Food Wars, my food not only glows!

　The aromas of these ingredients blend together during cooking, creating a complex and rich fragrance that now permeates the entire space.

　This aroma combines the freshness of seafood, the richness of meat, and the freshness of vegetables, making one's stomach rumble upon smelling it.

　For a moment, the scene was filled with the rumbling of stomachs.

　"The fish melts in your mouth. Its delicate texture, combined with just the right amount of cooking time, allows the fish to retain its original freshness while adding the aroma brought by the cooking process."

　At this moment, Master Baiyao had already put the fish into his mouth, closed his eyes to carefully savor its deliciousness, and couldn't help but start chanting.

　"The richness of the pork, the freshness of the shrimp, the crispness of the chicken gizzard, and the delicate aroma of the bamboo shoots and mushrooms intertwine in the mouth to create a wonderful symphony of flavors. The umami of these ingredients permeates each other, making the overall taste of the dish even more full and rich!"

　The skillful old lady also closed her eyes, and ingredients such as pork, shrimp, chicken gizzards, and carp appeared before her eyes, then blended together to become this dish of boneless fish with three kinds of delicacies.

　This dish is not difficult to make. The only difficult part is to debone the whole fish so that there are no bones left inside the fish meat!

　This is more difficult than deboning a whole fish because you have to remove all the tiny fish bones, but it greatly enhances the diner's tasting experience, since the most annoying thing about eating fish is spitting out bones!

　"What an enviable dish."

　Fatty An said through gritted teeth, "This is so delicious! I've only ever made a few dishes like this in my whole life, and I've never made it so easily before. This guy is truly enviable!"

　"I can't give this dish any score other than 10!"

　They frantically ate the boneless fish with three kinds of seafood in front of them, and in less than three minutes, all the fish meat was gone.

　In the end, not a single drop of soup was left on the plate; Fatty An drank it all!

　The sauce is so delicious that you could eat a whole bowl of it just by dipping steamed buns in it! The only downside to its saltiness is that it's essentially fish soup.

　"Then I'll give it a perfect score! Because I can't give it any other score."

　Master Baiyao nodded and wrote ten on the paper as well. He couldn't give any score to this dish other than full marks.

　The Flowing Light Cuisine itself is already a perfect score!

　And so, Uncle Zhang Xingyuan's final score was revealed to everyone, once again causing the audience to gasp in surprise.

　A score of 30 out of 100 means that no matter how top-notch Bai Yuan's dishes are, they can only be tied with his. He is in an invincible position from the start!

　"I really don't know what you're after by fighting with a junior like this."

　Although she gave him full marks, the skillful old lady couldn't help but complain that this guy was shameless for bullying the weak, and it was not honorable for him to win!

　"All I want is to compete with him. In my eyes, he's not some junior, but a genuine chef! There's no need to give me the competition prizes. The title of five-star chef is useless to me."

　"It's alright, we never intended to award it to you anyway. Your reward will be postponed, otherwise people would definitely be talking behind your back."

　Master Baiyao shook his head. The four kings of the Guangdong Culinary Association participated in the competition organized by the Guangdong Culinary Association and swept the first place prize.

　If this gets out, it won't sound good at all.

　It gives people the feeling that they can't afford to play games.

　"That kid's done too! I saw him preparing the duck earlier, I wonder what kind of dish he'll make? I'm really looking forward to it!"

　Zhang Xingyuan looked in Bai Yuan's direction, his eyes gleaming with a peculiar light.

　He had been holding a grudge against Bai Yuan for overpowering him on the ice sculpture, so he put all his effort into preparing the dish. When he came to his senses, the dish was shimmering with a faint light.

　"Sorry for the wait, let's finish with this dish. Five-Layer Duck, an improved version of the Three-Layer Duck of Huaiyang cuisine, please enjoy."

　Bai Yuan held a bowl of...

　The large clay pot arrived in front of the judges' table, and he placed it on the table while introducing it to the judges.

　The simple description made the dish seem ordinary. However, the moment the lid was opened and a rich aroma wafted out, they knew they were wrong.

　The aroma was accompanied by a burst of golden light, and the dish was wrapped in flowing light. People had been saying envious words until they were tired of hearing them. Zhang Xingyuan was able to make dishes with flowing light, which was the result of his years of accumulation. What did Bai Yuan do to deserve this?

　"How did you make this 'flowing light cuisine'?"

　Master Baiyao smiled bitterly. Why did something he had pursued his whole life appear so easily in Bai Yuan's hands?

　And judging from his effortless manner, this was clearly not the first time he had made the luminous dish.

　To reach this level at such a young age is simply outrageous! This is a dish of the Radiant Light level; as long as one passes the assessment, one can become a Special Grade Seven-Star Chef!

　Even if Bai Yuan started cooking from the womb, he only has twenty years of culinary experience, while seventy or eighty years have passed since he picked up a kitchen knife. This world is really unfair!

