Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 235 He must be simmering the soup. The unparalleled umami flavor explodes in his nasal cavity.
"Frozen chicken breasts are usually in poor condition, but now they taste better in terms of tenderness and crispiness."

"The yogurt not only removes the fishy smell of the chicken, but also enhances the flavor, making it more than just the taste of oil and seasoning."

"The chicken cartilage inside was fried quite well, and the overall dish was quite harmonious, and it didn't take much time to prepare."

Tan Zhifeng nodded. Among all the contestants, Luo Hui's performance was quite outstanding.

Yin Shengjiang, who was standing to the side, also nodded.

"The sauce made with chicken broth has a very obvious chicken flavor, and the simple lettuce balances out the richness. The overall design is harmonious and unpretentious."

"This rice noodle is also specially baked. At first bite, it tastes like 'Southern Vietnamese style rice noodles,' but it should actually be rice noodles from your region."

"Warm chicken pieces paired with a perfectly cooked sauce, served with slightly warm rice noodles—a very creative dish!"

Looking at the judges' expressions, Luo Hui, sitting in the audience, also revealed a smug smile.

For him, being a chef is all about seeing satisfied smiles on the faces of his customers!
Ultimately, after much deliberation, the seven judges gave a total score of 57 points. Except for Bai Susu, who gave a low score of 6 points as usual, the average score of the other judges was between 8 and 9.

Upon seeing this score, netizens began to discuss it.

[This guy isn't just into abstract art; even anime fans have a chance to shine with their culinary skills!]

[He's really amazing, okay? It's obviously a copy of the fried chicken from "Food Wars!". It's already impressive that he could make that connection on the spot, let alone actually recreate the dish from the manga.]

[This is interesting. Experience still pays off. Look at Zheng Zeqian and Chen Xiaodong, they haven't made a move yet!]

[The person upstairs is really bragging about this. Why not mention my Xia Ge? Is he not young enough?]

[Where did this fake fan come from? Xia Ming's fans would never deliberately stir up trouble like this!]

Just as everyone was discussing, Chen Xiaodong pressed the "Complete" button.

Unlike Luo Hui's smaller dishes, Chen Xiaodong served each of the judges a whole chicken carcass.

From the outside, the chicken frame looks very simple, but upon closer inspection of the aroma, the judges sensed a clever design.

Just as the judges were tasting Chen Xiaodong's chicken frame, Xia Ming glanced at the stage.

"A very standard 'pouring technique,' his hand is very steady; it seems he's improved quite a bit during this time."

"The chicken frames cooked this way have more tender meat and a lighter broth compared to those cooked directly, while retaining the chicken frame's own umami flavor more concentrated."

Judging from the aroma alone, there seemed to be nothing wrong with his method, but Xia Ming could clearly sense the remaining blood essence in the corners of each chicken skeleton.

"The blood and marrow weren't fully cooked, which means Chen Xiaodong was using the logic of 'white-cut chicken' to process the chicken carcass."

"The idea is good, but chicken frames are not poached chicken. When you present the whole dish, you can't expect the judges to only look at the poached chicken breast."

"Otherwise, you should have just served chicken breast. Putting everything else aside, at least this judge named Bai Susu will definitely deduct points from him because of the overall flaws."

As for the other judges...

Xia Ming wasn't quite clear on their individual scoring logic, so he could only judge Chen Xiaodong's score based on the best part of his dish.

"Probably around 44-46, since although the judges won't eat frozen blood marrow, it smells fishy and would ruin the viewing experience."

Just like Xia Ming's judgment, Bai Susu examined the chicken carcass and quickly determined the location of the blood marrow.

With a casual fold, slightly fishy-smelling blood flowed down, and Bai Susu frowned upon smelling it.

Even if Chen Xiaodong makes the two bone-hugging chicken breasts perfectly, it's hard to avoid the flaws in the blood and marrow.

In the end, Chen Xiaodong scored 44 points, of which Bai Susu only gave him 4 points.

It is quite obvious that Bai Susu is a perfectionist. Her understanding of scores is very straightforward: a score of 10 must be perfect.

If there is any mistake, they will use it to drastically lower the score.

"Does avoiding mistakes appeal to her more than innovation? Well, she's a bit arrogant, isn't she?"

Although a chef at the "Hua Level 4" level is no longer considered an amateur, in the context of China's ranking system, he is only considered to be at a lower-middle level.

Demanding that someone never makes a single mistake is, from some perspectives, a bit too harsh.

Upon seeing the score, Chen Xiaodong's expression turned somewhat serious; he was unsure whether this score was enough for him to advance.

Shortly after he left, Hu Xing's medicinal soup was ready.

After smelling the medicinal soup, Xia Ming glanced at Hu Xing with great curiosity.

"Hawthorn? Poria cocos? Dried tangerine peel? Yam? Oh, so that's how it is?"

