Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 269 A dish almost impossible to replicate, Xia Ming's question for netizens (Second update)
Just as the judges in the "commentary panel" were staring blankly at the broken "jade tofu" in front of them...

Xia Ming, who was in the kitchen, revealed a subtle smile.

He knew the judges were wasting their time.
He also knew that, if he wanted to, no one in this venue could see through the secret of this "Jade Tofu".

"Because this thing is completely unscientific!"

"Although the internal structure is based on mortise and tenon joints, arranged in a 'jade' shape, it utilizes the different load-bearing capacities of various types of tofu to create an unstable structure."

"However, the adhesive used was pig's blood."

"It's still pig blood from which I've extracted blood essence."

"This alone is enough for them to study for a lifetime."

Xia Ming actually knew that "Jade Tofu" was not a particularly difficult dish to make when broken down.

All you need is knife skills at the level of "蓑衣黄喉" (a type of tofu), and you can handle "雙綼豆腐" (silk tofu). With a few years of tofu-making experience, you can make "北豆腐" (northern tofu) with the perfect texture.

As for "chicken and tofu", it may be more difficult, requiring extremely strict requirements on the quality of the vegetarian broth and the cooking time.

The stock cubes are something that viewers in the live stream can all make. Unlike the "pig caul fat" from last time, stock cubes are made by cooking various ingredients together. There are tons of tutorials online, so even if you can't do it as well as Xia Ming, you can still imitate it to a certain extent.

In terms of methods, Xia Ming also overheard Yin Shengjiang's words through the "walls have ears" technique.

Just as the judges are saying, "Chicken and Tofu" is actually a small soup dumpling.

What's different is that the "broth cube" inside uses some "meat sauce" as its core support to ensure that it doesn't melt too quickly.

"This isn't hard to spot; just open a few more tofu boxes and you'll notice."

"The openings were just as they guessed; they were the last ones to appear, on top of each piece of 'chicken tofu,' very tiny holes that you couldn't see them at all unless you looked closely."

However, Yin Shengjiang and his team made one mistake in their judgment.

"The opening is placed at the top of the tofu, partly to prevent the broth from leaking out prematurely, and partly to utilize the heat from the blocked broth."

The core of "Jade Tofu" is not only its internal structure, but also the adhesive on both sides of the outer layer.

The key structural component inside the adhesive is solid pig's blood, surrounded by a very thin layer of chicken fat.

It's similar to a mortise and tenon joint in the middle, with cement poured at the junction.

However, the shape of oil is unstable and it melts when heated. The opening on top of the "chicken tofu" will continuously heat the structure between the two.

Within 5 minutes, the chicken fat did not turn into a liquid and remained stable. Even with slight shaking, its internal structure would not be affected, which makes it easier to serve.

Five minutes later, apart from a few mortise and tenon joints that were cut and shaped from the beginning, there was no support anywhere else. The entire "Jade Tofu" turned into a dangerous building that would collapse at the slightest touch.

“I’ve predicted the serving time for all the diners. Thanks to the fact that ‘walls have ears,’ I can even calculate roughly how many steps it will take for the staff to walk there.”

"Under these circumstances, the judges simply cannot obtain the 'Jade Tofu,' which is still in a stable state."

"Don't even mention the spoon I provided; even with a toothpick, with just a little force, this 'Jade Tofu' wouldn't stay intact."

Unlike his previous dishes, Xia Ming did not intend to let the judges figure out the structure of this tofu.

Firstly, the internal details are too intricate, and the numerous connecting parts require extremely high levels of craftsmanship, making it too specialized to look at without understanding the intricacies.

Secondly, Xia Ming realized something when he reproduced the "Five-Entangled Silk Cut" technique.

"Whether it's the Nine Provinces or the cities."

"For someone to become famous and establish a lasting reputation, they need something that is universally recognized by netizens."

"In the Nine Provinces Continent, that would be a nickname."

"For example: Pei Yuan of Wan Du Jie Xiu (Seventh Elder of the Blood Saber Sect), Blood-Faced Buddha (Eleventh Elder of the Blood Saber Sect), Blood Saber Demon Ancestor!"

"There are also corresponding methods and weapons to match this."

"For example: the Seventh Elder's staff, the Eleventh Elder's monk's staff and claws, and the Blood Blade Demon Ancestor's blade that has condensed countless vengeful souls."

"But even now, as I am about to step into the threshold of 'Hua5 level', there is still no universally accepted definition."

"Many fans who love cooking know me, but they only call me 'the strongest culinary genius in the past century,' which is the same as 'the strongest generation of the Blood Blade Sect's inner disciples.'"

"It has neither widespread appeal nor distinctiveness. I bet my cheap dad was called that back in the day too!"

Just like when people think of Xia Yitian, they subconsciously think of "Chinese Chef Magician" and "Taste Player".

Mentioning Sui Wubai will subconsciously bring to mind the "Kakashi of the culinary world," and mentioning Tan Zhifeng will lead people to say he is the "number one overseas."

