Chapter 554: Chapter 554:
"There’s a minty aroma, the flavor is very unique." Gu Changfeng was a bit amazed, "I didn’t expect you to add mint."
"After roasting, due to the heat of the chicken, the cool sensation of the mint is gone, but its slightly bitter and spicy taste remains, giving the roasted chicken a unique flavor."
"Not bad." Gu Changfeng nodded.
Everyone is grilling chickens and ducks.
But because of the different seasonings and proportions, they all present distinctive flavors.
"Is this mashed potatoes inside?" Luo Jialin cut open Hua Ciyue’s roasted chicken and found half filled with mashed potatoes in the chicken’s belly.
The top of the mashed potatoes was empty; Hua Ciyue had handled the chicken’s stomach very cleanly without retaining any organs.
When cut open, the chicken broth with chicken oil flowed directly into the mashed potatoes, visibly seeping into the mashed potatoes.
The originally yolk-colored mashed potatoes gradually took on a caramel hue.
Luo Jialin was pleasantly surprised by this clever idea.
Hua Ciyue explained, "I thought of chicken broth mashed potatoes, although it’s a very common snack, we might not usually think of it when cooking. But today, being limited by conditions, I happened to find some potatoes, so I thought of chicken broth mashed potatoes."
"With roasted chicken, it makes for an appropriate pairing. During roasting, the chicken broth and fat are released, and when cut, the broth flows out, inevitably gets wasted, so why not let it seep into the mashed potatoes. This way, the chicken broth isn’t wasted and can be paired with a side dish."
"I only filled half of the mashed potatoes to leave space above so that the chicken broth can drip down bit by bit," Hua Ciyue explained.
"The mashed potatoes are dense and soft, with the aroma of fruitwood roasting. Combined with the spices you’ve used, it’s not just chicken broth mashed potatoes." Luo Jialin nodded, "Your idea is brilliant."
The judges continued evaluating one by one until reaching Huo Jiarong next to Ye Fei.
Huo Jiarong only roasted a duck.
At first glance, it seemed ordinary.
Much like what’s typically seen in a restaurant.
The duck’s skin was roasted to a crispy, alluring dark brown, with an oily sheen.
Huo Jiarong took the duck off and placed it on a plate.
Ye Huasong initially flattened the duck skin with a knife, immediately expressing its crispiness.
Only then did Ye Huasong cut it open.
As soon as the knife touched the duck skin, a crisp cracking sound could be heard.
"This is no less than Beijing roast duck." Ye Huasong said.
"Actually, this roasting method is similar to hanging oven roasting, but with an added fruitwood fragrance." Huo Jiarong said.
"There’s something inside the roast duck." Ye Huasong cut it open and saw.
The duck’s belly was filled with segments of scallion.
Already roasted soft, exuding a scallion aroma without the sharpness of raw scallion.
"These are perilla leaves I picked." Huo Jiarong said, "They can be used to wrap roast duck. My suggestion is to eat the roast duck with scallion segments, wrapping them together."
Ye Huasong nodded, cut a slice of duck meat, then added a piece of soft scallion, wrapping them with perilla leaves.
"Perilla leaves have a unique texture and flavor, just right to offset the greasiness of the duck." Ye Huasong paused suddenly, delightedly, "The center of the scallion holds some duck juice, and as soon as you bite, the juice bursts out from the scallion segment."
"Although the juice is a bit hot, it’s lucky the perilla leaf acts as a buffer." Ye Huasong said, "I personally enjoy hot food."
"Especially on this chilly autumn night, suddenly eating such steaming hot cuisine feels very comfortable, warming the whole person." Ye Huasong praised.
"The perilla leaf is crisp, the duck meat is tender, the scallion is soft, yet the duck skin is crispy, creating an excellent layered texture."
Then, the five judges approached Ye Fei.
"I made beggar’s chicken, with some adaptations to the local conditions." Ye Fei explained.
The outermost layer of clay encasing the beggar’s chicken has been roasted until it is black and hard.
Ye Fei hit it with a knife a few times.
The clay broke open, revealing the tightly wrapped bamboo leaves inside.
The bamboo leaves were peeled back layer by layer.
The chicken at the center was a light golden yellow, not the dark brown shown when directly roasted on a grill.
The chicken was not burnt; its skin remained soft.
The chicken skin was very clean, as Ye Fei wrapped it tightly, not a speck of clay was attached.
Ye Fei placed the chicken into a dish.
Gu Changfeng held the chicken leg with one hand, while using the knife at the leg joint with the other hand.
A slight pull with the left hand, but surprisingly, only the bone came out, leaving no meat attached.
The bone came out clean.
Gu Changfeng’s puzzled expression appeared on the large screen.
The audience laughed as they watched.
"Your deboning is too quick!" Gu Changfeng said with a wry smile.
"Even with so many layers, the chicken remains tender no matter how long it’s cooked. It’s more like it’s steamed than roasted." Ye Fei said with a smile, "Slow steaming over low heat allows the muscle to cook gently. Being wrapped airtight, all the juice is locked in, without any spilling out, it is steamed back into the chicken meat, making the meat very tender."
Gu Changfeng was eating, making "slurping" sounds.
"You roasted it for a long time, yet the heat kept it tender, infusing the bamboo scent into every bit of the chicken. The aroma penetrates every bite." Gu Changfeng slurped as if drinking soup while eating chicken.
"Your slurping is too exaggerated." Lowell gave Gu Changfeng a disdainful look.
"Try for yourself if you don’t believe me." Gu Changfeng pointed at the chicken.
Lowell indicated that he was a very critical judge.
Where is the chicken least tasty?
Everyone knows it’s the breast meat.
No matter how roasted, it’s often dry and tough.
It has the least fat, the driest meat.
That’s why it’s ideal for low-fat diets.
Thus, Lowell cut a slice of breast meat.
The moment the knife went down, Lowell realized it was unusual.
Because he didn’t see the usual stringy texture of the chicken breast.
Instead, a whole piece came down, and when Lowell pressed it, juice was squeezed out from the meat’s grain.
Lowell immediately put a piece in his mouth and bit down.
He paused suddenly, eyes widening, "It even bursts with juice."
"That’s not all; the chicken doesn’t just have the flavors of your spices, but an apple flavor, a slight acidity." Lowell remarked.
"I picked some apples on the way. However, the small apples were not large and not fully ripe, a bit tart to eat raw. No suitable utensils were provided here for desserts. Fortunately, today’s contest didn’t allow sugar, so I thought of using apples instead." Ye Fei explained.