Looking at the timid Hu Xing, Xia Ming raised an eyebrow slightly.

What drew his attention was not because Hu Xing's chicken soup tasted particularly good; objectively speaking, the chicken soup was made in an extremely ordinary, home-style way.

Whether it's the cooking time, the cooking method, or the choice of ingredients, everything reflects one core principle.

【warm】

That's right, just like a mother's nagging, it may sound annoying, but it's full of love.

Hu Xing's dish is less like chicken bone soup and more like a "stomach-nourishing soup".

"The judges have already tasted more than 20 dishes, and their stomachs are already under some strain. Should we choose a home-style chicken soup that is appetizing and good for the stomach as a breakthrough?"

Xia Ming knew, of course, that this was not the limit of a top-notch medicinal cuisine chef's abilities, but Hu Xing had chosen this cooking method anyway.

Whether it's feigned concern or genuine warmth, it doesn't matter!

"Anyway, this girl perfectly embodied the theme of 'the extraordinary within the ordinary' through a simple, homemade chicken bone soup."

To be honest, Xia Ming, who had a tragic past in the Nine Provinces Continent, never considered that this topic could be solved in the direction of "motherly love".

"But it still suits the tastes of city dwellers quite well. Judging from Bai Susu's expression, she probably understood the deeper meaning behind the soup."

Xia Ming found it difficult to rate this dish, because in terms of taste, the soup was at most a 38 out of 100.

But if we consider the implications, Xia Ming wouldn't be surprised if Tang scored 55 points.

After all, this is by far the dish that most cleverly comes close to the competition theme from an emotional perspective.

Like Xia Ming's hesitation, the judges each exhibited different psychological states after finishing the dish.

Judges Bai Susu and Cheng Xieyun believe that "the warmth behind the food" is also an aspect of a chef's skill.

Therefore, they gave it a score of 7.6 and a score of 8.2 respectively.

Yin Shengjiang, Tan Zhifeng, and Ding Yongxing believe that while warmth is important in cooking competitions, the quality of the dishes themselves should not be taken lightly.

They received the warmth that Hu Xing wanted to give, but a competition is a competition, and imperfections in the broth cannot be skipped.

Therefore, they gave it scores of 6.8, 7, and 6.6 respectively.

As for Cao Fujun and Tong Song, they didn't buy into that at all.

"A competition is a competition. What's the point of playing the emotional card with the judges? If everyone competes like this, they might as well just start by telling a story."

"Why compare cooking? Let's just compare how well the theme fits!"

Of course, the medicinal soup had its flaws, but it wasn't so bad that it was unpalatable. Based on their overall assessment, one person gave it 5.2 points and the other gave it 5.5 points.

So, after judging about 30 people, for the first time in the entire competition, Bai Susu gave a high score, but the other judges gave low scores.

Netizens have been discussing this extensively.

[What a strange score! Does this mean it tastes good or bad?]

I don't know why, but I always felt that the female judges were somewhat biased towards the female contestants.

[Don't create gender antagonism. Before Hu Xing came up, there were other female contestants who presented dishes. It seems that their dishes had clever ideas, but also had flaws. So the judges had different perspectives, hence the different scores.]

[I'm so anxious! Watching this show makes me hungry eight times a day. With technology so advanced these days, can't they really make a phone that can smell fragrances?]

[Don't even think about it, upstairs. You can imagine it now, but once you can actually smell it through a screen, it won't just be like going hungry eight times a day, you'll have to eat eight meals a day!]

Xia Ming was unaware of the online discussions, but he did notice the judges' scores.

"Based on this score, we can basically determine the scoring tendencies and personal preferences of these judges."

Unlike most contestants, Xia Ming skipped the preliminary rounds and went directly to the "final judging round".
Compared to the other contestants who had already interacted with the judges three times, he was actually only relatively familiar with Yin Shengjiang and Tan Zhifeng.

Indeed, Qiao Ruoning was very responsible. Before the competition, he collected information on the other judges and gave it to Xia Ming as much as possible.

But seeing is believing. No matter how well a written summary is made, it can never be as accurate as Xia Ming's own summary on the spot.

"Bai Susu is a very strict person when it comes to cooking. Behind her coldness lies a touch of warmth."

"Cheng Xieyun is very kind, and now she seems to be a bit of a pushover."

"Ding Yongxing and Tong Song haven't shown anything special yet, but Cao Fujun might be a bit too straightforward."

"In his view, the definition of cuisine is most likely 'delicious.' As long as the taste is perfected, everything else can be forgiven."

Xia Ming actually disagrees with Cao Fujun's viewpoint.

In his view, the best cuisine is the kind that awakens the deepest desires in the diner's soul.

However, different diners have different desires for food, so there is no such thing as absolutely "delicious" food; it all varies from person to person.

