Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 365 - 364: Replication (Part 1)

Chapter 365: Chapter 364: Replication (Part 1)

"Kid, come out and open the door!"

Xia Yu had just come out of the kitchen when there was an urgent knocking at the door of the restaurant.

With a sigh, he opened the door for his elder sister.

As expected, it was Ujou Mamie. She stood with her hands on her hips at the entrance, immediately launching into a tirade, "The mess you made yesterday almost got me! I was just a hair’s breadth away from failing!"

It was clear she was still upset about her spot being snatched away yesterday.

Originally, Xia Yu was supposed to present his dish last, but Ujou Mamie got mad when he called her "Auntie," and failed to serve her dish in time.

"But the result is the same, isn’t it, Aunt Ujou? You still passed," Xia Yu chuckled, "Now that you are a newly promoted special chef, the least you could do is watch your behavior a bit!"

Glancing outside, Xia Yu quickly pulled Ujou Mamie into the shop and locked the door behind them.

"It was only ’acceptable’ though!"

Ujou Mamie complained indignantly, "My rendition of the Extreme Spicy Black Curry Rice completely mastered ’Jile Rice.’ It shouldn’t just be ’acceptable,’ at the very least it should be ’good.’ It’s all because of your porridge, it left too strong an impression on the three judges!"

She was full of resentment.

"Alright, alright!"

Xia Yu said, too lazy to argue, and with a roll of his eyes, he asked, "So, what do you want?"

She could have easily caused trouble over the phone, but since she came personally, it must be for a reason.

Upon hearing this, Ujou Mamie’s eyes lit up, "That ’Jile Four Gods Porridge’ you made during the special grade assessment, make another pot just for me right now! And remember, it’s for my enjoyment alone!"

She emphasized her exclusive enjoyment of the dish.

"Humph, if you make me happy, we’ll consider the matter settled!" She feigned generosity with a wave of her hand.

Xia Yu couldn’t help but feel a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

What kind of logic was that!

"Look, Aunt Ujou, if you want to order something, just say so," said Xia Yu, "It’s not free here, and nobody gets a free meal on my watch! How about this, I’ll charge you ten million yen for a pot of porridge. You provide the ’Jile Rice’ and ’Almond Rolled Cabbage,’ because I don’t have any of those here."

He set forth a tough condition, but to his surprise, Ujou Mamie agreed without hesitation, pointing to her handbag, "I’ve got the ’Jile Rice’ and ’Almond Rolled Cabbage’ all prepared!"

Her smile was radiant, quite the change from her previously angry demeanor.

Xia Yu chuckled.

"Cough, Aunt Ujou, I’d like to try your Extreme Spicy Black Curry Rice too!"

"No problem!"

Ujou Mamie consented instantly, nodding her head, "I’ve also brought plenty of spices!"

"Well, what else can I say..."

Xia Yu smiled secretly to himself; truth be told, he was quite curious about Ujou Mamie’s recipe for black curry.

After all, it was the dish that conquered the three judges after his own ’Jile Four Gods Porridge’ and achieved an acceptable evaluation. And as Ujou Mamie had claimed, if she had served her dish first, it might have even reached the ’good’ threshold.

’Jile Rice’ needed more recipes to open up new possibilities.

The branch restaurant also needed a more diverse menu.

He had just smuggled in the "Super Vision" skill not too long ago, and now here was a perfect opportunity.

The key to curry dishes lies in the curry recipe!

Once he knew the black curry recipe, everything else would fall into place. He wouldn’t need to use "Super Vision" for an extended period and could save on using several Spirit pills to obtain an ultimate curry recipe, which was certainly a good deal.

...

The two headed into the kitchen together.

Xia Yu divided the pound of Jile Rice that Ujou Mamie had brought into two portions.

One portion was soaked in water, a necessary step for cooking porridge, which would make the rice grains swell before being simmered in a clay pot to make it even more fragrant and sticky.

The other portion was rinsed and put in the rice cooker.

However, what slightly surprised Ujou Mamie was that Xia Yu used water drawn from a large vat in the corner when cooking rice or soaking grains. Ujou Mamie, touching her chin, stood in front of the vat, peered into its seemingly bottomless depths, and curiously asked, "Is the water quality here really better than tap water?"

Neon’s tap water was directly drinkable.

The water in the vat was actually groundwater.

