Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 91: Emperor Crab

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Emperor Crab

Morioka Makki lifted a large crab, tightly bound, from the water produce box at the ingredient counter.

This was no ordinary hairy crab, but an Emperor Crab, a kind of sea crab mostly caught in cold waters, known as the "king of crabs". Naturally, the price was also quite high.

It was really luxurious to use Emperor Crab instead of hairy crab, all thanks to Far Moon providing ingredients gratuitously for the transfer student exam.

The tools for processing the crab were all in place.

Morioka Makki put on gloves, took a brush, carefully cleaned the Emperor Crab, and then threw the whole crab into the boiling pot. Fifteen minutes later, it was taken out, the crab now an orange-red color cooked through, with a rich and savory fragrance.

"Snap!"

With a chop, the six huge limbs of the Emperor Crab and a pair of ferocious front pincers were all removed, revealing the clear and supple crab meat, and at the same time, a wave of fresh flavor swept through the venue.

"Great—"

Xia Yu gave a thumbs-up from not far away.

Don’t think Morioka Makki’s specialization was pastry, the way she was handling the crab so easily and neatly made it apparent she was skilled with seafood as well.

The whole body of the Emperor Crab was meaty, but the meat inside the crab legs was truly tender and delicious.

That was why customers usually saw only a few large crab legs when they ordered Emperor Crab dishes in hotels or restaurants. The essence was all in the legs.

Morioka Makki was making crab roe.

She took professional tools, shiny scissors, and a boning knife, shelled the crab legs, with the meat placed into a small bowl.

In just a few minutes, the small bowl was piled high with fragrant crab meat, astonishingly efficient.

Thump thump thump!

She flipped the bowl onto the cutting board and quickly minced the crab meat. Next came chopping ginger, mixing it into the minced crab meat, and sautéing it in a hot wok, seasoning with salt and cooking wine.

For the first half-hour, Morioka Makki focused entirely on processing the crab.

Xingping Chuangzhen’s situation was largely similar, with a large pot on his counter, the contents unknown, and steam billowing out.

Another stove held a clay pot, currently cooking rice.

Xingping Chuangzhen was more about waiting.

Xia Yu, of course, knew what Xingping Chuangzhen was making.

It was none other than the "Transformed" raw egg rice bowl!

The key to this dish was the chicken wing aspic, also the most time-consuming step. Without a professional kitchen environment, it would be tough just to prepare the aspic in an hour, not to mention the subsequent steps for preparing the scrambled eggs.

"The theme is egg dishes, did they even understand?!"

"Half an hour has already passed!"

Tiqie Eriina murmured with her arms crossed, her voice tinged with a hint of irritability.

One was boiling crab, the other chicken wings, it seemed unrelated to egg dishes, right?

"Miss Eriina, come with me for a moment." Xia Yu suddenly drew closer.

"Hmm?" Tiqie Eriina raised an eyebrow, "What for?"

Her expression showed wariness and scorn, "Far Moon doesn’t need someone mediocre in cooking skills, who only knows how to pull strings. If you’re planning to make a move on me, to make me relax the exam scrutiny, I’d advise you not to dream!"

"Not at all, I have something to tell you, just between us." Xia Yu gestured with a hooked finger.

Tiqie Eriina shook her head firmly, ready to refuse, but then she saw Xia Yu’s lips silently moving, the lip reading clearly repeating two words: "Bet!"

"Hizaki, keep an eye on the exam room." Tiqie Eriina, cornered, walked towards the side door of the venue with a grave face.

Xia Yu followed her, and when they reached the corridor outside, he made sure to close the door gently behind them.

Tiqie Eriina stood with her arms crossed, her back to him, and her gaze on a landscape painting on the wall. From her side profile alone, she remained aloof.

"Cough cough," Xia Yu began, "Eriina, you remember our bet, right?"

There was silence from the other end for a moment before the slow reply: "... I remember!"

"So, school starts in a few days," Xia Yu asked, almost smiling, "Do you think you lost, or I won?"