Xia Ming needs to be defined; this will benefit his future development!
"In the city, when it comes to singing, people think of Jay Chou, and when it comes to a walking CD, people think of JJ Lin."

"This is their unique brand identity, and it is precisely because of this brand identity that they are able to gain support, obtain resources, and reach the top."

"If music is this difficult, cooking must be even harder."

Compared to music that can be heard and touch netizens' emotions, spreading the fame of a top chef's dishes is much more difficult.

Many people will never have the chance to eat food prepared by top chefs in their entire lives, but they can hear free music playing in shops on the street.

"The scope and cost of dissemination determine the upper limit of this industry's mainstream appeal; this is a rule unique to urban areas!"

"Just like how the culinary arts in the Nine Provinces are not as developed as in the cities because everyone in the continent consumes elixirs, the culinary world in the cities, or rather the culinary world in China, is now in a predicament."

"Taking music as an example, it's 'pop' and 'bel canto'."

"Online, people say that the former is guava, while the latter is considered highbrow. But the former is widely known, so what is considered highbrow for the latter?"

"I remember Qiao Ruoning was watching two variety shows a while ago. The former was called 'Chinese Singers' and the latter was called 'Famous Overseas'."

"The former is a formal, professional competition, while the latter is clearly more entertaining, but the former is simply unpopular because some of the judging criteria are too technical."

"Even Qiao Ruoning herself gave up after watching three episodes of 'China's Top Singers.' She said that after seeing their judging criteria, she felt like she didn't have ears."

This is not an isolated case; it can be seen as a manifestation of people's pursuit of entertainment and immersion in urban life in China.

This is also why many old skills have been gradually abandoned.

No fun, no topics, just waiting to die out.
Xia Ming felt that the current city was well-ordered, which suited his taste.

He sometimes wonders what it would be like if he could travel back several decades.

What would it be like if people could openly use bear paws in cooking in the East Third District?

It seems that practicing the "Blood Fusion Demon Cultivation Method" will be even less of a hindrance.
But time travel is already a very lucky thing. He can't choose which era he was born into, but he can choose what to do in that era.

"Having mastered the 'Blood Fusion Demon Cultivation Method,' I have officially embarked on the path of demon cultivation."

"To fulfill the master chef's wish to let the culinary arts flourish and spread."

These two things are Xia Ming's goals, and they are what he has been working on.

Climbing higher in the Chinese culinary world is ultimately about acquiring more resources to accomplish these two things. Similarly, the greater one's influence within the Chinese culinary world, or rather, the greater the influence one can bring to it, the easier it is to achieve one's goals.

In Xia Ming's view, there is nothing inherently wrong with urban culinary skills.
Because of their different developmental trajectories, he couldn't be certain that he was the world's most skilled cook.

Of course, if the "Blood Fusion Demon Cultivation Method" reaches the Foundation Establishment stage, it will undoubtedly be the strongest.
After all, at that time, there wasn't much difference between him cooking and refining pills.
"Under this rule, to become famous, you need something that can attract netizens and break out of your niche. This logic is no different from the 'becoming famous throughout the world' principle in the Nine Provinces Continent."

"But unlike the Nine Provinces continent where might makes right, cooking skills are hard to quantify!"

"Just like many food bloggers online, they can make the dishes look very good and 'taste good' in their videos, but when you actually go to the scene, you will find that there are many flaws."

"Because the audience cannot taste the food, their understanding of 'professionalism' can only come from titles, cooking skills, and the difficulty of the dish itself."

"But the biggest difference between Chinese cooking techniques and Western cuisine lies in the emphasis on the core balance of cooking, with different cuisines following their own understanding of cooking."

"Some dishes look unremarkable at first glance, but their true flavor can only be discovered by tasting them. Staying within one's own circle is fine, but the biggest challenge in breaking out of that circle is telling this group of netizens what constitutes 'good'!"

Xia Ming has participated in quite a few competitions. Among them, the most popular dishes online are "turtle jelly" and "wind swaying golden willows, pearls falling on a jade plate". The latter is the beautifully presented "egg fried rice".

The popularity of "Liuli Chrysanthemum Cup" was very high at the beginning, but it quickly dropped after the competition, and it was not even as popular as "Xia Ming is handsome".

The reason for this is that Xia Ming's cooking is very professional and impressive.
But netizens can't eat it.
They could only imagine the taste of the dish from the judges' snippets of conversation; not everyone has such a rich imagination.

As for why "turtle jelly ice cream" has remained popular, besides being a bit dark, the more important reason is that people find the combination of "ice cream" and "turtle" easy to understand.

I've never eaten turtle jelly, but I've always eaten turtle. Even if I've never eaten turtle, I can still imagine what it tastes like from other people's descriptions.

The greatest distance between "professionalism" and "the general public" lies in the fact that professionalism is constantly striving to reach new heights.

"It's just that some of the ingredients are too sophisticated for the general public. Some netizens have never even seen them before, so how can they imagine what they taste like?"

