It's just cooking a dish, how did it become the main character in a game?

Nan Xu's words stunned Wang Yi for a moment, but soon, a surge of anger rose in his heart.

"This kid...how dare he look down on me!"

"How dare he, a mere brat without even a chef's rank, look down on me?"

Wang Yi sneered, his voice filled with anger: "Fine, fine, I'll see how you manage to beat my dishes with this shredded radish that's so low even pigs wouldn't eat it!"

Despite Wang Yi's anger, Nan Xu remained calm: "There are no bad ingredients, only bad chefs."

"A successful chef must know how to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary."

As he spoke, he picked up a plate and poured the prepared sauce over the shredded radish on the plate.

After a couple of gentle stirs, the small plate of shredded radish suddenly burst forth with a rich and enticing aroma!

"Glug!"

Upon smelling the aroma, Wang Yi couldn't help but swallow hard.

It smells so good! What's causing this fragrance?!

Nan Xu smiled slightly and handed the plate to Luo Qinzhu.

"Please enjoy this cold radish salad."

Upon smelling the fragrance, Luo Qinzhu couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

Perhaps... Nanxu really has a chance to win?

At this moment, Wang Yi also recovered from his lapse in composure and retorted sarcastically:

"What good is it if it just smells good? From the moment you decided to use unevenly shredded radish, your failure was already sealed!"

When Wang Yi smelled that fragrance just now, he was genuinely flustered for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

If Nanxu had used uniformly sized radish shreds, he might have actually been in danger.

But the shredded radish was cut so badly that no amount of good sauce could salvage the loss in terms of texture and flavor balance.

"So he comes from a family with a strong academic background. No wonder he's so arrogant..."

Wang Yi chuckled inwardly. At this moment, he was convinced that Nan Xu's confidence stemmed from his secret seasoning recipe.

"However, neglecting to hone the fundamentals is a dead end in culinary arts!"

He completely put aside his worries and watched with a relaxed expression as Luo Qinzhu put Nan Xu's cold radish salad into her mouth.

"Snap!"

A crisp sound rang out, and Luo Qinzhu's eyes widened in shock!

Without a moment's hesitation, she spoke crisply and decisively:

"The winner of this culinary competition is—"

  

"Nan Xu!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Yi's confident smile froze on his face!

He froze on the spot, an expression of disbelief on his face.

How is that possible?

How could the cooking competition have ended like this?!

He was trembling with anger, his hands clenched tightly, and after a long while, he finally uttered a single sentence:

"Impossible... Absolutely impossible!"

"How could my perfect shredded radish salad lose to a greenhorn who can't even balance texture and flavor?"

As he spoke, he was about to rush forward to confront Luo Qinzhu.

Just then, a hand reached out and stopped him.

Nan Xu stared at him calmly:

"Want to know where you went wrong? Why not try my dishes?"

Then, he brought out a small plate of cold shredded radish and placed it in front of Wang Yi.

Wang Yi glared at him angrily and picked up the plate.

He had already secretly decided that after he finished the first bite of this plate of garbage, he would smash the plate!

Thinking this, he angrily picked up a piece of shredded radish with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.

The next moment, his hand holding the chopsticks trembled violently, his pupils dilated suddenly, and he was struck dumb, frozen in place!

"boom!"

An ultimate taste experience exploded in his mouth!

The complex sauce carries the savory saltiness of well salt, the tangy sourness of balsamic vinegar, the rich aroma of roasted sesame oil, and... a spicy kick with an intensely fragrant aroma!

The intense spiciness lasted only a moment before harmoniously blending into the sauce, transforming into a warm current that spread throughout his mouth, instantly activating his dormant taste buds.

Immediately afterwards, a tingling, electric-like sensation from the Sichuan peppercorns traveled from the tip of his tongue to the back, giving him an unparalleled feeling of clarity!

Wang Yi shuddered and instinctively clenched her teeth.

"Snap!"

The crisp radish shreds suddenly broke apart, releasing a sweet juice.

