Chapter 594 Head-to-head confrontation
"So you were thinking about this pan-fried duck breast before cooking the first dish?" Rocky Chen was shocked.
"Yes." Sun Mei admitted, "The time for this competition is very tight, especially after each round is allocated, there is even less time available.
“But for some more time-consuming dishes, it’s not the cooking itself that takes a long time, but a certain part of the pre-processing that takes a long time. If many dishes can be cooked together, time can be saved to the greatest extent.
"This is a common thing in the kitchen, it's nothing to be surprised about."
"Ah, that's what I said, but the theme this time is coconut, which is very difficult to cook. How can I think of all the dishes in advance from the beginning?"
GagganAnand sighed, "Your creative ability is too outrageous."
"I actually didn't think it through at the beginning. I just had a vague idea and put it there first. Anyway, it won't take too long to process the ingredients in advance.
"I will pick it up when I find inspiration later. Speaking of which, the inspiration for this dish actually comes from Chef Malu's previous "Coconut". His use of smell is impressive."
"Which "Coconut"?" Malu on the side was curious.
"The second way."
"Oh oh oh oh."
Ma Lu gave Sun Mei a thumbs up. He really thought Sun Mei was very powerful.
Although on the surface he seemed to be more relaxed, that was because Lao Wang was doing all the fighting for him and he only used one hand.
Sun Mei, on the other hand, was fighting for real. At this point, she was considered the most powerful chef Malu had ever encountered.
But Sun Mei didn't seem satisfied, especially when she saw Malu's dishes, she was stunned again.
What Malu actually cooked this time was duck, but instead of pan-fried duck, it was roast duck.
There is no doubt that his duck meat was roasted early in the morning so that it could be taken out at this time. There was also no trace of coconut on the plate.
Sun Mei was immediately interested. The two chose the same ingredients and the cooking methods were very similar. It was like a direct duel. Sun Mei really wanted to make a comeback with this pan-fried duck breast.
So I am paying special attention to the results this time.
The four judges also burst into tears when they saw the roast duck. Considering what Ma Lu had served in the first two rounds, it was not easy to eat some serious food here.
Olet Huppert started first. Although he is a foreigner, he has been active in Asia these years and is very skilled in using chopsticks.
He picked up a piece of roast duck and put it in his mouth, and his eyes widened the next moment.
Because the taste of this bite is too strong.
He bit into the crispy skin of the roast duck and felt the rich oil under the skin melting in his mouth, and then the rich coconut aroma exploded in his cavity, impacting his soul.
Oette Huppert almost moaned in comfort.
This, how is this done? !
If Sun Mei's duck breast only has a faint coconut aroma, then Malu's roast duck is simply a coconut bomb!
This is obviously not something smoke can do.
"It's molecular gastronomy." Seeing the four judges looking in this direction, Ma Lu admitted generously.
"I used the spherification technology of molecular cuisine to make small balls of sauce made with coconut milk and put them under the duck skin."
"So, the traditional way of eating roast duck is to dip it in sugar." Rocky Chen nodded, "The meeting of fat and sweetness will produce a wonderful reaction."
Hajime Yoneda, who rarely spoke among the judges, suddenly said, "Now that the color, aroma, and taste are already there, it's time to move on to the form, meaning, and cultivation."
When he said these words, there was another uproar.
The other three judges also showed surprise, "Wait a minute, are you saying that the three dishes he cooked have another theme?" Gaggan Anand said in surprise, "This is... a dual-theme creation?"
"Well, I know that Chinese food has color, aroma, taste, shape, meaning, and nourishment." Hajime Yoneda said, "It probably corresponds to the color, aroma, taste, shape, artistic conception or atmosphere, and nutrition of Western food.
"We have already eaten the first three dishes, and if nothing else happens, we should have the last one."
"Although everyone has different cultural customs, the criteria for judging food are the same." Olet Huppert also said.
"This also makes me look forward to your next performance, Chef Malu, but I need to remind you that you have used 104 minutes and only have 16 minutes left.
"If I want to win the championship, I have to cook three more dishes. Can it really be done in such a short time?"
"No problem at all," Ma Lu answered simply, "As Chef Sun Mei said, it took us a long time just because there were more things to do.
"In the end, things will become easier. In fact, my next dish is almost ready."
"We can't wait to see what you do next, Chef Malu." Rocky Chen concluded.
Although the judges respected the competition process, they did not announce the score of this dish on the spot.
But Sun Mei knew that she had lost again, which made her secretly clenched her fists.
She couldn't remember how long it had been before someone could bring her such intense frustration in cooking.
The last person who made her feel like this was Sun He, her grandfather, but Sun He was already old.
Her grandfather was an insurmountable mountain for her, someone she could only look up to.
But the night before she was to participate in the World Young Chef Competition, she discovered that the majestic figure was no longer indestructible and omnipotent.
What followed was a strong sense of emptiness, confusion and boredom without a goal.
It wasn't until she returned to China many years later that she bumped into another high mountain.
But this time, what stood in front of her became the peak of Mount Everest.
Sun Mei's desire to win was also completely activated, especially when she saw Ma Lu putting one hand in his pocket and playing casually with you.
It was like seeing how careless I was when participating in the lower age group competition.
It turns out that from the perspective of a bystander, did I really deserve a beating back then?
Sun Mei gritted his teeth and swore secretly in his heart that he would never lose to that guy.
Soon, the third round of ratings came out.
Ma Lu received perfect scores again, while Sun Mei's pan-fried duck breast received 4.5 points, which was 0.25 points higher than the previous round and continued to grow steadily.
If it weren't for Malu, her progress would definitely be noticed, but at this moment everyone's attention is basically focused on Malu.
Kawano Zhengming made sesame tofu in the third round and scored 4 points again.
Luo Junkang actually doesn't like to create on-site. He believes that good dishes need to be immersed in the mind and spend time to polish them, just like wine that gets better as it ages.
Especially this kind of competition where the time limit is very short, purely to torture the players. Although he made a mutated version of squirrel mandarin fish in the last round, he was actually not very satisfied with this dish.
This time, I didn’t want to indulge in Huaiyang dishes, so I made Bisque lobster soup for errands.
I thought I would be sent away, but unexpectedly I got 4 points.
(End of chapter)