Chapter 994: 994
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It was as if the host wasn’t there . Even the start of the match was announced by Zhang Yan .
Since this was a formal match, it was natural for it to have a host, even if the host did not have the chance to announce the start .
Of course, the host still had some tasks since he was paid to be here . For example, right now, he was directing the assistants as they served the dishes one by one to the judges .
Then again, the assistants did not actually need any directing for something like serving food… but the truth was something that shouldn’t be easily spoken .
“In terms of speed, Boss Yuan seems to be doing better . ” With great difficulty, the host finally found something to say .
“But the representatives from the seafood alliance are not to be outdone as they have quickened their speed . Their final dish seems to be something jointly prepared by the two head chefs and is near completion,” said the host while walking around the kitchen counter .
The cameras of the reporters followed the host around . When the attention was no longer on them, Chef Li was still able to smile calmly, yet that was not the same for Ao Pi who spoke with a frown .
“Are the final two dishes ready?” whispered Ao Pi .
Chef Li answered calmly, “Don’t rush it . We already lost in terms of speed so we have to obtain victory through taste . ”
Chef Li’s words calmed the chefs of the seafood alliance . After all, as a person capable of inviting Zhang Yan and Zhou Shijie and also organizing such a large match, he was the backbone of the alliance .
That’s right . Although Zhong Lili had issued invitations to all the chefs, she did not give any explanation on how this match came into existence . Thus, the chefs all had a misconception .
Of the seven dishes of the seafood alliance, the three complicated dishes were already completed . The remaining four were relatively simple . For example, Salad Sea Snail was a dish that could be completed in a minute .
“Are the red ginsengs ready?” asked the head chef .
“Yes, we are preparing the sea snails right now,” answered a sous-chef .
In this manner, the seafood alliance finished all their dishes five minutes after Yuan Zhou was done .
Naturally, the seafood alliance’s dishes were arranged in a specific order, forming a straight line .
Chef Li’s Aromatic Spicy Mantis Shrimp and the Rolling Crab Dumpling which Chef Li made with Ao Pi occupied the central position in the line .
The moment the dishes were served, Chef Li raised his hand and gestured that they were completely done as well .
The host’s eyesight was pretty good . He spoke immediately, “Looks like the seafood alliance has completed their dishes as well . There is little difference at speed between the two parties . ”
“Yes,” answered Chef Li confidently with a nod .
“Good . Let us invite the assistants to serve the dishes and arrange them along with Boss Yuan’s dishes,” said the host .
After the dishes were all served, the four judges stood up, studying the dishes .
“The seafood alliance has so many people yet they aren’t even as fast as Boss Yuan . ” remarked a reporter in whispers . “Therefore, too many hands might cause confusion instead . ”
“That’s so true . But I also heard Boss Yuan has always been good in speed . We can only judge according to the taste,” said a different reporter . “Boss Yuan is fast and his dishes are delicious . I wonder if he can maintain his quality during this match . ”
“I thought we are only here to give more promotion to the Sichuan Cuisine exemplary restaurant?” asked a different reporter softly .
“Don’t speak that way . Perhaps something unexpected might happen later? That will make for good breaking news . ”
There were quite a lot of reporters waiting for something unexpected to happen . It’s not like they wished for Yuan Zhou’s defeat . They merely wanted some material for some breaking news . Of course, not all would speak their minds .
Thus, the one reporter who voiced that out was despised by the other reporters .
“No matter what, as a journalist, one should always be striving towards the truth . Even Boss Yuan’s victory will make for a good article . I even have the title prepared already,” said a reporter confidently .
In truth, a majority of these reporters were invited here by Zhou Shijie . Some were invited by Hu Yue, the chief editor of Food Discovery Dog .
After all, what the seafood alliance did was the same as slapping Hu Yue on the face . Thus, he had the thought of giving their defeat some publicity .
And since most of the reporters were invited by Zhou Shijie, they were naturally supposed to be here to cover Yuan Zhou due to Yuan Zhou’s relationship with Zhou Shijie .
Still, the reporters were inwardly wishing for something to happen so they could have some sensational news . Everyone was merely appearing outwardly polite .
Zhou Shijie and Zhang Yan were both fiercely protective presidents . Apart from giving Yuan Zhou more promotion, there were no other reasons they had invited so many reporters here .
“Since Head Chef Yuan is the one to finish first, I suggest we start with his dishes,” proposed Wang Xiang .
