Chapter 277 Advertising for the Grand River Banquet

The third event was an embroidery competition.

Most of the participants in this competition are embroiderers arranged by the embroidery workshops. They are all dressed very exquisitely and beautifully, and they attract the attention of countless people as soon as they sit on the stage.

Wang Damai and Xia Hua represented Dahe Village in the competition. The two of them only knew a little bit of embroidery, which was no match for the professional embroiderers. They were eliminated in the first round. However, the two of them were not discouraged at all. Instead, they found a closer spot and carefully watched how others embroidered. The more they watched, the more enthusiastic they became.

After the embroidery was finished, there was a cooking competition, which also attracted the interest of many people.

Participants in the cooking competition need to bring their own dishes from home. Before the competition starts, judges will taste the dishes and select the final twenty people to participate in the final. The final competition is conducted by the organizers preparing ingredients, and the twenty people each choose their own ingredients to cook. The dishes are judged based on three dimensions: color, aroma, and taste, and then the first, second, and third place winners are selected.

Before setting off, Wu Huiniang had discussed with Cheng Wanwan that since they were opening a restaurant, they should take this opportunity to make a name for themselves before the restaurant opened.

The dish she was going to make was braised chicken. The tender chicken and mushrooms were easy-to-find ingredients. Although there were no chili peppers, she could use dogwood instead, and it still tasted quite good.

Many people choose chicken as the main ingredient, and most of these people are chefs from restaurants, who also do so to enhance the restaurant's reputation.

Those people were dressed in chef's uniforms, with a sign on their uniforms indicating the restaurants they belonged to: Zuixianlou, Jixianglou, Yuelailou... Chefs from all of them had made it to the finals. Wu Huiniang blended in among them, completely inconspicuous.

She kept her head down and prepared quickly and methodically.

Before long, a delicious aroma wafted from the stadium.

The onlookers began to drool.

"This smells so good!"

"Watching the game is torture."

Who do you think will come in first place?

"Needless to say, it must be Chef Yu from Zuixianlou. His Eight Treasure Duck is absolutely amazing."

"The chicken and fish soup at Jixiang Restaurant is also quite good, but it costs one tael of silver plus three hundred copper coins to buy one serving."

"The Eight Treasure Duck is too greasy, and the Chicken and Fish Soup is too bland. I hope to see some different dishes today."

"..."

The crowd was buzzing with discussion, with all sorts of opinions.

Slowly, some dishes were taken out of the pot.

Braised chicken is a very ordinary dish to prepare, and there's nothing fancy about it once it's in the pot. But once it's fully infused with flavor and the sauce has reduced, the aroma wafts out as soon as the lid is lifted, filling the air with fragrance and making your mouth water.

Normally, dishes like shredded chicken and fish soup, and eight-treasure duck are considered high-class dishes by ordinary people, and many people would like to try them. But at this moment, everyone forgot about these two dishes and wanted to know what this fragrant dish was.

When Wu Huiniang ladled the food out of the pot, everyone finally saw what it was.

"It's chicken and mushrooms!"

"I've made chicken stew with mushrooms at home before, but it never tastes this good."

"Oh my god, I really want to try it!"

All the dishes were served to the judges, who consisted of eight county magistrates and two restaurant owners.

Wu Huiniang was a little nervous.

Everyone in her family says her cooking is delicious, and some people in the village who have tasted her cooking also praise it highly.

This is the first time I've let outsiders eat the food I've cooked. To be honest, I'm a little unsure of myself.

She involuntarily looked up at the audience. Cheng Wanwan looked at her with tender eyes, Zhao Dashan smiled at her, and Da Mai and Xia Hua also gave her a thumbs up. Everyone in Dahe Village was cheering her on.

She straightened her back and waited quietly for the result.

The county magistrates on the judging panel were all wealthy people who had tasted most of the good things in the surrounding counties and towns. It could be said that very few foods could tempt their appetites.

