CHAPTER 664: EPISODE 352: UNREST

Old Xue’s face also showed a hint of astonishment, and looking down at the crab shell, he noticed that the creamy paste inside was so soft that it couldn’t be picked up with chopsticks. He quickly grabbed a small silver spoon and scooped up a bit to taste.

The deer meat and pine mushrooms both came from the mountains and actually complemented each other’s flavors well. The dish in front of them, which completely discarded the crab meat and used only the empty shell, was stuffed with a paste made from deer meat and pine mushrooms. The taste was utterly different from the fresh and clean crab, instead, it had an aggressive, almost murderous essence. Upon tasting, the aroma exploded, rushing from the tip of the tongue to the top of the head.

This dish, rich and overflowing with fragrance, had a very soft texture, as if a few drops of orange juice had been added, and together with the honey on the surface, it was rich but not overly sweet, this method...

"Indeed, this is Tonghe’s technique," Old Xue nodded to the young judge beside him, who was eagerly watching him, "but that girl explicitly told me she was not Tonghe’s apprentice; there’s no need for her to lie about this, unless..."

Suddenly, a face flashed in his mind. During the earlier tribute to Lord Stove, that person had been standing behind Hua Xiaomai, expressionless and composed.

Several months ago, when he had invited Hua Xiaomai to the Eight Treasures Conference at Daoxiang Garden, he had tasted two very authentic tea-infused dishes. At that time, Hua Xiaomai only mentioned that this chef was extremely skilled and she had discovered a treasure. Now thinking about it, that person’s face...

"So, you are saying that dish wasn’t made by the female owner of Daoxiang Garden?" The young judge also realized, "The rapid rise of her establishment was actually due to her possessing a capable helper?"

"That’s not her style," Old Xue shook his head slightly, "but her abilities should not be underestimated either. Even the person who made this dish might not necessarily outdo her."

The young judge was secretly amazed, pondered for a moment, and then returned to his seat to also try the crab dish presented to him.

Various restaurant dishes were continuously brought into Chixing Pavilion. As it neared noon, the evaluation of the first dish concluded, and in just the time for another cup of tea, the results of the preliminaries would be known.

Hua Xiaomai sat in Daoxiang Garden’s cooking shed, idly swinging her legs and occasionally turning her head to joke with Meng Yuhuai, appearing very relaxed.

She had been to the Eight Treasures Conference once before and had helped Song Jingxi win the championship with two meat dishes. Although the number of participants had greatly increased this year, she had a good gauge of the general standard.

The four ingredients of this first round might seem tricky and peculiar, but since the organizers had chosen this combination, it definitely wasn’t done randomly—the dishes could certainly be made, and the key was, who could make them more convincingly.

At the end of the day, cooking boils down to a few techniques; most taverns would likely think to use deer meat and pine mushrooms as filling, which is why the competition felt fair. The genius of Tonghe’s dish was in the use of honey, which not only firmly locked in the flavors of pine mushrooms and deer but also added a sweet aftertaste to the dish. This method was extremely bold for this era and was most likely personally taught by the cunning old Divine Chef Tonghe.

Therefore, they were holding a commanding lead in this first round of competition.

Wang Zhanrui sat by the stove, his expression also calm, leisurely picking up his teacup to drink. On the other hand, Qing You and Xiu Miao were so tense they kept sprinting across the shed, stepping out every now and then to check if the results were announced.

Soon, a messenger from Chixing Pavilion arrived, summoning the various taverns to hear the results.

Hua Xiaomai immediately rushed over with Wang Zhanrui, and sure enough, without any surprise, Daoxiang Garden smoothly moved on to the afternoon’s competition.

Twenty taverns were eliminated in just the time it took to prepare one dish, leaving only sixteen. Mixed feelings surged among the crowd, and those who were dissatisfied stepped forward to say: "You judges are well-known gourmets of Tong’an Prefecture, and we naturally won’t challenge your verdicts. I just want to know, in this first round of competition, which establishment scored the highest?"

Old Xue glanced to his left, though his gaze did not focus on anything specific, and he softly smiled, "To avoid any errors, the results of each round will be announced after the finale. We ask for everyone’s understanding. Thirty-six cooking sheds will be maintained until tomorrow. In this afternoon’s competition, the chefs of the twenty eliminated taverns are also welcome to participate, though there’s no need to bring the dishes to Chixing Pavilion for evaluation. You have all worked hard this morning, and the organizers have food prepared for you to rest awhile. The second round of the competition will start in the afternoon."