Xiuying Ten Jiang 20 - Food Fight
There were a total of thirty-six different public cooking arenas and four grand arenas that were set aside for some of the biggest cooking contests in Fire Duck Town. Every cooking arena had its own unique kitchen setup as well as seating areas where the public could bear witness to a chef's triumph and their opponent's defeat and Public Dueling Arena Appetiser was no different.
It was usually reserved for duels between up-and-coming young chefs of the various factions that made up Fire Duck Town so it was quite a popular arena for both budding master chefs and the townsfolk as well as visiting tourists. Some of the most well-known chefs in Fire Duck town had their first true shokugeki in Public Dueling Arena Appetiser and many young chefs hoped that this arena would also be the start of their own legend.
Of course, Xiuying knew nothing of this. For her, cooking was not something meant to garner fame and fortune like many of the chefs in Fire Duck Town. Rather, cooking was but one half of her life, the other being dedicated to the path of Sword Law. Having little interest in the politics and unspoken traditions of Fire Duck Town, Xiuying simply did as Uncle Langwen advised and followed her instincts.
Uncle Langwen had given Xiuying a simple explanation on what shokugekis were and what she needed to do in her shokugeki against the Wangjin Restaurant Cuisine Association. Being a simple shokugeki between an outsider such as Xiuying and a disciple of a WRCA elder, neither side were allowed assistant chefs. Once both chefs were ready to cook, a theme would be decided by a random draw from a box filled with paper that each had a different theme written on it. The chefs would then have a limited amount of time to cook a dish according to the theme of the shokugeki. A wide variety of ingredients would be prepared for both competitors to use as they wish as well as any ingredients that they happened to have access to as well. The dish that each chef makes would then be judged by five experts. Each judge would award the chef's dishes up to twenty points and once the judging was done, whoever scored the most points in total would be declared the winner.
Having never participated in a shokugeki before, Xiuying couldn't help but feel a little nervous about the whole thing, especially when there was a fairly big crowd of people watching from the audience seating area. While Xiuying was no stranger to cooking before a large crowd, she'd never cooked in such a weird formal setting as this duelling arena with people gathering to watch the spectacle. However, she said that she was okay with having this cooking duel so she was going to do it no matter what and compared to standing in front of a customer while carrying on her shop's name, this wasn't scary at all.
She had everything she needed and she had faith in her cooking.
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In a brightly lit hall, several hundreds of people stood in the spectator area, waiting with rapt anticipation for the duel to begin. Their wait came to an end when the light dimmed, darkening the hall. A spotlight was then lit, shining down on the centre of the arena where a cute young woman dressed in finery stood boldly and waiting.
"Thank you all for waiting! The Shokugeki Administration Bureau has recognised this match as an official Shokugeki!" The young woman declared, speaking through a sound-amplifying tool. Twirling on the ball of her foot, Sanye pointed toward the ceiling and gave the spectators a cute wink. "My name is Sanye Neilos and I will be your MC for today and soon...we will begin!"
With Sanye's introduction, the lights were turned back on, and she was met with a loud cheer from the audience, though there was a derisive murmur coming from some female audience members who could tell how fake Sanye's cutesy act was. Sanya paid no mind to those jealous women. She'd worked hard to be chosen as one of many shokugeki hosts, using all manner of flattery and seduction to reach her current position. Let those jealous bitches moan and sneer at her, it's not her fault that she was so talented.
"Today's Shokugeki is gonna be an interesting one! But first, let's introduce the judges for today's match!" Sanye First up on the judging panel today we have Aspasia Chia, The head proprietress of the famous Sparrow Nest Inn."
"Thank you for having me here today. It's always a pleasure to see what kind of new chefs we will be seeing in the future." Much to Sanye's chagrin, the jade beauty known as Aspasia Chia immediately elicited even louder cheer and applause from the audience, her natural composed beauty and elegance far surpassing Sanye's cute and friendly act.
"Next we have Bao Samaras, the critically-acclaimed writer of the best selling gourmet Travel Guide, Good Eats and Where to Find Them! May I have your autograph afterwards, Senior Samaras?"
"Haha! Of course you can and hello everyone! I'm currently working on my next book so please look forward to it!" Bao Samaras announced, his merry nature equal to his large belly. Even as he spoke though, his hands were busy writing the next page in his next book.
