Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 95: Express Version of Lantern-Shaped Beef - Tonight's "Bean and Egg Feast"~ (First Update of 3K)
Xie Tingfeng smiled when he saw Hou Xinqing's gaze.

To be honest, he didn't know if Xia Ming could do it, because Xia Ming's techniques in the previous competition did not include the display of ultimate knife skills.

It now seems that Xia Ming is more well-rounded than he imagined.

"The stronger the better, excelling in all aspects, it will surely make a significant contribution to the promotion of food in the future."

"Moreover, he is not picky about raw or cold foods and has a high tolerance for ingredients. It would be great if he could come over occasionally for interviews or as a judge once he becomes famous."

Knowing his own abilities, Nicholas Tse is very polite to excellent chefs. A small portion of the chefs in the "One Meal to Fame" competition were recruited through his connections.

Otherwise, chefs of Lai Chi On's caliber and Siu Tak Nong would be more than qualified to be judges, so why would they become contestants?

It's important to know that Zheng Yongqi is a genuine "West 7 level" (referring to a high-ranking official in the West), but Zhang Yong is not. Although he is extremely skilled in managing chain restaurants and has established restaurants under his control, in reality, he is only at a similar level to Xie Tingfeng.

Of the three star judges, only Zheng Yongqi is truly capable in terms of hard skills, but their high media exposure makes them more recognizable to the public.

Just as he felt he had struck gold, Xia Ming's Wensi Tofu had already been cut.

When placed in clean water, the Wensi tofu strands are distinct, uniform in thickness, and do not stick together. Hou Xinqing, who was standing nearby, was also taken aback and became extremely vigilant.

You should know that Nicholas Tse came here today for more than just to watch him sharpen his knife.
This is "Jiangnan Courtyard Private Kitchen," a place for dining. The so-called performance is just a little pre-meal conversation.

According to the reservation form, Nicholas Tse ordered today.
The seven dishes are: "Braised Pork with Stove Flavor", "Beef with Lantern Shadows", "Chrysanthemum Tofu Stewed with Pigeon Eggs", "Cuttlefish Starry Sky Tofu", "Soup-filled Yellow Croaker", "Handmade Black Sesame Dumplings", and "Stir-fried Water Chestnut".

They also requested an extra portion of ingredients, as Nicholas Tse would prepare a pasta dish on site.

Originally, this live stream was intended to satisfy both Nicholas Tse's need to promote Huaiyang cuisine and record a variety show while eating, and Hou Xinqing's need to enhance his reputation.

As for these dishes, Hou Xinqing knew the limits of Xie Tingfeng's appreciation ability and was certain that they would satisfy him.

But now that Xia Ming is here, things are not so certain, especially with "Lantern Shadow Beef," which is a dish that requires a lot of skill to prepare. The final taste will be completely different depending on how well it is made.

The problem is that he happened to have a group of distinguished guests yesterday, and the "beef sliced ​​in the lamplight" served to Nicholas Tse was cut by his apprentice.
The apprentice's knife skills were indeed good, but they were somewhat inferior to Xia Ming's.

"If this gets discovered, it will be terrible."

Hou Xinqing, sensing something was wrong, was originally going to demonstrate "slicing ginger" in his chef's knife skills practice.

The students, all fellow disciples, take rectangular pieces of ginger of the same height and slice the most complete pieces within a specified time. The person who does so is considered qualified, and the rest have to practice again.

Xia Ming had already cut the Wensi tofu to the correct standard, so this "slice of ginger" should be a piece of cake for him. It would be unwise to bring this up again now.

When viewers in the live stream saw Xia Ming actually make Wensi Tofu, they couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Wow, that's amazing! He doesn't look that old, but his skills are so profound?

[Are you kidding me? A chef who receives praise from big names like Sui Wubai, Tan Zhifeng, and Li Shanghu—are you kidding me?]

The most outrageous thing is that this guy used to own a barbecue restaurant, and apparently his restaurant was reported, which is why he went to participate in the competition.

