Crab Gratin!
By the time Seiya and Ryoko finished their dish, Kutami and Soma Yukihira's groups had also completed their plating one after another.
In fact, Seiya's group had been the last of the three to return to the classroom kitchen. Judging from the cooking steps, their dish had clearly taken more time as well.
Yet under Seiya's jaw-dropping knife skills and heat control, his group had instead been the first to finish preparing their dishes.
Looking at the three dishes laid out before her, each perfect in color, aroma, and flavor, Hinako Inui's eyes were filled with admiration as she looked at Seiya and the others.
She had watched Seiya's entire cooking process. Even without tasting them, she knew these three dishes would have no problem passing the assessment.
But she also understood that merely passing the assessment would clearly not satisfy them.
The law of Totsuki Culinary Academy had always been survival of the fittest. Back when she had been a Totsuki student herself, she had fought through countless competitors to claim the second seat of the Elite Ten Council. Thus, Hinako Inui completely understood Soma Yukihira and the others' competitive spirits.
After glancing at the three dishes before her and hesitating briefly, Hinako Inui chose to taste the Aldini Brothers' "Fragrant Roast Hybrid Duck with Green Sauce" first.
It was a dish centered around hybrid duck. The duck breast was roasted with a mixture of soy sauce, mustard, black pepper, and honey, then served with a Japanese-style green salsa made from pickled sweetfish innards, green shiso, scallions, yuzu pepper, and more.
Both their use of spices and their seasoning and roasting of the duck had been outstanding.
As for Soma Yukihira's dish, it was "Yukihira-Style Persimmon Seed Fried Fish."
It was made with river fish and eggs