Qin Yiyue was the first to complete his work. He cut the mutton into slices and placed them neatly on the plate, garnished with shredded green onions and coriander on the side. The whole dish had a bright color, as if some seasoning had been poured on the dish. The whole dish did not actually have any stunning beauty that would make people's heart move, but rather showed a feeling of simplicity and conciseness.
I don’t know if it’s the shiny sheen on the lamb slices, or the combination of white and green onion shreds and coriander, but Zheng Dao’s dish gives people a very comfortable feeling. It’s a dish that looks simple, but it’s definitely not a simple dish.
As Qin Yiyue was the first to stand in front of the judges with the dishes in her hands, many people around her exclaimed in surprise.
The time limit for the competition is two hours, and only half an hour has passed, and Qin Yiyue has already handed in the test paper
"What did he cook? Steamed lamb... I heard that lamb needs to be stewed for at least an hour to be cooked through, how come he only served it in half an hour? Isn't this ridiculous?" A person sitting next to him couldn't help but screamed, as if he wished others would know how much he knew.
Another audience member immediately said: "Is Qin Yiyue just a name for nothing? Look at the dishes of others, some are still in the preparation stage."
Listening to these discussions, the five girls, Dong Youyou, Han Yuyan, Lin Wei, Anjing and Wang Shiyu, all looked at Ye Chui. To them, Ye Chui's comments were the most pertinent.
Ye Chui had not paid attention to Qin Yiyue's stove just now. At this moment, he turned his head to look at Qin Yiyue's stove, and then looked at the plate of dishes that Qin Yiyue had placed in front of the three judges. After a little thought in his heart, he understood how Qin Yiyue did it, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Qin Yiyue used a high-pressure steamer to complete this dish within 30 minutes." Ye Chui said with a smile.
Han Yuyan also saw the pressure cooker on Qin Yiyue's stove, but she was a little uncertain and said, "Isn't mutton best flavored when it is slow-cooked with the fire off? Using a pressure cooker is just more convenient, it shouldn't help with the taste. I heard from my grandfather that the best chefs don't use pressure cookers when cooking."
"That's only for other ingredients." Ye Chui smiled, "But for ingredients like Dongshan sheep, using a steamer is not a big problem. Qin Yiyue should choose the hind leg meat of the sheep. Mutton is tender and juicy, but very tough. Using a high-pressure steamer will only cook the mutton completely without destroying the meat structure. Of course, Qin Yiyue did not use high-pressure steaming. After using the pressure cooker for 20 minutes, he took out the mutton and simmered it in an ordinary steamer for 10 minutes. He only added the seasoning at this time. In this way, the mutton can retain the most essential flavor, and the seasoning will only be a embellishment. As for the layer of light flashing on the mutton, it should be just a layer of vinegar. It is used to reconcile the greasy feeling of the mutton caused by high-temperature steaming."
Ye Chui talked eloquently, his body and mind immersed in the exploration of food at this moment, but he had no idea how shocking his words would be to others - if Qin Yiyue heard it, he didn't know whether his wooden expression, which he didn't know whether it was real or pretended to be indifferent, would directly break due to shock.
Han Yuyan, Dong Youyou and other girls heard what Ye Chui said. Based on their knowledge of food, they could not tell whether what Ye Chui said was true or false, but they felt that he was very impressive. Several girls could not help but show some admiration in his eyes.
The people sitting next to him also heard Ye Chui's words. The difference was that they were only slightly surprised, and then showed a disdainful and mocking expression.
"Did you hear what this young man said? He sounded so reasonable, as if he really thought he knew everything."
"Maybe I just happened to see how Qin Yiyue cooked. I also seemed to see Qin Yiyue using a pressure cooker."
"Humph. Qin Yiyue chose to use a pressure cooker to cook mutton. This is a bad move. I don't think his dish will get a high score!"
The people who were chatting didn't know each other originally, but maybe because of Ye Chui, they ended up talking about the same thing, and there was a hint that they were deliberately targeting Ye Chui.
No wonder. Ye Chui's words really attracted other people's attention. If he was a mature and steady adult, it would be fine, but he was just a teenager, so people couldn't help but feel that "this teenager is really arrogant."
Of course, Ye Cui could just laugh off what these people said and not bother with them.
However, Han Yuyan, Dong Youyou and other girls all showed unhappy expressions. Now they all had some respect for Ye Chui, and these people's words made them very angry.
Seeing that they were about to argue with those people, Ye Chui interrupted them and said, "Qin Yiyue's dish will at least get a full score, and the final comprehensive score will definitely not be less than 25 points."
"What?" Han Yuyan and Dong Youyou were both stunned, and forgot to continue arguing with others. Han Yuyan hurriedly asked, "Master, how did you see that?"
The people sitting next to him showed an expression of "this kid is still so arrogant", with contempt and disdain on their faces.
Ye Chui did not answer Han Yuyan directly, but pointed at the three judges who had finished tasting the food one by one, and said with a smile: "You will know when you wait and see."
As he said this, Ye Chui smiled faintly and glanced at the people beside him, with a hint of provocation in his eyes.