　"As long as you do your best in everything you can and control all the details, the Flowing Light Cuisine is actually not that difficult."

　It's a pity the ingredients provided this time weren't very good; it was just ordinary duck. Otherwise, I feel this dish could have been even better.

　Bai Yuan said with a regretful expression, "Once I start cooking, I think about climbing to the highest peak and creating the most perfect dish, so I feel sorry for dishes that haven't reached their full potential."

　"Do your best in everything you can, and control every detail. That's how you achieve 'flowing light cuisine'?"

　"Going a step further..."

　Upon hearing Bai Yuan's Versailles-like speech, the room suddenly fell silent.

　Do you want to hear what you are saying?

　This really proves the saying true: I exerted all my strength to reach that hall, and was about to stand at the entrance, becoming one of the strong within. But then, a voice drifted out from inside: "I'm really bad!"

　"In short, let's enjoy the food first."

　Master Baiyao's voice rang out: "No matter what, the competition comes first. Since the contestants have presented their dishes, we, as judges, should taste them."

　"Three-layer duck is a famous dish from Gaoyou, Jiangsu. The Gaoyou ducks there have tender and elastic meat with an excellent taste. It has a rich aroma and unique flavor, combining the natural freshness of duck meat with a unique fragrance."

　Zhang Xingyuan's voice rang out from the side, his eyes also filled with shock.

　He thought he could easily outshine Bai Yuan with his shimmering dish, but he never expected Bai Yuan to be able to do it too! And judging from the stable shimmering light on the duck's body, his skill level is significantly higher than Bai Yuan's!?

　Isn't this a bit too much?

　"Not only that, the salted duck eggs from Gaoyou are also exceptional! They are renowned for their bright red and glossy yolks and tender and delicate egg whites."

　While using chopsticks to separate the duck meat, Master Baiyao talked about the salted duck eggs of Gaoyou, a nostalgic expression on his face. Just thinking about the taste made people linger!

　"The sauce is rich and savory, the meat is tender and juicy, and the layers of flavor are exceptionally distinct! The domestic duck, as the outermost layer, provides abundant duck fat and succulent duck meat. The wild duck adds flavor with its firm meat and unique gamey taste."

　The live pigeon meat is tender and absorbs the broth that seeps in from the outside perfectly. The live quail inside is even smaller and more delicate, with delicious meat.

　The final layer of wild pigeon is the perfect finishing touch, locking in the essence of the previous four layers while its belly is stuffed with diced bamboo shoots, diced ham, and diced shiitake mushrooms—a symphony of flavors! The deliciousness is simply breathtaking!

　The chopsticks remove pieces of meat from each section, and the broth and ingredients slowly flow out along the cuts, carrying a rich and delicious aroma that instantly fills the entire room!

　"Let me try it!"

　"It smells so good! I'm so hungry! I can't take it anymore! Just one hundred bites! Just one hundred bites!"

　The audience below the stage had already reached their limit after being subjected to the aroma of the boneless fish with three kinds of delicacies. Now, the aroma of the five kinds of ducks came again, causing many audience members with low self-control to rush uncontrollably to the competition field.

　If it weren't for the staff stopping the crowd and the pre-set cordon, the scene would probably be in complete chaos by now!

　"It's amazing! The five flavors blend together perfectly, yet you can still taste each individual flavor. It's like listening to an elegant symphony, where each character plays its part! Even on its own, it's outstanding!"

　The skillful old lady opened her eyes and spoke slowly, describing it perfectly: any part of this menu is of luminous quality.

　Of course, combining these glowing dishes into a luminous dish is not as simple as just adding ingredients; it requires a lot of experience!

　"At your age, you can actually make luminous dishes. How do you practice your cooking skills? It's just too abnormal!"

　An Pangzi bluntly expressed the thoughts of everyone present, and all eyes turned to Bai Yuan, eagerly awaiting his answer and hoping to learn from him.

　"How else can you practice? Just keep practicing the basics. When you see or eat a delicious dish and feel interested, go home and try to recreate it. Then, try to understand its strengths and weaknesses, grasp the strengths and improve the weaknesses to take the taste of the dish to the next level."

　Bai Yuan didn't hide anything. After thinking for a moment, he began to speak. The first thing was to practice the basic skills extensively every day.

　The most basic of the basics.

　Secondly, you need to have enough passion for cooking and be willing to try new things. If you have these two things, you will improve very quickly!

　Chapter 81 The Second Stage of Radiant Cuisine: The Final Victory!

　"It's that simple?"

　"It's that simple! Cooking should be a joyful thing. Only when you have the anticipation of freshly made food will you want to do your best."

　Bai Yuan spoke with a serious expression, then took a pair of chopsticks, picked up a large piece of meat from the five ducks, and put it into his own bowl.

