Food Wars, my food not only glows!

　"A master chef? How could someone like that be working at a street stall? That's not something someone of his stature would do!"

　"More than that, I'm curious about who's standing opposite him. He looks so young, all muscle, he must be a good cook."

　"Hard to say, she's so young..."

　After the crowd gathered, voices of discussion could be heard from them, since they were all people who lived nearby and saw each other all the time.

　Upon gathering, they naturally began chatting amiably.

　"Rumor has it that the two chefs were fighting over a particularly good quality sea bream this morning because they were vying for it!"

　Some bystanders who had been watching the drama unfold in the vicinity for a long time stepped forward and said that with such a big commotion at the fish shop, how could it not attract attention?

　"They actually resorted to violence? This is no small matter. No wonder a top-level chef would be willing to compete in the street; he must be burning with anger."

　A man in his sixties emerged from the crowd. He first looked at Jessie, then at the young Bai Yuan, and a look of regret appeared on his face.

　"Who says otherwise? It's a pity for this young man. He doesn't know who he's up against. Facing a legendary master chef, his chances of winning are slim! He might even get humiliated later."

　"Offending a master chef is bad enough if you're just humiliated, but if they get angry, they might just make it impossible for you to stay in the local culinary scene."

　"Not necessarily. Maybe that young man is also a top-level chef? Otherwise, why would he dare to take on the challenge..."

　"How is that possible! I've never seen such a young master chef before, at least not in a small country like ours. I think there are a few in China, after all, it's a culinary powerhouse."

　"Stop talking, it looks like they're about to start!"

　The noise of the crowd subsided, and everyone turned their attention to Jessie and Bai Yuan at the very center, or more precisely, to the cooking station in front of them.

　The nerves of the sea bream, cut in half, are still alive. It will twitch when touched slightly, and may even jump out, which looks rather eerie.

　"Am I seeing things? That sea bream has been split in two?! And vertically at that!"

　"That's not the point! The point is that it can still move, which proves that it was cut in half while still alive. How did they manage that?!"

　"The cut lines are so neat and precise. The person who separated the sea bream must have made only one cut, just one cut, to make it look like this."

　At this moment, some viewers noticed the stainless steel basin containing half a sea bream, and a look of shock appeared on their faces as they watched the sea bream occasionally move.

　Especially upon learning that the sea bream had been split in two while still alive, the astonishment in my heart deepened, and I couldn't even find the words to describe it.

　uncanny workmanship?

　That seems to be the only way to put it!

　"The theme is sea bream, and the cooking time is 30 minutes. I don't think there will be any objections, right?"

　"I only need 20 minutes, you can just make it 30 minutes. But I'm warning you, no customer is willing to wait 30 minutes for a dish!"

　Today, I'll show you something new: our restaurant's spring signature dish, sea bream with lemon butter sauce!

　Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Jesse, who was standing in front of the cooking counter, sneered and immediately stated that his dish would only take 20 minutes to complete.

　A dish that takes 30 minutes to prepare? Customers can't possibly wait that long! If it really took that long to make a dish, the restaurant would have gone out of business long ago!

　"Idiot, it's your problem that you can't keep customers here. You need to practice cooking more."

　Faced with Jesse's taunts, Bai Yuan shook his head with a playful expression, and after uttering those words, turned his gaze to the sea bream in front of him.

　His words infuriated Jesse. He hesitated for a long time before finally deciding not to refute him, determined to prove himself with his abilities.

　Bai Yuan glanced at it, then lowered his head again, quickly forming a recipe for cooking sea bream in his mind. 30 minutes was neither a long nor a short time.

　Since the duel was to take place in Northern Europe, Bai Yuan decided to cook a Western meal, which would be a good opportunity to test what he had learned over the past few years.

　"I've got it! Let's make that dish!"

　In an instant, Bai Yuan thought of a dish name, a top-grade sea bream dish that he had learned and improved in a day!

　"Timing begins!"

　At the same time, the fish shop owner came to the middle of the two sides with an alarm clock, placed it on a table, and announced the start of the competition.

　In an instant, Bai Yuan's aura changed completely.

　He was initially quite relaxed, but suddenly...

　He became extremely serious, exuding an inexplicable aura.

　Because he left in a hurry, he didn't bring the Seven Star Blade with him, but there was no need to use it against this kind of character.

　"Hey!"

　Across from the counter, Jancis rolled up her sleeves, placed the half of the sea bream on the cutting board, twirled the knife in her hand, and quickly sliced ​​along the spine of the sea bream, separating it perfectly from the fish meat in a few swift movements.

