On the eve of dawn, the whole land is still there. Shrouded in darkness. While most people were immersed in dreamland, the front of the chef special examination venue was already crowded with chefs who came to take the exam.
"Are there so many people in Hunan coming to take the test for a special chef?" Le Yuan muttered, looking at the surging crowd in front of him.
"The number of people here really isn't the largest. You've never seen the chefs in Guangzhou who have the most special examinations!" A tall man with a long beard standing behind him said as if he heard Le Yuan's muttering.
"Do you know much about the examination for a special chef?"
It was rare to find someone who looked like a veteran, so Le Yuan quickly greeted him.
"Of course, my name is Zhong Hui. I am a chef at Hanyan Pavilion in Guangdong Province. I have taken two special chef exams. The first time I was young and vigorous, I took the exam in Guangzhou, which is known as the most difficult and strict gastronomic capital. The result was the second The first time I didn’t even understand the test questions, it ended like this. The second time I couldn’t complete the work in the top five and was eliminated. In those two special chef exams, only one person became a special chef. Since then, I gave up on The special chef exam in Guangzhou..."
Zhong Hui exclaimed while introducing his experience: "Are you so young and taking the test for a special chef? It's better to give up. This test for a special chef is not easy!"
"Look at that man." Zhong Hui pointed at a tall, thin man with long hair shawl. "Kong Liang from Dasheng Restaurant has superb fire control skills. He is a strong contender for this exam."
Then he pointed to another strong man wearing a sleeveless vest, "Did you see that person? He is Feiyan Mansion's sous chef Chai Lin. Look at the muscles all over his body, especially his hands. They are the muscles he has honed." This is the result of his impressive swordsmanship that is both fast and precise."
"There are also Feiyuyuan, Haishengge... These well-known restaurants in Hunan have sent people to take the special chef examination. Each of them is the second generation elite of Hunan Province's culinary industry, and they all have the strength to pass the test. Like me There are many people from other provinces who come to take the exam, so do you still have the confidence to take the exam?"
As the first ray of sunlight passed over the horizon, Zhong Hui reacted and blurted out:
"The exam is about to begin."
Sure enough, as he finished speaking, a huge gong sound instantly spread to everyone's ears, and then the originally noisy sound disappeared in the blink of an eye.
An official in imperial uniform came up from the tall tower. He waved his hands and said, "Everyone who has come to take part in the chef's special examination! As usual, I will announce the examination questions here now! This time's questions This is it—"
Following his voice, a vertical banner hung down from the tower, with only one big character "congee" on it.
Before some people could figure out the situation, the second reminder came down - "Medicine and food come from the same source."
Then the examiner's voice appeared again, "The exam will be held in four days. At that time, everyone is invited to come to the city gate to show off your skills! Announcement completed!"
Just when everyone was still thinking about the relationship between "the same source of medicine and food" and "porridge", a shout suddenly came: "Go to the market and use "porridge" to make "the same source of medicine and food"! "
With these words, the chefs suddenly understood and left the city gate one after another.
… …
The night before the Chef’s Special Exam—Venue
In order to meet the cooking time required by those taking the special examination, candidates can bring bedding and materials three days in advance.
When Le Yuan entered the venue, the entire exam venue was already filled with chefs who came to take the exam. The exam will only start tomorrow but the competition has already started...
Le Yuan looked at the busy people and found his position.
There are all kinds of people in the examination room, some are slowly boiling soup, some are meditating hard but still can't grasp the test questions, some are waving kitchen knives to chop vegetables...
Le Yuan came to his own kitchen stove, took out various animal offal, one of the main ingredients of his own cooking, and began to stew it slowly, preparing to make a pot of soup.
While Le Yuan was cooking his own food, someone had already asked the examiner to start tasting it.
"Examiner, this is my recipe - secret pure mung bean porridge, please try it."
An unknown chef brought out his own porridge. The three examiners took a sip and then asked: "How do you express the theme of the origin of medicine and food?"
