Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma (2015–…): Season 2, Episode 2 - The Interplay of Light and Shadow - full transcript
With resolve and her newfound ability to keep a cool head, Megumi prepares to face Ryo in the next battle: ramen. These opposite personalities clash through their dishes!
In the first bout of the Fall Selection,
the winner is:
SOMA YUKIHIRA
Soma Yukihira!
You're welcome!
-He won!
-All right!
Jeez...
Sure you lost, but don't be a kid.
C'mon, get up.
Thank--
This puts me a step ahead in the battle
for the next seat on the Ten, huh?
What the heck?!
You may have won, but could you not
sound all high-and-mighty, please?!
I'll tell you one thing,
this doesn't end here.
I'm not giving up
the top spot at Tohtsuki!
Be seeing you, Yukihira-kun.
You've come to learn
the limit of your abilities, huh?
What the what the what?!
Erina, you're a genius not just at
cooking, but at talking trash, aren't you?
You just praised my cooking, you know.
Listen here! Just you wait
till I get my revenge!
You're an idiot, Erina!
Must be nice to be you.
That's why you get to cry
however you like.
Soma-kun!
I watched you from the waiting room.
Congratulations!
Ah, Tadokoro, you're next, huh?
You seem pretty calm.
You think?
Yeah, I think so!
You know, during the preliminaries,
the only thing I was thinking
was to give it my all,
but now I...
for the first time, I just want
to be able to enjoy my cooking.
Oh, yeah?
Well, don't push yourself
too hard out there.
Good luck!
As always, your food was too pretty.
Are you lecturing me?
Get a clue already.
I'm saying this already
"having a clue," of course.
Also, mistress...
please save something like that
for after you've beaten me at cooking.
And now, the second battle
of the first round!
And here come the competitors!
First up is the dark horse,
the winner of the very last round
of the B Block preliminaries:
Megumi Tadokoro!
Her opponent is from A Block,
and tied Soma Yukihira for second place:
Ryo Kurokiba!
The theme of their battle is...
ROUND 2
RAMEN
...Ramen!
Let the cooking...
begin!
INTERPLAY OF LIGHT AND SHADOW
Well, that's the rough explanation.
THE PREVIOUS DAY
But one last thing:
the noodles will be provided by us.
Your bout is tomorrow,
so we've gone ahead and aged them nicely.
Choose your noodles from among these.
Just let us know in time for-
I want...
this wide type.
You're fine with deciding right now?
Yeah, no problem.
I already know
what kind of ramen I'm going to make.
Already, in just one second?
Tadokoro-chan, there's no need to rush.
Just let me know by midnight tonight.
O-okay!
If they're providing the noodles, then...
that could mean I have to concentrate
on the flavor of the soup.
RECIPES
What makes a soup
is the stock used for its base,
the concentrated kaeshi sauce,
and the various flavoring oils and spices.
They all have to match,
or you end up with conflicting flavors.
The noodles that Kurokiba-kun
chose are oblong
and known for their super elasticity.
Wide noodles are the tried-and-true choice
for rich, thick broths.
So, does that mean Kurokiba-kun
is going to make a rich soup?
If I want to beat him,
I'll have to come up with a flavor strong
enough to hold its own.
Anyway, I need to move forward
with my trial dish!
It's no good!
When I try to make it taste strong,
the flavors don't mesh at all!
What on Earth should I do?
Megumi!
This came for you.
It's from your hometown.
Dear Megumi,
Congratulations on making it
to the finals of the Fall Selection.
I can't be there to cheer you on
because of work, but do your best.
I'm sending you these local ingredients.
Mom!
Wow, this takes me back!
So many ingredients I used
to use back home!
I...
I'm going to bet this battle
on the ingredients my mom sent me!
Let's see...
MEGUMI
WE LOVE YOU
KYOKUSEI
That section over there
is strangely gaudy...
Yukihira, over here!
Why would they write
her name on a fan, Brother?
That's one of the mysteries of Japan.
Ramen...
Put simply, a dish made of three
ingredients: noodles, toppings, and soup.
I see unreasonable demands
are being placed on the contestants
this year as well.
Ramen became incredibly popular
during the post-war Reconstruction.
Not only was it cheap and delicious, it
was easily served from mobile food stalls.
These days, ramen as a Japanese food
has spread throughout the world.
It is unmatched both in depth of flavor
and the amount
of preparation time involved.
