I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

Su Su had just finished cooking soup for the guests in the upstairs private room when she returned to the kitchen and sensed that something was off.

Head chef Ma Yinming and his master Li Zhibai stood facing each other, staring at each other, the air thick with the smell of gunpowder.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw this.

broken!

She's only been gone a short while, how come Master is already at odds with Master Ma?

"What's wrong? What happened?" Su Su quickly went over and asked.

"Boss, you've come at the right time. Your master just said in front of everyone in the kitchen that there was something wrong with the dishes I made, so I wanted to ask him for advice."

Upon hearing this, Su Su felt a headache coming on.

She had worked with Master Ma for three years and knew his temperament all too well.

Chef Ma's culinary skills are truly exceptional, and this dish of sous-vide lobster with saffron foam is something he has put a lot of effort into developing and improving, making it almost perfect.

The master chef said there was something wrong with his cooking in front of so many people in the kitchen. Wasn't that slapping him in the face and rejecting the dishes he was so proud of?

Given Master Ma's pride, this is indeed a difficult matter.

After hearing the reason, Su Su turned to look at Li Zhibai, blinked her big eyes, pouted her lips slightly, and looked pitiful and very cute.

Master! Please! Can you soften your stance just this once? Just for the sake of your disciple!

Li Zhibai naturally understood and said truthfully, "Sister Su Su, I just blurted it out and apologized, but Master Ma insisted on sparring with me. I really don't want to spar with him."

He was telling the truth. If he were to accidentally get abused and the other person got angry and quit, wouldn't he become the one to blame?

Su Su breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing her master's words. As long as one side was willing to compromise, there was room for the matter to be resolved.

She turned to Ma Yinming and said, "Master Ma, you see, my master said it was unintentional and he has already apologized to you. Why don't we just let this matter go?"

"No!" Ma Yinming shook his head.

"This isn't about apologizing or not; it's a matter of principle."

"He questioned my cooking skills in front of so many people today. If I just let it go like this, what prestige will I, Ma Yinming, have left in the kitchen?"

I've made this dish at least eight hundred times, if not a thousand, and no one has ever said there was anything wrong with it. Your master comes and immediately says I'm doing it wrong, so he must have a much better understanding.

"I'll take this opportunity to ask your master to make one too, so that I, who am not very skilled, can learn properly and see where the problem lies."

"Don't worry, boss. No matter the outcome, I, Ma Yinming, am not someone who can't accept defeat."

Su Su was speechless for a moment, caught in the middle and in a dilemma.

Both of them are people she respects; one is her mentor, and the other is the pillar of her restaurant.

If they really get into a fight, no matter who wins or loses, the outcome won't be what she wants to see.

If Master loses, will the people in the kitchen look down on him and think that the master Su Su found is nothing special?

But if Chef Ma loses, will the head chef she finally managed to recruit feel embarrassed and quit?

Just as she was thinking about how to smooth things over, Li Zhibai spoke up, offering her a way out.

"No need to compete anymore, Master Ma, I concede."

"I've never cooked Western food before. You're asking me to compete with you in Western cuisine? Aren't you just making things difficult for me?"

Su Su gave Li Zhibai a grateful look, and then took the opportunity to say to Ma Yinming, "That's right! Chef Ma, my master is indeed not a Western chef, and this is the first time he's seen you make this dish."

However, Ma Yinming didn't buy it at all; in fact, he got even angrier.

No, you've never even cooked Western food, so what makes you think there's something wrong with my cooking?

He was determined to regain his dignity.

Or rather, he was determined to use this opportunity to probe the depths of his master, Su Su.

If this Mr. Li is indeed a fraud, it would be a good opportunity to expose him in front of the boss, letting the boss see the true colors of this so-called master and avoid being deceived again in the future.

If the other party is truly capable of beating him, then he'll accept it.

Losing to a master is not shameful.

In short, today's competition must have a result.

"Mr. Li, there's no need to be modest. We must determine who is better today. Please!" Ma Yinming gestured for him to proceed, his attitude very firm.

Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Li Zhibai had no choice but to say, "Alright, Master Ma, you've already put it this way. If I refuse again, it would be disrespectful to you."

