Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 629 - 628: Before the Summit (Part 2)

Chapter 629: Chapter 628: Before the Summit (Part 2)

Flour was kneaded with cold water and a small amount of salt, which produced what is typically known as "dead dough." It was white in color, with a glutenous texture, and strong tenacity, usually used for making pastries.

In fact, viewers with even a slight culinary background, whether on the scene or in front of the television, could tell from the color of the flour that Zhu Qing was using high-gluten flour, particularly when they saw her incorporate eggs into the dough to increase its protein content, leaving no doubt in their minds.

"Eh!"

At that moment, Zhu Qing stopped, and from a delicate leather case, she unexpectedly took out a pair of shiny silver chopsticks. She had previously been kneading the dough with both hands, expertly manipulating it. As people wondered why she needed the chopsticks, snap!

The silver chopsticks plunged suddenly into the smooth dough. Then, with a flick of her wrist, the entire dough spun a full circle around the chopsticks and landed with a thud on the cooking counter.

This was the first spin.

Before the audience could comment, the chopsticks flicked again, and the dough soared and fell...

After several cycles, Zhu Qing’s pretty face retained a smile, completely unflustered. Every two or three seconds, her silver chopsticks would spin the dough.

Xia Yu’s expression slowly became more solemn.

Other chefs who could discern the skill involved also felt strangely perturbed.

"That déjà vu... Why does it feel like Chef Xia is ’drawing a circle’?" a voice dropped into the suddenly silent auditorium, bringing a wave of agreement. Reminded by the comment, people suddenly recalled a familiar scene.

Drawing a circle!

Xia Yu nodded subtly.

Lin Chefs, even those who aren’t specialized in dough-based dishes, possessed culinary skills in certain areas no less profound than those of the elite specialists. At least, with just a few moves, Zhu Qing had put pressure on Xia Yu: "So my aunt also knows how to ’draw circles,’ huh!"

In "The Chinese Feast," the legendary pastry chef Logan had a saying: The size and depth of the circle one can draw reflects the depth of their pastry-making skills.

Zhu Qing didn’t use a rolling pin for kneading dough; instead, she used two slender silver chopsticks.

A large mass of dough was swung and swayed by the silver chopsticks.

"Wow—"

The tight white dough suddenly spread into a white strip. Zhu Qing, at the center of the strip, had a calm smile which she usually didn’t wear. The lifeless chopsticks in her hand danced like spirits, creating a dynamic trail of afterimages.

Thus, there were white ribbons on the cooking counter, swirling and swinging, resembling a white tornado.

Affected by the commotion, Saito Chiyokuro, who was slicing lotus roots and burdock, paused his work and glanced over his shoulder at the cooking station, and then murmured in a voice only he could hear, "It seems I cannot afford to lag behind either..."

He took a frying pan, heated it up, using common olive oil, nothing much to elaborate on. He then put the sliced lotus root and burdock into the pan, deep-frying them until they turned golden brown and crispy.

After that, Saito Chiyokuro took another frying pan. This time, however, the oil he used to heat the pan was not regular cooking fat. The oil had a darker yellow color and emitted a Sichuan spicy aroma.

It was sesame oil!

Seeing him use sesame oil to pan-fry minced Brussels sprouts and carrot sticks, murmurs arose in the auditorium.

"The division of labor is very clear!" Xia Yu praised.

"One is making the soup base, and the other kneading dough, it indeed counts as collaboration..." A strange comment came from Jintan Shun behind him, "Hey, I’m wondering why you, Chef Xia, seem quite surprised. Didn’t you see Chef Zhu and Chef Saito practicing in the past few days? Or did they keep it from you and discuss and practice secretly? That seems unlikely..."

Xia Yu’s mouth twitched slightly, "Because I was also busy developing my new dish. How could I have time to worry about what they were doing."

"New dish?"

Jintan Shun was suddenly taken aback, pulling his attention away from the competition. Evidently, he was more interested in the so-called new dish that Xia Yu mentioned, "Are you skipping the second round and preparing for the grand finale in advance?"

Nearby, Tulip and Ishino Harumi pricked up their ears.

Xia Yu merely smiled and didn’t answer.

Prepare in advance? That would still have to fit the theme, otherwise confidently predicting success would be setting oneself up for a fall. At this moment, staying silent was the best strategy, hoping for a streak of good luck.

...

The intense collaboration of Zhu Qing and Saito Chiyokuro was but a microcosm of the entire scene.

The other competing teams had their own shining moments as well.

At cooking station number 2.

Li Han was sweating profusely with a small charcoal stove in front of him, fanning it with a pu fan like a careful apothecary controlling the fire. On the stove was a pot resembling a medicine jar with boiling water inside, and a white ingredient bobbed up and down.

Meanwhile, Female Qilin Chef Lan Chuhai washed the freshly soaked white bird’s nests under running water. After washing them repeatedly, the nests were no longer as hot as when they came out of the pot. Draining the water, she meticulously tore the softened bird’s nest with her fingers, turning the clumped ingredient into fine shreds that she placed into a blue and white porcelain bowl for later use.

"Bird’s nest?"

Seeing that there was nothing worth delving into or learning about in the ingredients and cooking processes, Xia Yu shifted his gaze to observe the third cooking station.

Lin Giant Lei Zhe and the female special chef, who was suspected of having anesthetic gourmet cells, were handling a kind of meat that emitted a rich wine fragrance. This meat was from the "Wine God Dragon". Clearly, the winged dragon that was slaughtered on the spot in the first round was making an encore appearance. However, this round, Lei Zhe was cooking the meat instead of using the blood.