They're expected to present
theirs in a single night?
And at a major venue, no less?
Put simply,
what's being tested in this contest is
both their adaptability
and their ability to think on their toes.
To what extent can they make use
of their individual strengths
and the experience they've accumulated?
In the preliminaries,
Ryo Kurokiba made a seafood curry.
But what kind of dish
will he make for the finals?
That soup!
It's made from stock using fish parts!
There's rockfish, conger eel,
flatfish, and sea robin...
His ramen will have a seafood base!
Using fish innards and shrimp heads
will give it a powerful flavor!
It seems he's done
an excellent job of cleaning them
to remove any unwelcome smell.
Sure enough, Kurokiba-kun made
a rich, fish-based soup.
Those are scallops!
Megumi's using their dried
adductor muscles to make her stock!
I'll add strained chicken broth
to this stock and let it simmer even more!
So then, Megumi is going
with the same seafood base?!
No, they're both using a seafood stock,
but in contrast to Ryo
Kurokiba's thick soup,
Tadokoro-san
went for a lighter, mellow flavor.
But will that be a match
for the impact of Kurokiba's rich soup?!
That's right, Megumi's
hometown is a port city.
There's no way she can lose
when it comes to knowledge of seafood!
Interesting.
So it's a battle
of those raised by the sea.
That's right, it's a fishing--
Alice Nakiri?!
Wh-what are you doing here?!
Oh, dear, was that bad of me?
Did you say "a battle of
those raised by the sea"?
That's right.
Ryo-kun grew up by the water.
A stock of Homard lobster
and shrimp shells?
He's using that in his soup, too?
What the heck?!
He's grinding the shells into powder!
10 YEARS EARLIER
Down in the bar district
where all the sailors get together,
there's one place
that's apparently really popular.
Huh? I'd like to check it out.
Not a good idea.
Some ruffian would probably rob you blind.
I'm finally out of Japan,
so I should eat up everything I can!
Here, huh?
Yeah, what? You a customer?
We're closed right now.
-You can go eat somewhere--
-Fine, then I'll just wait here.
My, what a filthy place!
Oh, I know!
Would you mind introducing me to the chef?
Quit walkin' around
like you own the place.
The chef here...
is me.
The chef?
Yes, Ryo has held the top spot
in the kitchen since he was a kid.
That's the kind of cook he is.
Y-yeah, but Megumi...
She's helped out in kitchens
back in her hometown!
Megumi, you gotta keep your spirits up!
We're here for you!
What the heck is that?
U-um, she's a friend
from the same dorm as me.
How revolting.
Cooks who're all warm and fuzzy
with each other make me wanna puke.
A chef either eats or gets eaten;
there ain't no middle ground!
Um, is that really true?
Huh?
In cooking, I think what's important
is for everyone to cooperate and--
The kitchen is a battlefield,
and cooking is power!
Still, someone raised all nice
and friendly wouldn't understand.
Cooking means bringing
the other guy to his knees, end of story!
Anyone who doesn't get that
can't make flavors worth a damn!
Open your eyes!
You guys have been fooling yourselves,
makin' nothing but garbage!
You're wrong.
I...
At the very least,
what I've come across...
has not been garbage!
The vegetables have been parboiled.
Now to add two types of soy sauce,
and keep the temperature around 80 degrees
to preserve their flavor.
Okay!
Good, she's staying calm.
Yeah, she's going through all the steps
and not wasting any moves.
Sure enough, the key
to how a ramen tastes is its broth.
She went with a lighter soup,
which will be ruined
if the flavors get muddled.
How beautiful...
It's clear and sparkling.
So many people have supported me...
Don't...
talk bad about them!
Um, that's all I wanted to say!
Well, we're almost out of time!
Which contestant will finish first?
Okay!
Whoa, what the heck?
Look at the judges!
What's about to happen?
After all, one of the highlights
of ramen is sitting at the counter
and watching the chef cook!
B-but cooking with the Demon of Food
right there in front of you...
Hey, don't put even
more pressure on Megumi!
It's all right.
She's calm.
Seeing it up close, it's not only
beautiful but has a splendid aroma!
So the toppings will be mainly vegetables?
I'd say this is worth looking forward to.
Things seem like they're going well.
Okay, Megumi, take this thing and win it!
Yes, that's Ryo-kun.
I ain't seen you around before.
My, how rude!
I have a name, you know. It's Alice!
Oh, yeah?