In the end, Hu Xing got 46.9 points. Although it wasn't high, it seems she should be able to advance without any worries.

Just as she stepped down from the judges' table, Xia Ming finally opened all six soup pots for the first time.

Unlike many contestants who are wary of their soup's irresistible aroma, Xia Ming's soup only had a simple chicken bone flavor. Although it smelled tempting, it was still a long way from igniting the crowd.

Chen Xiaodong, who was waiting nearby, also looked puzzled when he found that Xia Ming's chicken soup was different from what he had imagined.

"Strange, this isn't Xia Ming's usual level! Something's wrong, there's definitely something wrong."

"I know, this must be a smokescreen!" Chen Xiaodong believed that Xia Ming's soup would definitely have a miraculous effect at some point, but he just couldn't see it yet.

Xia Ming's behavior was quite ordinary. He skillfully skimmed off the foam from the pot and then put the lid back on.

Judging from his posture, he clearly had no intention of seizing the initiative.
Not far from him, Jing Ran, who was carrying out the final process, also had his brows furrowed.

Despite his sharp tongue when provoking Xia Ming, he actually knows Xia Ming very well.

Besides watching all of Xia Ming's matches, he also spent money to verify some information through various channels.

The reason he put in so much effort was because he saw Xia Ming as a stepping stone into the Chinese culinary world.

"As long as we climb over Xia Ming to get ahead, we'll definitely make a name for ourselves in a short time!"

To this end, Jingran even drafted dozens of tactical strategies specifically for facing Xia Ming.

But he didn't expect the topic to be "chicken frame," nor did he expect Xia Ming to be like a completely different person, insisting on not "going first."

"Is this guy out of his mind? His first move always has an impact on what he does later. He's done it so many times, why doesn't it work for me?"

"Could it be that he can read minds and knows I'm targeting him, so he deliberately timed his attack later?"

"That doesn't make sense. With 119 contestants and three and a half hours, wouldn't the last one sent out be just cannon fodder?"

"You can't possibly force-feed the food to the judges when they're already full!"

Unable to understand, Jing Ran didn't dare to gamble with Xia Ming. Although his chicken skin dish tasted excellent, it was the kind of dish that was easy to target.

He dared not serve the dish in the second half of the competition; he could imagine that his dish's score would be greatly reduced at that time.

Therefore, he completely abandoned his plan to snipe Xia Ming and chose to serve the dishes directly.

Just as he expected, influenced by his hard skills, the judges gave him 58 points, which is the highest score to date.

Just as Jing Ran was feeling happy, Jiang Chuanhong, Zheng Zeqian, and Kang Xincheng successively served their dishes.

"Smoked Chicken Frame", "Stir-fried Braised Chicken Wings", "Chicken Bone Tartare with Red Wine"

The three dishes, each with its own distinct flavor, were like three slaps to Jing Ran, delivered from both sides.

The "Smoked Chicken Rack" received a score of 60.2.

The "Stir-fried Braised Chicken Cartilage" received a score of 62.1.

The "chicken bone tartare with red wine" was a complete surprise to everyone.
[63.5 points!]

Even the notoriously critical Bai Susu gave this dish a high score of 7.9, which is enough to prove that "Kang Xincheng" is a world champion and his reputation is well-deserved.

That is, at the moment when Kang Xincheng scored 63.5 points.
Netizens are finally starting to get a little anxious.

No, with 7 judges and a total score of 63.5 out of 70, this guy is as steady as an ironclad rock.

[Where's Xia Mingren? Flip the table! Why isn't he coming yet?! I'm so anxious!]

[The score has already reached this level; even if they wanted to catch up, it would probably be very difficult!]

[Don't rush, my brother Xia has gotten perfect scores before. Anything is possible before the dish is served!]

Just as netizens had hoped, the judges had also been looking forward to Xia Ming's cooking.

Especially those who know Xia Ming, such as Yin Shengjiang and Tan Zhifeng, are well aware of Xia Ming's true level.

During a brief moment of free time, Yin Shengjiang was joking with Tan Zhifeng.

"I don't know what this kid is thinking this round. The game is already halfway through, and he still hasn't come up. This isn't like him at all!"

Tan Zhifeng waved his hand.

"Good things come to those who wait. We all know his skill level. He must have his own reasons for preparing for so long."

Cheng Xieyun, who was standing to the side, listened to the two of them and her eyes shone with even greater anticipation.

Bai Susu, however, revealed a very subtle expression.

She looked forward to Xia Ming's cooking because she craved perfection.

On the other hand, she didn't like Xia Ming very much because recently, people often compared Xia Ming with Xia Yitian, saying that Xia Ming was a more powerful genius than Xia Yitian.

For others, these words are nothing more than that, but for Bai Susu, Xia Yitian has always been a very special person in her heart.

