Chapter 101
Soon it was the turn of the player who cooked with the pork kidney. Before that, President Gu and Ruan Tang noticed that he had not scalded it long enough because he was too anxious, leading to the kidneys being half-cooked. They concluded that the best way to remedy this problem would be to use high heat to sautee it quickly. However, the heat control required to do this was quite high. If he isn’t able to control the temperature, the kidneys might be overcooked, causing it to be too tough. The taste and texture of the dish would suffer.
But apparently, the player used the wrong method. He must have tasted it after scalding and found that it was wasn’t cooked through. However, he didn’t dare to scald it again, lest it turn out to be the same as his first attempt. In the end, he chose to use yellow wine and white vinegar to conceal the fishiness of the kidneys. This method wasn’t exactly wrong. After all, rice wine and white vinegar really did have a deodorizing effect. If he had better control, it could have produced a good effect.
Unfortunately, once again, because of his anxiety, he poured too much vinegar. Although he later covered it with the sauce, he still couldn’t hide the excessive acidity in the pork kidneys. He finally made a beautiful and delicate plate with cucumber and bell pepper. The pork kidney was simmered for 20 minutes over low heat. He then used a thick red sauce to improve the taste. In terms of appearance and aroma, it looked perfect. However, this wasn’t the case once you tasted it.
Although the fishy smell was removed, the excessive acidity destroyed the protein and tissue structure of the pork kidneys, making it completely lose its original tender texture. The thick sauce also could not conceal the jarring acidity.
[Youlan Xianwan: It looks very good, and it smells great. But then why does it taste weird?]
[Each side of the water: Yeah, it tastes off ...]
As one can well imagine, his results were less than ideal.
Behind him though, there was an outstanding kidney dish. The contestant used a wheat spike-style cut that Ruan Tang had used previously in his live broadcast. The kidney was cut into wheat-shaped long strips. He used soy sauce and doubanjiang as seasoning, and added chopped bell peppers before stir-frying over high heat. Not only did it look beautiful but it also had a rich and mellow taste. Its texture was smooth and tender, proving that he had controlled the heat very well. The judges repeated nodded their heads.
Qian Yong, who won the honor of being in the top three last time, had a different idea and decided to use the pork tripe to create a Shuizhu-type dish. Although he had cut the pork tripe into thin strips, even after boiling it in hot oil, it hadn’t been cooked through. After all, the pork tripe had a relatively thick structure, unlike the fish fillets which were quick to cook. It tasted too fishy that even Ruan Tang and the other regular judges couldn’t accept the dish, let alone the special judges who had more sensitive sense of taste.
The soldiers swallowed the pig tripe, unwilling to spit it out in the face of hundreds of millions of spectators. They forced themselves to maintain the cold demeanor befitting of soldiers. However, judging by their faces and increasingly tight expressions, it definitely did not taste well. The ten off-site audience judges though had no such scruples and simply spit it as soon as it entered their mouths.
Qian Yong’s face turned white all at once. He bowed deeply to the judges and went back quietly.
Ruan Tang looked worriedly at He Yun Chen. He knew that He Yun Chen’s constitution level was the highest among the judges, and his senses were more sensitive. He was worried that he might have some sort of adverse reaction from eating this half-cooked pork tripe.
He Yun Chen seemed to sense his concern and returned to him a reassuring look. This set Ruan Tang’s mind at ease.
Finally, it was Shi Mingxu’s turn. He finished cooking at the last minute, so he came last. But the audience was very much looking forward to his dish. They wanted to know just how did this dish that took a full one hour and a half to make tasted like.
He deliberately cut the stewed pork intestines into oblique slices. At first glance they looked like thick slices of meat, which made those viewers who could not accept eating pork intestines feel much better. He embellished it with red chili peppers and sprinkled it with chopped green onions. Looking at it, stimulated the viewers’ appetites.
The feeling of eating this meat was a novel experience for many of the audience. The stewed intestines had a rich and dense flavor. It was tender and had a hint of spiciness from the red chilies. In the end, it even had a peculiar clear and sweet flavor. The dish had a rich and multi-layered taste. It was as though wave after wave, layer upon layer of flavors all piled up. It was a marvelous sensation.
[Qingyu Lengyou: Oh, it’s delicious! I can probably guess the source of these spicy and savory flavors, but where did that sweet taste in the end come from?]
[Mu Yanfan: Right, right. That sweet taste in the end, it can’t be the legendary ‘sweet aftertaste’ could it?]
[A’Hui is the most obedient: Pfft, that’s not the way you use ‘sweet aftertaste’. I think it may be the translucent liquid he added when he fished it out of the pan. Could it be sugar water?]
Ruan Tang also had a satisfied smile on his face after tasting the pig intestines. “The last thing you added was pear juice, right?”
“Yes.” Shi Mingxu also smiled slightly. He has always admired the young chef in front of him, and was not surprised that the other could taste the pear juice.
“How did you think of using pear juice?” Ruan Tang asked curiously.
