Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

This will help create a virtuous cycle, and with a bunch of top talents coming to compete, it would be difficult for them to lose.

"Welcome to the lounge, everyone. I am one of the judges for this competition. You can call me Mr. Lin. I will now introduce the competition rules to you."

Just then, the television in the room, which was turned off, was suddenly turned on.

A gaunt face appeared on the television screen. The man gazed into the distance, his eyes filled with passion and anticipation, as if he were brewing something.

"Now, let's announce the theme of the first competition: Shrimp."

A picture of a large shrimp appeared on the big screen, and also in more than seventy lounges; everyone was looking at the picture.

Some people felt relieved, while others felt tense; every time a cooking theme was drawn, it was a gamble.

If you can draw a topic you're good at, you'll get a good score; if you can't draw a topic you're good at, you can only try your best to make it your strength.

"The ingredients for this selection were provided by the organizer, and different ingredients have different evaluation criteria."

Using top-quality ingredients but failing to produce a top-quality dish, resulting in a waste of ingredients, will result in a negative review.

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was in an uproar.

"This competition will also give negative scores? Does that mean if you use high-quality ingredients to make a dish that looks terrible, the judges won't just not give you any points, they might even deduct points from your score!?"

"If this kind of thing really happened to someone, it would probably be a direct social death."

This means that contestants can no longer choose ingredients as freely as in previous years; they must constantly consider whether they can produce the quality that the ingredient should be.

"Truly skilled chefs don't care about such things. Only those who are only half-baked would consider whether they can make a good dish using high-quality ingredients."

This is certainly understandable, but it can also be considered a form of selection.

Outside the Eight Treasures Pagoda, men and women gathered in the square. Upon hearing the host announce the new rules, they whispered among themselves to their friends.

This is the first time such a rule has appeared in a competition.

In the past, chefs could use whatever ingredients they wanted, and the evaluation of dishes was the same for everyone. There has never been a situation like this competition.

"I think everyone is wondering why we keep changing the rules this year?"

The main reason is that there were unreasonable aspects to the previous competition; in other words, it was very unfair.

High-grade ingredients possess flavors that low-grade ingredients lack, while low-grade ingredients require various processing methods to reach the level of high-grade ingredients.

Comparatively speaking, high-end ingredients are more difficult to process. However, compared to their deliciousness, this difficulty is not a valid reason to compare them to low-end ingredients. In short, if you use high-end ingredients and make a dish that tastes the same as low-end ingredients, it's a failure.

Seeing the commotion in the square through cameras from all directions, the host smiled and then offered further explanation.

This decision was the result of their joint discussions.

Because there are no restrictions on the use of ingredients, there have been many instances in the past where chefs with high-end ingredients have won against their rivals with lower-end ingredients due to their economic advantage.

This regulation is mainly aimed at the later-stage academies.

For the students at the previous academy, this rule has little impact, because they can handle both high-end and low-end ingredients to their best condition.

"This is the first time I've ever seen a competition with restricted ingredients."

The television screen went out, and the room remained silent for a long time before Mito Ikumi finally spoke.

"Actually, it's not really a restriction on ingredients. After all, the competition organizers didn't say that any ingredients couldn't be used. It's just that using high-end ingredients would result in a deduction of points, which is normal considering the added flavor they bring."

Alice Nakiri's voice rang out, and she didn't seem to have much of an opinion on it.

However, because Totsuki Culinary Academy adheres to the philosophy that high-grade ingredients are better than low-grade ingredients, other people who are learning to cook have always been pursuing the quality of ingredients and often neglect the essence of cooking, so they seem to lack experience with low-grade ingredients.

"Isn't this a kind of restriction in itself?"

Yoshino Yuuki muttered to herself.

The host said all this before the competition started, and it's clear that he had only one purpose: to instill fear in them.

This might make many people worry that choosing high-end ingredients will result in a lower score, thus discouraging them from choosing them.

On the one hand, it saves costs.

On the other hand, using common ingredients in cooking allows for a clearer and more intuitive understanding of the differences in culinary skill levels between chefs.

However, for them, this was a sign of an unsuccessful start.

"If you make a dish that scores over 100 points, even if they want to deduct points, they can only give it 100 points, right?"

As she spoke, Alice Nakiri's face radiated confidence. As the youngest Special Grade Chef in history, she possessed a unique sense of pride.

"Although I know you're right, this is indeed a major crisis for us chefs who aren't very skilled!"

By the way, if you need any ingredients that are not listed above, you need to submit a list of additional required ingredients within half an hour.

After this time, if the contestants require new ingredients, the organizers reserve the right to refuse.

He showed his notebook to everyone, which contained what the host had just said on TV.

It was mentioned that the list of ingredients for this competition could be viewed on the television in the lounge to avoid any misunderstandings.

As for why I jotted these down while watching TV, it's mainly because I've been Erina Nakiri's secretary for so many years.