Therefore, from her personal perspective, she doesn't believe that anyone can surpass Xia Yitian in her heart.

Even though she is now at level 8 in the Chinese culinary world, she still believes that if Xia Yitian were here, he would definitely have reached the level of "God of Cookery".

Looking at Xia Ming, who seemed completely unhurried, Bai Susu sighed silently.

"Xia Yitian, where are you right now?"

"The Island of the Rising Sun, Hokkaido"

Xia Yitian looked at the tablet in front of him while breathing hot air and rubbing his hands together.

"Wen Zhixia, please close the window! It's snowing outside and it's so cold!"

"Let's go out and play in the snow sometime! I haven't seen snow in years!"

Xia Yitian raised an eyebrow as he looked at Wen Zhixia, who seemed somewhat excited, outside the window.

"Wait a minute, let me finish watching Xia Ming's match first. By the way, you seem unusually excited today."

"Snapped!"

Before Xia Yitian could finish speaking, a snowball hit him squarely in the face.

Feeling the snowflakes fall onto his neck, he shivered from the cold, then abruptly stood up.
A moment later, on the snow, Wen Zhixia was hit on the head by a snowball from Xia Yitian.

Just after Xia Yitian asked her with a smile if it was accurate...
A disturbance arose on the snowy ground.
After a while, a disheveled Xia Yitian was pushed back into the room by Wen Zhixia and cleaned the snow off his body.

A pot of hot tea was served, and the two finally began to talk about Xia Ming.

"One day has passed, and more than half of the competition is already over. What on earth is Xia Ming doing?"

Hearing Wen Zhixia's question, Xia Yitian took a sip of tea and then slowly spoke.

He's receiving intravenous fluids.

"To make broth, you need six soup pots?"

"Hmm, although I don't know what technique he used, he must be making a broth. A very, very flavorful broth."

Wen Zhixia frowned after hearing Xia Yitian's words.

"Can frozen chicken bones really be used to make such a delicious soup? Do we need to add anything else?"

Xia Yitian simply smiled and waved his hand at her question.

"No need. The true flavor of old chicken soup needs no other embellishment. A little salt, a little peppercorn, and two slices of angelica root are enough to make this unparalleled soup in the world."

"But not everyone can make this kind of soup. Time, ingredients, and processing are all essential. And what I just mentioned is fresh chicken carcasses. If it's frozen, the difficulty increases by at least five times."

Wen Zhixia's eyes flickered slightly.

"Is three and a half hours enough?"

"Not enough normally. 21 pure chicken skeletons, at least 6 hours or more."

"So that means there are ways to resolve things that are not working properly?"

Hearing Wen Zhixia's words, Xia Yitian curled the corners of his mouth.

"Yes, but this is the first time I've seen a solution using six soup pots."

"My son's amazing actions are really baffling to me as his father!"

Just as Xia Yitian was explaining things to Wen Zhixia, Xia Ming finally began to accelerate.
The chicken soup, simmered for two hours, lost much of its aroma after being mixed with other ingredients, instead of becoming more flavorful.

Xia Ming didn't care at all and filtered the soup again and again.

Finally, after confirming that the soup had cleared, Xia Ming placed the two thawed chicken shells into the smallest soup pot.

Then, pour in the final filtered broth until it covers the chicken shell.

As the flames rose again, Xia Ming's smile became even more pronounced.

Time ticked by, and another hour passed. Only a dozen or so players remained who hadn't pressed the "finish" button.

At this moment, the highest score on the field still belongs to Kang Xincheng's cooking.

Just when the judges were starting to get tired of the chicken frames, Xia Ming finally presented his dish.

In front of the seven judges, Xia Ming silently opened the lid, only to find two horribly thin "chicken shells" inside.

If even the thinnest chicken frames before still had a little bit of meat clinging to the bone, then Xia Ming's was truly just a pile of bones.

Seeing this scene, Cao Fujun was completely stunned. If he could speak, he would have loved to question Yin Shengjiang and Tan Zhifeng.

"Pure chicken bones with almost no flavor, not even any meat, and this is what you call a genius rookie?"

A hint of disdain flashed in Bai Susu's eyes. The color, aroma, and taste—the color was barely passable, but the aroma was nowhere to be seen.
etc.
Just as Bai Susu was about to give up tasting it, Xia Ming, wearing gloves, gently broke open the corner of one of the chicken carcasses.

The moment the chicken was broken open, the judges, who had been noncommittal just moments before, all turned their gazes toward the chicken carcass.

The cross-section of the bone had a little bit of oily broth left, which was absorbed by the chicken bone after stewing.

They hadn't touched it at all before, but in that instant when the soup dripped onto the plate...

They were overwhelmed by an unparalleled umami flavor that exploded in their nasal cavity.
(End of this chapter)