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

Li Zhibai immediately stepped down from the stage to select ingredients and begin preparation.

Fried dough sticks, this seemingly simple folk snack, are actually one of the more difficult pastries to make.

For example, the consistency of the dough, the proofing time, the control of the oil temperature, the stretching technique... every aspect is crucial and indispensable. A truly skilled fryer's youtiao (Chinese fried dough sticks) will be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, golden and fluffy, making a crunchy sound when you bite into it, soft yet chewy, and especially delicious when dipped in soy milk or egg drop soup.

Of course, many audience members didn't think this dish would stand out in the competition, since the contestants were all chefs from various restaurants and their dishes were all of a higher standard.

"The fried dough sticks seemed a bit ordinary. Compared to the other contestants' dishes like Longjing shrimp and snowflake crab, they didn't seem to have much of an advantage."

"That's not how it works. The simpler the dish, the more skill it takes. I think if you can really make delicious fried dough sticks, it's no less impressive than making a fancy dish."

"I think so too. Fried dough sticks are a real national snack. If they're made well, they might even win you more votes."

"..."

Li Zhibai took a bag of all-purpose flour. He wanted to make fried dough sticks with a fluffy and crispy texture and a large honeycomb pattern inside. All-purpose flour was the best choice, while high-gluten flour was not suitable because it would easily become hard when fried.

After taking out all the flour, pour out a portion and sift it into a bowl. Then add baking powder, baking soda, salt, etc., and quickly stir with chopsticks until well combined.

The proportions of these three ingredients are the first key to making fried dough sticks. Baking powder and baking soda are responsible for making the dough fluffy, salt is responsible for making the gluten more elastic, and finally, add an egg and an appropriate amount of warm water, and start kneading the dough.

He probably did the kneading of dough the most, because when he worked at the Shaxian Old Shop, he needed to knead dough to make mixed noodles and roll out dumpling wrappers.

Soon, after being repeatedly kneaded, folded, and slapped in the bowl, the dough became a smooth dough.

He brushed another layer of oil onto the surface of the dough, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and then set it aside to rest and rise.

While the dough was resting, Li Zhibai went to the ingredients section again and took out a small bottle of rice wine, a few limes, a jar of honey, and a small piece of tender ginger.

People in the audience were puzzled when they saw him carrying these ingredients.

"What's he going to do with all this stuff? Aren't fried dough sticks supposed to be served with soy milk? Doesn't he make soy milk?"

"Rice wine, lime, honey... What a bizarre combination! I can't even imagine what this dipping sauce will taste like."

"Is this guy going to pull another stunt?"

"..."

The three judges also noticed the ingredients Li Zhibai had chosen and were a little curious.

"What is number 33 up to now?"

"Rice wine, lime, honey, and ginger—it's quite interesting to put these four things together. The aroma of rice wine, the sourness of lime, the sweetness of honey, and the spiciness of ginger make for a rather novel combination if used as a dipping sauce."

"Fried dough sticks, being a deep-fried food, tend to be a bit greasy. While pairing them with traditional soy milk or soy sauce and vinegar can help cut through the greasiness, that's a bit too conventional. This is a competition, after all, so we need to be a bit creative. I'm really looking forward to seeing what his dipping sauce will taste like."

Li Zhibai returned to the worktable with the ingredients, washed the tender ginger, and began to prepare the dipping sauce.

He first used the back of a knife to smash the tender ginger a few times to break up the fibers, then chopped it into very fine minced ginger. Next, he poured rice wine into a small flat pan and heated it until it reached about 60 degrees Celsius, then took out a lighter and gently scorched the side of the pan.

woohoo~~

A pale blue flame rose from the surface of the rice wine, and the aroma of the wine instantly spread around.

Some people in the audience stood up in disbelief.

"Holy crap! Rice wine can be ignited? I always thought only strong liquor could."

"Ordinary low-alcohol rice wine definitely won't light, since the alcohol content is too low. But the rice wine he chose doesn't smell like low-alcohol rice wine. Plus, he seems to have chosen to heat it to speed up the evaporation of the alcohol, so it can be lit as soon as the thin layer of steam appears on the surface."

"666! I see! There's so much to know about being a chef."

"I don't know what this is for, but it seems really impressive."

"..."

After the flames died down naturally, Li Zhibai began to squeeze a little lime juice into the pot, then scooped in two spoonfuls of honey, and finally sprinkled in minced ginger. He then gently stirred it a few times with chopsticks, and his newly conceived dipping sauce was almost ready.

