Reborn in Japan as a Chef God

After ordering the ingredients and feeling a weight lifted from his heart, all that was left was to rely on his own skills.

"Today's menu is Sichuan cuisine and Cantonese cuisine."

"Sichuan dishes include Yuxiang Shredded Pork, Mapo Tofu, and Sour and Spicy Potato Strips."

"Cantonese dishes are Satay Beef, Pineapple Gulu Meat, and Nan Ru Vegetables Casserole."

These six dishes were all familiar to Xia Yu. With a bit of effort, he could achieve a passing score of 60 in the system.

As for tomorrow's menu, he planned to replicate the three dishes from today and add three Shandong cuisine dishes: Oil-Braised Shrimp, Nine-Turned Intestines, and Gourmet Seafood Tofu.

A close look revealed that there were quite a few tofu-based dishes.

This was actually Xia Yu's helpless choice.

Through his study of "Magic Mapo Tofu," he had mastered almost all tofu cooking skills. Xia Yu dared not claim other expertise but had full confidence when it came to tofu.

However, the other two Shandong dishes, Oil-Braised Shrimp and Nine-Turned Intestines, were relatively unfamiliar to him. Occasionally, he could achieve a score of 60, and Xia Yu now needed a lot of practice to stabilize the dish quality.

But rummaging through the kitchen for ingredients, Xia Yu was dumbfounded next.

The fridge was almost empty; he couldn't even find the main ingredients, shrimp and pork intestines, let alone other side dishes!

Moreover, using the restaurant's ingredients for practice seemed very unreliable upon second thought.

When the old man was around, Xia Yu could relax his mind, practice without worries, and use whatever ingredients he found.

Especially in the past week, thinking back on it made Xia Yu sweat.

The failed attempts of "Magic Mapo Tofu" filled one basket after another.

The tofu consumption was equally terrifying, from soaking 5 kilograms of soybeans for grinding soymilk daily at the beginning to increasing it to 10 kilograms by the third day and 15 kilograms by the fifth day. In other words, without financial support, practicing like this could exhaust one's savings, which seemed too extravagant.

This is also why training a chef is difficult.

If one doesn't go to culinary schools like Far Moon, they'd need a master, working in restaurant kitchens, running errands, starting from the very basics of cutting vegetables, and accumulating experience, taking ten to twenty years to become a head chef.

The most crucial thing is still money.

The old man only left behind one million yen, intended for ingredient procurement. It was very tight, and if Xia Yu continued using purchased ingredients for practice, he would unknowingly exhaust the funds, leaving the restaurant lifeless.

But practice was necessary unless he used the same menu every day initially to muddle through.

Xia Yu shook his head.

Reducing from twelve dishes a day to six was already a ruthless decision. This was the bottom line.

Cutting further would feel like self-abandonment to Xia Yu.

Without pressure, where would motivation come from?

"System, is there any way for me to practice cooking?" He had to turn to the Chef God System for help.

"The host currently has 220 Fame Points and can open the Chef God Space for practice. Each hour in the Chef God Space consumes 10 Fame Points," the system answered.

Chef God Space?

Xia Yu had only asked tentatively and was pleasantly surprised to find the system indeed had a solution. But he immediately forced himself to calm down, "System, what can I buy at the Chef God Store with 220 Fame Points?"

"Blue recipe, average price 500 Fame Points."

"Blue permanent cookware, average price 1000 Fame Points."

"Blue extension skill book, average price 1000 Fame Points."

Indeed!

With 500 Fame Points, he could buy a recipe, while using 220 points to open the Chef God Space would only provide 22 hours of practice.

The recipe was a permanently learned asset.

Thinking of this, Xia Yu couldn't help but feel a heartache.

With just half more of the Fame Points, he could buy any blue recipe, and with dedicated research, master a new glowing dish, increasing the number of his trump cards.

However, due to starting too late and insufficient culinary foundation, substantial cooking practice was essential.

For example, the protagonist of "Food War Spirit," Pig's Foot Xingping Chuangzhen, began cooking training at three and had 12 years of extensive head chef experience in Xingping Restaurant.

Similarly, Takeomi and Isami, brothers from Italy, were professional chefs with extensive hands-on experience before entering Far Moon.

Xia Yu had built a strong foundation, and even without the Chef God System, his knife skills ranked top among Far Moon students, but he severely lacked frontline head chef experience.

This experience could only be accumulated by running the small restaurant slowly, and meanwhile, Xia's Chinese Restaurant must continue operating!

"Practice! Practice!"

Gritting his teeth, Xia Yu decided to consider this Fame as an investment in running the small restaurant.

"System, exchange for 22 hours of usage time for the Chef God Space," he said, "Once the Chef God Space is open, can I freely enter and exit?"

"Yes, when the host leaves the Chef God Space, time freezes."

"Then open it!"

Xia Yu dashed up to the bedroom on the second floor, closed the door, lay on the bed, and spoke eagerly.

...

It seemed like he had taken a beautiful nap.

Upon waking, Xia Yu found himself in a classical and elegant traditional kitchen, with a gas stove, cabinets, pots, bowls, and an array of unopened containers all gleaming.

The classical opulence was like a dream.

Apart from the chopping station, there was also a kitchen counter dedicated to fresh ingredients. Xia Yu walked over and from a box filled with solid ice, pulled out a plump salmon.

Smelling the fresh aroma of the salmon, Xia Yu's stomach seemed to protest. For some reason, the salmon turned into a series of dishes floating in front of his view.

Just holding the ingredients brought a flood of inspiration. Xia Yu couldn't help but take a deep breath, enjoying this state of active thinking.

"Timing starts."

"The host may freely use the kitchen ingredients, with unlimited supply."

"Additionally, if the host produces a dish rated 90 or above, they will receive a mysterious reward from the system."

With that, the Chef God System fell silent.

A mysterious reward?

His lips twitched. Although this temptation method was akin to the cliched 'click to win a dragon-slaying sword,' it effectively stirred desire roughly.

Xia Yu began to look forward to it, a score of 90? He'd show them what he could do!

He began practicing diligently.

...

The rain in Tokyo that day was heavy, showing no signs of abating until evening.

Two female tourists from the same country, An Ya and Mu Xiaoyue, had been hanging out at Xia's shop almost the entire day.

Since 2 PM, the young manager and head chef had disappeared, leaving two acquaintances who hadn't known him long to watch the shop.

"Xiao Ya, our dinner plans are secured tonight."

Mu Xiaoyue refreshed her Weibo feed again, stood up from her chair, stretched, and touched her stomach, flashing a sweet smile, "I finally digested most of the lunchtime feast."

"What should we have for dinner?" Her friend, the goddess-like An Ya, also propped her face on her hands, resting on the table, staring at the empty menu on the wall.

Knock, knock.

"Is anyone there?"

With the sound of a door opening, a young couple put away their dripping umbrellas and entered the shop.