The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 186 Overwhelming Victory and a New Formidable Enemy
"Now, the two contestants in Group G have finished their cooking!" The host's enthusiastic voice echoed throughout the arena.

"Pang Xin finished cooking even faster, and the seven food critics on the field have already tasted her delicious shaved noodles."

"At this moment, the seven food recommenders will taste the dragon beard noodles cooked by contestant Qin Lang!"

As the host finished speaking, the big screen simultaneously cut to a close-up of dragon beard noodles. In the lifelike pumpkin dragon bowl, the dragon beard noodles, fried to a slightly golden brown, looked like countless long whiskers intertwined together.

Under the lens's magnification, the details of each strand of the dragon whisker noodle are clearly visible. Even though they are as thin as silk, the surface of each strand remains perfectly round, without any signs of damage.

Even with the most imaginative viewers, it's impossible to guess what this kind of noodle should taste like.

As a result, the audience couldn't help but turn their attention to the seven food recommenders on the judging panel, their eyes filled with envy.

There are no audience seats in the elimination rounds because the number of contestants who need to be judged has been greatly reduced. As long as the portion size of the food cooked by the contestants is normal, it is more than enough for the seven food critics to finish.

Once the dragon beard noodles were portioned and delivered to the judging panel, the eager food critics immediately began to taste them.

Meanwhile, Qin Lang walked up to Pang Xin's side.

“Your cooking skills…” Pang Xin stared intently at Qin Lang, her eyes no longer filled with the same confidence as before.

Because of her deep understanding of noodles, Pang Xin knew exactly how daunting it would be to stretch noodles to the same thinness as Qin Lang's.

First, the dough must be extremely uniform when kneading. Even the slightest unevenness will cause the noodles to break during stretching due to uneven texture.

Pang Xin believed that she could also achieve this with the help of her culinary skills.

What's frightening is that Qin Lang didn't use any food-related techniques.

Furthermore, in order to pull such thin noodles, in addition to the evenness of the dough, the technique is also extremely important.

The force must be applied evenly to ensure that the stretching force on each noodle is almost exactly the same in order to achieve this level of stretch.

This technique is impossible to master without many years of continuous practice.

Meeting Pang Xin's solemn gaze, Qin Lang smiled slightly, "I think the outcome will be revealed soon."

As he finished speaking, a gasp of surprise came from the judges' panel.

“This texture…” Lu Suzhi’s eyes widened, his face filled with surprise and astonishment. “I never thought noodles could have this kind of texture.”

"It's delicate and smooth. At first, it tastes a bit like cotton candy, but it's completely different when you chew it carefully. The chewy dragon beard noodles slowly melt as you chew, and the texture is really amazing."

“Yes.” Xu Yueran, the food recommender sitting next to him, nodded slightly. “Even the sauce on top has a unique flavor.”

"As the amylase breaks down the noodles, they naturally acquire a slightly sweet taste. This is especially noticeable in dragon beard noodles because each noodle is very thin, which accelerates the breakdown of the enzyme."

"The natural sweetness of this noodle dish, combined with the sauce prepared by Qin Lang, creates a flavor that gets better the more you eat it."

"This is a highly difficult dish that relies entirely on the contestant's culinary skills." Xu Yueran chuckled and shook her head. "I never thought that this old lady would be so lucky to have such a delicious meal today."

“Sister Xu, you’re not old at all.” Ms. Ye Ting, the vegetarian food recommender on the other side, smiled and said, “I also really like this dish. If I had to nitpick, it would probably be that there are no vegetables in it.”

"Hahaha, isn't pumpkin a vegetable?" Pang Ju, the recommender of livestock food, laughed heartily, and a burst of laughter echoed in the arena.

After a round of banter, the seven food recommenders each gave their evaluations. As they finished speaking, Pang Xin's expression gradually became more serious.

Apart from Song Changtian, the food recommender from the mountains, who affirmed the proportion of mountain delicacies used in her dishes, the other six food recommenders seemed to have forgotten about her dishes, and the judges' focus was entirely on Qin Lang's dragon beard noodles.

Although the voting results are not yet available, it seems that the answer is already clear.

Soon, the seven food recommenders in the room began to vote.

Apart from Song Changtian casting his vote for Pang Xin, the other six food recommenders unanimously chose Qin Lang.

In the end, Qin Lang won with an overwhelming advantage of 6:1.

The Group G matches have ended, and the Group H players are now on stage to prepare for their matches.

Qin Lang returned to his seat in the stands, and Cao Dongdong excitedly rushed towards him.

"Qin Lang, well done!"

He gave Qin Lang a big bear hug, his face full of excitement, "Do you know, I almost thought you were going to lose!"

"Am I that easy to lose?" Qin Lang shook his head, both amused and exasperated. "Let's not talk about that. How about some dragon beard noodles?"

"One word: awesome!" Cao Dongdong excitedly gave a thumbs up. "You have to make this for me to try after the competition!"

"Me too!" Yu Zaozao raised one hand high and leaned forward, "My fans in front of the camera strongly requested that I try it for them!"

"I think you just want to eat it yourself." Qin Lang chuckled. "Alright, let's make it back at the hotel after the round of 16 is completely over."

"It's a good opportunity to let Zhao Qian try it; maybe it will cheer her up."

“That makes sense!” Cao Dongdong nodded seriously. “There’s nothing that a bowl of dragon beard noodles can’t solve. If there is, then two bowls will do!”

As the three were talking, the match in Group H officially began.

One of the players in Group H is Qiu Lei, who scored 94.25 points in the second round, only 0.5 points lower than Qin Lang, ranking 5th in the second round.

On the other side is Zheng Long, who ranked 11th in the second round.

Although there was a six-place difference in their rankings, the difference in their scores in the second qualifying rounds was not significant, and Qin Lang had expected it to be a closely contested battle.

But in the end, Qiu Lei won by an overwhelming margin, winning six votes from the seven food recommenders, just like Qin Lang.

"So, Qin Lang, your opponent in the next quarterfinals will be this guy, right?" Cao Dongdong couldn't help but say. "This guy is pretty strong. That dish just now completely crushed his opponent."

"That's quite impressive." Qin Lang nodded slightly. "No wonder he's the young master of the most famous restaurant in Qingyang City; he has a wide range of culinary expertise."

"I don't know what kind of subject matter he's best at."

“It’s most likely beef,” Yu Zaozao interjected, “because the two most popular dishes at their restaurant are both beef dishes.”

"Beef?" Qin Lang looked thoughtful. "Then let's see the results of the draw for the quarterfinals later."

(End of this chapter)