Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 141: Chinese-style Spice Pairing (Extra for Third Master’s Alliance)

Chapter 141: Chapter 141: Chinese-style Spice Pairing (Extra for Third Master’s Alliance)

Dojima Yin’s "Spice Nine-layered Egyptian Roasted Chicken" used spices including French mustard, bay leaves, cardamom, little cardamom, turmeric powder, cumin powder, black pepper, oregano powder, and Egyptian rice—a total of nine kinds, all bursting with exotic flavors in their pairing.

Xia Yu adapted Dojima Yin’s recipe with his own understanding and, armed with the "Spice Inequality," he did not intend to simply copy Dojima Yin’s spice pairing to replicate the Egyptian Roasted Chicken.

In such an important culinary showdown, victory couldn’t be secured by mere replication. Unless he could completely restore the original recipe, and overpower the competition with genuine Special Grade Cuisine, his distance from achieving Special Grade status was still far off.

Therefore, he could only rely on his own thoughts, modifying the recipe to win with inspiration and creativity!

"Dried tangerine peel, cinnamon, grass cardamom..."

The kitchen counter was filled with bottles and jars, some containing spices yet to be ground dry, and others already ground. Xia Yu picked up a small bottle, took a careful smell, and nodded satisfactorily, "The quality of the spices is very good!"

He was now reassured.

The use of spices depended not only on the quality of the spices but also on the cook’s skillful pairing.

He lit the fire, placed a pot on the stove, and into it he poured clear water. Xia Yu picked up a spice bottle and first poured a yellow-brown powder into the pot.

Cinnamon powder!

In Xia Yu’s mental spice pairing chart, cinnamon powder had a larger proportion, playing the primary role in seasoning and could be referred to as the "Sovereign."

This spice, aromatic and rich upon smelling, had a gentle flavor, only affecting the surface and not overpowering the chicken’s natural aroma. Instead, it merged with the fragrance of the chicken meat, adding a hint of sweetness and serving to enhance freshness and eliminate fishiness.

Similarly, there were other spices that served as the "Sovereign." Galangal and Angelica dahurica were two examples.

Both spices came in dried, flaky forms—galangal was a earthy yellow color, while Angelica dahurica was a pure white slice.

Galangal itself had a lighter fragrance, but in Xia Yu’s spice pairing, it was essential, acting as a vital link. Its intensely aromatic aftertaste was long-lasting and rich, harmonizing with other spices to compose a complex flavor profile.

In other words, galangal was the foundation—if he hoped to recreate a spice pyramid atop a chicken dish rich in Chinese style, the foundation had to be solid and profound!

As for Angelica dahurica, it had a characteristic—

It almost never conflicted with any other spice it was paired with!

Because Angelica dahurica tasted very mild, using only a small amount had almost no effect, so Xia Yu, while employing the "Spice Inequality" in his calculations, added a greater amount of Angelica dahurica to the pot, making it the third main "Sovereign" spice after cinnamon and galangal.

To eliminate gaminess and grease, to add a rich aftertaste to the chicken meat—these were the effects of Angelica dahurica. What Xia Yu pursued was not a one-time explosion of spice flavors but to let each spice build upon one another, layer by layer, forming a pyramid, piercing the heavens, and reaching the pinnacle!

Next came the "Ministers" beneath the king of spices.

Clove was one but as a spice with an overwhelmingly rich aroma, only a little needed to be added for a significant effect.

Then there were two golden combinations.

Cardamom and tsaoko.

Both had spicy flavors and their effects were generally similar. The proportional ratio was largely 1:2.

Amomum and dried tangerine peel.

The effect of this pairing was to soften the flavor of the spices and the native taste of the chicken, not so harsh, lessening the irritation and intensity. Pursuing excessive impact was not the right way.

After meticulous consideration, Xia Yu had added a total of eight different spices to the pot!

There was clearly still one spice short of the perfect number "nine," but Xia Yu had stopped, deciding not to add any more spices.

Within minutes, the water had heated up. Xia Yu, holding chopsticks, stirred the spice-infused water in the pot. The rich aroma was almost tangible, like forming a whirlwind, spreading out and quickly filling the entire hall.

"That aroma..."

"Is he blending spices? Wait a minute! That clay oven stacked up, what is that?!"

Far Moon students turned their gaze away from Si Yingshi, focusing on Xia Yu while talking among themselves.

"Spice blending?"

Dojima Yin stroked his chin, lost in thought, with an unsettled feeling in his heart.

Could it be that the kid had a certain expertise in the realm of spices?

Inhaling the scent in the air, Reiko Liangzi flashed a slight smile and muttered softly to herself, "His ability to learn is indeed terrifying!"

"Of course!" Aoki Motota chuckled, glancing at Dojima Yin who was still unaware that his recipe had been covertly learnt, eagerly anticipating the moment Xia Yu presented his dish and the shock it would cause to this ’living legend’ of Far Moon.

Xia Yu was marinating the chicken with spiced water.

And on Si Yingshi’s side, the initial processing of the White-haired Cinderella Beef had also been completed.

Putting down the mallet, Si Yingshi took a handkerchief to wipe off the sweat, cut the beef into equal slices, one slice for each judge, then one extra, making six slices in total, moving on to the marination step concurrently.

Marination required time; the chicken and beef were no different.

Xia Yu immersed the chicken in a small basin, covered it with cling film before taking a basin half-filled with spiced water to a large plastic barrel filled with yellow clay, reaching his hand in to grab clumps of the clay and directly adding them to the basin, mixing and stirring!

"Is he, is he mixing yellow clay with spiced water?"

Far Moon teachers and students were flabbergasted.

That’s right.

Xia Yu ignored the exclamations.

In a short while, this yellow clay stirred with spiced water would be used to cover the entire chicken. Merely marinating the chicken was not enough. Xia Yu was pursuing the ultimate flavor of spices!

Marination would take about an hour, which meant that after it was finished, Xia Yu would only have 30 minutes to roast the entire chicken!

Using high heat was inevitable.

The 2-hour cooking time was tight for him, as it was for Si Yingshi.

Si Yingshi was using a type of beef ingredient that Xia Yu had never seen before, which took even longer to marinate than his chicken—by an extra ten minutes. Just as Xia Yu wrapped the chicken in lotus leaves, tying it with a string to seal it tightly and preparing to cover it with yellow clay, Si Yingshi had just taken out the six slices of beef from the marinating basin.

What remained for the two of them was entirely the last 20 minutes!

"The time is too tight!" Xia Yu murmured to himself, his palms also sweating.

Before he knew it, the auditorium had fallen into silence, Far Moon students had stopped their jeering and discussing. The last 20 minutes were no doubt a sprint to the finish line that would decide their fates!

"It’s ready!"

Using yellow clay, he carefully covered the entire chicken, and one layer wasn’t enough; the innermost layer was covered with spiced clay, while the outside was covered with two layers of ordinary yellow clay.

In the end, the entire clay ball was as big as a basketball!

Huh?!

Xia Yu bent down to stuff the clay ball into the ’earthen oven’, then inadvertently glanced over at Si Yingshi, momentarily startled.

Si Yingshi wasn’t immediately frying the steaks in hot oil but stood in front of a professional kitchen food vacuum packaging machine, putting all six marinated beef slices into transparent vacuum bags.

Then, Si Yingshi tossed the six bags of beef into a stainless steel sink. This sink looked like a dishwasher basin, but the smart panel attached to it informed Xia Yu this was no ordinary equipment. Si Yingshi pressed a button on the panel.

Beep—the sink immediately burst out with white steam!