Reborn in Japan as a Chef God

"Ah!"

The female protagonist stared as Xia Yu continuously sprinkled some white powder into the teacup on the table, stunned.

Can custard be manipulated this way?

Sniffing a pungent spicy scent wafting through the air, Liangzi Lina's expression turned extremely odd.

The main hall was spacious, yet these unconventional additives, thrown into the air, were markedly pungent, easy to smell without even taking a close sniff.

"Spicy!"

"I know what it is!"

"He's gone mad. Why add such pungent seasoning to a custard mainly meant to be sweet-scented?"

Suddenly, the hall filled with voices of questioning.

"It's garlic!"

Tiqie Eriina's nose wrinkled harshly, her eyes flashing with shock and confusion. Beside her, Alice's expression shifted as she nervously bit her finger, saying, "Oh no, what is the instructor doing! Adding garlic like this is utterly irrational; it totally defies the rules of cooking!"

Yuchuan Xin and his two daughters were also left in shock.

"Garlic!" Yuchuan Xin, an ordinarily dignified middle-aged man, wore an expression of disbelief on his face.

"This is a teacup custard; even if it's not in a Japanese style, who would heavily season a custard with garlic? It's a complete 'dark cuisine'—is he giving up on himself?"

Dubian Yuuki exclaimed aloud, her words drawing nods of agreement from the crowd.

The chaotic scene caught the peripheral of Xia Yu's gaze; he merely chuckled to himself, not bothering to explain or stop.

Because, soon, his finished dish would reveal all to everyone present here. Revealing the twist now would spoil the surprise and the impact; wouldn't that be rather boring?

Ha—

Chucking softly again, Xia Yu silently calculated the time—yes, about the last 20 minutes to wrap up.

He was in control of this time.

Bang!

He removed the pot from the large charcoal stove, replacing it with a plain large iron pot, and carefully covered each teacup, placing them in the water in the iron pot, making sure the water didn't overflow the lids.

A pot could hold about a dozen teacups; therefore, only two large pots of boiling water were needed to cook the food for everyone present.

"10 minutes per round! Exactly two rounds!"

As Xia Yu added charcoal and then turned on the electric blower, the room fell into a peculiar silence.

Minister Shinohara, for all his good sense, remembered he was the Food Duel Master of Ceremonies, came back to his senses, and turned to the female protagonist to say, "Chef Reiko, could you explain to everyone the differences between Chef Xia Yu's teacup custard method and yours?"

The female protagonist pursed her lips and answered, "The broth, the seasoning, and the cooking temperature."

She didn't elaborate further.

The broth—the audience had witnessed Xia Yu making the broth, which was a thick seafood-flavored soup.

As for the seasoning, the addition of crushed garlic seemed superfluous; most executives thought it was a terribly foolish move, but out of decency, they refrained from outright cold words.

As for cooking temperature, it was also full of criticism.

Hu!

Hu!

The breath of the stove flames.

From the noise, the flames were fiercely bright, and although Xia Yu continually proved himself a magician with flames, wasn't he afraid the custard would become tough and the texture ruined by such intense heat?

In terms of cooking temperature, observing secretly from a side room, Yan Qi, a leader from the Dark World and undoubtedly an authority, watched Xia Yu with increasing admiration, thinking to himself, "This is the art of Bursting Flame; though it appears to be fierce heat, it is actually gentle heat. Fierce heat scorches the iron pot, boiling the water thoroughly, thus the intermediary aspect of the heat undergoes a change, converting to 'steam.' His main control is the 'gentle heat' of steaming, using controlled gas to rapidly cook..."

Explaining it seems simple, but the actual operation, which required managing the heat levels and dividing tasks within the same stage, was as complex as doing two things at once, and even Yan Qi found it a bit challenging.

"To achieve this degree, Bursting Flame must be perfected with ultra-sensitivity," Yan Qi thought secretly to himself.

Amid the silence, 20 minutes passed unnoticed.

"Phew—"

With a long sigh and his forehead dripping with sweat, Xia Yu finally found a moment to wipe his brow, then called out to the line of young kimono-clad maids in the corner, "Can everyone help out?"

The female lead nodded at the maids, who then carried trays. Xia Yu, without any protective gear, barehandedly fetched tea bowls from the hot water and dried each carefully with a cloth before waving the maids to set them on the table.

Seeing him retrieving items from the hot water without a trace of scalding, Andrea and the Eriina sisters whispered to each other in unison, "Freak!"

This detail was overlooked by many in the room, but the four Dragon Giants on the judging panel noticed it and exchanged glances, recognizing the brilliance in their eyes. Their inner voices exclaimed, "Definitely ultra-sensitivity! Unafraid of flames!"

Soon, steaming tea bowls, each with a lid, were arranged on every desk in the room.

No one started eating, and all eyes were fixed on Xia Yu.

"You're very confident!" Andrea said with interest, staring at him. "This isn't feigned confidence or composure. A chef's confidence naturally comes from his creations, but do you really think a simple, ordinary steamed tea bowl can rival Lei Zhe's priceless omelette?"

"The ordinariness and nobility of a dish, does it truly depend on the ingredients? Besides, I've said before, Reiko's treasures must not be desecrated. I must defend them!"

Xia Yu spoke, glancing at the silent Lei Zhe, and then bowed slightly towards the judges, "What I want to say is—my strongest skills are all within this steamed tea bowl—"

"Please, taste!"

The room fell silent for a moment.

"Cough!" led by Master Yizhen, the head of the judging panel, he coughed, "Then everyone, let's begin!"

The highest-ranking person began, reaching for the lid of the tea bowl as if about to lift it. Inside the room, seeing the judges eager, everyone placed their hands on the still-hot tea lids.

"Lift!"

Xia Yu gently said.

"Lift!"

This time it was voiced by Senzaemon in a dull tone.

Clatter—

The sounds of lifting the lids erupted one after another, and from the perspective of the kimono-clad maids, columns of steam rose suddenly around the room.

Start eating!

Previously, the mysterious voice had already enticed out all of their appetites, and after those twenty minutes, the giants, unable to contain themselves any longer, pounced like hungry wolves, eagerly grasping their spoons. They didn't scrutinize the dish before plunging their spoons into the open tea bowl and scooping out the egg custard to taste.

The first taste—hot and spicy!

The heat went without saying, as it was fresh out of the oven, the temperature of the flames still lingering. Yet what was peculiar was the heat, not scalding, and this subtle difference alone was testament to the chef's exquisite control over the heat.

The spiciness came from the finely minced garlic. There wasn't much of it, yet somehow, it stood out oddly.

No chewing was necessary; the egg custard melted in the mouth.

In an instant, the initial intense sensation vanished; no, to say it merged with the greatest secret of the custard in the mouth, would be more accurate.

Listening to what seemed like the breath of flames inside the mouth, the female lead felt as if struck by electricity, emptying her face pale in shock, "Has my mouth become a furnace for roasting food?"

Boom.

The door she had previously seen became solid, adorned with elaborate Demon engravings.

Fog emerged, and slowly the door began to open, followed by strange cracking noises that echoed in her ears, leaving the female lead stunned, unconsciously stepping through the door, looking around. Snow-white egg shells covered the ground, clearly many things had hatched yet had all vanished.

"Phew—"

A wind like the wails of vengeful spirits blew from the bottomless abyss, and she walked to the edge of the cliff, involuntarily inhaling a breath of cold air, disbelief in her eyes.