I see.
Okabe scooped a spoonful of broth from Megumi Tadokoro's tomato beef brisket stew and brought it to his mouth. Then, he picked up a piece of brisket and closed his eyes to savor it.
"How is it… Is there something wrong with it?"
Megumi Tadokoro watched Okabe nervously, her hands clenched into fists in front of her chest, asking what the problem was.
"I won't go into the minor issues. The main problem is this."
As he spoke, Okabe picked up the tomato sauce Megumi Tadokoro had used for the stew and tossed it in front of her, his voice filled with certainty.
"Tomato sauce? Why? Isn't tomato sauce great for the tomato flavor in a tomato beef brisket stew? You can't get a rich tomato flavor just by using fresh tomatoes, can you…?"
Megumi Tadokoro asked, confused. It wasn't that she hadn't tried making a version with only fresh tomatoes, but the flavor was significantly worse than the one with tomato sauce.
Could there be a technique she didn't know?
"You understand the need to add a tomato-flavored sauce to the dish, that's correct. But have you considered that the flavor of tomato sauce is actually very light?"
As he spoke, Okabe strode towards the kitchen's seasoning area. He remembered seeing something suitable for this dish there yesterday during his cooking.
"Found it. This is what you should have added."
Okabe tossed the tomato paste from the seasoning area to Megumi Tadokoro. "Open the lid, taste the difference between the two, and then tell me what you think."
"…"
Staring at the tin can of tomato paste in her hands, Megumi Tadokoro fell silent for a moment. She then opened it with a can opener and dipped a clean spoon into it.
The moment the spoon touched the thick paste, Megumi Tadokoro felt the difference.
Compared to the tomato sauce, which could be poured out directly, the substance in this can was much heavier. She had to use some effort just to scoop it up.
Looking at the deep red sauce on the spoon, she didn't hesitate to put it in her mouth.
"Mmph—!"
An intense, almost stimulatingly pure sourness exploded on the tip of her tongue, immediately followed by the highly concentrated, extremely mellow and authentic flavor of tomato. It was so thick it felt tangible, with no sweetness to buffer it, no herbal aromas to interfere—only the most primal, most dominant flavor of tomato.
She subconsciously frowned; this taste was too intense to be eaten directly.
Closing her eyes to feel it for a moment, she quickly rinsed her mouth with water to clear the lingering taste, then tried the tomato sauce she had used earlier for comparison.
The familiar, balanced sweet and sour taste, with the gentle aroma of complex spices, was incredibly smooth.
But after tasting that can of tomato paste, the flavor of this tomato sauce seemed exceptionally thin and flat in her mouth, almost feeling 'watery'.
"Tomato paste only contains tomatoes, while tomato sauce is a secondary processed sauce made by seasoning tomato paste with other condiments."
Putting down the spoon, Megumi Tadokoro stated the difference between the two. One had a pure tomato flavor, while the other was a sauce made by processing tomato paste with other seasonings.
No wonder Auntie Fumio had rejected her dish after just one bite and commented that it didn't taste like tomato beef brisket. It turned out she had been wrong from the very beginning.
Port town cuisine is dominated by fish dishes, with relatively few vegetable-related dishes. Even when they appear, they are mostly used as side dishes for fish.
Without the three years of experience studying at Tōtsuki Academy, Megumi Tadokoro was weak in many areas, so it was understandable that her knowledge of vegetable cuisine was incomplete.
"Exactly. The flavor of tomato sauce is complete and fixed. It directly provides a pleasant sweet and sour taste, but that's it.
Because it's too mild, like diluted fruit juice. When added to a stew, its flavor disperses and can't form a solid base.
It can even be influenced, diluted, or even masked by the flavor of the beef and other ingredients. The final effect is only slightly better than just adding fresh tomatoes."
As he spoke, Okabe walked to the refrigerator, took out the tomatoes inside, and arranged them neatly on the cutting board.
The reason Megumi Tadokoro chose to use this ingredient in the dorm trial was most likely because her Ratatouille had been praised during the entrance exam.
