Chapter 142 Glowing Shaomai! Advance to the Main Match (2 in 1)
Chapter 142 Glowing Shaomai! Advance to the main round (two-in-one)
Author: Beichuan Nanhai
Chapter 142 Glowing Shaomai! Advance to the main round (two-in-one)
The evening breeze is warm.
At night, the pagoda temple square was brightly lit, with more than ten stoves on display, and nearly a thousand tourists watched outside the prompt line.
"This festival aims to promote the culture of the Kitchen Festival in the form of food competition and display."
Xia Su Nian made his opening speech gracefully and politely:
"Now, please allow me to explain to you the rules of this cooking competition and the preliminary test!"
Luo He, led by the staff, had arrived at his own stove and found that all kitchen utensils were available.
Looking towards the center of the venue, I saw a huge food storage cabinet placed there.
The cabinet is divided into squares, and there are a dazzling array of potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes and other vegetables in the grids, as if someone had dragged the central display cabinet of a large supermarket to the scene.
In addition, outside the large vegetable display cabinet, there is a row of cold storage cabinets. Luo He guessed that there should be seafood and meat inside.
It seems that not only the kitchen utensils, but also the ingredients have been prepared by the organizer, but the ingredients need to be picked up on site... Luo He thought.
On the stage, Xia Sunian's explanation of the rules came.
"The initial test lasts for three hours in total and is divided into three links: ingredient selection, food preparation, and food presentation."
"After the competition starts, each player first needs to go to the central display cabinet, select the ingredients they need, and then return to their stove to start cooking."
"It should be noted that each contestant needs to cook at least ten portions of food, so they should also take ten portions of ingredients to avoid insufficient ingredients." Xia Sunian reminded.
Some players at the scene have already questioned:
"How many servings to make?"
"Why don't we just cook it for the judges? Why do we have to cook so much!"
Xia Sunian smiled and said: "Because there are no professional judges here, but a hundred tourists randomly selected on site as public judges."
As soon as these words came out, the whole place fell into an uproar.
"For each tourist who serves as a judge, a staff member will give you one tael of [broken silver], and then you can walk back and forth between the various stoves and taste the delicious food at will."
Xia Xunian said this to the audience, saying: "If you taste the food you like, please give the broken silver to the chef on that stove."
"The first chef to collect ten taels of silver will advance to the next round of competition!"
Following Xia Su Nian's words, the chefs on the stove started talking about the competition system.
"I don't understand. What do you mean?"
"That is to say, it's similar to a food festival. You need to cook delicious food to attract tourists, and let tourists take the initiative to taste the food at your stall. The food should be so delicious that they voluntarily hand over [broken silver] to you."
"As long as ten tourists give you broken silver, you will be promoted!"
Luo He frowned slightly and quickly realized the difficulty of this competition system.
First of all, there are so many chefs on site, and each chef has to make at least ten dishes, so the ingredients must be very tight.
This also means that in the initial "ingredient selection" step, you must join the army competing for ingredients, otherwise you will face the dilemma of a clever woman without rice.
In addition, the cooking process must firmly catch the attention of guests and prevent them from being lost to other stoves, thus reducing their chances of advancement.
The cooking time also needs to be shortened, otherwise the "ticket for promotion" will be gone before the dish is finished.
Because there are only one hundred judges, there are only ten promotion places at most.
And because a chef may be recognized by more than ten judges, it is likely that fewer than ten will make the final cut.
Luo He looked around and found that many chefs had solemn expressions on their faces.
There are more than 20 breeders on site, including many well-known masters in the industry who are bound to be promoted.
Luo He thought… This elimination rate is very high.
Since there are only two rounds of assessment in total, the first test is a hellish difficulty!
"Now, I will announce the questions for the preliminary exam." Xia Sunian said.
Next to Luo He, a tall breeder looked surprised.
"I'll go, are there any required test questions?"
Boom!
Not far away, Master Haiyue placed his heavy bone-cutting knives on the chopping board and said in a deep voice:
"In previous years, the Zao Lord Festival was hosted by the top breeders in Donghuang. It is inevitable that it will be difficult."
This momentum was so shocking that others did not dare to make a sound. Luo He cast his gaze curiously, only to see Master Haiyue looking at him as well.
Eyes meet.
Haiyue looked down from a high position and glanced at Luo He's palm, seeing that the cocoon holding the kitchen knife was fresh and tender.
Turning his head in disinterest, Haiyue turned his attention to the stage, waiting for the announcement of the exam questions.
"Snacks are a type of food with specific taste characteristics. They are often made from local materials and reflect the local life style. Through snacks, the customs and cultures of different places can blend and collide during festivals."
