Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 78 The endurance race has ended, and the tofu cooking duel has officially begun. This round's time is...
"It's another bright and sunny day. Welcome back to our live stream of 'One Meal to Fame'!"

"I never expected this! An endless cycle of cooking challenges! Six rounds in a row, and it's all tofu! This kind of challenge is unheard of."

"The first five rounds are over. The four contestants have made a total of 20 different tofu dishes. As time gets tighter, I feel that the judges' requirements are also increasing!"

"Now, while the contestants are preparing their sixth round of dishes, let's interview the judges and ask them what they think of today's dishes~"

As the host spoke, he walked over to Nicholas Tse's side.

"Tingfeng, what did you think of today's game?"

Nicholas Tse, wearing sunglasses, picked up a glass of water and took a sip.

"I've never eaten so much tofu at once before. Towards the end, I even felt that the bean flavor was a bit distorted."

Zheng Yongqi, who was standing to the side, also nodded.

"While I really appreciate the balance that comes from a well-balanced dish, after trying so many different dishes, I now crave a flavor that strikes right at the heart of my soul."

"Right now, I might need a bowl of tofu and duck blood soup, or a few bites of Chef Li's smoked tofu. Although it's not quite balanced, it would give me a better experience."

Zhang Yong took over the conversation.

"As far as creativity is concerned, I think coffee tofu can stimulate my taste buds. If not, the salted tofu that contestant Lolo Hummingji made is also very good."

After the three star judges finished their evaluations, the four specially invited judges also spoke one by one.

Tan Zhifeng rubbed his temples with his right hand.

"If I had to say something, it would be that after going through 20 dishes, I basically saw most of the ways to process tofu, and the creativity became more ingenious at this point."

"As my threshold gets higher and higher, ordinary tofu dishes can no longer impress me."

Luo Yumin sighed.

"Time is getting tighter and tighter, and there are fewer and fewer directions left for the contestants to come up with and implement. If we change the ingredients now, it might be easier for them."

“But I think it’s very difficult. The time for the fifth and sixth rounds has been shortened to 20 minutes. In this situation, the instinct of a chef is extremely important.”

Sui Wubai just smiled sheepishly.

"As a chef, mastering ingredients and recipes is very important, and creativity is also essential. I think this question is very well posed. Just as Chef Luo said, this is just the beginning."

Li Shanghu stroked his beard.

"The topic of this culinary duel reminds me of a few old friends. I wonder if there will be any surprises this time~"

After the judges finished their interviews, Chef Li pressed the bell.

After six rounds of competition, he was covered in sweat, showing that time waits for no one.
To stay alert, he could only use ice-cold beer to stay energized and catch his breath for a few minutes during the judges' tasting breaks.

This time, he made "condensed tofu". Normally, this dish requires the use of pork skin. The gelatinous substance provided by the pork skin jelly is used to make the tofu wrapped with preserved eggs into a jelly-like state.

But 20 minutes isn't even enough time to process the pig skin, let alone cook it for more than an hour.

So Lai Chi-On cut the tofu into cubes, arranged them neatly in a bowl, and then used "agar powder" directly after leaving a small gap.

After being flash-frozen, the agar powder with added water quickly solidified. Chef Li took out the solidified tofu, cut it into small pieces, and then arranged it with the blanched and diced vegetables. Finally, he poured on the sauce.

With one bite, the crisp vegetables paired with the smooth texture of the tofu jelly, along with the tangy and spicy sauce, give you a refreshing and invigorating feeling.

After finishing the dish, the seven judges were silent for a moment, and then Zhang Yong and Zheng Yongqi both refused.

Both of them agreed that agar powder was not the most suitable ingredient for this dish because its texture is crunchy and similar to that of blanched vegetables, making konjac powder a better choice.

Li Zhian certainly knew that konjac powder would be more suitable, but the problem was that the menu was too large. He searched around but couldn't find konjac powder. Time was of the essence, so he had to use agar powder, which was more time-efficient.

After much deliberation, the other judges decided that Li Shanghu should abstain, while the other four judges chose to pass.

