The story begins in Food Wars, when Alice took him home.

"As expected of him, he's always one step ahead!"

"Go Wang Qing! You're our last line of defense! You have to win the game!!"

"Damn it, don't put so much pressure on him. No matter what, he's the best!"

"Wang Qing! Wang Qing!"

As Wang Qing left, a large number of cheers erupted from the audience, reaching their peak when he waved goodbye. This is what is known as home-field advantage; celebrity chefs receive more attention.

Listening to the cheers around her, Leah watched all this indifferently. Such glory would also be bestowed upon her when she won the match.

Food enthusiasts are very straightforward; they support whoever is the best.

With that thought in mind, Lia also left the competition venue and strode towards the market.

"That girl has started making her move too."

"I wonder what kind of dishes she will bring us. I'm looking forward to it."

"Long golden hair, petite figure, I feel like there must be a very delicate and cute face under the mask."

"This isn't something you should be concerned about, but I have to say, a girl with that kind of aura is definitely not bad-looking! I really want to see her expression under the mask!"

Lia's actions also attracted a lot of attention. As the girl who won the first round of the competition, she had accumulated a lot of fans in the previous competition, and everyone showed great enthusiasm for her.

"I don't know if you've heard this rumor."

Suddenly, someone in the audience spoke up with a mysterious expression.

"What rumors?"

Those sitting around him immediately showed curiosity when they heard him say that. After all, it's in the nature of Chinese people to love gossip, and they have to take a bite before making a judgment, no matter how big or small the gossip is.

"Don't you guys think that girl looks a lot like the talented French chef, Lia, who was active before?"

The man took out his phone and played a video of Leah from back then. He held it up high so that others could see it. Comparing it to the video of Leah in the drone live stream, he thought they looked very similar, except that she had changed from short hair to long hair!

"A French chef? How could that be? Why would a French chef come to China?"

Some people have expressed strong doubts about this.

"Perhaps they admire Chinese cuisine and came here specifically for this purpose."

Someone else said, half-jokingly.

"Then why did you join the world of culinary disasters and become their henchman? Being a French genius chef should be much more impressive than being a member of the culinary disasters world."

"I'm not too sure about that. Maybe he's got some leverage over me."

The man speculated, finding it somewhat perplexing as well. If the person on stage truly was Leah, then why would she serve the Dark Cuisine world? He couldn't think of any other reason besides someone having something on her.

"Maybe it's because the world of 'dark cuisine' is worth it? Not everyone is doing it for personal gain."

A little girl nearby couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up.

"Worth it... This is a force I've never even heard of before, so what's the point of whether it's worth it or not? I think she was coerced. If I were her, I definitely wouldn't have joined such an unknown little force without being coerced!"

The man remained dismissive.

"We haven't even confirmed their identity yet, so everything you're saying is just your guess, a pointless guess!"

"Let's focus on the cooking and stop worrying about her identity. So what if she is, or she isn't? You can't possibly make her withdraw from the competition because of that, can you? This is so pointless!"

As the conversation veered off course, someone stepped forward to confront the man who had started it, guessing what he might say next, and a subtle look of disgust appeared on their face.

"Exactly, the topic has completely gone astray!"

Seeing that someone had stepped forward, everyone else on the scene reacted and refocused their attention on the large screen in the sky, watching as Leah headed to a steak shop.

"Are you planning to make steak? Western food? Speaking of Western food, what dishes combine hot and cold elements? I think Michelin has a dish called Flaming Ice Cream? But she bought steak!"

"Steak? A perfect blend of hot and cold? I just can't connect the two..."

"That's the difference between us and professional chefs. But 200 yuan probably can't buy a very high-end steak."

"The food doesn't need to be high-end steak; the key is the chef's skill..."

With everyone talking amongst themselves and watching the screen intently, no one expected that Liya, who set off later, would buy groceries before Wang Qing. Everyone was curious about her choice.

"Wagyu beef tenderloin? It's not the highest quality, but it should be enough."

Looking at Leah's choice on the screen, the discussion started again.

"Steak gets hot when pan-fried or grilled, but this is cold..."

Looking at Lia in the video, Bai Yuan fell into thought.

He didn't know much about Western food, so he didn't get a useful answer right away. This was a field unique to Leah!

"Beef fat trimmings, sake, yuzu, light cream..."

After leaving the steakhouse, Leah went to the supermarket and bought a lot of ingredients for cooking. When she returned to the competition venue, she only had 30 cents left out of her 200 yuan, which can be said to have been used just right.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the video, Wang Qing spent over a hundred yuan to buy a small green dragon at a seaside market.

This price is only available at the seaside market in Fuzhou, and it's a place only locals who have lived there for many years know about, so it's considered to be taking advantage of the local area.

In addition, he also bought liquid nitrogen, limes, wasabi and other ingredients, which also left everyone at the scene somewhat puzzled and could only be attributed to the chef's personal whimsy, just as they had when commenting on Leah.

"They're all back, now it's time for the cooking!"

As the two returned one after another, the audience members looked on with anticipation. Finally, the most exciting part for them—the cooking segment—had arrived!

"Steak and lobster, the interplay of ice and fire—how exactly can this effect be achieved?"

"I can't understand it, I really can't understand it, this is beyond the norm! Is this the kind of cooking geniuses do?!"

"I remember Wang Qing bought liquid nitrogen earlier, so I feel like his coldness should come from that, but I really can't see any coldness in Li."

