Chapter 117

Chapter 117: Oil-Splashed Spicy Sauce

Now that the conversation had reached this point, Jiang Ting's rating for Chen Ran was naturally not going to be low.

She gave a perfect score of 10.

Looking at this perfect score, Bai Jing couldn't resist and casually grabbed a piece of golden shrimp box and popped it into his mouth.

Previously, he had only seen the Guo Bao Rou but hadn't tasted it. This time, there was so much left on the plate—surely he could eat it now?

The shrimp box wasn't as scalding hot as it had been right after it was made; it was just the right temperature. Bai Jing simply popped the whole shrimp box into his mouth.

The outer shell was aromatic, and the inside was fresh and delicious. The combination of the two flavors was quite rare, with a crispy yet tender texture.

If you only ate the shell, it was crispy but could get a little greasy; if you only ate the filling, it was flavorful but lacked a bit of fragrance.

But when the two flavors and textures combined, the extreme crispiness of the fried oil shell, paired with the fresh shrimp filling, was like the finishing touch on a masterpiece.

The perfect texture made him involuntarily close his eyes and savor the taste, as if not concentrating all his senses on the mouthful would be a disservice to such a delicious dish.

“Darn it, I can't taste it!”

“Why did I even turn on the TV to watch this cooking competition? I can't even eat a bite!”

“Before, when Chen Ran went to work anywhere, I could still follow along, but now, with the competition being closed-door, is the production team mad at me or something?”

“I can't take it anymore. I’m going out to find a place to eat! I’ve seen this golden shrimp box on the tea house menu, whether it’s made by Chef Chen or not, I’ve got to satisfy my cravings!”

As the show aired, discussions in fan groups grew more and more heated.

A new dish had been introduced, but no one had tasted it yet. Furthermore, this was Chen Ran's first time trying Cantonese cuisine and she had already received praise from the original chef.

“How come this show doesn't even have any judges?” Wang Zhaoshan was a bit angry.

As a well-known food critic in the industry, Wang Zhaoshan had appeared on several food programs. His sharp-tongued style was quite popular with the audience.

This time, for the "Two Capitals Culinary Contest," he had even taken the initiative to offer himself as a judge to the production team, but was politely declined.

“No judges? Does Lao Wang have inside information?”

Wang Zhaoshan angrily typed in the group chat: “When I found out Chen Ran was competing, I immediately reached out to the production team to ask if they needed judges. They said this time they have a new competition format and don’t need any judges.”

He even posted a screenshot of the chat history in the group.

It read: “Mr. Wang, sorry, this culinary competition does not have dedicated judges.”

The Lion's Head group was especially lively today. Everyone was watching the premiere of the cooking competition while complaining in the group.

There was no choice—watching the delicious food but being unable to eat it, they had to vent in the group.

“Look at this host… lucky! He even took two pieces!”

Wang Zhaoshan complained a few more times but noticed that no one in the group was responding to him.

“What’s going on? Why is no one talking?”

When there was silence in the group, Wang Zhaoshan always felt a bit uneasy, wondering if the group members had gone out to eat something good.In the end, it was Zhu Chenchen who couldn’t watch anymore and gave Wang Zhaoshan, who had been a little slow recently, a hint.

“Mr. Wang, think about it. They don’t need special judges… but it can’t always be a few chefs judging each other, right?”

Upon seeing the chat records Wang Zhaoshan had posted, everyone's instincts kicked in!

Sure enough, wherever Chen Ran went, things were always so unconventional.

Why did they emphasize not having “special” judges? This suggests there would still be people to evaluate, just not professional judges.

Who better fits this than regular diners?

Zhu Nan immediately went to ask Wan Jiaxin: “Are you guys filming outdoors now?”

Wan Jiaxin slowly replied after a while: “Brother Zhu Nan, we have a confidentiality agreement here...”

Got it! That means yes.

Zhu Nan immediately sent a big red envelope: “Thank you, little sister!”

He quickly called the photographer, and the two began frantically searching the Weibo accounts of the entire "Two Capitals Culinary Contest" production crew.

It wasn’t just Zhu Nan—everyone else was searching too. Zhu Chenchen, while browsing short video accounts, couldn’t help but marvel.

