Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 170 Two Great Curses Broken, the Championship Welcomes a True King (4K Second Update)
The flavor of the green pepper pastry looks exactly like that of green peppers, but the inside is different.

Sui Wubai knew clearly that this was not just a change in form.

"Because it's a pastry, it's generally best to avoid oil and thick sauces."

Sui Wubai also felt that the theme was equal, so the noodles and meat were equally important.

Based on this, what Xia Ming needs to do is to better combine the two.

First, he could tell that the dish Xia Ming was showing was most likely made in one pot, judging from the time it took.

Because it's so complicated, not to mention having to take the time to make a jelly bowl.

But he also knew that this aspic bowl had to be made because it was essential for achieving a balanced texture, something that pastries themselves couldn't easily do.

Sui Wubai picked up the piece of aspic and examined it closely before drawing his own conclusion.

"The sour aspic here serves part of the function of the vinegar..."

"No, it also serves as a sauce."

After discussing the aspic itself, his gaze returned to the ingredients inside.

Several dishes inside are very distinctive. They look like dough balls, but most of them actually taste more like steamed buns of various shapes.

As for the pastries themselves…

"No, it should be said that each of these elements can be considered a simple pasta dish on its own."

After making his basic deductions, Sui Wubai stretched out his chopsticks and began to carefully examine the different thoughts hidden in Xia Ming's pile of various-shaped pastries.

Like Hehe's noodles, each different ingredient has a different flavor.

However, in terms of both quantity and detail, Xia Ming's project is much larger than He He's.

Let's look at them one by one...

First up is "Green Pepper and Pork Slices". The green peppers in this dish are almost identical in shape to normal sliced ​​green peppers, and you can even see the white veins (the placenta of the pepper) inside.

In reality, it has a green outer skin and a filling of "tiger skin green peppers" inside.

After rinsing his mouth, Sui Wubai tasted it carefully.

It was found that there was no problem eating it on its own.

Because it is already fully seasoned, even though the filling is small, the final taste is not too bland.

While bursting with green pepper flavor, it also has a slightly firm texture when paired with the outer pastry crust.

This texture further enhances the unique flavor of the chili pepper; judging solely from this component, it is quite complete.

Putting aside its flat shape, which isn't very common, it's essentially an extremely delicious "green pepper bun".

After confirming his idea, Sui Wubai took another slice of "meat" from the "green pepper and meat slices".

With one bite, the filling is seasoned with a savory sauce, slightly sweeter than usual. If you eat carefully, you can also find some meat chunks inside.

Of course, the most crucial part is that there is an extremely thin slice of fried meat in the middle of the meat chunks.

These fried meat slices look golden brown in cross-section and have a texture similar to "crispy pork".

Thanks to its existence, the texture of this meat-filled bun was eventually improved to resemble a "crispy pancake wrapped in a bun paper wrapper".

When you put it in your mouth alone, it becomes more and more fragrant the more you chew it, somewhat like a spicy meat-based braised meat chip.

The only difference might be that it doesn't have as much oil as the large slices of meat.

From Sui Wubai's perspective, as a "meat bun," he felt he could give this bun a score of 90 or higher.

Next, let's look at the stir-fried beef with millet peppers.

The small red chili peppers are whole, and the texture is similar to that of sliced ​​tofu.

When you tear it open, you'll find it has a very clear, distinct structure with individual strands inside.

He tasted the red part in the middle and determined that it was mainly made of chili powder, supplemented by other spices, resulting in a final flavor profile.

"The flavor is on the strong side, with the seasoning and millet peppers blended very well together. This part is probably used to compensate for the strong flavor."

Sui Wubai already had a guess in his mind about Xia Ming's dish...

But since he hadn't tasted it all, he wasn't quite sure yet.

So, after tasting the millet peppers, he ate the beef.

Compared to the crispy pork, the beef is much purer.

Each beef bun consists of three layers.

A layer of butter, a layer of ground beef, a layer of beef sauce.

This steamed bun looks just like "freshly sliced ​​beef"...

No, it's more appropriate to call it a pancake...

The flavor is unmistakably the standard salty and savory taste, and it doesn't taste much different from beef stir-fried with salt and pepper.

Sui Wubai also discovered that the beef has a burst of juice when you bite into it because of the butter, which makes it more enjoyable to eat from the perspective of the overall complex flavor.

He personally really enjoys the texture of the beef patties.

Keep eating.

The peanut bun contains crushed peanuts and a small amount of white sugar, giving it a sweet taste overall.

The dried chili packet in Kung Pao Chicken has a salty and savory flavor with a hint of numbing sensation.

As for the chicken bun, it should be more accurately called a "fried chicken bun".

