Chapter 999: Miss Erina's Triumphant Great Victory!

"Sorry, but I can guarantee that before grilling the meat, my elbow was absolutely washed clean."

While Broly was supplementing his basic culinary knowledge, he was also stuffed with some kitchen hygiene management knowledge, which included the hygiene guarantee for body parts that come into contact with food.

Although this high-raised-hand hook-claw seasoning technique was something he did subconsciously, before cooking, he had also washed his elbow area clean.

"Even if you washed it clean before grilling, it's no good; people sweat easily in front of a charcoal fire, and I don't want to eat yakiniku that includes the cook's sweat."

Ikumi Mito's words actually made sense, but they did not resonate with the other customers around.

"Miss, don't speak so harshly; this isn't a high-class restaurant, just a night market roadside yatai stall. The boss sells grilled meat not for 1,000 yen a skewer, but just 500 yen a skewer.

Although, compared to yatai stalls of the same tier, this is considered relatively expensive, but if they can guarantee hygiene is more or less clean, and grill the meat tastier than other yatai grilled meat and hand it to you, that's already fulfilling their duty.

They washed their elbows clean; I was just queuing at the side and indeed saw it, yet now you're nitpicking that their seasoning technique touching the elbow might be unclean — isn't that purely picking a fight?"

"Yeah, demanding so much, you shouldn't eat at a yatai stall; you should pay more and go eat at a higher-grade yakiniku restaurant."

"I see it this way: even higher-grade yakitori restaurants don't necessarily have yakitori as tasty as the boss's, let alone the fact that some yakitori restaurants' hygiene isn't necessarily better than the boss's."

"That's right; anyway, I don't mind the boss seasoning like this. A roadside yatai stall, a seasoning technique with a bit of a performance nature — never mind that the boss's elbow has no sweat and no seasoning powder on it; even if there is sweat, and it's dipped in seasoning powder, I'd still praise it saying the added sweat makes it good!"

Broly hadn't spoken yet, but the customers queuing at the stall to buy food actively helped retort against the nitpicking Ikumi Mito.

"Hey, what's it got to do with you guys?"

Ikumi Mito was somewhat unconvinced, glaring at this group of people who retorted against her.

"There's an Eastern ancient saying, 'know food' — cough cough, sorry, flubbed the line, it should be 'see injustice on the road, draw sword to help.'

You making things difficult for the boss like this, we can't stand watching; what's wrong with speaking a fair word for the other party?"

"That's right; if this were a high-class restaurant, you have high standards, nitpicking on hygiene is nothing wrong, but this is just a yatai night market stall; going to nitpick obviously non-major issues at this kind of place, isn't that purely picking a fight?"

"Also, this actually concerns us too; after all, the boss's yakitori grilled meat is truly delicious, yet now being nitpicked by you like this, what if he's a glass heart, stops doing business later, the stall directly goes bust — where would we eat in the future?"

"Right, right, eliminate bad customers!"

A slightly chubby male student's words drew nods of agreement from other customers; involving their own appetites, in today's Japanese society where some human relations are cold, it actually warmed up a few degrees in front of the Polar Star Dormitory stall at this moment.

"You guys————"

Facing the crowd's righteous indignation, the diners looking like they'd defend the delicious stall to the death, Ikumi Mito panicked a little, subconsciously stepping back one step.

"Alright, everyone, thank you for your defense, but what this miss says isn't bad either; it's indeed necessary to pay attention to hygiene————"

Just when she didn't know what to do, Broly spoke up to defend her, and not just verbally — he walked out from behind the stall, blocking the other diners' front.

Looking at Broly's back, Ikumi Mito's mood was somewhat complex; she was signaled to come out and nitpick, but now the person being nitpicked actively defended her.

"Please, everyone, don't make things difficult for her anymore; tonight's yakitori all at an eighty percent discount."

As Broly's words fell, a burst of cheers from the surrounding customers rang out.

"Big-block boss, then what about us who already paid full price?"

Suddenly, someone else asked.

"One free drink."

Not waiting for Broly to answer, Sakaki Ryouko, at the drink stall position, poked her head out and called out to the other customers who had already bought grilled dishes at full price.

Isshiki Satoshi watched this dispute resolution with a smile, mentally giving Broly and Sakaki Ryouko a big thumbs up.

After graduating from Totsuki Academy, the majority of students choose employment in industries related to cooking, and among those is running restaurants.

And running a restaurant inevitably involves encountering customer complaints and disputes; although Ikumi Mito was signaled to come nitpick, in actual restaurant management, who can guarantee not encountering this type of customer?

Now, in the dispute between customer and restaurant, when it showed a tendency to escalate into a dispute between customers, Broly stepped out in time to stop the dispute from escalating.

First agreeing with the nitpicking customer's opinion, then using a discount to appease the customers who helped speak up — this was a very good crisis management capability.

When Sakaki Ryouko, facing other customers who had already bought grilled dishes at full price and felt it unfair and raised opinions, directly called out, using giving a drink to appease them — also a good judgment call.

