Chapter 104
Zha Panpan was probably the one who took the most ingredients out of all the contestants. Except for the cabbage, she took all the ingredients in the box, and went to the ingredients room to pick winter melon, tofu, pepper, etc., obviously she didn’t have a cooking direction yet. She needed to determine the correct combination and processing of ingredients through experimentation.

The three judges had high hopes for her and Shi Mingxu, and they hoped that she could find a direction as soon as possible.

The other three took very similar ingredients. Basically, they took all the ingredients recommended by the judges, and they were now pondering how to make suitable dishes.

Three hours could not be considered long nor short. It was enough time for these players to make a few attempts.

Watching the players constantly going back and forth from practice and failure, Ruan Tang could not help but admonish them, “Don’t imagine how to make the vegetables into meat. Think first of a meat dish that you’d like to make, and then turn these vegetables to that direction. Come on, think about how to replace the meat with vegetables. ”

These players have arrived here by overcoming one difficulty after another. It was clear that none of them were stupid and with just a simple hint from Ruan Tang, it was as though the cloud of confusion finally dispersed and they were finally able to little by little find a direction.

As the minutes passed, the players’ dishes gradually took shape.

“Okay, time’s up. Please present your dishes to the judge’s table in the order of your registration.”

When the timer ran out, the players stopped their movements. They put their freshly prepared dishes on a tray, and covered them with an opaque thermal insulation cover. So that when the judges called their names they could easily present their dishes.

President Gu looked at each of the five contestants, and finally called out Zha Panpan’s name.

Although the entire cooking process done by all the players were broadcasted live, viewers would generally lock on to only their preferred player and so they missed seeing what the other contestants made. Seeing that all the dishes were now hidden under an opaque cover, the audience immediately wailed.

[Sixty-six: Ahhhhhhhhhh. I had been so focused on watching Shi Mingxu that I didn’t pan out to the other contestants! Now, I don’t know what Zha Panpan made! Damn it!]

[Thousands of birds: Hahaha, Sister PanPan’s dish is totally unexpected! Sister Panpan will be the champion for sure!]

Zan Panpan put the tray on the table, and when she opened the insulation cover, it was a dish of braised Dongpo meat. Two square pieces of “pork belly” was placed in the center of the plate, surrounded by green vegetables. The layers or lean portion, fatty portion, and skin of the “pork belly” was distinct. The rosiness of the meat appeared after cooking it with the thick oily and it also had the distinct smell of meat. You absolutely couldn’t tell that this plate of Dongpo meat was actually made out of vegetables.

Ruan Tang took a small knife and cut the braised Dongpo meat into small pieces. He then took a piece with his chopsticks and took a moment to examine it before putting it into his mouth. Zha Panpan had put a lot of thought into the dish. She made the skin out of king oyster mushrooms, the fatty portion out of winter melon, and lean meat out of gluten. The three combined perfectly. However, she did not fry the winter melon to absorb some oil. Thus after steaming, the winter melon melted and the texture did not match.

Although this dish was still a bit different from the real braised Dongpo meat, it certainly did have the taste of meat and in terms of appearance, it also managed to imitate the real thing perfectly. And so, he was quite satisfied with this dish.

“If you fry the winter melon first to let it absorb some oil and then steam it with the king oyster mushrooms and gluten, maybe the texture will be better.”

“Yes, Mr. Ruan.” Zhan Panpan humbly accepted Ruan Tang’s suggestion. Obviously, she was also aware of the shortcomings of this dish.

[Yu Zhaozhao: Wow, it turned out to be dongpo pork! That was really unexpected! Zha Panpan is really amazing! ]

[Small transparent: I like the taste, but Tang Tang’s right. The fat part has melted a bit too much. Tang Tang’s amzing!]

Zha Panpan’s dish was well received by the three judges, and the audience also liked it very much. It seems that she should be able to get a good number of votes in the subsequent voting session.

“Next, Cao Jun.” Ge Lao had a good impression of Cao Jun. This kid had solid basic skills and knew how to work hard. Looking at his cooking process today, they found that he has made much progress from before.

Cao Jun took a deep breath and walked forward with his tray. He made hibiscus chicken slices. The main ingredients were king oyster mushrooms, lettuce, black fungus and wolfberries. Among them, the white “chicken” was made with king oyster mushrooms. Who knew how many times he had experimented before he could make the king oyster mushrooms smooth and tender like chicken. If you looked closely, the surface of the mushroom as covered in tiny scratches, which mimicked the texture of chicken and also help in absorbing more flavor. It really looked like the real thing.

Everyone tried a piece and the taste was equally outstanding. Though delicate, there was no lack of savory-ness.

All three judges gave him recognition for his diligence.

[Gold coins fall: ah ah, this really isn’t made of chicken? It’s so delicious!]

[Su Su Su Su Su: F*ck, if Tang Tang hadn’t said it I never would have known. He even thought of scratching the surface of the mushroom to imitate chicken meat. It was so detailed! Cao Jun, refuel!]

The third player to come up was Wu Anmin and he made fish fillets. Similar to Cao Jun’s hibiscus chicken fillets, the main ingredient was king oyster mushrooms. The accompanying ingredients were winter bamboo shoots and black fungus.

