Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 650 - 649: [Four Sheep Square Box]

Chapter 650: Chapter 649: [Four Sheep Square Box]

The dough was ready.

Four colors of dough sat on the counter: black, white, green, red.

The camera zoomed in for a close-up, eliciting a chorus of admiring gasps.

No kneading necessary; the four balls of dough were smooth and delicate, reflecting the incandescent lights above the arena slightly.

Zhu Qing, smiling radiantly, covered them with four damp cloths.

This was an essential step in the waiting for fermentation.

Giving an OK gesture, Zhu Qing said to Xia Yu, "Wait for the seafood filling to stew, and the dough will have finished fermenting fully!"

"Sure!"

Xia Yu turned away and drew a gleaming Breaking Army Saber from its sheath.

"Let’s get started!"

Zhu Qing washed her hands carefully and dried them with a brand-new towel. The audience watched her step up to a wooden box, twist the cabinet lock open with a click, and swing the doors wide to reveal the contents to the camera, appearing on the live broadcast screen.

"Wow!"

"It’s hard to believe that this thing is actually a mini portable refrigerator!"

"The exterior is made of wood, but inside there’s a layer of ceramics with a glossy lining... Is this beautiful and exquisite portable fridge also made in China?"

A portable refrigerator!

Yan Qi and Tiqie Xianzuowen had just settled back into their chairs when their expressions changed again.

"Tower Master Yan, is this a new item from the Chinese Cuisine World?" the Far Moon Commander asked, quivering his white eyebrows, showing strong interest.

No wonder Xianzuowen asked.

According to the "Chinese Cuisine" settings, the Chinese Cuisine World was definitely high-tech.

Take one example: ’Jinmao Tiger’ Rock processed a live chicken using the culinary technique "Luohan Tiger Claw Roast" and was defeated by the Tang Family ancestor Tang Sanjie with the "Bouncing Turtle Soup."

Although this guy was a tragic minor character stamped with the label of tasting awful, he at least had a legendary mechanical arm!

Whether it was a mechanical arm or some other technology was a separate matter, but a real-life example was enough to prove that the Chinese Cuisine World in this universe was no simple matter.

"New item?"

Yan Qi also looked at the wooden box, watching Zhu Qing continually take out large shrimp and crabs and hand them to Xia Yu for processing, and only after a while did he reply to Xianzuowen, with a rather sullen expression, "This isn’t an item from the Dark World; it’s unlikely from the Light Realm either... Could it be something Xia Qing came up with?"

At the Shu Restaurant, Mr. Xia, who had no idea he was being mentioned, also watched with astonishment at the male and female head chefs collaborating at station number one.

"Strange!"

From the dark ceramic pot, Xia Qing’s mouth gaped open and stayed that way.

"What’s the deal with this ceramic pot for storing old dough?!"

"And the wooden box for sealing fresh produce..."

There were too many things.

Xia Qing suddenly remembered the first stage of the competition, when his grandson faced off against Tiqie Ji and Li Han, and the Heavenly Craft Wind Box appeared twice.

Connecting it to the ancient recipes his grandson kept producing, Xia Qing slapped his thigh while sitting on a long bench and said with certainty, "It’s one of those old-timers who secretly kidnapped our Xia Family’s precious only seedling!"

So, the old man fell deeper and deeper into his self-fabricated imaginings, and the image of the "old timer" and "old fox" he conjured became increasingly vivid.

"Yu, where on earth did you get this item?"

Hearing the whispers in the arena, Zhu Qing, after unloading all the fresh seafood, took a step closer to Xia Yu while he was busy with the shrimp and crab, nudged him with her elbow, and whispered with a gentle breath, "Get me one of these treasures, too, will you? It’s so useful; it’s simply a divine artifact for chefs!"

Zhu Qing had been terrified a few days ago when Xia Yu suddenly produced this wooden box, storing a bunch of king shrimp and crabs they had picked up from the Nijo Fish Market.

"This is a competition! Don’t get distracted!"

The corners of Xia Yu’s mouth twitched, but he managed to brush off Zhu Qing for the time being.

"Items?"