Isshiki Satoshi felt that if he were a Totsuki Academy examiner teacher, and running the Polar Star Night Stall counted as a student capability assessment, then he would unhesitatingly give the two a high score.

"You————

Broly turned around, looking at Ikumi Mito; the gyaru-dressed girl seemed to want to say something but stopped.

"Mito-san, I accept your criticism; afterwards I will use a normal seasoning shaker for seasoning."

【Ikumi Mito, Happiness Value increased————】

"Besides the seasoning technique having issues, I wonder if you have any other improvement suggestions for my yakitori cooking?"

Broly humbly asked for advice, looking completely like he hadn't taken the earlier nitpicking to heart at all.

"This————"

Broly's attitude made Ikumi Mito breathe a sigh of relief, yet she found it somewhat hard to answer; she could only sneak a glance to the side, at Nakiri Erina who had been spectating the whole time.

"Forget it, you step back; I'll do it."

Nakiri Erina waved her hand, letting Ikumi Mito step back, and herself stepped forward one step.

"Nakiri-sensei, please instruct me."

Broly slightly bowed, and towards the golden-haired girl who walked before him, performed a fist salute — disciple etiquette was absolutely done thoroughly.

"Knife skills need no mention; heat control you've also basically mastered, so what I want to ask is seasoning — the tare-bake and powder-sprinkle grilling methods, the tare and powder recipes inside, are they self-formulated by you?"

"I participated in formulating them, but this wasn't formulated by me alone; the brushing tare for tare-bake and the powder for powder-bake, their recipes were all discussed and formulated together by everyone at Polar Star Dormitory."

"Fine; seasoning this thing can be standardized; the tare and powder recipes you Polar Star Dormitory formulated, the taste is indeed not bad."

Nakiri Erina did not deny Polar Star Dormitory's seasoning capability, but just as she finished speaking, she used "however" as a turning point in her words.

"However, your choice of ingredients is no good."

"Where is it no good? Our yakitori uses Hinai Jidori!"

Yoshino Yuuki, hearing this, was a bit unconvinced; even if Nakiri Erina is Totsuki Ten, she doesn't cower, directly questioning the other party.

"Hinai Jidori is indeed the ingredient chosen by many mid-to-high-end yakitori shops, however, Broly asked for improvement suggestions.

Then, I won't consider the ingredient selection problem from a management angle, but only give suggestions to improve the dish's deliciousness from a cooking angle!"

"Fine, then you say it; if not using Hinai Jidori, what chicken should we use to make yakitori?"

Yoshino Yuuki put her hands on her hips, looking as if to say, "Let's see what you can come up with."

"First, salt-grilled. A better choice than Broccoli is Takatori Chicken; this chicken has thin fat and richer freshness, and the aroma from salt-grilling will be twenty or thirty percent better than Broccoli."

"Second, sauce-grilled. Tanba Local Chicken with more fragrant chicken oil is better; this is a common choice at high-end yakitori shops in Kansai, and it's also suitable for sprinkle-seasoning grilling."

After finishing her evaluation of the yakitori ingredient choices, Nakiri Erina did not stop, but instead evaluated the ingredients used in the other dishes at the Polar Star Night Stall one by one.

"The carrots used in the fried rice were probably harvested too early, with low sweetness. You should choose ones that are moderately sweet; even if you can't buy them, you can use refrigeration to increase the internal sweetness content."

"The shiitake mushrooms you're using are all rehydrated dried shiitake, but for actual fried rice you need to pay attention to texture. Fresh shiitake have enough moisture and tender texture, so they won't turn out dry when stir-fried."

"But if you use fresh shiitake, the mushroom aroma will be insufficient."

Soma Yukihira finished plating a portion of fried rice and retorted.

"That's simple. You can mix them. Use a small amount of dried shiitake to enhance the flavor, and a large amount of fresh shiitake to preserve the stir-fried texture."

Nakiri Erina's words made Soma Yukihira's eyes light up. This method could indeed balance both.

"Also, the dried shiitake you purchased, although produced in Oita Prefecture, were harvested in spring, probably around February or March. Really good shiitake should be harvested in winter. During the winter low-temperature period, shiitake grow slowly, the flesh is thicker, and the aroma will be"

stronger, and the quality is often better than those picked in other seasons."

"Wait, you tell us to use fresh mushrooms, but now you're telling us to use winter-harvested dried shiitake?"

"Hmph, an idiot is an idiot. I'm talking about the choice of dried shiitake, not fresh mushrooms. Fresh mushrooms preserve texture, so you can choose mushrooms produced in Tochigi Prefecture, which is closer to Tokyo. That place is close enough that the mushrooms transported are the freshest, with thick flesh and sufficient aroma."

"Second, the choice of rice—"

Soma Yukihira was left stunned by the retort.

"Seventh Seat over there, your curry fish balls also have a problem. Although they're made with white fish, why not use cod or katsuo, and instead choose to use pollock?"

Isshiki Satoshi shrugged and answered honestly: "Cost issues."