After the judges left, Lai Chi-On picked up the wine on the table, took a sip, and then wiped his sweat.

"I originally said I didn't want to open a shop, I just came here to slack off and drink, but now I'm working overtime!"

Just after Chef Li's dishes were reviewed, Chef Wang Qingrui's dishes were also ready.

This time, they made "Sichuan Pepper Tofu Slices," and the taste was indeed excellent. However, Tan Zhifeng, Zhang Yong, and Li Shanghu all declined. The reason was actually quite simple: in the fourth round, they had just eaten Luo Luo's Sichuan Pepper Tofu, which was basically the same in flavor. The only difference was that Wang Qingrui cut the tofu into slices.

In Sui Wubai's eyes, this was indeed a repetition, but there were differences between the two, so he abstained.

The remaining three were approved, and so, in the sixth round, the first player to be placed finally appeared on the field.

Next, Luo Luo made crispy golden tofu. Because of the special spice recipe, it was very fragrant, and the judges were deeply attracted by the aroma.

Just when she thought she had it all figured out, Luo Yumin, Sui Wubai, and Li Shanghu refused.

Sui Wubai shook his head.

"The aroma of this dish is indeed very well presented, but you've used the aroma of spices, which overpowers the tofu theme. In my opinion, the theme is unclear, and it needs more practice."

After some discussion, the remaining four judges still approved it.

Seeing that she had finally passed, Lolo let out a long sigh of relief.

"So close, so close to losing it."

After taking a few deep breaths, she turned her gaze to Xia Ming. There were only two minutes left, but he was still busy making something, apparently a curry-like stewed tofu.

After stretching her body, Lolo hummed and turned her gaze to the timer beside her. The timer had round numbers marked on it, and it was clearly showing round 6.

According to the information left yesterday, this competition will only last for 7 rounds. Theoretically, the next round should be the last round.

But now that all the ingredients have been turned into tofu, she can't be sure if the number of rounds will be changed.

While Luo Luo was humming and struggling with her decision, Xia Ming was leisurely wrapping seaweed.

In the sixth round, he made "scrambled eggs and tofu stewed noodles". Although the dish was ordinary, the tofu and scrambled eggs were perfectly combined, and the stewing sauce was carefully prepared.

Finally, use freshly grilled seaweed to wrap the braised tofu and noodles, then use pre-cut cucumber as thread to pack it up, and finally drizzle with the braising sauce.

With one bite, the noodles and tofu burst with juice in your mouth, and the sauce soaks into the seaweed, creating a unique flavor.

The dish itself is quite strong in flavor, which is very stimulating to the taste buds.

After they finished, Luo Yumin and Zhang Yong rejected the request, while the others accepted it.

So, after six rounds, all four contestants passed except for Wang Qingrui, who received a provisional nomination.

"In the control room"

Luo Shurong nodded as he looked at the four contestants staring at the menu on the screen.

Most chefs couldn't withstand the pressure in the first six rounds, but these four made it to the end.

It's a bit of a shame, of course, that Wang Qingrui is gradually falling behind.
In Luo Shurong's view, Wang Qingrui is the best example of how hard work can make up for lack of talent. Despite his poor natural talent, he still managed to advance to "Hua Level 6" through hard work.

"But the biggest difference between geniuses and ordinary people lies in their 'culinary creativity' and 'learning speed.'"

"Wang Qingrui lacks talent, so he can only make a breakthrough in one direction first, and then slowly make up for other shortcomings. But his learning ability is what it is, and he needs to put in several times the effort of a genius to catch up."

But time shows no mercy.

Luo Shurong sighed, unsure whether he was referring to Wang Qingrui or himself.

"Director, pass the word down."

"The seventh round is the final round of the competition, and the cooking theme remains 'tofu.'"

The director was no longer surprised and raised his hand to notify the assistant director, only realizing what was happening when the walkie-talkie was almost in his mouth.

"Old Luo, what's the time? Is it still 20 minutes?"

Luo Shurong glanced at the screen and silently closed his eyes.

"No, the last round's time is 10 minutes."

"???"

(End of this chapter)