Chapter 122

Chapter 122: Not Stewed Fish Head, but Whole...

As Chen Ran's second dish, Nine-Turned Intestines, was presented, the judges visibly relaxed.

There was so much to say about Nine-Turned Intestines!

Moreover, this dish was something that most of the audience had never tasted, let alone made. In this situation, the judges had more space to express their opinions.

Zheng Xu sighed in relief but still decided to be a bit cautious with his score. He had already given a high score for the previous dish, and he couldn’t give another high score for this one, otherwise, it might seem like the show was favoring her.

The judges each picked up a piece of intestines and placed it in their plates.

For Nine-Turned Intestines, the standard is that there should only be nine pieces on a plate, and the first criterion for tasting is the shape of the intestines.

Only Zhao Yu, with a satisfied look, picked up a piece and popped it in her mouth. She was about to joke about how the other judges were staring at the intestines, but then her eyes widened, and she immediately covered her mouth.

What kind of flavor was this...

The final step in making Nine-Turned Intestines is reducing the sauce, so the dish was served without any sauce left on top. The temperature at this moment was perfect for tasting.

Having already had her appetite whetted by the hand-torn cabbage, Zhao Yu took a big bite and immediately experienced the unique taste of the Nine-Turned Intestines.

This was a flavor that couldn’t just be described as "delicious"!

The texture of the intestines was both chewy and crispy. When bitten into, the juices exploded out. Regardless of the seasoning, the texture alone was top-notch.

With such a texture, the seasoning often gets overlooked. First, it's hard for the flavor to penetrate; second, the richness of the fat in the intestines can overpower the seasoning.

But this Nine-Turned Intestines had a strange, layered flavor, with different tastes intertwining and flowing, completely overturning Zhao Yu's preconceived notions about intestines!

The taste was delicious, even top-notch, but when anyone tasted this dish, their first reaction wasn’t "delicious," but they subconsciously slowed down all the actions in their mouth, trying to savor every subtle nuance of the flavor.

Zhao Yu even slightly opened her mouth to give more space in her mouth, so she could more fully experience the taste.

This wasn’t her first time eating unusual dishes. Sichuan cuisine, like the strange-flavored rabbit cubes and strange-flavored broad beans, had similar flavors. But this was the first time she had tasted such a well-balanced strange flavor!

Each time she chewed, or even just moved her tongue, she could feel a kaleidoscope of new and wonderful flavors blooming in her mouth.

And when Zhao Yu finally swallowed the entire piece of Nine-Turned Intestines, there was even a subtle aftertaste that slowly rose, like a lingering sweetness after drinking green tea.

This mysterious flavor made her involuntarily say the sentence that anyone who tasted Chen Ran's Nine-Turned Intestines would say.

"The flavor of this dish... it’s like life..."

Seeing the writer make such an exclamation, Bai Jing instinctively leaned in, waiting for her next flowery words. But to his surprise, just as he leaned in, he saw Zhao Yu quickly pick up another piece and shove it into her mouth, while also placing another piece on her plate.

Bai Jing chuckled awkwardly. "It seems that Teacher Zhao holds this Nine-Turned Intestines in high regard. If the flavor is like life, what kind of life does it represent? Teacher Zheng, care to share your thoughts?"

The camera switched to give Zheng Xu a close-up, showing his eyes slowly opening after closing them to savor the dish, with a hint of... pain?

Zheng Xu’s pain didn’t stem from finding the Nine-Turned Intestines unappetizing. It was because he couldn’t find any points to deduct!

He had managed to deduct some points from the hand-torn cabbage for the plating, but what about this Nine-Turned Intestines?

Each piece was a perfect shape, even more perfect than the tutorial’s description.

The nine pieces of Nine-Turned Intestines were arranged in the shape of a plum blossom stake, and the last remaining piece was carved with a tiny figure using carrot.

If anyone had seen the "Wulin Cuisine Competition" from years ago, they would recognize that the tiny figure was of Tang Yang leaping down from the air!“Hmm, this presentation is quite good... The nine-turn large intestine arranged in the shape of a plum blossom stake, along with the lifelike carved warrior, even the plating doesn't forget to promote national culture. I’ll give Chef Chen a score of 9.5!”

Zheng Xu gritted his teeth. What kind of culinary competition judge is he? With such a high score, why not go teach essay writing instead?

However, in front of the camera, he still managed to put on a smile and slowly gave a score of 9.3.

In the end, this nine-turn large intestine, with Zhao Yu’s perfect score of 10, got a final score of 9.53. The judges exchanged helpless glances. No matter how they looked at it, it seemed like a dark horse move, didn’t it?

Zheng Xu's mouth twitched slightly, rejecting the gaze of the others. Ridiculous. If he really could point out any flaw in this nine-turn large intestine, wouldn’t he have said so already?

He just hoped that the third dish wouldn’t be Chen Ran’s. This little chef was a real jinx for him!

Fortunately, the other chefs weren’t pushovers. It was one thing to avoid the spotlight, but they couldn’t just keep backing down.

Jiang Ting’s steamed East Star grouper was brought out.

