Reborn in Japan as a Chef God-Chapter 64 - Fantasy Ingredients (Part 2)

After swallowing the tofu he had chewed, the aftertaste kicked in, the rich flavor of the beans spread through his mouth, and with a light breath, it was as if he was chewing a piece of gum, his mouth filled with a refreshing fragrance.

“This kind of kick pairs well with the ‘numbing’ and ‘spicy’ of the Magical Mapo Tofu!” Xia Yu thought creatively, “High oil content is no problem.

Mapo tofu is inherently a high-fat cuisine.

Plus, the fat in the tofu is plant-based, pure and harmless.”

Then, under the puzzled gazes of Liangzi Lina and Hozoi Midori, Xia Yu circled the refrigerator, occasionally stopping to use his kitchen knife to cut out a block of tofu and place it on a plate.

“What a shame about the quality!”

Xia Yu felt quite regretful.

Machine production had its advantages; the overall quality was higher, and a whole box of tofu didn’t contain any that were below green quality.

However, top blue quality was exceedingly rare; after rummaging through the entire refrigerator, he barely managed to put together one plate.

Snap!

After closing the refrigerator and locking it, Xia Yu pointed to the plate of tofu on the table next to him, “How much for these pieces of tofu?”

He was asking Liangzi Lina.

“Money?” Liangzi Lina stared deeply at him, “For you and me, this tofu isn’t expensive.

It feels even more inappropriate to say I’m giving it to you as a gift.

Consider it a small token of my invitation to collaborate on researching a dish…”

“Stop, stop, stop!”

Xia Yu raised his hand in protest, his face filled with helplessness, “I mean, when did I agree to collaborate with you on researching a dish?

I’m really busy.

Don’t you just want to eat the perfect Magical Mapo Tofu?

I’ll make it for you, but before that, you’d better give me a proper apology!”

Seeing the confusion on Liangzi Lina’s face, Xia Yu spread his hands, “How about your intrusion into my kitchen last night?”

The woman bit her lower lip as if struggling.

She was a famous female top-grade chef in the Neon Food World, and if she were to visit Far Moon for an observation, she would definitely be warmly surrounded by enthusiastic Far Moon students.

In truth, Liangzi Lina was also somewhat bewildered; as an authority in the food world, facing a young chef who had just debuted, fierce and fearless, it seemed that she had already lost in terms of momentum, not to mention whether she was justified or not.

There was no choice; she needed his help.

Although her face still wore a cold expression, Liangzi Lina’s heart was filled with inescapable regret.

Why did she impulsively invade someone else’s kitchen last night?

Creating a dish so close to perfection, flawless from any angle, was difficult even for top-grade chefs.

It wasn’t a matter of Liangzi Lina bowing down to Xia Yu or feeling inferior.

Specialized chefs have their areas of expertise, but also their unexplored, barren fields.

In fact, after tasting the three glowing dishes prepared by Xia Yu last night, Liangzi Lina had formed a rough evaluation of Xia Yu’s culinary skills.

Using ordinary recipes, he was at the level of a Far Moon student, roughly the strength of a two-star chef.

But if he pulled out his trump card recipes, such as last night’s glowing dishes, in the field of specialized Chinese cuisine, he could even defeat six-star and seven-star senior chefs, and be on par with eight-star and nine-star quasi-specialized chefs.

Of course, this was also a rough judgment by Liangzi Lina.

Chefs in the six-star to nine-star range were not necessarily pushovers to be trifled with; underestimating them could result in being crushed by an unexpected killer move.

Moving into the second field of expertise was a path to becoming stronger that Liangzi Lina had already contemplated.

She had been treading water for too long and needed to draw inspiration from new culinary fields.

Last night, after having tasted three glowing dishes in a row, Liangzi Lina felt as if she saw a new door open before her, behind which was filled with the voices of ingredients!

That was the true essence of cuisine, above that of a specialized chef!

It was the glowing dishes that catalyzed her inspiration.

To this day, when she recalled tasting the dishes, her body’s exuberant gourmet cells cheered, and a hint of enjoyment glimmered in Liangzi Lina’s eyes.

“Bang”

The sound of the kitchen door closing snapped the daydreaming Liangzi Lina back to reality.

She instinctively reached for the doorknob to pull it open but then abruptly withdrew her hand, “This isn’t my kitchen!”

She woke up, somewhat frightened.

If she made the same mistake, that young chef might just send her packing.

Shinohara Shigetaro wasn’t here; no one would intercede on her behalf.

Until she truly grasped the ‘essence of cuisine’ and advanced her skills, Liangzi Lina didn’t plan to leave.

Liangzi Lina didn’t wait long, perhaps half an hour, when Xia Yu emerged from the kitchen, carrying a freshly prepared plate of Magical Mapo Tofu.

“Did you succeed?” Liangzi Lina blurted out.

“No, the completion level has actually decreased; you guys taste it.” Xia Yu put the plate on the restaurant’s table, found two pairs of chopsticks, handed one pair to Liangzi Lina and one to Hozoi Midori, and then turned to head back to the kitchen to make breakfast.

The evenly cut Shuangjiang Tofu was neatly arranged on the plate.

Magical Mapo Tofu emphasizes ‘harmony of six flavors,’ one of which is the color composition created by the red of the chili, the white of the tofu, and the green of the garlic sprouts.

Now, with Shuangjiang Tofu as the main ingredient, Liangzi Lina’s sensory experience of this dish was that it had become prettier and more refined!

Hozoi Midori had already picked up a small piece of Shuangjiang Tofu and popped it into her mouth, then frowned.

Seeing her expression, Liangzi Lina was even more curious.

Could the recipe have been ruined?

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With hesitation and unease, Liangzi Lina slowly ate a small piece of tofu, followed by a long silence.

…

Locked in the kitchen, Xia Yu was also deep in thought, pondering how to remove the annoying aftertaste of the tofu.

The Shuangjiang Tofu hadn’t reached the level of Fantasy Ingredients, especially from Xia Yu’s perspective, this new ingredient was not even as good as the tofu he made by hand.

The reason was simple: hand-made tofu could become invisible during the cooking process, blending perfectly into the ‘harmony of six flavors’ of the Magical Mapo Tofu.

The taste was not prominent or show-stealing but also could not be ignored.

But Shuangjiang Tofu was different, its strong aftertaste became the biggest flaw, overpoweringly suppressing the ‘numbness’ and ‘spiciness,’ almost causing the dish to collapse under the ‘harmony of six flavors.’

To put it bluntly, the fact that the dish didn’t glow was evidence of a serious problem.

“It seems I need to modify the recipe…”