Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 634 - 633: Volcanic Black Salt (Part 2)

Chapter 634: Chapter 633: Volcanic Black Salt (Part 2)

"This is..."

The judge’s expression crumbled.

A black vortex was forming in the bowl.

Ah!

In a flash, a huge black tentacle emerged from the vortex, capturing and dragging the five people into it.

The space transformed.

It was like breaking through the earth’s crust, shattering layer after layer, each layer revealing a bizarre world; the judges, within these worlds, saw only constant change.

In one layer, there was a huge blood pool from which little demons continually emerged.

In another, there was an endless maze with a minotaur sleeping, its snoring making souls tremble.

Yet another world held a magnificent war fortress, ruled by a lord with goat hooves, bat wings, a barbed tail, and a seductive demoness whose diaphanous garment revealed almost everything as she nearly floated in walking.

...

Layer upon layer, an endless underworld.

Boom!

After an unknown duration, it seemed they had reached the bottommost layer; the entire dark world was filled with a mysterious oppressive aura that froze the five judges in place, clutching their throats unable to make any sound, as they fell from the sky and plopped into a constantly flowing black river.

On the riverbank, a group of memory-less spirits roamed with pale skin, sparse hair, and ghostly white eyes.

A terrifying shadow invaded, and the judges stiffened in the river water, dazed, not knowing where they were.

Then, a small boat broke through the mist on the river surface, a man silently rowing with his back to them, and a woman crouched at the bow waving at them as her eerie laughter floated over, "Come, I’ll take you to the other shore of the Nether River..."

The laughter echoed in their minds.

Soon, the judges regained consciousness, and upon looking at the bowl of ramen before them, cold sweat beaded their foreheads.

"To be able to drag us into a world of gourmet so effortlessly!"

The red-haired judge had a grave expression.

"Eat—"

The monk judge began to use his chopsticks, slurping up the noodles and exclaiming in amazement, "Just a pinch of salt raised the standard of the noodles more than a notch. Initially, this bowl was filled with creativity, but now, it’s filled with worlds!"

"Ah!" He writhed, sweat pouring down, "Ah, my body feels so hot, as if I were soaking in the magma of that world, my whole body burning with heat and energy circulating inside!"

After another sip of the broth, the monk judge set down the empty noodle bowl with a thud, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and declared, "Water, deep and tranquil on the surface, yet unfathomably profound, constantly flowing from one world to the next along the river without an end..."

"This is my review!"

With that, he fell silent, closing his eyes.

The audience was baffled.

Those few minutes had been a rollercoaster of drama, shifting from judges who were nearly ready to give a failing review to changing their attitudes completely after Chef Saito sprinkled the strange condiment.

"Salt?"

The chefs stared at the salt shaker in Shura’s hand.

"Black salt?" Xia Yu’s eyes twinkled, "Rock salt?"

"Chef Saito, please explain this magic trick to everyone," Nuliang said while eating, his words muffled.

"It’s no magic trick."

Saito Chiyokuro humbly explained, "In my hand, this bottle contains a type of salt. As we all know, salt is a fundamental natural spice and seasoning, which can be categorized into well salt, rock salt, and sea salt, where well and rock salts originate from land."

"From a chef’s perspective, these salts each have their unique uses. Sea salt, with its large grains, is not suitable for dishes that require deep cooking. Whereas rock salt, also known as edible stone, itself a mineral from underground, comes in many colors. The black rock salt in this bottle is essentially a volcanic black salt, mixed with volcanic ash, hence it has a natural and unique flavor..."

"Volcanic black salt?"

Immediately, a collective gasp filled the air.

"Definitely some kind of Fantasy Salt discovered by Chef Saito!" someone said, met with unanimous agreement.

Just like the Fantasy Oil Fat that Ghost Father once presented, now, "Shura" Saito Chiyokuro too had finally shown his cards.

Oil and Salt, the most fundamental and soulful of ingredients and seasonings!

"Freshly milled from volcanic black rock? No wonder!"

The remaining four judges, once they set down their empty bowls, brought their hands together in a prayer-like gesture, reverently.

"Back to the basics!"

After a moment, Kogawa Shinyiro finally coughed, bringing the tasting process back on track:

"Please score!"

Nuliang opened his eyes, his pupils reflecting the images of Zhu Qing and Shura, he nodded and said, "The source river, flowing endlessly, a world of infinite changes, this is vastness!"

"The theme ’Supreme Goodness, Like Water’, the simplest solution is to start from the virtues of water, but your vegetarian ramen has shown me a completely different, named the Mother River of the Source of All Life!"

Beep!

At this moment, the scoreboard displayed the final score for the collaborative work of Zhu Qing and Saito Chiyokuro:

"Total score...90!"

Saito Chiyokuro, fairly satisfied with the score, given that he had presented his ideal recipes and secret reserve seasonings, coolly untied his forehead band and said, "Sorry to disappoint—"

However, Zhu Qing was staring directly at the fifth judge, a woman cloaked in a black robe.

"How about it, any flaws in my ’Change’ culinary philosophy this time?"

This question elicited a light laugh.

The usually reticent female judge surprisingly said softly, "This time, your culinary philosophy performance aligns with your true nature. ’Rainbow Wine’s’ theme emphasizes purity and the changes over time, very delicate, and you are not one to sorrow over spring or be overly sentimental. ’Culinary Philosophy’ stems from the chef’s spirit and emotional depth; if it isn’t sincere, how can it be flawless?"

Zhu Qing gritted her teeth, dissatisfied, "You speak as if you know me well!"

She skeptically glanced at the delicate face partially hidden in the hood, then nodded her head.

"However, I’ll take your advice. Sorrow over spring? To hell with that, I’m not one of those hermit poets who force gloom into their poems, hmpf hmpf hmpf!" Zhu Qing’s words clearly had a pointed edge.

Beneath the stage at cooking station No. 2, Lan Chuhai, who had been waiting, froze with a stiff smile.

"Tsks!"

Li Han noticed the change in expression of the senior Lin Chef and almost laughed out loud, "As expected, bitter rivals since childhood, complete opposites. Chef Xia must be having a hard time with such a senior!"

In the end.

Zhu Qing and Saito Chiyokuro left the stage with a score of 90.

"Phew—"

Xia Yu finally settled down.

"90 points? Quite likely to advance to the finals, right?"

He couldn’t sit still much longer, said a word to Jintan Shun and Ishino Harumi, and hurried off backstage.

"Don’t worry, it’s solid!" Zhu Qing, acting all wise, patted his shoulder.

"Don’t jinx it, I’m afraid of bad luck!"

Xia Yu raised his hand.

"You really have no faith in our ’Change, Shura’ combination?" Zhu Qing glared at him, annoyed.

Saito Chiyokuro then smiled and said, "Our vegetarian ramen broke through the spice constraints of Reiko and Indira, but the next combination needs to break through Chef Zhu and my ’Change, Shura’ world, otherwise..."

He didn’t say more, fearing a curse.

Hearing this, Xia Yu’s heart also settled, relieved there were no traps.

After all, the competition was as fierce as war, deceit and trickery were indispensable.

During the time Xia Yu was backstage, the fourth group also presented their work.