Chopper Bronson.
He is an American chef and restaurant owner.
He once served as the president of the "Gastronomy Encyclopedia" committee and hosted a cooking TV show funded by the Nakamura Company.
Bronson operates 14 famous restaurants in places like Southeast Asia's Bangkok, France's Bordeaux, China's Shanghai and Hong Kong, Canada, the UK, Japan, and Wall Street. He holds the record for the most WGO-recognized stars, totaling 28 stars!
This means each of his restaurants, on average, has received a 2-star rating.
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As a world-class chef, Bronson has a fiery temper and the strictest standards.
When it comes to delicious food, everyone has their favorites, and discussing this topic with others can often lead to heated debates.
The encounter between food and people is much like the encounter between individuals—it's all about fate!
The warm, bright lights flickered against the walls with the shadows of glasses, and the well-dressed diners spoke softly and laughed lightly.
Perhaps only such a quiet and peaceful dining environment could give the Subway restaurant a sense of ritual.
However, at this moment, the head chef of this restaurant, Bronson, was intently observing a new diner, the Midnight Chef, Saji!
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"Hmm, interesting."
"The chef who set the record for the most WGO stars, working under an American corporation."
Saji took a bite of her sandwich and then casually addressed Bronson.
"What?"
Bronson's eyes turned sharp upon hearing this.
"There's no need for that look. I'm sure you know why I'm visiting this restaurant," Saji shrugged nonchalantly.
"Midnight Chef?" Bronson finally understood, his expression a mix of surprise and recognition.
"Yes," Saji nodded.
"Coming for our Subway restaurant?"
Knowing the reputation of the Midnight Chefs, Bronson's face grew serious and cautious.
When Subway was expanding its operations in America, they had clashed with the Midnight Chefs.
Thus, he knew very well how formidable they were!
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The two stared at each other for a brief moment.
Bronson's forehead began to sweat, a strong sense of crisis rising within him.
"What do you want?"
He asked again.
"We Midnight Chefs always like to destroy everything through food battles," Saji continued, staring at Bronson.
"Alright, I accept your challenge."
Knowing there was no avoiding the conflict with the Midnight Chefs, Chopper Bronson turned and returned to the kitchen under the watchful eyes of many diners.
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Saji prepared some shrimp first.
Then she pulled out a high-powered chainsaw.
This chainsaw uses the teeth on a rapidly rotating chain to cut.
It precisely controls the cutting angle and position, making fine cuts easy.
The sound and power generated during cutting are intense, like a rocket launch!
But chainsaws are for cutting trees, not food.
"What... Is she crazy, using a chainsaw to process shrimp?"
Just when Bronson thought Saji was going to simply chop the shrimp, he was shocked to see her using a high-speed rotating chainsaw to mince the shrimp!
"In all my years, I've never seen anyone cook like this," Bronson was terrified.
"If you view us Midnight Chefs through ordinary eyes, you're making a big mistake."
"I've long wanted to use this surprising method to take down your Subway restaurant in North America!" Saji's eyes turned fierce.
Bronson, a world-class chef, now looked like her prey, ready to be taken down at any moment.
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The simple, rustic shape of focaccia bread is the ancestor of pizza.
That's why many people believe that focaccia bread is a specialty of Italy's Liguria region.
The theme of Saji and Bronson's food battle was dessert, so Saji made a simple fish cake focaccia using sea bream and minced shrimp.
This dessert was not complicated; its main ingredients were two types of seafood:
Sea bream.
Shrimp.
However, once completed, it looked exceptionally beautiful. The bright colors and fresh flavors brought an unusual feeling to the autumn season.
Even Bronson was amazed that the fish cake focaccia, made using a chainsaw, could turn out so delicate!
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Fish cake focaccia.
The fish cakes made with sea bream and shrimp had a unique flavor that could easily become addictive with just one bite.
Moreover, the cheese used was Camembert, considered the finest French cheese.
This cheese has a mild taste and belongs to the soft-ripened category.
Its texture is soft, like fresh cake, making it suitable for cooking and eating with wine.
Paired with crispy crackers and fig jam, topped with Chinese toon sprouts, this strange yet perfect combination could only be achieved with Saji's fish cake focaccia.
Additionally, she used a chocolate sponge cake, which, despite looking overly sweet, had a distinct texture, making it not cloying at all.
And if paired with a pot of flower tea, it would be perfect!
"Wow!"
"This fish cake focaccia is so fresh and sweet, without any fishiness. It's fatty but not greasy."
"The texture is springy, and the taste is fresh. Combined with another seafood ingredient, the sensation is marvelous."
A diner in the restaurant closed his eyes, savoring the indescribable aroma.
The diners of Subway, used to Bronson's cooking, inevitably had a "first impressions" bias!
But Saji was unfazed.
She had great confidence in her skills, believing her fish cake focaccia could definitely defeat Bronson.
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Sea bream and shrimp.
Though these are common seafood ingredients with no special traits, under Saji's superb culinary skills, the taste of the sea bream and the shrimp's flavor were fully unleashed in that first bite—absolutely perfect!
