Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 229 - 228: Festival by Lake Ashi (Part 2)

Chapter 229: Chapter 228: Festival by Lake Ashi (Part 2)

The firewood had been delivered, and the fuel was ready.

Dojima Yin exchanged a few words with Liangzi Lina, and the woman then gathered the IGO staff present. Sweating profusely, a group of people unloaded the dry wood from the truck container and carried it to Xia Yu’s altar.

Witnessing this scene, the crowd buzzed with chatter.

The interns were whispering among themselves as well.

Shanben Xiaoshu, touching his tall cockscomb hair, muttered, "His topic is ’fish,’ so why use so much firewood?"

By the afternoon, the topics selected by the three qualified individuals had already spread throughout the shrine. Not just Shanben Xiaoshu, but the other interns also put themselves in their shoes, pondering what recipes they would use if they had received the topics ’fish,’ ’rice,’ or ’chicken.’

"Since he’s an ’immediate admit,’ the difficulty of passing has also invisibly increased!" Ujou Mamie tightened her appealing eyebrows, "Can he still pass with excellent results this time?"

The preliminary test had a week of preparation, but the second round, the major test, allowed only half a day for last-minute recipe planning.

This was quite similar to an IGO special assessment, with topic selection, recipe determination, ingredient preparation, final dish presentation, and evaluation all happening within one day. In other words, the small test at Chiyoda Shrine was essentially a prelude to the special assessment.

The biggest difference lay in the ingredients!

In a true special assessment, the ingredients were restricted to fantasy ingredients, and the recipes were also special fantasy recipes!

IGO staff were transporting firewood, and upon seeing this, Xia Yu finally began his cooking process.

"Knife—"

Xia Yu thought to himself as he glanced at the "Seven-Star Saber·Breaking Army" placed on the kitchen counter, system data flashing before his retina:

"Seven-Star Saber·Breaking Army: A purple famous tool, one of the true ’Seven Stars Knives’. Even if the knife-smith expert Roger, resurrected from a hundred years ago, saw it together with the original, he would hardly distinguish any difference."

"Effect 1: When using this famous knife to process seafood, it can enhance the freshness of ingredients by 50%."

"Effect 2: ’Seven Stars Soul’ (1/7)[Not Unlocked]."

"Note: When the host collects all seven pieces of the ’Seven Stars Knife,’ ’Seven Stars Soul’ can be unlocked, obtaining Effect 2, and enhancing the data of Effect 1."

A true famous tool!

Interestingly, this was the first time Xia Yu had used this famous tool in reality since obtaining ’Breaking Army’.

A 50% increase in freshness was terrifying, almost equivalent to forcibly elevating a green-quality seafood ingredient to blue-quality.

From his memory, the ’Eternal Spirit Blade’ in ’Eight Legendary Cooking Utensils’ was also a treasure specifically for processing fresh ingredients, capable of restoring the lost flavors of ingredients, making its effect even more twisted, essentially reviving dead ingredients and giving them cooking value once again.

Although the Breaking Army Saber was not as twisted as the legendary culinary tools, it was still Xia Yu’s treasure trove.

If "Shuangjiang Magical Mapo Tofu" was his best dish, then the Breaking Army Saber was now his most treasured cooking utensil.

During the preparation of ’Rising Dragon Dumplings’ that dealt with prawns at Far Moon Hotel, he did not use this knife, but at tonight’s festival, Xia Yu was not intending to hide his skills. He wanted to truly showcase himself, and even if he failed, he would have no regrets!

"Begin!"

He moved a large bucket filled with live crucian carp next to the kitchen counter.

Xia Yu took hold of the slender Breaking Army Saber and began processing the fish.

With a swing of the knife!

A glint of cold light appeared in the night!

It seemed like he had only swung once, but in reality, the upper and lower sides of the crucian carp on the cutting board were now smooth, not leaving a single scale behind.

Moreover, when Xia Yu effortlessly reached into the belly of the fish to remove the innards, the surrounding crowd then realized that there was already a fine, almost imperceptible cut made by the Breaking Army Saber along the fish’s belly.

