"Will this work be displayed permanently at Kitajo Restaurant from now on?"
Everyone couldn't help but feel disappointed and asked.
"That's right, everyone can come to Kitajo Restaurant to see it anytime they want in the future."
Hojo Head Chef was in a good mood and said with a smile, as this would attract a lot of popularity to Kitajo Restaurant.
The chefs from several nearby restaurants cast envious glances.
"Can we interview the chef who created this work?"
Some people asked with a hint of reluctance.
"He needs to rest and prepare for the next segment, so he can't accept interviews," Hojo Head Chef said with a slight hesitation.
Next, he directed the staff of Kitajo Restaurant to put away the ice sculpture.
Because this artwork was different from other food sculptures, it would quickly melt if exposed to the sun for too long.
Hojo Head Chef had already ordered a transparent freezer to be custom-made specifically for storing this piece.
Some foreign tourists and local Japanese citizens took the opportunity to take several more photos.
Many people had already decided to visit Kitajo Restaurant in a few days to admire the artwork.
However, the Chinatown Gourmet Grand Prix was not over so quickly; there was still a food tasting segment to come.
Representatives of the major restaurants would prepare a dish on-site and invite the audience to taste it, ultimately allowing the audience to vote for the most popular dish.
The restaurant that won first place was bound to see a surge in popularity, so every restaurant was putting in all their effort, hoping to stand out in the upcoming gourmet segment.
Satou was sitting in the lounge, and Miyoko Hojo was brewing tea for him.
He sipped the fragrant green tea while considering what dish to make next.
The gourmet segment was the most important part of this event, and its impact on the restaurant's popularity was far greater than the knife skills segment.
After all, food is meant to be eaten, not just looked at. What people cared about most was definitely how a restaurant's food tasted.
He had also seen Momo's knife skill artwork earlier, and it was indeed excellent. Satou knew he would need to go all out to stand out in the upcoming gourmet segment.
But what dish should he make?
This kind of on-site cooking was not like a Shokugeki, which pursued absolute deliciousness; it was more similar to the Fair Moon Festival. First, it had to be eye-catching enough, and second, the quantity needed to be large, and it had to be convenient to eat.
If it were exquisite Western cuisine, tourists would certainly find it inconvenient to taste, and it would take too long to prepare.
Just like the Shanghai Pancakes Yukihira Soma introduced during the Fair Moon Festival, they undoubtedly hit the key points: the dish was novel enough to grab attention, and it was also convenient to eat and prepare.
It was precisely because of this keen sense that he was able to turn the tide in the end.
"What kind of dish can feed many people and be sufficiently impressive?"
Satou pondered, and suddenly his eyes lit up as he recalled a dish from Chinese cuisine Master.
He decided to make that dish.
Just then, Hojo Head Chef pushed the door open and walked in, asking with some concern, "Satou, do you have enough energy? If you're tired, you don't have to participate in the next segment."
"It's fine, I can handle it," Satou said.
The mission requirement was to help Kitajo Restaurant win first place, so how could he not participate?
"That's good," Hojo Head Chef smiled and said, "I'll leave it to Satou for now. Miyoko can be your assistant. You can tell her directly if you need anything."
Satou nodded and said, "I understand."
"Satou, what dish are you going to make?" Miyoko Hojo, standing nearby, asked curiously.
"Hmm, I need these things. Can you help me prepare them?" Satou wrote down the required items on a piece of paper.
Miyoko Hojo took it and looked, a hint of surprise appearing on her face, but she still nodded and said, "No problem."
After resting, everyone walked out of the lounge and met the others.
"Young man, I'm really looking forward to your next dish," Ayato said with a benevolent smile, his eyes exceptionally bright.
Momo stood behind him and also smiled at Satou.
Tomita Jouji quickly glanced at Satou with a look of hostility and apprehension, but quickly lowered his head.
He had already witnessed Satou's strength earlier, but he still didn't want to admit defeat easily.
Soon, everyone came outside together.
Because of his astonishing knife skills performance earlier, many tourists were filled with anticipation for Satou, and a large crowd gathered in front of his cooking station.
At the adjacent cooking station, Momo washed his hands, then poured out a large bag of flour, seemingly preparing to make a noodle dish.
In fact, having seen Satou's knife skills earlier, he had completely abandoned his condescending view of Japanese Chinese chefs. Therefore, in this segment, he no longer dared to hold back and decided to display his full strength.
He poured a large pile of flour onto the cooking station, then dug a well in the center, cracked several eggs into it, and added a little lye water to enhance the texture.
Before long, he had kneaded the dough, and the next step was to knead it thoroughly.
After mixing, because most of the flour does not absorb water evenly and is not soft and smooth enough to meet the requirements of the finished product, the process of kneading is required.
The purpose of kneading is to uniformly mix various ingredients, allow the protein in the flour to fully absorb water, form an elastic gluten network, increase the dough's elasticity, and make the dough smooth and pliable.
It could be said that whether the noodles tasted good or not, this step was extremely crucial.
Satou was quite interested in the strength of this native Chinese chef. While his tools had not yet arrived, he couldn't help but watch for a while longer.
He saw Momo grasp the dough with both hands, pull it forcefully, instantly stretching the dough into a cylindrical shape. Then, like jump rope, he bounced it up and down for a while, slammed it heavily on the cooking station, then transferred the dough from his right hand to his left, and pulled forcefully again.
This was one fold.
He repeated this action, and in no time, he had already folded it ten times.
"This is the tenth fold, right? The dough hasn't broken, it's still full of elasticity! Just how chewy will the noodles pulled from this be?"
Hiroshi Tomita, sitting in the organizer's seats, was deeply shocked. Ordinary chefs would give up after five or six folds because the dough wouldn't be tough enough.
Satou was also very surprised. Just based on his noodle-making skills, this guy should be no weaker than the Totsuki Ten Masters of Far Moon.
At this moment, the tools he needed were also brought over by the Kitajo Restaurant staff.
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