By the time Xu Qinyu and Lianhua finished eating the brown sugar steamed cake, the little girl next to them hadn't finished her piece of brown sugar steamed cake yet.
She ate very slowly, almost swallowing it bit by bit after it melted in her lips. Sometimes, even a little crumb fell on her clothes, but she was reluctant to let it go and would pick it up and put it in her mouth to eat.
She had only eaten half of it, and wanted to save the rest for her brother and sister to taste, because she thought it was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten.
A total of twelve rounds of competition were completed today, and about ten people passed.
The cooking competition here is also simple and rough. Most of the people will be eliminated in the first round, and only about a hundred people can advance to the next level.
By the mid-game competition, another ninety people will be eliminated, leaving only the last ten.
In the final round of the competition, only one out of ten people will win.
Xu Qinyu calculated that it would be her turn in about two days.
In the next two days, she came to watch the competition every day without fail, and brought different food every day.
On the first day, I brought brown sugar steamed cakes, and on the third day, I brought duck with soy sauce. The duck with soy sauce is also a signature dish of the restaurant. It is difficult to make. It must first be soaked in twenty or thirty kinds of Chinese medicine and spices, and then go through more than ten processes such as air-drying and baking. Finally, it is repeatedly smoked with straw. However, now that autumn has arrived, the duck with soy sauce can be preserved, and the kitchen can make a lot of it at one time. It tastes spicy, with crispy skin and meat, and a strong aroma of sauce.
Fortunately, the four of us can eat spicy food, and we also brought some milk steamed buns to go with it.
In short, after three days of competition, no one was hungry again.
On the fourth day, it was finally Xu Qinyu's turn to compete. She would probably start the competition around noon today.
So today, I brought some homemade milk cookies with me, planning to eat them after the game while I continue to watch the game.
Soon it was noon. Lianhua, Yang Zhizhi and Xu Yunlan were all nervous. Only Xu Qinyu was as calm as ever. The three of them couldn't help but look at her frequently. They were a little panicked, but they didn't dare to ask more questions, for fear that Xu Qinyu's mentality would be affected by their questions.
What they didn't know was that Xu Qinyu had participated in a world-class cooking competition before, and she was able to maintain a calm mind even in such a competition, let alone this one, even though it was a cooking competition held once every ten years.
Soon, it was finally Xu Qinyu's turn.
The twenty judges were quite impressed by her. She was also the youngest contestant in this cooking competition, at just nineteen years old.
When Xu Qinyu went up, some people in the crowd began to whisper to each other.
"Isn't that right? This young lady is also here to participate in the cooking competition? She doesn't look more than 20 years old, and it seems that female chefs are rarely seen. I only saw a few in the past few days."
"You are so young. Look at those who participated in the cooking competition. Most of them are in their thirties or above."
"That's right, which chef's family is this young lady from? How dare she come by herself instead of asking the elders in the family to do it? Isn't this a joke?"
"Hey, isn't this the owner of Xu's Restaurant? It's the Xu's Restaurant outside the city. I've been there to eat. The food was really delicious. I've also met this Miss Xu once. She was also busy in the kitchen. It seemed like she was the head chef."
"Is all the food in the restaurant prepared by this young cook?"
"It doesn't seem so. The restaurant has other chefs and assistants. But I heard that the recipes of Xu's Restaurant were all thought up by this young lady."
"This should be the recipe that Miss Xu inherited from her master or the elders in her family. I heard that the recipes are very fresh and completely different from the recipes in other restaurants. I think everyone should just go there to taste the fresh flavor."
"Not really, because there are some common dishes in there, and they taste good."
"So how good is this young lady's cooking skills? Is she not the chef in Xu's? Why don't other chefs from Xu's come to participate in this competition? Is it because she is the boss that other chefs from Xu's are not allowed to come? Other chefs are men, right? Only men can stir the wok. How much strength can a young lady have..."
People were talking about it.
Yang Zhizhi was still a little angry after hearing this, and wanted to retort, but was stopped by Xu Yunlan.
Xu Yunlan whispered in her friend's ear, "Don't argue with them. The taste of the food Qinyu makes later will be the most convincing. Arguing with them now will only affect Qinyu and make her focus on us."
