The old man unwittingly loosened his crossed arms.
After thirty minutes, Xia Yu lifted the damp cloth covering the dough. With a gleaming sharp steel knife in hand, he swiftly chopped it up. Instantly, the dough was cut into strips, which he then sprinkled with salad oil. The board was dusted with a layer of starch, and he began to pull the noodle strands!
For a novice, making pulled noodles wasn't easy. It was particularly difficult to create thin noodles, yet Xia Yu's performance made both the old man and Shinohara Shigetaro widen their eyes in surprise.
The strips of dough transformed into threads of noodles in Xia Yu's hands. With a casual flick, the noodle threads danced in mid-air, soft and resilient, with uniform thickness.
Thump, thump, thump...
Three large bowls were quickly set on the kitchen counter. The oil-coated noodle threads were placed into a perforated strainer. Xia Yu fetched an empty basin, filled it with hot water, and immersed the silver noodle threads for just a few seconds before taking them out and placing them into the three bowls.
Next, he uncovered the pressure cooker. A large ladle was filled with aromatic broth—each ladle filled a bowl. In the blink of an eye, three steaming bowls of ramen appeared on the kitchen counter.
Xia Yu evenly divided the freshly fried beef slices still in the frying pan among the bowls, sprinkling chopped green onions over them.
"Done—" Xia Yu casually removed his apron. Instead of looking at his own culinary creation, he focused on the God of Cooking System's notification:
"System: Mirror crystal consumed, you have mastered a new recipe, chef experience increased."
Ah...
Hurriedly opening his personal panel, Xia Yu found the recently acquired recipe, "Xia's Beef Noodles," under the mastered recipes section.
If he completed the initial task, he could obtain the second recipe, "Magical Mapo Tofu."
"Xia's Beef Noodles" was a green recipe, while "Magical Mapo Tofu" was blue. Did this also represent the final quality of the dish?
Xia Yu was filled with doubt.
A good recipe indeed allowed for the preparation of good food, but it also relied on culinary skills. Even with the best recipe in the universe and prepared ingredients, a beginner's dish would mostly be unpalatable dark cuisine.
Therefore, in Xia Yu's view, a recipe only provided guidance and direction, similar to a formula. The actual performance depended on the chef's personal skills.
But what did the quality of a recipe actually signify? Xia Yu asked the system.
"Green indicates a recipe of normal quality, referring to the best achievable quality of the dish. Blue is an excellent quality recipe. If cooked properly, there's a chance of producing glowing cuisine," the system replied.
Glowing cuisine!
The "Divine Tongue" of "Food War Spirit" had it, and the crossover of Chinese "Little Master Chef" into Xia Yu's world seemed perfectly reasonable.
If you've watched "Little Master Chef," it's not hard to discover a truth about cooking: any dish that doesn't glow isn't a good dish.
Does this principle apply in today's parallel world too? Xia Yu couldn't help but ponder.
"Is this your beef ramen?"
A voice behind him broke Xia Yu's reverie. Turning back, he saw it was the middle-aged man, Shinohara Shigetaro, who had barged into the kitchen. Xia Yu opened his mouth, glancing at the old man next to him, who allowed Shigetaro's intrusion without complaint; he could only shrug.
"Yes, please enjoy!"
Xia Yu earnestly placed the three bowls on the front counter.
Shinohara Shigetaro returned to his previous seat. Xia Yu took away an empty bowl, putting the fresh hot ramen in front of him, then turned and disappeared into the back kitchen with the empty bowl.
Left sitting at the table, Shinohara Shigetaro was taken aback, not anticipating Xia Yu's departure.
As a novice chef, shouldn't he stand by to hear how the customer comments on his dish? Unless he was very confident in his food!
A hint of doubt flickered in his eyes. Shinohara Shigetaro sniffed as the rich broth aroma and beef scent wafted into his nose, bringing back that otherworldly feeling. He couldn't help but murmur softly, "…Such a familiar feeling!"
"Why does it taste similar to the ramen I had earlier?"
Bowing closer to the bowl, he took another sip, his face filled with ecstasy, his stomach gurgling with hunger, and without much thought, he picked up some noodles with chopsticks and sent them into his mouth.
A bit hot, Shinohara chewed, his eyes widening in amazement.
The noodle's elasticity and texture were incredible!
He couldn't stop after the first bite, and Shinohara ate half a bowl consecutively. Beside him, a voice reminded him, "You should try the broth. It's the essence of my Xia's Beef Noodles."
The voice was deep and ancient, filled with emotion.
Shinohara looked up, stunned. The old man stood beside him, with an empty bowl in front of him. At some point, he had already devoured an entire bowl of noodles, even finishing the broth.
"Broth?" Shinohara realized he might have missed the core of the dish in his haste, putting down his chopsticks and picking up a small spoon to scoop some clear broth.
As the broth entered his mouth, every pore in Shinohara's body relaxed, as if he had just taken a hot spring bath, with mysterious currents surging beneath his skin.
"Beef bone..."
"Sichuan pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger skin..."
"Wait, besides beef bone, there's a hint of beef liver? A bit of chicken broth...Oh, and radish slices, used to absorb oil and keep the broth clear and bright?"
Murmuring with closed eyes, Shinohara opened them after a moment, gazing at the remaining half bowl of beef ramen, then shifted his glance to the taciturn old man standing beside him.
"Boss Xia, is your grandson really not a master chef?" Shinohara found it hard to believe.
From taste to texture, this bowl of noodles surpassed the previous one he had half an hour ago.
Both were beef ramen, one made by the grandfather, the other by the grandson. Based on culinary skill levels, the latter should definitely be far inferior to the former, with culinary skill being directly reflected in the dish.
Yet, the two bowls of beef ramen shattered Shinohara's understanding.
Furthermore, he was acutely aware of the old man's culinary prowess, which made it even more unbelievable.
"Not a master chef," the old man's face remained expressionless, revealing nothing of his inner thoughts. "…Not even a chef. To be honest, this is also the first time I, as a grandfather, have tasted his cooking."
The old man glanced at the empty bowl on the table, reminiscing inwardly.
"You're very lucky, Mr. Shinohara."
"Lucky?"
"Yes, don't you feel fortunate to taste such an outstanding debut dish?" The old man slightly squinted.
A sudden chill engulfed Shinohara momentarily, prompting him to nod like a pecking chick, "Lucky, very lucky!"
Xia Yu, washing dishes in the back kitchen, paid no attention to the conversations happening up front.
Ding.
With the system alert, he completed the God of Cooking System's initial task, and the "Magical Mapo Tofu" recipe appeared in his item space.
"Learn!"
Xia Yu used the recipe, a stream of information pouring into his brain. His eyes were vacant for a few seconds before regaining clarity.
"Soybeans, broth, tofu, Sichuan pepper, chili, minced garlic..."
He recited the ingredients required by the recipe in his mind, the detailed cooking steps replaying like a movie in his head, making Xia Yu eager to try them.
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(PS: Seeking recommendations and collections!)