Reborn in Japan as a Chef God

必杀 dish!

Xia Yu was stunned and laughed, "Are you mocking me or praising me?"

He was already prepared for Tiqie Helinai's sharp tongue, so he didn't mind it much. Instead, he was intrigued by some of her words.

For example, the signature dish.

This was the trump card dish that only the Ten Masters of Far Moon or those close to their level might possess, usually showcased in major competitions or important culinary battles.

Did "Magical Mapo Tofu" have the potential to become a signature dish?

Previously, Xia Yu would have been full of doubt.

However, after witnessing the Far Moon Commander's "shirt splitting" and hearing the praise hidden in the Divine Tongue's proud words, Xia Yu felt that when he could one day cook the glowing Magical Mapo Tofu, it would signify that he had mastered a signature dish.

Silently, he memorized the cooking points Tiqie Helinai highlighted for him until they were second nature. Xia Yu's hands were itching to get cooking.

As Tiqie Helinai said, he was a half-baked chef, or rather, not even a chef, just an apprentice. Certainly, he had shortcomings in his basic skills. This was probably why the dish's system rating wasn't high.

Details, fundamental skills...

Xia Yu pondered how he could catch up with the basic skills that others had practiced for over a decade.

Humph.

"Praising you?"

Tiqie Helinai crossed her arms and looked at him from the side, "Be grateful, commoner. Do you know the cost of having me taste-test your dish? My appearance fee starts at a million, and you need to make a reservation..."

Xia Yu laughed, "We're practically family, why talk about money? At most, next time I'll treat you to a signature dish I cook."

"Do I know you?" Tiqie Helinai looked disdainful.

"Then let me give a grand self-introduction—" Xia Yu stood up and performed a gentlemanly bow, "I am Xia Yu, a native of China. Ten years ago, my grandfather, Xia Qing, brought me to Neon. I've spent or will spend my elementary school, middle school, and after-spring-break high school here in Neon."

Tiqie Helinai twitched her lips, "I don't need such a commoner's introduction. You've probably seen me in gourmet magazines or some foodie TV shows."

Having said that, at the end, Tiqie Helinai inexplicably added:

"I am the top student of Far Moon Academy's middle school division, the tenth seat of the 'Ten Masters of Far Moon', Tiqie Helinai. Remember my name well, commoner."

"Got it!"

Xia Yu got up to clear the dishes. When he returned from the kitchen, he saw the old man seeing Tiqie Xianzuowen and Helinai off, so he followed, and they all stood at the storefront.

"Mr. Xia Qing, we look forward to your return."

Tiqie Xianzuowen then looked at Xia Yu, handing him the invitation letter for Far Moon's entrance once more, smiling, "Don't be in a hurry to refuse it. Keep it first. There's almost a month left until Far Moon High School starts. You have plenty of time to consider. With your culinary talents, you should shine at Far Moon. With you, Far Moon's 'Jade Era' will surely be more interesting."

Xia Yu shook his head without a hint of hesitation.

"The world outside Far Moon is vast. I don't want to be confined by a school. On the contrary, running a small restaurant seems more interesting to me. I aspire to such a life. I'm sorry."

Rejected a second time, there was no sign of anger on Tiqie Xianzuowen's face. He nodded lightly and headed for the luxurious car.

"You'll regret it, commoner."

Tiqie Helinai bit her lower lip, her face full of anger.

In her view, repeatedly refusing the Far Moon invitation letter was a significant insult. After all, Far Moon Academy and all its enterprises belonged to the Tiqie Family.

Before getting in the car, Tiqie Helinai couldn't help but turn back, "With your poor culinary skills, this Chinese Restaurant will surely fail in your hands. Don't think running a restaurant is easy. At least as a head chef, you're unqualified!"

"I hope the next time I see you, it's not when the shop has gone bankrupt and you're on the streets..."

Bang.

The car door closed, and the extended black luxury car slowly left the street.

Xia Yu looked away, glancing at the old man beside him, expressionless. He protested, "Hey, old man, that little girl Tiqie Helinai trashed your grandson like that, and you can't say a word?"

"If you want to run this shop, meet my standards."

The old man turned and went back into the store.

