radicalducati Page 428
Page 428
Two kitchen knives – Ice Soul (cold iron blade) and Dragon Head (mysterious iron civil and military knife);
Three cookware sets: Xuanwu (meteorite iron wok), Zhuque (copper hot pot), and Heilong Ding (wheat ore pressure cooker).
Four auxiliary kitchen utensils: oven (volcanic black iron), ice box (millennia-old cold jade), Greedy Wolf pot (blender/crusher), and Azure Dragon basin (meteorite copper).
With the appearance of the nine divine artifacts, everyone was filled with curiosity and awe.
The Zhang family really did produce a nine-piece set of culinary masterware, and it looked extremely precious, possessing the dazzling and radiant splendor of the illusion.
"The divine artifacts of the Nine Great Item Realms, their functions can be discerned from their names."
Ice Soul is a knife for processing seafood. It is made of cold iron from the North Sea polar region and can perfectly process seafood without destroying its freshness.
The dragon head said nothing more; this was the most practical sword, both for civil and military purposes, and could be considered the best of the nine!
The Black Dragon Cauldron was a unique prop of Yingbinlou in the past. The chefs called it a pressure cooker. It could speed up the cooking of some broths, lock in the moisture and aroma of the meat, or have other uses.
The oven uses black flame iron unique to Japanese volcanoes, plus Zhang family's special meteorite copper tubes, making it a magical tool for baking pasta, chicken, ham and the like.
As the name suggests, this refrigerator keeps food fresh, and it uses ancient, cold jade from the North Sea polar region. Freshly chopped vegetables will remain fresh for up to three days and won't spoil for up to a month.
The Greedy Wolf Pot contains sharp blades. You can put meat, spices, and side dishes that need to be chopped into it, and within three breaths they will be turned into rice-grain-sized pieces or granules. If you want to grind them into powder, it only takes ten breaths.
The Qinglong Basin is a tool for processing food, such as some river fish sashimi. Eating it can often lead to physical discomfort or even death.
This Azure Dragon Basin can clean out all the unseen parasites in river delicacies, making them safe to eat!
Finally, a warning: the Azure Dragon Basin is not suitable for treating pufferfish. Pufferfish naturally contain toxins, not invisible parasites!
boom!
Upon hearing the host's introduction, all the chefs looked on in shock and disbelief at the nine-piece chef's set prepared by the Zhang family.
Even though Liu Yiyi thought of the Zhang family using special materials to forge nine extremely sharp kitchen utensils, she never imagined that the kitchen utensils made by the Zhang family were so magical, and each one had many wonderful uses.
Regardless of how much these kitchen utensils help them, just from the introduction alone, one can see the general effect.
Even the referees, Di Renjie, Pei Ju, and Wang Shichong, were surprised and shocked.
If we were to actually use these cooking utensils to cook food for them, how delicious it would be!
Moreover, most of the Zhang family's incredibly creative kitchen utensils were things they had never even heard of before. After all, the hot pots of today are just cooking vessels, nothing like the copper hot pots of later generations; and the pressure cooker was unique to the Zhang family, an absolute secret.
"Alright, for the upcoming finals, Judge Di will draw the topic for the first round of the competition."
Since each master chef has different strengths, everything is left to fate.
Upon hearing the host's words, everyone immediately became excited.
I understand that the upcoming matches will not only depend on (Li Hao's) skill, but also on luck!
After all, once they arrived here, their cooking skills were all about the same, making it difficult to determine a winner. Therefore, the question of the competition became the key.
If you draw a skill they excel at, you'll naturally have an advantage.
If you draw a topic you're not good at, you can only say that fate is cruel and you have to accept your bad luck.
After all, the person who made the selection was Judge Di, and the process was fair and transparent, so there was absolute trust involved.
"Alright, Judge Di has already made the extraction."
To ensure the fairness of the competition, you are all welcome to view the remaining topics. Our restaurant has absolutely no need to cheat.
And let's see what Judge Dee drew... a bowl of noodles!
Upon seeing the competition questions, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thankfully there were no restrictions.