Hearing the surrounding discussion, an elderly chef spoke up, his eyes revealing a hint of wisdom.

"Li's coldness is in the steak."

Looking at the ingredients that Lia had bought, Bai Yuan's expression turned somber, and his voice rang in the ears of the people around him.

He didn't want to eavesdrop, but these people were right there, so he had no choice but to listen. And once he heard it, he couldn't pretend not to see it, so he simply gave a brief explanation.

"Cold inside the steak?"

"Why do you say that? How did Li manage to refrigerate the steak!?"

"There are only two ways to cook steak: pan-frying and grilling. But neither pan-frying nor grilling can keep the steak chilled."

The old man who had previously said he couldn't understand Lia spoke up in confusion, then turned to look at Bai Yuan, only to instantly lose interest upon discovering that the other was just a young man. This guy had been too certain; it was a wonder he'd hesitated for a few seconds.

There's no such thing as refrigerating a steak; that's simply impossible!

"Based on the ingredients she bought, it seems she intended to vacuum seal them and then immerse them in an ice-salt bath to bring the center to 0°C but not completely freeze them."

Then, using a long charcoal grill, the surface is quickly cooked through, forming a crispy crust, while the inside remains cool—this is the "cold" flavor in Li's steak.

Noticing the change in the old man's expression, Bai Yuan explained in further detail.

Chapter 268 Lava Glacier Crispy Shrimp VS Charcoal-Grilled Wagyu Rhapsody

"Using ice salt bath and vacuum packaging technology can indeed lower the temperature of the steak as quickly as possible, achieving an internal cooling effect."

Bai Yuan's explanation made the old chef think, and he quickly constructed a cooking model in his mind. Then he found that the method was completely feasible, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

How on earth did this young man figure out a cooking method that even he couldn't figure out?!

Could it be that he was just imagining things? Or perhaps he had a close relationship with the girl competing on stage, which allowed him to guess her actions.

"Hot on the outside, cold on the inside—won't this theme give the judges diarrhea...?"

Some people couldn't help but mutter under their breath, and the moment they heard Bai Yuan and the old man talking, such a question flashed through their minds.

No matter how you look at it, foods that are hot on the outside but cold on the inside are likely to cause diarrhea.

"If handled properly, it won't be a problem, but what you're saying is indeed a problem."

However, this issue won't have a significant impact on the game, because everyone would rather enjoy the ultimate experience now than have an upset stomach later!

Hearing the dissenting voices, the old chef glanced at him, his words tinged with pride.

Compared to the stomach upset that comes later, people prefer to enjoy the ultimate deliciousness of the food at the moment!

"A skilled chef's cooking is extremely precise in controlling the heat, so there's virtually no chance of getting an upset stomach. The kind of dish you're describing is something that only an unskilled chef would produce."

At the same time, Bai Yuan's voice rang out, and he then ignored the two of them, turning his attention to Liya and Wang Qing on the field.

The two competitors have now entered the most intense phase of their cooking competition.

As Bai Yuan had suggested, Lia on the stage put the steak into a vacuum-sealed bag and then used the effect of an ice-salt bath to freeze the center.

Seeing her actions, Wang Qing silently took the lobster out of the refrigerator.

Because the freshly caught baby lobsters were very lively, forcibly processing them could easily damage the meat. Wang Qing's knife skills weren't particularly strong, so in order to make the most of his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, he put the baby lobsters in the refrigerator before processing them.

In this way, at extremely low temperatures, the baby lobsters will enter a dormant state and become unable to move, making them much easier to handle.

As the lobster was taken out, Wang Qing's eyes sharpened. He steadily pierced the lobster's body with the tip of his knife, then wrapped the lobster's shell with a towel, gently twisted the connection between the head and tail, and separated the two sides with a little force.

At the same time, some internal organs were pulled out along with the body, and Wang Qing also had a small knife in his hand, which he used to clean up the mess.

Before long, a clean lobster with plump, meaty flesh appeared on the cutting board.

Looking at the lobster, Wang Qing didn't rush to process it further. Instead, he immersed it in liquid nitrogen and instantly froze it to a semi-solid state, which would preserve its sweet and moist texture to the greatest extent.

The lobster shells that are removed are used to make stock, which is then used to prepare sauces for cooking.

While simmering the broth, Wang Qing took the time to make a bowl of batter for frying tempura, which was also the key to his cooking.

"The consistency is just right, but the color is a bit off. Let's add some bamboo charcoal powder."

Watching the tempura batter slide off the chopsticks, its consistency was just right, which brought a satisfied smile to Wang Qing's face. He then added a small amount of bamboo charcoal powder to enhance the color of the batter.

The oil is heated to a high temperature of 190 degrees Celsius. Frozen lobsters are coated with tempura batter and deep-fried in hot oil for ten seconds to form an incredibly crispy black-gold outer shell, while the inside remains cold.

Lobster shells are used to make broth. The lobster shells are then crushed to release more flavor. Chili oil and emulsifiers are then added to the broth, which is then whipped into a foam and placed at the bottom of a plate.

The lobster is placed on top of the whipped foam.

Then comes a thin layer of lime wasabi sorbet, placed on top of the lobster. This was made by instantly cooling it with liquid nitrogen and then shaving it into a snowflake-like shape.

The combination of these three elements results in the final form of this lobster dish!

"Please enjoy, judges."