On making Banh flan, one should use chicken eggs only to avoid giving the dessert a fishy smell. As for making caramel—when it turned to amber color, one should need to turn off the heat immediately. If not, it could make sugar burn and get bitter.
Next, the three judges moved to the seventh plate. Compared to the other Banh flans, it looked taller. He Haotian slightly titled the plate, making the flan wobble a bit. On top of it, a crispy thin sheet of caramel was placed with coffee sauce drizzled over the dessert.
Lu Xinyi had noticed the white steamed rice below the flan, giving the stability it needed. Her mentor made a cut on the flan cake and took a taste. He seemed pleased with its flavor but didn’t voice out his comment on it.
The two women followed his lead and took their turns to taste the flan. Lu Xinyi thought that the soft, white, and pillowy steamed rice cake under the flan balanced the rich, creamy, and not-too-sweet flavor of the latter.
“The steamed cakes didn’t crumble easily and didn’t deflate after the first bite. Also, the flan hasn’t separated from the steamed cake,” Han Yixin told her. Their reactions were clear on the huge screen outside.
“Whole milk was used to make steamed cakes,” Lu Xinyi explained after swallowing the delicious dessert she tasted, “Its protein content also makes the cake sturdier so it doesn’t easily collapse while steaming. You can substitute with low-fat milk with up to 2% fat but not less than that.
“As for the flan—after steaming it, let it cool completely before adding the white cake mixture. This will make sure the steamed cake sticks really well to the flan.”
“I see.” the younger woman stared at the seventh flan they tasted. “I didn’t know that whisking the egg white and sugar to soft peaks to give it a soft, pillowy texture that is usually used on making sponge cakes can be used on steamed cakes, too.”
“There was also a hint of lemon on the flan itself. I guess the chef who made this didn’t want his flan to be too sweet but rich instead.” The tenth-seat holder of the Cream of the Crop commented before following her mentor to the next plate.
She was starting to understand now why her mentor wanted her to become a food critic. The life of a food critic might seem like a pretty sweet deal; eating out at some finest restaurants in the world and making a comfortable living at it to boot. On the other hand, it could be a daunting task.
Food critics had long been recognized. In big and sophisticated cities where the economic stakes were high and where restaurateurs were savvy, the major critics quickly became visually known.
A food critic must possess a refined palate for different types of food, an understanding of ingredients and cooking techniques, and a broad knowledge of cuisines—foreign and local. With her ‘Absolute Tongue’, Lu Xinyi could thrive well in this industry if she pursued this career.
Another half-hour had passed before the judges came into a decision, which was the best five plates for this final leg of today’s selection.
The Emcee stood back at the center of the stage, her smile almost reaching her ears. Behind her stood the three judges.
Lu Xinyi’s eyes widened when her gaze landed on her husband sitting next to Li Yuren and Tang Shui. Shen Yi’s lips curled into a small smile as their eyes met.
“The blind taste-test is finished, and the judges have given us the evaluations of your dishes. Today, the judges just tasted fourteen very different Banh flans. Chef He, can you give your overall opinion for the last dishes presented?”
Huo Meili passed her microphone to the renowned chef.
“Look. I understand how hard desserts can be especially when making something like creme caramel. Several factors can affect the final outcome and flavors. You have to get that texture right and to get that perfect caramel to pair with it. Overall, I have to say that some of you have exceeded our expectations.”
He gave back the microphone to the emcee and clasped his hands in front of him.
“Thank you, Chef He. Now, it’s the moment of truth. Let’s see who has made it to the top 5 and would advance to the next selection challenge.”
The screen behind them flashed the tally of scores for the second round showing Yan Chen taking over the rank with his pandan creme caramel, following with Ye Xieren with his Banh flan on rice cakes. There was a huge difference between the scores of the two.
After two minutes, the final tally for the selections appeared on the screen. Yan Chen had secured the top rank with Tang Liang taking the second place and Ye Xieren placed third. Feng Qianyu, a non-sponsored student took fourth place with Surya Rathore keeping the last.
Ye Xieren was disappointed with his performance, but at least his dishes were enough to make him advance for the next round.
“Congratulations to our top 5 finalists! The next selection will be on Friday. You and our senior students will have the final face-off until we find out who the two students who’ll represent our school in the upcoming Interschool Culinary Competition would be.”
The crowd started to speculate and whispered to each other. The result of today’s selection was far from their expectation. Initially, they thought that Ye Xieren would lead this round since Lu Xinyi wasn’t in his way.
“This is the first time Yan Chen came victorious over Ye Xieren and Tang Liang’s performance; today was really surprising,” the young man who said it stared at the final tally with curiosity.
“I think Miss Lu is too OP against Yan Chen and Ye Xieren, no? The two always have a hard time beating her. Now that she’s part of the Cream of the Crop, she left them in the dust.”
“Eh? Now, I’m more excited to see if she plans to issue a challenge to other seat holders. It would be satisfying to see her competing with senior students.”