Well, introduce yourself!
Ryo.
"Ryo"?
What's your family name?
Kurokiba.
That's a Japanese-sounding name.
So, you've got enough
to pay for your meal, right?
Of course.
-Well, fine.
-Man, I'm starving.
What are we gonna eat today?
The regulars are lining up, huh?
There's still a bit more time
before we open for dinner.
But fine, let's do this.
What's happening?
This feeling in the air...
It's completely different!
Line up!
Pay for your food.
Do as I tell you.
Bein' a customer of mine
means obeying these two rules.
We're friggin' open!
You're taking too long!
I told you, doing the mise en place
with what we've got
in the kitchen takes priority!
It's your no-talent asses trying
to do it all at once
that's gettin' us in the weeds!
You know what? Whatever.
Get out there and take some damn orders!
I've had enough!
What's with your attitude?!
Quit talking down to your elders, dammit!
Okay, meathead...
You think you can put out
food better than mine?
I could fire you and do your job
without breaking a sweat, you hack.
I'm very sorry, Chef.
All right, the food's here!
This is the best!
I can't imagine headin' out to sea without
having Ryo's cooking to come back to!
And it looks like Kurokiba
is the first to finish!
Yo, what is that?
What's he adding?
Is that Melba toast?
All right, shove that down your throats.
It's a soupe de poisson ramen.
Soupe de poisson:
a southern French soup made
with a base of shellfish and fish parts.
He prepared that for a ramen?
Well, let's start with the soup...
The tomalley and fish innards...
the richness comes together perfectly.
Such a bold, aggressive flavor!
Now to get some of the noodles
bathed in this soup...
No! It's enough to make me lose my senses!
It's an avalanche of umami!
The toppings are three
varieties of cheese,
a rouille of aioli and chili peppers,
and tempura bits that act as croutons.
Finally, there's the Melba toast
we saw earlier.
It's been slathered with Echire butter
and then slow-toasted.
I get it!
What he ground up was shells that
had been dried to intensify the flavor!
You finally noticed, huh?
The flavor of this ramen
comes from the soup base to the butter,
to a whole bunch of that powder.
The umami of that extract
comes from glycine, arginine, and proline,
but shellfish has the highest
concentration of any seafood.
He added so much
of that powdered extract to the soup
that of course
it became fiercely delicious!
I see...
This deliciousness
is like a blow to the head.
To this man, having other people eat is...
It's like an all-out fistfight!
This is how he's made it this far,
bringing others to their knees, eh?
How long are you gonna keep
puttin' on airs, old man?
This is a brawl!
Very well!
Baring yourself
without striking a dramatic pose...
This is quite rare indeed!
Getting me to strip bare
through brute force...
Your ambition is admirable indeed!
Megumi hasn't been judged yet,
but the atmosphere in here is...
Kurokiba's ramen presentation
wasn't just showmanship.
Any interest, concern, even relevance
for Tadokoro-san's dish...
It's all gone now, isn't it?
This is going to make things
really hard for her.
No...
Take the noodles from the strainer
and imagine cutting the surface tension...
Megumi!
It looks like even this atmosphere
isn't enough to get her down.
Yes, just concentrating,
focusing on her cooking...
It's kind of like Yukihira-kun!
This is my dish.
Please!
A light soup
that's also beautiful in appearance.
Still, after Ryo Kurokiba's
rich seafood ramen,
it's rather lacking in impact.
So powerful!
This umami is a shock to the senses!
So it's not a light soup?
The flavor is refreshing,
but what's this sweet umami?!
And this choice of toppings...
It's like kozuyu!
Yes, I used kozuyu as a model,
then added strained chicken broth
and concentrated soy sauce.
It's a kozuyu-soy ramen!
Kozuyu...
Kozuyu is a local dish of the Aizu area,
made using a broth of dried scallops.
It's often served at celebratory events.
You interpreted local cuisine as ramen?
The scallop adductor is the star,
while the robust chicken broth
serves as the flavor base.
What's more, the concentrated kaeshi sauce
is a blend of mild and sweet soy sauces.
The flavor of the soy sauces
is a perfect match for that of kozuyu!
Still, that's not enough to explain it.
Just what is the source of this umami?!
Well, that...
It's from the vegetables.
The vegetables?!
I used dried versions of
the shiitake mushroom,
burdock root, and green bean toppings
and simmered them into the broth.
I get it!
