Shocking! The entire court was drooling with envy because of me.

It's really just a boiled egg...

Situ Liang suddenly felt a little scared.

Although he trusted Shen Qing, he couldn't figure out how to make boiled eggs in a new way.

Moreover, apart from the basic ingredients provided by the competition, Shen Qing didn't bring any other ingredients at all.

I suddenly realized I'd acted a bit impulsively.

He couldn't help but count on his fingers how many times he would have to say "I'm a big fool" if, in the worst-case scenario, Madam Shen lost.

Shen Qing continued her movements on the stage.

She took an egg out of the cold water and gently rolled it on the cutting board. Instantly, the eggshell cracked into fine lines.

In just a few moments, the eggshell was peeled off, revealing the smooth, white egg.

She then picked up a knife and used the tip to make four shallow cuts on the egg, just enough to break the surface of the egg white but not the yolk.

After processing one egg, she immediately began processing the second one.

Shen Qing's movements were nimble and elegant, seemingly unhurried, yet incredibly fast.

Before long, ten white and tender eggs were prepared.

"Are you making tiger-skin eggs?" The speaker was Li Zhesheng, who came from a family of imperial chefs. The stove he was assigned to was not far from Shen Qing's.

Li Zhesheng said with a strong sense of arrogance, "Tiger-skin eggs are no match for this culinary competition."

Tiger-skin eggs are boiled eggs, peeled, and deep-fried until the skin is golden brown and wrinkled, resembling tiger skin. This is a snack that has been popular among the people for a long time.

Li Zhesheng comes from a family of imperial chefs, so he naturally looks down on tiger-skin eggs, a common folk snack.

They even felt that tiger-skin eggs were completely low-class and not presentable.

"Food is meant to be eaten, not just looked at," Shen Qing said calmly, her hands still moving.

Li Zhesheng shook his head, increasingly convinced that Shen Qing had advanced to the top 100 through connections and had no real talent or ability.

He despises this kind of person the most.

Shen Qing remained completely undisturbed and continued making her tiger-skin eggs.

She heated the oil in the wok, and the moment the smoke rose, she immediately added the eggs that she had just prepared.

Oil splattered everywhere, and the white and tender eggs quickly changed color in the oil pan, from white and tender to light yellow, and then gradually to golden yellow. Fine bubbles slowly rose on the surface of the eggs, and after the bubbles burst, they left small indentations.

Before long, golden wrinkles formed.

Shen Qing took a large strainer, and when he saw that it was almost done, he used the strainer to scoop out the eggs and placed them on a bamboo sieve.

Now comes the soul of this dish.

To allow the judges to taste the dish at its best, Shen Qing waited a while before continuing to cook, as the time was almost up.

First, leave some oil in the pot, then add scallions, ginger, rock sugar, star anise, cinnamon, etc. After the aroma of these seasonings is released, she directly opens the porcelain bottle she brought and pours the liquid inside into the pot.

Shila-

A loud bang erupted from the pot, and the dark brown liquid seemed to come alive in the scalding iron pot, with dense bubbles rising from the bottom of the pot, gradually expanding and bursting.

An unprecedentedly sweet aroma wafted from the pot.

"Look, what is Madam Shen pouring into the pot?"

"This sweet fragrance...how peculiar..."

"It smells wonderful, I've never smelled anything like it before..."

"..."

The audience members who were closer to Shen Qing's stove were all stunned. They sniffed and tried to figure out what was emitting the sweet fragrance.

But they are destined to be unable to recognize it.

Shen Qing used cola, the cola provided by the system.

Today she's making cola tiger-skin eggs.

She then added soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and other seasonings to the pot—modern seasonings provided by the system, of course.

Shen Qing took a large spatula and used it to stir the pot quickly.

In less than fifteen minutes, the liquid in the pot gradually decreased, the bubbles became sparse, and the liquid gradually thickened.

There's no need to thicken it at all; the sauce is already as thick as honey.

Just then, Shen Qing gently slid the fried tiger-skin eggs into the pot and then put the lid on.

The aroma of the cola sauce was locked in the pot, and the tiger-skin pattern on the surface of the eggs slowly unfolded in the warm sauce.

The sauce seeped into the egg little by little along the scratches.

After a short while, Shen Qing lifted the lid of the pot.

At this moment, the eggs have turned amber, a bright red, and the tiger-skin folds are soaked with sauce, showing a layer of warm, oily sheen.

The sauce was already quite thick; when you ran a spatula across the bottom of the pan, you could clearly see distinct streaks.

Just then, Shen Qing poured the remaining cola from the porcelain bottle into the pot.

She poured the cold cola into the pot, and it boiled again. Then she added half a spoonful of light soy sauce, sprinkled a pinch of salt, and quickly stir-fried it.

This step, called reducing the sauce and adding flavor, replenishes the volatile aromas lost due to prolonged heating, making the sauce more layered.

"It smells so good!"

"This smells really nice, and I've never smelled anything like it before."

"It has a sweet fragrance with a warm aroma, and it seems to have some herbal spices as well."

"..."

The surrounding audience all started discussing the strange and complex smell in the air.

Li Zhesheng's eyes also showed confusion, and he subconsciously looked in Shen Qing's direction.

Shen Qing had already extinguished the fire under the stove, but he didn't rush to plate the food.

It seems they are waiting for something.

After another cup of tea's time, Shen Qing lifted the pot lid and arranged the tiger-skin eggs one by one on a white porcelain plate. Then, he used a spoon to scoop some sauce from the pot and drizzled it over the eggs little by little.

Finally, she sprinkled some white sesame seeds on top.

clang--

Just as all this was done, the gong rang out.

It's time to cook.

"Time's up! All contestants, stop cooking!"

"Now, the seven judges will take turns tasting and scoring the dishes. There are forty spots available to advance!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the contestants took turns carrying their dishes to the judges' table.

Ordinary eggs were transformed into amazing dishes by the contestants, some of which were so unique that you couldn't even tell they were made from eggs.

The audience's attention was also focused on the high platform.

"Look! That's 'Sanbuzhan' (a type of Sichuan cuisine)! No wonder he's a descendant of Shandong cuisine masters; he actually made 'Sanbuzhan'!"

Sanbuzhan is a very time-consuming dish. Egg yolks are mixed with sugar, starch, and water, and then stirred constantly in a pan over low heat until they no longer stick to the pan, the spoon, or your teeth.

"Kong Lingxian's 'Three No-Stick' sauce is as smooth as a mirror, with a golden color; it looks delicious!"

Unsurprisingly, it passed unanimously.

"Wow, it's crab roe scrambled eggs! It smells amazing!"

"That's chicken slices with egg white filling! It's amazing! I wouldn't have known it was made from eggs if you hadn't told me!"

"..."

The contestants went to great lengths to make the eggs look like they weren't eggs at all.