Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 140: Beef Above A5 (Extra for Third Master’s Alliance!)

Chapter 140: Chapter 140: Beef Above A5 (Extra for Third Master’s Alliance!)

The cooking competition began!

Si Yingshi was the first to enter the working state. He picked up a food preservation box and placed it on the kitchen counter. With a serious expression, he unlocked the clasp and took out a large chunk of beef that was chilled with ice blocks.

Beep.

Above the auditorium, the broadcast screen timely provided a close-up of the beef, and the whole venue buzzed with excitement.

"What grade of beef is that? A5?"

"Such beautiful color of the meat, the marbling is like artwork!"

Not only were the students exclaiming, but the mentors, professors, and staff below the stage were also holding their breath.

"It’s definitely not A5 beef, but something even superior!" From the audience, Mizuhu Yumei, who excelled in meat cuisine, widened her eyes and murmured, "Where does this grade of beef come from? Perfect!"

At the guest seats, Dojima Yin suddenly stood up, "He actually used such an ingredient!"

Noticing that the surrounding students and mentors were looking at him, Dojima Yin silently sat back and sighed, "The result has already been revealed—"

"Not necessarily," Liangzi Lina said lightly.

"You should know what kind of beef that is, shouldn’t you?" Dojima Yin hesitated.

Also sitting in the judge’s seat, Aoki Motota laughed and chimed in, "Premium ingredient, White-haired Cinderella Beef!"

"Only restaurants with nine-star ratings or higher directly under IGO would have such high-grade ingredients, and each dish made from White-haired Cinderella Beef would cost over a million yen, no matter the culinary skills!" Aoki Motota continued gravely, "This is a forbidden ingredient, it should not appear in competitions below the level of top-grade chefs!"

Dojima Yin shrugged, "This is a very free competition, with no restrictions on topics or ingredients."

"You’re from Far Moon, so of course, you would defend him," Aoki Motota clearly regarded Xia Yu as an insider of IGO and wasn’t pleased, "In a formal Food Duel, there definitely would be regulations limiting these fantasy ingredients!"

Liangzi Lina glanced at the two competing figures and shook her head.

"Even with premium ingredients, matching culinary skills are required to bring out the flavors of the ingredients, otherwise, it’s a waste. I would give him a zero directly," Liangzi Lina’s voice chilled.

"You can rest assured about the cooking skills!" Dojima Yin spoke languidly, "Every head chef from Far Moon has been extraordinary. Si Yingshi dared to use White-haired Cinderella Beef in such a setting, which means he has mastered the recipes for cooking this type of beef!"

Recipes matching premium ingredients!

Hearing this, Liangzi Lina and Aoki Motota felt a chill.

"This doesn’t bode well!"

Aoki Motota looked towards Xia Yu’s side, a hint of urgency in his eyes.

However, just as he turned his gaze there, Aoki Motota was stunned.

Xia Yu leisurely took clumps of mud one after another from a large plastic bucket, shaped them into irregular spheres, then turned around and placed them on the glowing charcoal stove behind him.

The stove was covered with a wire mesh; as soon as the mud clumps were put on it, they were grilled by the charcoal fire, rapidly evaporating the moisture. Xia Yu continued shaping mud clumps while arranging the baked mud in a regular formation on another large charcoal stove.

From any angle, Xia Yu seemed to be playing with mud, not like a focused chef.

"This, this..."

Aoki Motota was too shocked to speak.

Even Tiqie Xianzuowen couldn’t sit still anymore; he called over Keiru Kuushou, the director of Food Duel Administration, and asked gravely, "Looking at his behavior, he seems to be constructing some sort of peculiar stove. Did you not equip the kitchen with the tools he requested?"

Keiru Kuushou bitterly smiled, "General, we simply couldn’t find a ’clay cooking pit’ stove in our warehouse."

"A clay cooking pit?"

Tiqie Xianzuowen was stunned and waved his hand after a while, signaling Keiru Kuushou to leave.

"It’s that kind of thing."

For some reason, as Tiqie Xianzuowen watched Xia Yu bustling around, he vaguely saw the figure of an old friend with white hair.

He had once tasted the cuisine prepared by that old friend using "burnt earth pit" cooking, so Tiqie Xianzuowen could at least recognize that traditional cooking method originated from Chinese Land.

Suddenly, a loud uproar erupted in the hall, and everyone’s attention was drawn to Si Yingshi.

A large chunk of White-haired Cinderella Beef was laid out on a clean countertop, then Si Yingshi hoisted a heavy sledgehammer and aimed it at the beef, bringing it down with a thunderous crash!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

There was a dull reverberation throughout the venue.

Both students and instructors present, all professionally trained chefs, recovered from their initial shock after a few seconds.

"This... this is tenderizing the beef, breaking the fibers inside so the beef becomes more tender and tasty..." Mizuhu Yumei mumbled to herself, biting her thumb.

Nobody expected Si Yingshi, who looked so feeble, to be so bold in handling the beef, even using a sledgehammer.

Ordinary beef could be tenderized using the back of a knife or a rolling pin, but clearly, White-haired Cinderella Beef was much more difficult to handle.

"This is it!"

Dojima Yin’s eyes sparkled as he applauded enthusiastically, "This is how you handle White-haired Cinderella Beef, using muscular strength to shatter the beef’s fiber structure!"

Liangzi Lina remained silent.

From her observant female perspective, she also noticed that Si Yingshi had placed a nearly transparent layer of soft cloth on the surface of the beef, serving as a protective layer.

With everyone’s attention on Si Yingshi, Xia Yu was glad for the peace, no longer hearing any jeering.

"Done!"

Taking off his muddy gloves and clapping his hands, Xia Yu stood up with his hands on his hips, satisfied as he gazed at the mud-fired pit he had built, which was as tall as a person.

It couldn’t be helped, with no ready-made "burnt earth pit" available, Xia Yu had to construct it himself. The cooking gear was crucial for the dish, not just for show, as it contained many secrets about temperature control.

Since it was indoors and they couldn’t dig a hole to bury the charcoal, the pyramid-shaped "burnt earth pit" was actually built over a large charcoal stove.

Building the "burnt earth pit" took about 30 minutes; wiping off his sweat, Xia Yu then moved on to the next step.

He fetched a live chicken with its feet tied.

Xia Yu hesitated for a moment, but then decided against using the more primitive and traditional cooking method.

If he had used the most traditional method, he would just need to break the chicken’s neck, without bleeding it or plucking its feathers, and after cleaning out the innards, cover the chicken with yellow mud and roast it inside the "burnt earth pit."

The disadvantage of this method was that it wasn’t hygienic, and moreover, Xia Yu had a better way to replace it given the superior kitchen facilities, so there was no need to strictly adhere to the old-fashioned way.

Kill the chicken, bleed it, pluck its feathers.

After finishing these steps, Xia Yu turned to blend the spices, preparing to marinate the chicken.

This step was crucial in Xia Yu’s recipe; the blend of spices was exactly what he wanted to showcase.

This step would also set his cuisine apart from commonplace dishes.