Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 202 Xia Ming, who easily defeated the first place, if I remember correctly, there are wild "saltwater crocodiles" there (Bonus chapter for 3K chapters)

Aster doesn't believe that contestants from all over the world would fail at the same dish, which isn't particularly complicated.
So he decided to test it himself.

He put down the almost-finished eel and picked up the wild boar meat that Xia Ming had handed him.

Then, he abruptly used his other hand to fan away the pungent smell around his nostrils, and then quickly sniffed.
"Huh, that's strange, the taste is fine!"

A hint of doubt flashed in Astor's eyes.

He cut this piece himself from wild boar meat that Xia Ming brought out; he had already inspected it at the time.

He hadn't originally intended to consider pork.

But now there are too many scandals, which makes him suspicious of pork.

However, judging from the test results, it seems that he wronged Xia Ming.

"Could it be that you just can't smell it?"

Astor recalled his sixth sense, so he took a knife, quickly cut off a small piece from the side, and then put it on the fire to roast along with the other leaves.

As the flames rose, Astor smelled a familiar scent of wild boar.

"There's nothing seriously wrong!"

Despite his hesitation, he ultimately decided to try it.

But to his surprise, he felt even more confused after finishing the meal.

"It's really no problem."

"Although it's a bit tough, has a bloody taste, and a slight earthy smell, these are the characteristics that should be present in wild boar meat!"

Aster was genuinely baffled this time. If the ingredients were all fine, then why was Xia Ming's dish different from theirs?

Could the so-called secret really be the "hearth shape" that Xia Ming mentioned?

"Rest stop"

Xia Ming used his Blood Soul to seal his nasal cavity.

At this moment, he didn't need the smell; he could tell just by looking at the contestants' tense expressions how awful their dishes smelled.

Xia Ming was not surprised by this result.

“I kept the young wild boar for myself, and gave most of the sow’s portion to Sama.”

"I'll keep the most lewd part of the boar and exchange it with the contestants."

"Most of the meat they traded was of mediocre quality from the start. Using this kind of wild boar meat to make 'Hengyi' is likely to fail unless you have an extremely high level of control over the cooking time."

"As for why no one noticed the bloody smell of the pork at the time..."

Thinking of this, Xia Ming touched the dried blood on his clothes.

"Of course it's because, compared to the smell of pig's blood, the smell of blood on me was obviously the strongest when we were exchanging ingredients!"

It's worth noting that Xia Ming had already butchered all three wild boars outside.

It's perfectly normal to have some blood on your body.

Back then, no one could trade for wild boar meat. When someone was willing to trade, everyone would rush to them.

In addition, the flavor of their ingredients is quite strong.

So in the chaos, most people didn't realize that there was anything wrong with the wild boar meat they had received.

Later, when they brought it back, some people did feel that the wild boar meat had a slightly bloody and earthy taste.

They would simply think it's a normal phenomenon due to the fact that wild boars in New Zealand have no natural predators, a result of racial development.

They were thinking that everyone was using roughly the same wild boar meat.

Even if they're a bit flamboyant, that's a characteristic of everyone together.

Moreover, there are quite a few chefs among this group, and the pork from its place of origin might have a strong flavor.

Therefore, a small number of people did not pay attention and used it directly according to the normal procedure.

In some local areas, pigs are processed in various ways, and the most common methods are "soaking in brine" or "curing with herbs".

The former is convenient and quick, and its principle is to remove most of the blood and water residue in the muscle fibers by relying on osmotic pressure.

The latter requires precise dosage and specific herbs, which many people cannot achieve.

"The idea was wonderful, but the reality was not so good."

Xia Ming smiled as he looked at the judges' distorted faces.

"If the remaining residue in the wild boar meat is not 'blood,' but rather a 'mixture of blood and muscle' from which half of its essence has been extracted, then soaking it in salt water alone will not remove the odor in a short time."

Of course, to make it less obvious, only 70% of the meat Xia Ming replaced had this problem; the other 30% contained blood.

If handled properly, the latter, if not able to achieve Xia Ming's level, could at least surpass Maca.

"The problem is, there are many Western chefs here who, after removing garlic, leeks, onions, rosemary, thyme, parsley, wine, and brandy..."

"Their methods for removing the fishy smell are limited to three options: yogurt, apple cider vinegar, and lemon juice."

"In fact, because they didn't get the animal hides, very few people could use 'Kawakawa' correctly at all."

Some experienced chefs can use the aroma of apples to neutralize the smell of wild boar meat on a large scale.

But some less skilled people are only thinking about things like nutmeg and smoke, which don't even exist.

Furthermore, among the chefs who received wild boar meat, there was a group of so-called elites who viewed the Maoli people as barbarians.

They might even mistakenly believe that preserving the original pork flavor is a sign of respect for the competition.

Therefore, under such treatment...

A massive, flamboyant battleground has begun on the competition field.
"It's alright. The smell of pig is just the smell of urine. Compared to the poison gas attack brought by Han Tianyan in the New Chef Competition, it's indeed much better."

However, while Xia Ming thought this way, the viewers in the live stream didn't think so.

[IP Hua: What's going on? The judges' scores are getting lower and lower. What's influencing everyone?!]

[IP Hua: Can't you see that? It's obviously because the porky smell hasn't been removed!]

[IP Eagle: As a fan of this place, all I want to say is that the pork here is absolutely amazing! When I first saw it, I thought wild boar from New Zealand didn't have that weird smell!]

["IP Kangaroo": What a joke! Wild boars never smell good. I'm a native Japanese speaker, and I've never eaten wild boar that didn't smell bad overseas. Even domestic pigs are incredibly smelly!]

["IP Bear": But this already smells like pig! You think you can just get rid of it all?]