Moreover, this is a common topic, and it is not a difficult problem for most people.
"Next, Yingbinlou will give everyone three days to prepare ingredients. If you need anything, you can let the restaurant know, and the Zhang family can take care of everything!"
Three days later, the first match will officially take place here.
In just three days, it became clear that this bowl of noodles was no ordinary dish, and even the master chefs couldn't help but ignite a fierce battle.
At this point, neither of them wanted to admit defeat.
After all, the allure of those culinary tools was like the attraction of a peerless sword to a swordsman.
Chapter 503 Longjing Shrimp and Pork Rib Rolls
Another two weeks have passed.
As the official finals began, the entire capital city, or the ordinary people who had nothing to do and few entertainment activities, were all paying attention to the progress of the God of Cookery Competition.
Especially those renowned chefs who challenged the Great Harmony Banquet of the Nine Provinces.
After failure, this is the only way to become famous overnight.
Moreover, the famous dishes in the banquet were replaced one after another, and the explanations and reasons for this became a topic of much discussion.
The remaining chefs were all master chefs or grandmasters in Kyushu, the kind of chefs that even the most prestigious families would pay exorbitant sums to invite.
The scene of these masters competing against each other was so spectacular that the heads of powerful families had to pay exorbitant prices for tickets to enter and become guests, making Yingbinlou a fortune in no time.
At the same time, there were also many dissenting voices, such as those from aristocratic families.
They're not eating for cultural heritage or tradition; they're hedonists, and the food has to suit their tastes.
Therefore, many famous dishes that were previously replaced, due to differences in taste across the country, led to numerous disputes after several tastings.
Just as some people like meat and fish dishes while others prefer vegetarian dishes, it's impossible to please everyone.
Therefore, the Zhang family divided the replaced dishes into main and secondary dishes. For example, those famous dishes that were canceled became secondary dishes, which became the unique feature of Yingbinlou Restaurant.
After all, this was the first-generation Great Harmony Banquet of the Nine Provinces.
In terms of reputation, they are by no means inferior, and they have taken marketing tactics to the extreme.
At the same time, during the Great Harmony Banquet of the Nine Provinces, whether it was a large banquet or a small banquet, the bottom line that the Zhang family ultimately adhered to was that each banquet must have at least thirty-six dishes from Yingbinlou!
This is the only way to ensure that the Zhang family maintains a dominant position at the Great Harmony Banquet of the Nine Provinces and avoids being squeezed out.
Moreover, the Zhang family possesses considerable strength, so there were no surprises.
"In today's semi-final competition themed around 'fish,' the winner is—Miss Liu's steamed ribbonfish!"
boom!
Eighteen master chefs from across the land emerged from a pack of tigers and leopards, and a white phoenix emerged from them.
This surprised everyone, but looking at the judges and guests, they all felt regretful about the steamed grouper made by Yang Yi, the top chef in Yangzhou.
At this time, the price of grouper was dozens or even hundreds of times that of knife fish. After all, without the extermination nets, knife fish could only be called one of the three delicacies of Heilongjiang, and it was not a top-grade ingredient at all. It could only be considered a fresh fish that was a specialty of Heilongjiang.
Even under these circumstances, he still lost to Liu Yiyi.
It's not that the taste is bad, but rather other issues, such as the scarcity and difficulty in catching grouper, and the abundance and commonness of ribbonfish.
Moreover, Yang Yi's steamed grouper is world-famous.
Even with such a favorable situation, they still couldn't overpower their opponents, which is why everyone chose Liu Yiyi instead of Yang Yi, who was equally matched!
"Master Yang, I'm so sorry to offend you!"
"Miss Liu, you're too kind. Talented people emerge in every generation; I'm getting old!"
This was fate. Even Di Renjie and the others looked at the old master's dejected figure with regret.
The two dishes were similar in quality and strength, so in the end, other factors came into play, which is why Yang Yi was disappointed.
This may be unfair, but there isn't that much fairness in the world.
Even if the first and second place are of similar skill level, people will only focus on the first place and ignore the second.
