The evening breeze is warm.

At night, the pagoda temple square is brightly lit, with more than ten stoves furnished, and nearly 1,000 tourists watch outside the prompt line.

"The purpose of this festival is to promote the culture of the stove festival in the form of a food competition and display."

Xia Sunian opened his speech and said politely:

"Next, please allow me to explain to you the rules of this cooking competition and the first trial!"

Under the leadership of the staff, Luo He has come to a stove of his own and found that the kitchen utensils are all available.

Looking at the center of the venue, I saw a huge food storage cabinet placed there.

The cabinets are divided into squares, and there are a variety of vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage, and tomatoes, as if someone has dragged the central display case of a large supermarket to the scene.

In addition, outside the large vegetable display case, there is also a row of cold cabinets, and Luo He guessed that it should be seafood and meat.

It seems that not only the kitchenware, but also the organizer of the ingredients have helped to prepare, but the ingredients need to be picked up on the spot...... Luo He thought.

On the stage, there was the sound of Xia Su Nian's explanation of the rules.

"The total duration of the initial test is three hours, which is divided into three parts: food selection, food production, and food display."

"At the start of the competition, the contestants first have to go to the central display case, select the ingredients they need, and then return to their stove and start cooking."

"It's important to note that each player needs to cook at least 10 portions of food, so you should also take 10 portions of food to avoid running out of ingredients." Xia Sunian reminded.

There are already contestants at the scene who have questioned it:

"How many copies?"

"It's not just for the judges, why do you cook so many dishes!"

Xia Sunian said with a smile: "Because there are no professional judges in this field, but a hundred tourists randomly selected by the scene as public judges." ”

As soon as these words came out, the audience fell into an uproar.

"For each visitor who is a judge, a staff member will give you a tael of [broken silver], and then you can walk back and forth between the various stoves and eat the food at will."

Xia Sunian said this to the audience, "If you taste the food you like, please give the broken silver to the cook of the stove." ”

"The chef who is the first to collect ten taels of silver will advance to the next round of the competition!"

With Xia Sunian's words, the chefs on the stove side talked about the competition system.

"I don't understand, what the hell does it mean?"

"In other words, it's about the same as a food festival. You have to cook food to attract tourists, and you have to let tourists take the initiative to taste the food on the stall, and the food must be so delicious that they will voluntarily give you the [broken silver]. ”

"As long as ten tourists give you the broken silver, you will be considered promoted!"

Luo He frowned slightly, and quickly realized the difficulty of this format.

First of all, there are so many chefs on site, and each chef has to cook at least ten dishes, and the ingredients must be tight.

This also means that in the initial "ingredient selection" link, you must join the army of competing for ingredients, otherwise you will face the dilemma of having no rice.

In addition, the cooking process must be firmly in the eyes of the guests and not let them lose to other stoves, thus reducing their chances of making the cut.

The cooking time also needs to be hurried, otherwise the dish is not finished and the "promotion ticket" is gone.

Because there are only 100 judges, there are only 10 places to advance at most.

And because a chef may be recognized by more than ten judges, it is likely that less than ten will make the final cut.

Luo He looked around and found that many chefs had solemnity written on their faces.

There are more than 20 breeders on site, including many well-known and industry masters.

Luo He said in his heart... This is a very high rate of elimination.

Because there are only two rounds of assessment, the first test is hellish difficulty!

"Next, I will announce the questions of the preliminary examination." Xia Su Nian Road.

Beside Luo He, a tall breeder looked surprised.

"I'll go, and there are still prescribed exam questions?"

Boom!

Not far away, Master Haiyue cut the heavy bone-chopping double knife on the cutting board, and said in a deep voice:

"In previous years, the Stove King Festival was presided over by the top breeders in Donghuang, and it was inevitable that it would be difficult."

This momentum shocked others for a while, and Luo He cast his gaze curiously, but saw that Master Haiyue was also looking at this side.

Eyes meet.

Haiyue was condescending, glanced at Luo He's palm, and saw that the cocoon holding the kitchen knife was new and tender.

Turning his head in disinterest, Haiyue set his eyes on the stage, waiting for the announcement of the exam questions.

"Snacks are a type of food with a specific style and characteristics in taste, which is often made from local materials and reflects the local lifestyle. Through snacks, the customs and cultures of local cuisines can blend and collide in the festival. ”

Xia Sunian said: "The question in this exam is, [Snack]!" ”

Luo He's eyes flashed slightly.

Snacks, this exam is very broad.

The point is to see what ingredients you can grab.

Luo He looked at the ingredient display case in the center of the venue.

"Remind in advance that in the selection of ingredients, the breeder is not allowed to send pet animals as assistants to avoid accidents."

