Chapter 177 You cheated

Zhong Xiang and the others were calm, because they were accustomed to Ye Jiayao's knife skills. If she didn't move, it would be fine. Once she started, it would be as smooth as flowing water and done in one go. There would definitely be enough time. However, they couldn't be careless. After all, she was a Sichuan chef. They were more worried about the seasonings Ye Jiayao would use.

Although Ye Jiayao prepared a lot of seasonings, such as chicken essence for flavoring, and minced garlic, no one knew where she found the garlic, the garlic flavor was particularly strong, and the pepper powder and fermented black beans were all made by Ye Jiayao herself. They had never used them before, so they didn't know if they worked well.

Ye Jiayao waited until he was almost ready before she began to mince the meat. The kitchen knife touched the chopping board lightly, making fine and even clacking sounds. After a while, the meat was minced. She then used the back of the vegetable to chop it horizontally and vertically to break the meat tendons. This way, the minced meat tasted more tender.

Hu Dahai had already put the minced meat into the pot. When he saw Ye Jiayao's action, he couldn't help but hold his breath. He had already guessed Ye Jiayao's intention. Damn it, he started learning cooking at the age of twelve. Before he grew up to be a chef, he made countless mapo tofu. Why didn't he think of cutting the minced meat like this?
Having a bad feeling, Hu Dahai frowned and didn't watch Ye Jiayao cook. He had to concentrate and not let his mood be affected.

But the more I restrained myself, the more I couldn't help but watch.

Uh, this thing actually has Sichuan pepper powder, and the smell is authentic green Sichuan pepper powder.

There are also fermented black beans and fermented bean paste, which seem to be very good, and the fermented bean paste is actually red oil fermented bean paste.

Is this guy really a chef of Huaiyang cuisine? How come Sichuan cuisine has such a complete range of ingredients?
Hu Dahai could never have imagined that Ye Jiayao could not only cook Huaiyang cuisine, but she was also proficient in cuisines from all over the country, including the southeast, northwest, Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong and Jiangsu. Studying the cuisines from all over the world was her hobby.

Both sides started to stir-fry, and immediately the kitchen was filled with a spicy and delicious smell.

Ye Jiayao scooped a spoonful of vegetarian chicken soup from a pot and asked Chef Hu: "This soup is delicious, do you want some?"

Hu Dahai had a blank expression on his face as he opened a row of broths, some made with pork shank, some stewed with chicken, and some with beef. He chose the beef flavor.

Although the oil on top was washed off, the soup was still oily.

Ye Jiayao smiled in her heart, there is already so much oil, why add more? Aren’t you afraid of making people sick to death?
If you only focus on Titian, you will lose sight of the big picture.

Then add the northern tofu blanched in salt water, cover the pot and cook over low heat to let the tofu absorb the flavor.

The last step is to add the scallion segments, but Ye Jiayao has an extra step here, adding some yellow powder.

Hu Dahai was curious, what was this thing?
After thickening, the dishes are finally ready to be served. Two delicious Mapo Tofus are bright red in color and have an enticing aroma, but Hu Dahai’s is darker in color.

They each added some chopped coriander on top.

Xiao Lu brought up a tray, put two bowls of Mapo Tofu on the plate and took it out. Ah Xing brought six sets of bowls and chopsticks and a spoon, and everyone followed him out.

"Coming, coming..." The people waiting outside all looked towards the kitchen at the same time.

You can smell the fragrance of the dish before you see it.

A table was cleared in the middle of the lobby, and the three selected judges tasted the same plate of Mapo Tofu together, and then tasted another plate.

The huge lobby was packed with people, but at this moment it was completely silent. Everyone held their breath and watched the judges tasting the food carefully.

Lu Xiaotian couldn't help but clench his fists secretly, Ye Jinxuan, you must win!

Zhao Qixuan, who was sitting in the painted boat outside and leisurely drinking tea, glanced in the direction of Tianshangju: "Why is there no movement?"

Su Yi said slowly: "Why rush? The result will be the same."

Zhao Qixuan said, "I bet on Ye Jinxuan out of friendship. Why are you so confident that she will win?"

Su Yi raised his eyebrows and said, "I have never seen a woman braver than her, but was her boldness that time aimless?"

Zhao Qixuan pondered for a moment: "It seems to be the case."

"Don't worry, we can make a small profit today." Su Yi said leisurely.

In the lobby, a judge pointed to the plate of deep red mapo tofu and said, "This dish is spicy and fresh, the meat is tender, the aroma of beef is permeated, the tofu is soft and smooth, and it is very flavorful and authentic."

The other two nodded in agreement.

Another person pointed at another bowl and said, "This Mapo Tofu is very authentic. It is fragrant. It seems to be made with chicken broth, but it is not greasy at all. In terms of freshness, it seems to be even better."

"Indeed, this beef-flavored dish seems a little too greasy. This one alone is impeccable, but when compared with the other two, it's still a little inferior."

"And from the color point of view, this mapo tofu is shiny and bright red, which is even more tempting."

“The minced meat is also more tender.”

Hu Dahai's face darkened and he showed an expression of disbelief. How could this be possible?

The three judges agreed that the bright red one on the left was the winner. Hu Dahai shouted, "Impossible! You are cheating."

