The Heartbeat at the Tip of the Tongue

Word Count: 1901

Hay Smoked Eggs

When the judges on the screen used a knife to slice the pork chops, even Lin Ke Song who could not taste the flavours could see that the pork chops were tender and tasty, the reddish-brown appearance, the thick gravy, had a shine that whetted an appetite.

After Chief editor Winston took a bite, he said with an expression of enjoyment: “my tongue has finally been saved! After tasting so many dishes that were missing fillings and so flawed you can’t ignore them, I’ve finally tasted something delicious! The control of heat while cooking the pork chops can be described as perfect, the sauce has seeped into the grooves of the pork chop, the sweet and salty flavour complementing each other well! This participant may have received many ingredients, but is able to make such delicious pork chops, this means that he has the ability!”

The other judges too had praises for this juicy grilled pork chop.

Goto Nozomi got 8.8 points in this round, leaping to the top of the rankings.

Lin Ke Song pursed her lips, feeling a little greedy. She really wanted to know what Goto Nozomi’s pork chops tasted like.

And the next dish that the judges were going to sample, was Lin Ke Song’s.

Lin Ke Song swallowed, clenching her fists, looking at her food being brought to the judges through the screen.

Winston lifted his knife and fork but wrinkled his brow.

This made Lin Ke Song’s uneasiness increase. Was there a problem with her plating?

Or was it a weird thing to use the egg shell to present the dish?

She had indeed seen a similar plating in Jiang Qian Fan’s restaurant, looking exquisite with a countryside feel.

Did she not have enough of an artistic gene and so it looked terrible instead of the majesty she was going for?

At that time, Winston lowered his fork and knife, finger touching the edge of the plate, and looked to the camera, saying seriously: “May the cameraman record this dish meticulously, I hope that the participants and the audience can see the plating of this dish, when you look at this plating would you still have the mood to eat?”

The plate on screen was enlarged, pretty much taking up the whole screen.

The audience stretched their necks to look over.

Lin Ke Song lowered her head, looks like she’s done for, to have Winston be so negative.

“whoa…… so pretty ah……”

Bruce who wasn’t far from Lin Ke Song sighed.

Pretty? Someone thought it was pretty?

Lin Ke Song looked towards Bruce.

And ShanSha too clutched her counter and leaned forward like she was trying to get a clearer look: “Look like precious stones in a seashell oh!”

“What a real pity, my magazine journalist didn’t come along with me, otherwise I would let him take pictures of this dish, to put it on《Gourmet》! Let’s not talk about the taste of this dish first, I hope that the participants will be able to experience this.”

The base of this plate was covered in dried hay, and raspberry fruit piled on the dried hay, the colours of yellow and red were very contrasting. And under the raspberries, was an eggshell that was cut about 30 degrees along, it looked like a small cradle. And this “cradle” was filled with jam that was made of berries, the jam gave off a special shine. And within the jam, you could faintly see a few pieces of purely white egg white. A single mint leaf was dotted in the middle of the jam, the leaf leaning lazily on the edge of the eggshell, becoming the finishing touch in this plating.

“It’s so pretty. It makes it unbearable to spoil it. Even so, as a food critic, I will not be easily bewitched by its appearance, the most important thing is still its taste. If this is only egg white mixed with jam, even if I appreciate its plating, I will still be unable to give it a high score.”

Winston lifted his spoon, left hand holding the eggshell, the right hand scooping a spoonful of the jam, and sending it into his mouth.

Lin Ke Song felt like her breath was trapped in her lungs, would Winston be able to taste all the effort and thought that went into what looked like a simple dish?

This was the most balanced taste that she could maintain with only the ingredients and her imagination available.

Will he acknowledge her?

Winston held the jam in his mouth, closed his eyes, and didn’t hurry to swallow, but gently move the tip of his tongue.

Following a few moments of silence, everyone on set was filled with curiosity.

Was it just a well-plated jam with egg white, or was it an appetiser or dessert that was innovative?

“……this flavour is so unique! The egg doesn’t seem to be simply cooked, but it was smoked…… the faint smoky flavour and sweet and sour flavour of the jam blending together…… reminds me of lazier times when I was younger and in my grandma’s courtyard, tanning from the warm sun, small fruits on the grass, that you can randomly pick to stuff in your mouth!…… and the jam! To have such a smooth texture……is due to the addition of the egg yolk!” Winston had an enlightened expression.

Winston ate the rest of the jam meticulously, this was the first time in the competition where he finished the whole dish of any participant’s.

He deciphered every slight process Lin Ke Song made in this dish in detail, having endless praises for her idea and her handling of the ingredients, finally giving a score of 9.5 points. This made Lin Ke Song pinch her thigh in disbelief.

