Su Cha's Lemon Cashew Chicken was cooked in an authentic Thai style. The chicken was fried until it was a light yellow and slightly charred. Green lemon leaves were placed on the sides, and the lemon juice was squeezed in. This gave the dish a unique, exotic fragrance the moment the lid was opened.
This was the fragrance of lemon mixed with chicken and nuts.
As Su Cha and Qin Kaili were exchanging questions and answers, the three judges started tasting the chicken in silence.
The chicken was smooth and tender. With the addition of the fat from the chicken skin, it was very plump. But before it entered the mouth, the first thing that could be felt was the fragrance of lemon.
"This is Thailand's wild lime. The taste is indeed different from ours," said Yuan Zhou.
"Oh, yes. As expected of Head Chef Yuan. You can smell this even before it enters the mouth. That's really amazing," said Su Cha immediately after catching Yuan Zhou's words.
That's right. This was what Yuan Zhou said when he picked up the chicken.
Yuan Zhou did not answer. He only nodded at Su Cha and started eating.
Just like Ke Sen, the three judges followed Yuan Zhou's rule of not wasting food and only evaluated the dishes after they finished eating.
That's right. Yuan Zhou would evaluate the dishes after they finished eating. This was something everyone knew.
Therefore, Zhang Yan and Fujiwara Jiayuan were also following Yuan Zhou's rules. Fortunately, everyone in the Green Chef's Association knew about this. Therefore, there was another requirement for the dishes to be exquisite and small in quantity.
Even after eating two dishes, the three didn't feel full. It could even be said that they felt like eating just now.
After eating, the process was the same as Ke Sen's. First, Zhang Yan and Fujiwara Jiayuan would give an affirmative answer. Then, Yuan Zhou would give a suggestion.
"There's a small problem. The lemon leaves should be the same as the lemon. Using the same tree will make the fragrance more uniform and not affect the taste of the chicken. This time, you used the leaves and lemon from three lemon trees." Yuan Zhou paused before continuing, "The rest of the dish is acceptable."
"Thank you for your suggestions. I will do my best," Su Cha, who had been joking with Qin Kaili, said solemnly.
He bowed solemnly before standing up. Of course, he was very shocked.
After all, Yuan Zhou had accurately reported which trees the lemons he used came from. This was a problem that even Yuan Zhou himself did not realize.
At the same time, he was even more eager to win the championship this time. After all, Yuan Zhou was able to point out such a small difference. If he could be guided by him alone, how much would he improve? Su Cha stood even straighter.
However, Su Cha wasn't the only one who thought of this. The other three naturally thought of it as well, so the three of them subconsciously straightened their already straight backs, hoping that they could become the champion.
Yuan Zhou and the other two merely nodded their heads and did not say anything.
At this time, Qin Kaili made another appearance. She began to get people to serve Dupont's dishes that had been kept warm.
Dupont's dish was the famous Filipino dish, Adobo. The most challenging aspect of this dish was how to marinate the chicken in vinegar and make it taste just right when eaten.
That's right. To put it simply, the method of this dish was to marinate the main ingredients, chicken and pork in vinegar. After cooking, a secret sauce was added and served.
But because the theme this time was chicken, Dupont only used chicken when making the dish, and then ingeniously used squid broth as the base.
Therefore, when the lid was opened, the aroma that wafted over had a faint seafood smell.
Zhang Yan and Fujiwara Jiayuan looked at each other, then looked at Yuan Zhou at the same time. However, Yuan Zhou calmly picked up his chopsticks and prepared to eat.
Dupont was more serious than Su Cha, so he only greeted them as usual and looked at the judges, waiting for their comments.
The judges were also very fast. After all, each dish was basically a mouthful's worth. The three of them quickly finished eating and put down their chopsticks.
This time, Zhang Yan and Fujiwara Jiayuan were very restrained in their praise, which was still lacking compared to Su Cha. This made Dupont a little depressed, but he quickly pulled himself together and looked at Yuan Zhou with sparkling eyes.
"You used fresh squid." Yuan Zhou said without hesitation. Then, without waiting for Dupont's reply, he continued, "But you didn't handle the proportion of the fishy smell and the umami taste well. You also lacked the aroma of the broth, and the chicken was stained with the fishy smell of the sea."
Yuan Zhou restrained himself and didn't say much, but he still mentioned a few fatal shortcomings, because they were shortcomings in the taste, not defects.
Dupont instantly understood that he might not be chosen. He bent his back slightly, lowered his head, and said, "Yes, I'll try to do better next time. Thank you."
The three judges didn't say much about Dupont's disappointment. Even Yuan Zhou, who usually got to the point, just nodded and gestured for the next dish to be served.
