Yamafu Military Affairs

Chapter 281: Eating All Kinds of Food
"Why are you here too?"

"I was originally on the public jury, but I was still considering whether to come. Now that you are here, I will come and join in the fun."

Liu Gengyang found their name-brand seats and waved to Qin Huai.

"And it's not just me. I just saw the unknown Xunwei Xiaolang outside. He and Diansu Xiaoniang should have been able to go straight to the third round, but I didn't expect that they would come to participate in the preliminary round today."

"Perhaps he wants to take advantage of the large number of people in the preliminary round to make a name for himself as soon as possible."

Qin Huai looked at the huge crowds of people around him, thought of Shaohua's rather plain-looking attire, and made a casual guess.

"Here, here comes the devil."

Qin Huai turned his head when he heard that, and saw that at the entrance to the inner field, the boiling heat waves distorted the air. A boy of about sixteen or seventeen years old walked into the competition area with a large basket of peppers in his hands. The bright red peppers in the basket were like a burning wave of fire, so bright and dazzling that it was impossible to look at it for long.

The Shu chrysanthemum went downstairs and took the nine-variety flavor and the Jade Emperor flavor. There was the taste seeker Langguan, Shaohua, who coexisted with the Jade Food Fairy.

"Wow~ It seems that this little guy who was looking for food really found some extraordinary things in the mountain and sea world."

Liu Gengyang looked at the familiar-looking peppers in the basket and seemed to remember something.

"Is that the Jueyun Pepper that grows on the cliffs of the Yunqi Mountains? I remember that even if we bought all the peppers on the market in Lin'an Prefecture, there wouldn't be that many, right?"

Qin Huai looked at the strange-shaped peppers with petals blooming on the top, and black ripples flashed by.

[Jueyun Pepper]: The essence of fire, a spicy plant that grows on the top of Jueyun Mountain. If ordinary people smell a little bit of it, their bodies will become hot and they will crave water.

Note: Eating in small amounts can boost the body's qi and blood, helping warriors to make breakthroughs, but excessive intake can easily cause self-immolation, so be careful when cooking!

Shaohua walked under the two of them carrying a basket, and the invisible flame wave hit Liu Gengyang and Qin Huai's face. If the two of them had not been successful in body training and had thick skin as thick as shoe soles, the heat and capsaicin dissipated in the air alone would have been enough to make them drunk.

"My goodness, he can endure such a wave of fire without sweating on his forehead. Is this Xunwei Xiaolang cultivating the Tail Constellation? Or the Wing Constellation?"

Qin Huai touched his chin and said, "I think he should be the one with the Seven Killings as his destiny."

"【Use the Seven Killings to create the seal, and use the God of Food to control the killing】, if he is really the Seven Killings, then he will be very powerful in the future~"

Liu Gengyang laughed strangely, took out two golden and crispy [Duck Oil Crispy] biscuits from somewhere, and gave one to him.

"It was just baked this morning at the Lin'an Qifang Pavilion branch. It has the authentic Jinling flavor. It will take a while before the competition starts, so let's fill our stomachs first."

Qin Huai took the sesame cake wrapped in oil paper and bit into it with a "crunch".

The sesame cake was just out of the oven and still warm. The fragrance filled the mouth the moment it entered the mouth. After a closer look, the crust was crispy on the outside, the filling was soft and smooth on the inside, and the bite was neat. It was neither crumbly nor sticky to the teeth. The fragrance lingered on the lips and teeth, which was really irresistible.

"The scallion filling is well seasoned, but it makes me even hungrier after eating it."

Qin Huai finished the duck oil-crispy sesame cake with crab roe crust in just two bites, and chatted with Rouqiu who was leaning on the official hat chair.

Suddenly, a chill arose out of nowhere, radiating indiscriminately from afar towards the stands.

Qin Huai frowned and looked up. A worried middle-aged man wearing a black sheepskin robe, a green feather felt hat, and a jeweled jade belt around his waist was walking slowly towards him.

The distressed middle-aged man was still more than 50 meters away, but Liu Gengyang had already jumped up: "Liao people?!"

As if to confirm his words, a hissing sound of dragons and snakes was heard, and the melancholy middle-aged man's body turned into a ghost realm that would choose its prey. A small black crystal snake about half a foot in diameter and as thick as a finger, with black mist lingering all over its body, emerged from the man's ear and began to dance around. It was very strange.

Qin Huai used his five senses to savor the strange chill. He looked at Liu Gengyang, who was twitching his nose and about to sneeze, and his frown immediately relaxed.

"He used spices? Aren't hallucinogenic incense illegal?"

The sad middle-aged man five meters away used a variety of spices and a trace of truth to conjure up the underworld. The coldness Qin Huai felt was not the real yin energy brought by the evil ghost of Huangquan, but the virtual coldness reflected by the five senses of the human body through the stimulation of the medicinal properties of spices.

"They are all precious materials produced in the Mountain and Sea Realm. It's really not a waste to make them this way."