"Mung bean porridge refers to porridge made from a mixture of mung beans and rice as the main ingredients. Mung beans are a common cereal, cold in nature and sweet in taste. It has the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, reducing fire and relieving heat. It is very suitable for consumption in summer. Mung beans are also rich in protein, vitamins and trace elements. They have very high nutritional value and are a very healthy natural food. Isn't this very consistent with the theme of medicine and food coming from the same origin?" I saw the chef talking.
But after hearing this, the examiner's face turned dark and he cursed loudly.
"Are you so easy to fool our examiner? Mung bean porridge has certain medical uses, but your mung bean porridge is pretending to be clever. In order to distinguish it from ordinary mung bean porridge, you added soup stock made from precious stones. , although it does improve the taste of the entire mung bean soup, it destroys the overall quality of this mung bean porridge. This is an unqualified dish, and you are out... "
The more the chef listened, the paler his face became. Finally, he collapsed on the ground and burst into tears.
With such a vivid example, people who originally wanted to try to muddle through immediately stopped thinking, fearing that they would be embarrassed when the time came.
… …
As Le Yuan completed the soup stock, Le Yuan began to prepare the porridge, using the soup stock as the base, seasoning it appropriately and slowly cooking it while cleaning out the impurities over and over again.
The experts among the chefs also began to exert their efforts. The first person to pass was Kong Liang from Dasheng Restaurant. He used a rock sugar mint porridge with excellent fire control skills to treat wind, heat, colds, headaches and red eyes. , sore throat, and can be used as a perfect remedy for summer heatstroke prevention and antipyretic cooking. Passed the first level successfully.
The second person was Feiyan Mansion’s sous chef Chai Lin, who conquered the examiners’ tongues with a delicate dish called celery porridge that was completely inconsistent with his image.
Just after the two people completed the test, Le Yuan's porridge was also completed. He raised his hand confidently, "Examiner, my work is finished."
When the examiner came to Le Yuan, he looked at the porridge in front of him and frowned. The bowl of porridge was so clear that it seemed like every grain of rice could be seen clearly.
Le Yuan saw the examiner's expression and said, "Please taste this bowl of porridge first, and you will understand after drinking it."
When the examiner frowned and took the first sip, he had only one reaction: it was indeed an authentic porridge dish. But it didn't seem to be anything special when I took the second sip.
The three examiners couldn't keep their eyes off the food. They no longer ate one bite at a time with a spoon, but poured down a whole bowl.
As he drank the bowl of porridge, the examiner felt refreshed: Ah, as soon as I drank this bowl of porridge... my whole body felt very comfortable... This bowl of porridge seemed to flow through every corner of my body, filling my body with energy again. vitality…
After eating a bowl of porridge, the three examiners breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but sigh: It's so delicious. The other candidates looked at the examiners with extremely curious expressions on what kind of porridge has such magical power.
"Tell me about the relationship between your bowl of porridge and the theme of medical food, and why your bowl of porridge feels so, so clean when you drink it. Yes, it is clean?"
"Examiner, the function of my bowl of soup is actually to eat liver to replenish the liver. The liver is an organ in the human body with a protective and self-defense function. For many people with liver problems, they often have anorexia, and this bowl of soup The function of porridge is to repair the function of the liver. I stewed the offal of animals slowly over low heat to make such a pot of broth for the base. The reason why the porridge feels clean is because I filtered out the impurities over and over again. went."
"What a man who eats liver to replenish the liver, masters the ingredients, controls the heat, and understands the origin of medicine and food. He is worthy of being a disciple of Master Abe. Ju Xialou Leyuan passed the first round of tests."
"What, Ju goes downstairs to be Master Abe's disciple. It turns out he is Master Abe's disciple!"
"I asked how could such a young person come to take the chef's special examination? It turns out that he is Master Abe's disciple."
"Hey, is there any hope this time? Let's come back next year..."
As soon as the identity of Master Leyuan Abe's disciple was exposed, the chefs who were already a little shaken gave up the competition.
When the exam time expired, only four people passed the first round, namely Kong Liang from Dasheng Restaurant, Feiyanfu sous chef Chai Lin, Juxialou Leyuan, and female chef Peng Yuying from Haisheng Pavilion.