The next dish was Dashi Xiujie's dish. He chose the specialty of his hometown, Fukuoka Chicken Pot.
This dish was actually not suitable for the competition, because it was cooked in the form of a hot pot. It needed to be cooked first, then scooped up and eaten. Then, the Jinya Rice prepared by Dashi Xiujie would be used to stew a pot of porridge.
Therefore, when Qin Kaili announced that the dish prepared by him could be served, Dashi Xiujie made a sound.
"Please wait a moment. Let me serve the dish to the three judges." Dashi Xiujie's words were very precise, even comparable to that of a Huaxia person.
"Okay." Yuan Zhou looked at Zhang Yan and Fujiwara Jiayuan and then nodded his head.
"Thank you." Dashi Xiujie first bowed to Yuan Zhou and the other two judges. Then, he stood up, opened the lid, and scooped the dish.
The pot was boiling. Inside, white cabbage, jade-colored chicken meatballs, green onions, and shiitake mushrooms were rolling together with the soup.
Dashi Xiujie carefully served two spoonfuls of soup, a chicken meatball, a piece of cabbage leaf, a small piece of tofu, and a whole wild shiitake mushroom into three small white porcelain bowls. Then, he gestured for the waiter at the side to take the bowls away.
"Please take them away. This dish needs to be unveiled at the end. Sorry to bother you." After saying that, Dashi Xiujie took a step back and waited for the judges to taste it.
"Then let's get started." Yuan Zhou took over the small bowls and nodded his head at the two people.
"Yes." Zhang Yan nodded his head.
"Okay." Fujiwara Jiayuan also nodded his head and agreed.
Yuan Zhou scooped half a spoonful of soup into his mouth first. Compared with the clear broth, top broth, and stock of Huaxia, the soup naturally had a completely different taste.
This soup was unexpectedly simple. Yes, it was simple. It only had the faint taste of shiitake mushrooms and the saltiness of the soy sauce.
The freshness of the soup came from the freshness of the chicken meatballs. Basically, the soup could be seen at a glance.
Yuan Zhou slightly raised his eyebrows and said inwardly, "This Dashi Xiujie is really smart."
Then, he continued to taste. This time, Yuan Zhou directly tasted the main dish, the chicken meatballs. As Yuan Zhou had expected, the chicken meatballs completely retained the freshness and smoothness of the chicken. The fragrance of the onions in the soup was also completely absorbed by the chicken, neutralizing the original fishy smell of the meat.
It was simple and straightforward. It could be seen at a glance, but the aroma lingered in one's mouth and cheeks.
Dashi Xiujie had been paying attention to the three judges all the time. When the three judges finished the main dish, he immediately said, "Please open the remaining lid."
As soon as he finished speaking, the waiter over there opened the lid, and the fragrance of rice immediately filled the air.
There was a small pot in the remaining lid. It was boiling, and a shallow layer of rice porridge was boiling.
"It's indeed chowder porridge," Yuan Zhou said.
"Yes. This is the last essence of the Fukuoka Chicken Pot," Fujiwara Jiayuan nodded his head and said.
"Then let's have a taste," Zhang Yan said.
As they spoke, the three people directly began to eat. Jinya Rice deserved to be the king of rice in Japan. It was full of rice fragrance. The rice oil mixed in the simple soup absorbed the fragrance of all the ingredients, making the chowder porridge very rich.
The amount of porridge was not much, about three mouthfuls per person. However, the hot porridge made the three people feel comfortable.
Therefore, when he praised Dashi Xiujie this time, Zhang Yan was much more generous. He mentioned many points that he was very satisfied with.
Similarly, Fujiwara Jiayuan didn't avoid arousing suspicion. He straightforwardly said that Dashi Xiujie's culinary skills had improved a lot, which seemed to have returned to simplicity. It was known to be a very high compliment.
When it came to Yuan Zhou's turn in the end, Dashi Xiujie almost couldn't help taking out a small notebook to take notes. However, he managed to hold himself back and listened to him carefully.
"The ingredients used are simple and not complicated. The soup is delicious and simple, but it highlights the delicacy of the main dish of the chicken. The soy sauce is a little strong, but it takes away some of the freshness of the chicken. The time of the porridge is three minutes late, so the texture is not mellow. Overall, it's not bad." As usual, Yuan Zhou gave his approval first and then gave his opinion.
As Yuan Zhou's comments ended, the dishes of the four contestants were all finished.
While the plates were taken away, the staff brought four identical forms and three black gel pens and put them on the judges' table.
"The three judges have finished eating the dishes of the contestants. Now, let's invite the judges to give their marks."