Xia Su Nian seemed to anticipate the scene of competing for ingredients, smiled, and said:

"Now, please get ready—"

The eyes of all the chefs in the venue converged on the central display case and the row of refrigerated cabinets.

"I announce that this round of competition has officially begun!"

As the words fell, the breeders in the venue rushed to the food display case like an arrow from the string.

Master Haiyue has a tough physique and is tall and big, so he came to the seafood cabinet and picked up a box of prawns.

Fresh shrimp is naturally a hot ingredient, and seeing that Master Haiyue made the first move, there was a sudden sense of annoyance on all sides.

Of course, there are also unhurried players. Master Miaoxi walked slowly to the vegetable area, because the vegetable reserves were relatively abundant, she looked calm, and easily selected a roll of shepherd's cabbage and put it in the bamboo basket.

Luo He was only stunned for a moment, and the speed of the mountains of ingredients had already decreased visibly, and he didn't dare to get distracted anymore, and hurriedly joined the army of competing for ingredients.

Laboriously put the lean pork he grabbed into the bamboo basket, Luo He was relieved to find a treasure.

Anyway, I grabbed the black spear pork I wanted to use... Luo He was a little sad... Otherwise, if there are no raw materials, it will be too miserable!

"Why don't you try a foreign snack?"

Xia Miao's faint voice came from his ears.

Luo He turned his head, only to see an old woman shaking the bamboo basket in her hand, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Snails and vanilla...... These are things that no one wants. ”

In this competition, Xia Miao assumed the alias 'Ms. Zhen', using the identity of other alliances.

Although the style seemed out of place with many of the chefs present, because the identity was well documented, it reduced the risk of exposure.

Luo He glanced at the ingredients selected by "Ms. Zhen", and had already thought of what snacks Xia Miao was going to make.

Baked snails.

A French dish stuffed with herbs in a snail shell, the fragrance alone can attract the attention of many public judges.

"Thank you for the reminder, I'd better pick it myself." Luo He said politely.

"Okay, young man, I won't bother you, old woman." Xia Miao walked slowly to the stall.

The selection of ingredients ended quickly.

In the end, Luo He took flour, lean pork and a few poor cabbages.

Compared with the stove of Master Haiyue not far away, those luxurious ingredients such as prawns, chicken, dragon fruit, and spinach are really not enough.

Luo He looked at the ingredients in front of him, and when he caught a glimpse of the steamer provided by the organizer, he already had the answer in his heart.

*

In front of the stove, the chefs are cooking in full swing.

Outside the prompt line, hundreds of judges held broken silver in their hands, ready to enter the venue and taste the food.

Lin Xiaolin and Li Wanqing are also about to get to the judges' quota and mix in the team.

"Eh, I seem to have seen the girl from the Jiang family." Lin Xiaolin said loudly.

Li Wanqing was stunned, followed Lin Xiaolin's line of sight, and saw a young and beautiful girl wearing a peaked cap, looking left and right in the crowd.

She obviously also saw Li Wanqing and Lin Xiaolin, she was stunned for a moment, then pushed aside the crowd, apologized in a low voice, and approached this side.

"Sister Xiaolin, Sister Wanqing."

Jiang Yuenuan was surprised: "I didn't expect to see you two here!" ”

"I still think it's strange, what are you doing all the way from the imperial capital here?" Lin Xiaolin asked curiously.

"Uncle Cheng also participated, so I came over to take a look." Jiang Yuenuan said excitedly: "And this time I have the opportunity to eat Master Miaoxi's vegetarian food, it will definitely be worth the trip!" ”

Uncle Cheng, formerly known as Cheng Ankang, is a housekeeper who takes care of the Jiang family's siblings, and he is also a breeder who is good at Lu cuisine.

The Jiang family of the Royal Dragon Clan is a big family famous for being breeders.

This time, the Stove Jun Festival sent an invitation to the Jiang family, and the patriarch Jiang Xiangtian sent a henchman to participate in the competition, which was a response.

Li Wanqing proposed: "Since we met, let's wait and enter the arena together." ”

"No, no, no." Jiang Yuenuan shook her head again and again, "I'll leave after a while." ”

For Li Wanqing, the younger generation of the Jiang family has some psychological shadows.

Dare to take the initiative to say hello, this is already the embodiment of Jiang Yuenuan's big heart.

"Next, I invite a hundred public judges to enter the venue!"

At this time, Xia Sunian's voice sounded.

The staff put down the cordon, and hundreds of judges entered the venue.

Jiang Yuenuan looked left and right, and soon found Uncle Cheng's stove, but saw that there was already a long queue in front of his stove.

