Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 445 - 444: Behind the Heat

Chapter 445: Chapter 444: Behind the Heat

The competition began.

A truck stopped in the middle of the venue, and staff continuously unloaded various cooking equipment.

"Put the centrifuge here."

"Bring the liquid nitrogen tank a bit closer, right here, next to the main workbench!"

With a two-hour cooking segment, Tiqie Ailisha seemed very relaxed, with one hand on her hip and the other directing staff to move her molecular gastronomy cooking equipment.

From the audience’s viewpoint, the contrast between Makki and Ailisha’s kitchen stations was striking.

Ailisha’s workstation was all squares, dazzling to the eye.

Makki, on the other hand, had only two tables provided by the school, one a stove with several burners, the other a work desk loaded with ingredients, mixing bowls, and so forth.

Just by looking at the kitchen setups, one could tell the contrasting culinary styles of the two.

The camera specifically zoomed in on Makki and Ailisha’s workstations.

Both had ingredients labeled "specially provided," including cucumbers that looked more like clusters of bananas, with seven or eight in each cluster.

There were vegetables with leaves that looked just like bacon.

There were also lemon peaches, almond cabbage, and various well-known fantasy vegetables and fruits.

Was this a battle of fruit and vegetable bentos?

The audience whispered among themselves.

At the judges’ table, President Dojima chuckled, "Instructor Xia, you really are generous, providing these high-quality ingredients to students for free so they can express their passion."

"What a selfless contribution, a true teacher’s heart!"

He stressed the word "selfless" quite heavily, with a hint of envy.

After all, compared to the treatment of the contestants, he, a Far Moon Board of Directors member, seemed to have no rights at all; he had begged multiple times over the past few days, securing only a few fresh fruits and vegetables beyond Indra Moon oranges.

Indira and Shinohara Shigetaro exchanged smiles.

They caught the undercurrent in President Dojima’s tone.

In fact, Shinohara Shigetaro also planned to officially visit Xia Yu’s plantation, marking his visit as an IGO official, but that would depend on Xia Yu’s willingness.

Tiqie Xianzuowen stared intently at the ingredients, his gaze inscrutable, lost in thought.

"What’s Makki doing?"

The Polar Star Dormitory members followed Makki’s movements.

The girl first processed garlic, onions, and tomatoes.

She minced the garlic, diced the onions, and peeled and chopped the tomatoes for later use.

She also prepared fresh shrimp, snipping off their legs and antennae, and of course, deveining them.

Next, she unexpectedly heated a flat pan, using melted butter to sauté the onion cubes, garlic mince, and tomato chunks—a typical Western cooking technique.

"Swish—"

She poured from a measuring cup, adding white rice to the pan.

Quickly.

Broth was poured into the clumped rice and ingredients, and Makki took a can containing a black condiment. Carefully measuring two spoons, about 20 milliliters, she added it to the flat pan.

The rice quickly turned black!

Then, she threw in clams, fresh shrimp, and mussels all at once and covered the pan!

Simmering on low heat!

The audience watched as Makki turned to other tasks, secretly amazed.

"Using squid ink seafood risotto for a bento is indeed bold!" President Dojima laughed, winking at Xia Yu, "This cooking technique, it wouldn’t happen to be something you taught Mr. Morioka, would it?"

Xia Yu appeared innocent.

He too realized that the culinary skills Makki now displayed bore a striking resemblance to his own "A Song of Ice and Fire" seafood rice.

How much had the girl secretly learned? Simply observing could not reveal it all; Xia Yu eagerly anticipated the moment he would taste it.

In contrast to the calm Makki, Ailisha’s station periodically drew exclamations from the audience.

Ailisha did not seem like a chef but rather like she was working in a chemistry lab.

Her fair fingers picked up a large transparent test tube containing a slightly swirling mysterious liquid.

He placed multiple test tubes into the centrifuge and started the machine.

"Done!"

Tiqie Ailisha’s lips curved into a smirk, "Then next..."

She took fresh tuna, made precise cuts, and her knife skills drew a crowd.

"The knife skills are passable."

Xia Yu commented.

Dojima Yin said, "Ms. Ailisha’s knife skills are top-notch among the students."

"Is that so?"

At this point, the camera shifted to Makki’s countertop, where the girl was slicing fruits and vegetables, creating a scene reminiscent of ’Fruit Ninja’, which made Dojima Yin’s eyebrows raise and he chuckled: "Well, Mr. Morioka’s knife skills aren’t bad either."

Makki’s practical knife skills were well known to Xia Yu.

Ironically, Ailisha, who worshiped science and scientific equipment as a molecular chef, also possessed impressive craftsmanship, suggesting that her culinary foundation was solid.

Time ticked away.

At the guest seats,

"Did you see? The fantasy ingredients used by those two girls..."

"Looking at their color, they must have been freshly picked. To know the real quality, we’ll have to taste them!"

"So, has Far Moon really spent a fortune to collaborate with a cultivation research organization?"

The whispers continued.

Chitben Natsuka and Chitben Orin, the sisters, were only half-focused on the student competition.

"Sister, about those cutting-edge fantasy spices from the preliminaries, I think I have a clue," Chitben Orin confided to CEO Natsuka, "Ichise Hui might have let something slip. It seems the Moon Orange leaves were cultivated within the Far Moon Campus..."

"Impossible!"

Chitben Natsuka furrowed her brows, "I asked Professor Xijian, and her ’Indra Moon Orange’ research project hasn’t made much progress!"

"Inside Far Moon, who else is an authority in the spice domain besides her?"

An offhand question unexpectedly made her sister Chitben Orin gasp, "As far as I know, the authorities on spices within Far Moon also include President Dojima and Chef Xia..."

"Yikes!"

The sisters exchanged looks, drawing a sharp breath—could it be!

In fact, the high heat of this Autumn Election was intentionally caused by Xia Yu spreading rumors.

Xia Yu opened his task panel while sitting comfortably in the judging seat.

If one were to check the system information, they would know that last night, near the deadline, the mission "Training the ’Molecular Queen’" was barely completed.

The reward ’Big Tuna Belly Soybeans seeds’ (mutated) was still in his backpack, yet to be planted.

"[The Jade Generation’s Autumn Election]..."

"Conditions for completion:

1. ’Autumn Election’ heat (45/100).

2. At least one ’quasi’ top-grade dish must appear.

..."

The heat of the competition continued to rise, and by the finals, it should just reach 100 degrees.

The second condition was the key!

Xia Yu was aware of how difficult it was for students to cook a quasi top-grade dish.

Si Yingshi was at this level.

He could cook a student-level must-have dish using White-haired Cinderella Beef. Quasi top-grade quality.

Culinary soul, ingredients combination, both are indispensable!

The problem was, among these eight competitors, none had truly hatched a culinary soul!

This was going to be tricky!

"Whoa—"

At this moment, a long-lasting cheer erupted as two hours were nearly up. Tiqie Ailisha, with a tray emitting steam, was the first to serve her dish!

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is my bento!"