Soma and Daniel settled themselves on the couch and turned on the closed-circuit television just in time to see Urara introduce the matchup for the first semifinal bout. Akira was considered the heavy favorite to win this bout, though Megumi's victory over Ryo in the previous round had created some buzz around the arena, with people wondering if she would surprise them all again. Through it all, Megumi stood there with a look of determination on her face as the gong sounded and the cooking began.
For this round, there would be a new panel of judges. Some of the faces were familiar, with chef Gin Dojima serving as the head of the panel, and chefs Hinako Inui and Fuyumi Mizuhara joining him. In addition, there were two other judges who were more recent Totsuki graduates – chef Taki Tsunozaki of the 88th generation and former second seat, who now ran her own Spanish restaurant, Taki Amarillo, and chef Sonoka Kikuchi of the 89th generation (also a former second seat), who ran the Western Cuisine restaurant Shunkatei.
As both contestants got deep into their cooking and dish construction, both Soma and Daniel could see just how far Megumi had come. While at the beginning of the year, she might have been a nervous wreck in this sort of situation, now she was going about the process of creating each component of her dish with a calm determination. "Good. She doesn't seem nervous up there," Daniel commented. Soma nodded and added, "She has a chance. It will all come down to what they present to the judges."
Akira finished his dish first, and presented to the judges a Duck Apicius – a roasted duck breast where the skin is caramelized with honey. To bring his own spin to the dish, Akira also coated the duck with a blend of several different spices, giving off an aroma that whet the judges' appetite immediately, even before they had taken a bite. When they finally dug in, they were overwhelmed by the flavors of the spice blend seasoning the fatty and juicy duck breast. With the mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts on the side, it was practically a perfect plate of food, according to the judges – something that was to be expected from the Spice Master.
Soon after, Megumi finished her dish and presented it to the judges. When she did so, the judges were quite intrigued by it, and the Polar Star gang was surprised by it. What she presented was a Tiger Shrimp Tamale served with a crawfish étouffée sauce ladled over the top of it. The tamale was served open face, with the corn masa spread across a large, open corn husk before being steamed. The tiger shrimp were cooked in a pan with a garlic-paprika butter providing some extra flavor to the shrimp. Separately, she had made a crawfish étouffée, but without the usual rice accompaniment – instead making the sauce component with the de-shelled crawfish inside and using it to sauce the tamale on top and providing a creole flare to the dish. She then topped it off with a roasted corn and poblano pepper salsa – which also had red onion, tomatoes, and lime juice as a part of the mix – before she sprinkled some cotija cheese to finish it off.
As the judges examined the dish in front of them, Soma turned with a large grin on his face towards Daniel and commented, "That looks like something you would come up with." Daniel admitted that he had shown Megumi some of the cooking competition shows he liked to stream online, but insisted that it had been Megumi, not him, that had come up with the dish. "I may have given some critiques that helped along the edges, but she was inspired by, and came up with, this dish all on her own."
As the judges dug in, they were impressed at how the flavors of this Mexican-New Orleans hybrid worked together so well. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and seasoned, and the étouffée sauce turned out to be a good complement to the tamale. In addition, the salsa brought an extra layer of freshness and spice that elevated the dish, and the cheese was able to temper down the heat enough so that it didn't overwhelm the palate. The judges were impressed that Megumi had been able to come up with such a creative hybrid – and one that played right to her hospitality style of cooking. Even Akira seemed to be impressed with what Megumi had come up with. "You have more tenacity than meets the eye," he commented to her as he tasted the extra plate Megumi had created. He then handed her a plate containing his creation, and Megumi was almost immediately overwhelmed by the flavors, recognizing the power over spices that Akira possessed. Still, when the tasting was over, Megumi continued to stand her ground with a look of steely resolve on her face.
The judges then gave their verdict, and while the outcome wasn't a surprise to most of the audience, the particulars were. Akira ended up the victor in this battle by a 4-1 vote (guess which judge voted for Megumi's dish!). While Megumi gave a sigh of disappointment, she nonetheless bowed to the judges in respect before she turned to Akira and shook his hand to recognize the good battle they had fought, which Akira returned before waving to the crowd.
