Food starts with Mapo Tofu

Chapter 816 Slightly better

"This way of cooking is also too casual."

Chen Nian not only sighed in his heart, but he also discovered that whether it is Japanese chefs or some European and American chefs, they are always emphasizing the need to highlight the original taste of food.

But isn't it delicious to eat?

Although it is undeniable that some ingredients are really good if you only eat the standard, but it is not necessary to keep blowing them.

Because this kind of food itself does not have much technical content, let alone a salmon sashimi, as long as the ingredients are good and fresh, even a rookie chef who just came out of New Oriental can do it well.

So he felt that those salmon fairy and sushi fairy were not necessary at all.

And it's a cooking competition!

Cheese is the only thing that has been cooked all the way, and the rest is cut up and placed directly on the plate. Can something like this win an award?
First, it does not reflect the knife skills, and second, it does not reflect the cooking techniques corresponding to the chef himself. If Chen Nian is the judge, he will definitely say that this dish is unqualified.

Chen Nian couldn't help feeling in his heart.

If this is placed in a domestic chef competition, let alone the top few, it is estimated that it will be difficult to be shortlisted and have to be eliminated in the first round.

At the beginning, he also ate in the restaurant in Sapa, and the food he ate was very good at that time, so he really couldn't figure out why the other party had to cook like this here.

It's just that this is someone else's team after all, if they want to do this, Chen Nian can't run over and say that what you do is completely disrespecting the game.

But the ones on the other side are almost ready at the moment, and the first dish on their own side is ready to start arranging.

Since Chen Nian was still making soup, he couldn't find time for the time being, so he had to ask Yao Guangbin and Zhou Ji to help.

At this time, the customers outside also began to taste it. They were all guests staying in the entire hotel and were randomly invited to serve as public judges.

The first dish served was the starter made by the Italian team.

And the host and cameraman outside also began to randomly interview customers.

Soon the host found a beautifully dressed girl who was very tasteful at first glance.

"What do you think of the taste of this first dish?" asked the host.

The girl thought for a while: "Should I tell the truth?"

"Of course, what do you think of the taste? Just tell the truth."

The girl nodded:

"As for the duck breast, I feel that it has lost its own taste. It will taste a bit like smoked meat. I don't particularly like it."

"OK, thanks."

Then the host brought the cameraman to a man at another table.

"The contrast and conflict in the taste of this dish is better, but the smoked duck is slightly salty, I think it is not handled well in this respect."

Not long after, the Italian team's second course, seafood salad, was also served.

This dish was prepared by the Italian team with the previously obtained seafood and pineapple sauce. In fact, it is not difficult.

From the perspective of aging, it is completely at the level of cold dishes.

From the beginning to the end, the ingredients are just cut and mixed with the sauce.

"I think this dish doesn't match his own name very well, and the taste is also very ordinary."

Guests also gave their own comments after eating.

But just after they ate these two dishes, Chen Nian and the others prepared the first dish.

Their first course was grilled fish.

Because they had already understood the order and method of serving Westerners when they were discussing tactics.

So they just expected that the Italian team will serve relatively clear and light dishes at the beginning.

But no matter who gets the job done first, their grilled fish dish will definitely hit the taste buds of the customers.

Compared with this very light starter and the grilled fish with a very strong taste, customers will naturally give high marks to the grilled fish.

"It's too Yunnanized. The meat quality of the fish matches its sauce. I think it's a little bit too much."

After the host handed over the microphone, a man said so.

But after he finished speaking, not only the cameraman next to him, but even a girl next to him couldn't help being speechless.

I thought about what is called too much Yunnan dialect, if you don’t eat something with Yunnan characteristics when you eat in Yunnan, then why are you here?
So the girl gave a different opinion: "I think it is delicious, at least compared with other grilled fish I have eaten in Yunnan, this one is quite delicious. After eating the fish, there is a very special taste. The aroma, although a little sour, I don't think it should be vinegar, it seems to be some kind of fruit.

