The sandy texture of salty egg yolk, the delicate yellow croaker meat, and the slightly elastic scrambled eggs melted on the tip of the tongue, and a pure, incomparable crab umami assaulted the brain once more.
The crispness of the diced tofu, the richness of the egg yolk, and the umami of the shrimp paste blended into an iron fist of crab flavor, attacking for the third time.
"This level of Sai Pang Xie (Imitation Crab)! It can be called a masterpiece!" Zhang Yu knew exactly what he was eating, yet the information transmitted by his taste buds deceived his brain.
The dozen or so judges around him, seeing the look of pure enjoyment on Zhang Yu's face, picked up their knives, forks, spoons, and chopsticks, intending to snatch the food.
"Wait! I haven't finished tasting yet! This crab cake definitely holds another mystery!" Facing over a dozen hands reaching out with tableware, Zhang Yu hurriedly protected his plate.
Having said that, he frantically picked up the golden fried crab cake and sent it into his mouth.
"Ah~" After biting through the crispy shell, warm and delicious crab juice immediately flowed out. The deliciousness of the crab meat spread from the tip of his tongue, rapidly filling his entire body, and Zhang Yu let out a long sigh of satisfaction.
Immediately afterward, the three distinct elastic sensations being chewed inside his mouth made him widen his small eyes to their limit. "The tender and firm part is the crab claw meat! The loose part wrapped in delicious soup is the body meat! And there's a whole bouncy crab leg!?"
Just as his voice fell, the lingering aftertaste of the three layers of Sai Pang Xie (Imitation Crab) on the tip of his tongue combined with the crab cake.
"Oh oh oh oh! The taste of the crab cake has fused with the three layers of Sai Pang Xie (Imitation Crab)!"
In Zhang Yu's vision, a giant Chinese Mitten Crab descended from the sky. The entire venue evolved into a boxing ring, and he became the referee on the ring wearing a striped shirt.
"BOXING!"
The moment he shouted start, the giant Chinese Mitten Crab, wearing boxing gloves, delivered a heavy punch.
Steamed Sea Bass, sent flying!
"Not a single one can fight!" The Chinese Mitten Crab crossed its claws over its chest, its eyes incomparable disdainful, its massive body supported by two thin hind legs.
Its standing posture was full of imposing momentum yet incredibly flamboyant.
In the instant Zhang Yu shielded his eyes and zoned out from the powerful fist wind, the entire boxing ring turned into a gladiatorial arena.
Seemingly provoked dishes constantly crawled onto the ring from all directions. The boxing Chinese Mitten Crab did not shy away from the fight, its shell turning bright red with surging power.
It shouted loudly, "The—world!"
Invisible waves surged into the surroundings, and the dishes coming from all sides were suddenly frozen in mid-air.
Immediately after, moving its eight legs with light and agile steps, it sent all the provoking dishes flying with a single punch each.
"Muda Muda Muda!" The Chinese Mitten Crab's punches were like shadows, and shattered dishes filled the sky. "Hinjaku Hinjaku!"
Kung Pao Chicken, sent flying!
Mapo Tofu, sent flying!
Sweet and Sour Pork, sent flying!
...
By the time he came back to his senses, countless dishes had already fallen at the feet of the Chinese Mitten Crab.
The Chinese Mitten Crab stood atop the small mountain made of piled-up shattered dishes, raised its double claws, and struck a pose. "Hahahaha! I'm really high to the limit!"
"K.O!"
"Truly a tough dish full of power. The combined taste of the three layers of Sai Pang Xie (Imitation Crab) is one leap forward, and the taste of the three-crab-meat fried crab cake is another leap. The combination of the four tastes piles the crab flavor up to a peak for the third time."
"Amazing. This dish, Rampant Tyranny, could completely serve as a restaurant's signature dish served directly to diners." Zhang Yu exclaimed in admiration and wanted to continue eating, only to discover that the plate containing the delicacy in front of him had vanished into thin air.
Zhang Yu, his expression freezing, hurriedly turned his head. To the side, a dozen chefs were gathered together, red-faced, doing indescribably bad things.
"You passed." Hastily announcing the result, Zhang Yu hurriedly squeezed into the crowd. "Holy crap! You animals, save a bite for me!"
"Finally managed to grab some." Sena Hiromi successfully snatched food from the tiger's mouth and escaped the battle.
Just as he was about to gorge himself, a gaze coming from the side made him tremble.
