Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 33 I suddenly felt that Chen Xiaodong was a bit unlucky; was he going to have a major setback?
"What you are watching now is the first round of our team competition, 'One Meal to Fame'."

"Faced with a hundred judges, the first two groups of contestants chose two completely different directions."

"First up is our chef team. Led by Chen Xiaodong, the chefs chose to present a beef dish full of the charm of the 'Sun Never Sets' era to satisfy the judges' appetites."

"On the other hand, the contestants pulled out the most ordinary street food: fried pork chop with offal soup. It seems they wanted to conquer the judges' Chinese palates with a more Chinese approach."

"After two hours of intense competition, the chef team has taken the lead in plating the food."

"The semi-circular piece of tender beef on the pristine white plate is topped with an egg yolk, while the hash browns on the side exude an enticing aroma. The sauce and ingredients are perfectly proportioned, and the dish is finished with a few slices of pickled cucumber and a touch of basil leaves, making it exceptionally refined!"

"As expected of a master chef, even in such a tense competition, his use of the word 'color' in the color, aroma, and taste was truly masterful."

"On the other hand, the contestants are progressing a little slower. The bald cook, who just finished preparing the third sauce, is now using the 'hot water soaking method' to raise the temperature of the plate."

"He was quick and efficient, and soon he had piled up a bunch of plates, but the graduate student in charge of the banquet was still slowly and methodically placing the pork chops on the frying rack. Frying 100 pork chops twice is extremely time-consuming. Is she really in time?"

"As for their captain, the Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef, after igniting the entire arena with his aroma, for some reason he took the soup back to simmer again. Now is the time to lift the lid, and this time the aroma will definitely be even better than last time."

Inside the live broadcast room, the host was providing viewers with real-time updates on the match.

Everything before that went perfectly smoothly, but when it came to Xia Ming, something unexpected suddenly happened. The host realized halfway through his speech that the fragrance he had expected hadn't appeared in the room.

The Five-Ingredient Soup, which had previously received a lot of attention, was completely different this time. After Xia Ming stewed it again, the aroma of the soup had become so weak that it was almost non-existent.

The contestants, who were originally on the second floor and were preparing to be bombarded with another round of fragrance, were now dumbfounded.

"What's going on? It smelled so good before, how did it all disappear after cooking?"

"Were any other ingredients added later? If not, it's almost impossible for this to happen."

"It seems like they added lard. Did they use lard to seal it and hide the aroma?"

"Possibly, but wouldn't sealing it like that make it too oily?"

Thanks to the previous burst of fragrance, the contestants have become much more cautious in their evaluation of Xia Ming. Apart from a few individuals who still harbor prejudices against him, the rest have adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

Xiao Hua was staring intently at the pot of soup on the second floor. As a "Level 4" chef, she deeply understood the significance of aroma to diners.

Having shed some of her arrogance and regained her rationality, she refused to believe that Xia Ming's actions were a mistake.

"Is it because you're afraid the smell of the soup will completely overpower the pork chop, or is there something else I haven't noticed?"

"Inside the competition venue"

Xia Ming stirred the Five-Ingredient Soup in front of him very slowly, trying his best to keep the lard on top evenly distributed.

"That's about it. It will take some time to serve the soup. Let's leave 10 minutes for any unforeseen circumstances."

After saying that, he took the small bowl that had been prepared in advance from the side and began to quickly pour the soup.

At that moment, the bald cook, having finished tidying up all the plates, laid them out so that the graduate students could plate them for the banquet.

After finishing all that, I took a new cutting board and stood next to her.

"Graduate student, there's not much time left. We still need to cut it up. If you don't fry it soon, it'll be too late!"

The graduate student at the banquet seemed not to hear him, standing still with his eyes closed, only adjusting his breathing.

Just as the bald cook was getting impatient, he saw the graduate student in front of him suddenly open his eyes and then abruptly turn down the temperature of the fryer.

【400℃】

The bald cook's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw this.

"Graduate student, are you crazy? You set the frying temperature so high! The pork chop crust will burn before it even rises!"

"Quick, quick, turn it off! If the oil temperature rises too quickly, there won't be enough time."

Just as he was about to reach for the button, he was suddenly slapped on the shoulder.

The bald cook turned around abruptly and saw Xia Ming standing behind him.

"Don't bother her, just do what you need to do." "Okay."