Yang Zhizhi nodded angrily, "I'm just a little angry. We've been eating breakfast made by Qinyu for four years. It's not because of the recipe. No matter what Qinyu makes, it's delicious. Even if it's the same dish in other restaurants, the taste she makes is still different. And what's the saying that Qinyu doesn't allow other chefs from Xu's to come? It's because they don't want to come. Everyone knows in their hearts that as long as Qinyu comes, others will have no chance. And what's the saying that women are not as good as men at cooking? That's nonsense!"
Xu Yunlan smiled and said, "Zhizhi, what are you still worried about? You know in your heart that the winner will be Qinyu, a young lady. Let them see that a woman can also win the championship. Let's see if the world dares to look down on women."
In the decades before this, no woman had ever won a cooking competition.
Even though Xu Qinyu heard these doubts, she didn't care.
She was about the same age as she is now when she participated in her first cooking competition. She was a little nervous at that time. She participated a few more times later and was 27 or 28 years old when she participated in a world-class cooking competition. The competition was broadcast live, and there were more voices of doubt about her. Some said that she was too young and how could she dare to participate in a cooking competition of this level.
She didn't care, and later won the championship, which hadn't been chosen for decades, and made all the doubts disappear. Unfortunately, she got into a car accident right after winning the championship...
Xu Qinyu ignored the noises outside the venue. She first lifted up the piece of pork belly and took a look at it. The pork belly weighed about two and a half kilograms. She lifted up the pork belly and smelled it. The pork belly used in the competition was all three-strand pork. The ingredients were very fresh. They should have been slaughtered yesterday. There was no need to blanch them. She rubbed the whole piece of pork belly with green onions, ginger and Huadiao wine to remove the fishy smell.
When removing the fishy smell from the pork belly, Xu Qinyu had already boiled a pot of water.
There were many chefs watching the competition outside. Some of them came to participate in the cooking competition, while some came just to watch the competition and were not participating in the competition.
When I saw Xu Qinyu boiling water, I thought she was going to blanch the pork belly.
But this meat is fresh, so there is basically no need to blanch it.
Even the twenty gentlemen judging the selection thought that she was going to blanch the pork belly, but she actually smeared green onion, ginger and Huadiao wine on the pork belly and started rubbing it. The water in the pot was already boiling, and she actually put a steaming rack in the pot, put the whole piece of pork belly in a large plate, placed it on the steaming rack, covered it with a lid and started steaming the meat.
Everyone was a little dumbfounded.
"How can she cook pork belly and steam it? Does she know how to cook?"
Even some ordinary people's families do not steam the meat before cooking it at home. Instead, they cut it into pieces and then fry it in a pan.
Xu Qinyu ignored such doubts. No matter how fresh the pork belly is, it will still have a fishy smell. Applying scallions, ginger and Huadiao wine on the pork belly and steaming it in a pot can better remove the fishy smell and shorten the cooking time. It can also better shape the pork when making braised pork.
While the meat was steaming, Xu Qinyu started frying sugar color on the stove and pot next to her.
Everyone has two stoves and two pots, and in the later competitions, there will be more stoves and pots.
Even most people only use a stove and a pot to cook braised pork.
Stir-fried sugar color is also very important. Well-fried sugar color can make the color of the braised pork brighter and more fragrant.
Heat up another iron pot, add rapeseed oil, and then add just enough rock sugar to cook two and a half pounds of pork belly. Use low to medium heat to fry the sugar color, and you need to control the heat yourself. Wait until the rock sugar is melted and the bubbles turn from large to small, then add the same proportion of hot water, boil the sugar water until it becomes viscous, and set aside.
Everyone found it even more strange when seeing this. Even when frying sugar color, they would stir-fry the sugar until it melted and then add the pork belly and start stir-frying. How could this little cook add water to the fried sugar to turn it into syrup?
"Really? Does this little cook know how to cook? Why does she add water to the sugar color instead of just stir-frying the pork belly?"
"This method is really weird. Will the pork belly be edible after it's cooked? I think she put a lot of sugar in it. It will be so greasy with the fatty pork belly."
