Chapter 55: The First Level
Finally, when the day of the Open Challenge came, hundreds of special chefs from all over Qinzhou gathered in the West Qin Pavilion.
As the most representative two-star restaurant in Qinzhou, Xiqin Pavilion is said to have a history of more than 300 years.
On an area of up to 10 acres of land, the six-storey restaurant built stands between the second and third ring roads of Xijing.
Hundreds of super-grade chefs came to the fifth floor of the West Qin Pavilion under the guidance of the staff of the West Qin Pavilion, which was originally an independent banquet hall, but today it has become a battlefield for Saidao Shinya to challenge the entire Qinzhou.
"It's been a long time since I came to the fifth floor, the banquet hall on the fifth floor of the West Qin Pavilion, I remember that the last time I came was because of the succession banquet of the president of the Qinzhou Cuisine Association, so many years have passed." A special chef who looked to be at least in his fifties said.
"I heard that the fifth floor of the West Qin Pavilion is not a place where you can make an appointment if you have money, and countless wealthy businessmen in the entire Qinzhou have squeezed their heads to do happy events here, but they can't." Said a special chef who was clearly here for the first time.
"It is worthy of being called the sacred place of the banquet of Xijing Yuhua, although the tables and chairs have been removed, but just looking at the pillars and walls of the hall can feel its magnificence." The young master chef looked around, his eyes full of yearning.
"I heard that the chief judge this time is the mysterious president of the Qinzhou Cuisine Association, and the rest of the judges are also bigwigs from all parties, if I perform well, I may be able to enter the sight of these characters." The successful Grand Chefs are all ready to go, especially the younger generation.
"Even if it's a guest watching the game, I heard that it was carefully selected." The crowd of spectators was also talking about the grand occasion.
"Humph! If I hadn't made it to the Master Chef exam, I would have had a place on the stage! A person about the same age as him next to Zhang Mingchuan said with an unwilling face.
"This open challenge is really Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon even in the audience, and these special chefs standing on the stage are even more imposing." Zhang Mingchuan, who was sitting in the audience, was also observing everything around him.
"Hey, aren't you Chef Zhang Mingchuan of Shanhai Restaurant, I didn't find you on the stage for a long time, I didn't expect you to sit in the audience." At this time, a young girl came from the aisle, looking at Zhang Mingchuan in front of her with admiration.
"My name is Tong Yuechan, and I am the president of your fan club, and I have been following you since the last time you fought against Tang Fengge in cooking." Tong Yuechan introduced herself.
"Hello, nice to meet you, thank you for your support and likes." Zhang Mingchuan said with a smile.
In this open challenge, even if Junjun takes you to eat Xijing, a food anchor with many fans, can't get in, but the young girl in front of him can come in as an audience, which makes Zhang Mingchuan feel a little curious.
Later, in a chat with Tong Yuechan, I learned that she was the daughter of Tong Xiangtai, the vice president of the Xijing Cuisine Association, and Tong Xiangtai was also on the public judges' seat, so she was able to enter the scene and become a spectator of this open challenge.
When she heard Tong Yuechan say that the magical three-thread stewed noodles effect can last for a week and she eats the dishes of Shanhai Food Garden every day, Zhang Mingchuan looked at her with a look of relief, "Another loyal diner"
The rules of the Open Challenge are different from ordinary competitions, and as the initiator of the Open Challenge, Shinya Saito will be challenged by more than 100 grandchefs in attendance.
In this sashimi contest, more than 100 challengers will be sorted according to the ingredients they filled in at the time of entry, and Saita will only be considered victorious if he defeats his opponents in all the classified food sections.
Now, depending on the ingredients, Saike Shin also needs to use salmon, sea urchin, sea bream, red shellfish, yellow anchovy, Australian lobster, tuna, octopus, horse meat, and puffer fish in order to defeat all the challengers.
What Zhaidao really didn't expect was that the challengers of salmon were actually the most, which also made him look down on the Qinzhou cuisine industry by three points.
