Shokugeki no Soma 96

Shokugeki no Soma 96

p1
Souma: Nikumiiiiiiii!!
Ikumi: !?
Ikumi: Wha-!? Yu-Yu…Yukihira…?
Souma: Listen to me…Nikumi……!
Cutlery: In order to overcome seasonal ingredients, Souma runs!!
Ikumi: Wh…What is it……?
"Shokugeki no Soma"
Souma: Could you…
Souma: Teach me about "curing" ingredients?

p2
Shokugeki no Soma
(cutlery) 96 The Answer He Reached
Story: Tsukuda Yuuto
Art: Saeki Shun
Collaborator: Morisaki Yuki
Cutlery: Let the strategy meeting begin!!
Voice: Curing…!
Souma: Yeah.
Souma: Increasing the amount of flavor components by fermenting the ingredients.
Ryouko: I see! Shiokouji, smoked food…And meat itself, all involve curing.
Shun: …So that's why you gathered this members.

p3
Souma: Nowadays the so-called "Aging Beef" is in fad, right!?
Souma: That's a fermenting method in which you let the meat in the wind while controlling the humidity level and the temperature…
Souma: Right? Nikumi!
Ikumi: …Right.
Souma: Huh? Did I explain it wrong…?
Souma: You look like you have complaints.
Ikumi: You're not really wrong, but you know…
Souma: In fish's case you let it ferment for a few days in the fridge.
Souma: For it you peel away the skin since it was dried by the air and only eat the inner meat…So it's a rather luxurious way to prepare it.
Souma: So I've almost never made it in Yukihira.
Ryouko: I've heard of some western and sushi restaurants where their cured fish gather attention,
Ryouko: They say they're so delicious you wouldn't expect them to be fish that were caught several days before…
Ryouko: As one chef said---
Ryouko: "'An ingredients' freshness is vital'…The age where that hold is already a thing of the past."

p4
Souma: If I can successfully cure my pacific saury…
Souma: It might be able to hold its ground against theirs!
Ikumi: ……We have to try this out!
Ryouko: Yes! It'll work! …I'm sure of it!
Souma: Oh! Will you lend me a hand?
Ryouko: Of course I will!
Ryouko: We're friends who live together!
Ryouko: Hey, you're fine with it too, right, Ibusaki-kun?
Shun: ……Well…It's ok I guess.
Souma's sd: Alright, let's do this!!
Sd: Yeaaah!!
Fumio: Oh! It seems he's grasped something.
Fumio: Fufu…That's youth for you…!
Box: Nine days left before the final. 3:02 P.M. Polar Star Dorm Kitchen
Souma: Alright! First I'll try what they've just taught me…

p5
Souma: Three different ways to cure fish!
Souma: Sakaki! How many days does it take for kouji to ferment pacific saury?
Ryouko: Let's see...You have to prepare the fish before pickling it in shiokouji...
Ryouko: For the kouji to permeate in the pacific saury's meat it'd take two...No,
Ryouko: You'd want to leave it fermenting for at least "three days".
Souma: How about smoking?
Shun: It differs a bit depending on the Saumur liquid and the smoking materials used...But for Pacific Saury,
Shun: It'd take 2 days for drying and pickling in salt...And a whole more day for fermenting so it would take three days total.
Souma: That means that for these two methods
Souma: I have enough time to test them "twice"...!
Graph:{ //left to right
Top Text: Schedule
First Arc: 1st Try
Second Arc: 2nd Try
Third Arc: Real Deal
First line: Announcement
Second line: Today
Last line: The day of the finals
}
Megumi: I see! You have to cure the fish you're using for the finals on the third try.

p6
Souma: Nikumi! Is the process any different from meat to fish?
Ikumi: ......Let's see...It could work if you use a high-humidity refrigerator.
Ikumi: You leave it fermenting at 3°C with 90% of humidity...That removes a moderate amount of moisture and concentrates the flavor!
Ikumi: This should also take around three to four days.
Ikumi: Hey, Tadokoro...Tell Yukihira this for me:
Ikumi: "Call me anytime if you have any problems"...
Ikumi: See you.
Megumi: O-Ok...
Shun: ...
Shun: That Yukihira...Sure is amazing.

p7
Shun?: Even though the situation is hopelessly disadvantageous for him he doesn't give up...
Shun?: I may have to cook so recklessly like that, too.
Ryouko: ...Is that what you're thinking?
Shun: What are you doing, Sakaki...? I don't think that.
Ryouko: You should just be honest with yourself! Ibusaki-kun, you're quite hot-headed too.
Shun: What's that about...? Shut it. //Am I seeing the birth of Shun x Ryouko?
Souma: Alright......With this,
Souma: The preparations for the first round of curing are done...!
Souma: It'll be done in three days...!
Souma: I will make full use of this waiting time.
Souma: I'm going to go to the fish market every morning to increase my judging skills.
Souma: I'm doing all I can do now!

