The four-round Banquet Cooking Tournament has proven to be very close.
I'm fighting the final match, Battle Tofu, against Shou An.
The taste testing has begun, and the judges tried my Magical Panda Mapo first.
My dish received favorable reviews from all the judges.
You did it!
Yes!
Yahoo!
Is that the best you can do, Mao?
With this Instrumental Trio Tofu, this match is mine!
Shocking Verdict! In the Palm of the Fairy
Mao's Magical Panda Mapo, the magic trick of the Century, has shocked everyone!
They're moved by the dish!
I don't believe this!
He converted my attack into something positive.
Panda Mapo... What a surprise!
But he's just a little boy.
Surely Shou An, a lieutenant of the Underworld, will win.
Bravo!
That's right!
Amateurs! You don't know how good Brother Mao is?
Are you guys blind or something?!
That's right. Mao, you're amazing!
You are truly a genius chef!
Go, go, Mao! You'll win this!
But the battle isn't done yet. They'll have to taste Shou An's dish first.
Looks like you've won already! I'm pretty sure of it.
I don't like this.
Shou An has just seen Mao's magnificent dish before his very eyes.
Why is he staying so calm?
This has been a special banquet cooking tournament.
This is the last of eight dishes that we'll be seeing.
However, it is unfortunate for you to go after Mao's Magical Panda Mapo, Shou An.
Don't worry about me.
The best Mao could do was to make Mapo Tofu, the specialty of Master Pai.
He's still a chick who can't fly far from the nest.
With my dish, I'd like to take the judges to a trip in different world!
Fried noodles with tofu and sauce?
I see the tofu is soft but has a solid shape.
The noodles create a wave through the sauce, enhancing the presentation.
The caliber of your cooking is evident upon looking at and smelling the dish.
But they look just like ordinary noodles.
For a guy who made ordinary noodles, he's pretty confident.
Feh. He's just talking big. He can't beat Brother Mao's dish.
Don't worry so much, Sanche. His cooking isn't that great.
What? This is...!
I beg your pardon.
Sorry, I want more.
I shall partake!
Hold it right there!
How dare you!
What's this? The judges are fighting over it! They're mesmerized by the dish!
It looks delicious!
Damn, I want to have some too!
Yes, this is proof that I've surpassed Pai.
The techniques necessary to make the Instrumental Trio Tofu is proof of this!
Instrumental Trio Tofu?
I can hear it. The sound of three different melodies playing...
Yet they resonate with a deep, sweet, and rich sound on your tongue.
Like melting snow, it turns into fog when you swallow it.
The aroma of the Earth spreads all over your mouth and gushes out in stereo.
It tickles the throat, adding wetness to the morning fog.
I see it!
The fog covering the fertile land, the rich soil of Szechuan!
Wha-what the heck is this Instrumental Trio Tofu?
Are there three kinds of sauces?
No, that's not it. There must be something else to it, but what?
Three melodies. Three instruments. Instrumental Trio Tofu...
This dish is made of tofu, meat, and noodles, nothing more.
Unless...!
Big Brother Shell!
Where did you run off to?
I stole some of his Instrumental Trio Tofu for you.
W-what are you thinking?
But you wanted to see for yourself, right?
How is it, Shell?
It's good enough, as far as regular tofu is concerned.
Wait...
Th-this isn't meat!
What?
It's tofu!
I see, it's soy pulp, a by-product when you squeeze soybeans into soymilk curd.
Right. You fry the soy pulp with spices and potatoes.
Really? It tastes just like meat.
The sauce topping is made of pureed tofu and pulp meat.
Instrumental Trio Tofu. So the other mystery is...
Ah! It's the noodles! The noodles themselves are also tofu!
What? This deliciously chewy noodle is made from tofu?
Correct. The noodles are made out of tofu.
You dry it, crush it well, and mix with flour.
Then you knead it into noodles.
