Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 612 - 611: "Wine" as a Subject Starter

Chapter 612: Chapter 611: "Wine" as a Subject Starter

Zhu Qing was in the living room when the maid received a letter from the competition committee and handed it over to her immediately.

"Go, call them all down!"

Just a glance at the seal on the back of the letter caused Zhu Qing’s expression to change slightly, and she nonchalantly instructed the maid.

Within a few minutes, Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro emerged from their rooms one after another.

"The official competition letter with the theme?"

Everyone gathered.

Although, besides Xia Yu and Zhu Qing, the others were just there for the ride, it didn’t prevent them from being curious—the theme could fundamentally influence the excitement level of the match.

"Where’s Xia Yu?" Zhu Qing frowned.

This time, Eriina stayed at Far Moon to attend school normally, without accompanying the group. The maid quickly bowed and said she had notified him, but Xia Yu had locked himself in the kitchen, and it was unknown what he was tinkering with.

"Forget it, let’s not worry about him, let’s open it!"

Zhu Qing said, moving her graceful hand, ripping open the envelope, and deftly pulling out two slips of paper.

The first was the notification of the theme.

On the plain white slip, the theme was marked out in three languages: English, Chinese, and Japanese hiragana:

First Round—

"Alcohol!"

Apart from the theme, the rest of the space was blank.

"Alcohol?"

Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro were taken aback.

But Zhu Qing just furrowed her brows and casually flipped to the second slip of paper, which contained the notifications such as the specific scheduling of three rounds of competition. The first round would take place three days later at 10 a.m., and the second round would follow another three-day cycle after that. In other words, before each competition, the participating teams had ample time to ponder the theme and prepare.

There were also some reminders, such as handing over personally prepared ingredients to the competition official logistics for inspection and storage, and so on.

"Alcohol, it’s too broad."

Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro had already begun their discussions.

"Each major region’s alcohol culture is different," said Saito Chiyokuro, speaking with authority. "For example, the Western alcohol culture can be divided into aperitifs, table wines, and digestives. At a formal Western banquet, you’ll find many types of alcohol present. Their pairing is much considered!"

Dojima Yin’s brows knitted into the shape of the character ’川’.

Tiqie Reonona spoke in halting Japanese, "The Japanese alcohol culture is mainly represented by sake and shochu, with the occasional beer and whiskey, but the alcohol content is generally between 15 and 16 percent, so it’s not easy to get drunk."

"According to Neon’s alcohol tax law," Tiqie Zongwei chuckled, "’Sake’ is defined as having an alcohol concentration lower than 22 percent and made only with rice and water..."

"Good water, good rice, and excellent yeast can make good alcohol!"

Simultaneously, at the Neon Department of IGO’s competing team.

The Lin Giant, Qiushan Hong, put down the theme notification letter and lamented, "Alcohol, huh? Even if it’s the relatively simple process of brewing clear sake, milling the rice to remove the bran, washing the rice, and soaking it, this process alone would take at least a day. Then, rice saturated with water has to be steamed, and after steaming, koji is made, followed by several days and nights of fermentation. After that comes pressing, storage and settling, and before bottling, sterilization is necessary; without a full month’s worth of preparation time, it can’t be brewed."

"Brewing new sake definitely won’t work," chuckled the Lin Giant Indira. "Regarding alcohol, I’m hard-pressed to offer useful advice."

She cast an apologetic look at her partner, Liangzi Lina.

Liangzi Lina showed understanding.

Anyone familiar with India’s culinary world would be clear on the country’s sparse alcohol culture.

The Hindu Green Sect absolutely bans alcohol, Hinduism does not advocate drinking, and the government further intervenes, regulating and monopolizing liquor; even foreigners have to register to buy alcohol, indicating how narrow the market is.

"Three days, huh? I think I know what to do," said Liangzi Lina. Her icy exterior seemed softer than usual, revealing a tinge of girlish shyness...

Qiushan Hong and Shinohara Shigetaro, the teaming pair, expressed surprise.

"Could it be..."

Seeing the odd expression on their female leader’s face, the two male chefs vaguely guessed what she was thinking, their emotions a complicated tangle of thoughts.