Drying them concentrates the flavor,
giving it a completely different umami
than if she'd used them raw!
All that deliciousness
got absorbed into the broth!
I follow you.
That's Tadokoro's ace up her sleeve!
The unique deliciousness
of the fibrous vegetables...
To think it could make such a fresh
yet powerfully flavorful soup!
I'm so ecstatic
that my facial muscles won't respond!
Oh, before you finish all the noodles,
please try what's in that small bowl.
Just add however much
you want to the soup.
This acidity is enough
to jolt the eyes wide open!
It makes the flavor profile even tighter!
What on Earth is this?!
It's a dressing
I made using chicken local to Aizu,
as well as shredded leeks,
shiso leaves, and pickled plums.
I thought it would be fun
to change up the flavor a bit.
This is hardly "changing it up"!
This not only harmonizes
with the delicate flavor of the kozuyu,
it draws out the sweetness
of the vegetables even more!
Yo, that ramen...
Lemme have some of it, too!
Um, okay!
I'm stunned.
They're both seafood-based ramen,
but using a completely different approach
from Ryo Kurokiba's soupe de poisson,
she was able to create such umami!
At this point, I still can't make thick,
powerful broths using pork or seafood.
From removing the smell
to getting the flavor just right,
it takes an incredible amount of skill.
But having kozuyu as a base
and using scallops and vegetables
to bring out the umami,
I thought I could retain
the flavor balance
to make a powerful ramen of my own!
You knew I'd make
a ramen with a thick soup,
so you friggin' came at me with this, huh?
Well, ain't you a little box of surprises,
Megumi Tadokoro?!
Within that slender frame, burning silent
but fierce, is the spirit of a warrior!
Not fearing even the strongest of enemies,
she raced headfirst
into a raging battle of umami!
Get some of my ramen down your throat!
The umami and aroma
of the ocean is overwhelming!
I feel like I'll collapse!
To... To be able
to make ramen like this...
But I don't want to lose!
What a fierce battle!
Both dishes had such strength and power!
They were the embodiment of deliciousness!
I'm gonna pummel you like a meat hammer.
Soupe de poisson!
My scallop and chicken stock is ready
to take on even the toughest enemy!
-Lobster! Lobster! Lobster!
-Scallop! Scallop! Scallop!
The director's grabbed his brush!
So who...
...is the winner?!
Subtitle translation by
Javier lopez
the winner is:
SOMA YUKIHIRA
Soma Yukihira!
You're welcome!
-He won!
-All right!
Jeez...
Sure you lost, but don't be a kid.
C'mon, get up.
Thank--
This puts me a step ahead in the battle
for the next seat on the Ten, huh?
What the heck?!
You may have won, but could you not
sound all high-and-mighty, please?!
I'll tell you one thing,
this doesn't end here.
I'm not giving up
the top spot at Tohtsuki!
Be seeing you, Yukihira-kun.
You've come to learn
the limit of your abilities, huh?
What the what the what?!
Erina, you're a genius not just at
cooking, but at talking trash, aren't you?
You just praised my cooking, you know.
Listen here! Just you wait
till I get my revenge!
You're an idiot, Erina!
Must be nice to be you.
That's why you get to cry
however you like.
Soma-kun!
I watched you from the waiting room.
Congratulations!
Ah, Tadokoro, you're next, huh?
You seem pretty calm.
You think?
Yeah, I think so!
You know, during the preliminaries,
the only thing I was thinking
was to give it my all,
but now I...
for the first time, I just want
to be able to enjoy my cooking.
Oh, yeah?
Well, don't push yourself
too hard out there.
Good luck!
As always, your food was too pretty.
Are you lecturing me?
Get a clue already.
I'm saying this already
"having a clue," of course.
Also, mistress...
please save something like that
for after you've beaten me at cooking.
And now, the second battle
of the first round!
And here come the competitors!
First up is the dark horse,
the winner of the very last round
of the B Block preliminaries:
Megumi Tadokoro!
Her opponent is from A Block,
and tied Soma Yukihira for second place:
Ryo Kurokiba!
The theme of their battle is...
ROUND 2
RAMEN
...Ramen!
Let the cooking...
begin!
INTERPLAY OF LIGHT AND SHADOW
Well, that's the rough explanation.
THE PREVIOUS DAY
But one last thing:
the noodles will be provided by us.
Your bout is tomorrow,
so we've gone ahead and aged them nicely.
Choose your noodles from among these.
