Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 128: The contestants displayed their unique abilities as the second round of selection drew to a close. (5K First Update)
"Hmm, the fish was prepared not badly, I'd say it's barely excellent."

"The fish was very fresh, but the fishy smell was a little lacking. It was most likely alcohol, but the taste was a bit strange. It was probably not beer or liquor, but a cocktail."

"It should be a RIIO series liquor; you can taste a tiny bit of the lingering flavor."

"The fish itself was quite good, and steaming was a smart way to prepare it. Although there was no ginger, the use of wine and the reliance on chili peppers and scallions made it very good."

The judges were quite unanimous in their opinion that the dish was well-made, but the selection of ingredients was lacking.

However, his basic skills and eyesight are both excellent.

A total of 89 judges ordered dishes they wanted to try. All the judges selected Cantonese cuisine, while most selected Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisines. Hunan and Sichuan cuisines were only sampled briefly.
After tasting, Qian Youdao received an excellent overall score of 88 points.
Of course, this score was somewhat unsatisfactory for him.
You have to understand, that's a freshwater bass. Although the fish itself is a bit lazy and looks like it was farmed, what more could you ask for in this kind of environment?

Furthermore, the fishy smell will be reduced when aquaculture is carried out in flowing water.

Although there was no salt, the fish itself had its fishy smell almost completely reduced after being processed with vegetables.
Is this all you can get, only 88 points?
What's wrong? Is it possible for someone to fully bring out the original flavor of meat under these circumstances?

Thinking of this, he glanced somewhat dejectedly at the ranking display wall on the large screen next to him.

There were four people on the wall. After his score was displayed, the rankings were quickly updated, and he moved up to second place.

However, this list only shows the ranking, not the score, so he only knew that Xia Ming was higher than him, but did not know how much higher he was in the end.

"90? 93? He couldn't possibly be 100."

After thinking it over for a while, Qian Youdao stopped worrying. Although his score wasn't what he wanted, it seemed like advancing to the next round shouldn't be a problem.

"Let's stay calm first; only by surviving will we have a chance."

After saying that, he was taken back to the competition venue by the staff.

Just as he was leaving, Qiao Ruoning came over with the food.

Qian Youdao glanced across the middle aisle and noticed that she was making black pepper pork.

It's a bit odd, though, that the small cubes of pork are served with what looks like crispy fried crust.
What he didn't know was that Qiao Ruoning had changed the recipe halfway through making this dish.

After obtaining the pork tenderloin, she abandoned her original plan and collected some compound seasonings from the "black pepper potato chips" she had obtained.

Despite being a mixture of black pepper, salt, and sugar, the spices used by these potato chip manufacturers have a fatal flaw.

To ensure the snack-like texture of potato chips, they generally tend to emphasize certain aspects when making them.
Especially the black pepper flavor, which is extremely spicy, is comparable to the seasoning for regular street barbecue.

Although the amount of salt is not much, the flavor profile is definitely there. It's fine for most people to make do, but for a chef like Qiao Ruoning, it would mean facing a limited choice in seasoning.

Because she couldn't change the ingredient ratio, she could only take out a portion of it exactly as it was and use it to marinate the meat.
So, to ensure it didn't turn out badly, she added a rich tomato sauce and a roasted pepper sauce to enhance the flavor of the pork chunks.

As for the crispy fried crust that Qian Youdao saw, it was actually a rice flour crust, but the batter for rice flour is different from that for cornstarch, and rice flour is not stable.

After frying, the rice flour coating will fall off the meat.
So Qiao Ruoning took a different approach, using the rice noodle shells as a heat insulation layer. After finishing, she cut the pork tenderloin into small square pieces and then pan-fried them.

This method ensures that the pork retains its juices after both cooking processes, while also creating a caramelized layer on the surface.

After arranging the food carefully on a plate, sprinkle some potato chip seasoning on top.

Finally, cut 16 pieces from the fallen rice noodle layer that look relatively intact to make a small side dish and enhance the overall flavor.

What ultimately appears is the dish in her hands.
The judges still gave her a good review for her last-minute modified dish.

The idea of ​​using rice flour as an insulation layer to make pork tenderloin crispy on the outside and tender on the inside was well-received.

But the same problem remains: without soy sauce and spices to balance it out, the meat in the rigor mortis stage is still a little tough.