[Instead of making a name for yourself in the culinary world, you're content to be a small business owner in a barbecue restaurant, huh?]

[Xia Ming, okay, I'll remember that. You're so amazing. I'll definitely have to come and support you when you open a new store.]

While everyone was chatting enthusiastically in the live stream, Hou Xinqing, who was sitting next to him, had an idea.

He smiled slightly and then clapped.

"Young Master Xia, your basic skills are excellent. You cut the Wensi Tofu perfectly."

"Tingfeng, if you ask me, how about we use Xia's recipe for today's 'Squid Ink Starry Sky Tofu'?"

"I won't let you go to all this trouble for nothing, young man. How about I give you a serving of 'Salted Pigeon'?"

Nicholas Tse raised an eyebrow, thinking that Hou Xinqing was so delighted with Xia Ming's cooking skills that he made this decision out of happiness.

After all, the "Cuttlefish Starry Sky Tofu" dish will take up a lot of screen time later, so Hou Xinqing's actions can be seen as giving Xia Ming more opportunities to appear on screen.

"Xia Ming, what do you think?"

Xia Ming understood Hou Xinqing's thoughts, but since he had already achieved his goal, he had no reason to refuse.

"Feng-ge's arrangement is fine~"

"Okay, okay~"

In this way, Hou Xinqing resolved a minor embarrassment and then began making "Cuttlefish Starry Sky Tofu" in front of the camera.

Compared to regular Wensi Tofu, "Squid Ink Starry Sky Wensi Tofu" uses vegetable juice and squid ink inside.

After removing the fishy smell of squid ink with vegetable juice, chicken broth is added for flavor, followed by a touch of black truffle sauce. Then, "butter fried noodles (not traditional fried noodles, but a pre-made noodle powder)" is used to enhance the aroma and consistency.

Finally, add the Wensi Tofu.

The soup is as black as ink, and the Wensi tofu is pure white. When you stir it gently with chopsticks, it sparkles like the starry night in the paintings of the great painter Van Gogh.

After making the "Cuttlefish Starry Sky Tofu", Hou Xinqing left to go to the kitchen to prepare the dishes, while Xia Ming went to the main hall with everyone to take a seat.

Because of Xia Ming's impressive strength, the women began to look for opportunities to talk to him.

He tailored his approach to each woman's personality, engaging in pleasant conversation. Later, following a reminder from Chef Hou Xinqing, Tse Ting-fung left to record his own segment on pasta. Approximately 25 minutes later, Tse Ting-fung returned to the living room with his "handmade pasta."

At this moment, Xia Ming was already chatting very well with the four women, and the bold Zhu Yijie even took the initiative to ask for his contact information.

Seeing that Xia Ming and his band got along well, Nicholas Tse was also very happy.

After that, everyone started eating and chatting.
During the meal, Nicholas Tse picked up a piece of braised beef and ate it with lotus root slices. He felt that it tasted completely different from the last time he ate it.

"This beef skewers is delicious, Xia Ming, you should try some."

Xia Ming nodded, picked up a piece, and found that the beef on it was translucent, fried until it was crystal clear, and had a brownish-red color like roast duck skin.

When you put it in your mouth and chew it, it's crispy and has a sweet flavor. After chewing it a few times, a salty and slightly sour taste emerges from the bottom of the beef. The sour taste has a hint of acetic acid and a touch of fruit acid.

His eyes lowered slightly, and he realized the hidden secret Hou Xinqing had concealed in making the dish.

Based on the vague fragments of memory, the usual process of making "lantern-shadow beef" involves brushing it with sauce after slicing, then air-drying it to remove excess moisture, and finally deep-frying it at a low temperature to achieve an extremely crispy and melt-in-your-mouth texture.

To preserve its texture and prevent it from becoming dry, the beef needs to retain a little moisture.

The usual method is to retain some moisture during cooking, and then soak the beef in chili oil for several hours to allow the aroma to slowly infuse into the beef itself.