After the entrance, it is a little bit spicy, but it is within the range I can accept, and the aftertaste is still a little sweet. In short, the taste is very rich, which I especially like. "

"I also think it's delicious. If it's made by a Chinese chef, I think it's completely qualified. If it's made by an Italian chef, I also think it's a rare dish that suits Chinese tastes."

The two people at the same table gave different opinions, which made the pretending man a little upset.

It's just that he can only manage himself, not what others say.

After eating this grilled fish dish, the pumpkin pork knuckle made by Chen Nian was also brought out.

But this time, before the food was served, the girl who thought the smoked duck was not tasty just now had a bright light in her eyes: "It smells so good, the scent comes out as soon as the lid is opened."

After tasting it, another college student next to her couldn't help nodding: "The gelatin in the trotter melts in the soup, and finally blends into the melon, which makes the sweetness of the melon more prominent. I think very good."

After that, the host Beibei looked at the boy just now, and he clearly saw that the boy was eager to express his desire.

But because what he commented earlier was too Yunnan dialect, Beibei was a little bit reluctant to interview this person, so she pointed the microphone at another man who looked about 40 years old at the same table.

"The aroma and sweetness of the pumpkin itself suppress the greasiness of the pork knuckle very well, making the texture of the whole dish thicker."

Hearing this, the guy on table two who praised the grilled fish just now nodded his head.

I thought to myself: "Listen, this is a normal evaluation. Others invited you to be a judge, not to raise an argument. It is too Yunnan-like? How can you say this kind of thing? Just listening It’s going to make people laugh out loud.”

But this is only the first round.

Customer scoring is done after this first round.

At this time, customers will also get a form each.

After the customers rated the four dishes well, the host Beibei asked the two chefs to taste each other's dishes.

After tasting the pumpkin pork knuckle and grilled fish made by the Chinese chef, Abraham tasted it carefully in his mouth.

"These two dishes are completely different from ours, but I have also studied Chinese dishes before. I think Chinese chefs have made good use of those ingredients in these two dishes, highlighting the taste of the food through rich seasoning, perhaps This is the mutual generation and mutual restraint that the Chinese pay attention to."

Abraham gave a good review.

Although he doesn't really like the taste of these two dishes, but from the standpoint of a chef to evaluate them objectively, he has to say that these two dishes are actually very good.

Of course, Mu Jie couldn't understand what Abraham was talking about. In fact, he also looked down on the two dishes made by Abraham, because in his opinion, they were not cooked at all.

Just based on the principle of friendliness, he still gave a good evaluation. Of course, the meaning behind the words is that their ingredients can only highlight one original flavor.

If he was asked to say anything else, he really couldn't say it.

Finally, the host announced the score of both sides.

The Chinese side scored 36 points, while the foreign side scored 28 points.

Abraham was not too surprised when he heard it, because he had already thought that the dishes he made might not meet the Chinese taste.

But he is also very satisfied with the difference of only 8 points between the two sides.

Then came the second round.

The Chinese side planned to make a dish with duck gizzards first, but before making it, Mu Jie had already thought about how to arrange the dishes, so he told Yao Guangbin to find some larger white plates.

The remaining duck Mujie is going to be used to make a duck soup.

For this dish, Mu Jie plans to make the duck gizzard into a hot and sour taste, using the sourness of kumquat, and the spicyness of millet, with the unique pickled cabbage in Yunnan.

Winning the first round of competition allowed him to determine the tastes of these customers.

At the same time, he also plans to use rice noodles as the base instead of bean sprouts and spring bamboo shoots or rape hearts.

While watching the Italian team, they are also planning to start the main course this time with a piece of steak they got earlier.

First, it was marinated with spices, and then put into the oven.

Chen Nian told Mu Jie about going home after seeing this, anyway, others can see what he is doing, everyone is adaptable, they can discuss it themselves, and the other party can also discuss it after seeing it.

It's just that Aging knows more about Chinese food than Abraham knows about Western food.

Seeing this, he knew what the other party was going to do.

After Mu Jie heard it, he immediately said that they must win again this time.