"Thank you! Now for our third judge, we have none other than the Culinary Critic, Xinyi Guan! Thank you for coming, Master Guan!" Sanye revealed, gesturing towards the judging panel.
"Hmph, it is nothing. I am merely performing my duty as a judge. Nothing more. Nothing less." Unlike the other judges, Xinyi Guan was a thin man with a rather pale gaunt complexion as if he hadn't been eating enough recently.
"I see, I see. Thank you for coming!" Deciding to gloss over Master Guan's rather stoic reply, Sanye was more than happy to continue on to the next judge "Okay, our fourth judge today is Sun Fangxin, an elder of the Wangjin Restaurant Cuisine Association and master of one of our competitors today!"
"Thank you, thank you. It is a great honour to be here to witness one of my disciples taking an important step along the path of cooking" Sung Fangxin said, seemingly pleased and happy to be judging this shokugeki. Beneath that calm pleasant facade was a man who wished nothing more than to see his disciple utterly crush this outsider and humiliate his long time rival.
"And finally we have none other than Tian Langwen, the master chef who was widely regarded as the Kitchen Asura and the one who is said to be responsible for organising today's Shokugeki!"
"Stop, you're embarrassing me. All that Kitchen Asura stuff was a long time ago. I am now simply Tian Langwen. However, I will do my utmost to judge this battle in a fair and objective manner. Now please enjoy yourselves and bear witness the culinary battle that is about to unfold!"
"Hey! That's my line!" Sanye complained in mock outrage before smiling again, "In any case, from each corner, may our competitors please enter the arena!"
The crowd cheered loudly as both competitors finally made their appearance.
"First to appear is an up-and-coming member of the Wangjin Restaurant Cuisine Association, Cicero Blasio!"
Cicero Blasio, all dressed up in fancy-looking chef clothes that must have cost the man or at least his family a lot of money, sauntered through the entrance and into the arena, waving his hands towards his fans looking as though they had not a care in the world. All while shooting glares at his opponent at the other side of the arena.
"Now, next, the mysterious chef from out of town, Xiuying Ten Jiang, makes their entry!"
Xiuying, wearing her usual work clothes, entered the arena, unperturbed by the roaring crowd who were itching for some cooking action. Though most in the audience did not know who Xiuying was, they did know that she was an outsider who had dared challenge one of Fire Duck Town's most promising chefs. More than a few were booing Xiuying and admonishing her for her foolishness but the swordswoman paid them no attention. Her focus was now solely on the cooking battle that was about to begin.
Once both competitors were standing before each other on the main stage, Sanye continued to hype up the crowd. "Let us quickly go through this match's conditions! If Cicero wins, Xiuying must hand over the lease contract for her spot at Sunrise Plaza as well as work as a serving girl for Cicero's restaurant for a year without payment. If Xiuying wins, the Wangjin Restaurant Cuisine Association must formally apologise to Xiuying for their, and I quote, "dishonourable actions towards her and her noodle stand", and must allow her to continue her business in peace, free from any third party interference. Failure to fulfil these conditions will result in exile from Fire Duck Town! Does everyone understand the stakes here?" Sanye asked the audience.
As the crowd affirmed their understanding of what was at stake for the competitors, Xiuying and Cicero had some last-minute words for each other.
"Outsider! This will be the last time I speak with you before the WRCA runs you out of Fire Duck Town. If you have anything left to say, now's the time." Cicero said to Xiuying in a mocking tone, clearly looking down at Xiuying in contempt.
"Not really. If I think of something, I'll tell you afterwards." Xiuying simply replied, unruffled by what Cicero said. Cicero narrowed his eyes at the girl before glancing at his master, receiving the slightest nod of acknowledgement from Fangxin.
"Alright then! Now for the most important part. Boys, time to bring that out!" Sanye motioned to the assistants to bring forth what was one of the most crucial parts of the shokugeki - the Theme Box. Inside a simple box with a hand-size opening at the top laid dozens of different themes that would determine what the contestants would be cooking and what ingredients they would be using. According to Langwen's explanation, for a simple shokugeki between an outsider and a well-known local, there would only be one limitation imposed on the chef, the main ingredient. "Judge Aspasia if you will."
"Of course, Miss Sanye." Presented with the theme box, Lady Aspasia reached in and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, the female cultivator read aloud what was written on it. "The match's theme will be...Roujiamo!"
