Reborn in Japan as a Chef God

79: Chapter 79: France’s Silver Cod 79: Chapter 79: France’s Silver Cod Outside, an hour had passed, but in the Chef God Space, it had already been a day.

Shinohara Shigetaro occasionally glanced at the timer above the venue, his brow furrowed.

“He has been standing there for an hour, hasn’t he?”

Dojima Yin glanced at the other chefs; the remaining eight chefs were each busy at their cooking stations, in a flurry of activity.

Hmm.

But when Dojima Yin looked closely, he found an anomaly.

There was a female chef who looked like a recent college graduate.

She placed a plump, beautiful cod about twenty centimeters long and weighing three to four pounds flat on the cooking station.

Her fair hands gently rested on the fish’s belly, eyes closed, while she muttered something continuously.

This female chef also attracted the attention and discussion of the entire audience.

“A special cooking technique, perhaps?” Dojima Yin said, his gaze lingering between the female chef and Xia Yu, with an expression of interest.

Shinohara Shigetaro and Liangzi Lina also turned their eyes toward the female chef, looking at each other in astonishment.

Liangzi Lina, who could somewhat read lips, gradually wore a grave expression as she watched.

“She’s…

she’s communicating with the ingredient!” Liangzi Lina exclaimed.

Communicating with the ingredient?

Now, Shinohara Shigetaro and Dojima Yin were not merely surprised, but a hint of shock appeared in their eyes.

“Are you sure?” Shinohara Shigetaro asked in a tense voice.

“I’ll observe more closely!”

Liangzi Lina fixed her gaze on the female chef.

Dojima Yin’s mind was not at ease either.

Ordinary chefs, special-grade chefs, and above them, even in their home countries and around the world, were the “Lin” chefs on a master level.

The “Lin” rank was a long-standing classification.

It was said to have originated in China over a century ago and gradually established itself worldwide.

When the IGO gourmet organization was founded, it simply continued the old system.

Dojima Yin, Shinohara Shigetaro, and Liangzi Lina were all at the top of the special-grade chef tier, just below the “Lin” level.

Advancing to a “Lin” chef was not easy.

One of the most fundamental requirements was understanding Food’s Profound Meaning, being able to hear the voice of the ingredients.

And communicating with the ingredients was something that even some Lin chefs might not achieve.

This was already a higher realm of “Food’s Profound Meaning,” perhaps better described as a talent.

At this moment, Dojima Yin and the others already had a hypothesis in mind:

Super hearing?

Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the crowd as Dojima Yin and the others shifted their attention from the female chef to Xia Yu, who finally awoke after standing still for a full hour.

Moreover, he circled around the seafood cart.

This time, Xia Yu dispelled his confusion, firmly capturing a piece of cod from the freezing water brimming with cold air.

The broadcasting screen above the venue gave a long close-up shot of the cod in Xia Yu’s arms.

“Huh, he actually chose a silver cod…”

“Yes, it’s indeed a silver cod, and it was caught in the waters around Antarctica, French silver cod, with a global annual catch of only about 20,000 tonnes… The price on the Neon seafood market is roughly 3,000 yen per catty!”

“Wow, that’s really expensive!

I’m afraid only the IGO would dare to supply such costly cod unrestrictedly for a chef rating assessment!

More importantly, they are still fresh!”

The audience rumbled, with some chefs specializing in seafood among them.

Shinohara Shigetaro glanced at the broadcast screen, waved over the female staff beside him, and asked in a low voice when she approached: “How many silver cod have you placed in the seafood cart?”

“One per person, according to the headcount, and that chef picked the last one.”

The female staff quickly explained, seemingly worried that Shinohara Shigetaro might misunderstand: “We also mixed other fish species into the seafood cart, like oilfish and pollock… They have been carefully screened for size and weight, so the chance of someone unfamiliar with seafood picking a silver cod by luck is very low.”

As the staff withdrew, Shinohara Shigetaro, relieved in his heart, smiled at Dojima Yin and Liangzi Lina, saying: “It seems these nine people are standing on the same starting line.”

“The same starting line?”

Dojima Yin pointed at the timer above the venue, “There’s less than 60 minutes left.

Are you sure he can come up with a recipe and present it within this time frame?”

The evaluation was all about testing adaptability on the spot.

In two hours, most chefs would likely deal with ingredients while considering recipes in their heads during the first hour.

Now Xia Yu undoubtedly lost the chance to think, leaving minimal time for processing ingredients and preparing dishes.

Hesitation or confusion during the process could lead to failing to present his dish within the stipulated time, resulting in elimination.

“As long as he doesn’t make mistakes with the ingredients, I have faith in him for the rest.” Shinohara Shigetaro smiled.

“That lucky son of a bitch…”

At the spectators’ railing, Tiqie Eriina gritted her teeth, watching Xia Yu with a large fish in his arms approaching her area.

Coincidentally, there was an empty, unused cooking station near the audience, generally the worst position as the proximity to the audience could easily lead to distractions.

Bang!

Placing the large silver cod on the cooking station, Xia Yu didn’t rush to process it.

Instead, he turned around with long strides, heading to the supply area filled with various ingredients to select what he needed.

In fact, selecting ingredients was simple for Xia Yu.

Even if he didn’t know, he could precisely obtain the information and quality of the ingredients by using the system’s ‘Ingredient Identification.’

The question was what dish to make with the cod after selecting the ingredients.

This was why he went to the Chef God Space for a cram session.

Having tried many methods in the Chef God Space, from classic Western cuisine like crispy-skinned cod, salted cod cake, mushroom-braised cod, to pan-frying, steaming, braising, and deep-frying, the system scores weren’t very high.

So Xia Yu decided to return to Chinese cuisine, doing what he was most skilled at.

It was also his first specialized field.

The main ingredient was cod, which he had.

Next, the ingredients he needed weren’t complex.

Xia Yu searched repeatedly on the ingredient-filled cooking station and finally smiled as he found an inconspicuous ingredient in a small basket—

Water chestnuts.

Their official name is corms, known as black corms locally in Neon.

The ingredients were small, grain by grain.

Xia Yu only picked about a dozen, turned around, and went to look for other ingredients.

Whitebait, salmon roe, cheese shreds, onions, shiitake mushrooms…

For seasoning, the common cooking stations had everything.

Xia Yu only took mint leaves and fresh green tea leaves, packed all the ingredients in a basket, and walked calmly back to his cooking station.

“Chef knife?”

His gaze swept over the knife rack, Xia Yu shook his head, bent down, and pretended to search for tools in his small backpack.

In reality, he communicated with the chef system’s inventory and took out the [Jade Fragment Knife].

This knife wasn’t quite suitable for handling marine fresh, but Xia Yu, who no longer had a backup knife, had no choice.

The knives provided by the IGO were excellent; there were Japanese, Chinese, and Western styles.

Unfortunately, they weren’t handy to use, severely affecting efficiency.

At this time, factors unfavorable to cooking should be eliminated if possible.

“Time is running short!”

“Every minute counts!”

Glancing at the timer’s numbers above, with 50 minutes remaining, feeling slightly tense, Xia Yu took a deep breath and finally began his cooking sequence.