Mister Ajikko 42

Page 123
Mister Ajikko Chapter 7 Chef Grand Prix

Page 124
Youichi: Yawn

Mum: Youichi!

On the Letter
Top left: The 28th / Ajiou Cuisine Group Chef Grand Prix Contest
Bigger font in the middle: Invitation
Text inside the box: Mr. Ajiyoshi Youichi
Bold text on the bottom right corner: Ajiou Cuisine Group

Mum: Big news!

Youichi: Ajiou Cuisine Group...
Youichi: Chef Grand Prix Contest?!

Youichi: An annual established public competition among chefs!
Youichi: On behalf of the Culinary Research Group, the best chefs have been selected from all over the country to compete in a cooking competition! At the end, it'll decide the best young chef!

Youichi: Why are they inviting me?
Mum: You've been selected?!

Youichi: This is problematic.
Youichi: Who else has been invited?


Page 125
Youichi: What?!

Youichi: The chef-in-charge of French cuisine at the Ajiou Cuisine Group, Shimonaka Motoyuki!

Youichi: Sakai Kazuma from Osaka!

Youichi: And from Kyushu,
Youichi: Konishi Kazuya!

Mum: Wow!
Mum: Other than Mr. Shimonaka, you've fought the other two before, haven't you?

(flashback) Kazuma: Plain ol' curry...
(flashback) Kazuma: ... you said?

(flashback) Kazuma: The one who's gonna win this is me, Sakai Kazuma!!
(flashback) Kazuma: If Ajiyoshi Youichi is Japan's #1, then I'm the world's #1!!

(flashback) Kazuya: Kid!! Just what kind of trick does that plate of yours have!!

(flashback) Kazuya: Look!! Just look at your steak!!


Page 126
Youichi: Aha...
Youchi: Hahaha...

Mum: Hold on, Youichi...
Mum: You can't possibly be thinking of accepting?!

Youichi: Eh?

Mum: Don't "eh" me!!
Mum: You have an eatery to run, not to mention school!

Youichi: But, Mum...
Youichi: Kazuma and Konishi will be there!

Mum: ...

Youichi: This is awesome! I get to compete with those two again!
Youichi: It's also a personal invitation from old man Ajiou!

Youichi: I'll leave the eatery to you!
TIny bubble: [I can't read that tiny bubble]
Youichi: I've already made up my mind!
Mum: Youichi!

Mum: What am I going to do with him...


Page 127
Sign on building: Ajiou Building

Kazuya: As expected,
Kazuya: I knew we would meet again.

Motoyuki: You're the boy who got famous from that spaghetti match with Marui.
Motoyuki: I've heard rumors about you.

Motoyuki: Please go easy on me.

Youichi: ...

Youichi: ...
Youichi: Kazuma!!


Page 128
Kazuma: I said it before, a second loss is not in my dictionary!
Kazuma: This time, I'll won't lose to ya, ya hear me?! I'm the genius!

Youichi: ...
Youichi: Ah, okay.

Youichi: Relax!
Youichi: Your cute protruding tooth still hasn't changed at all!

Youichi: I told you, it's a fang!
Youichi: Ah, I forgot.
Kazuya: Okay, okay, enough you two.

Kazuya: The ceremony's starting.

Ajiou: Ladies and gentelmen, thank you all for coming.
Ajiou: I officially open the 28th Ajiou Cuisine Group Grand Prix Contest!


Page 129
Ajiou: The four participants are well-known to you all.
Ajiou: Their skill and their passion in cooking will be judged! From here on, please cheer for your favourite chef!

Ajiou: Thy will make three dishes!!
Ajiou: Their three dishes will be judged based on their merits, and by doing so, the winner will be chosen.

Ajiou: But,
Ajiou: there is one strict rule!!

Ajiou: This competition uses the system of musical chairs!
Ajiou: In other words, in the first cook-off, the creator of the worst performing dish will be eliminated! They will not be given the right to cook in the next round!

Ajiou: Then, on the second round, another chef will be eliminated!
Ajiou: The finals will be a one-on-one match!

Ajiou: The winner of the finals will be
Ajiou: the top chef and receive the greatest honor!

Kazuma: Interestin'!

Page 130
Marui: And so,
Marui: I'll announce the theme for the first round of the contest!

Marui: The theme is curry!!
Marui: However, this is not ordinary curry! It must contain products of the sea... in other words, a seafood curry!

Kazuma: Curry, huh?
Kazuma: Smirk

Marui: The contest will take place in five days, here at the same time!
Marui: The theme for the second round will be announced at the end of the first round!

Kazuma: Can I ask that big-nosed man somethin'?
Audience: Big-nosed man?

Kazuma: Who's judging the food?
Marui: They are people selected from the general public who're chosen by the Cuisine Group.

Kazuma: General public, huh...
Kazuma: So, this won't favor Mr. Shimonaka, I hope.

Motoyuki: Hmph...!

Page 131
Kazuma: A cooking sudden death match! / The loser will not be able to compete in the next round; this is the iron rule!

Kazuma: How 'bout it?
KAzuma: Are you scared yet?

Youichi: Not really.
Youichi: I'm getting excited!

Kazuma: Huh.

Marui: The contest will be in five days!

