Chapter 90: Whereabouts Of Victory

Chapter 90: Whereabouts Of Victory

I knew it, so I prepared in advance.

Having quickly finished a bowl of the pork and bean sprout stir-fry, I took the second bowl offered by Senior Fuma to taste the next dish.

This time, it was a seasoned bean sprout salad.

The bean sprout salad, seasoned with salt, soy sauce, and sesame oil, had a very savory aroma.

The crunchy texture, salty taste, and nuttiness of sesame oil created a pleasant harmony.

After a bite of rice, I then tried the miso soup with bean sprouts.

It was ordinary miso soup, but the crunchy texture of bean sprouts offered a different charm than the usual soybean paste soup.

This is the expected taste so far.

Delicious but not special, a common taste available anywhere.

Perhaps the commonness of bean sprouts was a disadvantage.

Senior Fumas final dish is bean sprout teppanyaki, maybe.

Its simply stir-fried lightly blanched bean sprouts with the secret black sauce that had a great flavor in the pork and bean sprout stir-fry.

It was a simple dish that almost feels wrong to call food, but the aroma that stimulated my nostrils revealed it to be a dark horse.

Gulp.

I made a lot, so eat and eat again.

Senior Fuma said that while offering a mountain of bean sprouts coated in black seasoning.

I said I will eat well and took a generous amount with my chopsticks and put it in my mouth.

!

It was delicious.

I wasnt sure if I should say this, but it tasted even better than meat.

The unique crunchiness of bean sprouts, the sweet and salty secret sauce, and the lightly applied smoky flavor perfectly combined.

Unlike meat, which could feel heavy and burdensome if eaten continuously, bean sprouts didnt bring a sense of fullness, so I kept eating.

As I quickly ate nearly a third of the piled bean sprouts on the plate, the Vice President and Minami, watching from the side, put the bean sprouts in their mouths with tense expressions.

!!!

Both of them, as if entranced, started to devour the bean sprouts with expressions as if they had discovered a new world of taste.

It was scary.

As the son of a formal restaurant, it was truly a fearsome dish.

Catching two birds with one stonetaste and cost-effectiveness.

Seeing the three judges reactions, Senior Fuma proudly puffed out her chest, and the President bit her lip, seemingly a bit anxious.

But soon, returning to her usual confident expression, she thrust the black fan she always carried towards us, who had just finished tasting the bean sprout dishes, and exclaimed.

Now its my turn!

Following Senior Fumas surprisingly powerful bean sprout full course, the President brought out a four-person hot pot dish.

Of course, Senior Fuma, who lived alone, didnt have such a large hot pot dish at her house, so it was all purchased on the spot from the mart.

The Presidents cooking, with a hot pot dish (2000 yen) and an electric induction cooker (10000 yen), already exceeded the budget compared to Senior Fuma, whose total ingredient cost didnt exceed 2000 yen.

But the real start is now.

About 5000 yen worth of bonito flakes, shiitake mushrooms, kelp, and anchovy powder were used to make the broth, and various vegetables and mushrooms grown by eco-friendly farming methods, along with high-quality tofu and yuba, cost about 3000 yen.

The broth had good ingredients and was added with good vegetables, and I was able to eat good meat.

I was lost in the flavor of wagyu spreading throughout my mouth.

I didnt expect such a difference in taste, even with the same beef.

All the beef I had eaten until now seemed to have been merely imitations.

In the heat of the moment, I blanched the wagyu in the boiling broth until I was reasonably full, then finished with some udon noodles.

The shabu-shabu prepared by the President was a perfect course meal in a different sense from the bean sprout full course prepared by Senior Fuma.

Because it allowed me to experience the start and end in one bowl.

That was also the charm of shabu-shabu.

Anyway, having tasted both dishes, all that was left was to make a choice.

I looked at the Vice President and Minami.

Both of them seemed to have already made up their minds.

We announced the results of the judgment to the two, who were waiting with tense expressions.

The person we chose as the winner is

Argh! Its frustrating! I cant believe bean sprouts can taste this good!

Ah, its been a long time since Ive had such delicious beef.

This was the evaluation of the two, tasting each others dishes after the final result was decided.

Since we had already finished our dinner under the guise of judging, we simply watched the two of them enjoy their dinner face-to-face with contentment.

Ill hone my culinary skills more and definitely win next time!

Haha, its good to be ambitious, President.

Senior Fuma was the final winner of the cooking contest, as decided by me, the Vice President, and Minami.

While the Presidents cooking was not bad, the decisive factor in the victory was the presence of the bean sprout teppanyaki.

Firstly, it had overwhelming cost-effectiveness.

Compared to Senior Fumas dish, which could be made with just a bag of bean sprouts and a bit of secret sauce, the Presidents shabu-shabu cost almost ten times more, excluding the hot pot and induction cooker.

And the bean sprouts were just too delicious.

The fact that a vegetable available for 100 yen felt tastier than meat was as good as declaring the game over.

For a big eater like me, cost-effectiveness was an undeniable factor.

Anyway, thanks to their competition, we had an unexpectedly delicious dinner, and not wanting to overstay our welcome, we decided to leave.

Until the end, Senior Fuma awkwardly attempted to tempt me with, If you ever change your mind, let me know, Kim Yu-seong, but I managed to smoothly avoid it thanks to the Presidents interference.

On the way back home.

Since we were going in the same direction, I got a ride in the Presidents limousine and asked her a question.

By the way, how do you know Senior Fuma?

The President answered with a face that still looked somewhat upset.

Weve been in the same class since the first year. Were not particularly close, but we exchanged greetings. Though I wont do it anymore from tomorrow.

That seemed to be the case.

It was a day when I learned about the Presidents limited personal connections and saw a new side of her.

And the remaining ingredients were deliciously consumed byno, not the staffbut by Senior Fuma.