Zhang Fugui smiled bitterly and offered a helpless explanation.
"Beef tongue and beef brain have a slightly gamey smell, that's normal! As the saying goes, beef and mutton without a gamey smell won't taste good!"
"Nonsense!" Li Huan retorted. "The gamey smell ruins the umami flavor. As an imperial chef, don't you understand this principle?"
Zhang Fugui was speechless.
Prince Ning hurriedly said, "Alright, alright, stop worrying about the beef tongue and brain, quickly enjoy the beef head meat!"
A moment later, the meal was finished.
The fat clerk shouted, "Your Highness, Grand Tutor, and all judges, please vote for Zhang Fugui's braised beef head!"
Prince Ning raised his hand: "I vote for Zhang Fugui!"
Grand Tutor Hua spread his hands: "I won't bet. Zhang Fugui's ox tongue and ox brain have disappointed me!"
Li Huan chuckled to himself.
The bits of meat that Prince Ning spat out landed on the cow tongue and brain on Grand Tutor Hua's plate, which just so happened to arouse Grand Tutor Hua's disgust. His heartfelt aversion to the cow tongue and brain was perfectly reasonable.
Li Huan knew that the effects of "honest white sugar" had not completely disappeared.
Whether the eight judges vote for Zhang Fugui depends on their conscience and whether they can withstand the control of "Honest Sugar".
After all, "honesty is the best policy" can only encourage people to tell the truth, not control their behavior.
If a certain imperial chef has a strong will, he can praise Zhang Fugui's "braised beef head" as the best in the world, but he will not raise his hand to vote for Zhang Fugui.
vice versa.
"Zhang Fugui's cooking skills are superb; his braised beef head is fragrant and delicious. I vote for him!"
"The beef skin is crispy and tender, the beef is delicious, and the beef brain is extremely fresh. I also vote for it!"
"I think Zhang Fugui's braised beef head is just as good as Li Huan's, and I'll also vote for Zhang Fugui!"
"No, I think Zhang Fugui's braised beef head is slightly inferior to Li Huan's! I won't vote for Zhang Fugui!"
Prince Ning snorted and glared angrily at the imperial chef who refused to vote!
Currently, Zhang Fugui has received eight votes.
There is one royal chef left who hasn't voted.
This imperial chef happens to be Chef Ma, who didn't vote for Li Huan.
He frowned, looking hesitant.
Prince Ning said impatiently, "What are you dawdling for? Why aren't you voting?"
Chef Ma's forehead was sweating.
If the vote is for Zhang Fugui, the total number of votes will be nine, surpassing Li Huan's.
If he doesn't vote for Zhang Fugui, he and Li Huan will be tied.
Prince Ning coughed a few times and gave Chef Ma a wink.
Chef Ma hurriedly picked up a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead, still hesitating.
It's obvious that this guy is struggling with his own soul.
Smash! Prince Ning slammed his fist on the table, pointing at Imperial Chef Ma and berating him!
"What the hell are you hesitating for! This is such a simple thing, do you even need to think about it? Hurry up and vote for Zhang Fugui!"
Li Huan hurriedly said, "Your Highness, the voting is entirely up to the judges. Your Highness must not threaten Imperial Chef Ma!"
Prince Ning was taken aback and said, "I am not threatening Imperial Chef Ma, I am just anxious."
Li Huan said, "Chef Ma, did you hear that? The Prince didn't threaten you."
Chef Ma sighed, raised his hand, and said, "I agree with the Grand Tutor. I think Zhang Fugui's ox tongue and brain have a strong gamey smell, making them slightly inferior to Li Huan's. Therefore, I will not vote for Zhang Fugui!"
"What?" Prince Ning's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "If you're not going to vote, why are you raising your dog paws like that!"
Chef Ma smiled and said, "The reason I raised my hand is to show that I'm being serious..."
Prince Ning gritted his teeth and said, "I'll deal with you later!"
Chef Ma raised his eyebrows in a V-shape...
The fat clerk listlessly announced, "Zhang Fugui's braised beef head received eight votes! It's a tie with Li Huan!"
"The first round is over. Take a short break before starting the second round!"
Grand Tutor Hua and his wife breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Huan knew that the first game was a close call.
Without the "Honest Sugar" endorsement, all eight imperial chefs would definitely have voted for Zhang Fugui!
Fortunately, Chef Ma had a strong will, and his heartfelt evaluation overcame his fear of Prince Ning.
"Li Huan will win! Li Huan will win!"
Qiu Xiang, Chun Xiang, Xia Xiang, and Dong Xiang cheered for Li Huan in unison.
"Zhang Fugui will win! Zhang Fugui will win!"
The fat advisor, along with the Prince of Ning's entourage, shouted encouragement to Zhang Fugui.
The Deadly Scholar's facial expression betrayed his true intentions as he secretly watched Tang Bohu...
Li Huan pondered that Prince Ning had already told Zhang Fugui in advance that the first round of the competition would be "braised beef head," allowing Zhang Fugui to prepare in advance.
The questions for the second round were to be prepared by Grand Tutor Hua. Why didn't he inform us of them beforehand?
After resting for a while.
The portly advisor said, "According to the rules, the cooking competition in the second round will be set by Grand Tutor Hua!"
Grand Tutor Hua stepped forward, raised his head, and announced loudly: "The second round is a contest of cooking seafood!"
Cooking seafood?
Li Huan immediately burst into laughter.
This is precisely my strength!
No wonder Grand Tutor Hua didn't reveal the inside story beforehand; there was absolutely no need.
Soon, servants from the Hua family carried two bamboo baskets into the courtyard.
The bamboo basket was filled with all kinds of seafood.
There are shrimp, crab, squid, sea cucumber, mackerel, jellyfish, abalone, clams, and so on.
Of course, not fresh produce.
Most of these seafood items are dried and have been soaked to rehydrate them.
Given the transportation and storage conditions of the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to transport coastal specialties to Suzhou in a timely manner, nor was it possible to use freezing methods.
Grand Tutor Hua said, "You two chefs, you may take any ingredients from the bamboo basket and cook a delicious seafood feast within half an hour!"
"After the judges have tasted the food, they will vote for the two chefs. The one with the most votes will win!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Fugui quickly walked to the bamboo basket, squatted down to observe, and his eyes darted around.
Immediately afterwards, he quickly selected and took out the various seafood he needed.
Li Huan, however, was in no hurry and stood behind Zhang Fugui.
"Chef Zhang, take your time choosing. Pick the biggest shrimp and the fattest sea cucumber. I'm not in a hurry. I'll wait for you to finish."
Tang Bohu glanced at it and quickly reminded him, "Brother Li, why did you take what Zhang Fugui left behind? Look, he took the biggest seafood, and damn it, he even took the two fattest abalones!"
Li Huan laughed and said, "The second round of the cooking competition is about the taste of seafood, not the size of the seafood. Why would I insist on having large prawns and abalone?"
Tang Bohu said, "Larger seafood looks better!"
Li Huan said, "We're competing in cooking skills now, not selling food, so why worry about presentation?"
Li Huan said this to provoke Zhang Fugui and disrupt his train of thought.
Sure enough, Zhang Fugui slowed down his selection of seafood. He picked up a large mackerel, thought for a moment, and then put it down.
Tang Bohu understood Li Huan's meaning and said with a smile, "Big shrimp are not as fragrant as small shrimp, and big fish are not as delicious as small fish. Only a fool would keep picking the big ones!"
Zhang Fugui instinctively reached out and grabbed a small mackerel...
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