In addition, the juicy part inside doesn't have the smooth, oily texture of beef, and it even has a slightly fishy smell. So many people pressed the light, but the final vote score was not high, only "83.6 points".

However, Qiao Ruoning was content with her lot; being lucky enough to get a piece of pork tenderloin was enough to satisfy her.

After her, several top contestants completed their dishes and took turns delivering them to the judges' room.

But no matter which aspect of the dish you choose, you can't escape the inherent flavors of the ingredients themselves.

Among them, Bai Heng is arguably the most outstanding.

Just as Xia Ming had predicted, after obtaining the prawns that had died relatively recently, she used potato chips, crushed rice flour, and eggs as a binder to make "crispy fried prawns" on the spot.

Although the spicy crayfish flavored potato chips already have a well-established flavor profile, she still boldly incorporated the flavors of chili and onion into them.

And they put a lot of thought into the way they prepared the shrimp.
The crispy outer shell preserves the juiciness inside. Although there are some rice noodles that crumble, the use of potato chip crumbs for the outer shell and egg wash for setting makes it stand out from the competition.

Ultimately, thanks to its perfectly blended flavors, it achieved a score of 90.5.

Comparatively speaking, Shuai Qixing, Chen Sui, and Zhou Jing fared rather poorly.

Most of them scored around 81 points, so advancing shouldn't be a problem, but their scores were indeed a bit low.
Guan Zhongyun's "rice noodle" was slightly better than the three above, but it was hard to say that it was creative, so it only got "83 points".

Zheng Zeqian was one of the bolder ones in the group; he took room-temperature pure milk from the vending machine.

After processing with lemon juice, he gradually transformed pure milk into a tangy cheese. Then, he used chili peppers to add spiciness to the fried chicken and bell peppers to add a sweet flavor.

Finally, add shredded cheese to neutralize the flavor.

The final chicken dish resembles a Western cooking method, being tender while bell peppers and cheese provide its unique flavor.

However, it still lacked salt, and the blood in the chicken was not completely removed. Ultimately, considering the creativity, the judges gave it a score of 85.9.

As Zheng Zeqian walked out of the judges' room, the competition entered its final stage.

A large number of contestants flocked to give the judges samples, but the final scores were not satisfactory.

Among the contestants who were able to be tasted, the most common score was between 65 and 70. Those who scored slightly better, above 78, were considered to be ranked relatively high.

Not to mention those dishes that no one even bothered to choose.

Because the scores are blind, even if a player gets a score, they can only judge their chances of advancing by their position on the leaderboard.

However, the situation is different for viewers in the off-site live broadcast room. There is a special UI icon in the lower right corner of the live broadcast room, through which viewers can check the remaining contestants and their scores.

From their perspective, 312 contestants had completed their dishes, and the judges tasted the dishes of 136 of them. The lowest score was 60.4 points, and the highest score was still Xia Ming's 95.8 points.

So far, only Bai Heng and Xia Ming have scored over 90 points.

Just as everyone was wondering who among the remaining people could score above 90 points, He He's dish was sent into the conveyor belt.

What she made was "Seven-Color Rice Cake in a Bowl". From the appearance, the only difference between it and the plain white rice cake that everyone normally buys is that it is coated with a layer of slightly thick milk sauce.

This slightly thick milk sauce actually has its own name: "stir-fried milk".

In Shunde, Guangzhou-Shenzhen area, there are dishes based on this. As for Hehe, they don't go into such detail. They simply add rice flour, sugarcane juice, and egg whites to make a milk sauce, which is then used on rice cakes.

Of course, it would take much longer than that to fuss over two and a half hours.

Next to the dish was a slice of rice cake. Looking at the cross-section, you could see that the rice cake actually had a hidden surprise inside.

The outer layer is a rice cake made of rice, which contains some of the sweetness of sugarcane, but the filling inside is pure white and chewy. You can even clearly see pieces of various fruits on the cross-section.

Soon, one of the judges recognized that the part wrapped in the middle was actually "钵仔糕" (a type of steamed rice cake).

That's right, it's the kind of snack that you can find all over the country, on every street corner, that wraps fruit in a small bowl, and you have to stir it out with a bamboo skewer. It's chewy and soft when you eat it.