The pork belly was not steamed for too long, only for a quarter of an hour in hot water. Then the pork belly was taken out of the steamer and small holes were poke in the skin of the pork belly with a small toothpick. Then it was cut into even-sized pieces. The pieces Xu Qinyu cut were about the size of mahjong pieces.
Today we only have half an hour to cook the braised pork. The time is not enough. Otherwise, we could cut the meat into pieces the size of half a fist. But it would take too long to stew it. The time is not enough, so the pieces she cut are only the size of mahjong pieces.
Drain the cut pork belly. In another pot, heat up 70% of the oil. Pour the drained pork belly into the oil pan and fry until golden. This will allow most of the fat in the pork belly to be fried out, so that the braised pork will taste fatty but not greasy.
"Why fry the meat? Wouldn't it be more greasy if it's fried for a while?" people questioned.
While the pork belly was frying, Xu Qinyu selected about ten kinds of spices and other seasonings from the side and wrapped them in gauze. They would be needed when stewing the meat later. This way, the braised pork would have a better color and a stronger aroma.
Almost everyone's eyes were on Xu Qinyu, because every step she took was different from that of other chefs.
The remaining nine chefs had already started stewing the meat, and they couldn't help but cast their eyes on Xu Qinyu to see her strange cooking method.
In fact, there are many ways to cook braised pork. Some can be steamed first and then fried, some can be fried first and then steamed, or the pork skin can be fried until crispy and then cut into pieces and grilled. There are many ways to cook it and many ingredients. It depends on how you want to cook it.
Her movements were swift and she took her time even when using two pots for steaming and frying. Some people outside the venue questioned whether she spoke too softly, but they all just wanted to watch the fun and wanted to know what the braised pork would taste like.
Put the fried pork belly aside, heat the oil in the pot, sauté the scallions and ginger, then pour in water, add salt, soy sauce, and seasoning packet and bring to a boil, then pour in the fried pork belly and syrup, then simmer over low heat.
Braised pork must be simmered slowly over low heat. The taste of pork cooked in a pressure cooker is completely different. Only pork belly simmered slowly over low heat will melt in your mouth, and even the lean meat part is tender and not dry at all.
In fact, it would be better to simmer it for an hour, but there was not enough time, and the pieces she cut were only the size of mahjong pieces, so simmering it for forty minutes would be enough.
During the simmering process, the unique aroma of braised pork spread. The aroma was so strong that many people in the outer circle could smell it, and it even reached the prefectural government.
In the prefect's mansion, the prefect and Mrs. Zhu knew that Xu Qinyu would participate in this year's cooking competition, but the prefect was busy with official duties and had little time to watch. The prefect's wife had never been to see it before, so it was not a bad idea to go this year.
In the prefect's mansion, Zhu was talking to her daughters-in-law. The strong aroma of meat reached the prefect's house. Several daughters-in-law couldn't help but sniff and said, "It smells so good. Is it the aroma of the braised pork from the cooking competition outside? It's been going on for a few days. I haven't smelled such an aroma before. It's really good, and it has a sweet smell."
Zhu also smelled it. It was indeed very fragrant. Even though she had smelled enough of the smell of meat in the past few days, when she smelled this aroma, she couldn't help swallowing and wanted to eat it.
Another daughter-in-law said, "It should be Miss Xu. Two years ago, Miss Xu came to our house to cook for grandma. We also had the privilege of trying her food. It was really delicious. Grandma even sent her to Yuanbao Town for recuperation. She was in better shape by then. The aroma coming from outside must be Miss Xu's cooking skills."
"Ms. Xu should be able to win the first place in this cooking competition."
"Of course it must be Miss Xu."
"If it's really Miss Xu, she'd be the first woman to win the title in the past few decades. She's really amazing."
Upon hearing this, Zhu couldn't help but raise the corner of her lips. She also thought that Yu Niang would win the first prize.
And the crowd outside couldn't help but talk about it.
"Yes, it smells so good."
"It smells really good. It's completely different from the delicious flavor of the pork belly cooked by those chefs before. It makes me feel hungry. Is it the smell of the braised pork made by that young cook?"
"That shouldn't be the case, right? Her behavior is so strange..."