Pear juice had a clear and sweet taste that could cut through the cloying taste of overly rich dishes. By adding just the right amount of pear juice to the dish, it could be said the Shi Mingxu added the touch that brought this work of art to life. The light sweet taste not grave it a fresh taste, but it also cut through the greasiness and reduced the spiciness. It was a move that served a lot of purpose.
“Sometimes I drink fruit juice at home and I like pear juice the most. I like how it’s sweet but not cloying.” It just so happened that there was a pear in the mystery box. So he cut it open and squeezed out some juice which he sprinkled on the dish when he took it out of the pan.
Ruan Tang nodded approvingly. He was sure Shi Mingxu would be among the top three in this competition and that he would go far on his culinary journey.
[Mo Yu: Wow, turns out it’s pear juice! My Tang is so amazing. He knew what it was with just a single taste!]
[BaoBaoBao: Shi Mingxu, refuel!]
Finally, including Qian Yong, twelve people were eliminated in this round. The remaining thirteen entered the next stage — the basic skills test. In this round, they will fight it out for one of the miserably few five places to advance to the finals.
“The basic skill test of this round is still knife work.” Ruan Tang said, took out a Chinese Perch, “I made squirrel fish for the Rutes’ reception banquet. Maybe you only noticed the shape of the finished product, but didn’t know how it was made. I will show you today. ”
Chinese Perch had relatively few fish bones. Its meat was also smooth and tender. There was no better choice to make squirrel fish.
Ruan Tang picked up the kitchen knife, quickly descaled the fish. He removed the gills and internal organs, and then washed it clean with water.
He then cut from the ventral fin and cut off the entire head, leaving just the body of the fish. He tut it in half from the center of the fish’s spine. He removed the central fish bone but kept the tail. Then, without ruining the fish skin, he cut the fish flesh into oblique lychee-shapes.
“The entire fish must be cut with this long and slender shape. After frying, it will puff up and look like the fur on a squirrel.” After cutting, Ruan Tang scooped up the fish and they could see the fish open up slice after slice, but the fish skin was still intact. “Each slice you make must be distributed evenly, and you must pay attention to the strength you put in. The flesh must be attached to the skin and not fall off. If you manage to cut it like I did, then you pass.”
“Each of you have three fishes and you are given one hour. You can submit to me the one you consider to be your best work.”
[Mana sauce: My Tang is so handsome! This knife work is simply awesome!]
[Yue Yu Xinhua: I’m looking forward to the final five! I hope all the players will do their best!]
To reach the semi-finals, it could be said that the remaining 13 contestants had no obvious shortcomings. Their mastery of the basic skills was definitely exceptional.
Although the squirrel fish’s cutting method did not look as delicate as when Ruan Tang cut the potato shreds, there was a small pitfall as it would test the players’ understanding of the grain and other properties of the ingredient.
It was like when a skilled butcher cuts up an ox carcass. If he knows enough about the ingredients, he’ll know about the grains of every part of the meat and the distribution of the bones. Each part he cuts out will be smooth and perfect. If you only take in the shape, but don’t care the slight differences in the distribution and texture of each fish the sliced fish will definitely be mangled.
At this time, it could be seen that the level of each player was different.
Some people realize this, and some didn’t, but no one was stupid enough to remind their competitors of this at this time. They just silently took the fishes back to their cooking tables and started processing.
Ruan Tang, President Gu and Ge Lao observed these players as usual. Zha Panpan, Cao Jun and Shi Mingxu all performed very well. Their basic skills were very solid. As the only girl among them, Zha Panpan was particularly careful.
The movements of the three were neither fast nor slow. Their speed seemed to conform to standard, but each slice they made was just right and very accurate. Compared with the other contestants, who either wanted to show off their knife skills and encountered difficulties or were too cautious and made mistakes, their performance seemed a lot more reliable.
In the end, eight people successfully passed the basic skills test, and only five people were allowed to advance to the finals. These were Zha Panpan, Cao Jun, Shi Mingxu, Wu Anmin, and Chen Yuanwu.
The first four people were those who had previously won the honor of being in the top three of the previous rounds. They were familiar to the audience, and it was not surprising that they were among the final five.
But the name Chen Yuanwu was a bit unfamiliar to them. But upon seeing him, they immediately remembered who he was — wasn’t this the dashing, strong and burly young man who made the delicious hand-smashed beef ball dish? They never expected that his knife work would be this outstanding!
Having made this deep impression, Chen Yuanwu’s Weibo fans immediately began to shoot up.
Next was the finals, which was the true test of their strength, so this time the top three would no longer enjoy any privileges.
“Congratulations on entering the finals. It has not been easy for you to get to this point but the difficulty for the finals will only increase. I hope you will go back and prepare so that you may perform to the very best of your abilities in the finals.” President Gu said with a smile.
“Yes!” The five responded in unison.
The semi-finals was finally over. The special judges have also left one after the other, leaving only He Yun Chen. After Ruan Tang announced the end of this round, He Yun Chen came and held his hand.
“Let’s go home.”
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