"The Grand Finals have officially begun!"
In the final competition, everyone finally saw the legendary and mysterious Madam Zhang.
Wearing an elegant yellow dress, with delicate eyebrows, star-like eyes, and flawless skin, she was an ethereal beauty, like a fairy untouched by worldly affairs, captivating all who beheld her.
Everyone was deeply shocked by the sight of the stunningly beautiful woman who seemed to have stepped out of a painting.
The alluring and seductive Manager Feng, the stunningly beautiful First Madam, and the Zhang family's many other beauties—they were the envy of everyone.
However, they soon came to their senses and began to doubt whether this girl, who seemed to have descended from heaven, could really be in charge of cooking.
"Huang Rong greets all the officials, masters, and Miss Liu!"
Huang Rong naturally knew everyone's background and had been watching from above the whole time, so she was not unfamiliar with them.
"Greetings, Madam Zhang!"
The eldest wife of the Zhang family was also a legendary master, so even Pei Ju and Wang Shichong dared not neglect her.
Besides, isn't this Food God Competition precisely the Zhang family's way of vindicating the Zhang ladies?
They were also looking forward to seeing what kind of delicious food the legendary culinary goddess, Madam Zhang, would prepare.
"A little girl? Truly, new talents emerge in every generation!"
The moment Yang Yi saw Huang Rong, his expression suddenly aged even more, which made the old masters beside him even more worried.
"Master Yang!"
"It's nothing. I just heard before that Madam Zhang's steamed grouper was no less delicious than mine, but that was five years ago."
Now... I'm old!
"What? Really?"
Huang Rong's steamed grouper was no less delicious than Yang Yi's, and everyone's expression changed upon hearing this.
It's important to understand that the steamed grouper just now wasn't bad in taste; in fact, it was just as good. And now, Yang Yi's words indirectly prove Madam Zhang's capabilities.
"Three years ago, during a casual conversation with Master Wan, Master Wan mentioned it briefly."
Thirteen thousand?
Upon hearing this, everyone no longer doubted it.
Although Wan Sanqian has now joined the Zhang family, three years ago, Wan Sanqian's status was so high that he didn't even bother to lie or flatter the Zhang family.
Moreover, this was Mrs. Zhang's cooking from five years ago.
How are things now? It's not impossible to make further progress in the coming years.
Many skilled martial artists present heard it clearly, and for a moment, they all abandoned their contempt.
Yang Yi's cooking skills are among the top three present, especially since these are his signature dishes.
Mrs. Zhang's culinary skills are clearly quite good.
"There are no restrictions in the final competition. The lady and Miss Liu each choose their best dish."
Finally, the three judges, five guests, and seventeen master chefs voted to determine the ultimate winner based on the final score!
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions became inscrutable.
However, everyone knows that this is the fairest outcome.
After all, the Zhang family has a great reputation, and no one wants to offend them. Therefore, given that their strengths are roughly equal, Huang Rong is bound to win!
"In that case, the final match shall officially begin!"
The dishes were in the kitchen. Huang Rong and Liu Yiyi exchanged a glance before heading to the kitchen to select fresh ingredients.
Everyone was filled with anticipation as the final competition approached.
This was also the first time they had tasted the legendary cooking of Madam Zhang.
Extremely mysterious, and seemingly detached from worldly affairs.
Huang Rong chose the light and refreshing Longjing shrimp. She could make more sophisticated dishes, but everyone present was an expert. The key was to use the simplest ingredients to make the most delicious dishes.
Moreover, all three judges were learned scholars and refined gentlemen, which was also why Huang Rong chose this dish.
Liu Yiyi, on the other hand, is preparing to make her own unique fire-rolled ribs. The ingredients are also simple, but the flavor is much stronger, and it is made with a sauce.
Even the veteran craftsmen present, seeing that the final duel was between a pair of 'young girls,' couldn't help but sigh at how old they were.
After all, at their age, their apprentices aren't even qualified to graduate.
Moreover, they were even slightly stronger than them.
A quarter of an hour later, the final showdown came to an abrupt end.