"Does it matter whether I lost and you won?"

Tiqie Helinai turned her head and glared at him viciously, her eyes clearly conveying her embarrassment and annoyance.

"You remember the bet, so you must remember the conditions for winning and losing, right?" Xia Yu said, waving his hand before Eriina could explode, "Don’t worry, I won’t actually make you help out at my little shop. How about this, as an exchange, you just do me a small favor..."

"You want to blackmail me with the bet?"

Tiqie Helinai said coldly: "I am the examiner for this exam. If you fail, you fail. There is no room for discussion!"

"What, your ’friend’ is just mediocre at cooking, so you still want to take shortcuts through me?" Tiqie Helinai emphasized the word "friend," with a teasing tone.

"Girl, you have quite the imagination," Xia Yu said speechlessly.

"I just want you to be fair..."

"Fair? I am the head examiner, being fair is my principle. Do you need to remind me of that? I’ve already said that, as long as those two candidates can make a dish that satisfies my ’Divine Tongue,’ they will pass!"

Snorting, Tiqie Helinai pushed the door and returned to the examination hall.

Yet she didn’t know that Xia Yu was smirking behind her.

Done!

This girl had been groomed by her father and had personality flaws – too willful and too tsundere. If he didn’t pull her aside and give her a reminder, later Sen Tian Makki and Xingping Chuangzhen could present dishes that satisfied her ’Divine Tongue,’ and she would still deem them unsatisfactory.

That’s what happened in the original story.

Xingping Chuangzhen would have been terribly wronged. If he hadn’t been Xingping Cheng Yilang’s son and hadn’t received Tiqie Xianzuowen’s care, he would have certainly said farewell to Far Moon. And the story of Food War Spirit would have ended before it even began.

Moreover, due to Eriina’s pride and willfulness, speaking directly to her would only annoy her, making her stomp with anger.

So, Xia Yu played a more gentle tactic, making Eriina aware of her duties as the head examiner.

As the head examiner, of course, the most important thing is fairness.

At least in terms of work, Tiqie Helinai, as a member of the Elite Ten, was quite reliable.

After all this effort, Xia Yu was just helping Sen Tian Makki. As for Xingping Chuangzhen, he had a good father and never lacked for luck because of his role as the protagonist, so there was no need for Xia Yu to step in and help him.

Returning to the examination hall, half an hour later, Sen Tian Makki and Xingping Chuangzhen presented their dishes in succession.

"This is the signature dish of Xingping Restaurant—"

"Transformed raw egg rice bowl!"

Xingping Chuangzhen untied the white cloth from his forehead.

"Really, it’s just a simple raw egg rice bowl?" Niho Fuyuka’s forehead sprouted black lines as the dish before her showed no particular flair; it was a simple stir-fried egg next to a steaming bowl of rice, which when mixed together, constituted a raw egg rice bowl.

"Do you really think with such a simple, unremarkable dish, you can gain Lady Eriina’s approval?!"

Niho Fuyuka glared at Xingping Chuangzhen.

"..."

Tiqie Helinai stood to one side, arms crossed, eyes closed, indicating she wished to remain silent.

"Hey! The true nature of this dish will be revealed by me—" Xingping Chuangzhen lifted the square bowl from the table and suddenly inverted it. The scrambled eggs fell into the rice bowl, and along with them, some semi-transparent aspic, which landed on the hot rice, quickly melting and releasing an intense aroma.

Taking a small sniff, Tiqie Helinai uttered in astonishment: "Chicken broth?"

The entire bowl of rice soon turned crystal clear from the aspic, making the dish look absolutely appetizing.

Hm?

Xingping Chuangzhen was just about to say the words "Please enjoy" and hand over the chopsticks when suddenly, a "flavor bomb" detonated in the hall, the intense freshness utterly overshadowing the taste of the Transformed raw egg rice bowl.

"This is my dish!"

Sen Tian Makki, beaming with a smile, removed the lid from her dish.

The rich aroma continuously leaked out from underneath the lid!