CHAPTER 1029: CHAPTER 1028: I HEARD YOU’RE REALLY SKILLED (PART 2)

"I heard your ’control of heat’ is impressive?"

Even in a calm tone, anyone could hear the tension in the words.

What’s with "I heard"!

Amor Sage, known outside as the Master of Fire, was already in a foul mood. Hearing Xia Yu’s words, his temple veins seemed to turn into rebellious little worms, twitching incessantly.

Although he calls himself a "sage," Amor clearly experiences emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and knows rage. If he truly were a great sage constantly casting Wise Man Time Magic on himself, or had other divine spell buffs, Xia Yu’s open provocation would have been in vain.

"I heard your ’control of heat’ is quite impressive too!"

Amor stared coldly at the young man and replied.

Alright then.

Seeing the situation, Luther, Karl, Brune, Bastian, and other high-ranking members took two large steps back, clearly drawing a line between themselves and Amor. Indicating that this matter had nothing to do with them.

’Scalpel’ Karl said in an obviously fake tone, "Chef Xia, we’ve internally discussed a solution for the ’Greedy Wolf Pot’. It’s like this, do you see that electrified egg on the table? The ’Greedy Wolf Pot’ can be temporarily transferred to you, and all you need to do is take this egg, try to hatch it at home, and then we can hold a press conference together, announcing that we’ve exchanged conditions. It’s a very equitable transaction!"

Karl emphasized the word "transaction."

Xia Yu understood and gave a long "Oh."

Being able to take the ’Greedy Wolf Pot’ first makes the transaction quite intriguing. With Xia Yu’s wisdom, he immediately saw that this was the IGO high-level’s blatant attempt to cover their ears while stealing a bell!

The so-called transaction was actually just a fig leaf.

No choice, large organizations and institutions value face the most. IGO wishes to return the ’Greedy Wolf Pot’, but after the media frenzy, they very much need this fig leaf.

Otherwise, opponents like the gourmet association would certainly seize the opportunity to diminish IGO’s prestige around the world.

As for why IGO is willing to use such a method, practically giving it away with gentlemanly style to transfer the ’Greedy Wolf Pot’...

Uh, Xia Yu expressed an unwillingness to delve into it. The human heart is the hardest to fathom. Constantly guessing others’ thoughts is a sure way to spark a brain crisis.

"I disagree!"

An intense voice interrupted Xia Yu’s thoughts.

"Oh?"

Many eyes in the room immediately turned to look at Amor, who had spoken.

Karl continued with a very fake tone, raising his eyebrows, "Oh? Luther, Brune, Bastian, including me, we’re united in our stance on this matter."

Such an attitude made Amor even more infuriated.

"What about me?"

Even as a sage, Amor decided to assert his presence: "For such a major matter as transferring the ’Greedy Wolf Pot’, IGO needs a unanimous vote!"

Karl fell silent, but his face showed a sense of accomplishing his goal—a hard-fought, light-hearted sense of gathering animosity.

The third sage, Bastian, clearly understood and internally sighed. Amor, oh Amor, your mind has been taken over by stubbornness and anger. Karl’s acting is absurdly fake, yet you didn’t see it, so it’s no wonder you fell into the trap.

At this moment, the always-friendly Mr. Brune suddenly gave Bastian a "kind" look.

With a "swish," cold sweat dripped from Bastian’s forehead.

Bastian understood the warning in Mr. Brune’s eyes.

So, Karl and Brune had already agreed, and we were only symbolically casting a vote in favor!

Bastian was at a loss, almost in tears.

"Hey!"

Seeing this, Xia Yu interrupted the group of actors. They were all playing their roles, but he’d made a stern statement earlier and it couldn’t just be brushed aside.

"Amor Sage, interested in a profound discussion on ’control of heat’? Just the two of us."

With a bright smile, the young man exuded the beauty of youth.

Amor’s lips curled into a cold but faintly mocking smile: "Just as well, I’d also like to see if your heat control skills, as the rumored ’Fire Mage from the East’, are truly as remarkable as they say."

"Just ’control of heat’?"

"Yes, just ’control of heat’, no added food ethics or Food Dominator skills, purely basic culinary skills," Amor followed the young man’s tone, "So, shall we discuss?"

Xia Yu gently pursed his lips, as if he was begrudgingly nodding his head, but in reality, he was forcefully suppressing a cheer of "Yay!" stuck in his throat.

After successfully restraining himself, he wiped a cold sweat, "Almost broke character. If I had shouted ’Yay’, things would have escalated, possibly turning into a mass taunt masterstroke!"

No one understood his inner excitement at this moment!

Taunt a sage? Sorry, as a fellow Dragon Chef, Amor fear-inducing or intimidating him was really overthinking it.

In fact, isn’t this a good opportunity to test the waters?

IGO Sage? Master of Fire?

Replacing with Luther, who specializes in knife skills, and Bastian, who specializes in spices, if my culinary skills in these areas had not yet broken through to the "source," Xia Yu might feel a bit unsure, lacking confidence. But if it’s about fire control, ahem, everything will be arranged perfectly for you.

