Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 17: "Micahs" is defeated, and the first contestant to advance is born!

In the live stream, some netizens breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the judges' evaluation of the final dessert from "Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef".

Thankfully, this dessert was terrible!

[What a blunder! The obsession with formalism, trying to achieve three different levels of intensity—hot, warm, and cold—has now become a detriment, not a bonus!]

[Yes, the restaurant next door, "Micas," is very clever. They incorporate layers of flavor into the main course, using the soy milk and milk foam tart as a complement. The flavors are unified, and the presentation is beautiful!]

[Hilarious! Everyone in the comments is a food connoisseur, huh? They're really into praising foreigners!]

[What's wrong with foreigners? They're making creative Chinese dishes. The person upstairs is outdated and needs an update!]

[Based on the plating and the careful selection of ingredients, "Micas" is the clear winner!]

[Wait a minute! After tasting the dish, Brother Feng seemed to frown! Is the fermented bean juice flavor too strong?]

Seeing the judges frowning one after another, "Micahs" in the lounge sensed something was wrong.

"That's impossible! I tried it, and the taste of this dish is absolutely perfect for this theme!"

"Could it be the production team?"

Thinking about how the chef in front of him had scored 6-0, "McKass" suddenly felt a sense of tension for no reason.

"The production team wouldn't sacrifice me, would they? No, even if they were going to sacrifice me, they certainly wouldn't show it so directly on the judges' faces."

"Something must have gone wrong. Calm down, calm down."

"Micahs" carefully recalled his tasting and the preparation process, but ultimately couldn't find where the problem lay.

Blind Tasting Room

The three judges exchanged glances, quickly adjusted their facial expressions, and then silently continued tasting the dishes.

Unlike before, the three of them barely interacted this time.

Nicholas Tse scooped up a little bit of the "bursting bead" with a spoon and put it in his mouth, savoring the taste before silently putting the spoon down.

Then I picked up the soy milk foam tart next to me.

After taking a bite, a moment of confusion appeared in his eyes.

Then he slowly forced the remaining part into his mouth.

The tastings on the other two sides were similar. After tasting all the portions, the three judges put the plates back on the conveyor belt. Except for Zhang Yong's portion, which was finished, the other two portions of fish were left half-eaten.

Seeing this, some viewers in the live stream also began to feel that something was wrong.

[Is it because there's so much food left?]

Judging from the judges' previous performances, there does seem to be a problem. Did "Micahs" make a mistake?

[It must have been intentional. The Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef restaurant is just a barbecue restaurant owner; how could he possibly beat the head chef!]

[Haven't you heard of the saying "a novice can defeat a master"? Using such a bizarre tactic as balut and soy milk, he might actually have succeeded in stealing it!]

[No wonder they run a barbecue restaurant; they're using such low-class ingredients as scorpions and balut (fertilized duck egg). It lowers the quality of the show.]

[Brothers, I've already checked, the guy upstairs is a bastard from "Korea," so you can start criticizing now!]

Although I hate the Sichuan and Chongqing style of "Ice and Fire Chef," I still have to say, with your "Kimchi Country's" standards, you can't even beat our buffet at a state banquet, so shut up!

Just as the barrage of comments shifted, the three judges completed their selection of the winning dish.

Xia Ming, having received a notification from the production team, walked through a short corridor and entered the blind tasting room. Just then, "Mikes" also walked in.

The two exchanged a glance. Xia Ming looked relaxed and casual, while "Miccas" showed a hint of tension in his expression.

Seeing the two of them stand still, the three judges also looked up and looked over. When they saw Xia Ming, Xie Tingfeng raised an eyebrow.

"So it was you two having a showdown!"

Xia Ming smiled.

"Yes, I wonder if the three of you enjoyed your douzhi and balut?"

Upon hearing Xia Ming's words, the three judges exchanged glances, and Zheng Yongqi shook his head.

"Hmm, the taste is good, but can you blindfold me next time?"

Hearing Zheng Yongqi's words, the other two judges also laughed. Judging from the fact that he could still joke around, he probably wouldn't be bad.

This only made "Micahs" on the side even more nervous.

"No, that must be a ploy by the production team to downplay my cooking. There couldn't possibly be anything wrong with it!"