Liu Gengyang muttered a few words and waved his hand. A translucent Kui pig with a fat face, short hair, long beak and big ears appeared out of thin air and rushed towards the dark ghost realm.

boo~
When the illusory Kui Pig rushed to two steps in front of the melancholy middle-aged man, it turned into a breeze and blew away the specially secret compound spices into nothingness.

Seeing the evil waves of the underworld receding like a tide, Liu Gengyang shouted impatiently at the middle-aged man: "Hey, man, stop showing off and get in quickly. This is Lin'an, not Shangjing!"

Hiss~
The worried middle-aged man seemed unaware. Apart from the little black crystal snake spitting its tongue towards the two of them, he didn't even look at Liu Gengyang. He turned around and entered the venue with his briefcase on his back.

Looking at the middle-aged Liao people's attitude, Qin Huai was a little puzzled: "Brother, can an enemy country at war also come to participate in the spiritual chef competition held by the Song Dynasty?"

"Let me correct you. We are currently in a strategic stalemate with the Liao Kingdom, not an all-out war. Besides, who knows what those old men in the Honglu Temple and the Privy Council are thinking."

Liu Gengyang curled his lips and was about to complain to Qin Huai about the officials in the court, when the circular chef competition arena suddenly fell silent.

Qin Huai raised his head, and countless star shadows rushed up to the sky. The starry sky blocked the scorching sun, and all noisy sounds were completely eliminated. A star shadow in the shape of a white tiger wrapped around the entire circular arena. The tiger roared in the mountains and forests, and the sky and the earth were silent!

But soon, the white tiger's phantom shattered, and in the eyes of all the audience and contestants, it turned into eight exaggeratedly large scrolls.

[White Tiger Holding Power·Supervisory Soldiers and Divine Observation]: Insight into the heavens and the earth, and simultaneously display all images and pictures within the range, which are controlled by the host.

And the picture shown on the huge screen of the scroll is exactly the three judges sitting on the rostrum and the accountant of the accounting department who temporarily serves as the master of ceremonies. The images of the four people are clearly shown and lifelike.

"Wow? Glasses-free 3D? Isn't this a bit ahead of its time?"

Qin Huai glanced at Cao Jianbing who was standing next to the judges. This eight-sided star power screen was the work of the White Tiger Army leader.

Several lines of ink appeared on the sides of Cao Jianbing's cheeks, which looked a bit mysterious. Obviously, to maintain such a real-time monitoring image that can synchronize all dynamics within a radius of several hundred meters for a long time, it is also something that he needs to be a little more serious.

Qin Huai only felt that there was a ball of thin, invisible star power covering his lips. The strength was not high and it was easy to break free. It seemed that it only served as a reminder to keep quiet.

Liu Gengyang looked as if he was used to it and didn't say anything. He just sat up straight and looked towards the podium.

The three judges were already in place. The MC, who was wearing a turquoise round-necked robe, finished his opening remarks in a very official tone, and then announced the official titles and honors of the three judges like announcing the names of dishes. The chief judge, Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, Dragon-level chef, descendant of Sanqing Baiweimen, and the most promising Xunwei official under fifty to be promoted to the realm of immortal chef - Zhen Xian.

Deputy judge, the head chef of Dabei Temple's Xiangji Kitchen, a dragon-level chef, who realized the true nature of color and emptiness when she was young, and is skilled in the mind-thinking vegetarian diet that can stir up the seven emotions and six desires of all things, the leading female chef in Kyushu - Beihai Shenni.

Deputy judge, the chef of Xianyuan Zhisheng Temple, a dragon-level chef, a great scholar who can make stupid and foolish children suddenly enlightened after tasting the food, the leader of Confucius Mansion Banquet - Kongzong Banquet.

The three judges stood up and the silence order in the competition venue was lifted. The first question of this spiritual chef competition was slowly revealed on the Xingli giant screen.

【Taste】

"The five flavors of Jade Emperor, Nine Changes, Kong Gu, Wan Wu, and Su Tuo are the basis of all cooking and the most important criterion for whether a dish is delicious. Now that you are ready, let's get started."

Zhen Xian looked at the heroes of Jiuzhou who were rubbing their hands and ready to go in the backcourt, and signaled that the competition officially began.

Looking up at the two burning incense sticks transformed from star power, Qin Huai showed a thoughtful expression on his face.

Today's cooking competition starts at Si time and ends at Wu time (11 am to 1 pm), which happens to be the time of day when people's sense of taste is most sensitive. It seems that these four departments and six bureaus have really made arrangements everywhere and put a lot of thought into everything.

After Qin Huai figured out the key, he put aside his chaotic thoughts and focused on watching the contestants' performance.

Cha Xiaodao, Ding Ru and Shaohua, the potential stocks that Qinhuai could name, had already started to prepare the ingredients after knowing that the competition had started. The worried middle-aged man from Liao also took out a bear paw the size of a millstone and started to work on it.

Qin Huai looked around. Apart from Cha Xiaodao who was blanching seafood and Ding Ru who was chopping fresh food, the one who interested him most was Lang Shaohua, the new Sichuan cuisine chef.

As the saying goes, Sichuan chefs have three treasures: pickled vegetables, fermented bean paste, and red oil.