"Uh, Mentor Chapelle, would you like some?"
Chapelle did not speak, silently nodding.
Sena Hiromi, with a bitter look on his face, split half of the crab cake.
Immediately, the two of them also saw the scene of the giant Chinese Mitten Crab waving its Ora Ora crab punches and going Musou in the venue.
"It seems the worst-case scenario didn't happen." In the spectator room, Sakuma Tokihiko let out a sigh of relief upon hearing the result, but immediately tensed up again.
Mo Bai, having received a passing evaluation, walked back to the cooking station.
"Old Bai, are you trying to cause trouble!?" Little Bai's voice, sounding incredibly excited, exposed its identity as a chaotic element. "Drug the judges one by one, making them submit beneath your crotch?"
"Drug them one by one?" Mo Bai thought for a moment about the scene where, after success, the managers of various restaurants would hug his thigh, crying and begging for his attention... so damn cool.
However, this kind of fantasy scene was better left to the imagination.
"No, I just suddenly thought of a good idea."
"They don't seem to have a rule that one can only be accepted by one restaurant, right?" Mo Bai thought of Gokou Ruri, who had acknowledged him as her master. "My Culinary Heart is practically a divine artifact when it comes to harmonizing flavors, so what if I use it to make desserts?"
Now that Mo Bai had the peak physique of humanity, the scene of him cooking in the future would definitely be even more super-powered.
A thirteen-year-old girl, it couldn't be that after she goes back, he lets her wield a heavy kitchen knife and perform a manic operation just like him, right?
Gokou Waning Moon · Loli · Raging Bull Blue Dragon Slash?
That scene was too beautiful; he simply couldn't look directly at it.
It would be better to let her delve into desserts, and wait until her body develops before seeing if she can develop in other directions.
Of course, aside from responsibility, Mo Bai had another reason.
"Girls should all like eating desserts, right?"
"Old Bai, simp..."
"Simp what simp! Point out who on the scene is good at desserts." Little Bai's heartfelt suggestion was brutally interrupted by Mo Bai.
"...The First and Second Seats are both chefs who specialize in French cuisine; their desserts should be quite good."
"You aren't scamming me, are you?" Mo Bai glanced at Chapelle and Sena Hiromi on the judges' bench, who were immersed in the gourmet illusion.
The Head of the Tōtsuki French Cuisine Department, known as [The Chef Who Doesn't Smile], Roland Chapelle.
The Tōtsuki Resort Vice Head Chef, whose status was only below Dōjima Gin, Sena Hiromi.
With the passing dishes already presented, the difficulty of making these two make an exception was practically hell-level.
"Would I scam you? How could I scam you? Look, I didn't even embezzle the fifty thousand points from the TV broadcast for you!" Hearing Mo Bai's suspicion, Little Bai immediately retorted unhappily.
It was just that the retort contained a trace of imperceptible guilt.
Far East Television broadcast only fifty thousand points? Even if foreigners are few, it's not that dark.
"Cough cough, I haven't really been discovered, have I?" Beneath Little Bai's posture of craning its neck and blushing was a little heart beating thump-thump.
"Forget it, I believe you. Where's the dessert recipe?"
"Madeleine Cake: Flour, butter, eggs, white sugar."
"Unique shape resembling a shell, small and cute, a cake with a texture between cake and cookie."
"The biggest advantage of this kind of basic baked dessert is the ability to DIY flavors at will. However, I suggest you make the basic flavor profile first." Little Bai, eager to cover up the topic, babbled a whole bunch.
Chapelle and Sena Hiromi, just waking up from the gourmet illusion, saw the ingredients and shell-shaped molds laid out on Mo Bai's counter as soon as they opened their eyes.
"He's going to make Madeleine Cakes?" The two, having completely forgotten they were still in the middle of testing, had a look of expectation in their eyes.
"Emmm... Little Bai, doesn't it say the oven needs to be preheated? How do I do that?" Mo Bai looked at the buttons on the oven with a dumbfounded face.
"I fall!" Little Bai faceplanted. "You don't even know how to use an oven and you're doing baking?"
"What does me doing baking have to do with whether I know how to use an oven?"
===
In the room managing the luggage, inside Mo Bai's suitcase, the cherry branch preserved in a wooden box flashed with light.
"Ara ara~ I didn't expect that a trip to the Ice Hell in the Inner World would take so long."
________________________________________
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