Eight-treasure duck, shredded chicken and fish soup, shredded pork with garlic sauce, lion's head meatballs, assorted rice... all sorts of delicacies were placed in front of them in small dishes, along with mouthwash.

Magistrate Shen tasted each dish one by one, and on the seventh dish, he finally arrived at the braised chicken he had been longing for.

He had eaten at Cheng Wanwan's house and knew that Wu was a very skilled cook. Ever since Wu took office, he had been looking forward to this dish.

It was a dish he had never seen before, with perfect color and an enticing aroma. One bite revealed tender and juicy chicken, and mushrooms soaked in chicken broth that slid down his throat, making his taste buds bloom inch by inch.

Magistrate Shen couldn't resist picking up the small plate and eating it all.

When Magistrate Fu saw this, he frowned slightly. Old Shen really lived up to his peasant origins; his eating manners in public were anything but elegant.

But when he took a bite of the braised chicken, he was stunned. He had never eaten this before. Chicken stew with mushrooms is so common, but this dish was so amazing that he wanted to eat the plate as well.

The onlookers were utterly astonished.

"Stop talking, this dish is definitely the winner."

"The Eight Treasure Duck, Chicken, and Fish Soup has already made a name for itself. The judges probably know what it tastes like, but they only took one bite and put it aside."

“It’s unfair to ordinary people to use dishes that are already famous to compete.”

"We don't know if it's fair or not, but this chicken and mushroom dish is definitely going to be number one."

"I wonder where I can get this dish..."

"..."

Ultimately, unsurprisingly, Wu Huiniang won first place in the culinary category, Zuixianlou came in second, and Jixiang Restaurant came in third.

The deputy magistrate of Hekou County personally came to present the award.

One hundred taels of silver was quite a heavy sum. Wu Huiniang's hand trembled slightly as she held the silver. This was the first time she had earned money through her own abilities, and the feeling was indescribable. Of course, this honor was given to her by her mother-in-law; without her mother-in-law, she would not be standing here.

Wu Huiniang searched for Cheng Wanwan's figure in the crowd.

"Young lady, let's talk in private for a moment," the chef of Jixiang Restaurant said with a smile. "We'll buy your dish; you can pay whatever price you want."

With countless people watching from around the stadium, the dish's fame has spread far and wide. Once it's sold, it's sure to attract a huge number of customers.

The chef from Jixiang Restaurant quickly came over: "Sister-in-law, our restaurant will offer double the price."

Wu Huiniang withdrew her gaze, composed herself, and said loudly, "This dish is called Braised Chicken with Yellow Sauce. The meat is tender and the broth is delicious. It is a specialty dish of Daheyan Restaurant."

"The Great River Banquet? What place is that? Never heard of it?"

"Tell me which new restaurant opened there."

"Let's have this dish tonight."

"Go all the way to the end of this street and you'll find Dahe Banquet Restaurant, which will open at the end of this month." Wu Huiniang spared no effort in advertising her restaurant. "Besides braised chicken, we also have many other specialty dishes. There will be a free tasting event for the first three days after the opening, and everyone is welcome to come."

As she stepped off the stage, Cheng Wanwan gave her a hug: "Huiniang, you did a great job today."

Wu Huiniang handed one hundred taels of silver to Cheng Wanwan: "This should be a reward from your mother."

"Are you all just being lazy and not wanting to take the money?" Cheng Wanwan smiled helplessly. "I already gave San Niu his ten taels of silver. If you give me another hundred taels, I can't carry it. Da Shan, hurry up and give it to your wife."

Zhao Dashan walked over with a silly grin: "Wife, you're amazing..."

Wu Huiniang's face turned slightly red: "I won't watch the rest of the matches, I have to go back and nurse my baby."

Cheng Wanwan nodded: "Little Zhuzhu must be starving. Dashan, take a few more people with you back, and be careful on the way."

Zhao Dashan agreed, and the team of seven or eight people returned together.

And now the last event is about to begin: the abacus competition.