After exchanging pleasantries, the three judges were ready to give their comments. The first piece they would evaluate was Xia Ming's work, "Out of Eyes." Zhang Yong asked Xia Ming about the reason for choosing this name, and Xia Ming slowly explained.

"It's like out of sight, out of mind. I think that as a chef, you have to have the ability and courage to cook all kinds of things. You can't ignore the unique taste of an ingredient just because it looks ugly or for other reasons."

"Of course, the name also has something to do with the dish itself~"

Hearing his words, Xie Tingfeng, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"I had two questions while eating it. The first was, why did the egg burst with juice?"

"Secondly, what kind of soup is it?"

Xia Ming nodded after hearing Xie Tingfeng's words.

"The eggs burst with juice because of a unique processing method. I boil the eggs until they are slightly solidified, then crack the shells, and then use a syringe to extract the still-uncoagulated blood tissue inside. I then inject the same amount of processed soy juice into the eggs and seal them with fresh egg white."

"After steaming and boiling again, the eggs will solidify in the same way as before, but the soy milk will not. Of course, the premise for all this is that these three eggs are carefully selected."

"Their condition is between 'live eggs' and 'fully hairy eggs,' and only eggs at this stage meet the requirements."

After saying that he was talking about eggs, Xia Ming smiled slightly.

"As for the soup? Actually, it's pigeon soup, but I added a molted chicken while cooking it, and then added the broth naturally formed from 'live eggs' when serving."

"Live pearls?"

The three judges were taken aback. It turned out that the chicken-like but not chicken-like taste they had tasted was actually the broth from an undeveloped chick.

Is this enough?

Xia Ming spoke with a smile.

"One egg is certainly not enough, but what if there are 50?"

"!!!"

The three judges exchanged glances, meaning that the soup they were drinking contained not only pigeon, but also pheasant, fermented mung bean juice, and, more importantly, the unique flavor left by the fusion of 50 eggs. This flavor, combined with the fermented mung bean juice, became a unique source of umami.

After hearing Xia Ming's explanation, the three judges suddenly realized and could understand. Balut and live pearls are not common ingredients, so who would think of using them to collect flavors?
Zheng Yongqi hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"The remaining 50 eggs"

"Oh, while I was waiting for the soup, I made a unique egg sauce with them. It's still on the competition stage. Would you like to try it?"

"Um, never mind."

Zheng Yongqi really wanted to try it, but considering there were many other dishes to eat later, he gave up.

Nicholas Tse's eyes lit up, indicating he was interested.

After answering the judges' questions, the three judges also gave Xia Ming their comments. In short, the eggs and soup were very good, but the dessert was a little lacking, but it was still great.

Xia Ming seemed unsurprised by the result, smiled and responded, then turned his gaze to "Micahs" beside him.

At this moment, fine beads of sweat had formed on "Micahs's" forehead, but his dignity as a chef prevented him from thinking about anything else.

The judges also turned their attention to "Micahs" at this moment. After a while, Xie Tingfeng asked him a question.

"Is douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) a very difficult ingredient for you to use?"

"McKass" swallowed.

"Not entirely. At first, its taste did seem strange to me, but then I figured out a way to make it more palatable."

After hearing this, the three judges fell silent. After a long while, Zhang Yong finally spoke.

"Perhaps the balance of flavors created a distinction between primary and secondary elements. We didn't taste the distinctive characteristics of douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) in your dish. As a Western cuisine chef, your plating and ideas are flawless, but the works of the Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef are more complete!"

Upon hearing this, "Micahs" was stunned. He couldn't understand why the judges were saying he hadn't distinguished between primary and secondary ingredients when he had clearly used lemon to enhance the flavor of the soy milk.

Could the lemons be too sour? Impossible, he tasted them, and the flavor was absolutely perfect!

With his hands clenched, "Micahs" knew that the game was over. He really wanted to question the judges on what basis they had given such a conclusion, but looking at the camera next to him, he finally forced a smile.

"I understand now. Chinese cuisine is profound and extensive, and I still have a lot to learn!"

As "Micahs" finished speaking, the big screen in the arena refreshed again, but this time, the red representing the chefs did not reappear; instead, it turned into blue representing the contestants!
[Contestant "Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef" vs. Chef "Micas"]

Rating: 3:0

[Contestant "Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef" wins]

(End of this chapter)