　He couldn't possibly leave all the dishes he painstakingly prepared for the judges.

　He made this dish mainly because he wanted to eat it, and it was also a good opportunity to test his knife skills, so he just got started.

　"Damn it, you actually stole food from the judges! No way, I want some too!"

　Seeing Bai Yuan's extremely relaxed behavior, Zhang Xingyuan, who was suppressing his craving and silently waiting for the judges' scores, immediately became unhappy.

　So he also brought a set of bowls and chopsticks, stood next to Bai Yuan, and joined the battle to eliminate the food.

　Unlike his boneless fish with three kinds of seafood, Bai Yuan's dishes are much larger in portion, so much so that even three to five people can't finish them in a short time.

　"You two are really unconventional, but Brother Bai Yuan is right about one thing: cooking should be a joyful thing."

　Perhaps we've forgotten that in the beginning, the purpose of making food was simply to make the person who eats it happy.

　Watching Bai Yuan and Zhang Xingyuan keep reaching for the food in front of them with their chopsticks, Master Baiyao couldn't help but look up at the sky and ponder his own true nature.

　"My true feelings? I never expected to hear such an answer from a person more than sixty years younger than me. It's truly shameful."

　The skillful old woman murmured to herself, but Bai Yuan's calm words were like a thunderclap, waking her from her dream and making her suddenly realize what was happening.

　The main thing is that no one would have said this to her before, and even if they did, she might not have listened to it; she would just feel a little nostalgic.

　Bai Yuan chose the perfect moment; when she was trembling with shock from Liu Guang's cooking, his words struck her heart directly!

　"It seems that Tianci isn't the only one blinded by the prospect of becoming a higher-level chef; we are too!"

　Shaking his head, Master Baiyao smiled bitterly, finally understanding the problem.

　That heart, which was purely dedicated to creating better dishes and constantly striving to improve, was abandoned by him in some unknown period of time.

　Although he still wants to make more delicious dishes, his heart has completely changed and he no longer has the talent to support him, so it is naturally difficult for him to make any progress.

　"My true self..."

　An Pangzi put a piece of duck meat mixed with ham and bamboo shoots into his mouth, savoring the rich flavor, and muttered to himself.

　"One word can subdue three heroes"—that's exactly what Bai Yuan just said.

　"Alright, let's start scoring."

　Suddenly, Master Baiyao's expression turned serious. He decided to continue the competition and exchanged a glance with Granny Qiaoshou and Fatty An beside him.

　The audience held their breath, their eyes filled with anticipation, as the fragrance had almost dissipated and most people had returned to their senses.

　When they learned that they had been influenced by the fragrance and almost rushed onto the judges' panel, they were all incredulous, because it was an unconscious action.

　"Before rating, I suggest you try this dish in a different way, and you will have a completely different experience."

　Seeing that the three were about to start rating, Bai Yuan looked at the dishes in front of him and suddenly spoke up. He then took a few steps forward and came to stand in front of them.

　The most amazing thing about this dish is that it's not actually tasted directly; that would at most make it a relatively exquisite culinary experience.

　As the product of his full effort, how could it possibly be just a simple dish of flowing light?!

　"Could there be some hidden secret in this dish?"

　Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, Master Baiyao's face showed a hint of doubt, and then he began to examine him carefully.

　But after looking for a long time, he couldn't find anything different, so he could only cast a puzzled look at Bai Yuan, who had said those words.

　"I cleaned out all the bones from this five-layered duck dish, even the smallest cartilage and brittle bones."

　In other words, you can enjoy the deliciousness of this dish from top to bottom in a very comprehensive way, just like eating cut cake.

　As Bai Yuan spoke, a kitchen knife appeared in his hand, and before anyone could react, he began cutting up the remaining five ducks.

　In an instant, the five sets of ducks that were originally shaped like ducks turned into small square pieces, and each of these small pieces was composed of duck meat, wild duck meat, pigeon meat, quail meat, and wild pigeon meat in that order.

　Interspersed between the meat pieces are extremely thin slices of ham, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms to enhance the umami flavor. With one bite, you can experience all the flavors of the dish at once!

　"Come on, this is the second form of this dish! Five-cubic-meter duck!"

　Bai Yuan placed the prepared small pieces into a white porcelain plate and then placed it in front of the three judges. He smiled and said that the most impressive thing about this dish was that it allowed people to taste five ingredients at the same time!

　The flavor created by the intermingling of different types of poultry is much richer than that of a single or two types of poultry, and by a significant margin!

　"This format feels a bit like Western food, especially with some sauce on the side."

　That's standard Western-style plating.

　Looking at the small cube in front of him, Master Baiyao couldn't help but complain, "If you add some sauce to this small cube and decorate it, isn't it just Western food?"

　"Chinese food and Western food are just different in form. The true definition of cuisine is always the same: delicious."