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Shaking his head to cast away unnecessary distractions, Xia Yu gently clicked the "Start" option on the retinal interface. Ding, the crystal pointer of the wheel spun rapidly, and after a few seconds, its speed suddenly decreased and slowed down.
His heart pounded uncontrollably.
Xia Yu watched as the pointer moved toward the special category, where there were several dark golden talent icons. The "Divine Tongue" was a straightforward tongue icon, and the "Divine Hand" was a sturdy arm... He stared at the slowing pointer, unable to help but imagine wildly, damn, could today really be his lucky day?
Thinking of the plot in the anime "Food War Spirit," where Tiqie Eriina secured a seat among the Ten Masters of Far Moon with the "Divine Tongue," Xia Yu trembled with excitement.
This is what life should be like! Cheats help me reach the top!
But within a few seconds, Xia Yu roared internally,
"Stop!"
"Stop!"
"Damn it!"
The pointer showed no sign of stopping and quickly swept past the last grid of the special category. Finally, with Xia Yu's gray face, it stopped on a grid in the consumable category!
The draw was over!
"System: The item has been automatically stored in your inventory."
Opening the inventory, which seemed like an independent space, Xia Yu reached in and touched the one-time consumable item he just obtained.
A long, cool, rhombus-shaped crystal.
Extract item information:
"[Mirror Crystal]
Description: A one-time consumable item. After use, you can recall a type of food eaten that day and recreate the culinary skill to make it. Create an identical tasting replica dish, and there is a chance of learning the recipe."
Replica?
As soon as Xia Yu saw the word "replica" in the item information description, his heart beat like a drum, with each thumping beat clear and loud.
Now, he didn't know whether he was lucky or unlucky. His first beginner's wheel draw hadn't gotten him anything useful. At the lowest, a recipe would have sufficed, but instead, he got a one-time consumable item, which just happened to be related to his current initial task!
Lucky to have it, resigned to fate if lost. Xia Yu could only use this phrase to continuously comfort himself, preventing his sadness from forming a river.
"How to use the item?" he then wondered.
"Touch the item and silently say 'use,'" the system immediately answered.
"Use!"
The interface of the inventory was floating in his view, clearly only visible to him. Xia Yu quickly glanced at the old man standing behind him, towering like a mountain. Seeing that his expression remained unchanged, Xia Yu sighed in relief and immediately grabbed the rhombus-shaped crystal to use it.
Snap.
This was the sound of a crystal breaking, a sound only Xia Yu could hear.
His eyes became vacant, like a projector. From the hash brown he quickly ate on the way to the White Seagull High School entrance exam in the morning to the bowl of beef ramen he had just devoured, all the flavors returned to his taste buds. Strangely, the taste of the food unraveled on his tongue, allowing him to precisely analyze the proportions and compositions of each cooking ingredient, such as whether too much or too little salt was used, and by exactly how much.
Meanwhile, the entire process of making the food transformed into a flow of information forcibly stuffed into his head. Xia Yu clutched his head and let out a low cry, his hollow gaze returning to normal.
Turning to look behind, the old man still stood with his arms crossed, ignoring Xia Yu's low cry.
"All right…"
Xia Yu exhaled a breath of stale air and fiercely waved his fist. Let these amateurs witness the terrifying transformation from a foodie to a master chef! They knew nothing about eating!
At this moment, the kettle on the gas stove began to boil. Xia Yu found the bowl the old man had used to make ramen earlier, washed it clean, poured in high-gluten flour, then added an appropriate amount of salt to the boiling water, and mixed the dough.
Of course, compared to ordinary noodles, ramen requires a special ingredient during the mixing process—peng ash!
In fact, the earliest peng ash was made from burning peng grass into ash, with a history of at least hundreds of years. Authentic ramen, if it is to have a chewy texture, cannot do without peng ash.
Episode eleven of "Cooking Master Boy" introduces a black stone capable of producing alkaline water, which is essentially a peng ash stone.
Kneading dough is also a skillful process, as it can't be too firm, or it would become difficult to pull.
Under the "Mirror Crystal" state, Xia Yu seemed like a seasoned pastry chef with years of experience. A small lump of dough transformed under his hands, with the final texture slightly softer than that of dumpling skins.
Soon, Xia Yu wiped the sweat off his forehead, looking at the ball of dough taking shape in front of him, feeling indescribably gratified.
He wasn't in a hurry to cut the noodles for the next step but instead applied a layer of clear oil on the dough, finding a water-soaked cloth to wrap it layers deep. This process was called "waking the dough," generally taking thirty minutes. In scientific terms, it facilitates gluten generation, allowing the dough's proteins sufficient time to absorb water, thus improving the quality of the noodles.
Placing the dough aside, Xia Yu immediately started making the broth.
With ramen, the importance of the broth can't be overstated. The excellence of a bowl of ramen, beyond the noodles, primarily hinges on the rich broth's technical prowess!
The broth is often regarded as the soul of ramen. Many long-established ramen shops in the country have secret broth recipes that could even be sold.
"Beef leg bone…"
Xia Yu found the large bone the old man hadn't finished using for the broth in the corner of the chef's table. Smiling broadly, he rinsed away the bloodiness and tossed the bone into the pressure cooker. Turning, he grabbed ginger, goji berries, and various eye-dazzling spices without fretting over the exact ratio or quantity, employing them with a flick of his hand.
In fact, since Xia Yu started kneading the dough, the old man behind him, once like a sleeping lion, was gradually opening his eyes, watching him intently.
"Boss Xia."
Shinohara Shigetaro was drawn to the kitchen by the sound of Xia Yu kneading the dough.
"Shh!"
The old man put a finger to his lips, signaling for silence. Shinohara Shigetaro hesitated, then turned his attention to the figure busily working at the chef's table.
In this world, Xia Yu was only sixteen years old and would begin his first year of high school after the spring break. However, due to being continually prodded by the old man into labor, his physique was tall and robust, standing over one hundred seventy centimeters, with limbs not appearing strong at first glance but certainly full of explosive power.
Clamping the pressure cooker closed, Xia Yu ignored the two pairs of eyes behind him, glancing sideways at the antique clock in the shop, and retrieved the sliced beef he had prepared from the refrigerator, turning on the gas stove to start frying.
About fifteen minutes later, the broth boiled in the pressure cooker, releasing a rich aroma that spread everywhere.
The old man and Shinohara Shigetaro both sniffed, exchanging glances, discovering the astonishment in each other's eyes.
What a pure and thick meat broth aroma!
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(P.S.: Recommendations and favorites appreciated!)
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