13 「 Tuna Tartare Inarizushi 」

After the guy in the middle of the stage announced that the match has started, Inariya couple then began to move to their position and do their own thing, it seems like they already knew what they are going to make.

Mr.Inariya then started to move and took the tuna meat he needed. He then skinned the tuna before wrapped it with plastic wrap. Then put that wrapped tuna meat into the freezer.

Mr.Inariya then took a transparent bowl. He put black, red and dark brown liquid into the bowl and stirred it evenly. After that, he took the tuna meat from the freezer and then diced it out into small pieces before mixing it into the liquid mixture he had made earlier.

Meanwhile, his wife, Mrs.Inariya, smiled as she preparing sheets of tofu skin. After the water in the stove boils, she then put those sheets of tofu skin into the boiling water.

As she's waiting for the tofu skin, she thought.

' With this dish, there is no doubt that we are gonna win this match too and defeating this young couple while also promoting our restaurant. ' Mrs. Inariya thought as a smile crawled on her face.

The reason why Mrs.Inariya and his husband decided to this cooking challenge is actually solely for satisfying her desires, Its basically for her own sake. She's really happy to do this kind of cooking battle, maybe because that's all she do when she's still in the culinary highschool.

That's right, Mrs.Inariya is an alumnus of the 65th generation of Totsuki, even though she wasn't a top-level student in her generation or a heaven sent genius. Anyone who can graduated from Totsuki is already considered as a High-Class chef.

And as any other chef, after she graduated from Totsuki, she had to open her own restaurant. And she can't just ask other people to do some cooking battle and hoping that they're gonna agree with that, until one day she had an idea to do a cooking challenge with a big prize if anyone could win against her.

Initially, her idea was opposed by her husband, Mr.Inariya. But after convincing her husband that doing this challenge would also promoting their own restaurant, Mr.Inariya agreed.

And now, she surely is confident to win against Alice and Akira. Mrs.Inariya then looked at them in curiousity.

'Let's see what they're making.'

When she turned back, instead of seeing two people working together in the kitchen, the two of them just arguing like a dog and a cat.

"I told you that i'm gonna be the leader. Let me take the lead!" Alice said while pouting.

"Huh? You want to take a lead? Ahead of me? That's funny, now stop talking and just follow my order, little girl." Akira said while pointing at himself, black headband wrappen on his head.

"Mou ~, I told you, don't call me little girl! I don't want to cook with Akira, you meanie Humph ~" Alice said, looking away from Akira while pouting like a spoiled little kid.

"I can cook the best dish even without your help." Akira said, he also threw away his face away with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Inariya couple and the whole crowd sweating when they see that Akira and Alice hasn't even started cooking yet.

' They both look like two little kids who are fighting each other for a candy. '

After that, Akira and Alice still didn't talk to each other, before Alice finally turned around, and looked at Akira.

"Hah~, if this continue, we are gonna end up losing this match." Alice said.

"Then what do you want?" Akira asked seriously.

"What if we decided who's gonna be the leader with Jan-Ken?" Alice said with a smile.

" Sounds good to me, let's do Jan-Ken. But just in case you don't know, I've never lost a Jan-Ken, don't cry if you lose okay?" Akira said with a cocky smile, patting Alice head as if she's a little kid.

"Ara~, what a coincidence. I also have never lost in Jan-Ken before." Alice said, then she closed her hand, so did Akira, there is a spark between their eyes.

Then...

"Jan ..."

"Ken ..."

"... Po"

After that, it turns out that Alice put up scissor while Akira put up paper, which makes Alice the winner.

She then immediately cheered happily.

"Yey, I won." Alice exclaimed, raising her hand.

Meanwhile, Akira just looking at his hand in disbelief. Before he looked at Alice.

"Ain't no way...You cheated, you waited for me to put it up first." Akira said, being a sore loser. But Alice is indeed

But Alice just grinned as she put her finger in her cheek and said innocently.

"Ara ~, is the master who has never lost in Jan-Ken wanting to break the rules he has agreed to?"

Blue vein popped out of Akira's head. But he calmed himself as he sighed.

