Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 74 discusses the judges' criteria, including tofu and duck blood soup without duck blood.
"Inside the competition venue"

After the judges gave Xia Ming a passing grade, all four contestants in the competition had completed the first round of cooking.

At this moment, they all looked up at the center of the stage, trying to determine the next ingredient as quickly as possible so that it could be processed quickly.

The live stream also stopped discussing the chef himself and changed the topic to guessing the next question.

Just as everyone was focused on the food, the food counter rose up again. Xia Ming looked up and found that the familiar tofu had returned, and there was even a familiar notch on it.

"?"

A question flashed through his mind. This time, he didn't rush out instinctively. Instead, he looked up at Luo Luo, who was humming beside him.

At this moment, Luo Luo was humming and her face was also filled with doubt. After the doubt, a trace of panic flashed in her eyes.

However, she recovered quickly. Her panic lasted only a few seconds before she regained her composure and rushed out first.

Even when she took her first step, the 30-minute countdown had only just begun.

Xia Ming lowered his eyes slightly, but this time, contrary to his usual behavior, he did not rush. Instead, he pondered for a moment before setting off.

When he arrived at the counter, Chef Wang and Chef Li had already taken the tofu back.

He glanced at the mountain of tofu in front of him, then took one piece of firm tofu and one piece of soft tofu.

Returning to the stove, he frowned slightly, then pressed the firm tofu down with a tray before packing it up and putting it into the freezer.

Then he started boiling water in a pot, and while the water was boiling, he turned around and went to the food storage area.

As the countdown ticked away, Chef Wang Qingrui was the first to press the bell.

The dish he prepared was "Five-Flavor Pan-Fried Tofu Slices".

The method involves slicing firm tofu into thin slices, lightly frying it in oil, then baking it on a stove. After pre-cooking, it is stir-fried in a wok, thickened with a light cornstarch slurry, and served.

The tofu slices were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a hint of smokiness, and the seasoning was just right, which earned unanimous approval from the judges.

Without a doubt, Chef Wang received a unanimous vote again this time.

After Chef Wang, Chef Li was the next to press the bell.

This time he made braised tofu, and served it cold.
The judges were somewhat surprised that, within such a short timeframe of half an hour, they chose quick braising, especially for ingredients like tofu that are not particularly easy to flavor.

Even Li Shanghu was worried for him.
Sui Wubai picked up a piece of tofu from the small bowl and took a small bite. The gravy overflowed from the tofu, creating a harmonious flavor.

Although it's not as flavorful as tofu that's been soaked for several hours, this tofu does indeed have the texture that braised tofu should have.

After picking at the food with his chopsticks, Sui Wubai also discovered the special features of Chef Li's dish.

"It's called tofu block, but it has cuts on all four sides, one cut on each side, which is like making the tofu into several small pockets. It is first soaked in brine, then heated quickly, and then flash-frozen."

"After the brine has cooled and solidified, it is quickly reheated over high heat. The double brine process makes the tofu more flavorful while ensuring that the little bit of brine mixed in with the tofu is not affected."

"Finally, it is placed in the warm braising broth prepared in the morning, ensuring that the braising liquid inside is completely dissolved in the final step, and then cooled with a hair dryer."

"It sounds simple, but it requires a very precise control of the temperature to do it well, otherwise the braising liquid will be lost, or the inside will still be icy." Sui Wubai gave Chef Li Zhian a thumbs up. In his opinion, this senior chef already possessed the ability of a "Level 7" chef, only lacking a rating.

However, Chef Li is getting on in years and seems to have become quite indifferent to the matter of ranks. He didn't even attend the last promotion exam.

Later, a friend called to ask him what happened that day, and whether something had happened at home.

He said no, he just drank too much the night before and forgot.
Sui Wubai sometimes lamented that if Chef Li had gone three years ago, it would have been hard to say whether he could have been promoted to his current level, since there were several strong competitors in that cohort.

If he hadn't risked modifying his master's recipe at the last minute, he might now be known as "Hua Level 6" Sui Wubai.

Although the dish was slightly less than perfect, the judges still gave it a pass, taking into account the time constraints.

Then came Lolo's whining and humming about the dishes.

This time, she made a "Honey Glazed Milk Bean Cubes" dish, which leans towards a Western-style dessert concept.
Put the soft tofu, milk, and a small amount of white sugar into a food processor and blend until smooth. Then add cornstarch, a little dragon fruit juice, and white sugar and stir until it becomes very thick. Pour it into a mold, flatten it, and then put it in the freezer.

Then take out the frozen tofu dessert, remove the edges and cut it into the original shape of tofu cubes, brush the outside with honey water, sprinkle with bean powder, and finally plate it and serve.

Judging from its appearance, this seems to be a semi-finished product made by simply processing tofu.

But after eating it, I found that the inside of the tofu was soft, just like eating a piece of cold, slightly hard cream ice cream.

The aroma of the tofu was still noticeable, but the judges had a little discussion about the dish.

Luo Yumin believes that this dish is similar to Chef Li's first dish in terms of taste and concept, and the scoring should take this "repetition" factor into account.

Zhang Yong, however, believes that with limited time, it is inevitable that some dishes will have similar ideas. The difference between the two should be distinguished by their steps and thought processes.

“Lolo’s Humming This dish clearly uses Western cooking techniques, while Chef Li’s is more in line with Chinese culinary skills, so there is a difference between the two.”

Although Zhang Yong played the clown in the last round, his words in this round are not entirely without reason.

After discussing for a while, the judges decided to distinguish between Luo Luo's whining cooking and Chef Li's dishes, and use this as the standard for evaluation.

In other words, unless the ideas and steps are largely the same as other people's dishes, they should be viewed as separate categories.

However, Li Shanghu also pointed out that, although both are tofu dishes, Chef Li's version tastes better than Luo Luo's version.

"Although there are no requirements on the type of dish, there are still differences in the quality of similar tastes. My approval of this dish does not mean that I am completely satisfied with it. If similar dishes appear in the future, they will be compared and weighed again."

This statement was endorsed by most of the judges present, and so now, the judges have three basic criteria for judging the "Infinite Reincarnation Cooking Showdown".

1. The main dish in a meal must be the food on the serving table.

2. The approaches and techniques are different, so they won't be seen as similar "repetitive" dishes.

3. For foods with similar textures that appear later, a comparison with previous ones is needed. If the food is not as good as the former, the judges may not approve it.

Just as Luo Luo finished humming and hawing as she secured her spot, Xia Ming pressed the buzzer at the last minute.

His dish was tofu and duck blood soup.
But when the judges came to him, they found that his soup bowl only contained tofu, not duck blood.
(End of this chapter)