Chapter 76: Cooking Showdown
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 76: Cooking Showdown
After we finished cleaning up the forest, we immediately started preparing dinner.
Unlike at home, where you have a gas stove or an induction cooktop, at a campsite, you have to build your own fire.
Each class was given a pile of dry firewood and an axe.
The boys who wanted to impress the girls jumped at the chance to chop the wood, but unfortunately, firewood isn't something you can split with sheer willpower alone.
It required less strength and more technique; less technique and more know-how.
In that sense, I—
chose to split it with my hands instead of an axe.
Crack!
I braced a log against my knee, gripped it with both hands, and pulled it apart as if splitting an apple. The wood split cleanly along the grain.
After splitting not only our share but the other groups' as well, enjoying the crisp, satisfying sound, I placed the firewood into the makeshift furnace we had built from bricks.
Dry firewood alone would have been enough to get a good fire going, but adding some straw would make it even better.
I lit the fire with a lighter I’d brought from home, then used a piece of newspaper to carry the flame over to the other groups' furnaces.
Once the basic preparations for cooking were complete, we decided to divide up the roles.
The class president, the leader of Group D, pushed up her glasses and asked, "Who's going to cook the rice?"
Yaguchi was the first to raise her hand.
"I've made pot rice at home a few times. It's my first time doing it over a wood fire, but I think I'll be fine."
Having someone with experience was a huge plus.
The inability to finely control the heat was a slight concern, but it was still better than having a complete novice do it.
A moment later, Sakamoto also raised his hand.
"Ah, I'll help Maiya with the rice. I'm not good at cooking, so just give me any odd jobs."
And with that, the childhood friend pair took on the task of making rice.
"Then what about the main dishes?"
As soon as she asked, Sasha, Rika, and I all raised our hands at the same time.
"As I said before, I will make Beef Stroganoff."
"I'll make omurice!"
I held up the wok and ladle I had taken out of my tent earlier.
"I'm already prepared."
Typically, people make curry or barbecue on a forest school trip.
But our group was full of strong personalities, and not a single one of us wanted to make curry.
Honestly, I could have just made a simple curry, but I wanted to cook them my best dish, so I decided to go for something a little more ambitious.
"Alright. Then the three of you can handle the cooking."
Satoru, who had been listening from the side, tilted his head and asked, "Then what do the class president and I do?"
The class president pushed up her glasses and replied as if the answer was obvious.
"You're the negotiator."
"Negotiator? What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Your job is to negotiate with the other groups to trade our food for their curry. With your silver tongue, Momochi, that should be a piece of cake, right?"
"Hmph, so you finally recognize my greatness, Class President."
While Satoru puffed up his chest at the sudden compliment, the class president clapped her hands and looked around at us.
"Alright, everyone, let's get started. If we just stand around, we won't be finished before the sun sets."
As I followed her instructions, I had a feeling I knew why she hadn't specified her own role.
The class president's role was to oversee all six of us.
With the broadest perspective in the group, she would be there to point out if anyone was about to make a mistake.
Thinking of it that way, it felt like having a whole army by my side, so I decided to focus on diligently carrying out my assigned task.
*
The method for making a Chinese-style rice bowl, also known as junghwa-bibimbap, is quite simple.
First, you prepare the ingredients by chopping cabbage, green onions, carrots, onions, and button mushrooms.
Next, you oil a wok. When it’s hot enough, add a pound of pork shoulder and stir-fry it.
The key here is to spread the meat out so it doesn't stick together. After searing the pork, add green onions, pepper, and salt for a basic seasoning.
Once the aroma of the green onions has sufficiently masked the gamey smell of the pork, toss all the chopped vegetables and shrimp into the wok.
From here on, it was a race against time.
"Satoru!"
Satoru, who had been waiting by the furnace as I'd instructed, immediately tossed more firewood under the wok at my signal and fanned the flames to intensify the heat.
With the fire roaring, I expertly tossed the wok just as I always did in the kitchen, infusing the meat and vegetables with a smoky flavor.