Now, she will jot down any information that might be useful whenever she hears it.

"In other words, the ingredient requirement list must be submitted within half an hour, and the official competition will begin in an hour and a half, at which time everyone will have to take the stage."

From now on, we only have half an hour to prepare the dishes for the preliminary rounds.

Everyone, quickly think about what dishes you want to cook later. If you need any ingredients not listed above, you must request them in advance to avoid any unexpected situations.

Alice Nakiri's voice rang out.

After Hisako Niito's explanation, she finally understood the current situation.

Simply put, they have to come up with the dishes to be served in the selection competition within half an hour.

There was some silence at the scene for a moment.

No one who's gotten this far is a fool. Realizing that time was running out, they stopped talking and started thinking about what dishes to make.

Each person must achieve a cooking score of 90 or higher, and their overall ranking must be in the top eight to advance to the finals.

This is for them.

It is undoubtedly a huge challenge!

Chapter 404 Alice Nakiri's Innovative Dish: Iced Dragon Well Shrimp

After thinking for less than five minutes, Alice Nakiri stood up from her chair with a confident smile on her face.

"How do I operate this TV? I want to see if it shows the ingredients I need for cooking."

As she spoke, she glanced at Bai Yuan, who had been silent and just studying the television, presumably he had already figured out how to operate it.

"What kind of ingredients are you looking for? I just took a quick look, and it has all the basic ingredients, and there's a wide variety of shrimp."

Whether it's river shrimp or sea shrimp, it's hard to explain clearly just by me. You should take a look at the details.

Bai Yuan switched the shrimp ingredients on the TV screen to the homepage, and upon seeing this, Nakiri Alice moved closer and began searching for the ingredients she needed.

"Green shrimp, long-armed shrimp, flower-shaped shrimp, crayfish, prawns, black tiger shrimp, lobsters..."

My eyes scanned the big screen, and when I saw black tiger prawns on the ingredient list, I felt a sense of certainty. Then I continued to scroll down to find more.

She quickly glanced at the ingredient list on TV and a relaxed expression appeared on her face.

"I don't need any extra ingredients."

After rechecking the ingredients she needed, Alice Nakiri turned her gaze to Bai Yuan.

Because it's just a preliminary round, she doesn't plan to use molecular gastronomy.

After all, that was her trump card. If someone saw it now and became wary, it would be a loss if they came up with a countermeasure later.

"I need to apply for a dozen salted egg yolks, salted duck eggs from Gaoyou area."

Just then, Yoshino Yuuki's voice rang in Shirabuchi's ears. She had already formed a rough idea of ​​the dish in her mind, and the next step was to put it into practice.

Shrimp dishes.

As one of the most common types of dishes in the culinary world, its preparation method has long been thoroughly studied and mastered.

Therefore, when they received this topic, the focus was not on how to cook shrimp dishes, but on how to cook shrimp dishes well and create their own unique style.

"No matter what, we must first ensure the originality of the shrimp dishes. Studying and learning from dishes we've made on-site is probably the best choice for this cooking competition."

Erina Nakiri pinched her chin and thought to herself, "This theme really does coincide with the cooking training I've been doing!"

She wasn't one to overthink things; she had already made up her mind.

That dish was something she painstakingly developed, so it's perfectly acceptable for her to use it in the competition.

Just now, when Alice Nakiri was flipping through the ingredient list, she looked at it for a while. It contained all the ingredients needed to make that shrimp dish.

Given this, in order to achieve better results in the world of dark cuisine and to present better dishes in the selection competition, she has no reason to give up.

"Then I'll make shrimp meat lion's head meatballs."

Mito Ikumi thought the plan was more and more feasible, so she looked up at Shirabuchi and then got up to go to the television to check it out.

"I'd like to try combining lychee and shrimp; maybe it will create some amazing results!"

Recalling Bai Yuan's words to them at the villa a few days ago, Tadokoro Megumi spoke up at this moment, her eyes burning with fighting spirit.

She has been verifying Bai Yuan's theory at the hotel for some time now, and has made some progress.

"Are you planning to combine lychees and shrimp? That's a good idea."

Bai Yuan undoubtedly supports the girls' various whimsical ideas.

This competition was actually meaningless to him; it was mainly to make a name for himself in the world of culinary disasters, and to be honest, he didn't care much about that.

Strong is strong, weak is weak.

One game proves nothing.

Of course, nobody wants to lose when they can win.

"Since you've already made your decision, I'll cook a dish that combines tradition and creativity."

As people around her started thinking about what dishes to make, Hojo Miyoko stood up from her chair, walked over to Shirobuchi's side, and stared intently at the television screen in front of her.

All the ingredients she needed were included, so there was no need to collect them separately. The organizers were very well-prepared; apart from the salted duck eggs that Yoshino Yuuki needed, all the other ingredients could be found inside.

Time passes minute by minute.