"There's nothing wrong with it, she'll handle it herself. By the way, put the cutting board further away from her, it's getting in her way if it's too close!"

"Perform?"

Just as the bald cook was wondering what was going on, he saw smoke suddenly rise from the oil pan in front of the graduate students at the banquet.

The oil, which she had been keeping at 180°C, was now beginning to emit wisps of blue smoke.

Then, she took a row of pork chops that were about to be fried again in her right hand, and then swung them out sharply, reaching towards the oil pan in front of her.

"49"

As she hummed a number, the pork chop in front of her sizzled.

Less than a minute later, she took the whole basket out, shook it a few times on the filter screen next to her, and then put it aside.

"cut"

After saying a simple word, she swept her left hand across the oil pan and then picked up another row of pork chops.

"46"

After saying that, she repeated the above actions.

Next came "42", "40", and "38".
As the graduate students at the banquet rattled off numbers, the number of freshly fried pork chops on the side increased.

At this moment, the bald cook finally realized that what the graduate students had been reducing was the time spent frying pork chops.

Although he didn't quite understand how such a precise time could be determined so quickly on the spot, he didn't stop working. At that moment, he was also quickly cutting the fried pork chop into strips and plating it.

Xia Ming, standing behind him, raised an eyebrow.

Just as he had previously observed and speculated, the banquet graduate student must have an innate ability to perceive temperature that surpasses that of ordinary people. This was already evident when she first started frying eels without using a kitchen thermometer or measuring the temperature of the batter.

Chefs with certain strengths are generally better able to master certain skills than others. For example, the move she is currently using should be called "fire snatching" in Xia Ming's understanding.

This term originated from the "Fifth Master" in the kitchen of the Blood Blade Sect on the Nine Provinces Continent. Simply put, it means that when the temperature of the oil rises rapidly, one should use one's perception and estimation of the temperature to determine how to handle the fried food in the shortest possible time.

Don't underestimate this ability. In banquet cooking (Xia Ming prefers to call it "big pot cooking"), it is not easy to quickly process food and balance the state of each food, especially when the pot is semi-circular in shape, which will cause the temperature in the center of the pot to deviate slightly from the temperature of the outside. This ability is particularly advantageous when it is used for this purpose.

This competition was only for cooking for a hundred people, but the number of Blood Blade Sect disciples eating varied greatly. During normal times, there might only be a few dozen or a hundred people, but if it was the end of a certain secret realm or the day when contributions were awarded, it was common for several thousand people to eat at the same time. In order to deal with this situation, Master Wu developed this little trick.

In terms of technique, this skill is not difficult, but it requires a bit of talent. Xia Ming initially speculated that the graduate students in the banquet program would likely master similar skills.

Of course, he wouldn't put all his eggs in one basket. If the graduate student couldn't finish the banquet in time, he would take her place and do the final re-frying. That's why he had to allow extra time.

Now it seems we don't need to.
On the contrary, because the graduate students were frying the food so fast, the bald cook next to them couldn't keep up with the frying speed.

Seeing this, Xia Ming immediately instructed the bald cook to put the pork chop on a plate, and then served the prepared portion along with his soup to the designated spot.

"But if this pork chop isn't cut, how are the judges supposed to eat it!"

Xia Ming didn't waste any words with the bald cook. He grabbed two cleavers from the side and started slicing the pork chops that were already on the plate with both hands. The cleavers cut the pork chops as easily as cutting tofu, and in the blink of an eye, the pork chops were sliced ​​into strips on the plate.

The bald cook's eyes twitched at the sight, but he said nothing and quickly went to serve the dishes. On the other hand, the head chefs all frowned.

"He handled it with such ease, those few moves probably took an ordinary chef decades of experience. I suddenly feel that Chen Xiaodong is a bit unlucky; is he going to have a major mishap?"

Just as the chefs' momentum shifted, the competition time was running out.

Faced with the task of preparing food for a hundred people, the bald cook mustered all his strength and sped up the serving speed, finally finishing all the dishes with one minute left in the allotted time.

On the other hand, Chen Xiaodong's side had an extra person, so the food was served much faster, and all the dishes were set out 5 minutes ahead of time.

Finally, after the bald cook, drenched in sweat, rang the bell, the first team competition of "One Meal to Fame" came to an end.

As the judges' panel rises again, the winner of the 100-person themed banquet cuisine competition will soon be revealed.
(End of this chapter)