Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 525 - 524: The Intense Semi-finals (Part 1)

Chapter 525: Chapter 524: The Intense Semi-finals (Part 1)

The second round of the competition began!

Dojima Yin didn’t immediately open the ingredient box. Instead, he set up two flat pans on the stove.

Next, he scooped up a considerable amount of reddish-brown paste from a sealed jar and placed it in a transparent glass bowl. Once one of the flat pans was heated, Dojima Yin poured the entire bowl of paste into it.

"Oh—"

Chiyoda Aichi walked up to the cooking station and sniffed the salty and fresh aroma reminiscent of soy sauce.

The judges began to explain.

"The fourth seat, a middle-aged man in a kimono, said, "This is miso, made from fermented soybeans, primarily in paste form. Chef Dojima is using red miso, which is fermented longer and contains more salt during its preparation, making it saltier than white miso."

Miso?

Many foreign viewers and chefs pondered thoughtfully.

"In fact, miso is quite similar to doubanjiang and soybean paste. There’s a theory that miso was originally brought to Japan from the Tang Dynasty by a traveling monk!" chuckled a Chinese chef.

Xia Yu propped his chin.

For the Japanese, miso is the most popular and commonly stocked seasoning.

Thus, Dojima Yin’s dish would inevitably lean towards Japanese-style.

"What does President Dojima intend to make?"

A murmur came from nearby.

Tiqie Helinai clasped her hands tightly on her checkered skirt. She sat not far from Xia Yu, her brows furrowed in concern.

"We’ll know once the president reveals his main ingredient!" Xia Yu smiled.

Hearing this, Helinai glanced over, her long eyelashes trembling.

Deep inside, she genuinely hoped for Dojima Yin to win this round for the Far Moon Team. Then, in the third round, when "Shura" Saito Chiyokuro would compete, Far Moon could possibly crush the Orlando Team with a score of 3-0!

Yet, Helinai felt an inexplicable unease.

After all, if the Far Moon Team won, following the public agreement from the earlier rounds, the culinary battle between Instructor Xia and her father would officially set in motion...

Helinai’s inner voice told her she really didn’t want the instructor to lose, rather than her biological father!

As Helinai wrestled with her thoughts, the competition proceeded normally.

Dojima Yin continued to add ingredients like sake, mirin, cane sugar, and sesame oil to the flat pan.

Soon, Dojima Yin broke an egg, kept only the yolk between his fingers, and let the white slip through into a bowl. He added the yolk to the earlier seasonings, blending various ingredients uniformly with the sake over high heat.

He was clearly making the sauce first!

Soon, the sauce bubbled and thickened, ready to be removed from the heat. Dojima Yin set the sauce aside and used another flat pan to cook round radish pieces.

It was uncertain when he had cut the radishes, but they were stewed in clear water in the pan, turning increasingly translucent.

Meanwhile, "Lion King" Leon was not falling behind in progress.

His ingredients were complex including the attention-grabbing "River Puffer Whale meat" along with a variety of fresh ingredients—

Snap!

A deep-sea anago was slammed onto the cutting board by Leon. Holding a knife, he dissected the anago, focusing on the tail where the meat was concentrated, taking only the tail meat.

The second ingredient was a large, striped prawn—tiger prawn!

This prawn was as big as a palm, and Leon used bright silver scissors to snip along its back shell.

A boneless small squid had its eyes removed for later use.

Lobster was split into two from the middle. Despite Leon’s rough braided appearance, his culinary style was incredibly delicate and meticulous. He carefully extracted the lobster paste for later use to make a red lobster sauce.

"Boom!"

Leon started heating the first sauce.

"Onions, sea salt, white pepper, white wine, tarragon..." The chief judge, a French national, slowly explained, "Tarragon, also known as dragon wormwood, ’French dragon wormwood’ is a high-quality seasoning used to remove the gamy taste from delicate meats, perfect for seafood cooking!"

"Of course, dragon wormwood has other uses as well... like making perfume!"

The audience was engrossed, listening intently.

At that moment, Leon set up another saucepan on the stove, melting numerous chunks of butter, only skimming off the "clarified butter" from the top.

"That was the first sauce!"

The French chief judge frowned, watching as Leon fetched a blender and blended plain yogurt with onions, spinach, mint leaves, and pepper powder. Quickly, the second green sauce was ready.

The third sauce was made with lemon peel, lemon juice, and olive oil. Another small pot cooked light cream with sea salt and cinnamon. Eventually, like the first two, the last sauce involved blending with previously fried lobster paste, resulting in a light red sauce.

After the complex sauce-making process, it was time for seafood cooking.

Leon’s cooking phase, like his sauce preparation, was intricate, meticulous, and flamboyant, dazzling onlookers.

Unnoticed, two hours had passed.

"Just the last ten minutes left before cooking ends..." Chiyoda Aichi reminded.

Standing with arms folded in front of the cooking station, Dojima Yin suddenly opened his eyes.

"It’s ready to be served!"

He reached out, uncovering the pot in front of him, and a billowing white steam surged out, instantly spreading an aroma of alcohol.

Within the mist, Dojima Yin carefully placed five palm-sized, pure white lily oysters on plates over boiled white carrots, drizzled them with the earlier simmered miso sauce, and sprinkled some finely shredded pomelo zest. A delicious seafood dish was thus presented to the judges.