"Roujiamo?" According to Xiuying's knowledge, roujiamo was essentially meat stuffed into bread
"Roujia - You mean that low-class food!?" Cicero cried out in outrage. "You wish us to do honourable battle by cooking peasant food!?"
"That's right! This Shokugeki's theme will be roujiamo or meat sandwiched in bread if you go by clan tongue!" Sanye answered right back, unfazed by the WRCA chef's anger. "Yummy, juicy, and meaty! Let me tell you this, junior Blasio. While the roujiamo may be seen as common street food by many, its popularity among the masses cannot be ignored. There are now restaurants that specialise in roujiamo or include it on their menus. As a chef, you should know that any dish, If cooked correctly, even common dishes can be brought up to a divine level"
"Tch, fine then! I'll show you all what a true gourmet roujiamo is then. Especially you, Xiuying Ten - Are you even listening to me!?" Cicero promised, pointing at Xiuying only to see her completely deep in her own thoughts.
"Hmm? Oh right. Shokugeki." Snapping out of her thoughts, Xiuying slapped her cheeks and psyched herself up for the battle before her.
"If that's all, contestants, then to the kitchen! Let's go! The loser loses everything! This is a decisive match so prepare to make those taste buds dance! Shokugeki…START!"
GONG!
At the ring of the large bell that was situated above the arena, the battle was on. Both chefs quickly moved to grab their ingredients at the pantry area as the crowds cheered with excitement. Bags of flour, bundles of vegetables, slabs of meat, and jars of condiment and seasoning went flying off the shelves as both Cicero and Xiuying gathered the ingredients they needed. Already it seemed that two chefs had their own respective plans to make a dish that suited the match's theme.
Xiuying had decided on what she was going to make shortly after she heard the theme. Roujiamo was meat between bread so it would be fine if she substituted the bread for noodles, right?
Xiuying recalled something that her master made for the two of them one day after a day of training. What was it called again?
Something he called a ramen burger if she recalled correctly.
Every basic tool that a chef needed was made available to both competitors. Of course, both chefs were allowed to bring their own tools with them as well. After all, the best tool for a chef was usually the one that they were most familiar with.
For Xiuying, it was the kitchen knife that her father gave her all those years ago on her twelfth birthday. Though it had been reforged and strengthened multiple times, it was still the knife that Xiuying cried tears of joy when she first held it in her hands, with her father smiling warmly next to her. Giving the knife a simple twirl, Xiuying started processing her ingredients.
Holding the kitchen knife in her right hand, she gently flicked the blade with his finger. Xiuying's mouth slightly widened into a smile as she felt the slight vibration coming from the knife. With ki gathered in her hand, Xiuying suddenly slapped the top of the table with her palm and the large slab of beef that she had placed on the counter bounced into the air.
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The corners of Cicero Blasio's lips slightly curled up as he listened to the cries of astonishment coming from the crowd with a face filled with satisfaction. He could feel that the gaze of the spectators were all gathered on him and he was the centre of attention.
He was confident that his cutting technique was the best among his generation. Perhaps his skill at handling the ingredients might not be as good as those in the seniors who had been immersing themselves in the culinary arts for dozens of years, his cutting technique was definitely number one amongst the current generation of disciples of the Wangjin Restaurant Cuisine Association
After using a showy cutting technique to slice up a plate of pork belly, he looked up and found that the cries of astonishment became even more frequent. However, those cries were not directed at him.
His face slightly stiffened for a moment before a frown appeared on his face. Cicero turned his head towards the crowd and discovered the spectators were all looking at the cooking station behind. Only one other chef was cooking on this stage with him.
The expression on his face became even worse and his mood turned sour. There was no way his mood would be good when someone he disliked stole his spotlight. Even though he wanted to have a good look and see how this outsider was able to steal his spotlight, he had to focus on his own cooking.
As Xiuying slapped the table with his palm, only the meat bounced into the air. The steel kitchen knife twirled around in her hand and then swung toward the meat in the air. Though the meat was only from the red-horned auroch raised in the clan's farmlands, it was still the meat of a spirit beast that would have been difficult to cut through with an ordinary knife. However, in Xiuying's hands, even an ordinary knife was filled with Xiuying's will to cut. Therefore, slicing through the auroch meat was easily accomplished.
