Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 170: All Secrets!

Chapter 170: Chapter 170: All Secrets!

"Specialty dish?"

The five pairs of eyes on the judges’ panel were drawn to the "flame" on the plate.

Each fish maw, wrapped in a fiery coat, tantalized their senses right before their eyes. A single whiff of the rich aroma was enough to churn their stomachs—appetites breaking free and completely overtaking their minds.

At that moment, the judges had only one thought—

Eat!

Want to eat!

Thus, without prior agreement, Xijian Run, Miyazaki Takuo, Shinohara Shigetaro, Aoki Motota, and Liangzi Lina all reached for their chopsticks at the same second and picked up a piece of fish maw, bringing it close to their eyes.

The three top chefs managed to suppress their appetites, carefully observing the fiery coating on the fish maw before indulging in its beauty.

However, the two professors from Far Moon lacked such exceptional self-control. As the fish maw neared their mouths, thoughts of their judging duties and the gaze of the outside world were all forgotten.

They bit down!

Hiss. It was as if something snapped when their teeth closed down; in an instant, Miyazaki Takuo’s stern face contorted.

It was a contortion of someone braving a hurricane. He couldn’t help but lean back, and his neatly combed hair burst forth, becoming utterly disheveled.

But this was just the beginning. With his hair standing on end, Miyazaki Takuo murmured like a sleepwalker,

"It’s so hot... What kind of heat is this? I feel like I’m surrounded by a sea of fire, and there’s a tornado, a tornado... Eh, how come the tornado has such a strong flavor..."

Next to Miyazaki Takuo, Xijian Run also had her hair standing on end.

This professor, looking like a middle school student but actually in her thirties with a baby face, had her cheeks turn bright red and became frantic, muttering, "... this combination of spices..."

"Cinnamon, galangal, cloves, cardamom, white pepper... And it seems there’s also a hint of Sichuan pepper, mixed together, creating an explosive shock... How is this flavor constructed?"

Miyazaki Takuo was more concerned about the sensory experience of the tornado.

On the other hand, Xijian Run, an authority in the field of spices, was astonished by the construction method of the spices in the dish.

Balance!

In Xijian Run’s mind, a scale vaguely emerged. On one end was the weight, and on the other, a dust bomb made of various mixed spices, with the scale arm in absolute balance, not tilting in the slightest!

"Amazing!" Xijian Run covered her mouth, "The measurement of each spice, down to the gram, even to the milligram!"

The two judges lost their composure, incessantly talking, while the camera recorded their expressions and words clearly.

"Gurgle~"

Chiyoda Aichi swallowed the saliva that was increasingly secreted between her lips and teeth, barely smiling, "Could the other three judges please provide their tasting comments!"

Shinohara Shigetaro nodded, his eyes fixed on the fish maw on his chopstick, he slowly said,

"Is the color of the casing adjusted with spices?"

This was also a question of interest to everyone.

The appearance of the fish maw was just too beautiful. Its coating was like a smear of paint, vibrant not only in color but also key in conveying a refined artistic sense.

"Yes." Xia Yu answered smoothly, "Some spices also contain natural food colorants, which come from animal and plant tissues. For example, when I marinate the casings, I use turmeric, red yeast rice, caramel, and chili."

"Turmeric is rich in curcumin, which is inherently a flame-like orange-yellow."

"Red yeast rice, known in traditional Chinese medicine, commonly referred to as red rice in Chinese folk culture, made from rice fermented with red yeast mold, typically in brownish-red and purplish-red. I used the brownish-red red yeast rice." Xia Yu spoke calmly, "All in all, red yeast rice itself contains natural red pigments; ancient people used to make char siu, red sausages, and red fermented bean curd with it..."

"No need for me to elaborate on the caramel and chili, right?"

The Food Battle Stage grew quiet for a moment, as everyone digested the information about the first three natural pigments.