The trick is to cook it quickly over high heat. If you cook it for too long, the vegetables will release water and lose their crisp texture.
After that, I added chili powder and sugar to give it a reddish color, and finally, I stirred in a starch slurry to create a slightly thick sauce for the rice bowl.
A dash of oyster sauce or some "magic powder" would have made it even tastier, but it was delicious enough without them, so I left them out.
Once I transferred the finished sauce to another bowl, I poured a generous amount of oil back into the wok and fried eggs for everyone, cooking them until the edges were crispy.
By the time I was finishing up, the others were also putting the final touches on their dishes.
Unable to wait until we all ate together, Satoru dipped a chopstick into the sauce for a taste. His eyes went wide, and he gave me a thumbs-up.
"Delicious!"
For the cook, that was the highest praise possible. I smiled, pleased, and carried the finished sauce and fried eggs to the place of judgment.
*
The judge for this cooking showdown was the leader of Group D, the class president, who seemed like she would give a fair evaluation.
Sasha, Rika, and I looked at each other, our faces tense.
I didn't know why my palms were getting so sweaty over something like this.
The first to confidently present her dish was Sasha.
It was a brownish sauce, poured over white rice like curry.
Beef Stroganoff.
A classic Russian dish, it was famous for having a fancy-sounding name despite its relatively simple recipe.
Of course, with simple dishes like this, the taste can vary wildly depending on the cook. It's easy to make, but difficult to make well.
Sasha's beef stroganoff was a dark brown color, likely because she had used a brown roux as the base.
The main ingredients were beef, onions, and button mushrooms. You stir-fry them in a pan, mix in butter and flour to make a brown roux, then add broth and sour cream to adjust the sauce's consistency.
Since it's seasoned only with salt and pepper, it can taste a bit bland to someone trying it for the first time.
Thud.
Sasha placed the plate in front of the class president with a confident smile.
"This is a recipe passed down directly from my mother. There's a saying in Japan, isn't there? The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
Showing off her impressive knowledge for a foreigner, she offered her dish to the class president.
The class president nodded, took a large spoonful of the beef stroganoff and rice, and put it in her mouth.
Chew, chew—
Her careful movements and slightly trembling eyebrows showed she wasn't making a hasty judgment.
She looked just like a top-tier food critic.
Gulp.
Finally, the class president swallowed the food in her mouth and spoke.
"A subtle sourness hidden within the creamy sour cream and the rich, beefy flavor... is this the acidity of white wine?"
Sasha crossed her arms and nodded.
"It's a secret I learned from my mother. If you cook the thinly sliced beef with white wine at the beginning, the aroma and acidity infuse the meat and get rid of any gamey taste."
After hearing her explanation, the class president took another bite of the beef stroganoff.
Then, she put down her spoon and delivered her critique.
"It's delicious, but a little bland. It feels like it's not quite seasoned enough to be eaten with rice. I'm guessing you've never made this dish to be served over rice before, have you? Am I right?"
Sasha, as if struck by the truth, let out a low groan and nodded.
"The recipe I learned didn't account for that."
"I thought so. But it's delicious enough on its own, so there's no need to be too disappointed. And there's no guarantee that the other two dishes will be better than this."
Looking slightly dissatisfied, Sasha nodded and stepped aside.
Next up for judging was Rika.
"Hehe, my omurice won't be so easy to beat! I went through hellish training with my mom for this!"
"Is that so? I'm looking forward to it."
The class president said as much before trying Rika's omurice. Then, she delivered a scathing review: "Your omurice is so undercooked, it tastes like a chick is about to pop out and ask, 'If you were going to do this, why did you kill me?'"
After being so brutally shot down, Rika sniffled and retreated. Finally, it was my turn.
With a nervous expression, I placed the bowl I was holding in front of the class president.
"Is this the Chinese-style rice bowl you mentioned, Kim-kun?"
I nodded and urged her to try it.
The class president hesitated for a moment, then nodded and picked up her spoon.
"Well then, thank you for the food."