"*sigh*, Ok, ok, you can take the lead, just tell me what do you want to make." The usual Akira might laugh out loud if he saw his arrogant self being this submissive.

"Then ..." Alice then leaned closer to Akira as she whispered something in his ears.

Akira who heard the dish she wanted to make just nodded, before he asked.

" I am free to choose the mixture, right? " Akira asked as he took his knife from the suitcase and looked at the stock of spices he had.

Hearing that question, Alice just nodded with a smile.

"Um! As long as you don't damage the taste that i'm trying to approach with the ingredients that i've mentioned before, you free to do anything." Alice nodded. Seeing the confirmation, Akira then began to do his job, so did Alice.

Time went on until the guy in the middle of the stage announcing the remaining times.

"10 minutes remaining!!!"

And not so long after that, Inariya couple advanced while carrying a closed tray, and put it on the table prepared for the judges.

Mrs.Inariya who had put the tray on the table then looked at the crowd and said.

"We need three people from the crowd. So, is anyone of you willing to be the judges? If you do, go on stage right now!" After Mrs.Inariya said that, a man and a woman got on stage to become a jury.

Only two people, they still need one more person that willing to be the judges. Mrs. Inariya then said again to the crowd.

"Is there no one who wants to be the last judge of this match?"

After that, there was no response from the audience until a man stepped forward and went up on the stage, the man is quite tall with a curtain style black hair, and a narrow eyes to the point that its almost looks like he's closing his eyes.

"May I?" Said the man politely, Mrs.Inariya smiled.

"Of course." She answered, then the man sat in the middle seat of the judges.

After all the judges is complete, Mrs.Inariya then opened her dish and said.

"This is our dish, Tuna Tartare Inarizushi."

The crowd and the three judges finally able to see Inariya couple's tuna dish. Its a tofu layered sushi that looks absolutely stunning.

"Then I'll try it right away," Said the narrow-eyed man.

""Itadakimasu"" The three judges said that in unison before took those Inarizushi sushi on the plate using a chopsticks and put it in their mouth.

When they bite the sushi , the slightly crispy texture from the tofu whose trapped all the flavour inside finally break and all those flavour from the Tuna Tartare and the rice is spreaded all over the mouth. The three judges smiled.

" Uwhh, i could feel the Umami from the raw tuna. Its really fresh!! "

" Yeah, its amazing. "

Sad the two judges, but the narrow-eyed man seems like he trying to explain what exactly Inariya's couple do to make this dish. He clearly is different than the other two.

"You simmering the tofu sheets in a mixture of dashi-based broth, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin." Said the narrow-eyed man.

Even Mrs.Inariya knows that this man isn't an ordinary people when he said that. He clearly is either a food expert, or an actual chef.

"That's right, after I boiled the tofu skin with boiling water, I simmered it in that mixture, then I covered it with aluminum foil, so that the skin absorbed the broth perfectly," Mrs.Inariya said.

After that, the jury on the left commented.

"I could taste a slightly sweet from the Tartare, what spice did you use?" The man asked.

He then answered.

"For the Tartare sauce, I use Tosa Soy sauce, minced jalapeno, garlic pasta, and sesame oil, then I mix it into pieces of tuna, and sprinkled some sesame seeds at the end."

Mrs.Inariya smiling as she explaining that the Tuna Tartare is the core of their sushi.

The judges cleaning their plates, all of the sushi on the plate is devoured. Seeing that, Mrs.Inariya then smiled confidently and was sure of her victory.

Then a voice came from the guy in the middle of stage.

"The cooking session is over!!!" The guy in the middle of the stage yelled, announcing that there is no time left.

Luckily, Akira and Alice had finished their dish, then Akira distributed the dishes to the judges and even Mrs.Inariya.

Akira opened his mouth.

"Behold ..."

All the judges and the crowd focusing their attention to Akira and Alice's dish.

And when Akira opened the lid that covered their dish, everyone eyes widened in shock and confusion, even the narrow-eyed man who usually calm is surprised as he widened his eyes.

Then, Alice continuing Akira's words with the sweetest smile on her face.

"... Foam Evolution, Nigirizushi"