Only the outer layer had the seafood flavor permeated. If I'm not mistaken, this glutinous rice was probably only marinated with soy sauce, simply given a base flavor."
Yumeko Jabami commented that the flaw in this dish lay here: the overall flavor wasn't unified, and the taste in the middle was clearly much better than the outside.
The consequence of this was that the zongzi didn't form a cohesive whole.
"If it were marinated with broth made from boiling seafood, the taste of this zongzi would improve a lot, and the seafood wrapped in the zongzi should ideally be boiled beforehand to reduce its fishy smell."
After carefully savoring the zongzi's taste, Erina Nakiri gave this evaluation, her brow slightly furrowed, because for her, this zongzi really couldn't be described as delicious.
"It's still not fresh enough. This seafood must have been caught some time ago, giving a feeling of being outwardly splendid but inwardly rotten.
However, modern people actually like this, thinking it's cost-effective and a good buy, but they don't particularly care about the taste. It's somewhat regrettable, as the technique is clearly more valuable."
Alice Nakiri pulled out another pair of glasses from somewhere and very incisively explained the secret of the bestseller list: everyone was overly focused on cost-effectiveness.
Of course, it was also because there wasn't a truly decisive zongzi in this area. After all, it was just a regular competition, and probably not many students from the Oriental Cuisine List participated.
"Simply put, it provides emotional value. A good mood indeed increases appetite. Although it lacks technical content, it's very effective."
She handed the seafood zongzi in her hand to Hoshino Sora. Hoshino Sora didn't mind that she had taken a bite, took the zongzi, and ate it directly. Although the zongzi tasted very ordinary to him, he could still manage to eat it.
If one were to use a standard to evaluate the cuisine here, it would probably be the level of the students living in Polar Star Dormitory, who would be considered first-class students at Totsuki.
But this was also normal, after all, this was Oriental Academy!
A place where entering could eliminate ninety-nine percent of chefs. Chefs who could participate in the entrance examination had already been pre-screened and had to possess a certain level of skill and achievements, otherwise Oriental Academy wouldn't have such a large competition venue.
"Perhaps this is their marketing strategy, winning by relying on extreme cost-effectiveness. Let's try zongzi from other shops."
He noticed the dissatisfaction on their faces; in fact, he was also a bit annoyed. Despite such a huge disparity in their skill levels, the opponent had sales three times higher than theirs, which was truly infuriating!
"Mm."
Afterward, the group tasted zongzi from several nearby shops. The tastes varied, some good, some bad. The second-place shop relied on its true skill, while the third-place relied on cost-effectiveness.
The fourth place also relied on skill, but not much, so its ranking was lower. The fifth place, which was them, was so far behind entirely because they were placed in a corner, and most customers couldn't find the location.
"Did they not participate in this competition?"
He scanned the bestseller list from top to bottom. Each shop had the owner's name marked, but Hoshino Sora looked around and didn't see the names of Dragon BuFan, Mo Lang, and others.
He did, however, see Soma Yukihira's shop at seventeenth place, which was much better than he had expected. However, if they didn't make any changes, this sales competition was destined to be lost to them.
"Not sure, maybe they disdained participating."
Shaking their heads, they didn't know why the chefs on the Oriental Cuisine List didn't participate, but it wasn't important. What was important was that they had to defeat those above them.
"Fifth place, huh? Tomorrow, tomorrow we will definitely be first!"
"Mm!"
Looking at the bestseller list with fervent eyes, Hoshino Sora murmured to himself, "It's time for me to show my fangs, having just arrived in the East!"
"Extra, extra! Purple Yam Sweet Zongzi! Don't walk by, don't miss it! For just one redemption voucher, you can take this secret sweet zongzi home!~"
"Don't walk by, don't miss it! The unique-tasting Purple Yam Sweet Zongzi! If it's not delicious, you don't pay! Come and try it!"
Just as Hoshino Sora was lost in thought, shouts from not far away broke his reverie. Turning towards the sound, it was Soma Yukihira pushing a small cart, on which sat a steaming bucket of zongzi.
And with his hawking, quite a few people gathered around and bought his zongzi. As the zongzi leaves were peeled back, the purple zongzi inside was revealed, and a rich aroma wafted all around.
The next moment, countless eyes were drawn to this zongzi, and the rich aroma was irresistibly alluring, as the guests who tasted the purple yam zongzi showed satisfied expressions with each bite.
"This taste is too amazing! Another one!"
"Give me one too."
"Let me see how this zongzi tastes."
A hint of emotion was revealed in the voice, and then another zongzi was ordered, and more and more people gathered around, wanting to taste this crazy creation, and as one steaming hot zongzi after another was opened, the rich aroma spread outwards.
The surrounding crowd smelled the aroma, saw so many people praising it, and out of herd mentality, they all gathered around, wanting to see the excitement and taste the zongzi.
"I can't stand this sweetness, that feeling of melting on the tip of the tongue, this is the true essence of sweet zongzi, isn't it!"
"Awesome! Where is your shop located? I want to buy more of these zongzi!"
As everyone tasted Soma Yukihira's zongzi, exclamations continued at the scene, and the exclamations also attracted more people, and more and more people gathered, quickly buying up all the zongzi he brought.
"Our shop is by the small river behind Oriental Academy, the one on the far right. I will be standing at the entrance then, so you'll find my shop when you see me!"
Seeing his zongzi so popular, Soma Yukihira was also a little flattered. Most of the people who came to the scene were girls, and it was quite normal for girls to prefer sweets.
"See you tomorrow, little brother~" a girl sweetly called out.
"We'll come find you, make sure to prepare more purple yam red bean paste zongzi~"
"I'll pre-order ten, to take back and eat slowly."
Looking at the empty big bucket, the customers who gathered later all showed disappointed expressions, and then began to inquire about the location of Soma Yukihira's shop, preparing to visit tomorrow.
"So there's this trick! It seems that tomorrow when we hand out flyers, we should have Marin and Yui Yuigahama bring zongzi. We'll give out a zongzi with each flyer. No, it's better to cut them up for samples."
Looking at Soma Yukihira, who quickly sold out the zongzi, Hoshino Sora slapped his palm in realization. He had indeed been careless. How could simply handing out flyers attract customers? They definitely needed to bring the product for them to taste!
"What you said makes sense. I didn't expect Yukihira-kun to be so clever, easily thinking of things we couldn't."
Alice Nakiri's words carried a hint of emotion. If they had done this earlier, their customer traffic might have doubled. It was a pity, so much time was wasted.
"Let's not dwell on the past. Let's try this new method tomorrow. If nothing unexpected happens, it should attract another batch of customers, and then we'll have hope of surpassing them.
I'm starting to get excited. Let's go back and prepare tomorrow's zongzi!"
With burning determination in his eyes, Hoshino Sora didn't go up to greet Soma Yukihira but pulled Hisako Arato and Yumeko Jabami by the hand and left, heading back to work at full throttle and make ten thousand zongzi first!
The night was long, yet short, passing in the blink of an eye.
Under the rotation system, by early morning of the second day, a mountain of zongzi had already appeared inside Hoshino's small shop, a true zongzi mountain, taller than a person, with at least ten thousand at the bottom.
"Marin, Yui, it's your turn to act!"
"Received!"
"Thank you for your hard work. After tonight, I'll make you a grand meal, all with high-grade ingredients from Gourmet Manor."
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