Just let us know in time for-
I want...
this wide type.
You're fine with deciding right now?
Yeah, no problem.
I already know
what kind of ramen I'm going to make.
Already, in just one second?
Tadokoro-chan, there's no need to rush.
Just let me know by midnight tonight.
O-okay!
If they're providing the noodles, then...
that could mean I have to concentrate
on the flavor of the soup.
RECIPES
What makes a soup
is the stock used for its base,
the concentrated kaeshi sauce,
and the various flavoring oils and spices.
They all have to match,
or you end up with conflicting flavors.
The noodles that Kurokiba-kun
chose are oblong
and known for their super elasticity.
Wide noodles are the tried-and-true choice
for rich, thick broths.
So, does that mean Kurokiba-kun
is going to make a rich soup?
If I want to beat him,
I'll have to come up with a flavor strong
enough to hold its own.
Anyway, I need to move forward
with my trial dish!
It's no good!
When I try to make it taste strong,
the flavors don't mesh at all!
What on Earth should I do?
Megumi!
This came for you.
It's from your hometown.
Dear Megumi,
Congratulations on making it
to the finals of the Fall Selection.
I can't be there to cheer you on
because of work, but do your best.
I'm sending you these local ingredients.
Mom!
Wow, this takes me back!
So many ingredients I used
to use back home!
I...
I'm going to bet this battle
on the ingredients my mom sent me!
Let's see...
MEGUMI
WE LOVE YOU
KYOKUSEI
That section over there
is strangely gaudy...
Yukihira, over here!
Why would they write
her name on a fan, Brother?
That's one of the mysteries of Japan.
Ramen...
Put simply, a dish made of three
ingredients: noodles, toppings, and soup.
I see unreasonable demands
are being placed on the contestants
this year as well.
Ramen became incredibly popular
during the post-war Reconstruction.
Not only was it cheap and delicious, it
was easily served from mobile food stalls.
These days, ramen as a Japanese food
has spread throughout the world.
It is unmatched both in depth of flavor
and the amount
of preparation time involved.
They're expected to present
theirs in a single night?
And at a major venue, no less?
Put simply,
what's being tested in this contest is
both their adaptability
and their ability to think on their toes.
To what extent can they make use
of their individual strengths
and the experience they've accumulated?
In the preliminaries,
Ryo Kurokiba made a seafood curry.
But what kind of dish
will he make for the finals?
That soup!
It's made from stock using fish parts!
There's rockfish, conger eel,
flatfish, and sea robin...
His ramen will have a seafood base!
Using fish innards and shrimp heads
will give it a powerful flavor!
It seems he's done
an excellent job of cleaning them
to remove any unwelcome smell.
Sure enough, Kurokiba-kun made
a rich, fish-based soup.
Those are scallops!
Megumi's using their dried
adductor muscles to make her stock!
I'll add strained chicken broth
to this stock and let it simmer even more!
So then, Megumi is going
with the same seafood base?!
No, they're both using a seafood stock,
but in contrast to Ryo
Kurokiba's thick soup,
Tadokoro-san
went for a lighter, mellow flavor.
But will that be a match
for the impact of Kurokiba's rich soup?!
That's right, Megumi's
hometown is a port city.
There's no way she can lose
when it comes to knowledge of seafood!
Interesting.
So it's a battle
of those raised by the sea.
That's right, it's a fishing--
Alice Nakiri?!
Wh-what are you doing here?!
Oh, dear, was that bad of me?
Did you say "a battle of
those raised by the sea"?
That's right.
Ryo-kun grew up by the water.
A stock of Homard lobster
and shrimp shells?
He's using that in his soup, too?
What the heck?!
He's grinding the shells into powder!
10 YEARS EARLIER
Down in the bar district
where all the sailors get together,
there's one place
that's apparently really popular.
Huh? I'd like to check it out.
Not a good idea.
Some ruffian would probably rob you blind.
I'm finally out of Japan,
so I should eat up everything I can!
Here, huh?
Yeah, what? You a customer?
We're closed right now.
-You can go eat somewhere--
-Fine, then I'll just wait here.
My, what a filthy place!
Oh, I know!
Would you mind introducing me to the chef?
Quit walkin' around
like you own the place.
The chef here...
is me.
The chef?
Yes, Ryo has held the top spot
in the kitchen since he was a kid.
That's the kind of cook he is.
Y-yeah, but Megumi...