Xia Sunian said: "The question for this exam is, [Snacks]!"
Luo He's eyes flashed slightly.
Snacks, this question is very broad.
The point is, it depends on what ingredients you can grab.
Luo He looked at the food display cabinet in the center of the venue.
"As a reminder in advance, breeders are not allowed to send pet animals as assistants during the food selection process to avoid accidents."
Xia Xunian seemed to anticipate the scene of fighting for food, smiled and said:
"Now, all contestants, please get ready——"
The eyes of all the chefs in the venue were focused on the central display cabinet and the row of refrigerated cabinets.
"I announce that this round of competition has officially begun!"
As soon as the words fell, the breeders in the venue rushed towards the food display cabinets like arrows.
Master Haiyue, who is physically strong and tall, walked to the seafood counter without hesitation and picked up a box of prawns.
Shrimp is naturally a hot ingredient. Seeing Chef Haiyue taking the initiative, everyone was annoyed.
Of course, there are also players who take their time. Master Miao Xi walked slowly to the vegetable area. Because the vegetable reserves were relatively abundant, she looked calm and picked a roll of shepherd's purse and put it into the bamboo basket.
Luo He was just stunned for a moment, and the speed of the pile of ingredients was visibly slowing down. He didn't dare to be distracted anymore, and hurriedly joined the army of people fighting for the ingredients.
After struggling to put the lean pork he grabbed into the bamboo basket, Luo He breathed a sigh of relief as he found a treasure.
At least he got the black spear pork he wanted to use... Luo He felt a little sad... Otherwise, it would be too miserable to be eliminated without raw materials!
"How about trying foreign snacks."
Xia Miao's faint voice came to my ears.
Luo He turned around and saw an old woman shaking the bamboo basket in her hand and saying in a hoarse voice:
"Snails and herbs...these are things no one wants."
In this competition, Xia Miao used the pseudonym ‘Ms. Zhen’ and used the identity of another alliance.
Although the style seems incompatible with many chefs present, because the identity is well documented, the risk of exposure is reduced.
Luo He took a look at the ingredients selected by "Ms. Zhen" and already thought of what snacks Xia Miao would make.
Baked snails.
A French dish in which snail shells are stuffed with herbs, the aroma alone can attract the attention of many public judges at the scene.
"Thank you for reminding me, I'd better choose it myself." Luo He said politely.
"Okay, young man, I won't disturb you, old lady." Xia Miao slowly walked towards the stall.
The food selection process will soon end.
In the end, Luo He just took flour, lean pork and a few pitiful cabbages.
Compared with the luxurious ingredients such as prawns, chicken, dragon fruit, spinach and so on, which are on Chef Haiyue's stove not far away, they really look a bit unsatisfactory.
Luo He looked at the ingredients in front of him, caught a glimpse of the steamer provided by the organizer, and already had the answer in his heart.
*
In front of the stove, the chefs are cooking in full swing.
Outside the cue line, hundreds of judges held broken silver in their hands, preparing to enter the venue and taste delicious food.
Lin Xiaolin and Li Wanqing also had their quotas as judges and were mixed in with the team.
"Hey, I think I saw a girl from the Jiang family." Lin Xiaolin said.
Li Wanqing was startled, and followed Lin Xiaolin's line of sight, only to see a young and beautiful girl wearing a peaked cap, looking left and right in the crowd.
She also clearly saw Li Wanqing and Lin Xiaolin. She was stunned for a moment, then moved away from the crowd, apologized in a low voice, and moved closer.
"Sister Xiaolin, sister Wanqing."
Jiang Yuenuan was surprised: "I didn't expect to see you two here!"
"I still feel strange. Why are you traveling all the way from the imperial capital to come here?" Lin Xiaolin asked curiously.
"Uncle Cheng also participated in the competition, so I came to take a look." Jiang Yuenuan said excitedly: "And if I have the opportunity to eat Master Miaoxi's vegetarian food this time, it will definitely be a worthwhile trip!"
Uncle Cheng, whose real name is Cheng Ankang, is the housekeeper who takes care of the Jiang family siblings and is also a breeder who is good at Shandong cuisine.
The Jiang family of the Yulong family is a large family that is world-famous as breeders.
This time, the Kitchen God Festival sent an invitation to the Jiang family, and the clan leader Jiang Xiangtian responded by sending his confidant butler to participate.
Li Wanqing suggested: "Since we have met, let's enter the venue together later."
"No, no." Jiang Yuenuan shook her head repeatedly, "I'll leave after a while."
Regarding Li Wanqing, the younger generation of the Jiang family has some psychological shadow.
Dare to take the initiative to say hello, this is a reflection of Jiang Yuenuan's big heart.