Finally, he removed the gills.

In just a few seconds, a crucian carp was placed in a basin, waiting to be cleaned and marinated.

"So fast!"

Liangzi Lina was directing staff to stack the wood, and when she inadvertently glanced over, her pupils instantly constricted.

She had seen Xia Yu process ingredients before, and had also witnessed him using ’Fierce Bull Green Dragon Slash’ on a suckling pig]],

The essence was in the word ’quick’!

Clean and efficient!

"Even faster!"

Not far away, Shigong Xiaoci Lang was astonished, "Six days ago, it took him an average of 8 seconds to process a mackerel. This time, he reduced each fish to just 4 seconds!"

"Scrape the scales, gut, remove the gills, eliminate the innards...an absolutely fluid and smooth execution!"

Shigong Xiaoci Lang could tell that Xia Yu’s knife skills this time were starkly different from what he had demonstrated in the hotel kitchen that day!

Could it be that he had hidden his true skills before?

In just a short six days, it was impossible to perfect another style of knife skills!

"Seven-star Breaking Army Rapid Cutting!"

Xia Yu paused his knife, glanced at the Breaking Army Saber that remained blood-free, clean, and exceptionally shiny, unable to hide the fondness in his eyes.

Paired with specialized knife skills, this fine instrument was indeed effective!

Although his cooking progress was ten minutes behind Takai Masashi and Hase Ichiro, Xia Yu quickly caught up with them.

In five minutes, a large basin was filled to the brim with crucian carp.

Xia Yu simply salted the crucian carp, turned to handle another basin of fresh fish, and repeated the salting process; in just ten minutes, his station was filled with two basins of ingredients ready to be used.

"Sauce!"

Chopping ginger, slicing onions, Xia Yu’s knife moved even faster.

"Sigh..."

With a large basin of sauce ready, Xia Yu turned his head around, a look of surprise in his eyes, as he unwittingly found himself in the midst of an enclosure.

Wood was stacked around the altar, layer upon layer, nearly as high as his shoulders.

While stacking the wood, the staff also embedded solid alcohol blocks within, since starting a fire too slowly required a moment’s wait for the dry wood to fully ignite.

As Xia Yu disappeared behind the stack of wood, people exchanged puzzled looks.

"What is he planning to do?"

Xingping Chuangzhen scratched his head in deep confusion, "Even if it’s for grilling fish, isn’t that way too much wood?"

"The more wood, the higher the temperature!"

A voice suddenly resounded from behind.

"Chef Shigong!"

Tanaka Hikari turned around and immediately covered her mouth in surprise.

It turned out that a group of Far Moon graduates had arrived at some unknown time, standing behind them, not just Shigong Xiaoci Lang but also Sekishou Hei, Qian Rixiangzi, and Mizuhara Fuyumi.

"We stayed an extra day just to witness this season’s Chiyoda’s Culinary Festival," Shigong Xiaoci Lang explained proactively, his gaze fixed on the altar surrounded by wood, his eyes deep, "Is it still that kind of roasted fish? The theme and setting suit it so well..."

"That’s the only possible dish," agreed the other graduates.

"Eh?"

Tanaka Hikari, Xingping Chuangzhen, and the others were completely bewildered.

They had not seen the barbecue performance in the hotel kitchen that day and didn’t understand what kind of dish it actually was.

"Just wait and see."

Shigong shook his head, his gaze shifting towards the altars of Takai Masashi and Hase Ichiro, thinking to himself, "Next term’s workshop should feature my name."

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, President Dojima personally stepped forward with a torch.

"Instructor Xia, are you ready?" he called out loudly.

Clang.

The sound of chains faintly tinkled inside the fire pit, and a calm voice responded, "You may begin now, President Dojima!"

"Okay—"

President Dojima pushed the torch under the stack of wood.

Boom!

A block of solid alcohol ignited, followed swiftly by the next. Within just a few seconds, the flames spread to the entire altar.

The lake wind whipped out, and the fire roared with the aid of the wind.

In an instant, a Fire Dragon roared into the sky, lighting up the area as bright as day.