The group moved from the sterile laboratory to a brightly lit hall.

Upon arrival, they happened to encounter several staff members, either pushing carts of ingredients or transporting modern cooking machines. Before long, two simple temporary kitchens were set up in the hall.

"Alright."

With the help of a female worker, Amor put on his chef’s uniform and reminded Xia Yu, "The ingredient cart is there. I have prepared meat, vegetables, and seafood - three categories of materials for you to choose from. Based on this, we’ll have a good discussion about the profound ’fire control’!"

But Xia Yu didn’t immediately choose ingredients. Instead, he leisurely walked over to Amor’s side to inspect his luxurious equipment.

Wow, brand-new modern machines, gleaming with metallic luster, filled the simple kitchen. Xia Yu let out a low exclamation of "Wow", recognizing a few machines, like the food separator often seen in Tiqie Ailisha’s ’molecular gastronomy’ field. Of course, more machines left him bewildered.

"Hmm?"

He flicked a metal sink with his finger. This sink was peculiar, with a laboratory-like precise temperature control dial, water level indicators inside the basin, and a similarly strange machine beside it, seemingly a complementary combination, along with stacks of unused transparent vacuum bags.

After looking around, Xia Yu propped his chin and murmured, "Why does this feel a bit familiar?"

Just then, Amor walked over, glanced at him sideways, and said indifferently, "This is a set of equipment for sous-vide cooking."

Vacuum low-temperature cooking?

Yes, indeed!

Xia Yu’s eyes lit up, "Sous-vide?"

"You know? Well, yes, the vacuum low-temperature cooking method was actually invented long ago and has gradually become popular in recent years. In a strict sense, molecular gastronomy includes four major categories: nitrogen, food decomposition, flavor pairing, and slow cooking at low temperatures. As you can see, the complete set of modern molecular gastronomy equipment I frequently use is all here."

Amor’s lips curled into a proud smile as his gaze swept over this pile of luxurious equipment, a hint of "madness" in his eyes.

"My sous-vide cooking is unlike any other molecular gastronomy chefs!"

Having said that, he grabbed a pristine white egg and held it in his hand.

With a "beep," the machine powered on and started running.

Xia Yu hesitated, "Aren’t you going to vacuum-seal it?"

"The eggshell, if undamaged, is the most perfect vacuum environment internally, requiring no additional treatment," Amor replied.

The temperature steadily rose, seemingly slow, but a few minutes later, the entire pool of water, as seen through Xia Yu’s "temperature sensor-like" vision, had reached over sixty degrees.

Suddenly, with a splash, Amor placed the egg into the pool.

The water temperature kept climbing, finally reaching the number 68 degrees Celsius!

"No, it’s 67.7!"

Amor manually decreased the temperature by 0.3 degrees Celsius.

He explained expressionlessly: "For ordinary edible eggs, the most suitable temperature for sous-vide cooking is 68 degrees Celsius. However, this temperature applies to average mass and size eggs. The egg I am using now is slightly smaller, so the temperature can be reduced accordingly. But how much to decrease, how much to add, this simple arithmetic depends on the ’fire control’ in the heart of a molecular gastronomy chef!"

"Machines are, after all, machines."

"The chef’s understanding of the ingredients is truly the essence of this cooking method!"

Soon, the egg was ready.

Xia Yu received the egg, peeled it, and without looking, took a bite, his facial muscles gradually tensing.

The egg white was even more tender than tofu.

As for the yolk, it was indescribable, like chewing on warm pudding, smooth and slippery.

"So, how do you find my ’perfect onsen egg’? Do you approve?" Amor snorted.

"I acknowledge it, but..."

Xia Yu finished eating in one go, yet his eyebrows furrowed.

"It’s too bland."

"Ha?"

Amor laughed lightly through his nose, "So, this is sous-vide cooking, or perhaps it’s more appropriate to call it the ’water bath cooking method.’ Because, in essence, the element that generates and transfers heat is water!"

"In this cooking method, water doesn’t initiate a direct chemical reaction with the ingredients, nor does it dissolve and carry away compounds generated during the ingredient’s ’cooking’ process... Thus, in the end, the food is rich in flavor, maintaining the most authentic original taste!"

"If by bland, you mean the original flavor of the ingredient or the inherent taste of the food is insufficient..." There was disdain in Amor’s eyes.

"Then I shall cook an egg too! Talk is meaningless!"

Xia Yu waved his hand, returned to his cooking station, set up the pot, and poured in clean water.

Soon, the water was boiling, and when Xia Yu handed him a steaming egg, Amor, with a cold expression, peeled the egg. He glanced a couple more times at the white and tender egg white, then curled his lips and in an earnest tone as a senior and a sage, lectured, "Fire control, at our level, if you simply perceive it as the intensity of the fire or the length of time, it’s too superficial. Indeed, legendary ’fire control’ is about making ingredients reach an unprecedented level of deliciousness while cooking!"