Chapter 64: Cooking Competition: The House’s Signature Dish—Hilsa Noodles! ...
Three days later, the Imperial Examination Hall was unlocked.
In the past, after three days of wasting time, the candidates would have messy hair, wrinkled clothes, and would walk with heavy steps, all wanting to hurry back to the hostel to recuperate.
Some people with poor physical fitness may even vomit blood.
"It's finally over." A candidate rubbed his temples and muttered to himself, with a hint of relief on his tired face.
Days of torture had left him exhausted and his body exuded a sour smell, but he still struggled to hold on to the sleeves of people around him.
"Brother, don't go!" He was excited, his eyes full of expectation.
"My grades are very poor, so I won't check the answers." Li Mi, a student from Yang'an who was grabbed by him, shook his head decisively.
Although Li Mi was comfortable with many questions in the first round, he knew that he needed to hide his weaknesses.
"No, no." The candidate looked haggard, his sunken eye sockets rimmed by a dark circle. He clutched Li Mi tightly, his lips trembling, his body shaking.
"May I ask what food you have been carrying these days? The fragrance spreads far and wide, and it smells very good." The candidate took a deep breath, his eyes like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.
So that’s what I wanted to know!
Li Mi burst out laughing.
Students from the northern border were stopped one after another, and all their answers pointed to one place - Changxingfang, Guiji Braised Food Shop.
"Thank you for letting me know!" Groups of examinees ran in the same direction.
They were eager to go to the store and eat everything in sight to get rid of the gluttony that had been aroused in the past three days.
As the sun sets, the rubble on the rooftops of Changxingfang Market shimmers with orange-red ripples, like the scales of an ancient mythical beast.
The vendors have already started packing up their stalls.
The exquisite little gadgets were put into the cloth bag one by one, and the sunset glow reflected on the nine-linked rings, bamboo dragonflies and clay figurines.
"Is the first round of the scientific expedition over?" Clay Man Zhang asked in surprise, "Why are these kids like crazy? Aren't they going back to the hotel to rest?"
"Do they also want to watch the cooking competition at Cuiyuan Tower?"
The old man who made sugar figures walked slowly with his hands behind his back. The capital had not been so lively for a long time.
A high platform had already been built in the center of the market.
The stove was burning brightly, the walls of the oven steaming from the smoke and fire. Heavy iron pots, delicate copper pots, bamboo steamers and other items were all available.
A canopy hung high on the stage, with colorful silks scattered everywhere. Gathered below the stage were people of all ages, and the place was bustling with activity.
A little child rode on his father's shoulders, staring intently at the stage.
The air was filled with excitement and anxiety.
"The cooking competition is a best-of-three contest, and in the first round, Cuiyuanlou brought out its signature dish - shad noodles!" There was a well-informed gossip who was eager to see if there would be any chaos in the world.
"What else can we compare?" He waved his hand and spoke in an extremely inflammatory tone.
"Everyone knows that Nanlin is rich in shad. We catch them from the lake and send them to the capital. They can reach there the same day, a distance of 200 kilometers!"
"Wow!" The onlookers exclaimed in a respectful manner and stood on tiptoe with even greater curiosity.
This is a high-end delicacy that only royal relatives are qualified to enjoy.
Cuiyuanlou can kill the game with just this one move!
On the stage, one of the candidates for Cuiyuanlou's successor chef has cleaned the shad.
I saw him using a blade as thin as a cicada's wing to remove the fish skin and bones and mince the fish into a paste.
He added green onion, ginger, water starch and egg white, and as his arms swung rhythmically, the fish paste rolled and surged in the basin.
The loose fish meat gradually becomes firm.
Spinning and blending, as if dancing to the beat of the drums.
Shad noodles are the freshest of the fresh, the best river and sea feast.
Cuiyuan Tower was not completely ignorant of its opponent. They had found out that Guizhier came from the northern border, so they posed this difficult question.
The North is landlocked and has no sea, so how can they cook seafood?
