The fish bones and head, fried until translucent, went into hot water. Mo Bai placed the lid on the black-glazed platter and set it in an ice bucket to maintain its temperature, then immediately began mincing pork while controlling the fire.
As he worked with the grace of flowing clouds and water, time slipped away quietly.
Everyone present slowed their breathing involuntarily, afraid to disturb the completely focused young man on stage.
"Ding, ding, ding!"
At the last possible moment, the bell to present the dish and the bell signaling the end of the three-hour cooking time rang simultaneously.
"Phew~ Made it just in time," Mo Bai let out a long sigh.
The judges, seeing Mo Bai successfully present his dish right on the dot, nearly leaped from their seats with excitement. Throughout the race against time, they had been even more nervous than Mo Bai himself.
After all, Mo Bai's cooking speed was the deciding factor in whether they would get to eat this soul-stirring dish today.
"He finally made it." Colson undid a button on his shirt with one hand and wiped the sweat from his face with a tissue in the other.
"Yes, it was so nerve-wracking at the end I held my breath." Chiba Eda pressed her hands to her chest to calm her breathing, causing a horde of perverted fans watching on TV to see green.
"Finally, we get to eat contestant Mo Bai's dish!" As Takagaki Kaede finished speaking, Colson and Chiba Eda turned their heads in unison to look at her.
"This idol is way too blunt, isn't she?" The expressions on their faces were indescribable.
"Eh? What's wrong? Did I say something I shouldn't have?" Takagaki Kaede asked cautiously, shrinking her head back.
They both shook their heads.
Ouch, right in the feels, man. We're all foodies here, why must we hurt each other?
"Contestant Mo Bai has successfully presented his dish at the last second. What kind of creation will he bring us?" Unaware of why the judges' table had suddenly fallen silent, Kasuga Yanagi fulfilled her duties as host and did her best to control the stage.
Mo Bai lifted the stainless steel lid from the black-glazed platter. A pure white flower, composed of sashimi slices as white as jade and crystal clear, appeared before everyone, set off beautifully by the black plate.
Even a simple arrangement with the right dishware possessed astonishing charm.
Of course, this was just the beginning. Wearing gloves, Mo Bai took a small, frosty spoon from a staff member and sprinkled its contents over the sashimi.
Wisps of white smoke instantly spread out. At that moment, Mo Bai took out a spray bottle and sprayed 'tzz, tzz, tzz' down through the white smoke.
The fine mist from the bottle passed through the liquid nitrogen layer, instantly condensing into tiny ice crystals that drifted down onto the sashimi below.
As the liquid nitrogen dissipated, a golden light flashed and vanished from the snow-white sashimi!
"The dish is named—Rainbow Leopard Grouper Sashimi." Just as Mo Bai finished speaking, some of the tiny ice crystals re-vaporized into steam, causing a rainbow to appear above the entire plate of sashimi.
"Nani?!" the three judges exclaimed in unison.
Inside the coffee shop, the old man and the youth exchanged a subconscious glance, both seeing the shock in the other's eyes.
What shocked them wasn't the rainbow, but that fleeting flash of golden light.
"Auspicious Fish Shop? Heh, to think the Far East has a compatriot who is a match for the prodigies of our Hua nation. This is truly a great fortune." The youth wiped his hands; in front of him was an omurice dish with only a single spoonful taken. The maid cafe's ambiance was nice, but with such a delicacy on display, how could he possibly swallow this chaff?
"Elder Han, let's find a chance to meet him."
"It should be so," the old man nodded.
"There's... there's actually a rainbow! A rainbow has appeared above contestant Mo Bai's dish!!!" Kasuga Yanagi, who was destined not to eat the dish, could only vent her grievance and suffering by shouting.
"You may dip it in the sauce and enjoy." Mo Bai served three small saucers of a milky-white, warm sauce.
Faced with the sashimi glistening brilliantly under the lights, the three judges were at a loss as to where to begin.
"Oh well, allow me to be the first to spoil the mood." Seeing his two colleagues mesmerized by the plating and hesitating to pick up their chopsticks, Colson steeled himself and reached out.
However, a fluffy, snow-white little paw was one step ahead of him, hooking away a few slices of sashimi.
"Ah!"
"Master Cat!"
