Chapter Twenty-Three: Cooking Showdown
The official website of the Qinzhou Cuisine Association has finally posted a public announcement.
"At 16:30 on May 27, 2072 in the Gregorian calendar, a culinary duel will be held in the main hall of Furong Garden, Xijing City, Qinzhou. The initiator is Zhang Mingchuan, an apprentice of Shanhai Food Garden, and the opponent is Qiao Fubao, the chef of Tangfeng Pavilion. By mutual agreement, the competition dish will be unicorn sea bass. ”
"This culinary competition is composed of five judges and a jury of 30 professional diners. The ingredients for both sides are provided by the cooking association, and you can use the cooking utensils provided by the cooking association or bring your own cooking utensils. Please enter half an hour early and please do not be late. Zhang Mingchuan saw the notification text message from the Cooking Association that he had just received on his mobile phone.
"This time, I will make a public appearance as my own disciple, so that I will not be vigorously targeted by people with intentions in the future, and I can better make a name for Shanhai Restaurant, and then I will have an identity that is convenient to explore food from all over the world." The main reason why he didn't say it was that as Zhang Mingchuan's strength became stronger and stronger, he believed that any intrigues against him in the current world would become more and more powerless.
Two days passed quickly, and the Shanhai Restaurant, which was still in the heat, attracted much attention, and the sales in the store also climbed steadily, and the merit and luck points increased by nearly 500 points in two days.
Narrowing the gap between the bones, and at the same time using the spiritual power in the body to fill the muscles, the chef of Shanhai Food Garden, who was originally 1.82 meters tall and had a well-proportioned and slender body, suddenly became Zhang Mingchuan, an apprentice of Shanhai Food Garden with a height of 1.78 meters and strong muscles.
Seeing that the effect of the change was remarkable, Zhang Mingchuan walked out of the woods with great satisfaction.
As a former royal forbidden garden, Xijing Furong Garden is located on the south bank of Qujiang Pond, close to Guocheng outside Xijing City, surrounded by high walls. The garden covers an area of 30 hectares, and it is 17 miles around.
In this royal garden, various pavilions and pavilions are built around Furong Lake, among which the most majestic main hall, Ziyun Tower, has not yet been opened to the public.
As a must-see check-in place for countless tourists to come to Xijing, there is a crowd of people day and night on weekdays, but today the park announced that it would be closed for half a day.
At the gate of the park, there was a row of staff uniforms dressed in black suits, looking at the scattered personnel with their documents to get into it today, and the serious atmosphere made passers-by look curious.
As a native of Xijing, Zhang Mingchuan has certainly visited this hibiscus garden more than once before, and now he has become the protagonist of the whole garden, setting foot in this royal garden again.
The sky is clear and refreshing, it is the season of play, walking on the empty path, looking at the Furong Lake on the side of the road, Zhang Mingchuan seems to have returned to the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty and become the supreme supreme.
Coming to the door of the Purple Cloud Palace, the staff in front of the door confirmed Zhang Mingchuan's identity, pushed open the main entrance of the Purple Cloud Palace, and led him into the Purple Cloud Palace.
The first floor of the quaint Ziyun Hall has not been modernized, and it still maintains a classical charm, but it is simply renovated The murals on the pillars and walls of the lower hall, and the staff took Zhang Mingchuan to the dressing room.
Unlike the ancient hall that has just entered the door, the powder room is completely modern in style, and the traces are not improvised.
Zhang Mingchuan, who took off his mask, was directly stunned by the makeup artist who had been waiting in the dressing room for a long time.
"It's too light to lose one point from your facial features, and it's too heavy to add one point, I don't have room to play." Female makeup artist is a profession that is very sensitive to beauty requirements, but after seeing Zhang Mingchuan's face, she became at a loss.
"Then I'll give you a simple powder, and you don't have to spend on your facial features......" After approaching, the female makeup artist who carefully observed Zhang Mingchuan couldn't go on again.
The fair and delicate skin is ruddy and shiny, and the pores on the face are negligible, so there is really no need to even lay powder.
"I'd better give you a simple haircut." The female makeup artist took off Zhang Mingchuan's hat, and looking at the obviously untaken hairstyle, the female makeup artist finally found some value in existence.
The short and medium hair, which was originally crushed by the hat, gradually became three-dimensional and layered under the magical technique of the female makeup artist, and after a while, a refreshing and neat hairstyle was ready.
"I've done makeup for TV stars before, and to be honest, your foundation is a thousand times better than those little fresh meats, and a lot of them are created with heavy makeup and exaggerated hairstyles." The female makeup artist said while adjusting the angle of Zhang Mingchuan's face.
Zhang Mingchuan looked at himself in the mirror, with the blessing of his hairstyle, he could reach a 90-point appearance after the sewage discharge, which was close to a full score.
The female makeup artist was very satisfied with the work in front of her, and took a photo with Zhang Mingchuan in a cute way, and then posted a circle of friends "My new husband".
For Zhang Mingchuan, who had an extra wife without knowing it, he was checking the kitchenware he brought out of the kitchen in the mysterious space, because today he was comparing unicorn perch, Zhang Mingchuan only brought out two kitchen knives, a slice knife and a cutting knife.
The appearance is like the stalls that can be seen everywhere in the market, but Zhang Mingchuan, who has experienced the adventure of the desolate world, knows that these two knives brought out of the kitchen of the mysterious space are not ordinary.
"Chef please." After a while, the door of the dressing room was pushed open, and a hostess walked in, reminding Zhang Mingchuan that it was time to play.