Tofu sauce toppings...
Faux tofu meat...
And tofu noodles.
Truly a tofu with three instruments that create a stereophonic effect!
This is my Instrumental Trio Tofu!
You cooked tofu with tofu and topped it with tofu?
So Shou An, your genuine tofu dish is completely made out of tofu, making it the ultimate tofu dish?
Genuine, ultimate tofu dish...
Instrumental Trio Tofu. What a great dish, Shou An.
There are three textures here: soft tofu, crunchy meat, and chewy noodles.
When all three go down the throat, they melt like snow.
With the melting taste of the Earth coming out stereophonically.
The moment it melts in your mouth, it takes you on a trip to faraway Szechuan.
There's taste within the taste. It's the quintessential Szechuanese dish.
What a unique tofu dish! I never heard of it before.
Well then, honored judges. It's time to decide.
We need some time to think about our decision.
I agree.
Me too.
We need time to deliberate in private.
The final decision of the tournament will be a carefully-considered one.
The judges will deliberate their decision in another room.
Mao, have you ever walked the shore with bare feet?
What?
Just like you, I grew up in the mountains of Szechuan.
After escaping Szechuan, I saw the huge ocean for the first time.
The feel of the water, and the smell of the ocean.
You also hear the sound of the waves.
All three are different, but they all come from the same thing— the ocean.
You can only experience these three things simultaneously at the seashore.
The same can be said for cooking.
You can only get the same different yet unified effect
when the same ingredient changes form to create one main dish!
Glub glub!
You will lose this tofu battle!
He... he's huge!
Shou An looks so gigantic right now!
T-this is no good. The battle's no good!
Hey, what are you saying, Shilou?!
I thought Brother Mao would surely win! But now it doesn't look good.
Stop that talk! My father's life depends on this contest!
Brother Mao's dish was magical, but it's just a regular Mapo Tofu.
That Instrumental Trio Tofu is a dish we've never seen before!
Imbecile! Mao won't lose this battle! Right, Leon?
Don't know. I can't imagine who will win.
I'm sure it's a difficult decision for the judges too.
No way!
Hey, the judges are coming out!
Who's going to win?
I don't know.
Everyone, thank you for waiting!
This is the finale of the Banquet Cooking Tournament!
The time has finally come to announce a winner!
I say the Instrumental Trio Tofu should win!
Me too!
Shou An will win!
Big Sis...
Let's believe in Mao, Shilou.
The Banquet Cooking Tournament has been a very long one.
You don't understand anything that's important about soup.
Ouchies!
We declare the battle to be a draw!
I'll be leaving you for now.
You murdered Lache after he forged your knives!
Lache, you're willing to forgive me?
Mom, it's been a long tournament. A close battle up to this point.
It will finally be over with the result of the final match.
It will determine whether Sanche's father lives...
Ownership of the Legendary cookware that can change the fate of the cooking world.
And... the fates of Shou An and myself. All determined a few seconds from now.
Mom, it was long and hard...
The winner is...
Super Chef Liu Mao Xing!
The winner of the final battle is Liu Mao Xing!
Therefore, the Ryuchin Cooking Union team wins the Banquet Cooking Tournament!
Yes!!!
I did it! Mei Li, Shilou, Sanche!
Mao!
Brother Mao!
You're my master! I knew you were going to win!
Stop lying, you liar.
Hehe.
Mao!
Mei Li, everyone, thank you!
Good work, Mao.
Dad!
Dad, we won! We protected the Shanghai cooking world from them!
This can't be. Master Zhang!
How did you reach that decision?!
You said the Instrumental Trio Tofu was the quintessential Szechuanese dish!
How can that kid's little joke be better than Shou An's dish?
The Underworld mustn't lose to a kid like that!
What were you smoking?
What is going on?
Why don't you tell us?
Shut up, all of you!
Why don't you explain so we can all understand your thinking, Master Zhang.
Very well.