But to get into Polaris Dormitory, she needed to show something of her own in the recipe, which meant the dish itself needed a certain degree of originality.
"Besides tomato sauce and tomato paste, there is another tomato product that falls between the two called ketchup, which is basically a product of tomato paste with added sugar and vinegar. This is also commonly used in home-style tomato beef brisket stew."
Raising his hand, he tossed the tomatoes on the cutting board into the air. The Seven-Star Knife: Wu Qu appeared in Okabe's hand, and in the next moment, a cold light flashed. The tomato skins fell rustling into the waste bin.
On the other side, the peeled tomatoes landed on the cutting board and were quickly chopped into pieces by Okabe, then all poured into a bowl on the side.
"Industrially produced tomato paste, in order to stay fresh for a long time, has some preservatives added, especially this kind of tomato paste imported from Italy."
Okabe picked up the tomato paste Megumi Tadokoro had just tasted and pointed to the ingredient list on it.
"Home cooking values convenience and speed, so it uses processed seasonings like this.
But as chefs, when time permits, we generally choose to make it ourselves. The tomato paste made this way is fresher and can, to a certain extent, make the dish more delicious."
As his voice fell, Okabe put down the tomato paste, turned to open the stew pot on the side, and started it on low heat with fresh olive oil, followed by chopped onions.
After the onions softened, he added minced garlic, constantly stir-frying to prevent browning. Then he added the previously chopped tomatoes and slowly simmered them on low heat.
"Adding sugar and vinegar at this stage makes ketchup. Western-style ketchup would have bay leaves, rum, water, sugar, salt, and pepper added."
Watching the tomato sauce bubbling in the pot, Okabe patiently taught her. Megumi Tadokoro, having taken out a notebook from somewhere, was also taking notes.
"For a home-style version of tomato beef brisket stew, it's fine to use ketchup directly. Because ketchup is already seasoned, it's easier for novice chefs to control. While tomato paste has a stronger tomato flavor, it requires a higher level of skill from the chef."
While simmering the tomato paste, Okabe explained to Megumi Tadokoro. Even some high-end restaurants now use ketchup directly to save trouble with seasoning.
"Next, do I use tomato paste to replace the tomatoes, or follow the previous method of adding fresh tomatoes first and then adding tomato paste to enhance the tomato flavor?"
Looking at the tomato paste in the stew pot, which was emitting a rich tomato aroma, Megumi Tadokoro voiced her confusion, the pen she was writing with also stopping.
"Normally, you could do that, but the tomatoes bought from the market aren't very good. You'll know once you taste one. The tomato flavor isn't as strong as those picked directly from the field."
As he spoke, Okabe tossed the remaining tomato next to him to Megumi Tadokoro, telling her to eat it directly.
"It's not as delicious as the ones from my hometown's market…"
She hadn't felt it deeply before thinking in this direction, but after Okabe's reminder, compared to the tomatoes she ate at home, the taste was clearly much worse.
Not sour enough, not sweet enough. Besides being more visually appealing than the ones from her hometown, they were completely lacking in every other aspect!
"Why is it like this…?"
A look of bewilderment appeared on her face.
She clearly hadn't expected that the tomatoes she had painstakingly selected were all style and no substance. No wonder the dish she made had such a bland tomato flavor.
"This is related to market economics. As the king of vegetables on a global scale, the tomato supply chain has three iron rules: it must be storable, transportable, and pressure-resistant.
To meet these three points, tomatoes are picked early before they are ripe.
At that stage, their color hasn't fully reddened, and their internal sugar content hasn't accumulated enough. In the refrigerated trucks during transport, the color-producing pigments slowly develop, but the sugar content remains unchanged. This is the fundamental reason why tomatoes in big cities lack tomato flavor."
A silver light flashed, and the beef brisket was cut into two-centimeter cubes.
"You chose this brisket well. It's a standard beef rib brisket, with tendon, meat, and fat. When cooked, the texture is soft, smooth, fragrant, and springy. It's a top-grade cut of brisket."