Women, especially virginal maidens, have a natural advantage in making that kind of traditional liquor.

"Let me think!"

Shinohara frowned deeply, rubbing his temples in frustration.

Their team, also representing IGO and the Japanese food industry, had faced tough opponents and suffered severe defeats in the first stage of Competition Area B. The public hadn’t said much, but if they were to be eliminated early in the second stage, negative comments would undoubtedly come flooding in...

"Three days? It’s impossible to brew alcohol in this time!"

At the same time, the Tang Family, White Jade Tower Team, and others were all stumped by the topic of "alcohol."

"Alcohol? Brewing new liquor is definitely not possible, but using aged liquor would be difficult to deceive those mysterious judges!"

Li Quan and Li Han’s expressions were solemn.

Lin Giant Lan Chuhai pondered, "The key to the ’alcohol’ topic lies in how to interpret it!"

"In a straightforward and rough manner, it means using three days to brew and present the liquor. Of course, the Lin Chef and Grand Chef must collaborate on this task; it cannot be left to one party to handle everything..."

Another Lin Giant, Xue Feichen, decided to read the second notice of the letter aloud, "Please note, item four, in principle, the judges will score based on the performance of the teamed Lin Chef and Grand Chef, with each contributing 50% to the total score."

"So, if one party performs perfectly while the other is unseen, the highest score they can get is 50!"

This was precisely what troubled all the teams.

In a single dish, both the Grand Chef and Lin Chef’s efforts must be incorporated; both individuals needed to make their presence felt.

Lin Chefs would have to lower their pride and share their hearts with Grand Chefs, while Grand Chefs couldn’t be dead weight. They had to first have confidence, which would allow them to collaborate with Lin Chefs as equals.

"Alcohol? This is a culinary competition, and the extension of the ’alcohol’ topic is culinary applications for liquor..."

Tang Shan told Tang Yuqiong and Tang Jingtiao.

"That’s a lot!" exclaimed Tang Yuqiong, clapping her hands in glee, "Drunken shrimp, drunken crab, beer chicken wings!"

"And also..."

Tang Yuqiong paused, a glint of excitement in her eyes, "Who knows, the ’Dragon Pot’ might even help us shorten the fermentation time. Heh heh heh heh, they’re probably racking their brains on how to achieve one month’s worth of fermentation in three days, right? But with the ’Dragon Pot,’ it’s just a matter of moments!"

"Aqiong, you can’t take the ’Dragon Pot’ out of the country!" Tang Jingtiao reminded helplessly.

"But I can return home to brew it and then bring it over on a chartered flight. Let’s settle on the recipe first!" Tang Yuqiong seemed very relaxed.

She thrived on tasks that required time for fermentation.

Being in charge of the ’Dragon Pot’ was her greatest advantage.

It was known that over the years, many chefs had developed uses for the eight legendary culinary tools far beyond their predecessors. Who said the ’Dragon Pot’ could only be used for making sauces? The fermentation of yeast could just as easily be completed instantaneously within the utensil!

...

"Yu!"

"Hey, did you hear me, open the door!"

Bang bang bang!

Zhu Qing knocked impatiently, shouting at the door.

A full ten minutes passed before Xia Yu finally unlocked the security door from the inside. Zhu Qing entered and saw Xia Yu placing his phone on a stand, its screen lit up with Yuchuan Ayaka’s pretty face, her mouth moving as she orally shared her insights and usage of a certain ingredient:

"It’s something like that."

"But my Killing Recipe ’Seven-colored Sea,’ only barely touches the surface of how to use ’Rainbow Fruit’—just scratching the surface, not very sophisticated, probably too childish in your eyes."

"That’s not the case!" Xia Yu cast it off, "Your thinking... is probably correct! Let me think about it!"

Rainbow Fruit?

Zhu Qing’s ears perked up. Just then, a strange, indescribable fragrance wafted into his nose. Merely an inadvertent sniff was all it took for his nose to heat up, almost as if it were about to bleed.

Covering his mouth and nose, Zhu Qing followed the fragrance, his eyes widening in astonishment.

"That is..."