed to squeeze out the excess oil inside."

Broly nodded; yesterday when improving Hakata-style pork bone soup with Soma Yukihira, although he was just an assistant, he also learned quite a few things from the red-haired boy.

"However, this soup actually hasn't been improved completely yet; because the time for simmering over high heat has been reduced, so in terms of the aftertaste it's a bit lacking."

Broly didn't hide the problem with the soup.

"Then how do you want to solve the aftertaste problem?"

Erina Nakiri asked curiously.

"I want to add some licorice into the soup to simmer."

"Wait, licorice, you want to add licorice into the pork bone soup to simmer together?"

"Yes."

"Who taught you to use licorice to provide aftertaste for pork bone soup?"

"Is there a problem with this?"

Broly did not say Soma Yukihira's name, merely looking with confusion at Hisako Arato, whose reaction seemed somewhat exaggerated.

"Of course there's a problem. The core of Nagahama-style pork bone soup is pure bone aroma, while licorice brings its own herbal sweetness and woody fragrance."

Adding this, if the amount is large, will mask the bone aroma; if small, will make the bone aroma impure.

Simply put, this is a flavor-clashing ingredient. Improving pork bone soup means improving in a good direction, but yours will most likely optimize in the opposite direction, ultimately making the pork bone soup taste strange."

"Ah, then what should I do?"

Broly actually didn't quite understand this kind of seasoning, but seeing Hisako Arato speak with such conviction, and recalling how Soma Yukihira had grilled squid legs with chocolate sauce yesterday, his heart leaned toward her, and he humbly asked Hisako Arato for advice.

"If you want the pork bone soup to have a lingering sweetness, kelp is better. You can also add bonito flakes. These two provide glutamic acid and inosinic acid respectively, and together they produce an umami synergy effect, multiplying the sweetness of the soup base."

"I see."

Broly nodded, decisively threw away the licorice in his hand, and took the kelp.

"Wait, what are you planning to do?"

Seeing him take the kelp, Hisako Arato prepared to take it to the washing sink, and hurriedly stopped him to ask.

"Naturally, to wash these kelp."

Broly answered as if it were only natural.

"No, wash the kelp? Are you serious?"

"There's some white stuff on it that looks a bit dirty. Even though eating it unclean won't cause illness, isn't this for your own good?"

Hisako Arato and Nakiri Erina exchanged glances, and saw shock in each other's eyes.

"The white frost on the kelp is mannitol, one of the main sources of kelp's umami. Rinse it with water, the white frost is gone, and the umami is greatly reduced."

"Moreover, the glutamic acid on the kelp's surface is water-soluble. Washing will directly wash away some of it, further reducing the umami."

"Uh, then what should I do?"

"The correct method is to use a clean damp cloth or kitchen paper to gently wipe the surface to remove dust and impurities."

"I see."

Broly looked as if he had been taught.

"Then do you know how to add the kelp into the pot to simmer after doing all this?"

Hisako Arato continued to press for an answer.

"Just throw it into the pot, right?"

Broly answered somewhat uncertainly.

"Wrong. Throwing it in directly is doomed. The correct method is to soak it in cold water for thirty minutes, letting the dried kelp naturally spread out and release its umami."

Nakiri Erina raised her voice to correct his wrong choice.

"I see. Then after soaking, can I just throw it in to cook?"

"Still no. The soaked kelp should be heated together with the water, keeping the water temperature between 60~80°C, without boiling. Boiling will make the kelp release mucus and blood smell, affecting the soup base."

"After cooking out the umami, remove the kelp, then pour the cooked kelp water into it. Moreover, don't add it directly; add it five minutes before turning off the heat for the soup."

"Otherwise, the umami of the kelp water will be destroyed by the high temperature of the boiling pork bone soup."

"I see."

Broly still looked as if he had suddenly realized.

"No, you don't even know this?"

"Don't know."

"Then how did you simmer the clear soup stock for your fried rice before?"

That clear soup stock also used kelp, and Broly's timing for removing the kelp was very appropriate.

"I simmered it following others. Whatever Soma Yukihira did, I did."

"Then what about your own ideas?"

"None, because I myself didn't know how to properly simmer a clear soup stock."

Erina and Hisako exchanged glances after hearing this.

"Then what about your fried rice skills?"

"Also learned by following others. The day before enrollment, however others stir-fried, I stir-fried that way. Of course, now I can watch the fire myself and know when to dish out based on the degree of doneness."

"Then what about other dishes?"

"Things others didn't teach me seem to be somewhat not good."

Erina didn't quite believe Broly's words, until she had Broly make a dish others hadn't taught him much, and after personally tasting it, she couldn't help but spit it out. Only then did she confirm one thing: this guy in front of her was truly a beginner.

But more importantly, during the Transfer Student Exam the day before yesterday, she had let such a beginner pass and enroll at Totsuki Academy.