"Next, we invite one hundred public judges to enter the venue!"
At this time, Xia Sunian's voice sounded.
The staff lowered the cordon and hundreds of judges filed into the venue.
Jiang Yuenuan looked around and quickly found Uncle Cheng's stove, but saw a long queue in front of his stove.
"Please take the shredded yam."
Qilu is the birthplace of carrots, and as a master of Shandong cuisine, Cheng Ankang is quite good at carrots.
As a traditional famous dish among the carrot dishes, the shredded yam is persimmon yellow in color, can be pulled out into long strands, is crispy, sweet and fragrant, and has always been a famous dish on the table.
At the moment, Cheng Ankang handed a small portion of shredded yam to the eager tourists and said:
"If you think it tastes good, please put the broken silver on the stove. Thank you."
The tourist took a fork and picked up a piece of golden, crisp and tender shredded yam, stuffed it into his mouth, his eyes lit up, he nodded repeatedly, and then placed the broken silver on Cheng Ankang's stove.
Cheng Ankang counted the broken silver and found ten pieces in less than half an hour. He nodded slightly.
"The first person to be promoted has been selected, Master Cheng Ankang from the Imperial Capital!" the staff announced.
This statement obviously caused a stir among the players.
Jiang Yuenuan looked around, then stepped forward and said, "Uncle Cheng, I also want a piece of shredded yam!"
Butler Cheng was a little surprised when he saw Jiang Yuenuan, and then whispered:
"Miss, I just made ten servings. You'd better take the broken silver to other stalls."
Jiang Yuenuan pursed her lips and said, "Okay, then you have to remember to cook it for me when you get back!"
"Of course." Butler Cheng smiled.
Jiang Yuenuan had no choice but to continue looking for the food she wanted to eat and muttered:
"Master Miaoxi's place should also be limited to ten copies...it's too difficult to queue up!"
In less than a moment, more contestants were promoted one after another.
Chef Wu, a Sichuan cuisine master from Jindu, became the second contestant to advance with his red oil dumplings.
Moreover, his pot of dumplings served more than ten portions. Due to their delicious taste, he was recognized by the judges and gained more than twenty pieces of silver in one fell swoop, becoming the most eye-catching person in the venue.
There are fewer and fewer tickets to advance, which also gives other players a sense of urgency.
Chef Haiyue also chooses dumplings.
The dish he made is called "Kung Fu Soup Shrimp Dumplings". The slow-cooked Kung Fu soup is poured into a tea cup containing shrimp dumplings, and the shrimp dumplings are eaten with the slow-cooked soup.
The kung fu soup is fragrant and pleasant, and the shrimp dumplings are chewy and delicious.
Chef Haiyue even made three colors of shrimp dumplings, using dragon juice to make red dough, spinach juice to make green dough, and flour to make original color dough.
The three-color crystal shrimp dumplings are paired with Kung Fu soup, which perfectly demonstrates the fine workmanship, freshness and deliciousness of Cantonese cuisine. Therefore, Chef Haiyue became the third contestant to advance.
"The fourth person to advance is Ms. Zhen from the Glory Alliance!"
Xia Miao earned ten pieces of broken silver with her French-style baked snails and successfully advanced to the next level.
There were exclamations in the venue. Jiang Yuenuan followed the sound and saw the judges in front of Master Miaoxi's stove all exclaiming in admiration.
The delicacy made by Master Miaoxi is called "Fried Vegetarian Spring Rolls".
This fried spring roll is the representative vegetarian dish of the temple's famous vegetarian dish "Three Spring and One Lotus".
The raw materials are seasonal wild vegetables, combined with dried tofu, black bean juice, gluten soak and various seasonings. After frying, it is fragrant and crispy, leaving a fragrant taste on your lips and teeth.
The so-called "three springs and one lotus" refers to fried spring rolls, blanched spring buds, roasted spring mushrooms and white lotus soup. It originated from Wuzu Temple in Meishan and once attracted pilgrims.
After tasting this fried spring roll, the judges unanimously gave out silver pieces. Master Miaoxi successfully advanced to the main competition after collecting ten silver pieces.
After the five winners were decided, the schedule entered the second half.
There are fewer and fewer pieces of silver left in the hands of the judges, but the organizer has not yet announced the end of the competition, which means that there are still places for promotion.
Jiang Yuenuan walked around and tasted several stalls but found them unpalatable and did not give away the broken silver in his hand. Suddenly he noticed a deserted stall.
There are no helpers at this stall.
There is only one chef and a nine-section wolf busying around.
After seeing the chef's face clearly, Jiang Yuenuan said in surprise: "Luo He?"
