Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 182: The Greenfish Turns into a Mackerel

Chapter 182: Chapter 182: The Greenfish Turns into a Mackerel

Dojima Yin was on the phone while leading Xia Yu to the main kitchen of the hotel.

"This should be big enough, right?"

He put his cellphone back into his pocket and spread his arms wide, saying cheerfully, "This is the largest kitchen in the Far Moon Hakone Resort!"

Xia Yu’s eyes were filled with shock.

The kitchen was at least as big as two basketball courts, occupying an entire floor, and it was fully equipped.

The several Far Moon alumni who had arrived earlier had already started to get busy, and the hotel’s kitchen helpers were moving ingredients in an orderly fashion.

"President Dojima!"

A handsome uncle in his thirties came over; this must be the Vice-Culinary Chief of Far Moon Resort and also Dojima Yin’s right-hand man, Sena Hikari.

He suddenly exclaimed, taking several looks at Xia Yu and then speaking with respect, "So Instructor Xia is also invited to participate in this residency program. I saw your Food Duel in the shopping district on TV, it was brilliant! What’s most commendable is defeating premium ingredients with ordinary ones!"

Xia Yu smiled slightly, though he was scoffing inwardly.

Finally, someone who recognized him; why did it bring tears of joy to his eyes?

Those Far Moon alumni were all very busy people, like Shigong Xiaoci Lang, who had even rushed back from France Paris. It was normal for them not to know about the Food Duel in the shopping district.

So, the root of the trouble was still the lack of fame after all.

The Food Duel had only caused a temporary stir; just one week had passed, and not only had the Food Duel clips been dropped by TV stations, but the Internet had also gone completely silent on the topic.

Even A-list celebrities in the entertainment industry would gradually be forgotten without constant hype, let alone Xia Yu, who had only been briefly on TV once.

Before long, the kitchenware and ingredients Xia Yu needed were gradually brought over.

Dojima Yin instructed a group of cooks to move tables aside to create a large enough space.

The ingredient manager spoke anxiously, "President Dojima, there’s no ’bluefish’ in the hotel’s ingredients storage. To get it from the nearest freshwater fish warehouse in Kanagawa Prefecture, it will take at least 1 hour!"

"There’s no ’bluefish’?"

Xia Yu pondered.

Truth be told, ’bluefish’ wasn’t suitable for grilling.

In Chinese cuisine, grilling was rarely used on freshwater fish.

Living in freshwater, the quality of the water made the fish flesh inevitably carry a strong earthy taste, which couldn’t be removed using the rather primitive method of grilling.

Moreover, in Chinese cuisine, there were so many ways to cook freshwater fish—steaming, braising, boiling, etc.—there was no need to go out of one’s way to use grilling.

"Instructor Xia, our hotel’s ingredient storage mainly consists of seafood like mackerel, yellowtail, saury, tuna, and so on..."

The ingredient manager seemed innocent.

’Bluefish’ was a native Chinese river fish, and even if Neon had professionally farmed ones, if hotel guests didn’t order it, their ingredient department wouldn’t likely stock up on it.

"Then let’s switch to mackerel," said Xia Yu, "I need twelve, each weighing around 400 grams!"

"Sure thing!"

The manager hurried off.

"Is it okay to switch to mackerel?" Dojima Yin asked slowly. "Mackerel is a saltwater fish, while bluefish is an inland freshwater fish..."

"Aren’t recipes meant to be modified?"

Xia Yu was unfazed.

If the original recipe was unreasonable, then it was only logical to modify it.

Bluefish, mackerel.

The two might sound similar, but they were completely different fish.

Bluefish were very large, with mature individuals commonly reaching 1 meter in length and weighing 30 pounds. Hence, in the original Chinese cuisine classic, Blast Flame Chef Ya Kan would bind five or six large bluefish with iron chains and swing them around, demonstrating remarkable strength.

Five or six fish tethered in hand, that was upwards of 150 kilograms. What kind of concept is that? Even the eating tools of the war god Lu Bu and Guan Yunzhang weren’t over a hundred kilograms.

The key was, while using an iron chain to pull the heavy objects, one also had to smoothly perform the culinary technique "Heavenly Hero Fire Wheel," which made the difficulty skyrocket!

Xia Yu’s physique, or more precisely his arm strength, of course wasn’t freakishly strong like ancient fierce warriors; pulling two big bluefish was already strenuous, not to mention five or six at a time.

But mackerel was different; this kind of sea fish wasn’t large, generally weighing between 200-400 grams, meaning a mature mackerel weighed at most about a pound. A dozen or so tied to an iron chain, Xia Yu could still swing them around.

Selecting mackerel over saury took the weight into consideration.

Saury was very suitable for charcoal grilling, and in Japanese cuisine, salt-grilled mackerel is also common, proving that mackerel is a popular cooking style.

Ten minutes later, the ingredients’ supervisor returned.

Several hotel attendants, pushing a cart filled with ice blocks of seafood, a dozen mackerel of consistent size, were laid out on the ice.

"Oh my, is Mr. Xia Yu going to cook a fish dish?"

Qian Rixiangzi greeted from the side.

The other busy graduates, hearing the commotion, all cast attentive glances.

"Exactly."

Xia Yu grabbed a mackerel and slapped it onto the cutting board, then casually drew a square knife from the knife rack, and as the sizzling sound started, the sharp kitchen knife scraped against the tail of the fish, instantly ejecting the fine scales.

Scaling, the second step was to remove the innards, especially the gallbladder, which required careful handling.

The knife flashed.

A deep cut appeared on the surface of the dissected mackerel.

Clean, deft knife skills!

Qian Rixiangzi gave a thumbs up and said, "Not bad at all, Mr. Xia Yu."

At the neighboring kitchen station, Shigong Xiaoci Lang’s pupils slightly contracted as he watched Xia Yu continue to process the second mackerel with composed posture.

"...Such a fast knife! His processing of each fish averages 8 seconds. And, looking at the palm of his hands and his wrists, they are hands meant for holding a knife, possessing solid foundational skills!" Shigong Xiaoci Lang pushed up his glasses and stopped what he was doing.

All twelve fish were processed in less than two minutes.

Once Xia Yu entered into a cooking state, he naturally shut out the outside world, and even if he noticed more and more graduates gathering around, he wouldn’t be perturbed internally to disrupt his own rhythm.

The graduates were also spectators.

Giving spectators a performance of culinary artistry, Xia Yu found this quite fulfilling.

However, after butchering the fish, Xia Yu didn’t go for a complicated marinating process, but simply rubbed fine salt evenly on the body and inside the belly of the fish, then set them aside, turned to his kitchen station, and started mixing another type of sauce.

Ginger, soy sauce, rice wine.

A small amount of spices.

He even poured in some Shuchuan Bean Paste.

The sauce was the "Heavenly Hero Grilled Bluefish" recipe’s second secret, aside from cooking technique!

The graduates couldn’t even see Xia Yu’s hands clearly, and finally, a large basin of sauce was arranged on the kitchen station.

"What is this sauce for? Marinating?"

The blonde Donato Wutongtian was also drawn in, setting aside his own cooking to come over.

"Shh!" Qian Rixiangzi put a finger to her lips, dissatisfied.

Xia Yu didn’t pay attention to the graduates but asked Dojima Yin, "Where’s the thing I asked for?"

Dojima Yin pointed to a toolbox not far away.

Upon checking, Xia Yu smiled, took out an iron chain about as thick as two fingers, swung it in his hand to try the feel.

"It has been awakened!"