However, unlike the "crystal bowl cake" sold in the market, due to the limitation of raw materials, Hehe makes the "most basic form of bowl cake", also known as "traditional rice flour bowl cake". Unlike the crystal clear bowl cake that is similar to jelly, the traditional bowl cake is off-white, forming a soft and chewy combination with the outer rice cake.

Since most people make Chinese dishes, and a small number make Western meat dishes, Hehe's dessert is quite appealing.

Ultimately, she received 128 lights and achieved an impressive overall score of 91.2 points, becoming the third contestant to break the 90-point mark.

However, she wasn't very happy with her score, because she was only in second place on the ranking list next to her.

This also means that Xia Ming, who came in first, had a higher score than her.

Looking at the rankings on the screen, He He subconsciously gritted his teeth.

"Just who is this guy? He's so powerful, I guess I'll have to keep a close eye on him from now on."

Just as Xia Ming was attracting He He's close attention.
Zhu Wuneng, who came in second place in the previous round and was dressed in a monk's robe, walked steadily into the judges' room.

As he placed the dish into the conveyor belt, the eyes of the few judges inside lit up instantly.

"Could this be... the Thousand-Thread Phoenix Tail?"

"It should be a phoenix tail with a thousand threads, but the structure has definitely been modified by the contestant himself."

"Judging by the color, it should be cabbage stems and leaves, radish leaves, and onion leaves. Look at these fine fuzzes!"

"The phoenix tails are connected end to end, forming small balls, which look just like a phoenix tail ball. The shape is beautiful and the fragrance is refreshing."

"I didn't smell any meat, but there was a strong onion smell. You can give it a try."

With the judges pressing their lights enthusiastically, Zhu Wuneng ultimately received 139 lights, which doesn't necessarily mean that his cooking was better than the other contestants.

The main reason is that in a time when people have tasted too much meat and sweet dishes, and everyone is using tomato juice, lemon juice, sugarcane, and grapes, a purely vegetarian dish with skillful knife work and presentation would definitely make the judges want to try something different.

Moreover, Zhu Wuneng's "Thousand-Thread Phoenix Tail Ball" is not as simple as it looks.

Although it's just simple cabbage stalks, cabbage leaves, radish leaves, onions, and a little bit of "sea salt" from the sunflower seeds, the combination is extremely exquisite.

First of all, "Phoenix Tail Flower Knife" is a "beginner styling dish" that requires basic knife skills. The specific method is to cut various leaves and then place them in ice water. The ice water will cause the leaves to curl automatically, eventually forming the shape of a phoenix tail.

The phoenix tail down corresponds to the distance between the middle slices of vegetables. The so-called phoenix tail with thousands of threads is similar to Xia Ming's extreme "straw raincoat cucumber".

The work itself is based on relatively basic knife skills, and the overall phoenix tail looks as light as a real feather.

Zhu Wuneng carefully adjusted its structure and then used it as a wrapping for dishes.

As for the filling, Zhu Wuneng made good use of the transformation of the ingredients themselves.

Raw onions are pungent, while cooked onions have a sweet flavor. When both are combined with a touch of lemon and in the right proportions, they can create a sweet, soft, sour, and spicy flavor profile.

Zhu Wuneng used it as filling, combining it with the previously prepared Thousand-Thread Phoenix Tail filling, and finally made it into a refreshing-looking Phoenix Tail Ball.

Upon first bite, you can taste the crispness and slight saltiness of the outer cold dish, highlighting the tenderness of the vegetable stem. After chewing, the radish leaves inside provide a refreshing crunch, while the filling offers a complex flavor that stimulates the taste buds.

Because the dish is designed to be light and refreshing, and no meat is used as the main ingredient, the vegetables need to be fresh enough to completely eliminate any fishy smell.

Even if the saltiness was slightly lacking, no one on the judging panel cared, since the onions and a touch of lemon, which replaced the vinegar, already provided enough flavor layers for the dish.

Unlike the previous contestants, Zhu Wuneng grasped the judges' desire for something refreshing after eating too much oily food, and served this vegetable dish, which is more like a culinary art, at the right time.

Its thinking is quite profound, and its rating is naturally very good.

The 16 judges gave it a good overall score of 92.6 points, replacing He He and temporarily placing it in second place.

After him, Sun Xingyao came in carrying his braised pork.