Amidst the cries of surprise from Takagaki Kaede and Chiba Eda, the tabby cat executed some slick moves to dodge the two girls' slender arms, leaping off the table to hide nearby and feast.
Mo Bai wasn't sure if he'd seen it correctly, but as the tabby cat made its slick getaway, he thought he saw its tail dip into the miko's portion of the sauce before it jumped off the table. "Has this cat become a spirit?"
"Congratulations, Host, your guess is correct. This cat is called a Nekomata, one of the many spirits and monsters of the Far East." Xiao Bai provided informational support.
"It really is a spirit! Hey!"
Colson, having had his food snatched by the Nekomata, was still a bit shaken. However, he knew he absolutely could not show such a reaction on a live broadcast. So, with a stiff expression, Colson forced himself to act as if nothing had happened and continued to reach for the dish with his chopsticks.
"Let's begin tasting," Colson said, making both Takagaki Kaede and Chiba Eda breathe a sigh of relief.
The three of them simultaneously picked up a slice of sashimi from the plate and held it before their eyes. The clear light passed through the fish, creating a captivating halo.
"It's as thin as a cicada's wing."
"It really is so thin."
"Truly incredible." The three praised Mo Bai's knife skills.
"Contestant Mo Bai's knife work needs no further comment; the translucent slices of fish say it all. But what about the most crucial element—the taste?" On the surface, Kasuga Yanagi was all smiles, but inside, her negative emotions were exploding.
She watched with her own eyes as the three judges dipped the slices in sauce and put them in their mouths, while she had no chance of tasting it whatsoever.
For a foodie, there could be no crueler torture in this world.
"Chikusho!? Next time, whoever wants this job can have it! I'm never hosting a food show again!"
The host bit down on her handkerchief, bemoaning her tragic fate, while the expressions of the three on the judges' panel began to change.
Suddenly, as if all three had been struck by a punch at the same time, they exhibited intense movements and reactions.
"This familiar art style, could it be..." Mo Bai's eye twitched as the three judges on the panel began a series of exaggerated facial performances.
"Oh, oh, oh!" Colson curled up, his right hand gripping his chopsticks so hard they creaked, his left hand pressing down hard on his large, bald head as if trying to grasp the beautiful hair that only existed twenty years ago.
"Kyaa!" With two crisp, youthful yelps, the two girls, Takagaki Kaede and Chiba Eda, pressed their hands firmly on the table. They threw their heads back, their bodies bending backward into an arch, fully revealing their alluring curves.
A chill that made their entire bodies tremble exploded from their mouths. When the three of them opened their eyes again, they found themselves in a world of ice and snow.
A cold wind carrying ice and snow blasted them in the face, the near-suffocating sensation bringing them back to their senses.
The vast ice field that filled their vision left them dumbfounded once more.
It wasn't until the increasingly red ice field beneath their feet began to collapse and a sense of weightlessness took over that the three finally understood their predicament and began to scream.
"Aaaahhhh~~~"
"Huh? We're okay?" Regaining the feeling of solid ground beneath their feet, the three hurriedly opened their eyes to find the ice field shattered. They were now standing on a ridiculously large, fiery-red giant fish.
"A Leopard Coral Grouper?! Is this the East Sea?" Colson was stunned. His gourmand instincts allowed him to recognize the behemoth's true identity and origin at a glance. But could a normal Leopard Coral Grouper grow to the size of a whale? And did the normal East Sea have ice fields?
As if in response to Colson's thoughts, the giant Leopard Coral Grouper slapped the sea's surface and soared into the air.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!!!" The three quickly grabbed onto the dorsal fin beside them.
Sunlight poured down upon the giant Leopard Coral Grouper's shining scales, creating thousands of auspicious lights.
The gentle sea breeze and bright sunshine made the three feel warm and comfortable as they sunbathed. In the distance, the vast and mysterious eastern continent unfolded before them like a scroll painting.
"DELI! CIOUS!" Colson roared, slamming his hands on the table as he shot to his feet.
"It's like a magical dish," Takagaki Kaede said, clasping her hands together as her gem-like blue eyes released countless little stars.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the best dish in this entire competition," Chiba Eda said, still intoxicated by the thrill of riding a fish into the sky.
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