What's more, being able to deliver Nanlin shad within one day is to demonstrate the power and financial resources behind the restaurant.
"That little girl can only make some rotten fish and shrimp to fill the bill." The spectator shook his head while eating sunflower seeds, and was very pessimistic about Guizhier.
"That's wrong. You've never tasted the shrimp and fish noodles made by Miss Gui." The candidate from the Northern Territory who had just been released from the examination room retorted.
"Ah?" The onlookers looked at the students who suddenly appeared in front of them, puzzled.
What is fresh shrimp and fish noodles?
This group of scholars looked haggard, and some even lost their cloth shoes while running, but they were still clamoring to find Miss Gui to buy so-called "instant noodles".
"Young lady, would you like to compete on the stage?" Scholars from all over the country stretched their necks as hard as they could.
"You mean the owner of Guiji Braised Food Shop?" the well-informed gossip chuckled. "She's a coward and avoided a fight, only sending two barely-grown apprentices."
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes widened as they looked towards the platform, afraid of missing out on any excitement.
Two apprentices represented the braised food shop and made five-grain fish powder.
Brown rice retains the rice germ, wheat increases toughness, black rice has a unique color, and glutinous rice is sticky...
"Huh." The bean sprout boy put the fried crispy grains into the stone mill.
He used his thin arms to push the millstone hard, and the grain was gradually ground into powder and flowed out from the edge of the millstone.
The boy's forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.
"You have to work harder." The girl with ponytail was stepping onto such a big stage for the first time, and she encouraged herself secretly.
She sifted the grain flour that the boy had ground, added water and stirred it with chopsticks.
Until several moist dough balls are formed.
Different flours have different water absorption and taste.
Therefore, when making noodles, it is necessary to appropriately adjust the amount of water and the strength of dough kneading.
"Why don't you come over, young lady?" The bean sprout boy was so nervous that his fingers clenched unconsciously, and his knuckles turned white from the force.
He pursed his lips slightly, his bright eyes seemed lost in the fog. He accidentally glanced at his co-worker and kitchen helper who had bullied him before, and then hurriedly moved away.
"Waste!" the kitchen helper mouthed to him contemptuously.
Compared with the successor chef of Cuiyuanlou, the two apprentices of Guiji Braised Food Shop did seem clumsy.
The ingredients used are just average and nothing special.
No one is optimistic about them.
Except for the imperial examination candidates who were drugged with some unknown drug, he argued with the scholars and tried to prove how delicious the delicious food he had smelled in the past three days was.
The chef of Cuiyuanlou walked calmly to the stove and poured cold mountain spring water into the pot. The water droplets splashed on the wall of the pot, forming tiny droplets.
He placed the fish paste in the center of the gauze, his expression focused.
Lift the four corners of the gauze with both hands and slowly gather it together. The fish paste is squeezed into noodle-like soft paste under the gauze.
"It's worthy of being the restaurant's signature dish. This traditional noodle-making method is a true craft." The yellow-haired old man at the cutting table stood with a cane and nodded slightly in judgment.
The old man looked nostalgic, and when he thought of the late Cuiyuanlou master chef, he couldn't help but sigh with regret.
The judges are responsible for observing the color, smelling the fragrance, and tasting the flavor to determine the quality.
In addition, the public vote also accounts for a certain proportion.
Halfway through the race, Guizhier finally appeared after much anticipation.
The woman, dressed in a plain skirt, gripped the handlebars and moved lightly with lotus steps. The wheels of the cart turned slowly as it moved along the bluestone road.
"Instant noodles for sale." She called out in a long, melodious and clear voice.
Guizhier walked towards the crowd calmly. On the wooden cart were hastily prepared instant noodles of different flavors, specially for the candidates for the imperial examination.
The hem of her skirt swayed low, and as she walked, it seemed as if a breeze was following her. The woman's eyes showed her intelligence and charm.
It carries the unique atmosphere of the city life, and is also tinged with a bit of laziness and comfort.
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