Inside the small kitchen.
Two figures paced back and forth, while a third sat in a chair.
All three were pondering what dish to make for the evening, something that would satisfy Liu Anqing and serve as a perfect conclusion to his two years of instruction.
"Grandpa Qing has taken such good care of us these past two years. Honestly, I don't think any single dish can truly express how I feel right now."
As she walked, Erina Nakiri suddenly stopped, her eyes filled with uncertainty as she looked at the other two.
"I think we should start with what Grandpa Qing taught us."
Alice Nakiri's voice rang out.
Applying Liu Anqing's teachings to a dish, as a farewell gift—that was perhaps the most fitting choice at the moment.
"I think that's a great idea.
Over the past two years, Grandpa Qing has mainly taught us how to identify the five flavors and recognize vegetables and fruits. Maybe we can use vegetables to create a dish rich in flavor."
Alice Nakiri's suggestion was like a lighthouse in the dark, instantly broadening Okabe's and Erina Nakiri's perspectives.
"A vegetable dish rich in flavor... do you remember the Three-Delicacy Soup we had in class a while ago?
It used a shrimp broth base, with fried egg, shrimp, old tofu, shiitake mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms all brought together in one pot to become an incredibly delicious soup!"
Hearing the conversation between Okabe and Alice Nakiri, Erina Nakiri fell into a brief silence.
She closed her eyes and searched through her memories, quickly thinking of a Three-Delicacy Soup that would be perfect for the occasion.
"Three-Delicacy Soup? That sounds wonderful!"
Hearing Erina Nakiri's suggestion, Alice Nakiri's eyes immediately lit up.
"What if I said I want to create a completely original dish, one that fuses all five flavors into a single bowl of soup? Would you think that idea is crazy?"
Okabe's tentative voice sounded out.
While the Three-Delicacy Soup was undeniably delicious, it was a common recipe. Even if they made it, it would just be a reproduction, making it difficult to showcase what they had learned.
"Fusing five flavors into one soup? That's more than just crazy...
But it sounds interesting. Grandpa Qing said that cooking shouldn't be bound by rules and conventions. As long as you have an idea, it can be created."
Hearing Okabe's tentative words and his rather unreliable suggestion, Erina Nakiri couldn't help but retort, but after her initial complaint, she grew a little interested.
"But what if we fail?"
Beside them, Alice Nakiri's brows furrowed slightly as she listened to their conversation, voicing her concern.
"With my God's Tongue, even if we fail, we can find the reason for the failure, then improve and innovate upon it. Sooner or later, we'll create something delicious!"
Erina Nakiri held her head high, a confident expression on her face.
Although Okabe's idea was a bit wild—fusing five flavors into one soup sounded like a recipe for a disastrous dish—with her God's Tongue, she could easily identify the cause of failure and correct it.
"That may be true, but how do we even do it? A soup that combines five flavors... I have no idea where to start. It feels like we're back to square one..."
Alice Nakiri scratched her white hair, her voice filled with confusion. It was true the three of them had some basic knowledge, but that didn't mean they could create an original dish.
"First, let's make soups with a single flavor. In other words, each of us will be responsible for one or two flavors. Once we've created those, we can try to combine them."
Okabe quickly made a decision. Cooking wasn't something you could figure out just by sitting and talking; you had to actually do it to determine if it would work or not.
And whether it was a success or a failure, the experience would be invaluable for evolving the dish to its perfect form!
"Then I'll be in charge of the sweet flavor."
Erina Nakiri said as she walked to the refrigerator, which was stocked with the morning's harvest from the vegetable garden.
The carrots were a vibrant, succulent orange, the daikon radishes were as white as jade, the shiitake mushrooms exuded an intensely rich aroma, and the burdock roots were whole.
The tender green komatsuna was still dotted with morning dew. Everything looked exceptionally fresh.
There were also tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, okra, and other garden produce.
Erina Nakiri looked at the various vegetables and finally took out a carrot from the refrigerator, not forgetting to explain, "The natural sweetness of a carrot becomes soft and deep with proper cooking. I think it's very suitable as a base for the soup."
"Then I'll handle the umami and bitter flavors! The subtle sweetness of cooked daikon radish complements the rich umami of the shiitake mushrooms perfectly!
Plus, the daikon skin has a hint of bitterness, which can balance the other flavors."
Alice Nakiri spoke up at the same time. Although she couldn't move because of her sprained ankle, she could see the ingredients in the fridge past Erina Nakiri's body, and she immediately set her sights on the daikon radish and shiitake mushrooms.
"Grandpa Qing said that bitterness is the most easily overlooked of the five flavors, but it's also the most important. A well-placed touch of bitterness can give a dish more depth."
Remembering Liu Anqing's words, Alice Nakiri declared, waving a small fist.
"So that just leaves the sour and salty flavors for me? Honestly, creating an original dish is on a completely different level of difficulty from just reproducing a recipe."
Okabe said as he walked to the refrigerator, feeling troubled as he looked at the many ingredients inside. Tomatoes could provide both sour and sweet flavors and serve as a soup base.
But Erina Nakiri had already chosen carrots for the base. If he used tomatoes as well, the final flavors would surely be discordant.
Wait...
Quickly taking the ingredients chosen by Erina Nakiri and Alice Nakiri out of the refrigerator, an image of the finished soups, made according to their described methods, appeared in Okabe's mind.
The image played rapidly in his mind, finally resulting in two bowls of soup.
The general flavors were just as they had described.
But the flaws were also obvious.
The flavors existed independently of each other, unable to fuse together completely.
To put it simply, it was like cooking several different pots of soup. They were fine tasted individually, but when mixed together, they would become a disastrous dish.
This meant they were heading in the wrong direction.
And because this was their first time cooking together, Okabe had forgotten something very important.
There was no central pillar among them. Everyone had their own ideas, so the final soup would lack a primary focus. How could it possibly taste good?!
"I think our approach is wrong. Cooking separately probably won't result in a good soup."
Just as Erina Nakiri and Alice Nakiri were about to start cooking, Okabe's voice rang out, shattering the harmonious atmosphere.
"Oh? Then how do you think we should do it?"
"Yeah, you're the one who suggested we each make a pot of soup."
Hearing Okabe's sudden rejection of the plan, the two Nakiri sisters were stunned for a moment, then turned their gazes to him in unison, a hint of dissatisfaction in their words.
He was the one who proposed the five-flavor soup, he was the one who told them to make separate soups for each flavor, and now he was the one completely dismissing the idea.
What was this guy trying to do?
Flip-flopping like this.
"I want to use the Three-Delicacy Soup that Erina suggested as a base and combine it with my theory of fusing five flavors into one soup to create a Three-Delicacy Five-Flavor Soup!
Furthermore, I want to take full charge of the kitchen this time. You two will be my assistants."
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