14 「 Heaven Sent Molecular Gastronomy 」

"..... Foam Evolution, Nigirizushi."

The true appearance of Akira and Alice's dish surprised everyone. They're widened their eyes, some of them even confused.

As Alice said, it was Nigirizushi. Its kinda funny how both Akira and Alice and Inariya couple have the same idea to choose Sushi as their dish. But its not your typicial Nigirizushi.

The sushi was wrapped with a very thin almost translucent red layer, some kind of black balls, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top of it.

However, what surprised all of them the most wasn't the sushi itself. It was the thing around the Sushi, some kind of white foam. They're confused as hell, " Are they using soap as their ingredients? " They thought. Cause they have no idea what that foamy thing is.

While everyone still stunned by their dish, Akira and Alice have an argument, again.

"Oi! Little girl! I should be the one who introduce the dish, not you! Why did you cut me off and decided the name without my permission." Akira yelled at Alice, he is so pissed that Alice cut his glorious dish introduction off.

"What did you just say? I'm the one who gave you this recipe, of course i have the right to name it. Mou~"

The two of them then growled at each other until they were interrupted by the voice of the narrow-eyed man.

"This foam... What is this foam made of?" Asked the narrow-eyed man, as he looked at Alice and Akira.

Of course, the one who answered was Alice, because she was the one in charge of making the foam. Its all her idea.

"Ah ... The foam is made of Garlic." Alice said with a smile, which made everyone can only say a word with wide eyes and a confused face.

""""" HAH ??? """""

"Well, how about you just taste it by yourself before asking a bunch of questions." Alice said to all judges.

The three judges simultaneously swallowed their saliva before they took the sushi and then dip it in that cloudy white foam.

""Itadakimasu ~""

The three judges said in unison. And as the sushi entered their mouth, suddenly a very complex flavour popped out in their mouth like a balloon full of Umami flavour.

"HMM!!!"

The garlic foam is wrappin around the tuna, creating an amazing flavour that condensed into one bite of sushi.

A very light, refreshing dish. Its almost feel like flying in the sky, walking on a sea of clouds, while swallowed by a Giant Tuna. A very weird, indescribeable feeling, a perfect combination of Molecular Gastronomy and Japanese Speciality.

""A very strong explosion of Umami in your mouth, and suddenly a very delicate bitter and savory taste from the foam. It feels like we just sent into a heaven realms of Molecular Gastronomy!!"" One of the judges exclaimed, as she blushed in plessure.

The narrow-eyed man was very surprised by the taste of this sushi, this was incredible, that's understatement. It was mindblowing. A very unique way to combining a traditional Japanese dish with a modern Molecular Gastronomy.

He then looked at Akira and Alice with a serious look on his face.

"You said this foam is made of garlic? I don't know how do you make this but the most surprising thing is that the bitter taste of the garlic is almost nonexistent, Its even complementing the rice and the tuna with a very unique savoury taste."

Alice then answered in a patronizing tone.

"Ah ~, nothing special about that garlic foam. Its one of the most basic technique in Molecular Gastronomy. I made it by mixing milk, minced garlic, and soy lecithin powder, then stirring it evenly using a blender or mixer." Alice said which made two of the judges tilting their heads in confusion.

"That simple? And also, what is this Soy Lecithin?" The female judge asked because she had no idea what Soy Lecithin is.

"Well, Soy Lecithin is a Phosphatidyl Colina which is the main component of phosphatide fraction in Soybeans which is mechanically and chemically isolated by using Hexane. Its quite common thing to use in cooking, especially in Gastronomy. " Alice said, explaining to the crowd what Soy Lecithin is.

However, everyone who heard her explanation only made a sour face and thought.

'Do you think we know what those terms are!!! '

The narrow-eyed man put on a serious face, of course he knows about what is lecithin. Its usually came from pig, but soy lecithin is also a common thing. And surely not everyone knows what is that.

'Cooking knowledge, especially in Molecular Gastronomy, and the ability to execute everything perfectly, this girl is not just an amateur, does she attend a cooking school or something? She's way ahead of her age.' The narrow-eyed man thought.

Then he took the next Sushi, which was a little different because there are some black balls on top of it. Its gilimmering, almost looks like a black pearl.

"Hmm? What is this?" He muttered, then as he put that into his mouth.

The black balls exploded and a liquid full of umami spreaded all over his mouth. He widened his eye in surprise by that sudden attack.

"Ahhh ... What a tremendous explosion, so those black balls are condensed soyu huh." The narrow-eyed man said after swallowing the sushi in his mouth.

Alice answered that while smiling.

"Correct, this is Soyu which is compacted using Sodium Alginate and Calcium Chloride," said Alice, explaining one of the techniques of Molecular Gastronomy.

The narrow-eyed man is in deep thought as he heard Alice explanation.

' All of this is just a basic Application of Molecular Gastronomy, but the execution is on point. And because of that, even such a basic thing would turn out to be extraordinary.'

The male judge on the right suddenly opened his mouth.

"I don't know why but I feel like the rice in this sushi is slightly different than your typical Sushi rice."

The female judge is also agree with that statement as she nodded.

"Um, you're right." Then the woman looked at Akira and asked.

"Do you add something to this sushi rice?"