Xia Yu’s gaze paused on the wooden box as culinary tool information popped up:

"[Four Sheep Square Box] (Purple): A culinary tool similar to a portable refrigerator, specifically used for the preservation of fresh ingredients. It has a ’Freshness Lock’ effect on fresh ingredients, but there is a capacity limit. Fresh ingredients can be stored for a maximum of 7 days, after which the ’freshness’ diminishes, and the quality of the ingredients declines irreversibly."

"Suggested that the host collect the legendary culinary tool ’Spiritual Treasure Vault’, for unlimited storage of ingredients."

Xia Yu could beautifully ignore the system’s latter statement.

As for why it’s called Four Sheep Square Box, Xia Yu had pondered this after spending 50,000 Fame Points to purchase the item, guessing that it was because there were sheep head carvings on the four sides of the wooden box. Not to mention, these sheep head carvings, with their curled horns and intricate patterns, along with other designs such as gluttonous patterns and Kui dragon patterns.

Xia Yu didn’t understand too much of this, but looking at the box’s stature and momentum, and hearing the incessant chatter about it at the competition venue, he suddenly felt that these Fame Points were well spent.

It was already said.

A player equipped with luxurious items had nothing to fear!

"Get the pot ready, it’s about time!"

Xia Yu put down his kitchen knife.

Before him on the countertop, the ’Hokkaido Sweet Shrimp’ had been beheaded, tailed, and shelled, leaving only the shrimp meat.

The ’Hokkaido hairy crab’ had been boiled in hot water, and its entire body was brilliant red. Zhu Qing was responsible for cracking the shells to extract the crabmeat and crab roe. Given the crab king’s enormous size, seven or eight crabs were enough to fill two large bowls with crab meat.

The two divided the work clearly, Xia Yu rinsed the sand pot while Zhu Qing arranged the pot, and soon, 8 sand pots corresponded to 8 stoves.

"Shark fin!"

Zhu Qing lifted the lid, picked up several complete slices with silver chopsticks, tossed them into the sand pot, and then replaced the lid.

"Dried scallops, abalone, sea cucumber, squid, and flounder..." Besides shrimp and crab, the other ingredients were all dried goods. The methods for handling fresh and dried ingredients were markedly different.

Simply put, dried goods need soaking, and the process of soaking is often very lengthy. The two had started the ’soaking’ process beforehand, so the dried goods they brought to the competition were not bone dry.

Zhu Qing brought over an ingredient box, clicked it open, and a burst of cold mist wafted out. Inside, it was packed with transparent small lunch boxes, some with sea cucumbers soaked in water, others soaking dried scallops. Dried squid, dried flounder, were similarly soaked in cold water for at least 12 hours, thus when Zhu Qing took out the dried goods, these ingredients had already softened, making them easy to clean and cook.

The excessive cleaning and handling details were many; Xia Yu simply left them all to Zhu Qing.

They covered each sand pot, lit the fire.

"Done!"

Zhu Qing patted her hands, casting an almond-eyed glance at Xia Yu, "I leave the heat control to you!"

"Got it!"

With his reply, his view was filled with 8 sand pots being scorched by stove flames.

What a pity!

Xia Yu inwardly sighed; originally, he intended to use charcoal to simmer the ingredients, in which case the perfect ’Bursting Flame’ could have intervened in the cooking process, forcibly bestowing the flame’s culinary essence onto the Soul Suppressing Bun.

But the Soul Suppressing Bun was very particular about ’Yin Yang Harmony’. If the flame was too strong, the Yang energy too vigorous, then the Yin Yang would be out of balance.

Balance!

That was Xia Yu’s insight from days of relentless, sleepless practice.

The so-called ’Yin Yang Five Elements’, the spirits of the four directions, east, south, west, north, were all inseparable from the core secret of ’balance’.

When you think about it, it’s fairly normal.

Soul Suppressing Bun, meant to pacify the four seas and soothe people’s hearts. If one aspect was overly prominent, with clear ups and downs like a roller coaster ride... how could that bring tranquility to the taster’s soul?

Shaking his head, he stopped pondering the recipe.

"So far, no mistakes!"

Xia Yu steadied his heart, glanced sideways at the timer. The competition had been underway for just 30 minutes, with an hour and a half remaining – plenty of time!

He couldn’t stand idly during the wait. Before the ingredients in the sand pots were ready, he had the leisure to observe his opponents.

Firstly, he cast an interested glance toward the neighboring No. 2 cooking station.

"Hmm?!"