Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 395 - 394: Five Kinds of Aquatic Products!

Chapter 395: Chapter 394: Five Kinds of Aquatic Products!

The two contestants were already at their cooking stations, ready to begin.

The timing was just right.

Six o’clock sharp.

Dang!

The gong sounded, and the host, Chiyoda Aichi, announced loudly, "The Food Duel begins!"

"From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the two chefs will have three hours to prepare their signature dishes! The moment the gong sounds again, the chefs must stop all work immediately! Any violation of the rules will result in an automatic loss!"

Chiyoda Aichi’s face was tense.

At that moment, the chairman of the Food Duel Administration, Keiru Kuushou, stepped onto the stage behind Xia Yu and said, "Instructor Xia, the ingredients are ready!"

"Then bring them up!"

Xia Yu glanced across at her opponent and was immediately taken aback.

Aoki Motota, another great leader from the IGO Neon Department, cheerfully took the stage to bring ingredients for his junior, Yuchuan Ayaka.

A small bag of low-gluten flour.

A box of eggs, six in total.

Then, there were unbranded packets of milk and blocks of chocolate.

Seeing this, Xia Yu withdrew her gaze, thinking to herself, "As expected, is it the ’killer’ recipe for desserts?"

She grew inwardly cautious.

The unbranded milk and chocolate blocks could very well be Fantasy Ingredients.

But the sugar and whipped cream used for desserts might be potential candidates as well.

Xia Yu shook her head, knowing that now was not the time to speculate about the opponent’s recipes and dishes; she needed to focus on her own cooking!

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the venue, to the point where even the busy Yuchuan Ayaka glanced over.

A huge cart was rumbling out from an underground passageway entrance.

People craned their necks, as something mountainously huge on the cart was covered with a cloth.

The chefs, with their keen senses, faintly guessed what was on the cart, but then were left puzzled.

Four Far Moon staff members pushed the cart onto the stage.

Liangzi Lina brought a second cart, also covered with a cloth.

Xia Yu stepped forward and yanked the cloth off the first cart.

Whoosh—

In an instant, a three-meter square block of ice, emitting rolling waves of cold air, was exposed to the air of ’the moon and the sky.’

"It’s huge!"

The audience was startled.

"Don’t tell me it’s an ice sculpture!"

The Polar Star Dormitory members exchanged glances, while Xingping Chuangzhen scratched his head in confusion and said, "Processing a one cubic meter ice sculpture would take at least an hour of work! If it’s three cubic meters... Will three hours be enough?"

"What is he thinking!"

In the guest seats, Takai Masashi suddenly stood up.

He had been defeated by Xia Yu’s ice sculpture and sliced sea bream in the past; how could he not know what Xia Yu had decided for today’s recipe.

But the time was tight!

The larger the ice sculpture, the more it would exhaust one’s mental and physical strength!

Especially since carving in a private kitchen versus carving under the public eye were completely different environments, with totally different atmospheres!

Even someone as composed as Takai Masashi felt a strong sense of suffocation at the thought of carving on the big stage of the Food Duel, with every stroke scrutinized.

"It’s like walking on a high wire above an abyss..." Takai Masashi muttered to himself, "If one’s mind is not calm enough, a single slip could lead to a fall into the abyss, never to recover!"

Xia Yu disregarded the commotion around her, crumpled the cloth into a ball, handed it to a staff member, and then pulled off the cloth from the second cart.

On the second cart was an aquarium!

There were five transparent fish tanks arranged like a grid cabinet.

The camera focused on the fish tanks; aquatic creatures still actively swimming were clearly visible on the screen.

"Interesting!"

Tiqie Xianzuowen, with a twitch of his white eyebrows, swept across the creatures in the tanks and whispered, "One pufferfish, one Crucian Carp, one sea bream, one carp, a pair of cuttlefish."

"Crucian Carp and carp are freshwater fish."

"Pufferfish, sea bream, and cuttlefish are sea creatures, what is he planning to do?"

Similar discussions filled the venue.

"Ah!"

Tanaka Hikari covered her mouth, eyes brimming with confusion, "Isn’t Instructor Xia planning to make sea bream sashimi? Why does he need Crucian Carp, pufferfish, carp, and cuttlefish..."

No one from the Polar Star Dormitory could answer her.

"Just watch quietly!" Ichise Hui said, raising an eyebrow.

Afterward, Xia Yu, Liangzi Lina, and the staff busied themselves, carrying ice blocks, moving fish tanks, not yet entering the cooking phase.

On the contrary.

Yuchuan Ayaka’s side was completely different from the bustling activity here; it was calm and quiet.

She first took out a few pale-yellow, textured thin slices from a delicate little box, which were hard and she directly placed them into the ice water emitting a chill.

"Gelatin sheets!"

Sen Tian Makoto focused on the pair of delicate hands in the frame and whispered, "This ingredient is fish gelatin, usually extracted from cow bones or fish heads; its main component is protein. It’s essential for making jellies or mousse cakes!"

"Right, she’s making mousse paste!"

Beside her, Tiqie Helinai took a deep breath, didn’t say much, and just intently watched Yuchuan Ayaka’s skillful hands.

Unlabeled yogurt was poured into a bowl, mixed with the softened fish gelatin, and then the entire bowl was directly placed on a frying pan, which had water poured in it to be heated.

Soon, the fish gelatin was completely dissolved.

At that moment, Yuchuan Ayaka broke two eggs and without even blinking, poured several spoonfuls of cotton sugar into the bowl.

Then she took an egg whisk and stirred!

Her side profile appeared on the camera; she was so focused.

Thus, the freshly heated gelatin milk mix could be poured into the egg yolk mixture, to be stirred together!

Noticing the details of Yuchuan Ayaka’s hand movements, it was not hard for the audience to realize she was stirring faster now, her chopsticks creating overlapping afterimages.

Next up was whipping cream!

Those watching the Food Duel live stream, as well as the audience on-site, anyone with some basic baking knowledge knew that whipping cream was also a matter of technique.

As expected, Yuchuan Ayaka took out liquid heavy cream from a cold storage box for ingredients.

Heavy cream typically needs several hours of refrigeration before whipping.

Moreover, the mixing bowl she used was also taken from the same box, having been refrigerated.

After meticulously placing a layer of ice cubes underneath the mixing bowl, Yuchuan Ayaka then poured out the viscous cream!

As the white liquid filled the stainless steel bowl, a rich creamy fragrance swept through the hall!

Numerous people immediately showed looks of intoxication.

"This kind of heavy cream..."

On the judges’ panel, Yuchuan Abbot frowned, "Is it a kind of Fantasy Ingredient?"

The Yizhen Abbot of Shi Lin Temple said cheerfully, "This cream is actually Ayaka’s secret recipe. The raw material is milk from cows, pigs, and birds so it’s a kind of animal heavy cream, Ayaka brand!"

A secret, proprietary recipe!

Hearing this, Tiqie Xianzuowen’s brows and eyes jumped.

The importance of cream to pastry was self-evident.

Here, Yuchuan Ayaka had displayed a kind of Fantasy Ingredient, but what about Xia Yu’s side?

He couldn’t help but glance over at Xia Yu’s cooking station and then paused in surprise.