Simple, yet flawless.
Paired with the softest cheese, Camembert, crispy crackers, and flavor-enhancing fig jam.
A single bite released a burst of complex flavors, filling every inch of the tongue, deeply captivating, feeling fresh, sweet, and delightful.
"Mmm, so sweet!"
"This fish cake is amazing."
A diner couldn't help but exclaim.
They never expected to taste such a surprising dessert tonight.
The core of the dessert was rich and sweet, wrapped in soft Camembert cheese. The whole fish cake focaccia was straw-colored and didn't look particularly special at first glance.
However, once tasted, it was truly irresistible!
Another excited diner stood up and said, "The highlight of this fish cake is the combination of seafood and dessert."
"Using a chainsaw to mince the shrimp, with its high-speed rotation and brutal cutting, locks in the shrimp's freshness and enhances the overall aroma of the fish cake!"
"Then, paired with the rich flavor of the cheese, the taste is primarily fresh and sweet."
"In the mouth, it's layered and rich in texture."
"Its unique flavor, turning seafood into a dessert, is like a beauty and the beast combo—seemingly impossible but perfectly harmonious!"
"Ah!"
"I can't take it anymore."
"My body, my heart, even my soul, feel split open. Ahhh..."
Moans filled the restaurant, making the atmosphere quite charged.
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After the fish cake, it was time to try Bronson's dish. He presented his diners with:
A large crab!
A closer look revealed it to be a roasted crab.
The top two shiny black eyes seemed like small chocolate balls.
It looked so real that it could fool the diners.
The whole crab, in shape and presentation, was majestic, like the crab general from the story of Journey to the West!
Crab has always been a delicacy.
Crabs are rich in protein, especially in China, where there is a tradition of eating crabs during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Traditionally, Chinese medicine views crab as cold in nature, so ginger, perilla, and other ingredients are often used as condiments when eating crab.
"Am I seeing things? Is that a crab?"
The diners were stunned.
The entire restaurant was silent for a few seconds.
Then, a sharp-eyed diner first noticed that this roasted crab did not have the fresh crab meat aroma, only a chocolate scent.
"Chocolate? Could it be that this crab is not real but made of chocolate?"
Before this, people's impressions of Bronson were always of him being a master of exquisite and high-class French cuisine. Who would have thought:
He could also make molecular gastronomy!
"You guessed it right."
Bronson smiled and explained to everyone, "Each part of this crab has a different flavor."
"The shell is chocolate with red edible dye, and the eyes are two large chocolate balls."
"As for the crab meat inside, it's a mango mousse."
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Shocking!
Absolutely shocking!
A world-class chef's creation is indeed extraordinary!
The mango mousse melts instantly in the mouth, requiring no chewing.
It leaves a faint fragrance on the lips and teeth. As you savor it, the rich aroma lingers in the mouth—sweet and fragrant, especially after being chilled, the flavor becomes endless.
And the sweet mango mousse is not greasy at all, with a rich sweetness and chocolate to enhance the flavor.
This molecular gastronomy dessert makes you want a second bite.
Many diners eagerly used their spoons to take another piece of the chocolate-covered mango mousse cake, enjoying it with great delight.
The wonderful taste made the diners repeatedly exclaim.
Who would have thought?
The chocolate crab shell was based on Singapore's famous chili crab.
Made into the shape of a crab, the chocolate had a super fine texture.
In appearance, it was identical to the real thing but tasted delicious.
However, the flavor was fleeting, and only continuous tasting could preserve this indescribable taste in the mouth.
Soon, the diners couldn't help but use their chopsticks to dig into another crab claw!
This time, they didn't taste it carefully.
Instead, they stuffed it into their mouths, eating it in large bites.
Gently breaking the crab shell with
chopsticks revealed some white jelly-like substance, resembling crab meat.
"Surprisingly, besides the mango mousse, there is also coconut jelly and coconut milk pudding inside!"
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Besides the coconut pudding crab meat, the chocolate crab also had something like crab roe.
Of course, the crab roe was not real but made from a mixture of mango-flavored tapioca and pudding, designed to look like flowing crab roe.
Visually, it was already very similar to crab roe.
Finally, the crab legs were made with white pudding sprinkled with red chocolate powder, giving the appearance of crab meat fibers.
What shocked the diners even more was that even the crab roe could be made from dessert ingredients.
One had to marvel at how deceptive appearances can be!
"Mousse cake has become a representative of high-end cakes today."
"Using high-tech methods, the texture of the mousse cake can be made more precise."
"In appearance, it's indistinguishable from the roasted crab, but in today's aesthetic-driven era, such unique ideas are truly standout."
"The crab claws with mango mousse, the crab meat with coconut pudding, the tapioca and pudding mixture for crab roe, and the crab legs, even the crab roe, are all carefully crafted desserts that complement each other."
"This perfectly aligns with the concept of molecular gastronomy..."
Bronson looked at Saji with a confident smile.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Saji responded calmly, showing no sign of concern.
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