Xia Yu just shook his head, not saying much, and turned to fetch several Chinese medicinal herbs such as Poria, Job’s tears, lotus seeds, and Euryale seeds.

Poria was ground up onto a small plate, while the Job’s tears, lotus seeds, and Euryale seeds all needed to be precooked.

Meanwhile, Ujou Mamie was also busy.

Her handbag was quite spacious; aside from a vacuum-packed ’Almond Rolled Cabbage,’ the rest of the space was filled with jars and bottles.

Soon, her array of spice containers covered the kitchen counter.

Ujou Mamie wasn’t in a hurry to mix her spices. She found a clean little dish and, tilting her head, stole a glance at the young head chef next to her, who was cutting cabbage, her lips curling up in a playful arc.

It seemed Ujou Mamie had seen through Xia Yu’s thoughts.

But she didn’t care.

If a chef’s recipes could be stolen simply by looking, then who would dare perform their culinary art in public.

"Hey!"

"You’re going to be disappointed!"

Ujou Mamie whispered in her heart, her slender fingers moving swiftly as lightning, grabbing at least four spice jars at once.

She bit the stoppers off with her teeth.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

On the pristine white dish, yellow, black, brown, and red spices suddenly appeared.

Her pupils slightly narrowed.

Next to her, Xia Yu stopped chopping vegetables and looked up to watch Ujou Mamie’s blending.

"Activate!"

Hiss!

Air swirled around his left eye, and Ujou Mamie’s mixing technique broke down into separate, concrete segments in Xia Yu’s mind.

"Hmm? We’re starting with turmeric powder, huh? 100 grams."

"The black one is black pepper powder, also 100 grams."

"Brown is fennel powder? Sun-dried fennel seeds do turn this color once they’re ground up, 80 grams."

Xia Yu silently analyzed.

Soon, ten minutes had passed, nearly each jar on the table had been used, and Xia Yu’s mind was crammed with snippets of information. His spirit was drained by the excessive mental effort, so he hurriedly stopped what he was doing and bought a spirit pill from the system to take.

The pill made his drowsy head instantly as clear as if he had had a long sleep, sweeping away the heavy-headed light-footed feeling.

"It’s not over yet! Watch closely!"

Ujou Mamie heh-laughed triumphantly at him, fetched a glass container, and deftly poured the blended spices into it.

Seeing his thoughts exposed, Xia Yu simply put down the knife and stood to the side with arms crossed, openly observing.

"Olive oil, 100 grams!"

Whoosh!

Stirred into the fats, the dust in the vessel immediately became a sticky paste. Just like Ujou Mamie said, her black curry recipe was incredibly complex, and even with "super vision," Xia Yu was amazed.

"Salt, 40 grams; crushed rock sugar, 100 grams; fried shallot, garlic paste, ginger paste, 50 grams each!"

"Bay leaf, 5 grams; cloves, 5 grams; thyme, 10 grams; fresh lemongrass, 25 grams!"

Ujou Mamie bent down to her bag and pulled out a vacuum-packed package of broth.

This was clearly her prepared ingredient.

Hmm?!

Xia Yu frowned slightly. A tricky situation had arisen with his "super vision"—since the broth was Ujou Mamie’s own and not prepared on the spot, he couldn’t capture any information about it!

He watched patiently.

The broth was mixed in, then she poured a pot of sticky paste-like liquid into a frying pan and simmered it on low heat.

"All right!"

"Simmer on low heat for an hour and a half, and the black curry recipe is done!" Ujou Mamie said, casually throwing a challenging glance at Xia Yu. "Your turn now. Hurry up and make your porridge..."

"Wait a moment!"

Xia Yu turned his head.

Nearly three hours later, in the evening.

A pot of hot porridge and a plate of dark curry rice were laid out on the bar counter of the shop.

"You first!" Xia Yu served the porridge on the table, then returned to the kitchen. He also took jars and bottles out of the cupboard.

"Interesting!"

Ujou Mamie sat in front of the bar, watched Xia Yu for a short while, then chuckled and shook her head, finding his youthful eagerness endearing.

She leaned down to sniff the rich aroma wafting from the pot of porridge in front of her.

"Finally, I can taste the ’Jile Four Gods Porridge’ — it’s all mine!"

The shop had her as the only customer. Xia Yu was focused on blending curry powder in the kitchen, while she, without any pretense, swallowed hard, her eyes shining with avarice.