Inside is stir-fried shredded chicken with a hint of spiciness.

Three dishes, seven kinds of ingredients for steamed buns.

They represent…

The tiger-skin green peppers are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a slightly spicy flavor.

The crispy pork is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a sweet and savory flavor.

The bird's eye chili has a pure, fragrant spiciness, delivering an ultimate dry, spicy flavor.

The thinly sliced ​​beef is tender, juicy, and has a slightly oily texture.

The peanuts have a lingering sweetness, with a texture that's sweet like peanut sugar.

The dried chili peppers are chewy yet crisp, with a salty and spicy flavor that is slightly numbing.

The chicken pieces are dry, fragrant, and firm, with a flavor that is primarily savory and slightly spicy.

And then add another type of aspic...

The aspic cubes are smooth, bouncy, and have a predominantly sour taste.

And the parts that were initially disassembled.

The white steamed bun strips have a slightly sweet taste, many holes, and are exceptionally soft.

The steamed bun strips are coarse and firm with few holes, making them dry to chew.

Northern-style steamed bun strips have only a hint of sweetness, a rich flour aroma, and are very refreshing to eat on their own.

The meatballs are chewy and springy, with a rich meaty flavor and a firm texture. With each chew, you can also taste a hint of juicy goodness.

The skin of the multigrain steamed bun has the best elasticity, and it won't easily break when wrapped in various shapes.

The steamed buns used as a container at the bottom have the same texture as those from northern China.

All of the above ingredients ultimately make up this feast of pastries covered in meat.

"It's really amazing. If you do the math, Xia Ming actually made a total of 11 kinds of pastries, 1 side dish of meat, and 1 seasoned aspic."

"Leaving aside whether there would be enough time if someone else were involved, just the fact that each person's taste is preserved intact and presents its own unique characteristics is already quite terrifying."

"What's even more remarkable is that you can tell if a steamed bun is complete by the cooking temperature and how well it sticks together when you finally tear it open."

Sui Wubai knew that in the art of dough art, there was a special craft called dough sculpting.

Essentially, it's a technique that uses hand-coloring and internal structure control on top of steamed buns to mimic the characteristics of all things.

In the old days, when people performed large-scale worship ceremonies for deities, large clay sculptures would often appear.

On Douyin (TikTok), there are also some bloggers who specialize in similar content.

They can use their experience to subjectively judge the final shape of the steamed bun and make pastry dishes with extremely complex internal structures.

This includes, but is not limited to, "supermarkets," "refrigerators," and "whole bags of candy," etc.

Looking at Xia Ming's technique, it only appears similar to theirs on the surface, but the details are completely different.

"First of all, multi-structure dough sculpting can make different buns have different flavors."

"But generally, for the sake of shaping and temperature control, we don't mix too many different flavored ingredients, because it will affect the cooking time." Sui Wubai knows that the thickness of the buns, the texture of the skin, and the final steaming time will all affect the final presentation of the dish.

Adding even one more ingredient exponentially increases the difficulty of the formula; being able to make four or five ingredients is already quite absurd.

Xia Ming made seven kinds…

They even made a meatball...

The calculation of temperature and time involved is extremely complex, and Sui Wubai can taste the flavor of Xia Ming's preparation.

But he couldn't match Xia Ming's pastry-making skills...

Furthermore, he couldn't deduce the exact time for temperature control in the steamer...

Therefore, even if he replicated every small pastry, he couldn't replicate Xia Ming's action of tearing open the "pork belly" skin just now.

However, if he's willing to compromise, a combined version is actually possible.

Although it is still quite difficult and laborious, it can at least restore 70% of Xia Ming's dish.

"The problem is that the most difficult and essential part is actually in the remaining 30%!"

Thinking of this, Sui Wubai shook his head.

"Putting aside the technique, the concept behind this dish is also incredibly ingenious..."

Sui Wubai smiled happily as he said this, because he was about to truly get to the heart of this dish.

In the live stream, viewers watched the judges, who all seemed to understand, and were also quite curious.

What's going on? Why did they each take a bite and then start pondering?

It seems they discovered something particularly important, like how things are paired together.

[I seriously suspect that each part has a different texture, and then the overall flavors blend together to create a truly outstanding taste. I feel like Xia Ming really can make a dish like that.]

I don't know if the taste will be different, but I do know that if everyone really eats a little bit of everything, then the later contestants won't even need to compete; the judges will definitely be full.

[This is so well made! If I hadn't been told it was noodles, I would have thought it was a real dish.]

[Desperate to eat, crawling around in agony, Xia Ming won't open the shop, he has no heart!]

It looks like a dough sculpture, but I wonder if it tastes the same when I eat it.