Akira then answered, but not with his usual arrogant expression, he was a little indifferent this time. He then answered with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"I add Lemongrass and cinnamon into the rice before cooking it. After the rice is cooked perfectly, Its just your typical Sushi Rice making process by adding some white vinegar and sesame seeds on top of it." Akira said with a bored face.

Then all of the judges devouring every bit of that Nigirizushi.

"Ahhh ... This Nigirizushi is very light and refreshing."

Said one of the judges with a red face, after so much pleasure.

Then the female judge also nodded in agreement.

"Um, I feel like I can eat this sushi for the rest of my life without being full, hahaha. " The female judge chuckled.

While the narrow-eyed man looking at Akira and Alice with full interest.

'The ability to cook this amazing sushi dish at a very young age, I think I should talk to them later. '

Alice just standing there smiling as her sushi being praised by everyone. But she's still mindblown by Akira.

' Akira-kun didn't use his full ability today because I was the one who take the lead. But the way he cut those tuna... That's terrifying. Even i doubt Ryo-kun would be able to that with his full power.'

Alice thought as she recalled the time when Akira cut those tuna into a paper thin slice so effortlessly.

' How om earth is he able to cut the tuna as thin as that!? Its not even a paper thin, Its literally a translucent meat!! If people were more observant, maybe they will find out that the key, core essential of our Nigirizushi is not the Garlic Foam nor the Soyu black balls that i made. But the translucent tuna meat itself, because it is so thin, it becomes easier to absorb the spices that i put into the sushi. Creating a very delicate, light, refreshing sushi you could imagine... Akira-kun, ain't no way this guy is just came from a simple dining place. ' Alice thought, she has doing her own research about Akira last night. And it was surprising.

This level of cooking isn't something you could develop in such a simple dining place.

Seeing that the three judges had finished their dish, Akira then opened his mouth.

"So which dish is better? Ours or theirs, decide!" Akira said.

Then three judges nodded at each other before the narrow-eyed man opened his mouth and announcing the winner.

"THE WINNING OF THE 5th MATCH OF INARIYA COOKING CHALLENGE IS ...

Its tense. Everyone wondering is the victor gonna be the young couple or Its gonna be the Inariya couple once again.

... Foam Evolution, Nigirizushi !!! "

Hearing that, Akira took off his band while Alice just smiled sweetly. Both of them then opened their mouth in unison and said.

"Praise me!"

" That is for sure ! "

Silence... Mrs.Inariya couldn't believe that she just lost to little kids. After speechless for a moment, she the talk fiercely, protesting the judges decision.

"Impossible!!! There is no way that my Tuna Tartare Inarizushi is worse then their weird Nigirizushi, Its obvious that—" Before the woman finished talking, Akira silenced her.

"Ma'am, stop being a fucking sore loser and accept your defeat." Akira said coldly, he was in a bad mood today and hearing this woman whining like a bitch in front of him makes it even worse.

"You better taste our Nigirizushi before you talking shit about it." Akira said coldly while pointing at a plate of Nigirizushi he had prepared for the Inariya couple.

Then, hesitantly, the Inariya couple took a piece of Akira and Alice Nigirizushi with a chopsticks. Mrs.Inariya muttered with an ugly face as he putting that sushi into her mouth.

"There's no way this Nigirizushi can be that good."

What a famous last words.

" Is this heaven?"

After that, a very loud voice echoed throught the market. It was a full hummiation for Inariya couple in their own cooking challenge.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh ~"

_________________________________

After that, the Challenge was deemed complete because it has the winner. Mr.Inariya had also given the Prize, the beautiful Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fish to Akira and Alice.

Akira and Alice who had finished packing their cooking equipment, is about to leave the place while carrying a 2 m huge Bluefin Tuna with a trolley.

Suddenly, a man approached them, it was narrow-eyed man from before. Akira and Alice is also stopped walking because of that, Alice then said.

"Ara~, you were one of the judges, what do you want?" Alice asked.

"Ah, I'm sorry, but I want to talk a little with you two." The narrow-eyed man said with a polite smile.

"Hmm? What do you want to talk about with us, ehm sir?" Akira asked, who had returned to his usual personality.

"Oh sorry, I haven't introduced myself properly. My name is Sekimori Hitoshi, the owner of a sushi restaurant called Ginza Hinowa," said the man.

"So, what did Sekimori-san want to talk about with us?" Akira asked.

"Actually I was very impressed with your dish, that Nigirizushi is truly a work of art. And because of that, I want to make an offer with you," Sekimori said, which makes Akira tilting his head

"Offer?" Akira asked.

"That's right, I want you, both of you to be a chef at my sushi restaurant, how about that? We can talk about the paycheck later, but i promised it wont dissapoint you." Sekimori asked politely. But Akira just smiled sweetly while Alice seemed to holding back her laughter.

"Denied" Akira said briefly, smile on his face as he started walking pass Sekimori, followed by Alice who still holding back her laughter.

"Eh? Why?"

"We are still a student, so we can't just accept your offer. See you again, Sekimori-san." Said Akira as he waving her hand to Sekimori.

When he heard Akira's words, Sekimori raised his eyebrows.

'Don't tell me... Totsuki students? '

And just like that, the owner of one of the best sushi restaurant in Japan, Ginza hinowa get rejected by two little kids.