"But everyone else's methods are similar. There is no difference from what I made a few days ago. The ones I made a few days ago didn't have this fragrance."
Even the twenty judges couldn't help but swallow their saliva. It was delicious, and it was the kind of meaty aroma that was not greasy at all.
The twenty people had been smelling the aroma of braised pork these days, and after eating it for five days, they felt a little sick and uncomfortable.
However, braised pork in brown sauce is a dish that is quite challenging. It has to be fragrant but not greasy to prove one's cooking skills. That's why I chose this dish. In the next two days, even when I tasted the braised pork in brown sauce, I only took a light bite to taste it in my mouth. I was not willing to take a second bite at all.
But today the aroma made them all feel a little greedy.
The others made wild guesses, but they knew in their hearts that it was the aroma coming from the braised pork cooked by the young lady.
However, fragrance is fragrance, and you still have to taste it to know its taste.
Soon, the time came and everyone took the pot to the side and started to plate the food.
The judges tasted the dishes one by one. When they started to taste the braised pork made by the first contestant, the second contestant had just put it on the plate. Xu Qinyu was the ninth from the last, so her braised pork was still simmering in the pot with the last bit of residual heat. Otherwise, if she served it now, it would be a little cool by the time it was served, which would affect the taste.
After the first eight contestants had tasted their braised pork, the judges basically just took a small bite and tasted it before starting to score. Only one contestant gave a total score of over 60 points.
When it was Xu Qinyu's turn, she put a piece of food on each plate and poured sauce on them. She put a total of thirty small plates, twenty of which were for the judges to taste, and the remaining ten were for ten people to be selected on the spot. The people on the spot would taste and score the food, but their scores were not counted.
The helpers brought the twenty plates of braised pork prepared by Xu Qinyu to the judges and asked them to taste them.
The first thing is to look at the color. The braised pork made by Xu Qinyu is bright red in color, with a little thick sauce drizzled on it. Even after it was served and put down, the braised pork in the small dish was still plump and not stewed at all, and it was still a whole piece.
The second is to smell the aroma. Without using hands to fan the air, the rich fragrance is already reaching your nose. It is the same meaty aroma that they just smelled.
The third thing is of course the tasting. All the judges picked up the trembling piece of braised pork and first took a small bite to taste it as they did at other times. However, the braised pork was soft, sticky and chewy, fatty but not greasy, and melted in the mouth. You couldn't taste the fat at all, but a slightly sweet taste. Even when paired with braised pork with more fat, it didn't feel sweet at all, but only sweet and delicious. Even if they had eaten braised pork for several days, they didn't think the braised pork they tasted at this moment was greasy.
By the time they came to their senses, the twenty judges had already put the whole piece of braised pork into their mouths and were chewing it. Even though it was such a large piece of meat, the fat part was not greasy and melted in the mouth, and the lean meat part was not dry and also melted in the mouth.
It was fragrant and delicious. After finishing the whole piece of grilled meat, they looked at the plate consciously, wanting to eat the second piece. The plate was empty, with only a little thick sauce left. If this sauce was mixed with rice, it would definitely be delicious.
All twenty judges were a little shocked. How on earth was it made? It was so delicious.
I thought this young lady was too arrogant, but now I know that she is not arrogant at all. She just has the ability. She is just a young lady who is not even 20 years old.
After tasting this kind of braised pork, they all felt that the high score of over 90 points given before was too high. Compared with the braised pork made by the other lady, those scores of over 90 points were only worth 90 points at most. However, the scores given could not be changed. Everyone unanimously felt that the braised pork cooked by Xu Qinyu deserved full marks.
In fact, if you use a clay pot and simmer it for more than an hour, the taste will be more perfect, but there is not enough time, and I only have a cast iron pot, not a clay pot.
Xu Qinyu still felt it was not perfect.
"Wow, the gentlemen finished this whole piece of braised pork."
"So the braised pork made by this young lady is delicious, right? Before, I saw the gentlemen just bite off a small piece to taste the flavor, but the gentlemen ate the braised pork made by the young lady in one bite. Why do I feel like they still want more?"
"Everyone says that the food made by Miss Xu is delicious. You guys refuted it before, but now you know it."
