Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 338 - 337: The Field of Medicinal Cuisine

Chapter 338: Chapter 337: The Field of Medicinal Cuisine

The next day.

Today was Monday, and Xia Yu, who had taken a long leave, didn’t need to get up and rush to school.

In fact, he hadn’t slept all night. His eyes were red, and he had dark circles under them.

"Beep."

Exiting the Chef God Space, Xia Yu eagerly picked up his phone and ordered a batch of new ingredients from the IGO Special Fantasy Store.

At eight in the morning, the IGO ingredient truck delivered the ingredients right on time.

Opening the ingredient box in the kitchen, a fresh, fragrant scent of plants immediately escaped.

Meow—

In the corridor, a Hua Mao, lounging carelessly in a comfortable position, sniffed this scent and instantly widened its eyes to look over.

"Peach Taro!"

First, Xia Yu took out a peach-shaped, large taro that couldn’t be grasped with one hand. Corresponding information appeared in his mind.

"Fantasy Ingredients of the vegetable type."

"Soaked in saline at 4 degrees Celsius for a whole year, only then can the skin be peeled clean. Even a 0.1% discrepancy or slight difference in salt concentration can alter the taste. This is an ingredient that requires meticulous preparation!"

Fortunately, the peach taro delivered by IGO had already been soaked and peeled, packaged in a transparent vacuum bag, ready to be used for cooking.

Xia Yu just instinctively thought of the ’peach taro’ information.

After all, the old man in his notes greatly praised this ingredient.

Precisely because it was difficult to handle, the flavor after cooking was irresistible.

’Peach Taro’ was one ingredient.

The second was the ’Black Grass’ that Ayaka Yuchuan had once fused with ’Beer Lobster’ in a special exam.

The combination of ’Peach Taro’ and ’Black Grass’ was a secret recipe called "Yucao Ginseng Poria Porridge" in the appendix of the old man’s notes. It could nourish a qi-deficient constitution, which meant that Xia Yu, feeling dizzy and devoid of spirit from staying up all night, could benefit from it.

Never mind the others for now!

His stomach growling, Xia Yu planned to practice, intending to use the fruits of his labor on himself as the taster.

"Ka!"

Fire on!

Putting a medicine pot on a stove, he poured in clear water.

Xia Yu then picked up a precision scale, standing in front of the cabinet that specifically stored medicinal ingredients, whispering to himself while working, "Huang Qi half a qian, Ginseng one and a half qian, Poria three qian, fresh ginger one qian, Japonica Rice two liang..."

He put all the measured medicinal ingredients into the medicine pot.

The water was very particular; the old man specifically stated to simmer five bowls of water down to two bowls of medicinal juice and then cook the Japonica rice, fresh ginger, and the two fantasy ingredients with it.

He felt quite nervous.

Xia Yu couldn’t say he had an understanding of Chinese medicinal ingredients.

Choosing medicinal ingredients to make a medicinal diet required starting from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective. A person’s "deficient" constitution could be divided into many types. The old man wrote in his notes:

"Qi deficiency, fatigue, lack of energy, dizziness. Use Huang Qi, American ginseng, Poria, and other medicinal ingredients."

"Blood deficiency, dizziness, dry skin, pale complexion. Use Angelica, red dates, wolfberries for nourishment."

"Yang deficiency, afraid of cold, cold hands and feet. Use Du Zhong, chives, and Cynomorium for nourishment."

"..."

With the help of systematic organization, Xia Yu spent a night, or more accurately, about a week repeatedly reading in the Chef God Space until he could almost memorize the contents and automatically recall information when he saw certain ingredients.

Bang bang bang bang!

He wielded the knife to handle ’Peach Taro’ and ’Black Grass.’

Both fantasy ingredients had to be chopped very finely until they became a pasty texture.

Simmering the medicinal juice took some time; after half an hour, Xia Yu poured two bowls of clear yellow medicinal juice into a clay pot and mixed it with Japonica rice, then added the ’Peach Taro’ and ’Black Grass’ paste.