　Next came the tiny fish bones all over the fish. A pair of tweezers appeared in his hand at some point, and he deftly and neatly removed all the small bones from the bream's body, placing them in a bowl beside him. In less than a minute, he had cleaned the fish meat itself completely!

　"He works really efficiently; no wonder he's a top-level chef."

　"How's that kid doing? He's been sharpening his knife since just now. Is he planning to sharpen it for half an hour? Wait, he's so fast!"

　Jancis's superb skills drew cheers from the audience, while many people turned their attention to Bai Yuan as a control group.

　He was still sharpening the knife, one stroke after another. At first, he sharpened very slowly, but then the speed increased dramatically, and his hands even left afterimages!

　"Shh!"

　With the final sharpening finished, Bai Yuan pointed the cleaver at the sky, and looking at the cold glint on the blade under the sunlight, a look of satisfaction finally appeared on his face.

　The next moment, Bai Yuan moved!

　He casually tossed the sea bream onto the cutting board, brandished the cleaver a few times on the surface of the fish, then used his other hand to lift the sea bream, shake it, and flip it over.

　At this moment, the bones of the sea bream also broke off and fell onto the cooking table, forming a sea bream with only bones!

　"What?! What happened?! How did all those bones fall off?! It just jerked like that, did you see what he did?!"

　"No, he just casually flicked the knife against the sea bream a few times, and all the bones fell off?! Not a single one broke!"

　"Amazing skill! This is the first time I've ever seen such exquisite boning techniques!"

　Looking at the sea bream that had been perfectly separated from its flesh and landed on the table, giving it the appearance of a specimen, a huge discussion broke out on the scene.

　Chapter Twenty-Eight: Cooking Like Magic

　"He used an extremely sharp knife to find the most suitable angle on the fish, and then skillfully separated the fish bones from the meat by cutting and prying."

　However, this is the first time I've seen someone do something like this in one go. He's truly an amazing man! This match is now in suspense!

　The speaker was still the same man in his sixties. Although he was very old, he still looked energetic.

　Especially when they saw Bai Yuan's superb skills, their faces were full of admiration, and they looked at him as if they were looking at a fine piece of jade!

　"Look! That guy just put his hand on the fish, and the scales flew off by themselves! What's the principle behind that? It's amazing!"

　"How is that possible? He actually peeled off the fish scales with his bare hands—scales so hard they could dull the blade of a kitchen knife!"

　"Is this magic? That's amazing!"

　Suddenly, someone pointed in Bai Yuan's direction, their eyes wide, their voice filled with disbelief.

　The splashing fish scales in the sky sparked a heated discussion, with everyone focusing their attention on Bai Yuan's cooking station, eager to know how he had managed to do it.

　"It's steel wire."

　Alice Nakiri, who had been observing Bai Yuan's movements, murmured to herself. With her excellent eyesight, she immediately noticed the wire in his hand, which was now gleaming in the sunlight.

　"Steel wire?"

　Those around heard her murmur and immediately squinted at Bai Yuan's hand, then noticed something silvery-white flashing.

　Under the friction of this thing, the scales, which were originally as hard as iron, quickly separated from the sea bream and flew into the air, piling up into a small mountain on the table.

　And that's it! The sea bream is now ready!

　"I see. If you use a steel wire as a kitchen knife, any curve or angle will be suitable. You actually came up with this method to process sea bream scales. What an interesting little rascal!"

　The old man nodded in agreement, his eyes holding a different look as he gazed at Bai Yuan, watching him even more intently.

　"All that fancy stuff! Cooking isn't some kind of monkey show!"

　Seeing everyone's eyes on Bai Yuan and everyone praising him, Jessie felt a sudden sense of crisis and said sourly.

　However, Bai Yuan had already entered cooking mode and completely blocked out the sounds from the outside world. He turned the flame to medium, then took out a small pot for stewing and added butter into it.

　Since his opponent was a chef from England, he responded with French cuisine, a dish created by the master chef Paul decades ago.

　Potato-shaped fish scales sea bream.

　As the name suggests, the main ingredients are potatoes and sea bream. During the process of learning to cook, Bai Yuan further modified it.

　Quickly chop a small portion of onion and put it in a pot, along with bay leaves, garlic, and white mushrooms. Sauté over medium heat until fragrant, then add the fish bones and fish bone broth made from the fish meat that has been trimmed off for aesthetic purposes.

