Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 416 - 415: Taming Yashan Liang (Part 2)

Chapter 416: Chapter 415: Taming Yashan Liang (Part 2)

Everyone moved to the cooking lab.

This was Professor Xijian’s private experimentation kitchen, which differed from others in that its wall-mounted cabinets were filled with all sorts of spice bottles and jars, creating a dazzling array.

"Feel free to use any spices here—"

Yashan Liang dropped this remark and then donned an apron, picking out the spices he needed from the cabinet, quickly filling his cooking station with glass bottles.

Xia Yu, on the other hand, stood in front of the cabinet with his hands in his pockets, unmoving, seemingly observing the spices on the shelves.

After about fifteen minutes, he still hadn’t moved.

Tanaka Hikari tentatively approached and asked timidly, "Um, Instructor Xia, haven’t you decided on your recipe yet?"

Deep in thought.

Interrupted by the gentle female voice, Xia Yu wasn’t annoyed.

He turned around, opening his previously clenched fist to reveal a withered Fantasy Moon Tangerine Leaf lying quietly in his palm.

Tanaka Hikari was taken aback, meeting Xia Yu’s eyes filled with excitement, tilted her head deeply puzzled.

Was this leaf related to Instructor Xia’s curry dish?

Xingping Chuangzhen was watching him.

Even Yashan Liang, who was cooking curry dishes, glanced over and frowned slightly, very dissatisfied with Xia Yu’s delay in starting to cook.

"Looking down on me?"

Holding his breath in his chest, Yashan Liang clenched his fist.

Yashan Liang knew that challenging Xia Yu, in the eyes of others, was asking for humiliation.

But in front of Xia Yu, spices were his only pride.

If even this last bit of pride were shattered, Yashan Liang couldn’t imagine if he, too, would join the throng of Far Moon students in admiring this youngest and most outstanding instructor, his gaze naturally filled with admiration and aspiration.

That kind of gaze meant failure to Yashan Liang.

Losers looked up from beneath the throne of the victors.

For Yashan Liang, who was determined to climb to the pinnacle of Far Moon, this was intolerable!

"I can’t lose!"

Yashan Liang focused on his cooking.

Xia Yu gestured to Xijian Run to come out of the kitchen, and on the hallway, he asked, "Professor Xijian, could you give me a few more Fantasy Moon Tangerine Leaves?"

He pointed to the withered leaf in his palm.

Xijian Run blinked, and after a few seconds, her brain caught up, and she stammered, surprised, "Instructor Xia, you, you..."

She became tongue-tied, shocked.

"Exactly!"

"I plan to use these Fantasy Moon Tangerine Leaves to cook my curry dish," Xia Yu smiled. "Otherwise, using an ordinary curry dish to compete doesn’t quite match up to my special-grade culinary skills."

Xijian Run hurriedly waved her hands, saying, "That’s too bold. As far as I know, only Lady Indira can manage and use these Fantasy Moon Tangerine Leaves, incorporating them into her curry dishes. You know Lady Indira, right? A high executive at the IGO headquarters, India’s current Spice Empress, an internationally renowned female Lin Chef."

"Oh, right, Lady Indira is one of your special-grade examiners. You should remember her!"

Xia Yu laughed, "Professor, if my integration fails, then Yashan will have won!"

"He wouldn’t accept such a charity victory!"

Xijian Run’s face was tense.

"I’m sorry, but I plan to use these Fantasy Moon Tangerine Leaves for cooking my curry dish," Xia Yu said, spreading his hands.

"Ah!"

Seeing that she couldn’t dissuade him, Xijian Run went back to get seven or eight withered leaves from another part of the institute and also handed Xia Yu professional tools for grinding spices, a beautiful marble mortar.

Together with the one he had in his hand, it was enough. Xia Yu and Xijian Run returned to the kitchen.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

The sound of the pestle grinding against the bottom of the bowl filled the air, and soon, the dry leaves turned into a fine powder in the bowl.

Tanaka Hikari and Xingping Chuangzhen gathered around, "Instructor Xia, what spice is this?"

Xiao Hui reached out in front of her and fanned her nose, sniffing the pungent, spicy scent that wafted from the grinding bowl. She couldn’t help but widen her eyes, "This spice smells so strong! It must be hard to handle!"

Xingping Chuangzhen nodded solemnly.

Just by smelling it, one could tell that this spice was untamed and domineering.

Ingredients are just like people.

The more distinctive they are, the harder they are to tame.

Of course, the two didn’t know yet that this was a newly discovered Fantasy Spice. If they had known, they would have been utterly astonished.

"Clang—"

A crisp sound of hitting the ground came from the direction of the kitchen counter.

A spice glass bottle had fallen onto the counter, but fortunately, the glass was thick enough that it didn’t shatter despite the fall.

Yashan Liang, who was holding a pot handle in one hand, turned his head from the stove and stared intently at the grayish-brown powder in the grinding bowl. In Xia Yu’s hands, the Fantasy Moon Tangerine Leaf was ground into evenly fine, sand-like particles through repeated grindings.

Finally.

Xia Yu put down the grinding bowl and turned to a cupboard, retrieving a bunch of bottles and jars.

Click!

He turned on the stove and set up a pot.

"Whoosh—"

He filled a clean container with water, poured it into the pot, and Xia Yu paused, resting his chin on his hands while waiting for the water to heat up. He was also carefully pondering the recipe in his mind, especially the structure of the spices, calculating over and over with the "Spice Inequality."

"Clear water!"

Yashan Liang, who was paying attention to this side, narrowed his eyes, "Isn’t he planning to use broth to cook the curry?!"

Beside him, Tanaka Hikari and Xingping Chuangzhen looked at each other in shock as cold sweat trickled down their foreheads.

"Generally speaking, cooking curry without broth would greatly weaken the flavor, wouldn’t it?" Tanaka Hikari said, sweating, "No matter how you look at it, broth is a very important base ingredient!"

Professor Xijian pushed up her glasses.

"I think, Instructor Xia’s decision to remove broth from his curry dish is probably to highlight the intensity of the spices," she explained, taking a breath. "The so-called spices include ’aroma,’ ’spiciness,’ and ’color,’ but they can all be referred to as the flavor of the spices! The variability of curry dishes is inseparable from the chef’s flexible pairing."

"Normally, after blending, spices can have a multiplying effect, but the more types of spices used in blending, the more each spice’s characteristics can be suppressed, becoming dull and lackluster..."

"So, pairing spices is not about indiscriminate stacking; adding them haphazardly can actually create a lot of off-flavors! In high-level dishes, any off-flavor is a complete failure!"

she said.

"That means..."

Tanaka Hikari and Xingping Chuangzhen both exclaimed excitedly, "Instructor Xia must be cooking a premium dish!"

Professor Xijian nodded, her eyes filled with solemnity.

Using "Indra Moon Orange" to cook a premium dish on the spot.

If the young chef hadn’t been busy right in her line of sight, Professor Xijian would have found it hard to believe.

Soon.

The water boiled.

During this time, Xia Yu wasn’t just standing idly; he bustled back and forth, the kitchen counter lined with ingredients already prepared.

The complexity of the materials required to cook a flavor-packed curry was beyond what those who don’t cook could imagine.

"Mm, first off, the diced pumpkin!"

Xia Yu picked up a pristine white ceramic plate, on which neatly stacked diced pumpkin exuded a naturally sweet fragrance.

Then, the sweetness intensified.

Pouring the diced pumpkin into the pot, Xia Yu then gripped a large glass.

Inside the cup, there was a cloudy liquid.

It was coconut milk!