Zhaidao Zhenya and more than 30 challengers were led to the seafood pool in the backyard of the restaurant by the staff of Xiqin Pavilion, and there are different seafood in the huge seafood pool, the staff introduced: "We Xiqin Pavilion will fly fresh seafood from all over the world every day, and the migratory Atlantic salmon in front of us, the longest storage time is close to a week, of course, there are new ones in the pool today, how to choose depends on you." ”
"It's kind of interesting, the game starts with the selection of fish. Sashimi is not only a test of knife skills, but also a test of the understanding of the freshness of the ingredients, and this kind of dispensing is not distributed by head, but adopts a model that allows everyone to choose their own fish, and 80% of the contestants can be eliminated from the selected ingredients. Zhang Mingchuan, who was watching the battle through the big screen, thought secretly.
Although the contestants are all chefs, as a special chef, the job of catching fish can be easily completed.
"It's moved, Zhaidao really did it, he was the first to make such a decisive move, and he didn't care about other people's choices at all, whether this is self-confidence or arrogance!" Whether it was the challengers around him, or the judges in the judges' seats, and everyone in the audience all focused their eyes on him, and Saidao Zhen also felt the gaze of everyone, but he didn't show any panic.
Fighting against others, he has always paid attention to knowing himself and knowing that he will win all battles, but Saidao Zhenya, as the initiator, was the first to do it, and took the initiative to expose the ingredients, so that people don't know if he is too arrogant or full of confidence in himself.
Sai Dao Shinya picked up the extended net, staring at the pond calmly, holding the net with one arm, he swung it out violently, and when he raised it again, there was already an Atlantic salmon of about fifteen catties in the net.
"Fifteen pounds! He actually chose a fifteen-pound Atlantic salmon! The challenger next to him looked at the Atlantic salmon that Saitoshi had fished out, and he already had a plan in his heart.
"I've got to find a better Atlantic salmon." The rest of the contestants had such thoughts in their heads.
Until Saidao Shinya returned to the arena with the selected Atlantic salmon, most of the contestants were still entangled, and the president of the Qinzhou Cuisine Association was nervous when he saw the Atlantic salmon he brought back.
"Let me fish again, I didn't choose this one!" There are challengers next to the seafood pool who plan to choose again.
"I'm sorry, the rules of the game, there is only one chance to choose, now there are only two choices, abstain or compete with this fish." The staff explained.
This rule made the rest of the challengers who had not yet chosen the fish even more entangled, and when the judges saw this, they had actually eliminated the people who were still in the seafood pool in their hearts.
Saito Shinya also processed the whole Atlantic salmon very quickly, and the orange-red flesh has white grease lines, making the thickly sliced sashimi slightly translucent.
Although a fifteen-pound Atlantic salmon was selected, but in the hands of Saito Maya, the real sashimi was less than three catties, and only one piece of salmon sashimi was placed in front of each judge, and the secret sauce next to the salmon was only a shallow layer, and it was just right to put the salmon flat in it.
"Saidao is really done!" The first fish selection was also the first to be completed, and it took less than 20 minutes from the selection of fish to the meal.
"I'm so confident." Zhang Mingchuan sighed involuntarily after seeing it.
"I think you're much more handsome than him, especially when you're serious about cooking." Tong Yuechan next to her heard Zhang Mingchuan's self-talk, and said with the trend.
"Hahaha, I think so too." Zhang Mingchuan smiled when he heard it and said, after all, as the chosen son, Zhang Mingchuan still has this confidence.
After a total of more than 40 minutes, all the challengers also completed the dishes, and the challengers behind Saito Shinya saw that he had prepared only one piece in front of each judge, so that the challengers who had originally prepared the entire dish were also followed, but the parts selected were also very different.
"Now that everyone has finished their dishes, I have something to say next." Seeing that all the challengers had completed the challenge, the president of the Qinzhou Cuisine Association, who was sitting in the main seat, was ready to announce the final results.