Hey, you guys.
I voted for Shou An's Instrumental Trio Tofu.
He created a sterophonic effect by using tofu creatively. It was an excellent tofu dish.
I cast my vote for Mao's tofu dish.
It had a magical flair to it.
And the deep taste of the dish was filled with fresh ideas.
I chose Mao's dish as well. I never thought eating could be so fun!
I had a hard time deciding, but I chose Shou An as the winner.
His tofu showcased to us his great cooking techniques.
I'd pay any amount of money for it!
So you held the key to the decision, Master Zhang.
That's right. Both dishes pushed the limits of tofu cuisine.
They were both great dishes, equal in quality by my reckoning.
However, I was looking for a specific dish.
An international city like Shanghai needs both originality and universality.
Mao's dish is full of originality, starting from his performance.
It's filled with a magical glorious display, and makes eating fun.
The delicious dish is like the sun shining on the Earth.
It's filled with universal appeal that brings instant happiness to everyone.
Hold it right there! After I left Szechuan, I learned all the cooking styles of China.
On top of which, I mastered the Underworld Techniques.
My dish transcends Szechuanese cuisine. Superior to even Pai's.
I find it hard to accept my dish not having enough originality and universality!
No, Shou An. Your dish isn't original!
W-what do you mean?!
What?
That dish of yours... I've eaten it before.
W-what did you say?!
About seven years ago, I plied the Yangtze River as a itinerant food hawker.
Reaching far inside Szechuan, I tasted a dish exactly like this.
Meat that isn't meat. Noodles that aren't noodles.
The smell of the Earth spreading in your mouth and melting softly.
No matter how hard you try, you can't forget the sensation
Are you saying that the restaurant...!
That's right. The restaurant where I tasted this dish was Kikkaro.
It means that your Instrumental Trio Tofu was an original dish of your Master Pai!
Shou An, did you learn that tofu dish from my Mom?
Definitely not! i didn't learn it from her!
This dish is my original creation!
I swear it! I abandoned Pai and went over the mountains to see the ocean.
I conceived of it on my own, and I made it work. It's my original!
It's... it's... it's my...
It's ironic, Shou An.
You wanted to get away from Pai.
But in the end, you ended up remaking a dish Pai created but didn't teach you.
In the end, the human soul always returns back to its hometown.
The long journey through the Yangtze River from Szechuan to Shanghai may be your limit.
N-no way! I couldn't even get beyond Pai?!
I've returned back to Master Pai's palm?
Shou An.
Shanghai will eventually open up to the world.
Tradition and formality will be useless.
What we need for change is originality and universality.
And I see both qualities in Mao's cooking.
With these, the possibilities in Chinese cooking and Shanghai's future are limitless.
All of us agreed on that.
Therefore, Liu Mao Xing is the winner. And by extension, the Ryuchin Cooking Union team!
Yes!!!
That kid has mad skills.
Yeah. Good going, shrimp!
I helped you all the way through. And look what happened.
Well then, give us the map and the code, just as we agreed.
Mao, do you know why we fought this battle on a ship?
What?
You wouldn't!
What did you do, Shou An?!
Since we've lost, we'll just turn everything into nothing.
What?!
It's going down!
The ship's sinking!
We are a hundred kilometers from shore.
Everyone here will drown!
Everything will disappear into the ocean.
Go outside!
Mao, let's go!
FREE AS THE WIND
Every night when I fall fast asleep I can hear you whispering in my dreams, feel me.
Then a bluish flame burns bright within Shining, sparkling hotter than ordinary fire.
Look at all the rain gently falling down, Filling over the dry lake bed with freshwater streams.
If we both go down like this inside our hearts, Who knows what places we will find and explore?
Destiny ensured that we both meet at the same present.
Free to frolic like the wandering wind.
Ohhh, can we stay like this until the very end of time?
This intensity I feel for you, is from Cosmic Power...