The three judges, Ye Wenhua, Hou Yang, and Xiang Liping, have tasted Qin Yiyue's dish in turn. At first glance, the expressions on their faces were... unexpectedly a little complicated.
Why do they show such expressions? Is it because Qin Yiyue’s meal surprised them, or disappointed them
"Three judges, please choose a score between 1 and 10." The host said softly, and many photographers pointed their cameras at the three judges. Although this chef competition is in the name of a competition, it is actually more like a variety show. Of course, it is a rigorous and serious variety show.
The first person to show his score was Hou Yang. He held the score board in his hand high, as if he wanted everyone to see his score. He gave nine points, and the next person was Xiang Liping, who gave eight points.
Ye Wenhua was still a little hesitant. When the cameras were all pointed at him, he waited for more than ten seconds before slowly raising the sign in his hand. Then, there was a commotion around him.
Because Ye Wenhua gave it a full score of 10!
In a cooking competition of this level, the judges would generally give a maximum of nine points, and ten points were rare, because ten points represented perfection. However, "food has no limit", and for the judges, unless they believe that their ability to evaluate food is perfect, giving a score of ten points would be irresponsible. However, Ye Wenhua gave a score of ten points.
"Mr. Ye, your score is 10. Can you tell us why?" The host asked cautiously, a little shocked by the score.
"Because I am very sure that this dish is the most delicious mutton dish I have ever eaten. It definitely deserves a ten-point rating!" Ye Wenhua said very seriously.
The host was puzzled and asked, "So what you mean is that the other contestants' contestants can no longer satisfy you?"
"No, I believe there are many ways to cook, and I expect they can bring me surprises." Ye Wenhua continued.
"Mr. Ye's words reminded me of a popular saying recently, which is that there is no limit to eating. Haha, I hope other contestants can bring us surprises." The host smoothed things over and continued, "Contestant Qin Yiyue received a total of 27 points, which is a really good score. Now let's listen to what the judges say about the outstanding features of this dish..."
The host began to interview the judges and listened to them talk about what was so outstanding about this steamed lamb.
Many people in the seats seemed to be unable to hear what the host was saying, because they were all looking at Ye Chui in shock - the total score was at least 25 points, and at least one would get full marks, and Ye Chui actually got it right!
The few people who had previously thought that Ye Chui was boastful and arrogant were now completely speechless...
Even Han Yuyan and other girls were a little surprised. Lin Wei, who was sitting next to Ye Chui, lowered her voice and asked Ye Chui: "You are so amazing, but how did you figure it out? Can you teach me?"
"There's no way to teach this." Ye Chui stretched out his hand and scraped Lin Wei's small nose, explaining in a low voice. "But it's actually not that difficult. We've met Ye Wenhua before. He was invited by Zhang Huabin to embarrass Youyou, but after eating my Hainanese chicken rice, he turned against me. This at least shows that he has a very high pursuit of food. He will not violate his own judgment of food because of the rules. Such a person will definitely not care about the inherent rules when eating the best food. It's not surprising to give a 10. As for my comprehensive score of 25, it's even simpler... This dish is obviously of a very high level. If it can't get this score, it can only mean that there is something wrong with the three judges."
Ye Chui said this in a matter-of-fact tone, and it sounded extremely cocky. But at this moment, who among the people around him would still think that Ye Chui was cocky
Of course, they were obviously not ready to admit defeat to Ye Chui just like that, and they just continued to mutter to each other.
"The level of these three judges is not very high. Competitions of this level have unwritten rules. You can't just give 10 points directly. That Ye Wenhua is really not up to par."
"I guess the scores of others won't be low."
Hearing these words that were obviously filled with a hint of dissatisfaction, Ye Chui shrugged lightly. The level of these three judges was not low, and they would soon know.
And this is indeed the case. Fifteen minutes into the competition, another contestant couldn't wait to finish his dish and brought it to the three judges. The contestant's name was Zhao Tian, and his dish was a crispy fried lamb belly.
Lamb belly is the piece of meat close to the lamb ribs, and is the most tender part of the whole sheep. Zhao Tian's fried lamb belly is made by marinating the lamb belly for twenty minutes and then simmering it on low heat for ten minutes to allow the lamb belly to be fully flavored and to be about 50% done. At this time, cut cuts are made on the surface of the lamb with a knife, and then coated with starch and fried.
The fried mutton has a golden color, and because the surface of the mutton has been cut before, the food is crispy and the taste is not affected at all by the original toughness of the mutton.
Maybe it was because the high score Qin Yiyue got gave him some kind of illusion, but when he stood in front of the judges, he had a look of confidence on his face, and he completely believed that his dish would not lose to Qin Yiyue's.
However, after the three judges tasted his dishes and gave their scores, he couldn't help but show shock on his face.
"Six points!"
"Six points!"
“Five points!”
Ye Wenhua, Hou Yang, and Xiang Liping gave their scores in turn.
The total score was 17 points, 10 points less than Qin Yiyue! (~^~)
PS: The second update is about the imperfect fresh mushroom lamb, and the third update is about the nearly perfect cumin lamb. They will be updated at 9:00 or 10:00 p.m.~~~ Guess who will get the first place in this round~~~