Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 291 - 290: Different

Chapter 291: Chapter 290: Different

Tiqie Helinai rushed back to the kitchen and happened to run into Xia Yu returning from outside.

Xia Yu had gone to the main store to fetch some ingredients, packed them in a basket.

What intrigued Eriina was that Xia Yu held the basket in his right hand while carrying a small bag of flour in his left.

Flour was the main ingredient for pastries.

Flour is divided into low-gluten, medium-gluten, and high-gluten flour. For Eriina, who had undergone professional training, just knowing which type of flour Xia Yu used could roughly indicate what dish he intended to make.

Low-gluten flour is used to make cakes, cookies, and egg tarts.

Medium-gluten flour is often used in the making of Chinese pastries, such as buns, steamed buns, dumplings, and noodles.

High-gluten flour is suitable for making pastry crusts, like puff pastry, and layered pastries.

Tiqie Helinai didn’t speak, following behind Xia Yu all the way to the kitchen, where she watched him closely, staring at him as he poured the flour into a large bowl.

"Medium-gluten flour?"

The flour in the bowl was milky white. Eriina immediately identified the type of flour and couldn’t help but think, "Is he really going to make Chinese pastries..."

She let out a small sigh of relief.

Since it was Chinese pastries, it would be back to Xia Yu’s old specialty, so there shouldn’t be major issues.

But Xia Yu just poured out the flour and didn’t add water to knead it. Instead, he turned and continued cooking the dishes ordered by the customers.

Time ticked away.

At nine in the evening, with only three hours left until the review ended, Tiqie Helinai finally couldn’t hold back and grabbed Xia Yu during a break, asking, "Haven’t you conceived your recipe yet?"

In fact, Xia Yu was in the process of "conceiving."

Seeing he didn’t answer, Eriina tugged at his arm, and Xia Yu, like a sleepwalker, suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Hey, hey!"

Xia Yu was helpless. He had finally found time to practice in the Chef God Space, and this little girl suddenly became annoying. Amused and frustrated, he pointed to his forehead and said, "Miss Eriina, I’m thinking. Can you not disturb me?"

The "Divine Tongue" immediately let go, her lips pursed, but the apologies due to her pride never slipped out.

At this moment, Kobayakawa Ryodan came running from the store front, his face filled with panic.

"Instructor Xia, something big has happened!"

This snack-loving and quirky second seat, with an anxious tone, said, "That ’Demon of Food’ from yesterday is here again!"

"Who?!"

Xia Yu, Eriina, and Liangzi Lina all turned to stare at him.

Kobayakawa Ryodan urgently replied, "It’s Mars!"

Gasp.

Eriina couldn’t help but take a sharp breath. The situation was already dire, and if that guy came to stir trouble again, the review might as well be directly deemed unqualified, no need for futile struggle.

In her heart, the "Divine Tongue" resentment against Mars instantly rose to a level of hatred.

"Is he here to cause trouble?" Liangzi Lina similarly showed an angry expression.

"No, no, he’s not!"

Kobayakawa Ryodan waved his hand and said, "He has been taken to private room number 1 by Isshiki, to share a room with Minister Shinohara and Governor Yuchuan."

"So he came just to dine..."

A smiling voice broke the tense atmosphere suddenly.

Xia Yu was the most relaxed one.

"What?"

Seeing the three looked at him with puzzled expressions, Xia Yu shrugged, "He’s here, isn’t he? How can I turn down business that’s delivered to my door? Ryodan, you go and settle the bill, just say I’m making a special custom seafood rice for him."

"A single serving? And... seafood rice again?"

While the others were bewildered, Xia Yu had already turned to prepare the ingredients.

"How much should I charge?" Kobayakawa Ryodan asked.

"Let him pay whatever he feels like," Xia Yu casually responded.

Cooking a seafood rice dish, simultaneously handling other customers’ orders, unknowingly consumed another hour.

"Eriina, personally take the seafood rice over." Xia Yu turned around, glanced at the foil bag on the charcoal grill, and plated a freshly stir-fried Qingjiang vegetable, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

It was now ten in the evening.

The dining peak had passed, and those who couldn’t get a spot must have left long ago.

Without going online, Xia Yu knew the internet was surely filled with complaints. Those food media outlets would likely be spearheading the backlash just to ride the wave.

In a nutshell, if you can withstand great praise, you have to endure severe criticism.

In terms of service, Xia’s branch indeed left something to be desired.

Regarding the environment, it was only slightly above standard, far from excellent.

But holding firm to "food" was enough for Xia Yu.

What, restaurant ratings?

Xia Yu hadn’t considered ratings for a long time. The main store’s rating was stuck at two stars, the newly opened branch started practically at zero stars, but did that stop Mars, Dojima Yin, and Shinohara Shigetaro from showering praise on the food?

When he reached the special grade, became renowned in Neon, he wouldn’t need any restaurant ratings. The main store, branch, and even future shopping streets would still be packed with guests.

That’s the power of fame!

Without taking off his apron, Xia Yu finally faced the countertop where he had placed the flour, took a deep breath, planning to spend another hour in the Chef God Space to practice.

Between midnight and 11 PM, he would really get into kneading the noodles.

But before that, some preparations needed to be made, otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough time.

Boiling soup!

Take pork leg bones and chicken bones, blanch them, carefully clean them, and then put them together in a large pot over high heat.

At the same time, Xia Yu brought out two white cloth bags, one large and one small.

In the smaller cloth bag, he filled it with spices: Sichuan peppercorns, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, dried ginger peel, fennel, among others.

The specific quantities and proportions weren’t strictly according to a recipe, but Xia Yu secretly optimized them using the [Spice Inequality], striving for the original flavor while relying on his actual experience to fine-tune the details.

In the larger cloth bag, he placed cabbage leaves, scallion sticks, onions, carrots, corn, garlic, all of which were prepped — cut into sections or chunks — to simmer in the broth.

Up until this point, Xia Yu’s recipe in his mind had diverged.

One type of noodle needed a pure broth, while another required a strong seafood flavor.

Therefore, Xia Yu decided not to add anything else yet, planning to first finish boiling the broth, then proceed with the different subsequent steps.

...

Bang!

Opening the semi-transparent paper sliding door of the private room, Tiqie Helinai carried a tray in her hand, atop which sat a steaming seafood rice bag.

Mars, Shinohara Shigetaro, and Yuchuan Yuriko were chatting leisurely.

The Tokyo Mayor was a middle-aged woman, around the same age as Shinohara Shigetaro, remarkably well-preserved, still charming.

"Eriina!"

Yuchuan Yuriko affectionately waved at the "Divine Tongue."

"Aunt Yuchuan."

Tiqie Helinai respectfully knelt.

Mars, meanwhile, took the foil bag and, as he unsealed the tape, curiously asked:

"Another seafood rice. Is there any difference between today’s seafood rice and yesterday’s?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the bag opened.

Once again, the alternating hot and cold aromas rolled out.

Mars’s face slightly changed; his initial relaxed and curious expression vanished, replaced with a serious solemnity.

He didn’t immediately dig in. Instead, with intoxicated eyes, he cautiously inhaled a whiff.

Yet just that little scent instantly made his pupils dilate.

"It’s different!"

Almost dreamily, Mars didn’t know what he was murmuring.