"Please take it, pull the yam."

Qilu is the birthplace of silk drawing, and Cheng Ankang, as a master of Lu cuisine, is quite good at drawing silk vegetables.

As a traditional famous spot in the silk drawing vegetables, the color of the silk yam is persimmon yellow, and it can pull out the filament, crispy, sweet and crispy, and has always been a famous dish for pressing the table.

At the moment, Cheng Ankang handed a small portion of the silk yam to the impatient tourists, and said:

"If you think it's delicious, please put the broken silver on the stove, thank you."

The tourist picked up a piece of golden and crisp silk yam with a fork, stuffed it into his mouth, his eyes lit up, he nodded again and again, and then put the broken silver on Cheng Ankang's stove.

Cheng Ankang counted the broken silver, and in less than half an hour, he had harvested ten pieces, and bowed slightly.

"The first promoter has been produced, and it is Master Cheng Ankang from the imperial capital!" The staff announced.

The remark obviously caused a commotion among the players.

Jiang Yuenuan looked left and right, then stepped forward and said, "Uncle Cheng, I also want a silk yam!" ”

When Steward Cheng saw Jiang Yuenuan, he was a little surprised, and immediately said in a low voice:

"Miss, I'll make ten servings, you better take the broken silver to other stalls."

Jiang Yuenuan pursed her mouth and said, "Okay, then you have to remember, make it for me to eat when you go back!" ”

"Of course." Steward Cheng said with a smile.

Jiang Yuenuan had no choice but to continue looking for the food she wanted to eat, muttering:

"Master Miaoxi's side should also be limited to ten copies...... It's so hard to get in line! ”

In less than a moment, another player advanced.

Master Wu, a Sichuan flavor master from Jindu, became the second player to advance with his first-hand red oil dumplings.

And he had more than 10 dumplings in this pot, and because of the delicious taste, he was recognized by the judges, and he harvested more than 20 pieces of broken 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 the rest of the players a sense of urgency.

Chef Haiyue also chooses dumplings.

His dish, called 'Kung Fu Soup Shrimp Dumplings', is a slow-cooked kung fu soup that is poured into a teacup with shrimp dumplings, and eaten with slow-fired soup.

The kung fu soup is fragrant and pleasant, and the shrimp dumplings are delicious.

Chef Haiyue even made three colors of shrimp dumplings, red dough made from dragon juice, green dough made from spinach juice, and flour made into primary dough.

The three-color crystal shrimp dumplings with kung fu soup perfectly show the characteristics of Cantonese cuisine with fine workmanship, umami and delicious taste, and Chef Haiyue became the third player to advance.

"The fourth place finalist, Ms. Zhen from the Glory Alliance!"

Xia Miao baked snails with a hand, harvested ten pieces of broken silver, and successfully advanced.

In the venue, there was an exclamation, Jiang Yuenuan followed the prestige, and saw the judges in front of Master Miaoxi's stove all exclaiming.

The delicacy made by Master Miao Xi is called "Pan-fried Vegetarian Spring Rolls".

This fried spring roll is a representative vegetarian dish of the temple's famous vegetarian dish "Three Springs and One Lotus".

The raw materials are seasonal wild vegetables, with dried tofu, black bean sauce, gluten bubbles and various seasonings, which are fragrant and crispy after frying, and the lips and teeth are fragrant.

The so-called three springs and one lotus, refers to fried spring rolls, blanched spring buds, roasted spring mushrooms and white lotus soup, which first originated in Meishan Wuzu Temple, and once made pilgrims flock to it.

After tasting this fried spring roll, the judges unanimously gave the broken silver, and after Master Miaoxi collected ten pieces of broken silver, he also successfully advanced to the main competition.

After the five winners were decided, the second half of the schedule began.

There are fewer and fewer pieces of silver left in the hands of the judges, but the organizers have not yet announced the end of the competition, which means that there are still promotion places.

Jiang Yuenuan walked around, and after tasting a few stalls, she felt unpalatable, and she didn't give the broken silver in her hand, and suddenly noticed a deserted stall.

There is no kitchen assistant at this stall.

There was only one chef and a nine-section wolf busy before and after.

After seeing the chef's face clearly, Jiang Yuenuan was surprised: "Luo He? ”

Luo He glanced at it, then worked by the steamer, and said loudly: "Don't leave yet!" ”

Jiang Yuenuan: "Huh? ”

"Give me another five minutes, and the dish will be baked."

Luo He coughed dryly: "I hope you have tasted the dishes and left the broken silver before leaving." ”

Jiang Yuenuan was slightly stunned, then gloated and said:

"I thought you would have been promoted a long time ago, but I didn't expect you to even make the dishes yet!"