p8
//no dialog

p9
Box: Three days later
Box: Six days left before the final. 4:45 P.M. Polar Star Dorm Kitchen
Ryouko: It's finally time...
Ikumi: Yeah!
Voice: The first round of cured fish is ready!
Box(top): Smoked Pacific Saury
Box(right): Pacific Saury pickled in Shiokouji
Box(left): Pacific Saury cured in a high-humidity environment
Ikumi: ......

p10
Ikumi: They're great!!
Ikumi: The flavor of all of them has gotten incredibly better!!
Ikumi: This is super well-done!
Ikumi: The shiokouji one has a mild tender body...
Ikumi: The smoked one has the best aroma by far!
Ryouko: I feel like many dishes could use ingredients cured in a high-humidity environment! Like roast in foil paper or nanbanzuke...
Shun: You might as well make something like a kabayaki.
Ikumi: You could just make it sushi like this, it'll definitely be good! ...Ah, but nigiri's might be a bit too difficult...
Souma: .........
Ryouko: ......Megumi? What happened?

p11
Megumi: I feel like...The pacific saury which Kurokiba-kun prepared on the fish market
Megumi: Was more delicious than this......
Souma: You think so too, huh...
Ryouko: !?
Ryouko: No way......! These were cured perfectly,
Ryouko: And yet they still...Can't reach that level...!?
Souma(thinks): Ok...Let's go back to square one.

p12
Souma(thinks): Was trying to surpass the best pacific saury by curing it impossible from the beginning?
Souma(thinks): Should I use all the time I can to heighten my judging skills...?
Souma(thinks): ---No,
Souma(thinks): It's too soon to decide that.
Souma(thinks): As a proof...This pacific saury definitely have a stronger flavor that before.
Souma(thinks): Using things like shiokouji or smoking...Using the help of other ingredients to deepen the taste shouldn't be wrong...!
Souma(thinks): Is there anything else!?
Souma(thinks): Anything that can act as a fermenting trigger to develop the pacific saury's flavor......
Souma(thinks): If I could just find it---

p13
Fumio: Yukihira? What's wrong? You look dejected!
Fumio: Your test dishes won't go well if you're like that.
Fumio: Why don't you refresh for a bit!!?
Souma: I'm not really dejected.
Souma: She's lecturing me while carelessly having an evening drink?
Fumio: Oh well, in times like this stopping for a while is important, here, have a seat!
Souma: Even if you tell me that...I don't have time to take it easy.
Fumio: ?
Souma: I......

p14
Souma: I love you, Fumio-san!!
Fumio: ......It seems
Fumio: You have a good idea...Yukihira!
Souma: Yeah! This...
Souma: Might just be it.......!
Box: Two days left before the finals. 8:21 P.M. Polar Star Dorm Low Temperature Vault

p15
Box: The day of the finals
Box: 2:44 A.M. Riverside Fish Market
Ryou(thinks): Yukihira Souma...Didn't come today either...?
Ryou(thinks): It's been like this for a few days.
Akira(thinks): What's his deal...?
Akira(thinks): The only way to obtain the freshest pacific saury is coming to this market.
Ryou(thinks): Has he given up on the match? ......No,
Akira(thinks): He's not the kind of guy who'd do that.
Thought: What is he planning...!?

p16
Box: 7:10 P.M. Chandra's Room
Voice: From now until the time for cooking comes...It'll be setup time.
Voice: We ask the contestants to bring in their ingredients and cooking tools in.

p17
Voice: Ooooh!!
Voice: Look at their pacific sauries!
Voice: They're glimmering with light---!
Voice: What an incredible gloss and tension!! There's no doubt that they put fat for winter.
Voice: Those surely could be called naked white blades...!
Voice: Excellent swords crossing for the finals!!

p18
Ikumi: Kuh...!
Ikumi: Those two really picked up some of the best pacific sauries!
Megumi: Souma-kun.......
Thought: The last one is taking his pacific saury out,
Thought: How good are his judging skills?
Thought: Could he obtain quality goods that rival the other two's...
Thought: Or perhaps...!?
Souma: Ermmm...
Voice: !?
Souma: That's weird, where did it go?

p19
Souma: Oh, here it is.
Souma: Here we...
Souma: Go!
Thought: Wh-......
Thought: Whaaaaaaaat!!?
Cutlery: Wh-What's that...!?
Shokugeki no Soma
(cutlery) 96/End

Shokugeki no Soma 96+
p1
Story: Tsukuda Yuuto
Art: Saeki Shun
Collaborator: Morisaki Yuki
Box: A few days before the finals
Box: Polar Star Dorm After lights are out
Cutlery: An unexpected trauma before the finals...!?
Souma: The right one!!!

p2
Megumi(thinks): Wh...What kind of dream is he having...?
Akira: Incorrect, the correct one was the left one!
Ryou: Can't you even figure this kind of questions?
Ryou: I'm taking this Super Souma-kun doll.
Souma: Damn it, one more time!
Box: "Well, it was one of the worst nightmares I've had in the last few years" (Yukihira Souma)
Cutlery: His bitterness is at maximum even in his dreams!!