Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 171: The Reversed Situation

Chapter 171: Chapter 171: The Reversed Situation

Unlike Xijian Run and Miyazaki Takuo,

after tasting the Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage, the trio from the Neon Department of IGO had not said a word for quite a while.

Finally, it was Chiyoda Aichi who timidly broke the silence.

"Minister Shinohara, could you share your tasting evaluation?" she asked.

Shinohara Shigetaro just shook his head.

"Indescribable!" he said.

"Ineffable!" Aoki Motota chimed in.

"Perhaps, in Neon’s native world of spices, we will soon be recognizing a new authority," Liangzi Lina said with a hint of excitement in her eyes as she looked at Xia Yu. The emotion hidden in her usually cool gaze startled Xia Yu.

Hey, miss, is there really a need for you to be more excited than I am? Xia Yu silently snarked.

"So, about the vote..." Chiyoda Aichi had just begun to speak when Shinohara Shigetaro waved his hand to interrupt her, "Don’t talk, wait a moment!"

With that, Shinohara Shigetaro closed his eyes lightly, chasing after the lingering taste in his mouth.

Aoki Motota and Liangzi Lina had similar expressions on their faces.

"..."

Chiyoda Aichi, her face lined with frustration, swept her gaze over Xijian Run and Miyazaki Takuo, who were wiping their mouths with napkins, and then her eyes lit up, "Professor Xijian, Professor Miyazaki, could you share your thoughts on the tasting?"

"What a pity!"

Miyazaki Takuo put on a serious face and said, "I dared not eat more because it’s too delicious, the spices are so strong, I’m afraid that if I eat more, for the next week, all other food will taste bland to me."

Xijian Run was also trying to maintain a serious face.

"Cough cough, my personal view is similar to Professor Miyazaki’s."

"But what I want to add is that this dish, despite the strong flavor of spices, has not diminished the presence of the ’fish fin’ ingredient!"

"Yes," Miyazaki Takuo nodded, "because the inner layer of spices is constructed on the basis that ’fish fin’ absorbs flavors well!"

"The preserved ham and bamboo shoots are just red herrings, the real terror is the spice structure of the fish fin strips!" Miyazaki Takuo said with a grave face, "There are some spices in it that I couldn’t even identify!"

The two professors went back and forth, roughly outlining the secrets within the Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage.

After listening, Chiyoda Aichi suddenly said with a gulp, "May I try it?"

"Be my guest," Xia Yu shrugged.

Chiyoda Aichi didn’t use chopsticks; instead, she pierced one of the Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausages on the plate with a fork, brought it close to the TV camera for a close-up shot for over a dozen seconds, and then, facing the camera, she took a small bite.

"Ah—"

The chaotic sensation and the overpowering taste that burst through her mouth and nose made Chiyoda Aichi want to scream internally. She clutched the fork tightly with one hand, and with her other hand, holding the microphone, it looked as if she was hit by a hurricane, hurriedly covering her skirt as though scared that a strong gust would lift it.

But in reality, that was just Chiyoda Aichi’s illusion. In the quiet old shopping street bathed in the evening twilight, there was no hint of a tumultuous wind.

After a moment, Chiyoda Aichi came back to her senses and gave a strained smile to the camera; her eyes looked as though she had cried, red and with visible tears glistening at the edges.

"It’s, it’s just so delicious!" she tried to suppress her emotions, but her voice still broke slightly.

This reaction, broadcast through the camera, sparked yet another discussion among the viewers all over Tokyo.

The guest area had been quiet ever since Xia Yu uncovered the steamer that seemed to emit flames.

Qi Nan glanced at the neighboring seat where Chef Shen He, usually composed, was murmuring excitedly to himself. He hadn’t expected the usually steady head chef of the Danfei Building to lose his composure like that.

"We can vote now—"

Shinohara Shigetaro waved his hand, signaling for the Food Battle Stage to return to its normal course.

Ding.

On the screen above the stage, the portraits of Xia Yu and Lancelot appeared, and below them were the images of the five judges, shrunk to half their size.

"What’s the name of your dish?" Shinohara Shigetaro asked Xia Yu.

"Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage, no..." Xia Yu shook his head, "Flame Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage!"

"I recognize your ’Flame Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage’!"

Shinohara Shigetaro immediately followed up, without a hint of hesitation.

As soon as he finished speaking, on the broadcasting screen, Shinohara Shigetaro’s portrait instantly moved below Xia Yu’s portrait, and the vote count jumped to 1-0.

"Flame Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage!"

The second vote came unexpectedly from Xijian Run, who extended her hand with a face full of anticipation, "I believe we can have deeper exchanges in the field of spices in the future. Some of my academic topics may require your help."

"It would be an honor!" Xia Yu shook hands with her.

Having received a response, Xijian Run, like a little girl, punched the air in a ’yay’ gesture.

"Two votes! Chef Xia Yu has secured two votes!" Chiyoda Aichi’s excited voice echoed across the grand Food Battle Stage, "Just one more vote, and it means... the winner will be Chef Xia Yu!"

No one expected that as soon as Xia Yu presented his dish, the situation would flip in an instant.

Lancelot’s ’Golden Silk Fish Fin’ had more than half remaining, tucked away in the corner of the judges’ bench, its golden broth still shimmering with the evening glow, like a last emperor unwilling to be forgotten.

"I support..."

The third voter was Miyazaki Takuo, who fixed his gaze on Xia Yu and just as he began to speak, Lancelot coldly interrupted him.

"I’d like to taste your dish first," he said, eyes fixed intensely on Xia Yu.

In the face of certain defeat, it seemed Lancelot was not resigned to failure. He planned to taste Xia Yu’s dish in search of a fatal flaw to exploit, a lifeline that could turn the tides!

Xia Yu smiled faintly, "Then let’s taste each other’s dishes."

He found a pair of chopsticks and a small bowl and scooped up some of the soup and the shark fin strips, tasting them carefully.

"Indeed, not bad!" Xia Yu exclaimed in his heart.

The broth was the ’minister,’ perfectly complementing the ’emperor’ status of the shark fin.

On the surface, the most noticeable part of the whole dish was the golden broth, but in reality, it served the shark fin, even the flavor of the shark fin mushrooms was there to further enhance the taste of the shark fin.

"If it were just about shark fin cuisine, then this ’Golden Silk Fish Fin’ could be called the ’Emperor of Fins,’" Xia Yu marveled at Lancelot’s culinary foundation.

No wonder this guy was so confident. In terms of taste alone, ’Golden Silk Fish Fin’ was perfection!

If it were just about using shark fin, even if the quality of the Land Shark Fin were the same, going head-to-head with Lancelot’s ’Golden Silk Fish Fin,’ Xia Yu would likely be the loser.

However, his ’Flame Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage’ took a completely opposite path.

The ultimate ’Emperor of Fins’ faced off against an unorthodox, assassin-style contender!

"I’ve lost!"

Biting into a piece of the fish fin sausage and chewing it, Lancelot was struck as if by lightning, shuddering.

"How can this be, he managed to build a robust and colossal empire of spices on the fish fin threads..." Lancelot was astonished, "And moreover, the ’grilled’ flames made the spice structure like a bomb, about to explode on touch, bursting with explosiveness!"

His head buzzed from the intense flavors.

Thump.

Lancelot kneeled, eyes bloodshot, "I really have lost..."