　When the fish bone soup turns slightly white, add white wine, bring to a boil, then add water and continue cooking until done.

　Cook until the fish bones are completely submerged, then simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.

　"Orange? What's that guy up to?"

　While the soup was cooking, Bai Yuan went into the fish shop and took out the oranges that the fish shop owner and his colleagues had left over. He had seen them at the fish shop earlier.

　On the other side, Jancis was frying fish. There was also fruit on his counter, but unlike Bai Yuan's oranges, he was using lemons.

　"Did both sides use fruit? The flavor of fruit can indeed effectively enhance the flavor of fish, making it more delicious, while adding the fragrance of the fruit itself to the fish."

　However, achieving the right balance between the proportions of fruit and fish is not easy.

　Fish shop owner Ang watched the two men working on the fish with his arms crossed. One was the renowned chef of [Nuoyu], and the other was an unknown young man. Logically, the outcome should have been obvious, but for some reason, he felt that Bai Yuan would win.

　Regardless of the various superb techniques he had displayed, just by looking into his eyes, Ang knew he was very capable.

　He had only seen that look in his eyes when he participated in the second-level chef assessment; it was the look of extreme confidence in his own abilities.

　A person with such eyes is either extremely arrogant or extremely powerful. Considering the techniques he displayed earlier, Bai Yuan is clearly the second type.

　"I'm almost done. How do we determine the winner of this match?"

　"Then let the spectators give their opinions. Each person should take two slips of paper, one red and one blue. Whoever's dish you think tastes better, put the corresponding chef's slip into the box."

　Seeing that Bai Yuan was still focused on cooking, the fish shop owner pondered for a moment before turning his gaze to the onlookers in response to Jessie's question.

　"Everyone, that's the situation. Anyone willing to try it?"

　"I am willing!"

　"I'm willing, or rather, please let me do it!"

　The response was immediate and enthusiastic, with everyone's face beaming with excitement. For ordinary people like them, the opportunity to taste top-notch cuisine is rare!

　"I have no problem with this evaluation method."

　Jancis nodded and then began to finish up the dish. At this moment, his expression was extremely serious, completely unlike his initial frivolity.

　Her hands moved faster and faster, her cooking skills were so dazzling that it was like watching a performance, drawing the attention of some of the audience back to her.

　Clearly, his title as a master chef was not undeserved; he had truly fought his way through countless trials and tribulations!

　the other side.

　Bai Yuan was fiddling with potatoes. To outsiders, all they saw was a flash of silver light in his hand, and then the potatoes were cut into rectangular strips about one centimeter wide.

　The rectangular strips, after being cut and trimmed, become oval shapes.

　Stack the oval strips together and slice them into thin slices with a sharp knife. The slices fly off the cutting board and into the glass bowl. Then, add melted butter and potato starch and mix well to make it sticky.

　Thus, the potato fish scales are complete.

　Take the thickest piece of sea bream with the thickest subcutaneous fat, and layer thin slices of processed potato on top of the fish skin to create a texture similar to fish scales.

　Next, place it in the fish shop's freezer for flash freezing to lock in the moisture and fix its shape, preventing it from falling off during frying.

　"Please enjoy the spring signature dish of [Nuoyu] restaurant, sea bream with lemon butter sauce. We hope you will be satisfied."

　To avenge the humiliation Bai Yuan had inflicted on him, Jessie put in 120% effort this time. This was also the first premium dish he had ever created in his culinary career. After years of continuous improvement and research, he had reached the edge of a luminous dish!

　Therefore, he was absolutely confident that he could defeat Bai Yuan with this dish.

　But then again, if he loses in his area of ​​expertise to such a young upstart, then he might as well give up on being a chef!

　Chapter Twenty-Nine: Mountain Delicacies on a Golden Scale Plate, and a Mysterious Old Man

　"This is really good! The tartness of the lemon and capers blend perfectly, the chopped shallots add a touch of sweetness and enhance the flavor of the sauce, while the fennel seeds balance it out..."

　A man who looked to be in his forties, dressed smartly, wearing a wristwatch, and who at first glance looked like a successful person, was the first to be assigned a dish. He cut and tasted it with a knife and fork, savoring the delicious flavor that slowly spread in his mouth, and said with a happy expression.

　"This sauce would taste great even with the soles of slippers!"

　Beside him, a young man who was also tasting the dish exclaimed exaggeratedly, his expression one of pure bliss, completely captivated by the deliciousness of the food.