Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

Haruto finished the tomato in a few quick bites.

By then, Sakaki Ryoko and Ibusaki Shun had also arrived.

After exchanging greetings, everyone picked up their tools, entered the garden, and began harvesting the ripe vegetables.

Of course, sampling a few while they worked was perfectly normal.

They continued until the sun had climbed well into the sky.

Tadokoro Megumi eventually approached carrying a food box.

"Everyone, breakfast is ready."

She opened the container to reveal three different kinds of rice balls.

After washing the dirt from their hands, the group eagerly reached for them, all of them hungry after spending the entire morning working.

Haruto started with a chicken rice ball seasoned with salted scallion sauce.

The savory chicken paired beautifully with the mild saltiness of the scallions, immediately whetting his appetite.

Next, he tried one filled with braised kombu and cheese.

The deep umami of the kombu worked surprisingly well with the cheese’s gentle sweetness.

The final variety contained garlic-marinated pork.

The cooked pork had been marinated with garlic, honey, cooking wine, and several other seasonings, making it exceptionally tender.

The rich meat and fragrant garlic made it perfect with rice.

Once everyone had finished the rice balls, Megumi handed each of them a steaming cup of barley tea.

The rich roasted fragrance slid warmly down Haruto’s throat, washing away the fatigue from the morning’s work and leaving his entire body pleasantly warm.

Soma lowered his cup and looked at Megumi in confusion.

"Why can’t you cook this well during class?"

He had been paired with Megumi in lessons for some time now, and until today, he had assumed her cooking skills were merely average.

After all, the dishes she produced in class often fell short of expectations.

Yet all three rice balls had been excellent—completely different from her usual classroom performance.

Megumi lowered her head and answered quietly.

"I-I’ve always gotten nervous very easily."

"When that happens, my mind goes completely blank, and then I can’t do anything properly..."

Everyone at Polar Star already understood Megumi’s problem.

Unfortunately, none of them had found a good way to help her overcome it.

...

After breakfast, the group worked for another hour before finally harvesting all the ripe vegetables in the garden.

They then headed back toward Polar Star to get some proper rest.

On the way, Yuki suddenly brought up the school’s research societies.

Soma showed some interest—not because he wanted to join one, but simply because he was curious.

Haruto, on the other hand, had little interest.

He might have considered joining a Chinese Cuisine Research Society if it genuinely covered the full breadth of Chinese cooking.

Unfortunately, under Kuga Terunori, Totsuki’s current Chinese Cuisine Research Society would have been more accurately named the Sichuan Cuisine Research Society.

Haruto certainly enjoyed Sichuan food, but Chinese cuisine was far too vast to be represented by a single regional style.

A "Chinese Cuisine Research Society" devoted almost entirely to Sichuan cooking was simply too narrow.

Besides, aside from Kuga himself, every member of the society had the same shaved head.

Haruto had no intention of joining them.

He firmly rejected Soma’s invitation to go and look around the research societies.

That did not mean Haruto planned to sit idle, however.

He immediately went to find Shun.

The meat he had previously asked Shun to smoke had all come from the Hunter × Hunter world, and the results had been excellent.

This time, Haruto wanted to try smoking Regal Mammoth meat.

He had attempted to make cured meat and similar products with it before, but the results had been disappointing.

Shun specialized in smoking techniques, though. Perhaps he could find a way to handle the Regal Mammoth meat properly.

With the right method, they might even draw out a deeper layer of its flavor.

Haruto also had several questions about the smoking process and wanted to use this opportunity to learn from him.

Shun was immediately fascinated by the Regal Mammoth meat and readily agreed to help.

It was an ingredient unlike anything he had ever encountered.

Even so, they did not begin smoking it immediately.

The meat Haruto had brought before had been exceptional, but Shun could at least compare it with similar ingredients.

Regal Mammoth meat was entirely unknown to him.

He understood neither its texture nor its flavor, and without even knowing its basic characteristics, he could not design a suitable smoking method.

The first step was to taste it.

Since they needed to sample the meat anyway, Haruto took out a larger quantity and prepared grilled Regal Mammoth meat for everyone at Polar Star.

After tasting it, every person present praised its extraordinary flavor.

The meat was firm and pleasantly springy, yet filled with a uniquely deep richness that lingered long after every bite.

It was unquestionably a luxury ingredient far beyond even A5-grade beef.

Everyone was naturally curious about where Haruto had obtained it, but they shared an unspoken understanding and chose not to ask.

During the meal, Soma also mentioned that he would soon be facing Mito Ikumi in a Food War.

Haruto paid little attention.

Soma was going to win anyway.

After tasting the Regal Mammoth meat, Shun spent a long time considering his options before finally developing a few ideas.

Whether any of them would work, however, could only be determined through experimentation.

Haruto and Shun began preparing the necessary materials.

For the smoking wood alone, they gathered ten different varieties, including pine, apple, cypress, yuzu, and mandarin orange.

Each type of wood produced its own distinct aroma—some deep and mellow, others light, sweet, or richly fragrant.

To create even more complex layers of flavor, Shun added ingredients such as pine needles, cypress leaves, yuzu peel, and orange peel to smoking blends prepared in different ratios.

And that was only the initial preparation.

Once they determined which blend produced the most promising flavor, they would still need to repeatedly adjust the proportions of every ingredient.

Watching Shun prepare everything with such meticulous care made Haruto’s scalp tingle.

During their previous smoking session, Shun had been able to use similar meats as references.

Although he had adjusted the smoking mixture then as well, the process had been nowhere near this complicated.

Still, Haruto fully approved of his approach.

Over the next several days, the two of them barely had time to rest.

Testing the smoking mixtures was only one part of the process.

They also needed to experiment repeatedly with how the Regal Mammoth meat should be prepared beforehand.

Smoking it directly and smoking it after additional treatment naturally produced completely different results.

Direct smoking preserved the meat’s original flavor as much as possible.

A mild smoky fragrance lingered around its natural richness, producing a pleasant result, but it lacked the kind of impact that would make someone’s eyes light up.

Frying the Regal Mammoth meat before smoking it, however, turned out unexpectedly well.

The exterior developed a deeply roasted crust while the meat inside remained tender and juicy.

The mellow smoke blended with the fragrance of frying, immediately giving the dish far more texture and complexity.

They also tested various marinades.

Some emphasized a rich, salty flavor, while others were lighter and fresher.

Every version had to be sampled and compared, making the entire process extremely time-consuming.

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