Soon, as night fell, Xia Yu was in the kitchen preparing to practice, full of determination. Little did he know, the old man would directly hand him a thick notebook, "Learn everything in it within seven days. I've booked a ticket for a week later. If you haven't learned it all, you'll go to Far Moon when school starts."

Huh?

At this moment, a system prompt popped up:

"Task obtained: [Inherit the Chinese Restaurant]."

"Task content: Meet the inheritance conditions and gain the approval of Grandpa Xia Qing."

"Reward: [Cracked Jade Knife] (Purple kitchenware)."

Another task!

Xia Yu took a deep breath, a fierce fighting spirit bursting from his eyes, "Let that Tiqie Helinai see whether I can run the Chinese Restaurant well!"

Putting down the spatula, he picked up the notebook, running his hand over the worn cover.

The notebook was clearly old, yet it was kept in excellent condition. When he opened it, the pencil-written content on the pages was clear, without fading.

"Chef book detected, would you like to add it?"

The system suddenly asked.

Xia Yu was confused, "Add?"

"Yes. Copy the book's content into the Chef God System. The system will rearrange and compile it, removing unnecessary parts and leaving only the essence to help the host improve learning efficiency."

"Then hurry up and add it!"

"Addition successful. Please name the book."

"Name it?" Xia Yu rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Let's call it 'Old Man's Guide to Cooking', oh no, 'Old Man's Cooking Manual'."

Beep.

The system provided the book's assessment information:

[Old Man's Cooking Manual]

Rating: Excellent (Blue)

Content: Fundamental skills including knife skills, heat control, ingredient selection, and some common basic cooking techniques, including 11 green-quality recipes such as "Kung Pao Chicken," "Yu Xiang Rousi," "Fu Qi Fei Pian."

Estimated learning time: 5 days.

"Can I learn it all in 5 days?" Xia Yu exhaled heavily and focused on the ingredients already prepared on the kitchen counter.

He turned on the gas stove, ignited it, and after heating the pan, added Sichuan peppercorns and chilies to stir-fry.

Once the spicy oil was extracted, he filtered out the peppercorns and chilies, then added minced garlic and soybean minced meat for stir-frying.

This time, Xia Yu was full of confidence.

When deep-frying the soybean minced meat, he specifically used a timer to control the frying time to the millisecond.

Tiqie Helinai's first pointed-out shortcoming naturally no longer existed.

The second shortcoming was adding the fermented black bean sauce, bean paste, soy sauce, salt, and sugar to stir-fry out the red oil and adding the broth at this point.

The third shortcoming was the tossing of tofu after boiling.

Summarizing the second and third points, it was simply about heat control!

For Xia Yu, using a timer and focusing intently made these two points easy to achieve perfectly.

"System, check the Old Man's Cooking Manual for any content on sauce-thickening techniques..." Xia Yu asked while busy stir-frying the tofu, not forgetting to ask about the most critical point.

As soon as he spoke, the notebook content transformed into vivid learning images. A middle-aged chef with a blurry face, wearing a white chef's uniform, repeatedly demonstrated how to handle 'sauce-thickening' at the kitchen counter for Xia Yu.

'Sauce-thickening' was actually about pouring the prepared starchy liquid into the pot, adhering the sauce further to the nearly mature dish, enhancing the dish's taste and color.

In fact, whether 'sauce-thickening' was done correctly greatly affected a dish's quality.

This was also why Tiqie Helinai determined Xia Yu was a novice chef.

Because 'sauce-thickening' is one of the most basic skills in cooking; anyone who's undergone systematic cooking training wouldn't be as inexperienced with 'sauce-thickening' as Xia Yu.

Watching the video in his mind, Xia Yu suddenly realized that there were such glaring flaws in his Magical Mapo Tofu.

Now, this major flaw was about to be fixed. Could the glowing dish appear?

Taking a deep breath, he added sesame oil along the edge of the pot into the dish. He didn't rush to plate it, instead turning on another gas stove to heat the serving plate with high heat, only then transferring the dish onto the plate and sprinkling it with green onions.

The moment the dish was completed, the late-night kitchen brightened like daylight.

A kind of shimmering golden light flowed through the kitchen.