“But if we finish Head Chef Yuan’s dishes first, the seafood alliance’s dishes would be cold by the time we are done,” said Bai Xiaoxiao hesitantly .
“Lets alternate between the two then, starting from Head Chef Yuan’s dishes,” Zhou Shijie decided . Bai Xiaoxiao’s concern was valid so they had to take note of that .
“That is how it should be,” Zhang Yan was the first to agree .
“Chairman Zhou is indeed well experienced in such major events,” praised Bai Xiaoxiao .
“Let’s start from this Bell Pepper Prawn,” said Wang Xiang as he pointed at the dish at the middle that was arranged beside the Bell Pepper Prawn .
That’s right . Due to the similarities between the two dishes, the assistants had arranged them together .
In other words, the two rows of dishes were arranged in similar order according to the dish types .
And yes, this arrangement method was under the direction of that host . In all honesty, it was unknown what was the point of inviting this host here as they still had to pay for him to be here .
“I’ll try this prawn . It looks really good,” said Bai Xiaoxiao with a smile .
After they made their decision, the assistants filled their plates with a mantis shrimp each .
The outer shell of Yuan Zhou’s mantis shrimps were reddish-gold in color . A layer of red chili sauce was wrapped around the shrimps, and more importantly, the claws of the shrimps were still intact . The shrimps were rather whole in appearance .
“Both the claws are still there?” asked Bai Xiaoxiao doubtfully .
The first impression he had on this dish was that it looked pretty and the bright coloring scheme was incredibly appetizing .
But when the shrimps were taken out, one would notice that the claws were still intact .
Mantis shrimps had a wider torso that were split into six parts . Each part would have a pair of tiny claws on it . Thus, a single mantis shrimp would have about 12 claws in total .
When Bai Xiaoxiao lifted the shrimp with his chopsticks, the claws became even more obvious, while the astonishment on his face grew .
“Yes, all the claws are intact . Amazing,” said Wang Xiang . As someone specialized in seafood, Wang Xiang was naturally able to see how skilled Yuan Zhou was in achieving this .
“Nothing surprising about that,” remarked Zhou Shijie calmly .
Of course, his words would be more believable if he did not look so smug .
The judges all spent some time in astonishment when they saw the shrimps, yet that was not the case for Zhang Yan . He started eating directly .
With a crack, the entirety of the shell was removed .
“Chairman Zhang is pretty skilled in stripping a shrimp’s shell,” commented Wang Xiang .
“No, I’m not the skilled one,” said Zhang Yan after calming himself from the astonishment he was feeling .
Wang Xiang was confused, but he did not say much since Zhang Yan had already started eating .
But his confusion was answered shortly after . He only needed to slightly dig into the shrimp with his chopsticks and the shell was perfectly removed .
“This?” Wang Xiang looked at Bai Xiaoxiao’s bowl with astonishment .
Coincidentally, Bai Xiaoxiao had just removed the shell from his shrimp as well . Thus, Wang Xiang reached a conclusion .
“The shells have actually been removed in advance? But won’t that spoil the taste?” Bai Xiaoxiao frowned .
Bai Xiaoxiao was not a chef . Hence, he did not notice the greenish-color on the surface of the meat . Rather, he started worrying about the drainage issue from having removed the shell beforehand, affecting the taste as a whole .
Meanwhile, Bai Xiaoxiao lifted the thick shrimp meat with his chopsticks .
The meat of mantis shrimps are unlike other shrimps as it was very hard to cleanly remove the shell of mantis shrimps . Moreover, the mantis shrimp’s tomalley was harder and wasn’t as tasty as the tomalley of freshwater crabs .
Thus, Bai Xiaoxiao never really liked the tomalley of mantis shrimps .
But since he was now a judge, he decided to give it a try anyway .
He lifted the golden tomalley with his chopsticks . Like the tomalley of crabs, it was rough in appearance .
“Huh?” Bai Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened the moment he stuffed it into his mouth .
“It’s not rough at all and it’s very aromatic,” Bai Xiaoxiao remarked .
The tomalley was rather crispy as with a single bite, it broke apart while an astonishing aroma burst out within his mouth .
And due to how crispy it was, the more he chewed on it, the more aromatic it felt . It was the same as the core of a salted egg yolk where the flavor was intense and tasty . And since this was the tomally of a mantis shrimp, it had a unique flavor that was not present in salted egg yolk .
And the overwhelming sensation caused Bai Xiaoxiao to completely forgot about whether the meat would be nice after the shell was removed in advance . He quickly finished the tomalley before proceeding to eat the meat .
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