The venue of the duel was not on the first floor, Zhang Mingchuan followed the swaying figure of Miss Manners to the second floor and walked out of the stairwell.
There are a total of five stoves in the middle of the main hall on the second floor, and two of them are facing the auditorium, and the stoves are already equipped with the ingredients needed for today's dishes.
At the same time, from the other side of the main hall, Qiao Fubao, who was wearing a black chef's uniform and combing his hair with a big back, also pushed open the door of the stairwell at the same time and appeared in the main hall. There was also a middle-aged man with a similar appearance beside him, holding a bamboo steamer in his hand.
Qiao Fubao looked at Zhang Mingchuan who came out from the opposite side with a complicated expression, twenty-five or sixteen years old, about the same age as his grandson, but now he was competing with him.
If Zhang Mingchuan's appearance won the favor of the judges first with his handsome appearance, then Qiao Fubao, who has a calm temperament, gives people the feeling of professionalism.
Junjun takes you to eat Xijing and sits alone on a chair close to Zhang Mingchuan, and opened the live broadcast before Zhang Mingchuan appeared, and whispered to the friends who entered the live broadcast room, injecting a trace of vitality into the serious and tense atmosphere of the scene.
waited until Zhang Mingchuan appeared, Junjun took you to eat Xijing and immediately turned the camera and gave him an appearance shot.
"Is this Shanhai Food Garden recruiting chefs so demanding on appearance?" Looking at Zhang Mingchuan, who was completely different from the body shape of the last live broadcast, said into the mobile phone, Zhang Mingchuan's appearance has obviously seriously exceeded Junjun's expectation of taking you to eat Xijing.
"Lick the screen, lick the screen, lick the screen, oops, lick the dew and dew the electricity, and the tongue is numb." Last time, Zhang Mingchuan didn't show his face from beginning to end, and he harvested a batch of beauty fans just by virtue of his figure and skin.
The dust-free temperament of this Qi refining entry and the careful dressing up of the makeup artist can be said to have harvested 99% of the female fans in Xijing where Junjun took you to eat, and the remaining 1% of female fans are modest representatives of modern society.
"Don't be a chef, my sister sells blood to support you." Crazy female fans are swiping the screen like crazy. For a while, Junjun took you to eat West Kyoto, and I couldn't control the rhythm of the live broadcast room.
Seeing that Zhang Mingchuan and Qiao Fubao both arrived in front of the stove, the professional master of ceremonies of the Cooking Association followed the stage to announce the start of the showdown.
In the past two days, Zhang Mingchuan has not been idle, using the powerful ability of the mysterious space for unlimited time and quantity, coupled with Zhang Mingchuan's current super physical strength, he has been practicing the dish of unicorn sea bass.
It was almost the same as steamed fish, and it didn't take long for Zhang Mingchuan to be affirmed by the perfect quality of the Xuanqi Gate.
Zhang Mingchuan looked at the lively sea bass, a whole ham, a plate of shiitake mushrooms, two fresh bamboo shoots, and the neatly arranged spices in the pool.
Zhang Mingchuan knows that the umami and taste of sea bass are far inferior to the fish produced in the desolate world, and the steamed sea bass in Shanhai Food Garden can crush the unicorn perch in Tang Fengge A big reason is also because of the complete crushing of the quality of the ingredients, and at present, only by making the unicorn perch to the extreme can it be possible to defeat Qiao Fubao, who has been a fish all his life.
Zhang Mingchuan first selects and cuts the fat and thin position of the ham, cuts out a plate of thin slices, and steam them in a pot to remove the excess cured taste of the ham and stimulate the aroma of the ham.
Then a plate of mushroom slices and a plate of fresh bamboo shoots, everything is good under Zhang Mingchuan's skilled knife work, and then the bamboo shoots are steamed and let cool for later use.
Finally, Zhang Mingchuan began to process the sea bass in the pool, after the treatment was cleaned, the head of the fish was cut, the large bones of the fish body were removed, and the meat was sliced into thick slices with a knife.
Fish fillets, shiitake mushroom slices, ham slices, and bamboo shoot slices are laid out layer by layer on a plate with shredded green onions and ginger in advance.
Then pour the refined salt, Huadiao wine, pepper, and sesame oil evenly on the dish, and then cover with a layer of green onion and ginger slices.
The stove is also the usual gas stove, and Zhang Mingchuan skillfully steamed the unicorn sea bass in the pot on high heat according to the perfect quality time.
Although Qiao Fubao on the other side has a little gray hair, the knife technique of the sliced fish is still neat, the process and time are similar to Zhang Mingchuan's practice, the difference is that Qiao Fubao also added fish sauce and monosodium glutamate to the seasoning, and replaced the stainless steel pot provided by the Cuisine Association with its own bamboo steamer when steaming the fish.
The dishes of both sides were completed almost at the same time, and for a moment the steam was filled, and the smell of fish had already wafted into the noses of the audience.
Next is the part where Zhang Mingchuan and Qiao Fubao explain their dishes.
"Now there are a lot of voices outside, commenting on me for bullying newcomers, saying that I make a big fuss, but unicorn sea bass is a dish that I have made all my life, and I want to say that I have a deep affection for this dish, and I don't want this dish to become my regret, so I still came despite the gossip from the outside world. This also represents our Tang Fengge's attitude towards dishes that are not foolish. Qiao Fubao's passionate speech reversed the previous attitude of many people present, and they were greatly moved.
"Okay, let's ask Chef Zhang Mingchuan from Shanhai Food Garden to explain his unicorn sea bass." The master of ceremonies took over and said.