[IP Hua: Scallions, ginger, garlic, vinegar, and soy sauce—don't even mention wild boar meat, even wild boar intestines wouldn't smell bad in China!] [IP Ri: Stop bragging. Your country's traditional "Nine-Turned Intestines" still contains feces. You say it's cleaned thoroughly, but you still eat the feces along with it.]

[IP Hua: How many messy marketing accounts are there on the internet? Nine-Turned Intestines is just a variety show, how did they edit it into a traditional delicacy?]

["IP Gentleman": I just don't understand, it's all wild boar meat, so why is Xia Ming's allowed?]

The questions raised by viewers in the live stream were also the questions raised by the judges.

All three dishes used wild boar meat, but Xia Ming's preparation had no gamey smell at all, while the others' dishes were vastly different, which is indeed worth pondering.

After a moment of silence, Grant asked Tan Zhifeng if he knew the situation.

Tan Zhifeng smiled.

"It must be closely related to the heat and the thickness of the slices. Xia Ming has a great grasp of temperature, even when it's pit-roasted."

Upon hearing this, Mina asked with a smile.

"In your opinion, does it have nothing to do with the part of the ingredient?"

"Of course there are differences. Xia Ming used a baby wild boar's, while the others used an adult wild boar's. But doesn't that just prove Xia Ming's ability?"

"He hunted the wild boar himself, using the best cuts of meat, so what's the problem?"

Mina nodded. When Xia Ming dragged the ingredients back, she saw him from afar. Indeed, the three wild boar heads looked quite imposing.

After hearing Tan Zhifeng's words, the other judges didn't ask any more questions.

Anyway, New Zealand is just the first stop, and it's normal that most players haven't adapted yet.

The poor chestnut people on the side had to endure the unpalatable food.

As time passes little by little.

Until sunset and the end of the competition, the judges did not get to eat a single normal serving of "Hum Yi".

These contestants' scores naturally wouldn't be very high.

Final results summary.

Xia Ming is far ahead with 92 points.

Second place went to Seizo Koyama with 81 points.

Astor, who came in third, received 80 points.

Surprisingly, fourth place went to Mimi Mori, who scored 78 points.

This may also be related to the fact that she did not exchange the wild boar meat.

Many contestants noticed that, apart from Xia Ming, the wild boar meat dishes generally received low scores.

But they had no evidence to cause trouble for Xia Ming.

Because more than a dozen agents had tasted Xia Ming's cooking, and based on their descriptions, it was indeed free of any fishy or gamey smell, while incorporating Chinese ingenuity.

Moreover, even though the scores were generally low, some people managed to get 69 points by using "Hum Yi". So most players looked for reasons and eventually attributed the problem to "animal skin".

I think Xia Ming was able to perform perfectly because he obtained the [animal hide] first.

Many people are taking the later competition format very seriously and hope to gain an advantage from the start.

"Chief's Room"

The chieftain found Xia Ming, hoping to obtain the recipe for the "new version of Hengyi" from him.

For this, they can pay the corresponding price.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Ming agreed.

After all, even if Xia Ming gave them the recipe, they wouldn't be able to recreate it.

Furthermore, due to the limited availability of materials, the uses of this formula are also limited, making it more valuable to exchange for benefits.

Of course, Xia Ming didn't really need any of the Maoli ethnic group's special handicrafts or clothing.

After some thought, he decided to use the excuse of wanting to learn about the food culture of the Maoli tribe.

He had the chief show him around the dinner kitchen, hoping to find some new blood varieties.

Here, in addition to the wild boar meat he provided, he also discovered an extra rare ingredient.

Grey Shearling

The locals call it "Tītī".

This is a migratory bird unique to New Zealand, uncommon in China, and a protected animal.

Because its young birds have a particularly high fat content, they are also a fat reservoir for the chestnut family.

Around March, which is the time when young birds migrate, they would take burlap sacks to catch them. The sacks of young birds they caught would be brought back to the tribe, salted, and then sealed in burlap sacks, eventually becoming the locals' winter food.
When Xia Ming arrived, the people behind him were processing the grey shearling chicks while preparing dinner for Xia Ming and his group.

Seeing the nests of grey shelduck chicks waiting to be slaughtered, Xia Ming became interested and offered to help.

The chief wouldn't let him help, saying he could take a look and if he liked, he could give him two.

Xia Ming smiled and nodded, but then inadvertently moved closer.

Before long, Xia Ming took away two little birds and several sacks of baby bird blood souls.

Feeling the amount of blood and soul replenished in his body, Xia Ming nodded.

At this moment, he realized that he had misunderstood the lifeblood of the city.
"It's not that the pigs in the farm are too young, so their blood isn't good."

"Instead, during its growth, it was repeatedly interfered with, injected with drugs, and fed feed containing hormones, resulting in impure bloodlines, which is why pig's blood is complicated and time-consuming."

"Relatively speaking, the age of a small wild boar is actually about the same, but it is more natural, so its bloodline is purer. At the same age, it will be much better than a domestic pig."

"Similarly, although the young grey shearlings are only 45 to 60 days old, their natural development is unrestricted, so although the purity of their blood is not as high as that of wild boar, it is still a good extract."

"In this way, the reason why the Eight Treasures Pig can bring more blood and soul than the wild boar is because its breeding requirements are high and it emphasizes pure natural care."

Having clarified this point, Xia Ming became even more concerned about "protecting animals".

"Qiao Ruoning told me that after leaving New Zealand, her next stop is 'Feiji'."

"If I remember correctly, there seem to be wild saltwater crocodiles in this area."

"And I heard that this competition not only involves elimination rounds, but also requires spending the night in the wilderness~"

(End of this chapter)