Meanwhile, back in the dressing room, Daniel and Soma groaned in disappointment that Megumi's terrific dish hadn't been enough to beat Akira, despite her best efforts. Concerned about how their friend might be taking the loss, the two boys went out into the hallway to meet up with Megumi as she exited the arena stage. When she saw them coming towards her, Megumi smiled, which Daniel reciprocated before giving her a big hug and whispering in her ear, "You did a great job out there – I'm proud of you. And I know your family would be, too." She thanked him for the compliment before stating, "Even though I lost, I got further than I ever thought possible – so I have a lot to be happy about!"
As Daniel gave her a big grin at her rosy outlook, Soma came up behind them and said to Megumi, "Way to go, Megumi! That was one hell of a dish you made – I'm impressed!" Megumi giggled in slight embarrassment before Isshiki came by and told Soma and Daniel to get ready – that their turn on the stage was coming up. As the two boys turned to get ready, Megumi called them back for a moment before she smiled and said, "Good luck – both of you!" Megumi then went off to change into her school uniform before joining the Polar Star gang in the stands.
Several minutes later, the crowd began buzzing again as Soma and Daniel were introduced and brought out for the start of their semifinal bout. As they stood center stage, they began to banter a bit. "You know that moment we talked about at the beginning of this tournament?" Daniel asked. "Well, it's here now." Soma grinned and replied, "It sure is! I must say, you've come a long way, my friend. But I'm afraid I'm going to have beat you here today." Daniel grinned back as he responded, "I don't know, man – I'm feeling pretty lucky today." They then gave each other a bro handshake before getting to their stations. The gong then sounded and the cooking began.
Daniel started off by chopping up a couple of Spanish onions, saving the scraps to go along with a few other vegetables that he used to make a vegetable stock in a pressure cooker to save time. After putting the onions aside, he got out a giant paella pan, into which he poured some olive oil before placing the chopped onions along with some minced garlic in the pan to start cooking. When the onions were partially cooked, he then poured in the bomba rice so it could get coated with the oil and aromatics. By that time, the stock in the pressure cooker was ready, and he mixed some of the stock with some white wine and saffron before pouring the mixture into the pan so the whole thing could cook together.
As Daniel began to get his proteins ready, he thought to himself about how grateful he was to the Spanish Cuisine Research Society for being willing to give him a crash course on making the rice for paella. It did, however, cost him a bit. The chief made him promise that he would return the favor at a later date – particularly if Daniel ended up on the Council of Ten someday. Although he didn't know what that favor would be, he was pretty sure it wouldn't be anything too crazy.
As he started cooking his proteins, he also thanked Megumi in his head for giving him pointers on the best ways to prepare and cook a couple of these ingredients for the paella – namely the octopus and the monkfish (he remembered she had used monkfish as her main protein during the curry battle). He brushed the pieces with a bit of squid ink to provide some salt and an extra ocean flavor, and grilled these two ingredients in large enough pieces so they wouldn't fall between the grates, but small enough so that each judge could get a bit of everything. He also cooked up some Spanish red shrimp with a simple brushing of garlic butter before sprinkling them with sea salt.
As he took the seafood off the grill a bit short of being done and placed the various pieces in the paella pan to finish with the rice, he turned to Soma and told him to take a look at the extra special ingredient he had decided to use just for this match. When Soma turned, Daniel then pulled out a side of Iberico pork belly – all fatty, flavorful, and ready to be cooked. "Now we're getting piggy with it!" Daniel commented. Soma laughed at the joke as he retorted, "Don't you get all hog wild on me!" Daniel chuckled as he replied, "I'm high on the hog, my friend!" before the both of them began laughing at their banter.
(More crickets)…Really!?…Still nothing?…Tough crowd…Fine! I'm outta here!
At hearing their series of pork puns, chef Taki got visibly mad at both of them and admonished them loudly. "Hey, you idiots! This is the Autumn Elections and you're out here making stupid jokes!? You need to take this seriously!" Daniel then turned to her and replied, "We are taking this seriously." Soma then added, "Yeah! Besides, there's no rule saying that we can't also have a little fun in the process." As Taki was still visibly fuming, Dojima tried to calm her down, while the other chefs giggled at the banter and exchange.