She's helped out in kitchens
back in her hometown!
Megumi, you gotta keep your spirits up!
We're here for you!
What the heck is that?
U-um, she's a friend
from the same dorm as me.
How revolting.
Cooks who're all warm and fuzzy
with each other make me wanna puke.
A chef either eats or gets eaten;
there ain't no middle ground!
Um, is that really true?
Huh?
In cooking, I think what's important
is for everyone to cooperate and--
The kitchen is a battlefield,
and cooking is power!
Still, someone raised all nice
and friendly wouldn't understand.
Cooking means bringing
the other guy to his knees, end of story!
Anyone who doesn't get that
can't make flavors worth a damn!
Open your eyes!
You guys have been fooling yourselves,
makin' nothing but garbage!
You're wrong.
I...
At the very least,
what I've come across...
has not been garbage!
The vegetables have been parboiled.
Now to add two types of soy sauce,
and keep the temperature around 80 degrees
to preserve their flavor.
Okay!
Good, she's staying calm.
Yeah, she's going through all the steps
and not wasting any moves.
Sure enough, the key
to how a ramen tastes is its broth.
She went with a lighter soup,
which will be ruined
if the flavors get muddled.
How beautiful...
It's clear and sparkling.
So many people have supported me...
Don't...
talk bad about them!
Um, that's all I wanted to say!
Well, we're almost out of time!
Which contestant will finish first?
Okay!
Whoa, what the heck?
Look at the judges!
What's about to happen?
After all, one of the highlights
of ramen is sitting at the counter
and watching the chef cook!
B-but cooking with the Demon of Food
right there in front of you...
Hey, don't put even
more pressure on Megumi!
It's all right.
She's calm.
Seeing it up close, it's not only
beautiful but has a splendid aroma!
So the toppings will be mainly vegetables?
I'd say this is worth looking forward to.
Things seem like they're going well.
Okay, Megumi, take this thing and win it!
Yes, that's Ryo-kun.
I ain't seen you around before.
My, how rude!
I have a name, you know. It's Alice!
Oh, yeah?
Well, introduce yourself!
Ryo.
"Ryo"?
What's your family name?
Kurokiba.
That's a Japanese-sounding name.
So, you've got enough
to pay for your meal, right?
Of course.
-Well, fine.
-Man, I'm starving.
What are we gonna eat today?
The regulars are lining up, huh?
There's still a bit more time
before we open for dinner.
But fine, let's do this.
What's happening?
This feeling in the air...
It's completely different!
Line up!
Pay for your food.
Do as I tell you.
Bein' a customer of mine
means obeying these two rules.
We're friggin' open!
You're taking too long!
I told you, doing the mise en place
with what we've got
in the kitchen takes priority!
It's your no-talent asses trying
to do it all at once
that's gettin' us in the weeds!
You know what? Whatever.
Get out there and take some damn orders!
I've had enough!
What's with your attitude?!
Quit talking down to your elders, dammit!
Okay, meathead...
You think you can put out
food better than mine?
I could fire you and do your job
without breaking a sweat, you hack.
I'm very sorry, Chef.
All right, the food's here!
This is the best!
I can't imagine headin' out to sea without
having Ryo's cooking to come back to!
And it looks like Kurokiba
is the first to finish!
Yo, what is that?
What's he adding?
Is that Melba toast?
All right, shove that down your throats.
It's a soupe de poisson ramen.
Soupe de poisson:
a southern French soup made
with a base of shellfish and fish parts.
He prepared that for a ramen?
Well, let's start with the soup...
The tomalley and fish innards...
the richness comes together perfectly.
Such a bold, aggressive flavor!
Now to get some of the noodles
bathed in this soup...
No! It's enough to make me lose my senses!
It's an avalanche of umami!
The toppings are three
varieties of cheese,
a rouille of aioli and chili peppers,
and tempura bits that act as croutons.
Finally, there's the Melba toast
we saw earlier.
It's been slathered with Echire butter
and then slow-toasted.
I get it!
What he ground up was shells that
had been dried to intensify the flavor!
You finally noticed, huh?
The flavor of this ramen
comes from the soup base to the butter,
to a whole bunch of that powder.
The umami of that extract
comes from glycine, arginine, and proline,
but shellfish has the highest
concentration of any seafood.
He added so much
of that powdered extract to the soup
that of course
it became fiercely delicious!
I see...
This deliciousness
is like a blow to the head.