Luo He glanced at it, then worked next to the steam stove, and said loudly: "Don't leave yet!"
Jiang Yuenuan: "Ah?"
"Give me another five minutes and the dishes will be ready."
Luo He coughed dryly and said: "I hope you taste the dishes and leave the broken silver before leaving."
Jiang Yuenuan was stunned for a moment, then gloated and said:
"I thought you had advanced a long time ago, but I didn't expect you haven't even prepared the dishes yet!"
Luo He was a little embarrassed, looked at the sky and said: "I work slowly and carefully."
In fact, this dish requires very thin dough, so it takes a long time to roll out the dough...
"Hmph, I do still have a tael of silver here."
Jiang Yuenuan played with the silver in her hand and said absently: "But I'm hungry. If I see which stove has cooked food, I'll just give the money to that house."
"Don't leave! I'll ask Xiaojiu to perform a backflip for you!" Luo He said.
Jiang Yuenuan said in shock: "Backflip?"
Luo He glanced at the steamer, made sure it was ready to be cooked, and said:
"Xiao Jiu, go to the stove and do a backflip to attract everyone!"
"Hey!"
It’s not easy to run a stall, so Xiaojiu is doing it.
Xiaojiu came to the stall, stood on two feet, and raised two palms high.
This scene attracted a lot of attention. Xiaojiu then did a backflip on the same spot, shocking everyone present!
The effect of attracting customers was obvious, and the remaining tourists in the venue rushed towards Luo He's booth.
In order to liven up the atmosphere, Luo He said loudly:
"We sincerely invite you all to taste the shaomai snacks made below——"
Luo He opened the steamer, and water mist curled up into the night sky. The steam in the steamer seemed to be sparkling with crystals, reflecting bright brilliance.
“[Crystal Glass Shaomai]!!”
Jiang Yuenuan was stunned for a moment, a little unbelievable.
This shaomai is shining?!
Blinking his eyes hard, Jiang Yuenuan looked surprised.
It's not an illusion.
The dough of this siomai is like transparent glass, it really shines under the action and refraction of heat!
Tourists everywhere looked shocked and talked about it one after another.
"Am I dazzled? Why do I see a shaomai glowing?"
"Did it rely on the moves of the pet beast?"
Jiang Yuenuan was the closest and asked, "Why is this Shaomai transparent?"
There is constant noise all around.
"It's true, the dough of this siomai is almost transparent, like crystal!"
“It’s so amazing that there is such a thin Shaomai skin!”
At some point, Master Haiyue stood firm in the crowd, looked deeply at Luo He, and said:
"Shaomai originated from steamed buns and is one of the famous snacks in the imperial capital. Later it spread to various parts of Donghuang. After arriving in Jindu, the people of Jindu continued to innovate, and finally formed the local characteristic [Glass Shaomai]."
Chef Hai Yue said solemnly: "There is no glutinous rice in the main ingredient. It is minced lean pork and mixed with minced pepper, salt, monosodium glutamate, cooking wine, and sesame oil to make the filling. The focus is on the production of the dough and the control of the steaming temperature.
"
These two extremely test the chef's skills, and it is impossible to do them without a ten-year foundation.
Haiyue frowned slightly.
But how did Luo He, who was so young, make such a famous dish?
Luo He stood next to the steamer, glanced at Master Haiyue who was helping explain, smiled, and said:
"Yes, the characteristic of glass shaomai is that the skin is thin and the filling is rich. After cooking, the skin is immersed in oil and becomes translucent, and the filling can be seen through the skin."
"And I added the characteristics of crystal dumpling flour to the dough of glass shaomai, making the dough of glass shaomai more crystal clear, elastic, smooth and tender."
Luo He looked around and said:
"Anyway, you still have some scraps of silver in your hands, you can come up and taste them... I also have the idea of promoting, so I'll thank you all!"
Luo He's sincere remarks gained a lot of favor, and the judges who still had authority came forward to taste this [Crystal Glass Shaomai].
It is white in color and has thin skin, and has a delicious and mellow taste. The siomai dough even has the smoothness of crystal shrimp dumplings.
The filling combines the sweet aroma of cooked cabbage and the oily aroma of steamed lean pork.
Its unique taste made the judges lose their minds for a moment.
"tasty!!"
“This is the best siomai I’ve ever had!”
"Here you go, I'll give you all the promotion tickets!"
Jiang Yuenuan tasted the glass shaomai and reluctantly handed over the broken silver.
I wanted Luo He to beg me again.
But this snack is so delicious!
Boom!
In the venue, a big bell rang to symbolize the end of the competition.
"The last qualifying contestant has been born!"
Luo He wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at the ten taels of silver on the table, and smiled.