Luo He was a little embarrassed, and looked at the sky and said: "I'm working slowly and carefully." ”

In fact, this dish has high requirements for the thinness of the dough, and it takes a long time to roll the dough......

"Hmph, I really have a silver tael here."

Jiang Yuenuan played with the silver in her hand, and said absentmindedly: "But I'm hungry, I see which stove has a good dish, I'll give the silver directly to which one." ”

"Don't go! I'll ask Xiao Jiu to perform a backflip for you! Luo He said.

Jiang Yuenuan was stunned and said, "Backflip? ”

Luo He glanced at the steamer, and after confirming that it was coming out of the pot immediately, he greeted:

"Xiao Jiu, go to the front of the stove and attract everyone by backflipping!"

"Huh!"

It's not easy to get out of the stall, and Xiao Jiu sells his art.

Xiao Jiu came to the stall, stood on his feet, and raised his palms high.

This scene attracted a lot of attention from all around, and Xiao Jiu immediately followed a backflip on the spot, shocking everyone present!

The effect of this solicitation of customers was obvious, and the remaining tourists in the venue approached the Luohe booth one after another.

In order to enliven the atmosphere, Luo He said loudly:

"I sincerely invite you to enjoy the siu mai snacks made below——"

Luo He opened the steamer, the mist rose into the night sky, the steamer was steaming, as if there were crystals shining, reflecting bright brilliance.

"[Crystal Glass Roasted Wheat]!!"

Jiang Yuenuan was stunned for a moment, a little incredible.

This roasted wheat is glowing?!

Blinking her eyes vigorously, Jiang Yuenuan looked surprised.

Not an illusion.

The dough of this roasted wheat is like transparent glass, and under the action and refraction of hot air, it is really shining!

The tourists were shocked and discussed.

"Am I dazzled? How do you see a siu mai glowing? ”

"Did you do it by relying on the tricks of the pet beast?"

Jiang Yuenuan was the closest and asked: "Why is this roasted wheat transparent?" ”

There is a constant noise around.

"Really, the dough of this siu mai is almost transparent, like crystal!"

"It's amazing that there is such a thin roasted oatmeal!"

I don't know when, Master Haiyue stood tall in the crowd, looked at Luo He deeply, and said:

"Siu mai originated from steamed buns, is one of the most prestigious snacks in the imperial capital, and later spread to all parts of Donghuang, after arriving in Jindu, through the continuous innovation of the people of Jindu, and finally formed a local characteristic of [glass siu mai]."

Master Haiyue said in a deep voice: "There is no glutinous rice in the main ingredient, it is made of pork lean meat chopped and peppered, salt, monosodium glutamate, cooking wine, and sesame oil to make the filling, and the focus is on the production of the dough and the control of the steaming heat. ”

These two are extremely challenging for chefs, and they can't be done without a ten-year foundation.

Haiyue frowned slightly.

But this Luo He is so young, how did he make this famous dish?

Luo He stood beside the steamer, glanced at Master Haiyue, who was helping to explain, smiled, and said:

"Yes, the characteristics of glass siu mai are that the skin is thin and the filling is abundant, and the leather is translucent when soaked in oil after cooking, and the filling can be seen through the skin."

"And I added the characteristics of crystal dumpling flour to the dough of glass siu mai, so that the dough of glass siu mai is more crystal clear, Q elastic and tender."

Luo He looked around and said:

"Anyway, if you still have broken silver in your hands, you can come up and taste it...... There is also the idea of promotion in the next, so there is a lot of work for everyone! ”

Luo He's sincere remarks gained a lot of goodwill, and the judges who still had the authority stepped forward one after another to taste this [crystal glass roasted wheat].

The color is white and thin, the taste is delicious and mellow, and the roasted wheat dough even has the smooth and tender characteristics of crystal shrimp dumplings.

The filling combines the sweet aroma of boiled cabbage and the oily aroma of steamed lean pork.

Its unique taste made the judges lose their minds for a while.

"Yum!!"

"This is the best siu mai I've ever tasted!"

"Here you go, I'll give you all the promotion tickets!"

Jiang Yuenuan tasted the glass roasted wheat and reluctantly handed out the broken silver.

I wanted Luo He to beg me again.

But this snack is so fragrant!

Boom!

In the middle of the venue, the bell rings to symbolize the end of the competition.

"The last player to advance has been born!"

Luo He wiped his sweat, looked at the ten taels of silver on the table, and smiled.

"He's the Luo He player from Yunling!!"

……

It's you! The youngest Grand Chef ever!

(End of chapter)