To this man, having other people eat is...
It's like an all-out fistfight!
This is how he's made it this far,
bringing others to their knees, eh?
How long are you gonna keep
puttin' on airs, old man?
This is a brawl!
Very well!
Baring yourself
without striking a dramatic pose...
This is quite rare indeed!
Getting me to strip bare
through brute force...
Your ambition is admirable indeed!
Megumi hasn't been judged yet,
but the atmosphere in here is...
Kurokiba's ramen presentation
wasn't just showmanship.
Any interest, concern, even relevance
for Tadokoro-san's dish...
It's all gone now, isn't it?
This is going to make things
really hard for her.
No...
Take the noodles from the strainer
and imagine cutting the surface tension...
Megumi!
It looks like even this atmosphere
isn't enough to get her down.
Yes, just concentrating,
focusing on her cooking...
It's kind of like Yukihira-kun!
This is my dish.
Please!
A light soup
that's also beautiful in appearance.
Still, after Ryo Kurokiba's
rich seafood ramen,
it's rather lacking in impact.
So powerful!
This umami is a shock to the senses!
So it's not a light soup?
The flavor is refreshing,
but what's this sweet umami?!
And this choice of toppings...
It's like kozuyu!
Yes, I used kozuyu as a model,
then added strained chicken broth
and concentrated soy sauce.
It's a kozuyu-soy ramen!
Kozuyu...
Kozuyu is a local dish of the Aizu area,
made using a broth of dried scallops.
It's often served at celebratory events.
You interpreted local cuisine as ramen?
The scallop adductor is the star,
while the robust chicken broth
serves as the flavor base.
What's more, the concentrated kaeshi sauce
is a blend of mild and sweet soy sauces.
The flavor of the soy sauces
is a perfect match for that of kozuyu!
Still, that's not enough to explain it.
Just what is the source of this umami?!
Well, that...
It's from the vegetables.
The vegetables?!
I used dried versions of
the shiitake mushroom,
burdock root, and green bean toppings
and simmered them into the broth.
I get it!
Drying them concentrates the flavor,
giving it a completely different umami
than if she'd used them raw!
All that deliciousness
got absorbed into the broth!
I follow you.
That's Tadokoro's ace up her sleeve!
The unique deliciousness
of the fibrous vegetables...
To think it could make such a fresh
yet powerfully flavorful soup!
I'm so ecstatic
that my facial muscles won't respond!
Oh, before you finish all the noodles,
please try what's in that small bowl.
Just add however much
you want to the soup.
This acidity is enough
to jolt the eyes wide open!
It makes the flavor profile even tighter!
What on Earth is this?!
It's a dressing
I made using chicken local to Aizu,
as well as shredded leeks,
shiso leaves, and pickled plums.
I thought it would be fun
to change up the flavor a bit.
This is hardly "changing it up"!
This not only harmonizes
with the delicate flavor of the kozuyu,
it draws out the sweetness
of the vegetables even more!
Yo, that ramen...
Lemme have some of it, too!
Um, okay!
I'm stunned.
They're both seafood-based ramen,
but using a completely different approach
from Ryo Kurokiba's soupe de poisson,
she was able to create such umami!
At this point, I still can't make thick,
powerful broths using pork or seafood.
From removing the smell
to getting the flavor just right,
it takes an incredible amount of skill.
But having kozuyu as a base
and using scallops and vegetables
to bring out the umami,
I thought I could retain
the flavor balance
to make a powerful ramen of my own!
You knew I'd make
a ramen with a thick soup,
so you friggin' came at me with this, huh?
Well, ain't you a little box of surprises,
Megumi Tadokoro?!
Within that slender frame, burning silent
but fierce, is the spirit of a warrior!
Not fearing even the strongest of enemies,
she raced headfirst
into a raging battle of umami!
Get some of my ramen down your throat!
The umami and aroma
of the ocean is overwhelming!
I feel like I'll collapse!
To... To be able
to make ramen like this...
But I don't want to lose!
What a fierce battle!
Both dishes had such strength and power!
They were the embodiment of deliciousness!
I'm gonna pummel you like a meat hammer.
Soupe de poisson!
My scallop and chicken stock is ready
to take on even the toughest enemy!
-Lobster! Lobster! Lobster!
-Scallop! Scallop! Scallop!
The director's grabbed his brush!
So who...
...is the winner?!
Subtitle translation by
Javier lopez