"It seems so. Is it really delicious? I hope I can be chosen when people around me taste it later."
"Me too, I want to try it too..."
Soon, the judges randomly picked ten people from the crowd to taste the braised pork made by Xu Qinyu, and they happened to choose the young woman from two days ago and the old lady with her grandson.
Both of them were delighted. The young woman had never thought that she would actually be able to taste the braised pork made by the young lady.
She couldn't describe the color of the braised pork that was served to her, but she found it very tempting. She wanted to eat it with a bowl of rice. It must be very fragrant, and it smelled even better. She couldn't help but take a small bite. The taste was so delicious that she almost cried. The woman thought, is there really such a delicious food in the world?
The young woman resisted the urge to eat the whole piece of braised pork in one bite. She swallowed hard and brought the remaining half to her daughter, "Niuniu, try the braised pork made by the sister who gave you the brown sugar steamed cake two days ago."
The little girl swallowed her saliva and took a light bite. She didn't even have time to say a word, her cheeks were fluttering. It was so delicious that she couldn't help but squint her eyes. She originally wanted to leave one bite for her mother, but she was too young to resist the temptation. She couldn't help but eat the last bite.
"Mom, it's delicious. The braised pork my sister made is so delicious. I didn't even save the last bite for you."
The little girl lowered her head with a bit of self-blame. She couldn't even help looking at the sauce in the dish and wanted to eat the sauce as well.
The woman smiled and said, "It's okay, Niuniu, just eat it. The braised pork my sister made is so delicious that even I almost couldn't resist."
How can a child resist such deliciousness?
Several other people who tasted the braised pork made by Xu Qinyu also exclaimed in amazement.
“Why is it so delicious?”
"Oh my god, this is so fragrant and delicious. Even though it's just a small piece, I want to eat more."
"This is the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my life. I won't be able to eat it again in the future." Xu's Restaurant is expensive and ordinary people can't afford it.
"Me too. No wonder all the rich men and women in the city go to Xu's Restaurant. It's so delicious. If I had money, I would eat there every day..."
"I heard that the restaurant sells braised fish, fish head stewed with tofu and fish balls at dusk every day, and they are very cheap. I can go out of town to buy these to eat in the future. I heard that Miss Xu also opened Xu's Restaurant in Yuanbao Town, which also sells cheap fish meat at dusk every day. It is especially delicious. I didn't believe it before, but now I believe it a little. I will go to the city to buy some tomorrow. The price is affordable for both of us."
Xu Qinyu did not change this tradition even after opening a restaurant. She would cook three kinds of fish every day and sell them at the door of the restaurant. The prices were the same as before.
But people who go to the restaurant to eat are not short of money and will not order these foods. Only the villagers in the nearby villages know that these fish meats taste good and are cheap, so they come to buy them almost every day. However, the population in the nearby villages is not large, so not much fish is cooked at each dinner, and sometimes there is some left over, which is still given to the employees to eat.
"It's really delicious. I live in a nearby village. Fish balls cost ten cents a pound. I buy half a pound and stew it with cabbage and radish at home. It's delicious. And the braised fish, the smaller ones cost five cents each, and the big ones only eight cents each. Anyone can afford it. The fish head stewed with tofu is also very delicious. You can buy it back and stew it with the vegetables grown at home. When my family entertains guests, we will buy some back, and no one says it's not delicious."
Now, when the people in the city heard that the restaurant still has cheap and delicious fish to buy, they all plan to go out of the city to buy some and bring it back to eat. If the fish is really delicious, they can afford to buy it and eat it every day.
Needless to say, all the people who have tasted Xu Qinyu's braised pork gave it full marks.
Only the old lady's eyes widened after she took a bite. She even couldn't wait to stuff the remaining big mouthful into her own mouth. However, her grandson was quick-witted and grabbed the braised pork from the plate and stuffed it into his own mouth. The grandson ate the braised pork in one bite, his eyes widened, "Grandma, it's so delicious."
The old lady couldn't say anything to her grandson, but she was angry in her heart. Thinking about how the young lady didn't want to sell her brown sugar steamed cake for five cents two days ago, she said, "What's so delicious? This is such a nasty braised pork. Even if you give me ten cents, it's too much!"