```
A bowl of overnight rice was an essential ingredient for fried rice.
The reason was, the moisture in the overnight rice was mostly evaporated, making the grains harder and easier to separate during stir-frying, instead of becoming a sticky lump which would make heat control and seasoning difficult.
Xia Yu casually pulled out a square Chinese kitchen knife from the knife rack.
The [Jade Fragment Knife] was unnecessary for dealing with vegetables. This knife was meant for handling meat ingredients; using it to cut vegetables would be a waste, an overuse of resources.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...
The kitchen counter immediately echoed with a pleasant, highly rhythmic tapping sound.
Hozoi Midori was slicing a pineapple. She sliced a large pineapple in half, using only one half, while setting the other half aside without peeling it. She directly used a long, sharp kitchen knife to cut into the flesh.
The knife flashed and intertwined, and in just a few seconds, the entire side of pineapple flesh turned into evenly sized pieces which she tilted out onto a plate.
Next was slicing the ham. Hozoi Midori handled this smoothly, and amidst cutting the ingredients, she did not forget to glance at Xia Yu beside her.
Her face showed astonishment.
Xia Yu's knife technique was unbelievably simple; to put it bluntly, it looked like he was just messing around, casually slicing spinach and Qingjiang vegetables into sections.
However, Hozoi Midori's pupils soon slightly contracted.
Xia Yu's knife speed became faster and faster. His entire hand was now just a blur; he specifically picked out the spinach stalks, focusing on cutting them, and the shadow of the knife fell like a sudden rain. Though it seemed hasty, each blade stroke was very precise, maintaining not only a steady frequency but also concentrating on one point each time.
It was like repeatedly chopping madly at a single hair.
Startling.
Hozoi Midori wiped her eyes and looked again at the hand holding the spinach stalks on his chopping board, secretly breaking out in a cold sweat.
If the knife rhythm was even slightly chaotic, it would not be slicing spinach but fingers instead. Furthermore, judging from the knife speed and sharpness, if he hit a finger, it would be more serious than just a cut.
For some reason, Hozoi Midori suddenly thought of her father.
Her father was the head chef of Beitiao Building and was equally at ease while cooking.
Terrifying basic skills!
And the experience of being an executive chef!
In just a few seconds, the shadow of the knives disappeared, and the sense of pressure in Hozoi Midori's heart quietly disappeared as well.
On the chopping board were finely chopped spinach stalks, as if they had been ground in a blender.
What was he going to do with this?
Hozoi Midori's eyes were filled with intense curiosity.
Was he planning to dye all the rice green by making such finely chopped vegetables for fried rice? Hozoi Midori immediately understood the purpose of pulverizing the spinach. Yet, would fried rice made this way be tasty?
Shaking her head internally.
Imagining a plate of entirely green fried rice presented before her, Hozoi Midori feared she wouldn't even have the urge to pick up her chopsticks, having no appetite at all.
A vegetarian fried rice without eggs, ham, or even any of these seasonings—how could its taste possibly be called delicious?
"You've chosen the wrong dish."
"My pineapple curry fried rice will crush yours in terms of taste!"
Turning her gaze back to the ingredients in front of the kitchen counter.
Eggs, pineapple cubes, ham cubes, and a block of solid curry... Hozoi Midori regained her previous assertiveness, sweeping away any confusion.
"The winner will be me—"
Lighting the fire, pouring in oil, she broke the eggs into the pan. The spatula in Hozoi Midori's hand was like a sharp battlefield weapon. The eggs were crushed and quickly turned golden brown; next was adding the ham cubes and stir-frying.
Hozoi Midori, feeling the scorching heat from the stove up close, slightly closed her eyes in yearning.
At this moment, she was the controller of the flame!
...
This past week, though Xia Yu's cooking level only rose from lv10 to lv11, he had spent most of his time in the God of Cooking Space, researching new recipes day and night while also practicing the basics.
The fundamental skills of 'knife techniques' and 'heat control' were maxed out, reaching the full value of 10 points.
What followed was the advancement branching of these basic skills.
For instance, succeeding in becoming a two-star chef would allow him to master the advanced knife technique of "Fierce Bull Green Dragon Slash," and continue allocating Talent Points to it.
As for the advanced skill in 'heat control,' if not for investing all the Fame Points in practice within the God of Cooking Space, Xia Yu could have exchanged for an advanced fire control Skill Book two days ago.
Xia Yu was making a dish of mixed vegetable fried rice.
In the original plot of "Cooking Master Boy," this dish had an incredibly flashy name—"Comet Fried Rice."
Naturally, he did not have extra Fame Points to buy the recipe for "Comet Fried Rice" from the God of Cooking Store.
So, what he was cooking was actually a neutered, non-glowing version.
This week a question lingered in Xia Yu's mind.
Without learning the blue recipe, could he create glowing dishes himself?
Comet Fried Rice was the project he experimented with. Of course, the experiment failed; until he left the God of Cooking Space to sleep last night, Xia Yu had not made a dish that truly glowed, even if some finished product received a 90-point evaluation from the system.
However, the long-term experimental research turned Comet Fried Rice into the strongest dish under Xia Yu's "trump card" and "killer move" of glowing cuisine.
Xia Yu extended enough respect to Hozoi Midori.
Bringing out glowing cuisine, crushing her too fiercely and causing Hozoi Midori to break down was not good.
Regardless, Comet Fried Rice was enough to handle this food duel.
After cutting vegetables came boiling water and blanching.
In a pot filled with water, adding a little oil and salt, and preparing a small basin of ice water on the side, Xia Yu used a slotted spoon to fill it with the chopped spinach and Qingjiang vegetables, putting them in hot water for about half a minute before quickly fishing them out and plunging them into the ice basin to cool.
This step was critical; cooling with ice water could lock in the vegetables' juices and flavors, preventing them from being further steamed by the rolling water and turning yellowish.
After draining the vegetables of water, it was time to stir-fry!
With a hot pot and cold oil, first adding half the green onions to fry for fragrance, then adding a large bowl of overnight rice, using a spatula to vigorously break apart and separate the rice until it turned into individual grains.
The subsequent steps involved adding the minced spinach, mixing evenly. At this point, the crushed spinach stalks fully mixed with the rice, and the dish in the pot already showed a faint green color.
Salt, shrimp powder, mushroom powder...
Since the two large frying pans were set up on the same stove, Hozoi Midori was only half a step away from Xia Yu, and if their frying actions were slightly large, their elbows would almost collide.
She glanced over, seeing Xia Yu adding one seasoning after another into the pot, and her initially indifferent expression suddenly changed.
With a flip of the spatula, swish, the seasonings blended into the fried rice, and it seemed to complete a magical spell, as an entire pot of green food emitted an enticing, overwhelming aroma.
Just a light inhale, and Hozoi Midori's eyes revealed an incredible look.
Her body felt light.
A warm breath flowed in her chest, reminiscent of spring and... the earth?
```