The Lost Samurai

Chapter 19 - Food competition.

The competitors positioned themselves in front of their respective ovens, each side had an oven and a really good space to prepare things, disposed around their areas there were several cooking tools and ingredients, truly a professional kitchen.

“Ok, you have two hours to prepare something, me, Kyoko and a chef from the best restaurant in Red Sand City will judge and give the dishes scores from 1 to 10, the challenge starts in 3…2…1…now!” Hori announced the start of the challenge with a stern face, today they would truly decide the best cook in this dojo.

Three of the best cooks in Master Hori’s dojo started cutting veggies and preparing rice, they were very organized, one cutting carrots while another prepared the rice and the third one cut potatoes, fully using the space and cleaning their benches at the same time, leaving things all messy and grubby wasn’t their style.

Kenshin would be at disadvantage facing three opponents if he was a normal person, but only lay people would think he was common, with his inhuman speed Kenshin could easily do more in the kitchen than a large group, even if five persons were cooking he would still be faster, doing every single part of the food preparing at the same time anyone without trained eyes would see multiple Kenshins, looking like he was in multiple places at the same time.

He was cutting some veggies, carrots, potatoes, leeks, bell peppers, tomatoes and lettuces, at the same time he had some pots in the oven, one with rice, another one with beans and the last one with the veggies, he was throwing the veggies there as he cut them, from the ones with a bigger cooking time to the ones with less cooking time, only maintaining the tomatoes and lettuces, he would use uncooked lettuce and the tomatoes would be perfect for tomato sauce.

At the same time the dojo group was done with cutting veggies and putting them in a pot to cook, they would use the carrots and potatoes with mayonnaise and the rice as a risotto, they started seasoning the rice and preparing milk cream to turn it into a real risotto and onions to give it the perfect taste and texture, with veggies dipped in mayonnaise as a side dish and risotto with grilled fish as main dish they had all they needed to win.

With all the veggies cut Kenshin started cutting cheese and ham into several slices and shredding chicken meat into really tiny pieces, he would need some noodles too, using them as the base of his main dish, he skillfully mixed flour and eggs and started kneading the dough, poor dough couldn’t do anything as it was mercilessly s*****d by Kenshin, he needed to knead it properly else the noodles would be hard and too thick, making it really bad to eat.

Kyoko got curious and went near the three rivals her father was facing, she looked around everything they were cooking trying to figure out what they planned, looking at the pots and smelling everything she was pleasantly surprised, everything looked and smelled so good, she would be happy to eat the result of their efforts.

“What are you guys preparing? From the amount of rice and the way you’re preparing it i bet your main dish will be risotto right? I love risottos, they're so good! And you’re preparing a good side dish too huh?” Kyoko had to shut her mouth and gulp a mouthful of saliva, she was too captivated by this food and she couldn’t help but have her mouth watered, but as a lady she needed to control her instincts and look composed.

“Yes, it’s a risotto as main dish, we will prepare it with grilled mackerel, and use carrots and potatoes with mayonnaise as a side dish, i think it will have really good harmonization, also after we finish this we will be working on desserts, and i bet you will love what we’re planning for dessert, Kyoko.” One of the girls quickly explained everything they were preparing without pausing her work. She really had great concentration and could perfectly multitask.

Kyoko nodded at her and gave them a thanks for the explanation, after she finished asking questions to the adversary group she headed for her father, Kyoko was really curious about what he was doing and it smelled perfectly, she needed to get closer to see how things were looking.

Reaching the part of the kitchen reserved for her father Kyoko’s eyes shone at the look of him cooking, he had 4 different pots on the oven, already finished with rice he was currently cooking beans, the veggies, meat and noodles, she didn’t really know what he was cooking because there were too many things around for her to discern, he was probably going for something really complicated and with lots of side-dishes.

“Daad! What are you cooking? It looks yummy. I want to taste it, prepare lots so i can fill my belly ok? What siah are you making right now? You really look like you have tons of side dishes, I bet we will see a complex setting in the final presentation.” Kyoko found herself in the same state as before, trying her best not to let any saliva fall off her mouth. She was anxious right now, everything looked so perfect and she would soon taste both parties' cooking.

“Hehe my dear, curious about what i’m doing? Well well, you’re my little girl so i will tell you, you and the other judges will eat some really good chicken lasagna, also i’m cooking some really good soup and rice and beans, with what i put in the soup they will perfectly fit the lasagna if you put a bit in your plate, and rice and beans can complete the side dish to be perfectly nutritive and make it easier for the flavors of the soup and the lasagna to blend into one, as for the desserts, i bet you will like then, i will soon start preparing it when i finish the main dish.“ Kenshin explained everything to his daughter while he still moved absurdly fast, creating after images putting the spices in the sauce and in the meat and taking some noodles that were ready from the pot, not forgetting to stir all the pots at the same time.

“Woah Dad! That looks so good, and so many things, to make so much in just two hours you’re amazing! I’m cheering for you, do your best!” Kyoko made thumbs up with a big movement and declared her support to her father, maybe even if he wasn’t her father she would still be cheering for him just because of his amazing skills.

“Haha Kyoko, shouldn’t you be impartial? You’re a judge so you can’t take sides, but still I appreciate your support. I will do my best and make food that tastes almost divine, that’s my biggest objective after all.” Kenshin couldn’t control his chuckling, his little girl was really funny, she was something.

“Whaaat? I shouldn’t take sides? That’s so unfair, but if you’re saying this I guess it’s true, ok Dad i will be cheering you but not taking your side, my opinion will be 100% neutral from now on!” Kyoko promised her father and made a resolution in her mind to be impartial.