She wasn’t dreaming ah!

Good thing she got inspiration when she saw the hay, and put the hay on the oven shelf, to smoke the eggs! And there needed to be careful technique when smoking eggs, if there wasn’t enough time, the egg white would be too soft, if it were smoked too long, the egg yolk will coagulate and not be able to be mixed with the jam.

David too expressed that there was just too little, there wasn’t enough to eat till they felt satisfied before the shell became empty!

Foodie Luke almost turned the shell over.

“This combination of this faint smoky fragrance and jam flavour is simple amazing! The egg yolk increased the smoothness of the jam, and totally blended well with the hay smoked egg white! And that trace of chamomile freshness is a little spicy jump at the tip of the tongue, like a harp that has been strung! I don’t know if it should be an appetiser or a dessert, but after eating the juicy grilled pork chops, to be able to eat this hay smoked egg white with jam, is simply amazing! This is the epitome of how ingredients should be used!”

To add some spiciness or whatever, is one of the inspirations that Lin Ke Song got from Jiang Qian Fan’s spicy chocolates. Sometimes when you add a little spice to something sweet, no need too much, and it will be able to whet people’s appetite, and weaken the sickening sweetness at the same time.

The idea of adding the chili powder got her the acknowledgement of the judges, and Lin Ke Song felt happy, because she felt that this is an acknowledgement she got as Jiang Qian Fan’s student!

Lin Ke Song got 9.2 points in this round of competition, taking over Goto Nozomi, topping the ranks.

When she saw the points and rankings showing on the screen, she raised her hands over her face. She really never thought that her risky combination would succeed!

She lifted her head towards her Uncle. Uncle Lin was very happily hugging Song Yi Ran, and was so happy he forgot himself.

And Song Yi Ran was looking at Lin Ke Song, waving at her with a grin.

Lin Ke Song once again looked around the area, and still didn’t see Jiang Qian Fan.

And Iris’ expression looked very cold.

Lin Ke Song rubbed the tip of her nose, wondering what kind of comment Jiang Qian Fan would give her if he saw her cooking.

Annalise clapped, arriving in front of Viktor, and smiled saying: “Viktor, you’d actually wanted to attack Lin Ke Song, but who’d have thought that you’d actually given her a ride, and helped her stand out ah!”

Viktor shrugged his shoulders indifferently: “It’s great like that ah! proves that I have a good eye! I have always thought that Lin Ke Song was really good, and will be my greatest rival to being the champion!”

But intuition told Lin Ke Song, that Viktor didn’t simply treat her as a rival. Just what had she done to make him hate her so much?

Lin Ke Song couldn’t have further thoughts, when the next food review arrived.

This was a seafood stew rice.

Just looking at the ingredients used, rice and seafood, Lin Ke Song could guess that this was what Viktor had made using Goto Nozomi’s ingredients.

The only salty thing in Goto Nozomi’s ingredients was the soy sauce. But he took the soy sauce away.

Without soy sauce, how will Viktor make up for the lack of saltiness?

The seafood stew rice looked exquisite, the red prawn head leaning against the edge of the deep mouth plate, it looked like a cruising shrimp was having a rest on the beach. The seaweed was tied around the fish, and soaking in rice. Although it was simple, Lin Ke Song could tell from the colour of the various ingredients that those seafood were not overcooked, and still maintained the fresh and delicious taste.

Winston cheerfully said: “it’s really rare for someone to choose to stew during a competition, and it’s even seafood stewed rice. Stewed rice is a common family dish, everyone can make it, it looks like there’s no need for skills to stew properly, but it is not easy to make it delicious. Choice of the right rice will allow the proper absorption of the soup that is boiled from the seafood. And the seafood, like the shrimp and fish meat, will lose their protein taste if they’re overcooked.”

Winston elegantly scooped a spoonful of stew rice, blew on the food, sniffed through his nose, and showed an expression of enjoyment, then sent the food into his mouth.

While tasting, Winston gave a nod.

“En ——if I didn’t guess wrong, the soup is stewed through the boiling of the shrimp head, fish bones and seaweed, very delicious! The tomalley was separated, and baked in the oven before adding to the stewed rice, and added the richness of the sea. This idea is very skillful. The taste of the stewed rice is also excellent. But it’s a pity…… that there’s no salty taste.”

Winston shook his head regretfully.

Overall, Winston’s reviews don’t have much of a difference compared to the other judges. Which is to say, Goto Nozomi really stumped Viktor ah!

Lin Ke Song heaved a breath and looked at Viktor’s back, his posture was a little stubborn, his head raised slightly like he was very dissatisfied with this kind of ending.

Actually, even though Goto Nozomi took the only salty ingredient away, it didn’t mean that nothing could be done ah.