You should know that he doesn't have Xia Ming's cultivation level. If he honestly stews it, it will take him more than an hour longer than Xia Ming's, and the braised pork he makes is completely incomparable to Xia Ming's.

It's not that it's inedible, but in terms of ingredients, craftsmanship, aroma, and creativity, Xia Ming completely outclassed it.

Why would a kind person choose the poor man's version over the deluxe version?

If he hadn't come after Zhu Wuneng, he might have been eliminated in a surprise. In the end, it was Zhu Wuneng's vegetables that saved him. 38 judges lit up their lights, and 15 of the 16 judges who had eaten the phoenix tail dumplings lit up their lights.

At least they managed to save him, but the final score really made him furious.

"What?! 77.8 points?! Have the judges gone mad?!"

Sun Xingyao couldn't accept the score at all. If it weren't for the fact that the staff member next to him was a burly man, he would definitely have gone down to argue with the judges.

As for why his staff were different from others, he appeared exceptionally strong and powerful.
You taste it, you taste it carefully
Unable to resolve the already predetermined score with his impotent rage, Sun Xingyao, under the "friendly" gazes of the staff, finally returned to his competition station with a gloomy face.

Currently ranked 97th, elimination seems unlikely, but he was in the top ten last round, and might be knocked out of the top 100 this round, which is unacceptable to him.

He now strongly suspects that he had a car accident with someone else, and it was a pure accident, otherwise such an absurd result would not have occurred.

"Don't let me find out who the hell did this, or I'll definitely teach that guy a lesson he won't forget!!!"

Time was ticking away, and with less than 10 minutes left, Li Yuan and Han Tianyan finally carried their dishes into the judges' room, one after the other.

Li Yuan made a dish of "stir-fried chicken with melon seeds and corn". The chicken came from the fact that he and Zheng Zeqian both had their eyes on the chicken that Xia Ming hadn't taken away, and their hands touched each other almost at the same time.

Since they didn't have any direct conflict in this round, wasting time would only give others an opportunity to take advantage, so the two of them went to a corner and divided the chicken.

Li Yuan took the chicken breast, each person got one chicken thigh, and Zheng Zeqian took the rest.

Combined with the "sea salt melon seeds" he brought, and the best quality corn among the few decent ears of corn in the vegetable section, they were finally combined to create the dish in front of us.

To ensure the chicken was completely free of any fishy smell, he used a triple method to remove the fishy smell during the initial preparation. Although he lost a little bit of the chicken's aroma, he ensured that there was absolutely no fishy smell.

He then used the chicken skin from the chicken legs to render oil, which made up for the loss of flavor. After all that effort, he finally completed the dish.

Because the dish was very savory and flavorful, and the ingredients were perfectly blended, Li Yuan received 152 thumbs up, ultimately achieving a score of 92.9.

As for Han Tianyan, he is a carbon copy of Xia Ming, except that Xia Ming made braised pork, while he made duck.

The plum-braised duck was carefully cut into pieces, with thin slices of duck gizzard and duck feet sandwiched inside, along with a small amount of duck skin. The overall dish was refreshing, but the portion was very small (there was no other way, he had basically taken all the usable duck meat from the duck section).

In terms of flavor profile, it's a Xia Ming version without soy sauce, but because he has a relatively intact duck foot, the final duck meat layers represent the springy texture of the duck foot, the tender texture of the duck meat, and the crisp texture of the duck gizzard.

The combination with the delicate fragrance of plums ultimately won the judges' favor.

Finally, at the last moment of the competition, she broke free from Xia Ming's influence on the judges and obtained 160 fully lit lights.

Seeing this, the viewers in the live stream finally perked up again.

Will it work out?

[The others aren't worth watching anymore. Right now, the only one who can really go toe-to-toe with Xia Ming is Han Tianyan.]

[After nearly an hour and a half of suppression, a brave warrior has finally broken through the Great Demon King's encirclement! This is getting interesting!]

[It still feels very difficult. When two dishes are similar, professional judges will consider factors such as the craftsmanship, complexity, and final execution. It seems that no matter how well the duck meat is presented to match the taste, it is difficult to compete with a fully-made braised pork belly.]

Just as netizens were nervously watching the judges' panel in the live broadcast room, the first judge finally took the scoring device and gave his score.

[96 points!]

(End of this chapter)