"But let me be clear from the start, I've never made this dish before. If it doesn't taste as good as Chef Ma's, just take it as entertainment and don't laugh at me."

After Li Zhibai finished speaking, he rolled up his sleeves, picked up Su Su's chef's knife, and twirled it in his hand. He looked quite cool, but he almost dropped it on the ground.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong, otherwise this attempt to show off would have backfired.

Su Su hesitated for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Master, do you need my help?"

"No need, you can just watch from the side."

Everyone else in the kitchen was also focused on Li Zhibai, feeling a little excited.

coming! coming!

The boss's master chef vs. the head chef!

Isn't this just a real-life cooking competition?!

Of course, if they had to pick someone they favored, they would naturally pick their head chef.

The boss's master chef is indeed very skilled with his knife, but good knife skills don't mean he can cook any dish well. Moreover, this dish, "Golden Silk Robe Wrapped in Dragon's Fat," is one of Chef Ma's signature dishes, giving him an inherent advantage.

Besides, the boss just said that Chef Li has never cooked Western food before, so there's no suspense about who will win or lose.

After showing off his knife skills, Li Zhibai went to get the ingredients.

Boston lobster, butter, shallots, white wine, heavy cream... these are the standard ingredients for this dish.

Just as he reached for the saffron, he suddenly stopped. After hesitating for a moment, he turned and walked to the spice cabinet, taking out two things: saffron stamens and a little bit of dried citrus peel.

Saffron stamens, also known as crocus, have red stamens when fresh, and become the familiar saffron after drying.

They are essentially the same thing, just in different states.

Ma Yinming was somewhat surprised to see that he had actually chosen saffron stamens and citrus peel.

Saffron has a bitter aroma, while crocus has a milder aroma; adding it to this dish helps to mask the slight bitterness. However, crocus's aroma isn't as strong as saffron's, so the resulting foam will likely lack complexity in its fragrance.

There's also citrus peel. No one has ever used this in this dish before. Aren't you worried that adding it will overpower the flavor?

Although Ma Yinming couldn't judge the final effect of these changes, he had to admit that the kid was indeed quite courageous, daring to change the formula on the spot.

It's important to know that any dish that appears on the Black Pearl restaurant menu has a recipe that has been adjusted and refined many times before it was finalized. Changing the ingredients arbitrarily can easily ruin the flavor balance of the dish.

The probability of failure is very high.

Li Zhibai's steps for making this dish were almost exactly the same as Ma Yinming's.

The process involves draining the lobster's urine and blood, slow cooking at low temperatures, soaking it in ice water, removing the meat, absorbing excess water, packaging it, and slow cooking it at low temperatures a second time.

Every step was done to a very high standard, and in some details, he even handled things better than Ma Yinming.

After seeing his actions, Ma Yinming couldn't help but curse the guy in his heart for being shameless.

Didn't you say you'd never cooked Western food before, and never made this dish?

But judging from your practiced technique, you're clearly lying!

Unless you're a genius who memorized all the steps after just watching him perform them once.

Of course, he didn't quite believe it; if that were true, the other person's talent would be terrifying.

Just as Li Zhibai was patting the prepared lobster meat dry with kitchen paper and preparing to pack it into a vacuum bag, Ma Yinming finally couldn't help but ask:

"Mr. Li, didn't you just say you'd never cooked Western food before? But you seem very skilled at it; it doesn't look like you've never done it before. Don't tell me you just watched it once and memorized it?"

Li Zhibai nodded: "You guessed right. I happened to watch the whole process when you were making this dish, Chef Ma. I have a special talent: I have a good memory. I can remember something after watching it only once."

These words shocked everyone in the kitchen.

Is this guy telling the truth? Can he really replicate the chef's signature dish perfectly after just one look?

If that's true, then his learning ability must be incredibly extraordinary!

Ma Yinming's expression grew even more serious.

If the other party isn't lying, then it means he's met a truly genius chef today.

Considering the other party's superb swordsmanship, it's clear that such skill at such a young age is not something that can be achieved through mere hard work.

Even so, he didn't believe the other party could do better than him.

He's made hundreds or even thousands of servings of this dish. If someone can surpass it after just one look, he'll become a laughingstock.