Looking at the properly handled beef brisket, Okabe nodded in satisfaction. He then poured cold water into a pot and began to blanch the brisket, not forgetting to skim off the scum.
He prepared a pressure cooker on the side, adding green onions, ginger, and two large star anises in advance. He then poured in the blanched brisket and fresh water, covered it, and cooked it under pressure for 30 minutes.
On the other side, he prepared green onions and garlic.
"In that case, to get good quality tomatoes, does one need to grow them themselves…?"
Megumi Tadokoro thought of the plot of land at the entrance of Polaris Dormitory. It seemed like a small patch in the corner had already been planted with something.
"That's one way. Using them as you pick them, vegetables from the field are naturally the freshest.
However, the cost of doing this is too high. You can't possibly start planting from scratch for every dish you make; there isn't enough time. Therefore, this method can only be used for home cooking or a few matching dishes."
"The current mainstream practice is to raise the price and then import them from their place of origin with specific requirements.
As long as you pay enough, everything is negotiable. The quality of the vegetables will be personally guaranteed by the local farmers, as they wouldn't want to do just a one-time business deal."
Twitching his nose and smelling the enticing aroma of the brisket from the pressure cooker, Okabe placed an iron wok on the stove.
"Spending money… That is indeed a good way, but…"
Megumi Tadokoro became conflicted.
Although her family wasn't poor, they weren't particularly wealthy either. The tuition and living expenses for a top culinary academy were already a huge expense. Asking for more money was a bit…
"Don't worry. In terms of ingredients, we have Tōtsuki behind us. Tōtsuki has its own supply chain in this area. The ingredients used in regular classes are of superior quality. We only need to prepare our own ingredients when we have a Shokugeki with someone or for private research, so you don't need to feel too much pressure."
Seeing Megumi Tadokoro's conflict, Okabe poured salad oil into the wok and then added green onions and garlic to sauté until fragrant.
This time, the green onions and garlic had to be browned. Using the qiangguo technique would help increase the complex aroma of the tomato beef brisket stew, which was clearly different from making tomato paste.
After browning the green onions and garlic, he added the tomatoes, followed by the previously simmered tomato paste.
"There's another obvious mistake in your dish. When you were stewing the beef brisket, you didn't use hot water. But to enhance the flavor of the beef itself, you should have used the leftover beef broth from blanching the brisket earlier. That way, the beef flavor can truly merge into the dish."
Okabe simply explained the most crucial detail of this dish.
Some people think the water from blanching beef is dirty, but in reality, after skimming off the scum from the broth, there's no essential difference between it and beef broth.
"Then comes the seasoning: salt, sugar, MSG. You can taste it beforehand when seasoning."
Okabe didn't rush to season. He first scooped up some broth with a spoon to taste it, then began to season.
It had to be said that despite having made concentrated tomato paste earlier, the tomato flavor in the pot was still not rich enough. The accumulation of fructose and fruit acid was clearly insufficient.
"The flavor of the pan-seared green onions, the flavor of the tomatoes, and the flavor of the beef brisket all just need to blend together."
Looking at the boiling tomato beef brisket stew in the pot, Okabe showed a fatherly expression.
Megumi Tadokoro quietly watched the composed Okabe from the side. Smelling the rich aroma of tomato and beef in the air, a strong sense of desire welled up in her heart.
At the same time, there was a sound at the kitchen door.
The two looked over and saw that it was Rindo Kobayashi, who had been leaning against the door and accidentally pushed it open.
"Whoa! What a wonderful smell! Are you guys making tomato beef brisket stew?"
Seeing that she had been discovered, she immediately pretended to be casual and walked in, her gaze fixed on the bubbling tomato beef brisket stew in front of Okabe.
'Her acting is terrible.'
This thought popped into Okabe's and Megumi Tadokoro's minds at the same time.
"The dish is almost ready. Would you like to have some with us?"
Seeing Rindo Kobayashi's greedy look, Okabe guessed she must have been waiting outside the kitchen for a long time, otherwise she wouldn't have even knocked the door down.
