Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 296 - 295: Two Extreme Noodles (Part 1)

Chapter 296: Chapter 295: Two Extreme Noodles (Part 1)

Light shone, illuminating a young face.

The youth held a bowl wrapped in light and walked over with a smile.

"Please enjoy, examiner—"

He placed the bowl on the counter by the door, his gaze locked on Qiushan Hong in the crowd.

A group of people immediately gathered around the counter.

"This soup..."

Tiqie Eriina couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, "What’s going on? The broth was milky before, and now it’s become clear!"

The milky color was that of a bone broth.

Yet, now the color of the broth in the bowl seemed more like that of a vegetable stock.

But the color of vegetable stock is generally a bright yellow, while the broth in the bowl leaned more toward a golden yellow hue, clear and radiant. Perhaps because it had just been set down, the broth swayed slightly in the bowl, shimmering beautifully.

Within the clear broth, there were coiling noodles arranged neatly in circles.

Just one strand of noodle.

That single strand filled the large bowl!

"Gulp~"

Smelling the fragrance of the rising broth, Kobayakawa Ryodan wiped his mouth, his eyes clearly rippling with desire, fixated on the noodles in the bowl, his appetite aroused.

"What is this taste?" Ichise Hui was suppressing something internally, astonished.

It was clearly just a clear soup, plus an unending strand of noodle, which at first glance seemed to be a simple bowl of noodles. But after smelling the dispersed aroma of the broth, the glittering bowl of noodles appeared twisted and blurred, becoming something different.

Ripples like water began to emerge.

Chicken bones, pork bones.

Corn, carrot, and white radish...

Garlic, slices of ginger, onions, and various spices were faintly visible in the bowl, proclaiming their presence, expressing themselves, a strong sense of imagery sprouting forth as if something was about to break through the visual barrier!

Ichise Hui held his breath; he felt as if he were at the mercy of the tides, even the crest of a giant wave, but he didn’t dodge. Instead, he tensed, filled with anticipation, ready to face the giant wave!

Whoosh!

The fragrance washed over him like a breeze, making Ichise Hui tremble. In the imagery in his head, he saw himself engulfed by a giant wave, drifting in the turbulent flood without an ounce of panic, but rather a sense of peace and stability, like a returning vessel finding harbor.

"Snap out of it!"

Suddenly someone patted him on the shoulder. Ichise Hui opened his blurry eyes to find the stern-faced Dojima Yin.

"You’ll get lost!"

After saying that, Dojima Yin went on to rouse Eriina and Kobayakawa Ryodan from their trance.

Among the crowd, only the three interns seemed lost, while a group of bigwigs, including Tokyo Governor Yuchuan Yuriko, all had a solemn expression.

"Ha!"

But Mars just smiled and shook his head, thinking to himself, "It seems they’re about to find out..."

"Have a taste—"

The young voice broke the silence.

Xia Yu passed a pair of chopsticks to Qiushan Hong, who took them and slowly lifted the bowl.

At that moment, all eyes were on Qiushan Hong, everyone watching intently. Kobayakawa Ryodan, a renowned food lover, wasn’t willing to let go and murmured something in discontent.

There was only one bowl of noodles, and Qiushan Hong was the only one privileged to taste it.

The others were merely spectators and witnesses of this evaluation.

He picked up the noodles!

Qiushan Hong accurately grasped the end of the noodle strand, his eyes filled with intense anticipation. With a swift slurp, the white noodles emerged from the water, endlessly sucked into his mouth amidst a gentle sprinkle of droplets.

"This texture... so smooth and tender!"

"Delicate! Resilient!"

His mouth simply couldn’t stop; half the bowl was gone in one go, the sound of slurping unabated until his cheeks were puffed out. Only then did Qiushan Hong reluctantly bite through the noodles with a crunch.

Noodles plunged back into the bowl, the broth shimmering.

Chew!

Chomp away heartily!

Qiushan Hong’s entire facial muscles tensed from the barbaric and crude chewing, a bit distorted.

