Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 10: I'm definitely winning this "Beijing-style Douzhi" cooking showdown!
"Welcome everyone to our live broadcast of 'One Meal to Fame'! What you are watching now is a 1v1 chef battle!"

"The players participating in the first round are..."

"The 'Waldau Chef' from the Kyoto area, a 'bald cook' who won over the judges with a smoky, hearty fried rice."

"His opponent is the Chinese culinary master, chef 'Shuai Xiaojian,' who serves as a consultant for multiple programs and has been relentlessly pursuing the path of culinary excellence for over twenty years."

"The ingredient they're competing on is: Litsea cubeba from your district!"

On set, as the host announced the program, the camera turned to the two men, "Bald Cook" and "Handsome Little Sword," who were already on the stove.

Because the assistant director had already informed the two of the process beforehand, they started trash-talking face-to-face.

The bald cook spoke first.

"Actually, I think I'm pretty strong, and I've never admitted defeat to anyone."

"Of course, Mr. Shuai is a veteran in Chinese cuisine, but I hope you can be careful not to get checkmated by me!"

Upon hearing his words, Shuai Xiaojian chuckled.

“When I see you, I always feel like I’m seeing my son. He’s also in his twenties and always thinks I’m old and outdated, but he has never won a private contest with me.”

"It's good that young people are energetic, but they shouldn't focus solely on the general; otherwise, they might lose their composure and end up losing the whole game."

After the trash talk was over, the other chefs present started to applaud.

Xia Ming waved his hands while glancing at a strange device on Shuai Xiaojian's stove.

"What's this thing for? It looks a bit like the 'alchemy furnace' used by those alchemists, only longer and thinner."

Then, he looked back at the "bald cook's" table, where there was also a strangely shaped machine.

However, he recognized this; the original owner's shop had it before, and it was used to make "sparkling water".

In Xia Ming's mind, this thing was very similar to the natural spring behind the "Liuying Gate" in the Nine Provinces Continent. It also bubbled naturally and even tasted somewhat similar. The only difference was that he had artificially pumped air into it.

"It seems that culinary skills are still highly valued in the city! People even try to simulate naturally occurring substances for better taste. Isn't that a kind of cultivation?"

While Xia Ming and the other contestants were watching from the second floor, the two participants in the competition had already returned to their respective stoves.

As a standard for judging a master chef, Xia Ming began to carefully observe Shuai Xiaojian's every move.

Shuai Xiaojian first took out the ingredients he needed from his personal "recipe library," then took the "Litsea cubeba branch," washed it briefly, and began operating the strange machine.

He first placed the sliced ​​branches into a container, and then began to extract the "Litsea cubeba branch essence" little by little by heating the bottom.

Seeing the juice dripping from the outlet on the side, Xia Ming suddenly realized what was going on.

"Oh, this thing functions similarly to the 'Blood Millstone' that the Blood Blade Demon Ancestor had that was always spinning; both serve to extract, concentrate, and ultimately extract the essence."

"This is interesting. This thing looks quite convenient, and it's comparable to the 'Blood Purification Technique' that the Blood Blade Sect's kitchen used before. I feel like we could get one in the future to use for blood purification."

It should be noted that although the Blood Fusion Demon Cultivation Method can directly extract blood, it also requires the use of internal cultivation techniques to remove impurities. Sometimes, when encountering impure blood, it is common to purify it for ten days to half a month.

The Blood Blade Demon Ancestor's "Blood Millstone" was meant for inner disciples, and Xia Ming didn't have the authority to use it, so he could only resort to a clumsy method.

But once in the city, after trying out a series of technologies, it seemed that some things that he used to have to do himself could now be done with external help. Xia Ming smiled slightly.

"Isn't this a kind of 'magic weapon' in the city?"

Just as Shuai Xiaojian was extracting "Litsea cubeba dew", the "bald cook" on the other side was also extracting "Litsea cubeba flavor" by soaking it in hot water.

The two, one old and one young, chose similar paths, making the competition even more intense.

Viewers in the live stream were speculating whether the different processing methods of the two would affect the final taste.

The chef, Chen Xiaodong, thought that Shuai Xiaojian's approach was easier to control, while the contestants had very different opinions.

Xia Ming knew that some of them deliberately expressed their views in an extreme way in order to get more screen time, and theoretically, he should do the same.

But at this moment, he was more concerned about whether the production team had hidden any rules than the camera.

As time ticked by, Xia Ming finally made some progress when the third group of contestants took the stage.

"First of all, unlike the previous 86 to 16 competition, in the 1v1 competition, the recipe library is open to the chefs throughout the entire process, which means that ingredients can be replenished at any time."

"Of course, the food storage is very large and has a wide variety of ingredients. It is convenient to replenish the ingredients at any time, but it also takes time to take them out. So most people's first choice is to take what they need first to avoid having to take it out later."

Xia Ming knew that this method was the most reasonable, but he also understood that there was no fixed approach. The best way to win steadily was to adapt to each move as it came.

"Then, the production team provides a large number of fixed electronic kitchen utensils, which basically meet most of the production needs, but natural things, such as charcoal, need to be obtained from the food inventory."

Then came the selection of the number of dishes. Of the three groups of contestants who went up first, apart from "Handsome Little Sword" and "Old Rascal at the Stove" who had been sitting still, the others basically chose three or more dishes.

Xia Ming felt that they probably wanted to develop their theme into a set, so that while showing off their skills, they could also create different layers of flavor to please the judges.

He felt that it had nothing to do with quantity, just like watching Shuai Xiaojian prepare the fish for the last time. The greatest truths are the simplest, without any unnecessary fancy techniques.

"Cooking, in the final analysis, is about meeting needs. Most of the disciples of the Blood Blade Sect eat in the kitchen, so it's perfectly normal for them to have their own tastes."

"To win over disciples with different tastes, besides choosing to be all things to all people, you can also choose to use brute force to overcome all difficulties."

Xia Ming believes that there is a unified standard for "delicious". If someone finds it unpalatable or unacceptable, then it must not meet this standard.

From the perspective of the Demon Sect, taste is ultimately controlled by the soul, and the only standard for delicious food is to create food that can touch the soul.

Just as he was busy gathering information, the fourth group of contestants took the stage, and at that very moment, Shuai Xiaojian finished his dish.

As the crisp ringing of the bell echoed through the stadium, the broadcast began.

Chef Shuai Xiaojian was the first to finish his dish, and it will be the first to be tasted during the blind voting stage by the judges!

Upon hearing this, Xia Ming, who was standing on the second floor, suddenly brightened up.

"So, whoever finishes first gets to be tasted by the judges first? If that's the case..."

Noticing a tiny loophole in the rules, Xia Ming revealed a sly look.

"Micas, right? I'm definitely winning this 'Kyoto-style fermented mung bean juice' cooking showdown!"

(End of this chapter)