Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 166: The First Battle That Cannot Be Lost

Chapter 166: Chapter 166: The First Battle That Cannot Be Lost

Land Shark Back Fin?

Xia Yu, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but glance over, his forehead creased with puzzled question marks.

"What in the world is a Land Shark?!"

He couldn’t help but curse silently, but then he thought, encountering monsters wasn’t that bizarre when ingredients from mythical creatures were emerging en masse.

By ’fish fin,’ it means the fins of a shark.

More precisely, it refers to the cartilaginous fibers within the fin, so behind every delicacy of meat, there’s a bloody catch and slaughter.

"Back fins, huh..." Xia Yu thought to himself, "Mostly fin, little meat, if it were me, I’d use it to make soup."

In reality, the fin itself is tasteless, but the ingredient is sought after and has become a delicacy on dining tables for a reason.

Once cooked through, the texture becomes silky smooth, and no matter how you prepare it, whether by making it into soup or crafting fish fin sausages, it easily absorbs flavors. Once seasoned, combined with the natural texture of the fin fibers, it certainly becomes a delicacy since ancient times.

However, the other ingredient prepared by Lancelot mildly shocked Xia Yu.

Fish Fin Mushrooms!

Xia Yu had read that academic paper by Xijian Run and had even spent 100,000 yen to purchase the digital version online from IGO. He had thought about buying some Fish Fin Mushrooms to try his hand, but couldn’t find a supplier of new ingredients on the market.

Thinking of the dark powerhouse ’Gourmet Club’ behind Lancelot, Xia Yu suddenly understood.

"Trying to crush me with two exotic ingredients?"

Xia Yu felt a surge of fiery energy in his chest.

All week, that anger hadn’t subsided but had merely been suppressed, and now, it would be released in the cooking! Flames!

"Whoosh—"

When he opened the ingredient box delivered by IGO staff, strands of fish fin, scattered like messy vermicelli noodles, lay inside the box.

"Hold on, let’s take a look at the ingredients prepared by Chef Xia Yu!"

Chiyoda Aichi finally shifted the attention to Xia Yu, directing the TV station’s cameras towards him.

When the camera zoomed in on Xia Yu’s ingredient box, the same clear image of scattered fins appeared on the broadcast screen above the Food Battle Stage.

"Scattered fins?!" Chiyoda Aichi’s smile froze on her face.

The Polar Star Dormitory members showed no surprise, for they had already tasted Xia Yu’s creations.

Scattered fins, compared to the whole Land Shark Back Fin prepared by Lancelot, implied a difference in ingredient quality—one being basic green and the other purple.

IGO had especially selected very good scattered fins that just barely reached the green quality; otherwise, it would’ve been a bland ingredient.

The entire arena buzzed into chaos, with not only the onlookers discussing but also celebrities whispering incredulously in the VIP seats.

"Why use scattered fins?" a food critic wondered, "IGO can provide expensive fish fins for free!"

"Expensive fish fins? Are they as precious as Land Shark Fins?"

A chef scoffed, "Any regular ingredient, when compared to top-grade fantasy ingredients, ends up about the same. That young chef is doomed! Really, this uneven food battle shouldn’t even be wasting our time!"

Coincidentally, the manager of Danfei Building, Qi Nan, and Chef Shen He were also in the VIP seats.

"Chef Shen, what do you think?" Qi Nan frowned.

"So much potential to fear!"

Chef Shen He stared deeply at Lancelot, "I look forward to his new dish made from the fusion of Fish Fin Mushrooms and Land Shark Fins."

As for Xia Yu, he just gave a glance and shook his head.

Merely from the ingredients, this food battle wasn’t on the same level. That’s why the preparation of ingredients for a food battle is so crucial. If it were elite chefs in a battle of life and death, it wouldn’t be strange to prepare for half a year or a year.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Xia Yu and Lancelot, each with their own primary ingredients of distinctly different types of fish fins, tossed them into pots filled with clear water and cooked them over a gentle flame, a process that would take about an hour.

