Shokugeki no Soma Manga 181 – Be Ingenious with Bear Meat!

This would hopefully be the start of a new section of my blog dedicated to a newly discovered manga series – Shokugeki no Soma.

The goal of the series is to try to follow it weekly, mostly to develop some good writing habit. That and I found myself looking up the freaking recipes and trying to cook the food while reading the manga. Might as well put the research into good use. ^^

Kuga is pretty fun in this chapter.

Despite his rough manners and speech, he is a typical rich boy through and through. Travelling around the world isn’t for those with poor wallet.

Then again, China and Japan are only about three hour air flight.  A round trip should cost somewhere around 500 U.S. dollars. Not to mention that China is pretty cheap in living expenses. Beijing, the most expensive of its city, shouldn’t take more than 4o dollars a day.

Still, judging from the tone of the conversation, I  think we were suppose to assume that Kuga is from an affluent family. And his food trip in China probably has all those gourmet ingredients that would make your wallet cry.

As for his plan, its simple enough in theory.

1. Soma beats Hayama in a shokugeki wagering his seat,
2. Kuga beats Soma in a similar shokugeki. 

… Man. Soma and Kuga really are the same. This over-optimistic plan sounds a lot like the plan Soma made against Kuga in the moon festival.  I’m already seeing the pitfall.

For one, Hayama is introduced as an “interim” ninth seat, we don’t know if Hayama was given the seat or it is temporary – pending on Hayama completing some nebulous goal.  Two, Hayama would need to agree to the shokugeki. Though, Soma and Hayama’s agreement might just be the easiest part of the plan. Hayama and Soma has a rivalry. Its easy to imagine Soma provoking him into a shokugeki than Kuga ever could. And of course, Soma would be okay wagering the seat against Kuga.  His an overconfident fighting idiot.

Still, even if the above miraculously worked, I expect that the other E10 and Azami would just kick Kuga back out of the E10.

Though, playing devil’s advocate for the other side:

Since the E10 is participating in the E10 exam, maybe all the council activities are temporarily suspended until the exam ends, meaning no kicking out any rogue members or making some sort of unfair law . Which would prove a golden opportunity for the rebels and their allies since they can fill the E10 with those sympathetic to their cause without the other members who currently hold the majority kicking them out.

I kinda like Rindou. I like her personality. I like her design.  That said, she’s making me uncomfortable this past few chapters.  Granted nothing is changed about Rindou.  She’s still doing this for the lulz and it seems that she is encouraging Kuga to do the same. She’s fun and gregarious about it even. I just can’t wait for her to graduate.

Because the past few chapters proved that Rindou’s personality type shouldn’t be anywhere near a position of authority or a position which affects a large body of people. A leader’s  (which everyone in  the E10 essentially  is)  first criteria shouldn’t be the most entertaining path when  making a choice. A leader should think what would benefit their subordinates first.

Which I think is one of the things wrong with the current E10.  (This is probably another flaw of the Sanzaemon system. The E10 is chosen because they are the strongest cooks in the academy. They aren’t chosen because of their leadership skills or the fact they are even remotely responsible. )

I meant from those who’s personality is revealed to us, it seems that those sided with Azami while not exactly evil (ok, maybe you can argue with Eizan) have an “its all about me” mentality.  Just look:

Central E10

• Rindou – its all about her entertainment
• Tsukasa – its all about his cooking
• Eizan – its all about his money

Contrast this with the what we know of those who rebelled who seemed to have found something to fight other than themselves.

Rebel E10 

• Isshiki  – fighting for his kouhai
• Kuga  – almost certainly rebelled because his RS would dissolve (considering he still got all the baldies following him).
• Erina  – finally decided to rebel against her father because she found a better cooking philosophy and to protect her new friends.

It it just me or did anyone think while Kuga was playing taste-tester that it’s unfair that Erina isn’t around to do it? She’ll probably do a better job and give Soma enough information that she needs to win.

…. Which is probably why she isn’t around. Meh.

Anyway regarding the preparation, while I don’t know about using the bear meat smell. Soma’s idea to go look at the bear’s habitat might bear fruit. Apparently, bear tastes a bit like what they eat. So in Hokkaido bear meat might taste a fishy?

As for Soma’s stew, it seems to be a variation of this recipe.

[su_heading size=”25″]Bear Stew [/su_heading]

• 1 kilo bear meat
• 1/2 cup of Flour
• 2 tsp Chrysanthemum
• 4 Green Onions
• 2 Carrots
• 6 chili peppers
• Salt and Pepper
• Oil for frying
• 1  beef cube (or make a beef broth)

1. Cover the bear meat with Flour,salt and pepper.
2. Fry bear meat with oil in a skillet.
3. Fill a pot with water.
4. Put the fried bear meat, green onions, carrots, chili peppers and beef broth into the pot.
5. Boil for 3 hours.
6. When stew is ready, add chrysanthemum a few minutes before removing pot.

Personal Comment: 

Unfortunately, I can’t find any bear meat near me. It works for good old beef though. Might also work for other game meat.

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