Every morning after finishing the routine cleaning, Xia Yu carried the wooden basin back to the back kitchen but stopped abruptly at the back door, his nose twitching as he sniffed the enticing aroma wafting from the kitchen.
His stomach growled.
Speaking of which, the first breakfast of the spring break hadn't been settled yet.
Xia Yu put the wooden basin down and darted into the back kitchen. Sure enough, the old man was preparing two bowls of breakfast on the kitchen counter, seemingly in the final steps.
A sweet aroma rose from the pot as the old man poured a concoction of boiled brown sugar water into the two big bowls, then sprinkled in some fried peanuts, crushed walnuts, and finally, a hint of scallion.
Swallowing involuntarily, Xia Yu fixed his eyes on the two bowls of breakfast on the counter and muttered, "Sorry, today I'll become a sweet lover."
The old man was making tofu pudding.
A common snack in the mainland of his homeland, yet ever since strangely arriving in this parallel world, it was the first time Xia Yu had seen the familiar hometown dish in Tokyo. For some reason, he felt a bit emotional and just wanted to eat.
After washing his hands, Xia Yu walked over, "A bowl for me?"
The old man nodded.
Without any hesitation, Xia Yu grabbed a bowl and left, finding a spot in the store to sit down carelessly. He dipped a white porcelain spoon into the tofu pudding.
His eyes widened slightly.
This bowl of tofu pudding was different from his impression of the snack. The main difference lay in the tofu pudding, which was crystal clear, like jelly, and it wobbled when the spoon scooped it up.
"Can tofu pudding be made to this degree... an artwork?" Xia Yu gaped.
It defied common sense.
Have you ever seen jade-like tofu pudding? In the past, Xia Yu would definitely not have believed it. He sniffed it carefully, inhaling a fragrant aroma of soybean milk that dispelled any doubts he had.
"Let's try it first."
Last night, after making a bowl of ramen, the old man clearly had a change in attitude. For example, the breakfast now seemed a bit ostentatious in Xia Yu's eyes.
For some inexplicable reason, Xia Yu felt a bit nervous, as if he would ruin this culinary artwork by eating it insensibly. He took a deep breath, steadied his slightly trembling hand, and brought the spoon to his mouth.
As soon as it entered, the delicate fragrance of the tofu pudding spread across his tongue. The flavors of scallion, fried peanuts, and walnuts did not spoil this soy aroma at all, but rather, elevated the texture and taste further. Moreover, the tofu pudding was like condensed milk, melting instantly in his mouth. After gently chewing a few times and swallowing, it turned into a fluid food sliding down his throat.
It felt as if he were drinking soy milk, with a mouthful of fragrance. At that moment, Xia Yu's mind was filled with golden soybeans, and he was like lying in a harvested sea of soybeans, enjoying, leisurely.
Without realizing it, a bowl of tofu pudding was consumed entirely.
Clang...
The spoon made a pleasant clink against the bottom of the bowl, which snapped Xia Yu back to reality. Seeing the empty bowl, he shrugged, "That's it?"
Savoring the lingering taste, Xia Yu took the empty bowl back to the kitchen.
"What kind of tofu pudding is this?" he asked the old man.
"Very ordinary vegetarian tofu pudding..." the old man also placed the clean empty bowl into the sink, his back still turned, "The tofu pudding is the main ingredient, the other ingredients are not important."
Xia Yu immediately grasped the old man's implication.
Was he implying the tofu pudding was extraordinary?
Tofu pudding and silken tofu are interim products made during tofu production. Needless to say, the old man must have used the leftover soybean milk when making tofu to make this tofu pudding.
Essentially, there's no difference in the components of tofu and tofu pudding. The quality of tofu pudding similarly represents the quality of the tofu.
Without asking more questions, Xia Yu patiently awaited the formation of the tofu.
One hour later.
In the kitchen, removing the cloth cover of the wooden tray revealed an entire large platter of fresh tofu before Xia Yu's eyes.
His pupils subtly contracted.
Just looking at the snow-white and exquisite color of the tofu indicated extraordinary quality. Xia Yu hesitated momentarily, tentatively reaching out with his index finger, lightly poking the tofu surface. The resulting bouncing firmness lit a glimmer of wonder in his eyes.
At this moment, completely unfamiliar information popped up in Xia Yu's view:
"[Water Tofu], outstanding quality, serving as the main ingredient for various dishes, system suggests host use this high-quality ingredient to cook 'Magical Mapo Tofu' to increase the probability of creating radiant dishes..."
Identifying ingredients?
Xia Yu was utterly amazed. The God of Cooking System had this function?
He couldn't help but slap his forehead and asked, "System, what's my current cooking level?"
"lv3."
"Yesterday, you completed the initial task, leveled up, and received 1 spare Talent Point," the system replied dutifully.
"Right, with my current cooking level, in which area can the Talent Points be used?"
"Knife skills and heat control are two basic talents. Of course, the host can also allocate 2 Talent Points to the 'Ingredient Identification' option to strengthen the system's appraisal function," the system said. "Note that currently, the host's cooking level is too low, reaching level 10 is required to unlock advanced talents."
Xia Yu thought for a moment and then decided, "Then 1 point to knife skills, 1 point to heat control. Let's distribute it like this for now."
"Request accepted."
In an instant, his body underwent some sort of change; Xia Yu let his shoulders relax but couldn't pinpoint the source of the change.
Gazing at the cutting board and a kitchen knife, Xia Yu reached out, picked up the knife, staring into the reflection of his face in the shiny blade, with an indescribable delight in his eyes.
Among the basic qualities of cooking, his knife skills were certainly the best, for no other reason than having practiced them daily over the years by handling various ingredients for the old man.
However, this time, the feeling of holding the knife was noticeably different.
How should he describe it? It was as if, having practiced for years, suddenly attained enlightenment and established a telepathic connection with the knife he carried, becoming one with it.
Such a description might be exaggerated, but Xia Yu really couldn't find other words to explain it.
His gaze sharpened slightly, with a swipe of the blade, Xia Yu casually picked up a block of still wet water tofu and placed it on the cutting board. His right hand's sharp kitchen knife clashed rhythmically with the board, each cut went through smoothly, his movements natural and fluid with a faint air of a seasoned hotel chef.
Before long, tofu slices covered the cutting board, just like paper sheets, each size and thickness were indistinguishable to the human eye.
"Phew..."
Through cutting tofu, Xia Yu's knife skills unexpectedly elevated a step, causing him to exhale softly, his eyes filled with excitement and a hint of trepidation.
Having only allocated 1 Talent Point, knife skills improved so markedly—should he max out the knife skill Talent Points, wouldn't he attain the level of a Cooking God just in knife skills?
Suddenly, he realized there were others in the kitchen.
Xia Yu cleared his throat, set down the kitchen knife, glanced over, and sure enough, saw the old man somewhat dumbfoundedly staring at the tofu slices on the board.
Presumably, the old man had observed every step of his tofu slicing process.
"Your knife skills..."
The old man wanted to ask but instead shook his head, resting hands behind his back as he left the kitchen.