Following that, with the help of external forces, the flower bud, which was originally closed layer by layer like the petals tightly wrapped around the stamen of a real flower, was now like an animated special effect. First, the outer layer of petals unfolded, then the second layer, and finally the third layer, revealing a round meatball inside. It was like the stamen was embellished in the middle.
Following that, drops of maroon juice slowly flowed out from the cracks. Not long after, the juice had wrapped around the flower. The dark juice complemented the white jade-like lily petals and the flesh-colored orbs. It looked as if it had reached the pinnacle of beauty, aroma, and taste.
"Oh my god, stir-fried green onions with peanuts. Old Zeng, you are inferior to this ingenious idea." Li Youcai couldn't hide the pride in his tone. Then, he racked his brains to think of something. In the end, he thought of something, "Just like what my grandson always said, the river flows east for thirty years, and the river flows west for thirty years. Don't bully a young man because he's poor. Oh, I'm wrong. Some things look similar but are fundamentally different. For example, a husky and a wolf. No matter how similar they are, they are not the same species."
The slap in the face came as fast as a tornado. Ceng Youwei looked at Li Youcai's Steamed Pork with Lily and then looked at his own Steamed Pork with Lily. Apart from everything else, he actually agreed with Li Youcai's opinion a little bit when he saw the splendid scene. Not to mention the tempting fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose, which reminded him to secrete saliva and wanted to eat it all the time.
"Steamed Pork with Lily is just a home-cooked dish, so I made it in a simpler way," Yuan Zhou said bluntly.
"Even a home-cooked dish needs to be made this way?" Ceng Youwei muttered inwardly. Which family in Dian Province could do this?
"As expected of Head Chef Yuan. This grandmaster level home-cooked dish is admirable," Ceng Youwei sighed.
"I kind of agree with Grandpa Wang's words. If you don't watch Head Chef Yuan cook, you will never know how high the ceiling of a dish is," Li Youcai poked the remaining two lilies, causing them to bloom.
The black plate, the brown sauce, the fragrant lily, and the flesh-colored mince seemed to be whetting one's appetite. One would probably not be able to stop eating once they saw it. Be it the presentation, the color, or the aroma, they were all impeccable.
"It's not bad for now, but there is still room for improvement," said Yuan Zhou seriously. Yuan Zhou said seriously. After all, he was only 28 this year, and it had only been four years since he got the system. He believed that as time passed, his culinary skills would get better and better.
There was still room for improvement? Did they dare to leave a way out for the other chefs?
Ceng Youwei took a deep breath. Yuan Zhou had already obtained the Knife King horizontal board. As for the Old Chef Achievement of Sichuan Cuisine, Yuan Zhou's disciple had already become the chairman of the Sichuan Cuisine Association. As for the Old Chef Achievement of Sichuan Cuisine, it was only a matter of age. There were four greatest honors in the chefs' circle in the country: the horizontal board of Jiangsu Cuisine, the Silver Spoon of Shandong Cuisine, the Wasted Stove of Cantonese Cuisine, and the Old Chef Achievement of Sichuan Cuisine Association.
Strictly speaking, these four greatest honors had nothing to do with each other. Previously, the origin of the Knife King horizontal board was explained. The origins of the other three were also different. For example, the Old Chef Achievement of Sichuan Cuisine Association was to commemorate a famous chef, who was Zhang Yan's master. Simply put, almost all the famous chefs of Sichuan Cuisine in the 80s and 90s had been taught by this famous chef. Therefore, the "Old Chef Achievement" in the Sichuan Cuisine Association did not refer to age, but to his master. This award was given by the Sichuan Cuisine Association to chefs who had made great contributions to Sichuan Cuisine. It was only held once every few years. If there was such a talent, the Old Chef Achievement Award had only been given to six chefs in the past 20 to 30 years.
After all, this award was not only about culinary skills, but also about culinary ethics. From this, it could be seen that Sichuan Cuisine had not only inherited culinary skills, but also the culinary ethics.
The four greatest honors in the chefs' circle were, in fact, forcefully combined by some new chefs who did not understand the history of the awards. They even posted that "the horizontal board represents cutting skills, the silver spoon represents tossing skills, the waste stove represents heat control, and the Old Chef Achievement Award represents culinary ethics." If one gathered all four, one could be called the Chinese Master Chef. But in truth, this statement was completely unreasonable. That was because the four awards were very secretive. For example, the Old Chef Achievement Award would only be given to chefs of Sichuan Cuisine. To put it bluntly, not to mention obtaining all four awards, after so many years of reform and opening up, there had not been a single chef who had obtained two awards at the same time.
That was until Yuan Zhou arrived. This young man, who was not even 30 years old, had not only achieved something that others could not achieve in their lifetime, he was also constantly forging ahead. No one could predict how far he could go in the future, but it was certain that he would reach the top.
"Head Chef Yuan, let's start tasting now," Ceng Youwei said.
"Head chefs, please," although Yuan Zhou had noticed Ceng Youwei's increasingly respectful attitude, he could not understand what was going on.
"Then let's start," Li Youcai also changed his attitude, becoming more and more cautious.
Both of them were used to cooking this dish and naturally knew that the essence of this dish was the stamen in the middle. Thus, they reached for the stamen together.
The meatballs made by Yuan Zhou were exquisite and small, about the size of two peanuts. One bite was just right.
"Awoo."
Putting it into the mouth, with a light bite, the juices flowed out. Mixed with the plump gravy was a little bit of sweet and astringent taste unique to lilies. When mixed together, it became very wonderful.
"So that's how it is. Looks like we have both made a mistake," Ceng Youwei said.
"That's right. This is the most authentic way of cooking. Making full use of lilies and locking the deliciousness of the entire lily in it, Steamed Pork with Lily is truly worthy of its name," Li Youcai agreed.
This time, the two of them had the same opinion. As famous chefs of Yunnan Cuisine who had been arguing about this dish for decades, the moment the dish entered their mouths, they could tell the difference between them. If their skills were not good enough, they could make up for it with their experience.
When Yuan Zhou made this dish, he did it differently from Ceng Youwei's way of making lilies. Instead, he directly plucked out the few petals in the middle and mixed them into the minced meat. Then, he placed them in the middle and used a knife to separate the petals. After calculation, he steamed the petals to a degree where they would scatter upon contact. Without a certain level of knife skills, it was impossible to achieve this degree of blooming.
The Knife King's horizontal board was very clear.
"But why does it taste so good? The more I eat, the better it tastes. Wait … this is mine," Li Youcai's mouth kept chattering and his chopsticks did not stop moving.
Seeing that there was only one piece left, he did not expect that because he was fat and had short arms, he could only watch helplessly as Ceng Youwei picked up the last piece with his chopsticks. How infuriating.
No wonder he could fight for so long with such a huge difference in size. It turned out that he was an agile assassin. The matter that had been bothering Yuan Zhou for a long time had finally been resolved.
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