Of course, soaking in cold water was also an option, but with the tight timing of the food battle, waiting for it to soak too long in cold water would be too slow compared to using hot water.

After tossing strands of white vermicelli-like Land Shark Back Fin into the boiling pot, Xia Yu’s kitchen counter was left with just a pile of spice jars, sausage casings, uncut ham, and bamboo shoots.

"Hey, Jinhua ham!"

Xia Yu caressed the pig’s hind leg wrapped tightly in a transparent vacuum-sealed bag, a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

The world’s three great hams are China’s Jinhua ham, Italy’s Parma ham, and Spain’s Iberian ham.

Jinhua ham, which originated in the Song Dynasty and was listed as a tribute during the Ming Dynasty, is made from the hind legs of a type of pig known as "liang tou wu." Generally, the ham undergoes steps such as salting, washing, sun drying, and air-drying, and it takes about a year to complete and be ready for sale.

The original "Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage" used Jinhua ham.

Ripping open the vacuum bag, the chef’s knife sliced down!

Chunks of dry, hard pork suddenly spread out on the cutting board. Xia Yu’s knife, emitting a faint chill, was the "Jade Shatter Knife." He had brought his cherished kitchen tool, stored at the bottom of his trunk, to the Food Battle Stage!

The pork chunks from the ham also needed to be stewed properly; otherwise, they would be too dry and hard, breaking easily when cut into strips and difficult to handle.

Finally, it was time to julienne the bamboo shoots.

Shush, shush, shush!

The "Jade Shatter Knife" flashed silver on camera, its true appearance elusive to the viewers.

Thick, uniform strips of bamboo shoot lay scattered on the cutting board, the knife skills displayed on screen commanding immediate respect from many viewers.

"Gurgle~"

Upstairs at Xia’s shop, Nishimura Eiki swallowed his saliva and turned to ask the big shot standing next to him, "Mr. Sakamoto, did you already know Yu’s cooking skills were this amazing?"

Sakamoto just pushed his black glasses frame up.

"Boss Xia—"

"Go Boss Xia!"

"Must win!"

A group of odd people had spontaneously gathered on Xia Yu’s side, acting as his cheer squad.

Unexpectedly, An Yilun was the leader of this cheer group. With a white headband inscribed with the words "must win" tied around his forehead, he held aloft a flag, the emblem showing Xia Yu’s cartoon avatar.

Hearing the noise, Xia Yu glanced over while mixing spices, and almost staggered.

"Damn it—" Veins popping on his forehead, he looked at the comical cartoon avatar on the flag, feeling an urge to jump down and punch someone.

Seeing him turn his head, the cheer squad erupted in cheers.

Ren Xue and Shuigu Jun, wearing face masks, stood out conspicuously shoulder-to-shoulder in the crowd.

Beside An Yilun, a blonde twin-tailed girl named Eri Eri, found her partner’s energetic cheering embarrassing and turned her head away in a "I don’t know this person" awkward expression.

Hmm.

His gaze swept over familiar faces; the dozens of cheer fans were all regular customers of Xia’s shop. At the back of the crowd, Xia Yu spotted Feng Zhizi Yaeko.

The woman stood with arms crossed, occasionally removing her sunglasses, her enchanting eyes lined with eyeliner and eyeshadow, clearly filled with encouragement.

Her lips moved, likely speaking, but her voice was lost amidst the din of the crowd.

But Xia Yu read her lips,

"Promise!"

A tremor went through Xia Yu’s heart.

This Food Battle was a battle to protect what was dear to him; a loss would mean losing the shop and becoming homeless.

A few days ago, the deed to Xia’s shop, known in Neon as "real estate ownership certificate," along with transfer documents signed by him and Shinohara Shigetaro, had been submitted to the Food Duel Administration of the IGO.

There was no turning back!

And indeed, the verbal agreement he had with Feng Zhizi was to gradually reclaim the land and buildings of the shopping district through Food Battles, and then jointly plan their development.

So, no... this was the first battle, and he absolutely could not lose!