"It's almost ready? I happen to be a bit hungry, so I'll take you up on that offer!"
"You've stewed this brisket so well! It's jiggling in the pot. Just by looking at it, I can imagine its incredibly tender texture!"
Hearing Okabe's words, Rindo Kobayashi expertly brought over a bowl and chopsticks and stood by the table with an expectant expression.
Soon, the aroma wafting from the tomato beef brisket stew in the pot reached its peak.
Okabe stepped forward to turn off the stove and brought the dish to Rindo Kobayashi and Megumi Tadokoro.
"Have a taste."
"Then I won't be polite."
Rindo Kobayashi's lips curled up slightly, revealing two cute little canine teeth. She then picked up a piece of brisket and put it in her mouth, her face immediately showing a look of amazement.
"Delicious! But it's so hot…"
Her eyes widened slightly. Feeling the continuous release of beefy freshness in her mouth, she couldn't help but exclaim. The piece of meat was incredibly hot, yet she was reluctant to spit it out, just letting it roll around on her tongue while fanning her mouth with her hand as if it were a treasure.
Beside her, Megumi Tadokoro also picked up a piece of tomato beef brisket with an expectant look.
The sweet and savory tomato juice gushed out first, carrying a rich beef aroma that spread gently across her tongue.
The brisket was stewed to perfection. The tendon part had turned into a sticky gelatin, softly enveloping the tender lean meat, which fell apart with a gentle touch of her teeth, every fiber having absorbed the mellow tomato juice.
It was a taste with distinct layers.
First came the almost wild sourness and mellowness from the concentrated tomato, followed by the deep, full-bodied meatiness of the brisket.
Megumi Tadokoro chewed slowly, her eyes gradually brightening.
This tomato beef brisket stew was completely different from the version she had made before…
No, it was like the difference between heaven and earth!
In Okabe's version, the tomato flavor wasn't just on the surface; it was deeply rooted in the base of the entire dish, integrated with the umami of the beef, becoming one. That solid, rich, and impactful flavor was the soul her dish was missing.
The feeling was like—
An intense scene of a running bull being pursued by a tomato spirit.
After a fierce chase, the tomato spirit caught up to her, its tongue gently licking her skin, not missing a single spot.
However, at that moment, the tomato spirit's form suddenly changed into Okabe's. The sense of shame in her heart also peaked the moment she swallowed the brisket.
"Hah… hah…"
Gently exhaling, a tempting blush appeared on Megumi Tadokoro's body, making her look like a tomato. Her properly crossed legs also uncontrollably shifted slightly.
"It feels like my whole body has been cleansed!"
Beside them, Rindo Kobayashi also lifted her head, her face flushed a charming pink.
The deliciousness of the tomato beef brisket stew lingered on her tongue, long and unending.
"If only there were a bowl of rice right now. I feel like I could eat three bowls in a row!"
Rindo Kobayashi exclaimed from the bottom of her heart.
Okabe watched the two of them continuously picking at the brisket and joined in.
However, his movements were noticeably more methodical. It wasn't because of modesty, but because the dish in front of him hadn't reached a level that would make him go crazy for it.
To him, this was just a common home-style dish served on the dining table at Ryōzanpaku.
A long time later, the last bit of broth from the tomato beef brisket stew was scraped into a spoon by Rindo Kobayashi and eaten. The three of them sat back in their chairs with satisfied expressions.
"I completely understand now—the true essence of a stew!"
Looking at the empty pot of tomato beef brisket stew in front of her, Megumi Tadokoro, who had taken a long time to recover, said confidently.
That night, in the Polaris Dormitory kitchen.
"Please have a taste, Auntie Fumio. This is my Tomato and Potato Beef Brisket Stew."
Despite being fully prepared, Megumi Tadokoro still appeared very nervous as she placed the steaming clay pot in front of Fumio Daimidō.
"Tomato and Potato Beef Brisket Stew. You added potatoes to this dish…"
Hearing Megumi Tadokoro's words, Fumio Daimidō looked over, then scooped up a spoonful of the tomato broth to examine it.