After waiting a while longer, the dough had risen.

Li Zhibai took out the dough, sprinkled a thin layer of dry flour on the cutting board, rolled the dough into a long strip, cut it into even small strips, stacked two strips together, pressed a groove vertically in the middle with chopsticks, and finally held one end in each hand and gently pulled it out to a length of about 20 centimeters.

The oil in the wok on the stove was already hot. Li Zhibai didn't even use a thermometer. He simply judged the oil temperature with his naked eye and gently placed the stretched dough into the wok.

With a sizzling sound.

The dough expands rapidly in the hot oil, its color gradually changing from white to light yellow, and then to golden yellow, all in just a few seconds.

Once it was almost set, he used long chopsticks to keep turning the fried dough sticks in the oil pan to ensure they were heated evenly on both sides until a layer of fine bubbles appeared on the surface. Seeing these bubbles meant the fried dough sticks were crispy.

When the fried dough sticks were fried until they were golden brown all over, Li Zhibai used chopsticks to pick them up and drain the oil. The freshly fried dough sticks were crispy, and you could hear a clear cracking sound when you picked them up with chopsticks.

After the oil had been filtered through, Li Zhibai began to cut the oil into pieces and arrange them on a plate. He then divided his homemade dipping sauce into three dishes before raising his hand to indicate that he was done.

"Number 33 is complete!"

Li Zhibai placed the plate of fried dough sticks and homemade dipping sauce in front of the judges for them to taste.

The three judges first carefully examined the fried dough sticks. They found that the outer skin was indeed golden and crispy, and the inside had even air pockets. There was nothing wrong with its appearance.

Then they looked at the dipping sauce that they found very interesting; it was the first time they had ever seen anyone use this dipping sauce with fried dough sticks.

"Does this dipping sauce have a name?" one of the judges asked.

Li Zhibai immediately replied, "Let's call it Lemon Honey Ginger Wine Sauce. This is a rather bold attempt for me. I think that a dipping sauce made with these ingredients is more suitable for fried foods like fried dough sticks."

The three judges nodded, each fanning the edge of the plate with their hands and smelling it.

It does indeed have a very special complex aroma. The richness of rice wine is tempered with the crispness of lime, and the sweetness of honey is mixed with a hint of the spiciness of minced ginger. Just smelling it makes your mouth water.

Judge Cai took the lead, picked up a piece of fried dough stick, dipped it lightly in the sauce, and put it in his mouth.

As the teeth fell, a cracking sound, like a brittle shell splitting open, rang in my ears. It truly achieved a crispy exterior and tender interior. Combined with the complex aroma of the special dipping sauce, it tasted magical and delicious.

"Excellent! What a wonderful lemon-honey-ginger-wine sauce!"

"The mellow aroma of rice wine and the fragrance of fried dough sticks complement each other perfectly. The slight tartness of the lime just balances the greasiness of the fried dough sticks, and the subtle spiciness of the honey and minced ginger finishes off cleanly. The layers are distinct, and this dipping sauce and fried dough sticks achieve a synergistic effect that is greater than the sum of its parts. Excellent!"

After taking a sip, Editor-in-Chief Meng gave it high praise: "I originally thought that heating rice wine was to remove the alcohol and retain the sweetness, but I didn't expect that you would also retain the aroma of the wine. This aroma of wine, together with the aroma of fried dough sticks, creates an association similar to bread pudding, which is a very wonderful combination."

After the two finished praising him, only Teacher Cao was left without giving his evaluation.

This time, Teacher Cao did not resist. He reached out and picked up a piece of fried dough stick. He didn't dip it in sauce and just took a bite.

"Very crispy and crunchy, the fried dough sticks have a great texture."

He then dipped the remaining half in sauce and ate it, expressing similar feelings to the other two judges.

All three judges gave high scores.

9.8, 9.9, and 9.8 points respectively, becoming the highest scores of the entire event.

Even if some contestants haven't started commenting yet, this score is more than enough to advance to the top three.

Upon seeing the score, Li Zhibai couldn't help but feel secretly pleased; it was far too easy!

If the third round isn't a bit too difficult, he'll really win the championship.

Hehehe......

Li Zhibai then pressed his hand against his chest.

It's almost here! His battle attire will be making its dazzling debut soon!