Youichi: A seafood curry, huh...

Youichi: Normally, a seafood curry will have
Youichi: Prawns, squid, crab, asari, fish, hamaguri and others are packed into roux. It creates a substantial umami flavor and body.
TN: Asari and hamaguri are different species of clams.


Page 132
Youichi: Okay, first, I'll make the roux,
Youichi: And decide on the main ingredients.

Youichi: Hmm...
Youichi: That's a nice aroma.

Youichi: Prawns, squid, shellfish, fish, I've added all kinds of ingredients.

Youichi: Whether it's curry or soup,
Youichi: it'll definitely bring out the best flavor.

Youichi: ... No good!!


Page 133
Youichi: It only tastes like a seafood-based accompaniment!
Youichi: The seafood umami flavor hasn't entered to roux at all!

Youichi: So, what if I boil it for longer?
Youichi: If I do that, the body of the ingredients should go into the roux!

Youichi: Still no good...!

Youichi: If I boil it for too long, the fish meat becomes mushy!

Youichi: The prawns and others too...
Youichi: They become too tough to eat!


Page 134
Youichi: Dammit all!
Youichi: I can't do it like this!

Youichi: I've got all the main ingredients here but,
Youichi: I haven't found a way to bring out the seafood umami flavor!

Youichi: If I boil it to bring out the flavor, the meat will toughen. / If I don't boil it, the umami flavor won't be brought out.
Youichi: What should I do?!

Youichi: The key point of seafood curry is that the roux should have the umami flavor of seafood.
Youichi: That's why there has to be seafood to get that umami flavor in the roux!

Youichi: Alright.

Mum: Youichi!
Mum: Where are you going?!

Youichi: To the fish market!


Page 135
Youichi: Hmm...

Fishmonger: What'cha doing here?
Fishmonger: Lookin' fer sumthin'?

Fishmonger: Hmm...
Fishmonger: Sumthin' that doesn't break down or toughen up when boiled, while still giving flavor to the soup, huh...

Fishmonger: Don't think there's anything like that, son.
Fishmonger: When ya boil sumthin', whether it'll break down or the umami flavor comes out, it's one or the other, right?

Fishmonger: Listen, boy.
Fishmonger: Cooking seafood by boilin' is hard.

Fishmonger: When ya boil sumthin' for a long time, the texture of the ingredients will definitely change, wont it?
Fishmonger:

Youichi: Huh...


Page 136
Youichi: There really isn't any, huh...
Youichi: What should I do now?

Fisherman: Oi!
Fisherman: It's all done!

Youichi: What?
Youichi: What are they doing?

Youichi: It's the smell of grilled turban shells!
Youichi: They're grilling them while they're still in the shells!


Page 137
Fisherman: Oi, you there!
Fisherman: Come over and eat with us!

Youichi: No,
Youichi: No, thank you, I'm...

Fisherman: Don't be shy!
Fisherman: We have plenty of turban shells.

Youichi: Oh, really...
Youichi: Don't mind if I do!

Youichi: Wow!
Youichi: Delicious!


Page 138
Fisherman: Drink up the juices left inside too.
Fisherman: That's the most delicious part.

Youichi: Okay!

Youichi: You're right!
Youichi: It's still...

Youichi: The juices left in the turban shell...
Youichi: The delicious juice left behind after eating the meat...

Youichi: I got it!
Youichi: This is it!

Youichi: Can I have these turban shells?
Youichi: I'll pay!

Fisherman : Oh, sure!
Fisherman: How many? Ten? Thirty?

Page 139
Youichi: Nope.
Youichi: I want fifty!

Fisherman: Fifty?!
Fisherman: What are you gonna do with so many? You can't finish them all!

Youichi: I'm not gonna eat them!
Youichi: I'm gonna use them to give body to the curry roux!

FIsherman: Curry?!
Fisherman: Using turban shells as an ingredient for curry?! I've never heard of it before!

Youichi: Thanks a lot!
Fisherman: He said 'curry', right?
FIsherman: Is he serious?


Page 140
Mum: Coming back home all of a sudden with a bagful of turban shells...
Mum: What are you going to do with so many?

Mum: Separating the flesh from the foot,
Mum: Are you going to add the meat to the roux?

Youichi: Nope!

Youichi: These feet
Youichi: I'll use them like offal and put them into the roux!

Mum: Ehh?!
Mum: What did you say?!


Page 141
Mum: If you do that, the roux will become bitter and sharp...
Mum: That kind of curry won't be edible!

Youichi: That's not true!
Youichi: The feet of these turban shells will perfect the body of the roux.

Youichi: This is the perfect seafood curry!

Youichi: Okay, Mum!
Youichi: Try it!

Mum: ...


Page 142
Mum: It's delicious!
Mum: The aroma of the sea has permeated throughout the curry roux!

Mum: Also, adding offal would usually bring a bitter taste and make it unpalatable, but
Mum: the spices have totally removed that bitterness!

Youichi: Hehe!

Youichi: I mix the offal and curry powder into some water and boiled it lightly.
Youichi: Then I strained the mixture and made a roux with the aroma and body of the sea!

Youichi: Now that I've made the roux, it's time for the main ingredients!
Youichi: It's time for another visit to the fish market!