...

The viewers in the live stream were discerning and noticed many of the aspects that Sui Wubai had observed.

But Sui Wubai was unaffected at this moment. He picked up a piece of multigrain steamed bun skin in front of the camera.

After precisely tearing it in half, he then took the "pork slices," "peanuts," and "green peppers" from the other toppings and placed them on top...

Then I added a torn "meatball", and finally took a lot of aspic, wrapped it in the other half of the multigrain steamed bun skin and crushed it, and then poured it onto the steamed bun skin I wanted to eat.

Finally, under the lights, a "meat noodle dish" created by Xia Ming and recombined by Sui Wubai according to his own taste preferences was born in his hands.

Under the lights of the competition arena, the filling, which had not yet been wrapped, displayed a perfect color under the light.

Sui Wubai looked at the group and spoke with a smile.

"Xia Ming initially made so many different flavors of pastries, and even specially prepared aspic to adjust the sourness, probably because he was waiting..."

As he spoke, Sui Wubai looked up at Xia Ming, who was smiling across from him.

"Waiting for the judges to see the clues in this dish and then adjust the recipe to best suit their own taste..."

...

Seeing that the judges were starting to pair up freely as he had expected, Xia Ming smiled.

"When the topic of cooking is too restrictive..."

"With the use of any flavor, the judges' criteria will inevitably become subjective."

Xia Ming knew that there was a limit to the skill of making pastries…

This statement does not mean that the final product of pastry has limitations, but only refers to the technique.

Unlike the stir-fried pork kidneys of the past, it doesn't have any obvious technical boundaries.

Xia Ming knew about pastries.

Different judges use completely different criteria when they taste it.

"It is said to be objective, but in terms of pastry making, it is actually very difficult to achieve this."

"For example, the ratio of lean to fat meat in a meat bun may appeal to some judges, whether it is 3:7 or 4:6."

This is because the judges' own place of residence, cuisine they studied, age, and daily taste preferences are all taken into account when presenting their work.

For example, Sui Wubai doesn't like to eat particularly spicy food, but Wei Yan enjoys it very much.

In this situation, it would be difficult for Xia Ming to perfectly satisfy everyone's preferences with a single dish.

Therefore, he decided to increase the difficulty of the pastries while giving the judges the choice themselves.

It was obvious that the judges also sensed this point in Xia Ming's presentation...

After trying the first way of eating it, they all broke down the pastry portion.

Ultimately, it presents their own unique flavor.

Xia Ming looked at the judges in front of him, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"With 13 different textures and thousands of different combinations, there's something for everyone, no matter what your needs."

"Anything is possible, isn't that also a definition of 'blank space'?"

...

At this moment, He He, who was watching the judges' actions from afar, already felt the gap between them.

Her noodle and fruit dishes can only be made by choosing different fruits and vegetables; the dishes themselves cannot be changed in terms of combination.

Orange flavor is just orange flavor...

Buddha's Hand flavor is Buddha's Hand flavor...

That's naturally not a problem, but Xia Ming gave the judges a choice.

Originally, He He could have gained some favor from the judges through the proper presentation of the pastries themselves.

At this moment, however, they have truly been stripped bare.

In terms of pastry-making techniques, if you really look closely, Xia Ming and He He are not actually that far apart in terms of skill level.

This is due to the inherent limitations of "pastry making skills".

Just like in the same exam, Xia Ming got 100 points, and He He got 97 points.

He He's score of 97 is because her ability only warrants a score of 97.

Xia Ming's score of 100 was only 100 because of this particular test paper.

In this situation, the only option left is to compete in other areas.

The most important thing is the taste...

Although Hehe's filling tasted good, it was quite mediocre compared to Xiaming's.

In this situation, if you can't compete in terms of design and creativity, then the hope of victory becomes even slimmer.

The final result was just as she had expected.

Despite her best efforts and even an exceptional performance, she only managed to score 89.8 points.

On the other hand, Xia Ming's meat, processed through a complex procedure, scored a whopping 98.6 points.

It doesn't get a perfect score simply because this dish doesn't actually contain anything beyond what we would expect in the city.

Xia Ming was not surprised by this expected result.

However, the atmosphere in the players' lounge was even more oppressive.

From their perspective, Xia Ming's match validated two points.

First: Does Xia Ming know how to make noodles?
Without a doubt, the answer is yes; he not only knows how, he can excel at it…

Second: Will Xia Ming lose if he loses the first move?

Obviously not…

After resolving these two issues, everyone suddenly realized that they couldn't find any potential weaknesses in Xia Ming for the time being...

This also means that the winner of the New Chef Competition may already be... a foregone conclusion...

(End of this chapter)