Another steel knife appeared in Xiuying's other hand, also a treasured memento from her family, and her hands became a phantasmal blur as the slab of meat practically disintegrated before the spectator's eyes. Suddenly stopping, Xiuying pulled out a large wooden bowl and placed it on the counter where finely minced beef piled up into it like falling pink snow.
Turning away from the mince, Xiuying then took out several large pork legs yet to be deboned, pig trotters, and chicken bones that she'd prepared earlier in the morning. After roughly deboning the pork legs so that the bone still had quite a bit of meat on them, she put the bones aside and repeated the mincing process she did on the pork meat, rendering it into a fine mince which she put in another bowl.
Setting up several large pots, Xiuying then placed the leg bones, the trotters and chicken bones in their own separate pots and covered them with cold water. Setting the pots to boil over medium-high heat, Xiuying then turned her attention to the sack of flour that she grabbed from the arena's pantry.
Though not as good as her food cart's flour, it was still good enough for what she needed. Pulling out a jar of lye water and egg yolk, Xiuying began rotating ki within her dantian, gathering power into her palm. Xiuying poured the flour into a large basin and then added both the lye water and egg yolk into the mixture before dipping her hand into the mixture and stirring, releasing her ki as she did so. With the aid of ki, the consistency of the flour rapidly started getting thicker. Once the dough was done, Xiuying allowed it to rest for a bit while she worked on the other portion of her recipe.
Returning to her minced meat, Xiuying took out shallots and garlic before chopping and mincing them respectively. She then grabbed both bowls of mince and put them together. She then took the jars of miso, mirin, sesame seeds and sesame oil, poured out the correct amount of each into the mince mixture, and began thoroughly mixing the ingredients together to give the minced meat more flavour. Once this was done, Xiuying then divided the mixture into a dozen balls and flattened them out into round patties before putting them aside to work on the other portion of her recipe.
While Xiuying was doing her thing, Cicero was hard at work cooking up a storm. Cicero at the moment was working on braising his pork belly. Meticulously adding ingredients such as chilli peppers, cloves, nutmeg and all kinds of spices, Cicero was also made sure to skim off the oil from the pork to prevent the meat from becoming too oily. The pot he was using to make the pork belly was one that he'd commissioned at a high price from a famed blacksmith and an array engineer. Not only was the craftsmanship of the pot beautiful beyond compare, but the array engraved upon it would also allow the pot to cook anything at greater speeds, cutting down cooking time. A mouth-watering aroma was soon filling the arena, matched only by the aroma that was starting to come from Xiuying's side of the kitchen as she worked on the broth for her tonkotsu ramen.
Back on Xiuying's side, the bones had all the scum and gunk drawn out and thrown away, leaving behind cleaned bones still full of delicious bone marrow. The bones were then thrown together into a large pot and boiled together, with Xiuying removing the scum and foam from the surface until no more scum or foam appeared. While this was happening, Xiuying quickly fried some garlic and ginger, as well as caramelised onions as well. Once the stock was scum-free, Xiuying added the ginger, garlic, and onions, along with white pepper to the mix.
Normally it would have taken several hours to properly cook the tonkotsu base but Xiuying wasn't using any old ordinary pot. She was using none other than the Thousand-Year Heavenly Noodle Pot to cook her broth. Normally it would transform a myriad of ingredients into the legendary Thousand-Year Heavenly Noodle Soup. However, to activate this power, she needed to add all the required ingredients in one go, everything including the noodles. If she didn't add the noodles, the magical noodle pot would not create the body empowering noodle soup. Instead, it would simply rapidly cook any other ingredients into a rich soup far faster than normal pots could.
It was something she discovered while experimenting with her recipes late at night, after dinner.
Compared to Cicero's high-speed cooking pot, Xiuying's Thousand Year Heavenly Noodle Pot was superior.
Leaving the pot to cook the broth, Xiuying returned to the dough she had left resting. Enough time had passed to allow the dough to rise and it was time to make the noodles. With her hands, Xiuying repeatedly pulled and folded the dough, stretching it out into thin strands. Inspired by the spirit wheat noodles that she made back in the secret realm, she had worked hard to recreate the incredible texture of the noodles using more easily accessible ingredients. The result was this. Just like the spirit wheat noodles had done, the noodles had stretched out to ridiculous lengths before snapping back and perfectly clumping into the ideal curly noodles. Though they would not boost one's cultivation by decades, these noodles were still extremely tasty.