Slowly simmered on low heat.

During this time, Xia Yu used the [Bursting Flame] cooking technique to constantly monitor the changes in heat inside the clay pot. This was a rare opportunity to absorb experience since, aside from the "Sukiyaki" recipe Liangzi Lina gave him in the past two weeks, this was his second time trying to merge two fantasy ingredients into one pot according to the old man’s medicinal cuisine recipe.

And it was the famous Chinese medicinal diet!

One hour later.

"It’s done!"

He mastered the timing of the heat. The old man had said to pay attention to the heat; slightly overcooking would change the flavor of the ’Peach Taro,’ a very delicate fantasy ingredient.

Removing the clay pot’s lid, whoosh!

A rich aroma of porridge wafted out, Xia Yu took a sniff and felt like he was in a dream. Perhaps it was just an illusion, but he thought his eyes, sore from reading all night, suddenly felt moist, and he blinked several times, not used to the sudden change.

Meow!

Just as he found a bowl and spoon to taste, an idle cat sat at his feet, looking up with a pitiful expression.

"You want to eat too?"

Xia Yu, amused, simply picked it up and placed it on his shoulder, pointing to the dark medicinal porridge in the clay pot, "Are you sure you still want to eat it?"

If you ignored the smell, just by appearance, this pot of porridge was undoubtedly a dark dish.

’Peach Taro’ didn’t have such a strong dyeing effect; obviously, it was the ’Black Grass’ causing mischief.

Feeling a sudden wet warmth on his cheek, Xia Yu glanced at the Hua Mao on his shoulder, endearingly licking him with its little tongue. He grabbed the little creature and tossed it onto the kitchen counter.

"Wait a second!"

Fetching another bowl, Xia Yu used a spoon to scoop out two large bowls of porridge. He had put in two liang of Japonica rice, enough for two, just enough for one person and one cat each.

After cooling the top layer of dark porridge, Xia Yu slowly tasted it, using the spoon to scoop up half a spoonful.

"Mmm!"

There was a hint of medicinal flavor, subtle, not unpleasant. On the contrary, Xia Yu liked this taste from the very first bite! A familiar sensation!

"What a pure medicinal flavor!"

His eyes lit up.

Xia Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief; it didn’t taste bad at all, certainly not a complete failure. After all, it was his first attempt, and his psychological expectations were set very low—as long as it wasn’t a disastrous mess, it was fine.

He chewed carefully.

Silk!

When his teeth crushed the soft Japonica rice, a tender taro flavor gently wrapped around his palate like silk threads, slowly merging into a swirl. By the time Xia Yu noticed this taste, he was already on the brink of being lost in it.

"Delicious—"

After a moment, setting down the empty bowl, Xia Yu turned to look at the other bowl on the kitchen counter, a glint of greed in his eyes.

Sensing his gaze, the Hua Mao immediately swished its butt to block the porcelain bowl, dipping its tiny red tongue to lick cautiously, probably because the porridge was too hot; it ate very slowly.

Taking deep breaths to suppress that greedy appetite.

"System, what’s the completion rating?" Xia Yu asked.

"60%."

"Huh, just passing completion rating!" Xia Yu mused, "But the flavor and texture of ’Black Grass’ disappeared; something must have gone seriously wrong."

’Peach Taro’ performed perfectly.

The medicinal ingredient pairing was flawless, and the quantities were right.

The possible error likely lay in the preparation of the medicinal juice.

After all, Xia Yu was a novice in the field of Chinese medicinal cuisine. The Xia Family shop had medicinal dishes, but very few in variety. He only followed the old man’s recipes step-by-step without systematic learning.

If he wanted to master medicinal cuisine, unquestionably, he had to start by identifying medicinal ingredients and mastering pharmacology!

In terms of medicinal cuisine, Niho Fuyuka was an expert, but Xia Yu didn’t need to consult her; he had a system!

"Buy, buy, buy!"

In Xia Yu’s system store, he searched for and filtered available skill books, learning them all at once.