In reality, the theme "The highest goodness is like water" was not particularly advantageous for either team in the Gourmet Society’s competition.

After all, Lei Zhe and Desani were Lin Giants of the Western cuisine series, and culturally speaking, it was difficult for them to completely grasp the theme "The highest goodness is like water". On the other hand, Food Dominator Lin Chefs focus on ingredients, and the "meaning" of cuisine is exactly where this group falters. It’s not impossible to align Food Dominators with the theme, but it is challenging.

"Wine God Dragon? With such an ingredient, the Gourmet Society has few resources. Without the ingredients, even if you secretly learn the recipe, it’s useless, so there’s no need to waste Fame Points to copy it over with ’Super Vision’..." Xia Yu’s gaze flickered.

His line of sight then slid back to the fourth cooking station.

Tang Shan and Tang Yuqiong were there.

"Eh..."

Xia Yu was surprised.

On the counter, there was a water tank. Yuqiong, wearing protective gloves, pulled out a colorful fish from it with a taut expression of caution. The fish was no longer than half a meter, and not to mention its bizarre skin color, its scales were far from the smoothness expected of ordinary fish. Instead, they were like stone, rugged, and bumpy. If it weren’t for the close-up shot that barely allowed viewers to make out the outline of the fish’s lips, eyes, and rough facial contours, they might think it was a piece of rock.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew from Yuqiong’s immersed cooking station, drawing gasps.

"Is that a stone fish?"

Xia Yu was also astonished.

"Not just any stone fish; this is an ancient stone fish. In terms of delicacy and rarity, it’s no less than some golden Forbidden Ingredients!" Jintan Shun said, his eyes gleaming with the fiery excitement of an Ingredient Hunter discovering a treasure.

The female chef was holding Tang’s Double-edged Saber, which Xia Yu was rather familiar with. These were a pair of extraordinary knives, crafted by a famous artisan at the request of the Tang ancestors, Tang Sanjie, and passed down for generations. Only the most talented young direct descendants were qualified to wield them. Yuqiong used the Mandarin Duck Knife to "slim down" the ancient stone fish, sending stone-like chips flying amidst seemingly chaotic slashes of the double knives.

Soon, there were continuous exclamations of amazement.

The unremarkable stone fish underwent a dramatic transformation. Once the excess material was removed from its body, only the most tender flesh remained. Under the arena’s lights, this section of fish flesh shimmered with a mysterious luster, as breathtaking as a work of art.

Next came the processes of gill removal and gutting. Yuqiong’s pretty face was covered with sweat. Ignoring the need to wipe it away, she removed the fish’s large spine and placed two large pieces of delicate meat on the cutting board, brandishing her knife like rain!

Boom boom boom!

The double knives minced the fish flesh into a paste!

Ten minutes later, the fish paste was placed into a mixing bowl; Yuqiong fetched a "Ten-Yolk Egg", which was the size of four or five ordinary eggs, and broke it into the fish paste. Then, stepping back to wipe off sweat with a towel, she handed over the next steps to Lin Giant Tang Shan, in a typical relay-style collaboration.

Seeing this, Xia Yu’s expression became extremely serious.

"Everyone’s getting serious, huh!"

Xia Yu couldn’t help but worry about the ramen dish that Zhu Qing and Saito Chiyokuro would present later on.

Everyone had exceptional ingredients right from the base. As the saying goes, it’s hard to cook without rice. In terms of ingredient procurement, Xia Yu’s philosophy was actually more aligned with Western chefs. Of course, this wasn’t to say that Chinese cuisine chefs did not care about ingredient quality. For example, Cantonese cuisine places great importance on the character ’fresh’.

He was already considering other means of obtaining legendary kitchenware in case he could not advance to the final duel, given that systems were upgrading and unlocking options like the Legendary Mall, which all sounded incredibly tempting.

But after much thought, Xia Yu concluded that competitions like this were the most straightforward and brute-force method of acquisition.

It was okay that the "Jade Dragon Pot" had found its way overseas.

As for the remaining items among the eight legendary kitchen tools, if he wanted to claim them, he would surely have to challenge the big families and magnates who possessed them. To say it was a culinary battle where one staked everything was not an exaggeration.

"Hopefully, I can secure a spot in the finals!" Xia Yu’s gaze wandered and made a full circle back to cooking station one. By then, Zhu Qing had covered the dough with a damp cloth, with about 15 minutes of resting time left. Meanwhile, Saito Chiyokuro had taken out a few blocks of white fermented ingredients, sprinkled them with a bright yellow viscous sauce, and then coated them with a layer of starch...

"Tempeh!"

A voice from the side spoke. Ishino Harumi identified the appetizer that Saito Chiyokuro was working on.

"Yes, a type of fermented soy product that originated from Indonesia. It’s white, cake-like, and has been popular in the region for over 400 years. It’s a characteristic regional food with a rich protein content that can be used as a substitute for meat..." Jintan Shun chimed in.

"This is the kind of product that vegetarians love, right?" Tulip questioned.

"Could it be..."

The group exchanged surprised glances. The word ’vegetarian’ was key, including Xia Yu, whose heart skipped a beat, as they speculated the style of the collaborative ramen dish that Zhu Qing and Saito Chiyokuro were going to serve—

It was very likely a vegetarian ramen!

"The theme is ’The highest goodness is like water’, and though vegetarianism coincides with a pure, unattached, and natural dietary attitude, pursuing vegetarianism too far will leave their dish helpless against the other teams’ dishes in terms of ingredients!" Xia Yu suddenly felt pessimistic in his heart.

There was no helping it.

Seeing others reveal their trump card ingredients, Xia Yu found it hard to be optimistic.