As soon as these words were spoken, the onlookers knew who would win and who would lose.

Those who had bet on Li Yao were overjoyed. The chefs in Jinling City all high-fived and celebrated. They had won, finally won. Li Yao had restored face for the chefs of Jinling and opened the eyes of these chefs from other places. Our chefs in Jinling are no pushovers.

Those who were optimistic about Hu Dahai were very disappointed. How could he lose? Even Duan Qilin and Niu Baoshun were picked. Chef Hu should be quite capable.

"Yeah, is that cheating?" someone questioned in a low voice.

The three judges were angry.

"The two dishes are unsigned, and you both cooked authentic Sichuan dishes. How can we know whose is whose? It's all based on taste. I want you to win, you want to cheat, who told you to be so disappointing?"

"That's right. There are so many chefs here. We can ask everyone to come and try it and see if we are cheating."

Hu Dahai didn't care. He walked forward, scooped a spoonful of the Mapo Tofu made by Ye Jiayao, and tasted it carefully.

Sure enough, it tasted better than his. It must be the yellow powder at the end. It must be that.

"He cheated and used a secret ingredient to enhance the flavor." Hu Dahai yelled.

Ye Jiayao was amused: "Chef Hu, you also bring your own seasonings. The seasonings you make are not as good as mine, which means that your cooking skills are still far behind mine. How can this be considered cheating?"

"Yes, you can use homemade seasoning, so why can't our Brother Yao use it? If I ask you to borrow it, will you give it to me?" Deng Haichuan said sarcastically.

Ye Jiayao smiled faintly and said, "Let me tell you why you lost. First, I had one more step in processing the minced meat than you did, which you saw. Second, I didn't use chicken broth, but vegetarian chicken broth. It has the fragrance of chicken broth but not the greasiness. I suggested that you use vegetarian chicken broth, but you chose beef broth. Although the floating oil was removed, beef broth is greasy to begin with. How can it not be greasy if red oil is added?"

Hu Dahai's face looked very ugly, and he had to admit that Ye Jiayao was right.

Ye Jiayao paused and continued, "Third, look at the mapo tofu you made. It's already soggy now, but mine still looks great. Why? Because I made one more dish than you did. Fourth, of course, it's because of my homemade seasoning. Everyone who has eaten at Tianshangju knows that the dishes there are always delicious, especially the word 'fresh'. No one can match it, and that's all thanks to the seasoning. Whether or not a chef can make a good seasoning is also a test of his skill. Chef Hu, what do you think?"

"Li Yao is not exaggerating. The dishes at Tianshangju are indeed very delicious." Lu Xiaotian said.

Ye Jiayao smiled at him and continued, "Sichuan cuisine is a fusion of the advantages of dishes from all over the world. It draws on the strengths of many cuisines. Its style is simple and fresh, which makes people have endless aftertaste. However, Sichuan cuisine is not the only one in the world who can learn from others' strengths. I am not talented, but my biggest hobby is to study the styles of various cuisines, not just your Sichuan cuisine, but also Shandong cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Northeastern cuisine, as long as it is delicious, I am very interested. Even so, I will not easily challenge others, because there are always people better than you. The only way is to learn and constantly improve your cooking skills."

These words won the approval of all the chefs present. Li Yao's image suddenly became glorious and tall. What is a chef? This is a real chef, with superb skills and a humble attitude.

Hu Dahai became depressed. He was not as skilled as his opponent and could not win the argument. This time he hit a wall. He wanted to become famous through the challenge and quickly gain popularity. Alas, he is famous now, but unfortunately he has become a laughing stock.

Ye Jiayao glanced at the crowd and said, "Everyone, you've seen enough of the fun. If you're hungry, you can dine at Tianshangju. All the food and drinks tonight are 20% off."

Deng Haichuan thought to himself: The Second Young Madam is really good at seizing business opportunities and is really good at doing business.

At this time, Xia Chunyu came over and said with a smile: "To celebrate the victory of the Second Young Madam, I will give you a 20% discount on all the food and drinks tonight."

Those who knew Ye Jiayao's identity laughed, while those who didn't were dumbfounded.

How come this guy is a woman? Hu Dahai was so ashamed that he wanted to find a hole to crawl into. Before, the guys here said that Li Yao was married, but he didn't believe it and thought it was an excuse.

Lu Xiaotian smiled and said, "Okay, then I want a private room."

Everyone rushed out, some scrambled for seats, some called their friends, and the guys were all busy and happy.
Ye Jiayao smiled and asked, "Why are you here?"

Xia Chunyu said: "The servants in the mansion can't explain it clearly, I'll come and see what the trouble is."

Ye Jiayao glanced at Chef Hu who was about to slip away and said with a smile, "It's not a big deal. I just had a little exchange with him."

Xia Chunyu hummed: "While you were sparring, someone took the opportunity to make a lot of money."

Ye Jiayao was stunned: "Who is it?"

Xia Chunyu curled his lips and said, "Don't you know that there's a gambling game going on outside? It's 3 to 1, Zhao Qixuan and Su Su won 1,500 taels."

Ye Jiayao gritted her teeth and said, "Let them treat us."

These two dishonest guys took the opportunity to make a fortune and didn't even take a share of the profits.

Xia Chunyu sneered: "We must give them a good beating."

(End of this chapter)