Chapter 518 Today I made up for my regret

After hearing this, they felt embarrassed to stay in the small hall, so they said hello and hurried out.

"Grandpa, have you had a good rest? You're here again." After leaving the hall, Wen Xinyuan looked back curiously.

"I guess not. He looks like he's in a normal mood." The fat man shook his head.

Yu Yiyuan sighed at the end, "In the last round, in addition to the top three, the old man will also select one or two contestants to study together. He probably came for this purpose."

After hearing this, the four of them felt that it made sense and their minds became active.

"What do you think are the old man's selection criteria? If you can't make it into the top three, how can you compete for this spot?" Wen Xinyuan tilted his head.

"I don't know the standard, but I definitely don't want you~" The fat man immediately started to taunt.

"Hiss, don't you want me to? Fourth place! I think, to meet this standard, one must have some basic knowledge of Shandong cuisine, or their cooking skills must have some connection with Shandong cuisine, right?"

"Not necessarily. Teacher Nan has a broad mind. He not only wants to promote Shandong cuisine, but more importantly, learn from each other, break down barriers, and let a hundred flowers bloom. If he has to choose, he will definitely choose the contestant who he thinks will benefit from learning from him and his cooking skills, or who has the potential to go further." Guan Yingxia said.

These words were confirmed by Nan Rongquan's choice that night.

At six o'clock, the five people entered the hall and were immediately shocked by the colorful decorations in the hall.

It was not until He Xi came on stage to speak that I realized that in addition to the results being announced tonight, the lists of the top ten and top three in the country would also be released soon. So in addition to the rankings being announced tonight, there would also be the highlight of the awards ceremony.

Therefore, today's event is particularly grand, and the advertisers' thanks are also particularly long.

The contestants were practically falling asleep when He Xi finally got to the point. "Now, please enjoy the performances of our teams and the judges' comments! Here are our first team: Mao Tingxiu, Ben Lulan, Jiang..."

The teams were ranked according to who handed in their dishes first. Mao Tingxiu's team had six people, and it was said that they handed in their dishes just after four o'clock, so they were naturally ranked first.

The dishes prepared by this team are pleasing to the eye. The five main dishes are Dongpo pork elbow, salted duck, Hakka stuffed tofu, Huangshan stewed pigeon, and squirrel mandarin fish. There are two vegetarian dishes, one is eggplant with preserved eggs and peppers, and one is green beans with sesame salt. The soup is red date, white fungus and lotus seed soup.

The judges' favorite was Mao Tingxiu's Dongpo pork elbow, followed by edamame with sesame salt. After taking turns praising and making subtle suggestions, they finally gave the entire team a high score of 87 points and Mao Tingxiu an individual score of 16 points.

The second team was the team of Lao Ma, who had teamed up with Zhao Xiaojing and Fatty before. There were 7 people in this team, and they were probably good at similar cuisines. The table was mainly Chinese and Western food. The five main dishes were black truffle crispy roast chicken, smoked salmon Benedict eggs, orange juice mustard shrimp balls, lemon fried low-temperature beef salad, Thai Tom Yum Goong seafood, one vegetarian dish was salad, one was Japanese cold tofu, and the soup was cream of mushroom soup.

This team of judges mainly encouraged the performance, but their level of liking was average, and they gave it a final score of 78.

The third team was Zhao Xiaojing's team. Zhao Xiaojing originally thought that Yu Yiyuan's soft-shelled eel and Guan Yingxia's hosta frog would definitely attract the most attention. However, when Dang Yongge picked up the microphone, the first thing she mentioned was her fried double crispy dishes.

"Let me first explain the value of this deep-fried double-crust dish. This dish is a test of both skill and experience in Shandong cuisine. Without ten years of experience wielding a wok, you wouldn't dare venture even a step beyond this.

Why is this dish so difficult to make even though it looks simple?

The key to this dish's deliciousness lies in its exquisite cooking time. Seasoning is minimal: scallions and ginger for sautéing, a touch of pepper, a dash of salt and MSG for the sauce, and, for those who prefer, a ladle of broth—that's it. The essence of the dish is the chef's supreme skill and his impeccable control of the heat; even a slight overcooking can completely alter the flavor.

To put it simply, when the tripe enters your mouth, the bite of your teeth must be clean and sharp, with a crisp and smooth feeling of breaking with a "snap", rather than a "crunch" feeling of toughness caused by the friction of muscles when you bite it. To achieve this, the skills required are quite strict.

From the start, Teacher Nan and I identified this contestant as a dark horse. But even when we thought we had given her a good chance, she consistently surpassed our expectations. This dish truly astounded me, and I can't describe the feeling. Even in Beijing, there are fewer than ten major restaurants that dare to make this dish, and I've tried almost all of them. Only two truly worthy of the name "oil-fried double crispy" are made by master chefs with forty or fifty years of experience. Teacher Nan's oil-fried double crispy is a renowned specialty, but unfortunately, he mostly assists his apprentices now, so I haven't had the chance to try it. It's always been a regret of mine, but this contestant has filled that regret today.

Dang Yongge's evaluation was very high. Not only the audience was surprised, but even Zhao Xiaojing herself opened her eyes wide.

She knew the dish was difficult, but she had no idea how difficult it was. If she had known Dang Yongge was saying it was so difficult, she might not have had the courage to try it. After all, if she had been stuck for 40 or 50 years, she would have gone crazy.

The result of these words was that the whole audience fell silent. After the silence, the contestants turned their heads to look at Zhao Xiaojing.

Nan Rongquan's health has not fully recovered, so all the comments tonight were made by Dang Yongge. After Dang Yongge finished speaking, the microphone was passed to the other four.

Huang Jinge then praised the soft-shelled eel, Le Zhengsong the salt-baked chicken, Yu Jiarong the ginger duck, and Di Tianhe the Shanjia Three Crisps. The five judges each praised their respective dishes like a competition. Finally, Dang Yongge picked up the microphone again and looked at Guan Yingxia. "Let me tell you about this dish of hosta frog."

“In fact, Teacher Nan and I are both very concerned about Tai Shi Cai, and also about contestant Guan Yingxia, who is the successor of Tai Shi Cai. But we don’t know how to evaluate Tai Shi Cai or how to evaluate this dish of Hosta Frog.

Firstly, Guan Yingxia's abilities as a chef are highly commendable, and her talent, potential, and savvy are among the best among chefs. Taishi cuisine is also incredibly important and renowned in the history of Chinese cuisine, even now considered an endangered cuisine where every bite is a luxury.

So why don't we know how to evaluate it? This is actually a complex question. First, there are the unique characteristics and particularities of Taishi cuisine. Taishi cuisine is official government cuisine, and is renowned for the lavish spending of Emperor Taishi Jiang on food. Its hallmarks are its complexity and refinement, so complex that it's so demanding that chefs without solid foundational skills simply can't prepare it.

However, as the catering industry has developed to this point, while other cuisines have been constantly innovating and changing, Taishi cuisine, due to its unique characteristics, has been unable to adapt to the times.”