The deep red broth was different from yesterday. This time, it was thick enough to coat the spoon. The rich aroma of tomato and the mellow scent of beef intertwined, creating a fragrant smell that hit the nose.
"The color and thickness have clearly improved compared to yesterday. Is it because of the potato starch…?"
Looking at the potatoes, the extra ingredient in the stew, a look of realization appeared on Fumio Daimidō's face.
She dipped the spoon into the clay pot again, scooping up the brisket and putting it in her mouth. Her gaze sharpened slightly.
The brisket was tender and flavorful, the tendon turned to gelatin, and every fiber of meat had absorbed the solid, authentic flavor of the tomato, which exploded wildly in her mouth.
It wasn't a thin, flat sweet and sour taste, but a concentrated, layered flavor of sourness, umami, and sweetness, fused with the deep meatiness of the brisket.
But that wasn't the key.
The key was the newly added potato.
The potato was soft and mealy, the pieces slowly melting on the tongue, balancing the overall richness of the dish.
"Can you tell me why you chose to add potatoes to the tomato beef brisket stew?"
Fumio Daimidō looked at Megumi Tadokoro and asked this crucial question, which would determine whether she could pass this dorm entrance assessment.
"Because…"
Megumi Tadokoro took a deep breath. Her hands were sweating from nervousness, but her eyes were incredibly serious:
"Okabe taught me a very clear principle through his cooking: the essence of a stew is not just the layering of flavors, but also the balance of textures."
"The flavors of tomato and beef brisket are already very rich and heavy. Although delicious, if you eat too much without a bland staple food, you can easily experience flavor fatigue and develop an aversion to it.
Adding potatoes not only makes the dish more filling, but more importantly, the potato itself has a soft, mealy texture and a mild taste, which can neutralize the strong acidity of the tomato and the greasiness of the brisket, making the overall taste of the dish more rounded and gentle, more comfortable to eat, and more palatable over time!"
"So I believe that only by pairing it with potatoes can tomato beef brisket stew be called a complete dish, containing both vegetables and a staple."
"And…"
"The potatoes release starch during the stewing process, which naturally thickens the sauce without needing extra thickeners. This both adds another layer to the dish's flavor and maintains the purity of the dish itself."
"This kind of cooking isn't about destroying the original recipe. Instead… it's about making it more complete!"
Fumio Daimidō listened quietly, then scooped another spoonful of broth with potato and brisket and brought it to her mouth.
This time, she closed her eyes.
It was true.
The addition of the potato was not superfluous; it was the finishing touch.
It acted like a calm mediator, skillfully connecting the vibrancy of the tomato with the mellowness of the brisket, allowing the originally somewhat 'intense' richness to settle into a more lasting, gentle, and mellow beauty.
One mouthful contained sour, savory, fragrant, and mealy notes, layered yet integrated, bringing a sense of proper satisfaction from the tip of the tongue to the stomach.
More importantly, she could taste a 'thought' in it.
Not a mechanical replication of a recipe, nor a blind addition of ingredients, but a true understanding of how ingredients converse and collaborate, all to serve the most fundamental purpose of 'making people eat comfortably and happily'.
This was exactly the 'spark' of a chef that Polaris Dormitory sought.
After a long moment, Fumio Daimidō opened her eyes, a rare, faint smile appearing on her serious face. She put down her spoon and looked at Megumi Tadokoro, who was so nervous she was wringing her fingers.
"You pass."
Just two simple words, but they made Megumi Tadokoro's eyes widen in an instant. A huge wave of warmth surged up from the bottom of her heart, making her eyes sting a little.
"Re… really? Auntie Fumio!"
"Why would I lie to you? This is the key to room 203. Congratulations on becoming a member of Polaris Dormitory. I hope that in your life ahead, you will serve dishes worthy of your own efforts."
Handing her the key from her clothes, Fumio Daimidō patted her on the shoulder and said encouragingly.
____
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