With the noodles ready, Xiuying returned to her pot. The broth was just about right after she had worked on the noodles. With a pair of chopsticks, Xiuying removed and discarded all the bones, as well as any chunks of pork left behind that she set aside to use for another meal for another day. After straining the broth into another large pot and skimming off any excess fat, Xiuying then poured the soup back into the Thousand Year Old Pot again. Another thing she discovered about the magical pot was that it worked differently if soup that was already cooked was poured into it. As she waited for the broth to heat up to to a simmer, Xiuying whipped out a bowl and whisked together, using chopsticks, tahini (a condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame seeds), strained braising liquid from roast pork that she'd saved for tonkotsu, grated garlic, salt, mirin, and white pepper before adding it to the soup and whisking it to combine. As soon as it was brought to a simmer, Xiuying added sesame seeds and pork fat and whisked some more to mix it into the soup.
With that, a rich tonkotsu soup had been made. Dividing the noodles into two dozen balls of equal portions, she then added the noodles into the soup. In doing so, the pot began to glow as it began to work its magic. Within minutes, the soup turned clear and the noodles were cooked. Taking a sip of the soup, Xiuying licked her lips as she tasted nothing but water. Just as she expected.
Removing the noodles from the pot, she then took out a number of round takeaway containers and placed each portion of noodle into each container before covering them with a clear film of something that she got from her noodle cart and weighed down the noodles with stones, pressing them together before putting them into the fridge.
With the noodles cooked, Xiuying went to grab a saucepan so that she could make a teriyaki glaze for the meat patties. Brown sugar, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, mirin, sliced garlic and ginger were placed into the pan and left to simmer. Xiuying made sure to watch it carefully so that it wouldn't burn. Once it was done, she put it to the side and took out the noodle and the meat patties. It was time to start finishing up.
Cicero too was reaching the final stages of his recipe. While the braised meat was cooking, Cicero worked on making his buns. Cicero had effortlessly kneaded his dough with great skill and allowed it to rest for an hour before shaping it into the buns. He had divided the dough into balls which he then rolled into a snake-like shape before rolling it out into a longer flatter strip and folding it in half lengthwise. He then rolled up the dough strip into a bundle, with the loose end tucked underneath and turned it on its side so the swirls were facing up. He then pressed it down with his palm before rolling it out with a pin into a disc. This process for all his dough balls before he let the shaped buns rest.
As Cicero waited for his buns to rest, Xiuying was frying her noodles and meat patties.
Each noodle patty was fried on one side until they were crispy and browned to a small degree and then flipped and fried on the other side. On another pan, Xiuying was cooking her beef patties. When the meat patties were done, Xiuying brushed each pattie with her teriyaki glaze and placed a patty on top of one of her ramen buns with mayonnaise and lettuce before placing the other half of the ramen bun on top.
Xiuying finished her ramen burgers, just as Cicero finished his roujiamo. When they had finished resting, Cicero had cooked each bun, two minutes on each side on a cast-iron skillet. When each bun was golden brown, he set about to finish his cooking. After the braised pork belly was done, Cicero had sliced them all into bite-size pieces and stuffed his buns with the pork, cilantro, and peppers before drizzling a spoonful of the broth from the braising pot and his own special sauce he had prepared while cooking.
The two chefs quickly plated five equal portions of their dishes out on separate plates before making their declaration at the same time
"FINISHED!"
"I AM DONE!"
The audience roared in excitement, having been watching the action the entire time. Many times did they watch in awe at the skill that both display with their knives. Many times they murmured and whispered in confusion over several things that Xiuying did to make her ramen burgers. Many times Cicero's supporters cheered and applauded his actions, no matter how seemingly insignificant they were, much to the annoyance of their neighbours.
"Alright then! Unexpectedly, both chefs have finished early but that's just fine!" Due to her position, Sanye had a front-row seat to all the cooking action so she was just aching to see the final results. "Chefs, please proceed to bring your dishes to the judges!"
With that command, Xiuying and Cicero carefully brought their dishes to the judges.
It was time for the chefs to face judgement and whose cuisine reigns supreme.
...
Turn 10 Omake Bonus: Tribulation Boost