Daniel was the first to finish as he presented his Spanish pork and seafood paella to the judges family style for a quick display before dishing out individual-sized portions for each of the judges with a small dish of roasted garlic aioli and a couple of lemon wedges on the side for the judges to use as they saw fit. While he was confident in his flavor profile, Daniel was a bit worried about execution, especially when it came to the rice. In particular, he was nervous about how chef Taki would judge it, as Spanish cuisine was her specialty – and her harsh demeanor didn't help things.
To Daniel's relief, the paella was received quite well, as the judges really liked his choice of proteins. The Iberico pork went very well with the seafood, all of which was cooked perfectly, and all of which was seasoned well. In addition, the rice – which was the most important component – came out as it should have, with the crispy bottom layer – the socarrat – done perfectly without being burned. As his paella got rave reviews from the judges, Daniel was thinking about how he really owed both the Spanish Cuisine Research Society and Megumi for helping him to perfect the dish.
Next, Soma presented his dish, a western-style beef stew. However, this wasn't like any other beef stew that Daniel had seen Soma make, or that any of the other judges had ever seen, quite frankly. The centerpiece was a nice piece of oxtail – a particularly fatty and flavorful beef cut that was definitely a step above what would normally be used, and a perfect choice for this competition. What was unexpected, though, was the garnishes he had to accompany the oxtail. Instead of the usual items like onions, carrots, or bacon, Soma used other various cuts of beef – cheek, tongue, and tripe among others.
While at first glance, it appeared to be a random assortment of beef cuts and parts where the flavors would be all muddled, but Daniel knew better. His suspicions were confirmed when the judges were overwhelmed in surprise by the different flavors provided by the different cuts of beef, like a wild roller coaster ride with various twists and turns. Soma then explained that he wanted to do more than a mere beef stew – that he wanted a flavor that no one had tasted before in the dish. He was also inspired by the seemingly pedestrian Chikuzenni dish as a model for putting it together, as he cooked every cut separately and assembled it at the last minute. Daniel smiled as he thought, 'Figures he would come up with something like this using a seemingly random bit of inspiration.'
As the judges finished tasting and began to deliberate on the winner, there was some time where they sat silent in careful thought, indicating that the match had been particularly close. Daniel and Soma stood there, growing more nervous by the moment as they realized that the match could truly go either way. As Daniel was gripping his Irish coin in his chef's coat pocket, the judges finally made their decisions one-by-one. Chefs Inui and Kikuchi both voted for Soma's beef stew, while chefs Mizuhara and Tsunozaki voted for Daniel's paella – the last of which Daniel was particularly pleased with. It then all came down to how Chef Dojima voted, and as he spoke, he praised Daniel for making such a splendid dish and complimenting the flavors he had brought. "However," he said, "Soma's beef stew brought something that had never been seen before – something that had previously not been thought to be possible. Therefore, I have to give my vote to Soma Yukihira!"
As Soma removed his headband for his usual, "You're welcome!" Daniel leaned forward for a moment as he muttered, "Son of a biscuit!" He then sighed and turned to Soma, ready to be gracious in defeat. As he shook Soma's hand, he stated, "Congrats, buddy! Looks like the combination of my skills and luck wasn't enough today." Soma chuckled and replied, "Thanks, man. I have to say, I was impressed! You really gave me a scare today!" Daniel then brought Soma into a bro hug before saying into his ear, "You know what you have to do now, right?" As Soma nodded, Daniel added, "Bring it home for Polar Star!"
As they were finishing, Isshiki came to the stage to announce the theme ingredient that would be used for the final round. As he called for Akira to return to the stage, Daniel stayed by Soma's side, curious to know exactly what this mystery ingredient would be. After Akira joined the two friends on the stage, Isshiki rolled out a giant block of ice to the arena floor before smashing it to reveal…Pacific Saury – a fish that was known for a unique and exquisite aroma with a historical tie to the diet of the common man (basically, an ingredient that played to the styles of both finalists). "I'm getting a strong sense of destiny here," Isshiki commented as he explained the ingredient's background. In ten days' time, Soma and Akira would return for the final round, as well as their second showdown with each other. As Akira looked on with a steely confidence, Daniel promised that he would help Soma in any way he could.
I know what some of you are probably thinking. 'If that coin of his is so special, how come Daniel didn't beat Soma?' Well, it can only do so much! To those who wanted a further twist in the storyline, I'm sorry, but the Autumn Elections final match between Soma and Akira needs to happen. It just wouldn't be Food Wars without it!