Chiyoda Aichi weakly said, "Chef Xia Yu, please continue to introduce the last two ingredients. After all, many viewers in front of their TVs might not understand."

Without further ado, Xia Yu returned to his cooking station and picked up a clear glass container used earlier for marinating the casings.

Inside there was still the un-poured spiced water.

Looking at the color of the spiced water, it was clearly dark, but who knew that after boiling, it turned into a bright fiery red.

"Caramel, a sauce color, is a long-used natural food coloring. Liquid caramel is made by heating sucrose or maltose at a temperature of 160~180°C..."

Upon hearing the word ’caramel’, many sweet-toothed girls imagined that tempting sauce color in their minds.

"Red pepper pigment is the most simplistic, even if you haven’t eaten Mapo Tofu, you know Mapo Tofu, right? Stir-fried to make red pepper oil, and the reason why the oil is vibrantly red, that’s the red pepper pigment!" Xia Yu shrugged his shoulders.

Turmeric, caramel, chili pepper, red yeast rice.

Just as coloring spices, there were four types, and all belonged to the orange-red color spectrum, no wonder the casing finally became like a fiery coat!

The live audience, as well as the group at Polar Star Dormitory in front of the television, all had a sudden realization.

It turned out that this layer of delicate paint-like coloration was actually crafted by a chef using everyday ingredients meticulously!

"Artist!"

"An artist among chefs, he doesn’t use paints, only common everyday ingredients, yet he can create such colors!" Chiyoda Aichi took a breath and turned back to the camera, his eyes filled with amazement.

"These are just spices containing pigments..."

Xijian Run finally swallowed the food in his mouth, looked at Xia Yu with a dreamy gaze, "On the outside, there are at least seven or eight kinds of spice flavors, on the inside, I can’t tell yet, let me try another one!"

Saying so, Xijian Run picked up his chopsticks and ate a second shark’s fin sausage.

Now, including Lancelot, they all looked at Xia Yu with eyes as if watching a monster.

So many secrets in just the outer casing?

And, the pigment blending was just one of the casing’s secrets?

Lancelot didn’t realize how awful his expression looked. He clenched his fist, one hand even slightly trembling. The ominous feeling inside him grew stronger.

"Here goes!"

Aoki Souta held the chopsticks, put his palms together in prayer in front of a dish of culinary art, devoutly bowed, and then put the shark fin sausage from his chopsticks into his mouth.

Crack.

The chopsticks suddenly snapped. A vein burst on Aoki Souta’s forehead.

Whooosh—

In an instant, he was transported to a barren land, was it a desert? Aoki Souta glanced around, looked down at the multicolored dust under his feet, the wind in the environment swiftly turned fierce, quickly forming several small tornadoes a few tens of meters ahead of him, these small tornadoes, carrying the barren land’s dust, rushed towards him.

"Wait, it’s the spices!"

Aoki Souta, who had turned his head wanting to run, suddenly stopped in shock.

Boom.

Suddenly, there was a shaking noise from the sky, he looked up only to see a dozen massive meteorites, dragging long trails of flame, landing on this barren land.

The spices, continually blown up by the tornado and scattered densely in the air, met the naked flames and exploded instantly!

In just a few seconds, Aoki Souta witnessed the creation of a massive explosion, he was affected by the spice fire, his clothes completely ruined, his whole body naked, but his face showed no sign of panic, instead, his expression was one of satisfaction.

After the explosion subsided, the gloomy sky cleared, the clouds dispersed, and a ray of dawn light pierced through the clouds shining on him.

"Ultimate!"

A voice came from behind.

Shinohara Shigetaro also naked, walked from behind and stood next to Aoki Souta.

"With the explosive structure of the spices, our treasure trove of taste has truly been pried open!" another excited female voice said. Reiko Liangzi was covered in spice ash, covering her vital spots, her figure graceful.

The trio from Neon Department IGO stood shoulder to shoulder, looking up at the post-explosion new sky.