“Following Sister Chen Ran for so long, it feels like everyone is evolving.”

Some had become more proactive, some more observant of details, and everyone’s investigative skills in the group had increased by +2.

If it had been the old her, she never would’ve come up with so many ideas from just one short sentence in the chat record!

“Stop thinking about evolution for now. Bai Jing posted a picture on Weibo. Is there anyone studying biology here who can analyze where this is from?”

A picture of a leaf covered in frost was shared in the group.

“Bai Jing's Weibo and short video IPs are different, right? Which one is managed by the assistant?”

“Hey, look what I found! I found Chef Jiang's husband’s personal Weibo. He said he’s going to take the kid to visit his mom for the New Year!”

Meanwhile, Chen Ran, who was still in the competition, had no idea that a large group of fans was already on their way.

After the first round of the competition, she was leading with a perfect score of 10 from Jiang Ting, ranking first.

The others—Master Lu's "Oil-Braised Double Crisps" earned 9.1 points from Chen Ran, placing second. The other contestants all scored 8.5.

Although it was a competition, the ratings given were very fair and objective. Even though Chen Ran’s perfect score stood out, since Jiang Ting himself thought her improvements were excellent, no one else had any objections.

Everyone’s scores were very fair, which helped maintain a harmonious atmosphere in the competition.

Except for Lu Jingrong, who still wasn’t talking to Chen Ran.

However, this time, not talking wouldn't do—round two was a cooperative competition!

“Hello, everyone. This is the venue for our second competition. As you can see, we’ve randomly rented three shops on this food street.”

“The contestants will draw lots to pair up. The final rankings will be based on the highest profits. The first place pair will each get 9 points, second place will each get 7 points, and third place will each get 5 points.”

Chen Ran and Lu Jingrong were paired together!

Bai Jing continued explaining the competition rules: “The ingredients will be provided by the production team, and the prices will be calculated at market rates.”“The theme of this competition is authentic Chinese-style burgers. Please think it over and come pick up your ingredients. Business hours are from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM.”

Chinese-style burger?

Chen Ran glanced at Lu Jingrong. “Master Lu, do you have any ideas?”

Lu Jingrong didn’t look at Chen Ran and pondered for a moment. “At least it should be in the form of a burger, right? Two layers of bun with fillings in between. Should we use steamed buns for the bun? Or sesame flatbreads?”

Seeing that Lu Jingrong still wasn’t looking at her, Chen Ran couldn’t help but ask, “Master Lu, we don’t have any grudges, right? Why are you deliberately avoiding eye contact?”

Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but in the middle of the competition, it was affecting communication!

Lu Jingrong sighed deeply.

Although he was over sixty, he still looked quite energetic. However, as he sighed, a hint of worry appeared on his face.

“I am Master Wu Chaomei’s first-generation disciple…”

And Wu Chaomei had once claimed that Chen Ran was her close friend across generations!

She and Master Xu had been rivals for a lifetime, and Xu and Chen Ran were considered siblings. Wu Chaomei naturally didn’t want to take advantage of Master Xu in this way.

Wu Chaomei, as the master of Shandong cuisine, had taught many students and had a great legacy. But when she referred to Chen Ran as a close friend, it made Chen Ran feel her seniority was so much greater.

Chen Ran thought of Du Zhaohu who always called her "Shi Gu" and quickly waved her hand. “After all, this is a cooking competition. Let's not bring up other relationships. I’ll call you Master Lu, and you can call me Master Chen, and that’ll be fine!”

No wonder when she rated Lu Jingrong’s "Oil-Braised Double Crisps" earlier, the taste felt so familiar—turns out he was also one of Master Wu’s disciples.

Lu Jingrong slightly cupped his hands in respect. “Master Chen, please forgive me.”

Only then did the two continue discussing the preparation of the Chinese-style burger.

To be honest, Chen Ran’s first reaction upon seeing this topic was whether a certain brand was sponsoring it...

“Let’s consider the fillings first, and then match the buns accordingly.”

Lu Jingrong nodded. “Sure, since it’s a Chinese-style burger, the fillings in the middle are more important. Should we replace the fried chicken in a Western-style burger with a cooked dish? How about adding lettuce?”

Chen Ran, however, thought even further ahead.