In front of Shaohua's stove now, there is a jar of bright red and oily bean paste and a porcelain plate of fresh [Jueyun pepper].

However, Shaohua did not rush to put the ingredients into the pot. Instead, he first took out a piece of extremely tender [bloodthirsty beef] tenderloin from the [fresh cage] and cut it quickly with the kitchen knife in his hand. In a few seconds, he cut it all into even-sized pieces.

After washing his hands to remove the remaining smell, he grabbed a Tianqinghai bowl, put the beef cubes in it, first used salt and cooking wine to remove the fishy smell, stirred it evenly with his left hand, and then added light soy sauce, pepper powder and starch one by one to allow the seasoning to better penetrate and wrap the beef cubes.

While the beef cubes were being marinated, Shaohua washed his hands again, picked up the iron pan, and poured the rapeseed oil he had prepared in advance into it.

He wants to boil the red oil now.

He just stretched out his right hand, and the pure star power turned into a rose-red flame, slowly approaching the [Jueyun Pepper] in the porcelain plate.

呲味味~
Soon, the fresh and tender [Jueyun pepper] was squeezed dry and became the indispensable dried pepper for making Sichuan cuisine's red oil.

At this time, the rapeseed oil in the pot nearby had been refined and the oil temperature had dropped to about 60%. Shaohua was quick to add a number of spices including scallion, grass fruit, white cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, etc.

Bubbles rolled and the spices lost their color. After the aroma of all the auxiliary ingredients was refined into the golden cooked oil, Shaohua scooped up the residue, then took a plain white porcelain basin, placed the crushed [Jueyun Pepper] at the bottom of the basin, and when the oil temperature dropped to the appropriate temperature, poured it in and stirred it thoroughly.

At this moment, extremely rich fire essence suddenly overflowed and condensed into a flaming dragon that soared into the sky, and its flaming tail swept across the azure bowl on the stove.

Shaohua's expression remained unchanged. He swung the kitchen knife in his hand accurately, not only blasting away the fire dragon with one blow, but also using the residual heat to warm the iron pot again.

"He remained calm in the face of adversity, which is truly the demeanor of a master."

Qin Huai watched Shaohua handle the process neatly and efficiently and roughly guessed what dish he was going to cook.

Mapo tofu.

But considering the era we live in today, maybe it is a dish with a similar preparation.

"Wow~"

The sound of beef being put into the hot pot brought Qin Huai back to his senses.

When Shaohua saw that the oil temperature was right, he deftly put the marinated beef cubes into the pot. However, the fire in the stove made a red glow on his forehead, which was the reflection of the fine beads of sweat that had just been forced out by the sudden rise of the fire dragon.

Shaohua, with a focused expression, did not wipe it. He just held the handle of the pot with one hand and waved the dark black iron shovel with the other.

The "beef filling" that was originally stuck together due to cutting and marinating quickly separated after boiling in oil, turning into soybean-sized beef cubes. After being exposed to the high temperature of the oil, the bright red fresh beef began to lose water and its appearance quickly turned grayish white.

A strange meaty aroma peculiar to the [Bloodthirsty Bull] spread into the air, causing the remaining fire essence in the air to leap for joy and cheer again.

The grayish-white beef cubes under the spatula are like popping beans, constantly emitting their own fragrance.

The grayish-white beef cubes gradually turn darker in color after being fried dry, beginning the most critical crisping process.

Shaohua waved the spatula and observed the world in the pot attentively. Not long after the beef had spit out the oil and became completely crispy, he quickly added salt, [Jueyun pepper] noodles, peppercorns, soy sauce, and fermented black beans, stir-fried them to color them, and seasoned them carefully.

Shaohua's stove was not far from the judges' seats. Qinhuai took a quick sniff and could smell the rich aroma and spicy heat coming towards him.

Keeping the pot steady over low heat, Shaohua took some tender white tofu that had been blanched in boiling salt water from another stove, drained it briefly, added a little water to the beef pot, and after boiling it for a while, poured all the tofu, which was as white as mutton fat jade, into the pot.

Shaohua added some freshly boiled red oil and white vinegar to enhance the flavor. He gently pushed the tofu to maintain its shape while watching the bright red soup gradually seep into the tofu.

"almost."

Shaohua exhaled a breath and skillfully poured the sauce that had been prepared long ago into the pot along the wall.

Seeing the soup quickly becoming thick and clinging to the tofu, locking in all the flavor, Shaohua nodded and finally sprinkled in a handful of chopped green onions to finish the dish.

It only took Shaohua 25 minutes to take the dish out of the pot and put it on a plate, and he raised his hand to signal. He was undoubtedly the fastest contestant to complete the dish in this preliminary round.

"Shaohua from Juxialou, [Nine Transformations of Absolute Clouds], please appreciate it."

Seeing that some contestants had finished their dishes, the three judges nodded, and director Cao Jianbing immediately switched the images of the eight Star Power giant screens to Shaohua's stove chopping board.

The tofu beauty, with her red makeup and green jade pendants, had already captured the attention of the audience even before they had tasted it.

(End of this chapter)