The judges breathed a sigh of relief and each picked up their chopsticks to taste.

“Chef Jiang's control of heat is perfect. The ham slices chosen as a side dish are excellent, salty and fragrant with a dry texture, adding a nice extra flavor.”

“The presentation looks good too, the ham slices are rolled into shapes like roses, very beautiful.”

“But I do have one suggestion. Since the focus of this dish is to pair the ham with the fresh fish, clearly, both should be eaten together. Why not insert the ham slices into the fish, making it easier for the guests to eat them together?”

“Indeed, the different colored meats could be arranged together to form a peacock spreading its feathers, or a layered flower pattern. Presentation is important, but convenience for eating should come before presentation...”

During this round of commentary, Zhao Yu couldn’t get a word in.

The judges, who had only been commenting on the presentation before, suddenly began giving long, detailed advice on how to guide the chefs!

Zhao Yu suddenly understood. It wasn’t that these chefs were bad, but rather, the level of Chen Ran’s two dishes earlier had reached a point where it was difficult to critique them casually.

She subconsciously looked over at Chen Ran and saw her with a light sheen of sweat on her forehead, completely focused on picking the bones from the fish head.

—It was the stewed Huainan fish head!

The fish head had already been steamed to perfection. However, getting the timing just right was a difficult task.

This dish required each bone from the entire fish head to be removed without causing the fish head to lose its shape.

If the fish head wasn’t steamed long enough, the bones wouldn’t separate easily. But if it was steamed just a little too long, the bones would be difficult to remove and could destroy the fish head.

Traditionally, stewed fish heads are split open from one side, but Chen Ran’s dish was unique—it was presented as a whole, with no splitting.

For this competition, she had to win!

Whether it was for the sake of proving herself, or for taking back the spatula from the undeserving Chen family, she had to win the championship of this competition and stand on that stage.

After the group stages, Chen Ran had already decided that this revised whole stewed fish head would be the highlight of the competition. She bought up all the fish heads she could find in the market and practiced tirelessly at home every day.

But even so, keeping the fish head intact while removing all the bones was incredibly difficult. If she hadn’t practiced dismantling countless pigeons during her duck preparation sessions, she wouldn't have had the confidence to complete the final step.

Even with days of high-intensity practice, when she actually recreated this dish on stage, she couldn’t control the slight trembling of her hands.

She took a deep breath and slowly removed her hands from the fish head, preparing to rest a moment before continuing.

At that moment, the system suddenly popped up a task.

[Random task: Startup capital for opening a restaurant.][The signature dish of “Food is Heaven” deserves a venue that matches its reputation.]

[Please, Host, complete the recipe for Stewed Fish Head with Bones Removed.]

[Mission Reward: Startup Capital]

Chen Ran's gaze focused on the system’s mission description. The line read "Stewed Fish Head with Bones Removed," not "Whole Stewed Fish Head."

She silently asked the system, "Are you trying to relieve my stress?"

All along, she knew that the system, which appeared cold and detached, had never given her a task she couldn’t complete. It had even, on several occasions, provided the recipe before the task had even begun.

The system, which seemed so aloof, was actually a protective and gentle mentor.

But no matter what, she would take that spatula back! She didn’t need the system to reduce her stress!

Chen Ran took a deep breath and happened to see the camera pointing at her.

Compared to the critiques from the judging panel, the actions at the contestant's workstation were the real focus of the culinary competition.

Especially with the dish that Chen Ran was preparing. Even if someone hadn’t heard of the recipe for Stewed Fish Head with Bones Removed, just watching her remove the bones from the fish head, they could imagine the level of skill required.

Even the tofu dish beside it seemed to pale in comparison.

“Chef Chen, the dish you’re making, according to Teacher Zheng, should be called Stewed Fish Head with Bones Removed?”

Looking at Bai Jing handing her the microphone, Chen Ran took a deep breath, as if she had regained the same calm state she had the afternoon that Old Master Xu taught her how to make chicken porridge.

“That’s not Stewed Fish Head with Bones Removed, it’s Whole Stewed Fish Head.”

As soon as she said this, the entire judging panel fell silent for a few seconds.

Except for Zhao Yu, every judge understood how much effort it took to change the “bones removed” into “whole”!

When removing the bones from a fish head, the difficulty lay in getting the steaming time just right. With enough attention, even an ordinary person could carefully remove each bone, bit by bit.

But what Chen Ran was attempting was to remove the bones from the whole fish head without disturbing its shape!

Even the system’s mission interface flickered, quickly turning transparent to avoid obstructing her view.

All eyes were now focused on her hands!

Chen Ran’s fingers were long, but not perfectly straight. The calluses and small scars all over her hands made them far from beautiful.

But as they watched her skillfully and steadily remove each bone from the fish head, no one could say that her hands weren’t beautiful.

These were hands capable of creating miracles!

The final bone was expertly removed from the other side, yet the skin of the fish remained perfectly intact. The entire room let out a collective sigh of relief.

The hardest step in making Stewed Fish Head with Bones Removed was completed!