Chapter 95. Provincial Finals Yangzhou Fried Rice
Xiaojuan accompanied Li Bing and Ye Tian to the finals. Upon arrival, Ye Tian realized Chen Chi was also there. He was there to cheer on Daxiong on behalf of the restaurant, but he was also there to support Ye Tian. He considered her a sister and wanted her to win more than Daxiong.
Xiaotao originally wanted to come, but her family was moving and asked her to go back to help pack. She hurried back as soon as she finished her exams and could only ask Chen Chi to take more videos and photos and send them to her.
In this provincial final, there were thirty people cooking at the same time, so a large venue was needed. The organizers temporarily built kitchens in the city gymnasium. There were three rows of brand new stoves, which looked quite spectacular.
The auditorium is some distance away from the center of the venue, so people in the back row may not be able to see clearly, but people like Chen Chi and Xiaojuan sitting in the front row can see more clearly.
The rules of this competition are the same as previous ones. The first round is to make a designated dish within one hour, and the second round is to make a dish of your choice, also within one hour.
The host announced the rules and then announced the designated dish, which turned out to be the most common Changzhou fried rice.
Fortunately, Ye Tian had foresight. She and Li Bing not only practiced making Yangzhou fried rice, but also made Yangchun noodles. They were not at a loss when it came to making the staple food.
The chefs selected the side dishes they needed in order, and the seasonings and rice were delivered to their respective stoves by the organizers.
Several chefs hesitated when picking out the side dishes: Should we add sea cucumber? Or square corn or carrots?
Ye Tian looked back at Li Bing and gave him an encouraging smile. Li Bing nodded confidently.
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Yangzhou, one of the birthplaces of Huaiyang cuisine, has been characterized by its three key characteristics: a surprising yet ordinary flavor, an elegant yet unique flavor, and a subtle aroma and flavor. This "subtle aroma and flavor" refers to the fact that the flavor can be tasted in the dish, yet the raw ingredients are nowhere to be found.
A seemingly ordinary Yangzhou fried rice perfectly embodies the characteristic of "subtle fragrance and flavor".
Yangzhou fried rice is more than just an ordinary plate of fried rice. While seemingly simple, it actually contains a rich variety of ingredients. Traditional fried rice requires nearly 10 ingredients, including winter bamboo shoots, sea cucumber, ham, chicken thigh, scallops, shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, green beans, and scallions.
The rice used to make fried rice also has its own requirements. It is best to use good indica rice. Add a little ham oil and mix well before steaming. After steaming, cool it down, then beat the rice and add fresh local eggs. The fried rice will be more golden and delicious.
An hour might seem like a long time, but making authentic Yangzhou fried rice is a bit time-consuming. Seeing that there was no lard on site, Ye Tian first boiled some pork fat, set it aside, and then mixed it into the rice provided by the organizers after it cooled.
Next comes the chopping of the side dishes. Since there are so many, they need to be cut one by one. Traditionally, the side dishes should not be larger than the main ingredients, and all ingredients should be diced into small pieces, preferably smaller than a grain of rice. Once everything is diced, the next step is to prepare the shredded egg for the fried rice.
Yangzhou fried rice isn't made by scrambling eggs directly like egg fried rice. Instead, it's cooked in a generous amount of oil. The skillet is then filled with filtered, un-membrane-laden egg liquid, slowly poured into the pan and stirred until thin strands of egg are formed. The egg strands are then placed through a strainer and the oil is slowly squeezed out, ensuring they don't taste too greasy.
Afterwards, Ye Tian began to prepare the side dishes. Fortunately, the ones provided by the organizer could be used directly. Otherwise, it would definitely be too late to soak the sea cucumbers and cook the green beans.
She coated the diced shrimp in starch and fried them until cooked. She then cleaned the pan, added oil, and added all the ingredients except the chopped green onions. Once cooked, she added shredded eggs and rice, stirring the pan. Finally, she added salt and chopped green onions, stir-fried them, and served.
Because the conditions weren't met on site, Ye Tian could have made the fried rice even more delicious. This required the "shrimp roe" method, which involves adding shrimp roe, dried scallops, ham, scallions, ginger, cooking wine, and other seasonings to chicken broth and steaming it to create a broth. Adding this broth to the fried rice creates a delicious flavor. However, with only an hour to go, she had to forgo this step.
Ye Tian carefully controlled the time, serving the fried rice around the 58th minute. If it was served too early, it would be cold by the time the judges tasted it, and the taste would be much worse than when it was first served. She also mentioned this to Li Bing, but Li Bing was afraid he wouldn't be able to control the time well, so he prepared it a little earlier.
When the time comes, the staff will naturally label the fried rice and send it to the judges' table one by one.
The judges have to eat 30 servings of fried rice, so they definitely won’t eat too much. If a dish can make them take a second bite, it is definitely an excellent product.
"The egg isn't stringy, so I'll deduct 2 points!"
Nearly half of the chefs failed to achieve this, and it's not their fault, as many ordinary restaurants have simplified Yangzhou fried rice again and again, turning it into just ordinary fried rice. Perhaps they learned from the chefs to make a simplified version with fewer ingredients, and they don't use expensive ingredients like sea cucumbers and scallops.
"Too greasy, deduct 1 point."
"Wrong ingredients, deduct 3 points."
The judges followed the scoring rules, looking at the appearance of each dish, tasting it and giving scores. It took a while to complete the scoring.
To be fair, half of the judges scored from 1 to 30, and the other half tasted and scored from 30 to 1, so as not to be unfair to the contestants who came later.
Without exception, the judges all thought that Fried Rice No. 1 was amazing!
The rice grains are distinct, the eggs are golden brown, and all the ingredients are small in size. They do not overshadow the main ingredients, but emit their own unique brilliance, adding different colors and flavors to this fried rice.
After watching the fried rice number 1, the judges immediately felt a psychological gap between the two. The gap was indeed quite large. Of course, there were a few good ones, which were slightly worse than the number 1, but still above the standard.
These included Li Bing, Daxiong and the Yangchun noodle chef.
After the first round of scoring, Ye Tian was far ahead and still ranked first.
Then came the second round of competition for self-selected dishes.
Ye Tian and Li Bing had already chosen their dishes and had practiced them diligently beforehand. Since the other contestants were participating, they must have also known the rules and had prepared and practiced in advance.
Ye Tian chose the crab meat lion head, which she is good at. As for the boiled dried bean curd and pickled pork with preserved vegetables, they take longer time and one hour is not enough. If she tries to make them quickly, it will affect the taste, so she gave up.
Ye Tian wielded a kitchen knife to chop meat and remove crabs with ease, her demeanor calm and composed, each step effortless. She had made crab meat and lion's head countless times, but each time, she treated each ingredient with devotion, striving to maximize its effectiveness.
Li Bing simplified things and returned to making his spicy and sour potato shreds. He'd been a bit stressed out making the fried rice before, but thankfully, it came off smoothly. Returning to the familiar shredded potatoes, he felt much more relaxed. Plus, an hour was plenty of time; he could finely shred the potatoes and soak them for a bit longer to remove the starch. As a result, his result was even better than in the initial round.
When the hour was up, a bell rang, reminding the contestants to stop. Ye Tian calmly poured the soup onto the lion's head, successfully completing her competition entry.
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