This process typically takes 14 to 20 hours to prepare a complete piece of braised beef.

However, Hou Xinqing's "Lantern Shadow Beef" was completed within an hour.

He probably first sliced ​​the meat extremely thinly, then brushed it with sauce, preheated the oven, and then turned on the dehydrator to dry it quickly, adjusting the process multiple times as needed.

After air-drying a portion, bake it in the oven, opening the oven at fixed intervals during the process to both flip the pieces and release moisture.

After the final preparation, the beef was tougher than the dried beef, so he put it in a bag and left it with pressed fresh orange peel for a few minutes, using the moisture from the orange peel to help the beef warm up slightly.

This is also the origin of the fruity aroma in the meat. After being prepared this way and then fried, the beef is crispy but not melts in the mouth.

Therefore, he added lotus root slices to create a complex texture, highlighting the meaty aroma while placing the Sichuan peppercorn flavor on the lotus root slices.

To make up for the mistake caused by time constraints, after frying, the beef was carefully brushed with oil to ensure its aroma.

It might be a bit bland on its own, but the overall combination is just right. It was a stroke of genius that led to this rather harmonious dish.

Hou Xinqing, who was observing the main hall from a blind spot, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Xia Ming was just smiling and didn't say anything.

"Luckily I was quick-witted, otherwise I would have ruined my reputation today~ But who is this kid? I've never heard of him before?"

So he silently memorized Xia Ming's name, preparing to go down and ask which master's beloved disciple he was.
The rather pleasant banquet was quickly finished. Apart from Xie Tingfeng's slightly subpar pasta, Xia Ming was quite satisfied with the meal.

"I don't know the price, but given their habit of only serving one table of guests at a time, it shouldn't be too low."

After the meal, the group took a plane to Lianyungang. Upon exiting the station, the staff who had been prepared in advance took them to "Guanyun," a subsidiary of Lianyungang.

In this county, a large number of farmers rely on growing soybeans and raising soybean pods to make a living.

However, after Xia Ming and his group arrived, they found that the actual situation was worse than they had imagined.

Because the area of ​​bean caterpillar farming was too large this year, the market price was driven down, and the price of bean caterpillar seedlings also dropped to a record low, with the price reaching 28 yuan per kilogram locally.

Xie Tingfeng and the others asked several farmers, and they generally said that today was a bad day and the selling price was low.

One of the young farmers looked very angry in front of the camera.

"It's fine that the price is low, but we know that not many people eat this outside of our area."

"But we can't stand being wronged for no reason. Our fresh bean weevils grow up eating bean leaves, so they have a soft texture and a very authentic taste."

"There is absolutely no chance of eating meat that tastes bitter. If the meat tastes bitter, it is most likely not bean beetle, but tree beetle."

Nicholas Tse asked curiously what tree worms were. The young man said he didn't know what kind of tree it was, but a tree could grow hundreds of kilograms of these insects. They looked very similar, so some unscrupulous merchants would try to pass them off as genuine.

"Tree peony only costs a few yuan per kilogram, and it's all bitter. Even chickens won't eat it!"

He also took everyone to his breeding field, where they found plump bean weevils on the bean leaves in the greenhouse.

Nicholas Tse was mentally prepared from the beginning, while Xia Ming was not afraid at all, and the two of them behaved normally.

However, Zhu Yijie, the youngest of the four girls, was so frightened that she screamed and her whole body was filled with resistance.

The other three women weren't much better off. Except for Zhu Yiqing, who seemed a little calmer, they were all terrified that the bean pellets would fall on them.

Their actions resonated with many viewers in the live stream, who expressed their resistance.

After finally finishing her shopping, Zhu Yijie breathed a sigh of relief as if she had escaped a disaster, but the next second, Xie Tingfeng spoke.

"Since we're already in Guanyun, we should definitely try the local specialties. So, we'll bring some fresh ones from Xiao Ge's place to town later, and tonight we'll have a 'Bean Dumpling Feast'."

"???"

(End of this chapter)