Qin Kaili was very talented as a host. Every time she spoke, the timing was just right. This time, she was explaining the rules of giving marks to the guests and the reporters present.
"There are four forms in front of the three judges, on which the names of the contestants are written. The judges need to write their marks for the dishes just now."
"The highest score that each judge can give to the dishes cooked by the contestants is 10 points. For the sake of making it easier to calculate the results of the competition, the three judges only need to set their marks at 10 points."
Of course, Qin Kaili actually omitted one point. For the sake of fairness and independence, the judges couldn't keep discussing when giving marks. Of course, it didn't matter if they said a few words from time to time.
The reason for this rule was that they were worried that one judge would affect the judgment of another judge, which wasn't fair to the contestants.
The reason why she didn't mention it was because of the identity of the three judges. There was no need to remind them about such a small matter.
"It must be me. It's intolerable that I can't be the champion with my handsome face!"
"I don't want to eat the iron pot. I don't want to eat the iron pot."
"I'm the one who can win the favor of the great grandmaster of the empire. The most basic thing for a chef is to believe that the dishes cooked by him can conquer the taste buds of the customers. I have never been so confident before! "
"According to my investigation, my Adobo taste is definitely the most suitable for Head Chef Yuan's taste. I can't possibly lose."
That's right. At this time, Dupont wouldn't lose the confidence to win just because of the evaluation. After all, the results weren't out yet, right?
Dashi Xiujie, Dupont, Su Cha, and Ke Sen each had their own thoughts. What they had in common was that the four of them were like primary school students waiting for the final exam results, standing in a line quietly and nervously.
"The scoring system of the finals is different from the others. After all the dishes are eaten, the contestants have to fill in the same form at one time. This is so torturous," sighed Zhang Yan.
Tengyuan Jiayuan nodded. He picked up the pen and paused for three times, but he still couldn't write down a mark. It was really too difficult.
"Everything in the world is afraid of comparison, and cooking is even more so. When put together, the contrast is too great. The organizer is really making things difficult for us." Tengyuan Jiayuan heaved a long sigh.
As the head of the judging panel, Yuan Zhou didn't say anything. He felt that if he told them that he was the one who decided on the scoring system, would he be beaten up?
After thinking for a while, Yuan Zhou still felt that it was better to talk less and do more.
Soon, the three of them finished scoring and the results were out.
[Dashi Xiujie: 8.4 points
Dupont: 7.9 points
Su Cha: 7.8 points
Ke Sen: 8.4 points]
Before Yuan Zhou came here, he had already thought that he couldn't set the standard of himself or the standard of girls he recruited. Instead, he should set the standard of their age.
Therefore, he was the first judge to finish scoring. Then, the staff immediately took the form away.
Seeing that Yuan Zhou was done, Tengyuan Jiayuan and Zhang Yan calmed themselves down and started scoring.
The scoring lasted for about 15 minutes. After the four forms were taken away, Qin Kaili appeared again.
In order to leave some suspense, Yuan Zhou, Zhang Yan, and Tengyuan Jiayuan didn't ask others how they would score.
"Next, we will announce the scores of the four contestants," Qin Kaili's voice was heard by everyone.
"First, we will announce the scores of contestant Ke Sen. Chef Yuan Zhou scored 8.4 points, Chairman Zhang scored 9.3 points, and Tengyuan Jiayuan scored 9.1 points, totaling 26.8 points."
"Next, we will look at the scores of contestant Dupont. Chef Yuan Zhou scored 7.9 points, Chairman Zhang scored 9.0 points, and Tengyuan Jiayuan scored 9.0 points, totaling 25.9 points."
Qin Kaili spoke quickly and clearly. She didn't intentionally pause or deliberately mystify the audience. She was just broadcasting solemnly and seriously.
"And contestant Su Cha, Chef Yuan scored 7.8 points, Chairman Zhang scored 9.2 points, and Tengyuan Jiayuan scored 8.8 points, totaling 25.8 points."
"Finally, contestant Dashi Xiujie, Chef Yuan scored 8.4 points, Chairman Zhang scored 9.1 points, and Tengyuan Jiayuan scored 9.3 points, totaling 26.8 points."
When the contestants heard their scores, they all had different expressions. In any case, Dupont and Su Cha's hearts were heavy. Their total score was lower than Ke Sen's and they would definitely lose.
Without Yuan Zhou's guidance, Su Cha and Dupont became dejected and listless.
When Dashi Xiujie didn't hear his total score, he broke out in a cold sweat. When he heard it, he was shocked. He and Ke Sen had the same score!
26.8, 26.8, 25.8, 25.9.
So, were they going to compete again or something? Everyone looked at Yuan Zhou. This matter was up to the head judge.
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