Because if this dish of the Italian team is placed outside of Yunnan, it will be liked by many people, but it will appear a bit ordinary in Yunnan, a place with its own taste.

In this round, the second dish prepared by Mu Jie was also a big meat dish.

Chen Nian doesn't need to keep staring at the pot now.

So I came to help deal with the mutton, after it was boned, cut and washed, Chen Nian came to Mu Jie: "Master Mu, our ginger was taken away by them, I think we will use kumquats to remove the fishy smell this time, you What do you think?"

"Okay, you can go ahead and do it boldly. Just let me know what you use. What we focus on here is flexibility."

"Ok."

So Chen Nian came to the other side again, and began to use the peel and juice of kumquat to remove the smell of mutton.

After it was cut, it was marinated for a while. Originally, Chen Nian wanted to hand over the work of making mutton to Zhou Ji, but Zhou Ji waved his hand and said that it would be fine for Chen Nian to do it.

"Master Zhou..."

"It's okay, young man, it's always good to have more opportunities to show your face, and I believe in your ability."

"Okay, thank you Master Zhou."

After gaining Zhou Ji's trust, Chen Nian saw that the mutton was almost marinated, so he began to fry it in the pot, and asked while frying, "Master Mu, should the mutton be made spicy?"

Mu Jie has already tasted the sweetness at this moment, so he said to add a little spiciness, but not too much.

When frying, some kumquat juice was added to it to further remove the fishy smell and increase the aroma.

But according to Mu Jie's envisioned method, the mutton should be put into the oven with soup after it is fried.

After all, they only have two hours for each round.

If you use a low heat to simmer, the remaining one hour will definitely not be able to bring out the best taste and texture of the lamb.

Due to the addition of kumquat juice, the mutton is softened to a certain extent during the marinating process.

At this time, the oven also acts as a part of the function of the pressure cooker.

But just put the mutton in the oven at the old age, about 10 minutes later, Abraham also asked his son to wrap the salmon meat in rice dumplings and neatly put it on the tray.

But then they also need to use the oven to smoke the salmon, but at this time their own oven is roasting pork chops, and the other oven is being used by the Chinese side, so he sent his son over to ask if they can borrow the Chinese side here.

"My friend, although we are competitors, I think both of us will be willing to compete in a fair way, but now we are indeed using it. If you want, you can wait a little while, and you can go after we run out Can it be used?"

The other party said it politely, so naturally Chen Nian would not trip the other party and deliberately refuse to use the machine.

But in the same way, he will not sacrifice his food to make way for the other party.

Sapa looked at his father, and then at Jiangbei: "Okay, thank you for your generosity.".

He didn't feel that the Chinese side was making things difficult for them on purpose. If Chen Nian was the kind of person who would make things difficult on purpose, he wouldn't have pointed out their shortcomings in their restaurant and was willing to teach them better ways .

Not to mention that Chen Nian didn't go around asking for credit after that.

And it's not a difficult situation at all, since everyone used an oven each.

If I have to say it, I can only say that the organizer was not prepared enough and did not prepare a few more devices.

But it didn't take long for the mutton on the old side to be steamed, and the oven was empty.

Sapa hurriedly put his salmon roll into the oven.

This time it is obvious that the speed of the Chinese side is faster.

As time passed, they waited until Chen Nian finished arranging these two dishes, and then served them out first.

Then Chen Nian came to Sapa again and asked if he needed help.

At this moment, Abraham and the others were also busy putting the salmon rolls on the plate and arranging them, and then they found the lid and prepared to add and throw it in.

"No, our side is almost the same." Sapa said with a smile.

"Your dish is very creative. When the guests open the lid, there will be a puff of smoke coming out. This will definitely bring them a surprise." Chen Nian praised from the side.

"Thank you, my friend, this dish is actually the signature of our restaurant, but now it is not so perfect due to the lack of ingredients. When you come to Italy in the future, I invite you to come to our restaurant to taste this dish. I believe You're going to love him."

(End of this chapter)