In an instant, the sweet taste of white radish filled my mouth, completely purifying the spicy taste from before!

In a daze, Wang Yi seemed to see an endless snowfield made of radishes.

A crisp, pure wind blew across the snowfield, carrying the unique fragrance of radishes, instantly sweeping away all remaining odors.

The juice slid down his throat like a clear spring. He felt as if his internal organs had been cleansed by the refreshing taste, and the aftertaste was full of the sweetness of radish.

Wang Yi fell silent.

After a long silence, he finally couldn't resist taking a second bite.

Then came the third bite, the fourth bite...

"Snap!"

"Snap!"

"Snap!"

Wang Yi chewed the shredded radish in big mouthfuls, and soon the plate was empty.

The chopsticks made a crisp sound as they touched the empty bottom of the plate.

"Ding-dong."

Wang Yi put down his chopsticks with trembling hands, his voice trembling with embarrassment:

"How...how did you do that?"

"Your radish shreds are clearly of varying sizes and thicknesses... and the spiciness in the seasoning is so strong, it should completely mask the flavor of the radish!"

"Why! Why can't I taste any spiciness when I savor it?!"

Before Nan Xu could speak, Luo Qinzhu's voice came from beside him:

"If I'm not mistaken... the answer is hidden in those [variously sized radish shreds], right?"

The look in her eyes as she gazed at Nan Xu now held a hint of amazement.

Nan Xu smiled slightly and looked at the two system notifications that had just appeared.

[Luo Qinzhu is satisfied with your dish, experience points +3543!]

[Wang Yi is impressed by your dish, experience points +2356!]

There are many ways to gain experience points in "Chef Soul". Whether it is fighting monsters, completing tasks or practicing basic skills, you will gain a certain amount of experience points.

But the most effective way is still to prepare dishes and gain the approval of diners.

The higher the diner's strength, status, and recognition, the more experience points the player will gain.

Of the two, Wang Yi, who is less skilled, still possesses the strength of an eighth-grade chef, with a level of at least 20.

As for Luo Qinzhu, she is the pride of the NPCs. Even though her approval rating is not as high as Wang Yi's, she provides more experience points than Wang Yi.

This resulted in him gaining a huge amount of experience points in the early stages of the game from this dish!

The more than 5,000 experience points he gained restored his mood, which had been ruined by Wang Yi.

Nan Xu smiled and nodded: "That's right. I divided the radish shreds of different thicknesses into two categories: one is thicker and the other is thinner. The rest are discarded."

"I cut the thick radish shreds into two shorter pieces. In this way, the two different radish shreds are like two different raw materials, providing completely different textures."

"Even if they are different sizes, it will not disrupt the balance of the dish."

Then, he turned his gaze to Wang Yi:

"As for why the spiciness of the seasoning didn't mask the flavor of the radish, but instead was purified by the flavor of the radish... it's naturally because of those thicker radish shreds."

"Because they are larger and juicier inside, they release more of the radish flavor when you bite into them."

Wang Yi seemed to realize something and asked in shock, "You mean... you deliberately used these thicker radish shreds?"

"This...this is impossible! If the seasoning isn't controlled properly, it will backfire, making the radish flavor overpower the sauce!"

"Even a seventh-rank chef might not be able to do that!"

Nan Xu remained calm. He had the experience of a second-grade culinary immortal in his previous life in seasoning. If he couldn't even do something as simple as this, he shouldn't even think about becoming a chef. He should just wash up and go to bed early.

At this moment, Luo Qinzhu spoke with a hint of appreciation in her voice:

"Moreover, Nanxu's seasoning sauce brings out the sweetness of the radish through its spiciness, elevating the sweetness of the radish to another level."

"Such excellent control over flavor is just like that of a chef who has been immersed in the culinary arts for many years..."

"Therefore, Nanxu's victory is well-deserved."

Wang Yi's body trembled violently, his face first turning bright red, then ashen.

"I...yes, I lost..."