Smelling the faint aroma of alcohol and seafood from the dish, many in the audience wore enchanted expressions.

"Whoo—"

Suddenly, the sound of flames.

Leon also served his dish, striding towards the judges’ platform.

In his hands was a plate that matched his size, no, more accurately, a ceramic basin; this was no longer a plate, but a flowerpot. Inside the pot, many small stones nestled beneath an array of charcoal-grilled seafood, prominently displayed on top. A rough count included charcoal-grilled lobster, tiger prawns, scallops, and anago...

White, green, red sauces were interspersed among them. Perhaps because of the flamed whiskey sprinkled over the seafood, Leon had placed a blazing dish on the judges’ table, a stunningly captivating sight!

"Gurgle~"

A sound of swallowing saliva echoed.

All eyes were fixated on a small, pristine plate surrounded by a myriad of seafood, containing lightly seared slices of "River Puffer Whale meat."

"This is my dish, Boss Seafood Platter!"

The Danish chef with braided hair let out a hearty laugh.

Compared to the colorful and vibrant "Boss Seafood Platter," Dojima Yin’s seafood dish appeared subdued and refined, whether in ingredients or presentation. Even the miso sauce had been simmered with sake, imparting a profoundly Japanese essence.

"Dojima, is this your dish?" Leon looked over, "Lily Oyster?"

He recognized the main ingredient Dojima Yin used—the "Lily Oyster," another fantasy ingredient, though not forbidden or threatening.

Seeing this, Leon was greatly relieved.

He held an overwhelming advantage in ingredients!

"Start with mild, then move to strong—why don’t you taste my dish first?" Dojima Yin said with a smile, noticing the judges’ hesitation and graciously providing them an out.

"Sounds good!"

The French chief judge picked up his chopsticks and intently examined the dish laid atop a block of white carrot.

"Oysters..."

He muttered before reaching in with his chopsticks. He picked up a sake-simmered oyster, brought it to his lips, and gently bit down. Pssh. The warm and richly aromatic juice instantly flooded his mouth.

So tender!

The "Lily Oysters" were the epitome of tenderness. As the juice burst forth, the judge chewed the oyster flesh in his mouth, his expression morphing repeatedly, "Indescribable!"

"A soul-stirring bite!"

The dazed judges looked like statues. After a moment, the five judges snapped back to reality, but the residual warmth of the chopsticks revealed that the entire piece of oyster had vanished.

"Please, comment!"

Chiyoda Aichi timidly reminded.

This time, the head judge ignored the female host.

"How to put it..."

"Very common techniques, the ingredients are normal too, except for the ’Lily Oysters’ which are slightly special, but it amazingly strikes right at our hearts!" Melissa rubbed her chest, frowning in distress.

"It’s hard to judge!"

The other judges echoed.

Witnessing this, ’Lion King’ Leon glanced at the ever composed Dojima Yin, snorted inwardly, and stepped forward. "Let’s skip the commenting then. Try my ’Boss Seafood Platter’!"

"No problem..."

The judges responded.

Melissa grabbed a charcoal-grilled scallop covered in red sauce without using chopsticks, shoved the scallop meat into her mouth, and chewed with an impassive expression.

"Not enough flavor!"

She grabbed a charcoal-grilled tiger prawn next, peeled the shell, and took a bite, her red lips stained with sauce.

"Ah, damn it!"

The French female judge finished a tiger prawn, still expressionless, and burst out in frustrated agitation, "What’s going on? It tastes delicious, there’s nothing to fault, yet it lacks a soul-stirring impact!"

The other judges showed similar reactions.

"They can’t touch me!"

North American cowboy Nois tossed aside the lobster shell in his hand, rubbed his chest, and frowned, "My heart...it’s as if it’s been clamped in fetters, imprisoned..."

"This isn’t the flavor I’m looking for!"

The Persian female judge showed a face full of disappointment.

Upon seeing this, the audience was already stunned silent.

Backstage of the Far Moon Team.

Saito Chiyokuro spoke unhurriedly, "This is the classical application of ’culinary righteousness’."

He glanced at Xia Yu, who was propping his chin and pondering.

"Dojima’s cooking has deeply moved the judges, well, it’s like the initial taste. Though subtle, it can directly penetrate into and fortify itself within the diners’ souls."

"While ’Food Dominator’ manipulates ingredients, unless he can blast through that defense, that is, reach the pinnacle of flavor and violently break open the door to the soul, otherwise..."

Saying this, Saito Chiyokuro’s lips curled into a faint smile.

Xia Yu’s eyes flickered as he stared intently at the broadcast screen.

"The key is the ’River Puffer Whale meat’..."

Everyone held their breath and looked again.

On screen.

’Lion King’ Leon, not panicked by the judges’ reactions, slightly sternly said, "Try it again, taste the exquisite flavor of my ’Boss Seafood Platter’!"

He pointed toward the ’River Puffer Whale meat’ surrounded by a halo of seafood.

Thus, the judges reached for their chopsticks once more.

Bang!

As the slightly seared white tender meat entered their mouths, the sound of chopsticks hitting the floor ensued.