"The vegetables used for tempura and barbecue are not bad."

"They're all grown by ourselves."

After a round of retorts, in the end, only the vegetables grown by Isshiki Satoshi were spared.

To be honest, just in terms of improving the deliciousness of cooking, Nakiri Erina, who possesses God Tongue, is indeed an expert.

The optimized ingredients she suggested were mostly cases of you get what you pay for. For example, Takatori Chicken—that thing isn't even circulated in the market.

If you want to eat it, you have to make an advance reservation at a top-tier yakitori shop, and even then you might not be able to reserve it. It belongs to ingredients with extremely low production, basically out of reach for commoners.

"Mistakenly entering the Heavenly Home, I advise you to put down the sand—"

Nakiri Erina had just finished speaking when a foreign tourist from Degree had his phone ring in his pocket, and the ringtone music that played out happened to fit this situation perfectly.

If not considering operating costs and only pursuing the ultimate deliciousness of cooking, in terms of optimizing cooking flavors, nowadays in the Japanese culinary world, almost no one can surpass the current Nakiri Family's God Tongue holder, the high-and-miss flower young lady full of noble aura before them.

To pass judgment on the future of professional chefs in the high-end culinary world with a single word—this is no joke.

Even the Polar Star crowd, who had put in twelve percent effort to do a good job with the night stall cooking tonight, faced with Nakiri Erina's ingredient nitpicking and her suggestions to change ingredients, basically had nothing to say and could not refute.

And after Nakiri Erina saw that no one refuted her words, she was like a triumphant general returning from victory, holding her head high, with a somewhat smug smile hanging at the corner of her mouth.

But, matching her beautiful appearance, she always gave people the feeling of a golden retriever that had fetched a flying disc, waiting for its owner to pat its head and praise it.

"Shi Nature Lao Shi, thank you for your improvement suggestions. Later, I'll make a high-spec version of night stall cooking and ask you to evaluate it"

once."

Broly thanked her sincerely.

"Mm, okay."

Nakiri Erina subconsciously agreed, but immediately realized that what she wanted to see now was not someone's continued efforts, but the disappointment and discouragement of the Polar Star crowd.

"Broly-san is really amazing, he's reserved another chance to freeload off God Tongue!"

Yoshino Yuuki said quietly to Tadokoro Megumi.

"But Miss Nakiri seems to have realized it already. Look, her complexion seems to have turned dark."

Tadokoro Megumi said with some worry.

"You've already agreed. A figure of the Elite Ten shouldn't go back on their word—probably—"

Nakiri Erina gritted her teeth. Although the Polar Star crowd's conversation wasn't loud, the problem was that she was close by and could hear it.

"Megumi, Yuuki, the barbecue stall matters tonight are left to you two. I'll accompany Miss Nakiri shopping."

Broly also noticed that Nakiri Erina's complexion was off. After thinking it over, he turned to Tadokoro Megumi and Yoshino Yuuki and said.

"Shi Nature Lao Shi, I'll accompany you around the night market street tonight. I'll carry bags, buy things, and pay."

Broly made a timely rescue, and Nakiri Erina's anger level clearly dropped.

"Hmph, at least you're sensible!"

Nakiri Erina snorted coldly, but she did not refuse Broly accompanying her shopping.

Broly prepared to act as the Slacking Shopkeeper, leaving the barbecue matters to Tadokoro Megumi and Yoshino Yuuki. The two directly agreed, and the other Polar Star members had no objections.

After all, Nakiri Erina's cooking evaluation fee at market price was indeed high, more than their Polar Star Night Stall's revenue for one night of business.

Nakiri Erina turned and walked away. Broly hurried to catch up, and behind them came some customers' inquiries.

"Hey, bosses, do you still have high-spec night stall cooking here? I don't know if you accept external reservations?"

It turned out that among people strolling the night stalls, there were also some who weren't short of money and just wanted to eat something good.

After taking Broly away, Nakiri Erina's mood inexplicably became somewhat pleasant, as if her pet dog had returned to her side.

Her attention was gradually attracted by the lively night market. Besides food stalls, the night market also had stalls selling accessories,

and toys.

Although they weren't anything high-end, for Nakiri Erina, who had never strolled a night market before, the experience was very fresh.

"Miss Arato and Miss Mito, take a look if there's anything you like. I'll treat tonight."

Broly greeted the two behind him.

The two were stunned, somewhat tempted, but didn't directly agree. Instead, they looked at Nakiri Erina.

"He's said all that, what do you have to hesitate about? These are all accessories I got in exchange for helping taste the cooking—come over, let's all look and see if there's anything you like!"

Nakiri Erina was not polite, and she was now standing in front of a stall selling hanging ornaments, seeming quite reluctant to part with a star-shaped pendant.

Hisako Arato and Ikumi Mito exchanged a glance, no longer hesitated, and stepped forward together to look, and after letting go, the three of them were like ordinary high school girls touring the night market stalls.

Broly followed behind, not disturbing them, and entered a state of covert observation.