Episode Title:
Má and Là.
Episode Description:
Hearing of Soma's declaration of war on Kuga, Alice decides to join the festival. She capitalizes on Jun's maternal instinct to include her and Ryo in the booth run by the Shiomi Seminar, much to the annoyance of Hayama. After involuntarily tasting Soma's version of mapo tofu, Erina superciliously explains to him the concept of `Má' (麻, lit. hot) and `là (辣, lit. spiciness) in Sichuan cuisine, unintentionally giving Soma useful information. Alice and Hisako explain that spiciness works on vanilloids receptors differently, triggering the sense of pain, which has addictive and medicinal effects. Back at the dorm, Soma starts experimenting, but just ends up making overly spicy dishes. Soma and Megumi borrow the Chinese Department's open-clay-pot-oven, and plan to make Hujiao bing.