“As a plate of vegetable dish, it tastes really good. But if you say its fish fillet, I really can’t tell.” President Gu said after tasting it.

“The sauce is well adjusted, and as a vegetable dish, it’s really good, but as President Gu said, there is no taste of fish.” Ge Lao could not help but shake his head slightly.

Suddenly Wu Anmin’s face turned pale. He knew he was finished.

Ruan Tang looked in his eyes and couldn’t help sighing. “In fact, why didn’t you use the oyster mushroom as shredded pork and make fried pork with green peppers? It would have been better than this fish fillet. You were too fixated on the smaller issue.”

Ruan Tang had observed all of them as they cooked. In fact, Wu Anmin had fixated on an insignificant problem. King oyster mushrooms, in terms of texture could not be made as smooth and tender as fish. It would have been better to use gluten. However, gluten could not be made to look as fair as fish fillets. He had been going back and forth between these two ingredients, and he finally chose to use the king oyster mushrooms. But if he had just given up on making fish fillet, he might have been able to succeed.

Wu Anmin suddenly realized his error. He bowed towards Ruan Tang and took his leave, his eyes slightly red.

Next is Chen Yuanwu’s turn. His dish was braised meatballs. It was a vegetarian meatball made by mixing king oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, gluten and winter bamboo shoots. He mixed them together with starch and flour. The taste was very similar to real meatballs, and since it was seasoned properly, it was quite a good dish.

It was finally, Shi Mingxu’s turn. Judging from the materials he took at the beginning, all three judges thought that what he was going to make Yuxiang shredded pork. They did not expect to receive a plate of sweet and sour pork ribs.

“May I ask, why didn’t you make Yuxiang shredded pork?”

“I did, but I thought it was a bit too simple, and I wanted to challenge myself.” Shi Mingxu touched his nose, a little embarrassed. “If this didn’t work out, I would have served the Yuxiang shredded pork.”

The three judges nodded and picked up their chopsticks to taste Shi Mingxu’s sweet and sour pork ribs. This dish used gluten as the pork meat and lotus root as the bones. They are fried together in an oil pan before adding the sweet and sour sauce. Not only were the colors and flavors complete, but he even got the texture of the bones right. It’s sweet and sour taste was well-liked.

[Genuine Devil: He’s got this in the bag! Shi Mingxu will definitely win. Other people just made one dish but he made two and it was so delicious. Really amazing!]

[Ashes Scorpio: Yeah, yeah, it’s so delicious!]

The texture of gluten was very supple and after frying, its surface became very crispy. Its inside had absorbed the sweet and sour taste, locked under the fried and crispy surface. With one bite, the juices inside would seep out. The lotus root, though, was the vital finishing touch. He that cut it into strips and had wrapped the gluten around it so that it would act as the bones. The lotus root was naturally crunchy, and the taste was light and sweet. After being fried as the bones, it became incomparably crispy. Paired with the sauce, everyone’s mouths were filled with ‘crunch crunch’ sounds as the chomped down on it.

When everyone had finished tasting, Ruan Tang stood up and said, “Okay, now it’s time to vote. Please vote for your contestants based on the dishes you just tasted.”

[My wife’s little tail: I’m so conflicted! The hibiscus chicken slices were also delicious, I don’t know who to vote for …]

[Yue Mingya: I can’t make up my mind! I like both the braised meatballs and sweet and sour pork ribs!]

[Nuanhua Lian Ye: Ah ah ah ah, no matter what, I’ll vote for Shi Mingxu, I think he’s the best!]

[Can’t stop Hugging Trees: Even children make choices! So, we adults definitely must! 1551 I can’t choose though QWQ]

The struggling spectators hesitated among several players, and waited until the voting time was about to end before making a final decision. The voting results changed rapidly. Behind everyone, a big board displayed the real-time results. The votes of the five contestant sky-rocketed and then finally, stopped.

“Time’s up.”

In a tense heartbeat, all five contestants turned to look at the final number of votes displayed on the big screen behind them. For a time, different expressions appeared on their faces. Wu Anmin was lost, Zha Panpan was serious, Cao Jun was happy, Chen Yuanwu was remorseful. Shi Mingxu has never been one to display his emotions, he still wore his signature scientific researcher’s calm smile.

After nearly a month, this Cutting-edge chef’s competition, the first of its kind, finally came to an end. Shi Mingxu won with the highest number of votes and became the champion; Cao Jun became the runner-up with his ingenious hibiscus chicken dish; the popular top-seeded seed player Zha Panpan came in third place; Chen Yuanwu fourth and Wu Anmin fifth.

Amidst the music playing in the background, the five contestants who reached the finals, hugged and congratulated each other. The other four players congratulated Shi Mingxu for being overall champion. They really felt that he was truly skilled and so they were convinced that he deserved to win. They themselves felt that there was no shame in their defeat.

“Your competition ends here but your road as chefs is just beginning.”

The three judges stood up and made their concluding remarks for this competition.

“Cooking will be become a common art. Everyone will learn how to cook, but to really elevate it and take it to its pinnacle, takes not only experience but also courage and curiosity. What you have achieved here is completely out of the ordinary. I hope that you will all remain humble and immerse yourself in studying your art. Take up our burden and become the new leaders of the Empire’s culinary sphere. ”

“The first Cutting-edge Chef’s Competition is over!”