It was not only about the delicate and smooth taste of the noodles.

The broth is actually the soul of a bowl of noodles. As Qiushan Hong slurped up the noodles, he took in a significant amount of broth, and now his mouth was moist. With each chew, the strong and chewy noodles were broken down, and the flavor of the thick soup exploded.

But this explosion was a gentle and persistent force, strangely soothing.

"Wrong! All wrong!"

A relentless internal monologue—Qiushan Hong ate while he cried out, "It’s not a plain vegetable broth, nor is it a bone broth... They’ve merged! It has the freshness of vegetables and the richness of the thick soup; this is a specially crafted broth!"

He didn’t know how to describe the ultimate flavor of this exceptional noodle dish.

Persistence?

It was like a Tai Chi master practicing moves in his mind—moves that were slow and leisurely concealed profound mysteries.

Boom—Qiushan Hong heard the sound of a door opening. Spices, such as Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, black cardamom, and Tsao-ko, etc., were riding the wave in his mouth, but then, a stream of clear vegetable broth infused the wave, softening the overly strong and intense flavors.

In the darkness, those hands seemingly sensed the wave of taste was too bland; with a casual stir of the spoon, droplets of an old broth made from chicken and pork bones were sprinkled in. The refreshing wave took on a golden hue and became both smooth and forceful, leaving Qiushan Hong with an endless aftertaste.

He swallowed the food.

Looking back at the bowl of noodles and soup, Qiushan Hong went to reach for more but grunted, as if struck by lightning, and his whole body shuddered.

"Full—"

A faint voice in his head.

His body also let out contented burps. Qiushan Hong gazed at Xia Yu, both amused and annoyed. What was this? Did they expect half a bowl of noodles to truly satisfy him, to feel full?

If a Bright Qilin Chef were to let his appetite loose, the fearsome binge that would ensue would undoubtedly not be inferior to that of a Dark Qilin Chef of the same rank.

"How is it, tasty?"

Seeing Qiushan Hong delayed picking up his chopsticks, Kobayakawa Ryodan couldn’t help but ask eagerly.

Dojima Yin, Liangzi Lina, and the Far Moon Commander all cast curious glances. They wanted to try it as well, but there was only one bowl of noodles.

"It’s okay."

Qiushan Hong replied indifferently, exhaling a fresh breath, reaching for his chopsticks to continue eating the remainder. However, as he slurped, his hand that had been steadily holding the chopsticks began to tremble suddenly.

Clack!

That was the sound of chopsticks dropping to the floor.

"What’s going on!"

Disarray.

The change caused a Lin Chef to lose his composure.

His expression was blank his mind clinging to a sliver of clarity. Qiushan Hong looked around, and before his eyes lay an expanse of mist—this was a world of fog where even he himself was a wisp of vapor, an ethereal existence with only a bit of intelligence, returning to the initial state of his soul in the realm of chaos.

But in the real world, Qiushan Hong had a serene expression.

Xia Yu quietly left.

He returned to his prep station and located the ingredients he had prepared.

Shrimp heads and clams.

He turned up the heat, first throwing the shrimp heads into the frying pan to cook. When the water boiled, he added the cleaned clams and cooked again. Once the clamshells all opened up, he removed the shrimp heads and clams.

He stopped the heat, strained out the impurities, and mixed it with the high-quality broth that he had instructed Liangzi Lina to cook earlier.

The ingredients used in the previous broth were kelp, dried scallops, dried anchovies, and bonito flakes.

Mixing the two broths, he poured in the bone broth he had initially saved and continued to simmer it on the stove.

Next, he chopped some garlic and onions and melted a 20-gram block of butter in a smaller frying pan, cooking the garlic and onions until soft. He then poured in white wine, and once all the alcohol evaporated, the thick soup had reached a critical point in its cooking process.

Swoosh!

Several ladles of the thick soup were mixed into the frying pan, and Xia Yu turned to fetch a bowl of something black and liquidy.