In such a food street, with only six hours of business, you couldn’t just think about the taste alone. Six hours—that’s not enough time for customers to digest their first meal!

“I think it still needs something special to stand out in the competition,” Chen Ran grabbed the whiteboard provided by the production team to write down the recipe. “Since it’s a real Chinese-style burger, why don’t we try stir-fried dishes as the filling?”

Lu Jingrong’s eyes lit up!

Yes, in this food street, if you looked around, most of the food was made on the spot. There were very few that used actual cooking pans.

He immediately understood Chen Ran’s idea: “I get it now! No matter what the dish is, we’ll toss it in the pan, high heat, stir-fried quickly to get that wok aroma…”

This combination of great technique and the strong, smoky fragrance would surely attract customers!

At first, he felt hesitant to call Chen Ran "Shi Gu" (Master Aunt), but as the journey went on, Lu Jingrong thought, if she were just a bit older, calling her "Shi Gu" would be no problem at all.

Soon, all three groups had selected their ingredients and drawn lots to pick their three shops.

However, Lu Jingrong wasn’t very lucky with the draw. The shop they were assigned was located near the exit of the food street.

Typically, customers visiting the food street were there for a casual stroll, eating along the way. By the time they reached the area near the exit, they would usually be full.Lu Jingrong was a bit discouraged and almost called out "Shi Gu" by mistake. "Shi... Master Chen, this location is not ideal. My luck with the draw was terrible! I even won the lottery before coming to the show!"

"It's alright."

When it came to attracting customers, Chen Ran might not have been the most experienced, but she did have a bit of confidence in that area.

The two of them walked to the vacant shop, looking at the various snacks around. Chen Ran had already figured out how to attract customers with flavor.

Along the way, there were all sorts of chaotic snacks, with a variety of smells—meaty, barbecued, fried chicken.

Honestly, with all these meat aromas filling the air, even if she started making lion’s head meatballs right then and there, it would be hard to overpower the other smells.

But there was one smell that could do it!

"Alright, let's wash the chilies."

The sauce for the Chinese-style burger, of course, would be different from the mayo and mustard of Western burgers. The two of them had already discussed it and decided to make three types: oil-splashed chili, rose fermented tofu, and a sweet sesame sauce.

To make the oil-splashed chili, it had to be done right away!

The second-jing pepper, lantern pepper, and bullet head chili were all cleaned and dried, then chopped into small pieces, separating the chili skins and seeds.

To make the oil-splashed chili fragrant, the seeds and skins must first be lightly toasted over low heat. This would make the chili crisp and bring out a stronger aroma.

Once the chili was prepared, the oil was heated!

Vegetable oil was heated, and then cilantro roots, ginger, garlic, onions, celery, carrots, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, and cumin were added. When the spices started to brown slightly, they were immediately removed.

Lu Jingrong had prepared the container, placing one-third of the chili inside. Chen Ran took the hot oil pot and poured one-third of the hot oil in with a swift motion, then immediately turned off the heat!

First pour! The chili fragrance was released!

The pre-fried chili, combined with the high-temperature oil splashing, not only released a mouthwatering chili aroma, but also carried a faint charred scent.

True lovers of oil-splashed chili knew that a slight charred taste was the best part!

Once the golden bubbles calmed down, Lu Jingrong added the next third of the chili.

Second pour! Releasing the chili’s spiciness!

This second splashing made the oil-splashed chili extra layered. Some of the chili had a slightly charred but less spicy flavor, while others were perfectly spicy. The different peppers with varying levels of heat worked together, creating the most perfect texture.

And the third pour!

The final third of the chili, with added flavoring ingredients, along with crushed sesame, yellow soybeans, and peanuts, was added. The oil temperature had also dropped just enough to prevent the sesame from burning.

With this last splash, the fragrance of the chili, sesame, and peanuts was released all at once!

The bright red chili oil emitted an almost irresistible aroma... The moment this spiciness hit the air, the saliva at the back of the tongue would start flowing.

Among all the heavily seasoned meat aromas in the food street, this pure oil-splashed chili aroma was like the soprano solo suddenly rising in the middle of a symphony!

"Hurry, hurry! I smell the spice! Go take a look!"