"Incredible culinary justice!"
Nuliang elder commented.
His eyes looked like dustless mirrors, his brows adorned with an air of purity.
The second judge, who claimed to be "Yoshitsune," red-haired, muttered, "A mind free of dust is a mind at peace. I didn’t expect tasting cuisine could also grant a meditation-like state of mind."
"Pluck a branch of green plums, brew a pot of plum wine, and drink with the passing time."
The third judge, a monk with a straw hat, pressed his palms together, lowering his gaze as he spoke, his mind still picturing himself in a thatched hut in Shangri-la, cooking with plum wine and hosting mountain guests.
"A wine that makes one comfortable and calm."
The fourth judge, a black-haired woman sitting in the chair, stretched and fondly recalled, "It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this free and without worries or sorrows."
"What’s its name?" asked the fifth judge, her voice crisp.
Then, the camera returned to Lan Chuhai.
She responded unhurriedly, "Snowy Plum Blossom Shrimp."
Nuliang praised highly, lowering his chopsticks, picked up another shrimp and put it into his mouth. Chewing it with the floral scent of wine mixed with the fresh shrimp flesh, his face showed a content and enjoyable expression.
"But I think ’Worry-Free Shrimp’ suits it better!" he added, opening his eyes.
Lan Chuhai nodded slightly, "That works too."
Zhu Qing bit her lip on the side.
She felt deep resentment, her own culinary justice was "Transformation," very much like her personality—capricious and quirky. However, Lan Chuhai’s culinary justice wasn’t inferior to hers and in some way, Lan Chuhai’s "Worry-Free" culinary justice was more formidable. Zhu Qing, as her arch-rival, had naturally tasted many of her dishes, and that "Worry-Free" culinary justice often flowed in her heart and mind, almost like a hermit chanting poems, it was terrifying.
"Then, please grade—," Kogawa Shinyiro, the emcee, began.
"18 points, 18 points, 20 points, 18 points, 19 points!"
"Li Han and Lan Chuhai’s team, the final score is 93 points!"
Chiyoda Aichi announced loudly.
When the scores were displayed, many in the audience, including chefs, were shocked, including Lan Chuhai herself, a hint of confusion flashed in her eyes. She well concealed her disappointment and dejection, and asked, "Why?"
That question was echoed by Lei Zhe.
The five judges unanimously praised, yet the scores given did not match with the high praises, from the audience’s perspective, the score for "Worry-Free Shrimp" or "Snowy Plum Blossom Shrimp" should have been very close to "Rainbow Wine," not just one point higher than Lei Zhe’s "Dragon God Wine."
To Lan Chuhai’s question, the Chief Judge only smiled slightly, "This is a cooperative competition; in the part of Lin Chef, Chef Lan you performed perfectly, gaining full points. However, in the special chef part, some points were lost."
"Otherwise, ’Worry-Free Shrimp’ would indeed be a true Qilin Level One Star cuisine!"
He said, immediately causing an uproar.
The camera moved to cooking station number 8, where Li Han held his head in distress.
"I still dragged us down!"
Li Han rubbed his hair.
Hearing this, Lan Chuhai paused, then a wry smile appeared on her lips, "So that’s it!"
After all, it was a collaborative work, and Lan Chuhai expressed understanding. If she had completed the "wine"-themed culinary work by herself and performed normally, the quality of the dish would have been at least Qilin Level One Star, no matter what.
"Qilin Level One Star!"
Lan Chuhai deciphered the cryptic words of the elderly Nuliang.
Xia Yu and Zhu Qing’s collaborative work, "Rainbow Wine," had reached this level of quality, no wonder its score was unassailable, firmly occupying first place... Lan Chuhai looked up at the leaderboard on the screen above—
"Rainbow Wine," 99 points.
"Snow Bubble Plum Blossom Shrimp," 93 points.
"Dragon God Wine," 92 points.
In Lan Chuhai’s opinion, unless something unexpected happened, it would be hard for any following entries to surpass her "Snow Bubble Plum Blossom Shrimp." She still felt confident about that.
Lan Chuhai thought silently but met Zhu Qing’s somewhat mocking gaze.
"You lost!" said Zhu Qing.
"I lost overall, but I won in the Lin Chef part!" Lan Chuhai’s face was expressionless.
Zhu Qing’s smile froze suddenly.
"I was held back, while you were the one dragging behind..." Lan Chuhai’s lips curled into a slight smile, "Miraculous, dreamlike fruits, in terms of ingredients, you were the pinnacle, but Zhu Qing, after all, you were rushed, and your handling was problematic. If Chef Xia hadn’t compensated for some of it, the issue would have been magnified indefinitely!"
Zhu Qing trembled delicately.
After this verbal duel, Lin Giant Lei Zhe was once again magnificently ignored.
Next, Yan Mo, Yoshitsune, Desani, and other giants successively presented their "wine"-themed culinary works to the judging panel.
The judge picked up a piece of chicken leg meat with the leg bone removed and slowly savored it. Initially, the rich, authentic flavor of the free-range chicken filled his mouth, tender and soft; the chicken fibers releasing plenty of juice with the bite.
"Primarily steamed?" inquired Nuliang, smacking his lips.
"Hey, steamed!" the red-haired judge Yoshitsune said, "First take the free-range chicken leg, remove the bone, season with salt, pour cooking wine to marinate—a crucial step here is the cooking wine, echoing the later ’wine,’ then wrap the tightly rolled chicken leg meat, and steam in a water bath... I’m sure, you didn’t use foil but leaves like lotus leaves, and added many Chinese herbal ingredients while steaming!"
The third judge wearing a hat spoke, "The Chinese herbs included Angelica, goji berries, and Chinese yam. Then, the chicken leg roll was soaked in Floral Carving Wine!"
"That’s not the point..."
Here, all three judges paused simultaneously.
"The medicinal and alcoholic properties have completely transferred into the chicken meat through ’steaming’!" Nuliang focused on Yan Mo and spoke slowly, "The inherent Five Elements pattern of the chicken leg meat has been altered!"
On hearing this, any chef who knew a bit about the doctrine of the Five Elements in food cast a wary look at Yan Mo.
Five Elements pattern!
Xia Yu pricked up her ears from below.
Yan Mo, however, replied with ease, "When it comes to Chinese cuisine, people often think of stir-frying, but actually, among the many culinary techniques, ’steaming’ is the most revered in the Chinese Realm; it originated in China, and the thousand-year-old Chinese culinary culture has always advocated ’no dish without steaming.’"
"My Floral Carving Drunken Chicken’s soul lies in the technique of ’steaming.’ I used steaming to lock in the original flavor of the free-range chicken, that was the first steaming."
"The second steaming, with Chinese herbs—Angelica, goji berries, Chinese yam—used the ’steaming’ method to balance the yin and yang of the meat..."
"The third steaming, with a unique Floral Carving Wine."
At this, Yan Mo paused and continued, "This Floral Carving Wine, provided by Chef Lin Miao of the ’Five Mysterious Snakes.’ Floral Carving Wine, a rice wine with a history of six thousand years, is used in cooking for removing fishy and mutton smells, enhancing fragrance, and within the doctrine of the Five Elements in food..."
Yan Mo paused and did not elaborate further.
Soon, the scores and rankings for Yan Mo and Lin Miao’s ’Floral Carving Drunken Chicken’ appeared on the big screen above the arena:
points, tied for second place with Li Han and Lan Chuhai!