“These dishes are not usually available in restaurants; they are too far removed from what netizens can access.”

"But what's interesting is that most netizens have never tried 'Wensi Tofu,' yet this dish is very popular, and many people have heard of it."

"To be honest, this dish is by no means the pinnacle of Chinese knife skills; there are many more that are more difficult to master, but it is the easiest to understand."

"It's like ramen noodles. If you talk to online users about evenness, chewiness, and strength, they might not understand. But if you talk to them about 'thinness,' they'll get it!"

"The best dragon beard noodles must be stretched to be extremely thin, ideally with a dozen strands that can be threaded through the eye of a needle. But in reality, once stretched to that thin, they lose most of their texture as noodles."

"It dissolves instantly in water, and even requires low-temperature frying to maintain its shape, but this doesn't stop netizens from spreading its popularity."

"The same goes for Wensi Tofu. Through the camera lens, viewers can clearly see that it's cut 'finely,' which shows how difficult it is to make."

"When someone promotes a dish, the chef's fame also expands, until people lose interest in the dish."

"So the reason why 'restaurant reviews' are so popular is quite simple: people resonate more with food they can actually eat and experience!"

Xia Ming has already secured his advancement, or even secured first place, so the significance of the last two rounds of the competition for him has shifted from advancing to other aspects.

"Jade Tofu" was an attempt he made for netizens. This dish is not particularly difficult to replicate in terms of taste or steps.

After the competition, he would even ask Qiao Ruoning to send out the recipes. Of course, the home-style recipes would not include "White Jade Blood Tofu" and "Core Structure".

Because things that are too simple will become outdated, he set up a puzzle for netizens.

"Replicating 'Jade Tofu' isn't difficult, but making it so that it would collapse if touched from any side is an incredibly difficult task."

"At that point, the 'topic' will likely shift from the food to the 'supporting structure,' just like building blocks. Netizens will be more interested in how to create such an intricate 'structure' using tofu."

“They will try to crack it, because it’s like building blocks, not difficult. Anyone who played with building blocks as a child can chime in.”

"But they will never be able to crack it, at least not my version."

"And in the city, the unsolved secrets are the most alluring."

"At the same time, I will also benefit from knowing this secret, and my fame will greatly increase."

"They may never get to taste my homemade 'Jade Tofu,' but once they've encountered this mystery, they'll definitely remember my name."

"Of course, this is just the beginning."

"Which master didn't have a few famous works?"

Just as Xia Ming was considering the public opinion surrounding the competition, Chef Wang also took a deep breath.

"Master, I'm sure, there are four!"

Upon hearing this, Sui Wubai chuckled sheepishly.

"Hmm, your tongue is still quite sensitive."

Upon hearing Sui Wubai's words, Chef Wang breathed a sigh of relief; it turned out that his master had only been confirming something.

But before he could even vent his anger, Sui Wubai continued to ask questions.

"Then tell me specifically which four types of tofu, be more detailed, and include the processing method."

"!?"

Chef Wang Shu swallowed his breath halfway through, and then took another big gulp the next second.

He finally understood that today's ordeal would be much longer than he had anticipated.
But as an apprentice, he couldn't say and could only answer honestly.

After a long pause, he finally managed to organize his thoughts.

"First, there's the brine-soaked tofu. The tofu is made on the firmer side, probably to create a stepped texture."

"The silken tofu is smooth and silky, which is the first layer of preparation."

"That should be pig's blood tofu, but how to make it milky white, I don't know, I really don't know."

"The chicken tofu is made using the old-fashioned broth-making method. The chicken on top must have been processed, otherwise it wouldn't have taken shape. But I'll have to figure out the exact degree of processing."

"Finally, the chicken and tofu dish had a filling inside, which should be a broth filling, right? It was a broth filling."

Hearing Chef Wang's words, Sui Wubai's expression gradually relaxed. Although his nose wasn't very sensitive, at least his tongue wasn't a big problem.

Seeing Sui Wubai's expression, Chef Wang also relaxed. In just one minute, he used all his skills and finally got the answer right.

Just when he thought he could continue eating, Sui Wubai asked with a smile.

"Do you know why this dish is called 'Jade Tofu'?"

Upon hearing this, Chef Wang Meng was startled!
He knew his master would ask this question as soon as he arrived!
Hehe! He had it all planned out long ago!
"Master, the character 'jade' has five strokes. One stroke represents a type of tofu!"

"The last dot hidden among the tofu must refer to 'stock cubes.' Four types of tofu plus stock cubes make exactly five strokes!"

As he spoke, Chef Wang took the menu and pointed to the character "Jade" on it!
"Master, look, this dot is surrounded on three sides, which perfectly represents the structure of the chicken tofu and the broth cube!"

"Naming dishes after characters is a brilliant idea!"

Watching the incredibly excited Chef Wang playing with his word puzzles, a huge question mark silently rose above Sui Wubai's head.
(End of this chapter)